A prolific 19th-century Bugis scribe: Syaikh Zainal Abidin and his personal catalogue of 52 Qur’an manuscripts copied

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Syaikh Zainal Abidin bin al-Khatib Umar was an eminent 19th century Bugis religious scholar and Qur’anic scribe from Pammana, Wajo, in South Sulawesi. Exceptionally for Southeast Asia, Qur’an manuscripts by Bugis scribes often have full colophons, with details of when, where and by whom they were copied, and so far five Qur’an manuscripts as well as a number of other religious manuscripts by Syaikh Zainal Abidin have been documented. A recent important discovery is Syaikh Zainal Abidin’s own catalogue of 52 Qur’an manuscripts he had copied, with details of each owner, located from Sumbawa to Lampung and Pontianak. This study attempts to link up the Syaikh Zainal Abidin’s known Qur’an manuscripts with those listed in his catalogue, thereby shedding further light on his biography and networks of patronage.