Attribution of the Work to Its Author
There is no reason to doubt that this copy is by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, for the autograph itself states: “Shaykh al-Islam, Abu al-ʿAbbas Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Halīm, son of Shaykh Majd al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Salām Ibn Taymiyyah, was asked….”

Folio Count and Layout
This manuscript consists of seven double-sided folios, beginning at [136/a] and ending toward the close of [142/b]. Each side contains sixteen lines, with roughly thirteen words per line. The hand is an Eastern script, and the scribe is Ṣāliḥ ibn Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Qādir.

Marginal notes in the scribe’s own hand restore passages that dropped out during copying, attesting to the care he devoted to collating and rereading the text (34). Nonetheless, a few grammatical and orthographic slips remain, along with minor omissions of words that are easily inferred from the context (35).

Opening and Closing Lines of the Copy
“In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful. My success is only through Allah. Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn Abu al-ʿAbbas Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Halīm, son of Shaykh Majd al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Salām … was asked….

Completed, and may goodness spread through it, by the hand of the poorest of Allah’s servants and the one most in need of His pardon, Ṣāliḥ ibn Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Qādir—may Allah forgive him, his parents, and all believing men and women.”