“Mufarrih al-Qulub”

In this manuscript, the medical text appears as a physician’s working instrument. Even lines of nasta‘liq occupy the centre of the page, while later notes, clarifications, and diagonal entries appear in the margins. These traces of reading show that the book was not merely preserved; it was used.
Mufarrih al-Qulub means “The Rejoicing of the Hearts.” It is a Persian medical treatise by Muhammad Arzani, also known as Muhammad Akbar. This copy was transcribed in India in 1744. Its language and layout belong to the Indo-Persian book world, where medicine existed as a discipline of scholarly reading and practical experience.
For the Babur sector, this manuscript is important not as courtly luxury, but as evidence of the movement of knowledge. Medical texts travelled between regions, schools, and physicians. Thus the heritage of Central Asia, Iran, and India met on the page, where care for the human being became part of a high written culture.