Al-Mizan al-Kubra (a Treatise on the Sects of Islam), by Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ahmad al-Sha'rani, Egypt, A.H. 981/A.D. 1573

Arabic manuscript on paper, 262 leaves, 33 lines to the page written in black naskh script, keywords marked in red and green, margins double-ruled in red, with seven full page diagrams in red and green ink, beige velvet binding with gilt-scrolled brown morocco borders, with fitted black box

In good overall condition, some water staining and losses to the top edges of the leaves, repair to the lower edge of the first leaf, pages generally clean and ink strong, binding with some small losses and abrasions, as viewed.
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This is a copy of a work by one of the most important and prolific scholars of the Ottoman period in Egypt, and was completed only two years after the death of the author.  The Mizan al-Kubra of 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ahmad al-Sha'rani (d.1571) is a treatise on the four Sunni schools, and argues that their authority comes from the same source.  As the title the 'Great Balance' suggests, al-Sha'rani was a moderate in all his views and in many of his works sought to reconcile differences among religious and social groups.  He expounded moderate forms of Sufism that did not contradict the Shar'ia, condemned scholars who confused the population with hair-splitting legal and theological arguments and even wrote a treatise advising scholars and Sufis how to deal effectively with the military elite.

The present work contains seven diagrams in a late Mamluk/early Ottoman style on the following subjects:

1. A geometric chain containing the words: Revelation, the Throne, the Chair, the Pen, the Tablet, Tablets, Gabriel, the Prophet Muhammad, the Companions, the Imams, the Followers.

2. A tree with the big branches representing the founders of the madhahib, and the small branches representing the followers.

3. A stylised flower with names of the eighteen sects which are shown stemming from the 'ayn al-Shar'ia, and a triangular fishing net.

4. The position of the four founders (Imams) in relation to the balance of the Day of Judgement.

5. The position of the four Imams in relation to their followers who had chosen the straight path to Paradise without falling into Hell.

6. The paths of the eight Imams leading to the gates of Paradise.

7. The domes of the Prophet Muhammad and the four Imams in Paradise.