then its sin rests only upon those who alter it. Indeed, Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.” This scribe repeated the phrase “an endowment for the sake of Allah Almighty” several times on different pages of the book.
The manuscript is written in an elegant naskh hand, most of it fully vocalized. It contains few errors and frequently agrees with the aforementioned manuscript (yāʾ). Its colophon reads: “The writing of it was completed at the beginning of the exalted month of Ramadan in the year 855 AH, at the hand of the weak servant Muhammad ibn Alī ibn Muhammad al-Azraqī, who hopes to enter the Gardens with the Muslims and ascend in rank—with praise and salutations.”
- The manuscript in the Zāhiriyya Library in Damascus, no. (3246), comprises (70 folios), with (15) lines per page. Several pages are missing, however, beginning at (fol. 8v), corresponding in our printed edition to (pp. 25–62), from the words, “Among the matters whose ruling is subtle ...” to “and the property of others.” It appears to be an old lacuna, because the manuscript’s original foliation runs consecutively without a break. Following the basmala and the words “In Him I place my trust,” the title page bears the following: “The Book of Governance according to the Sharia and the Prophetic Principles for the Welfare of the Ruler and His Subjects, authored by the Shaykh and Imam ...” This is followed by several words that are illegible because of an erasure or spreading ink. It also contains a reader’s attestation of having examined the work.
It is a fine manuscript apart from the aforementioned lacuna. It is written in a naskh hand in which diacritical dots are rarely used, and was copied in (756 AH). Its colophon reads: “The servant in need of Allah Almighty, Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Alī ...—may Allah pardon him and all Muslims—completed copying it for himself. Its completion fell on the blessed Thursday, the fourteenth of Allah’s month of Muharram, in the year 756 AH. Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.” Beneath it, in a similar hand, is written: “The poor servant Muhammad ibn ... finished copying it in the month of Safar, in the year (834 AH).” And