A manuscript of Ihja’ ulum aldin, in Arabic

Manuscript collection of the Gazi Husrev-Beg Library.

Written by Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Gazali (d. 1111), the oldest manuscript in the GHL. It was copied during Ghazali’s lifetime, in 1105. (R-1308).

The manuscript collection of the Gazi Husrev-Beg Library consists of manuscripts from various fields with many originating either from writing or copying in different parts of the Islamic world, especially in important centers of learning such as Mecca, Medina, Cairo, Baghdad, and, especially, Istanbul. The oldest preserved manuscript was copied in 1105, A.D. Some of the manuscripts are distinguished by outstanding calligraphy and decoration. It’s the most valuable Islamic manuscripts collection in the Balkans area at this time, as similar collections had been mostly been destroyed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995).