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Alfiyah va shalfiyah
This manuscript is one of the class of works that goes by the generic title of 'Lizzat al-nisa’' or 'Women's pleasure.' It covers the use of medicinal drugs for personal beauty and as aphrodisiacs, and a manual explaining and illustrating various positions during sexual intercourse. The text ultimately derives from Sanskrit works such as the Kamasutra and Kokashastra. The manuscript is of Indian provenance, as is clear from the thirty-four illustrations executed in a popular nineteenth-century style. There is a personal seal, illegible, on the last page.
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Basat-i nishat
A sarcastic and male-centered essay in which noble women are "ugly" or old, and female slaves are pretty, kind and well-behaved.There are parts on men's desire for men and women's desire for women, vows of sisterhood, preparation of the bride and groom for the wedding night, wives and husbands relationships, etc. Parts of the document refer to Kulsum Nanah. At the end, there is a review of different types of pleasure according to their length.
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Letter regarding a woman taking refuge
Regarding a woman who has run away and taken refuge at the house of the addressee in Isfahan; the writer asks for her return to the uncle. Referring to his previous letter, he expresses gratitude that the addressee has taken care of her and that she had been wise enough to go to him; it is as if she had taken refuge in her own house. The writer emphasizes that the matter should be dealt with according to the edicts of the shari‘a and sunna, especially on such a sensitive issue. If the man's family have a rightful claim, they should bring it forth; only if a settlement cannot be agreed upon,...
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Lizzat al-nisa’
Lizzat al-nisa’ or Women's Pleasure, written by Ziyaʼ al-Din Nakhshabi in the 8th century AH. The book includes 10 parts, covering such topics as the manners of intercourse and foods and medicines with aphrodisiac effects. It contains illustrated images of different intercourse positions. The text ultimately derives from Sanskrit works such as the Kamasutra and Kokashastra. The style of illustrations would indicate that the manuscript is possibly of nineteenth-century Indian provenance.
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Marriage contract and divorce settlement, 1884 and 1888
One side is the marriage contract of Baygum Jan, daughter of Sayyid Husayn son of Sayyid Nasr Allah, and Muhammad Isma‘il, son of the late Muhammad Riza Da’i. The mahr is sixty tumans, of which the groom paid thirty tumans in women's clothing, rugs, gold, and copper worth five tumans. The other thirty tumans remain the groom's debt. The other side is the divorce settlement of Baygum Jan, daughter of Sayyid Husayn from Gazirgah, and Ismaʻil, son of the late Riza Mushki-baf from Gazirgah. Baygum Jan settled her mahr, alimony, and clothing for twenty-five dirams [dirhams] and two copper coins...
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Power of attorney to divorce Fatimah Baygum and Isma‘il, 1903
Isma‘il, son of Muhammad ‘Ali, gives the power of attorney to the writer to divorce his consummated wife, Fatimah Baygum (daughter of Karbalayi Muhammad), in exchange for her waiving her mahr
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Power of attorney to divorce Sakinah Khanum and Karbalayi Muhammad, 1916
Karbalayi Muhammad, son of Darvish, gives the power of attorney to the writer to divorce his consummated wife, Sakinah Khanum, daughter of Aqa Kushi [?]. She, too, gives the the power of attorney to the writer for waiving her mahr and divorcing her husband.
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Prayers and poems
On one page: prayers, including one for a man who is disinclined [to women], one for a person with a scar on their throat, one for baldness, one if someone has become mute, and one to stop someone [from sexual intercourse]; the other side contains poems about Qasim [the son of Imam Hasan] and the martyrs of Karbala.
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Questions and answers
Questions for Sayyid Abu al-Hasan Mujtahid Isfahani, including various issues related to prayer and ablution; transactions with apostates; a person who has transferred his properties to his sons a few hours before his death, excluding his daughter from inheritance; bestowing a pair of silver hamsa amulets; urinating and ablution in a public bath; divorce after a woman's menstruation; and the need for a muhallil after three divorces
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Questions and answers
Questions for Sayyid Muhammad Yazdi Firuzabadi in Najaf, including divorce after the woman's menstruation and marriage to a muhallil after triple-divorce