The collection consists of six sets of manuscripts. The first is a poem recounting the feats of Muḥammad and celebrates his role in the expansion of Islam. The poem is written in Arabic with interlinear and marginal glosses in Arabic and Soninke Ajami. The second manuscript consists of prayers in Arabic; recipes for happiness and wealth; esoteric diagrams with Arabic text inside, and explanations of their purpose along with instructions on how to use them written in Mandinka Ajami. There are also protective incantations (called saalaalo in Mandinka) that blend Arabic litanies with Mandinka phrases in order to have effects on real life events as well as records of local customers who sought the divination services of Imam Nimbaly Thiam. The third manuscript is an address book. The fourth manuscript teaches divination techniques. The fifth set belongs to the genre called Saalaaloo (incantations) in Mandinka, which is commonly used for protection from evil eyes, evil tongues, and evil spirits, among others. The sixth manuscript includes two poems praising Prophet Muḥammad in Arabic, with interlinear and marginal glosses in Arabic and Soninke Ajami.
Extent and format of original material: 6 files.
Owner(s) of original material: Abdou Karim Thiam.
Additional script information: Mandinka Ajami, Soninke Ajami.
