Sayyidī Muḥammad ʿAlī al-Hamdānī

A significant portion of the rich Islamic manuscript tradition consists of majmūʿāt (sg. majmūʿ, majmūʿa, turkish mejmua), multi-text and composite manuscripts written primarily in Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, and Persian. This article focuses exclusively on Arabic-language majmūʿāt. As a manuscript type filled with mixed contents, a majmūʿa offers valuable insights into medieval literary history and culture that would otherwise be overlooked. In many manuscript catalogues, this rich material remains inadequately documented and has therefore received little attention in Arabic scholarship. Only recently has research on majmūʿāt begun to flourish. Majmūʿāt can take many different forms and fulfill many different functions, whether in their production or during circulation. These forms include, for example, collections of homogenous or heterogeneous works, either in full or excerpted form, compendiums, notebooks and, as a borderline case of classification, anthologies. Majmūʿāt were composed and used for personal purposes, or were commissioned by educational or religious institutions. In addition, a majmūʿa can permanently remain in a private library, or circulate through time and space. This article aims to demonstrate the extent to which multiple-text and composite manuscripts can be “primary vehicles” (Nichols and Wenzel, The Whole Book) for exploring central elements of medieval manuscript cultures. Several examples are taken from the field of Ismaili studies. The first illustrates the function and use of majmūʿāt from Syria as reflected in the mixed content of esoteric works in prose and poetry. These works may also provide clues as to the owners and compilers of the manuscripts. Another example focuses on evolution, variance, and the fluidity of a text collection in the course of its transmission. The final example, a nineteenth-century Indian Ismaili scholar’s notebook, provides insight into his intellectual profile and working style. These aspects will be illustrated on the basis of manuscripts from the rich collection of the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London.