Sharh Qasa'id Ibn Al-Murahhal, The poems of an Andalusi Exile, with commentary, Probably Fez, Morocco, dated 743 AH/1342 AD

Arabic manuscript on cream paper, 25 leaves, 38 lines to the page written in small Maghribi script in black ink, titles in red, gold and blue ink, opening leaf heading and final page colophon written in gold Thuluth script, each with a strapwork border and marginal arabesque illumination, later dark tan morocco binding, each side decorated with a florally stamped cartouche, with flap

In fairly good overall condition, waterstaining to the upper portion of the leaves, occasional smudges, but pages generally clean, later dark tan binding, as viewed.
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This manuscript represents an elegant example of Maghribi literary manuscript production during the fourteenth century. The manuscript is mainly composed of a commentary on the collection of the qasidahs (a form of Arabic poetry) by Ibn Murahhal Al-Malaqi (d.1300 AD). As the Islamic presence in Spain began to wane following the fall of the Almohads in 1212 AD, many Andalusians found work under the Marinid dynasty in Morocco, adding a touch of Spanish elegance to North African cultural life. Indeed, according the North African polymath Ibn khaldun, Ibn Al-Murahhal was one of the last great Andalusian writers to follow this path.

The beauty of the script, combined with the elegant illumination around the title and finispiece suggest that the present manuscript was produced for an eminent patron. The opening page (1r) has a paragraph in which the copyist (named in the colophon as Muhammad Ibn Al-Sheikh Al-Zakariya Yahya bin Abdullah Bakr) mentions some details concerning the life of Ibn Murahhal and he goes on to imply that he transcribed the work from the original author, with whom it seems Ibn Murahhal had an aquaintance.