An illustrated and illuminated leaf from the Siyar-i-Nabi of Mustafa Dharir: The Prophet, surrounded by his Companions, orders the 18th ghaza' (raid), against the Bani 'Atfan in the Najd, copied by Mustafa bin Vali, Turkey, 16th Century

Gouache heightened with gold on paper, 4 lines of text above and below the text in one broad column within cloud bands against a gold ground, written in naskh script in black ink, margins ruled in gold, numbered '88' in the outer right hand margin in ink, catchword in lower left margin, reverse with 13 lines of text

Commissioned by the Ottoman Sultan Murad III in 1594
In the possession of Princess Se'adetlu Bash-Rukhshah-Qadin Hazretleri in 1753
In the possession of Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson, Cairo, circa 1939

In generally good overall condition, very minor flaking, edges of leaf have been trimmed, some staining in the outer margins, as viewed.
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These miniatures are from the celebrated copy of the 'Life of the Prophet' made for the Ottoman Sultan Murad III in 1594-95. The text, copied by the scribe Mustafa bin Vali in 1003 AH/1594-95 AD, is the Kitab Siyar-i Nabi (Life of the Prophet) of Mustafa bin Yusuf bin `Umar al-Mevlevi al-Erzerumi, known as al-Dharir (the Blind). He had been ordered by the Mamluk Sultan al-Mansur (d.1376 AD) to translate and expand the thirteenth-century Arabic work of Abu'l-Hassan al-Bakri al-Basri. Al-Dharir's finished work was presented to al-Mansur's successor Sultan al-Salih Salah al-Din in 1388 AD. The text recounts the life of the Prophet and the early history of the Islamic community, and expands on various picturesque and miraculous details.

Sultan Murad III's illustrated copy of Mustafa Dharir's Siyar-i Nabi was a monumental commission. In total it contained 814 miniatures in six volumes. Volumes I, II and VI remain in the library of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, volume III is in the Spencer Collection of the New York Public Library, and volume IV is in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. Volume V is apparently lost. By 1753 volume IV had been separated from the others and was in the private possession of one of the Ottoman princesses. It surfaced in Cairo in the 1930s at which point approximately 53 folios were detached and sold to various collectors, principally Major R.G. Gayer-Anderson (known as Gayer-Anderson Pasha). At about this time Alfred Chester Beatty acquired the remainder of volume IV, which consisted of 490 folios, 136 miniatures and the colophon.

In addition to the volumes in the Topkapi Saray Library, the New York Public Library and the Chester Beatty Library, illustrated leaves are now in the British Museum, London, the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, and the David Collection, Copenhagen. Several have been sold at auction over the last thirty years. For further details see Sotheby's, London, Arts of the Islamic World, 3 May 2001, lot 54. Further leaves were sold in these rooms 5 October 2011, lot 155 and 24 October 2007, lot 29.

Murad III's copy of the Siyar-i Nabi has been discussed and illustrated in several publications, including: Minorsky 1958, no.419; Stchoukine 1966, vol.I, pp.84-86, 130-131, 148; Tanindi 1984; Schmitz 1992, no.IV.2; Geneva 1985, no.110; Von Folsach 1990, no.57. For information on Hamza, the Uncle of the Prophet, see EI2, vol.III, pp.152-154, "Hamza bin `Abd al-Muttalib".