For Sale to the Highest Bidder: A Precious Shiʿi Manuscript from the Early Eleventh Century

The prominent Twelver Shiʿi scholar and poet, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn "al-Sharīf al-Raḍī" (d. 406 AH/1015 CE), author of a Qurʾān commentary in ten volumes, Ḥaqāʾiq al-taʾwīl fī mutashābih al-tanzīl, which has only partly been preserved, and compiler of the renowned anthology of testimonials, opinions, and sayings attributed to Imām ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (d. 40 AH/661 CE), Nahj al-balāgha, also composed a comprehensive, and largely unprecedented book on the metaphors in the Qurʾān, Talkhīṣ al-bayān ʿan majāzāt al-Qurʾān. A remarkable manuscript containing volume two of the work is currently offfered for sale by the UK auctioneer Dreweatts ...