An astronomical treatise by Abraham b. ʿAnzar(?) on the seven planets and the model of the Universe. Mentions Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Abraham bar Ḥayya, Copernicus and the philosopher Abū Bakr b. al-Ṣāyiḡ (ibn Bajja), whose book the author read with a Muslim.Condition: Torn, holes, slightly rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 15–27 lines (2v is blank)
On the creation of heavenly bodies (the sun, the moon and the starts), quoting Genesis 1:14-16, and Psalms 136:7-8.Condition: torn, holes, stainedLayout: 10 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Table of contents, describing the chapters in a large astrological or astronomical book.Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 14 lines + marginalia (recto); 16 lines (verso)
Recto: astronomical text. Verso: letter in Arabic script, in which the writer says that the addressee is like a father to him.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 39 lines (recto); 10 lines (verso)
Calendrical/astronomical work, mentioning the festivals Passover, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, the Moon and the planets Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, including a list of numerals in gematria and Judaeo-Arabic translation.Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 18 lines (recto); 15 lines (verso)
Recto and margin of verso: philosophical (?) work, mentioning natural science, astronomy, etc. Verso: legal document, in which Abū l-Riḍā Jacob b. Joseph takes over the tax-farming of al-Maḥalla from Abū l-Faraj Yešuʿa b. Abraham and his son Abū l-Ḵayr. Signed by Zakkay b. Moses and ʿAmram b. Jacob.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 33 lines (recto); 30 lines + marginalia (verso)
Recto: theological notes on the chances of miracles, the ban on idolatry and the wisdom of the Lord. Verso: astronomical notes on the zodiac, Coptic months and planets (mercury).Condition: tornLayout: 18 lines (recto); 12 lines (verso)
Letter of one of the followers of Nathan b. Abraham, probably c. 1042. On verso there are astronomical calculations regarding the position of the moon.Layout: 52 lines (recto); 61 lines + marginalia (verso)
Description of the astral configuration for the days between the 24th and the 29th of the month Ḏū l-Ḥijja of 535 AH (= 30 July - 4 August 1141 CE). Mentions the position of the Moon in respect to the constellations of the zodiac and its astrological bearings.Condition: torn, holes, rubbedLayout: 15 lines (recto); 14 lines (verso)
An early and complete copy of the comprehensive astronomical work, or
Canon, by Abū al-Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī (أبو الريحان محمد بن أحمد البيروني, ca 973-1048). The
al-Qanūn al-Masʿūdīwas dedicated to Sultan Mas‘ūd of Ghaznī (reg. 1030-1040), and summarises the astronomy of the
Almagest(كتاب المجسطي) of Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus; c 90-c 168) and brings it up to date by adjusting stellar longitudes to account for the almost nine centuries elapsed between the two authors, and by adding astronomical advancements drawn from Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit sources.The copy was completed in Rabī‘ I 570/Sept.-Oct. 1174 in Baghdad by an anonymous scribe.The text is divided into 11 treatises (مقالات) subdivided into chapters (أبواب) and then sections (فصول). A detailed table of contents is found on ff. 2r-5r.Contents:Treatise One (المقالة الأول), eleven introductory chapters (ff. 5v-17v);Treatise Two (المقالة الثاني), twelve chapters on calendars and chronologies (ff. 18r-51r);Treatise Three (المقالة الثالثة), ten chapters on trigonometry (ff. 52r-65v);Treatise Four (المقالة الرابعة), twenty-six chapters on spherical astronomy (ff. 66r-91r);Treatise Five (المقالة الخامسة), eleven chapters on geodesy (ff. 91v-109r);Treatise Six (المقالة السادسة), eleven chapters on solar motion and time (ff. 109v-131r);Treatise Seven (المقالة السابعة) eleven chapters on lunar motion. (ff. 131v-158r);Treatise Eight (المقالة الثامنة) seventeen chapters on eclipses (ff. 158v-179r);Treatise Nine (المقالة التاسعة) nine chapters on the fixed stars (ff. 179v-211v);Treatise Ten (المقالة العاشرة) thirteen chapters on the planets (ff. 212r-242r);Treatise Eleven (المقالة الحادي عشر) eleven chapters on astrology (ff. 242v-262r).Begins (f. 1v, lines 2-5):القانون المسعوديعمل أبي الريحان محمد بن أحمد البيروني رحمه اللهالمسعود من سعد بالله وتفرد تباييده اياه عن الأشكال والأشباه فلا واضع لمن رفع ولا واجد لما منع واني كان يبلغ ملكالإسلام مشارق الأرض المعمورة ومغاربها وينتاهي خبره إلى أباعدها بعد أقاربها لو لا أظهاره تعالى العزة لرسوله وللمرسـ[ـلين]Ends (f. 262, lines 10-12):... وإن توكل متوكله عليه (أمرًا حاحًا بين ؟) حوله وبين به ونفتح له عددًا وأعدادًا مسومينفالبرول إليه يشري في حنره (؟) وما النصر الأمن عند الله فمن نصره الله فلا غالب له وجوب اللهلهم الغالبون والعاقبة للمتقينColophon (f. 262, lines 13-18):تمت المقالة الحادية عشروتم بتمامها القانون المسعودي تصنيفأبي الريحان البيروني ولله الحمد والمنةبمدينة السلم بغداد في شهر ربيعالأولى من سنة سبعين وخمس مائة هجريةوالحمد لله رب العالمينCollation note next to colophon (f. 262)قوابل بها مما (؟) نقلت منه فيمحرم سنة إحدى وسبعينوخمس مائة هجرية عربية (؟) والسلمCodex; ff. iii+262+iiiMaterial: PaperDimensions: 334 x 215 mm leaf [260 x 180 mm written; the left margin is often not respected]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil; eastern Arabic foliation in black inkRuling:
Misṭarah; 31 lines per page; vertical spacing 12 lines per 10 cmScript:
NaskhInk: Black ink, with headings, overlinings, figures and diagrams in redBinding: British Museum binding in red leather with gilt tooled features in Islamic styleCondition: Minor waterstains to upper outer corner, wormholes many repaired, margins of ff. 1, 2, 261 and 262 have been repairedMarginalia: FewSeals: ff. 1r, 262v
Early copy of the long form of this popular treatise presented as a letter from Aristotle to Alexander the Great on statecraft, astronomy, astrology, magic, and medicine. The ending of the manuscript is missing; the text breaks off during a discussion of magical alphabets.
Collection of treatises, copied in the same hand, on mathematical sciences. Topics include calculating heights, distances, areas, solving geometrical and algebraic problems, music theory. At the back of the work are three additions: 1) pages of notes, probably by the copyist, about some of the works in the collection (f. 129r-137v), 2) an added commentary on Apollonius' Conics copied in a different hand (f. 139v-143r), 3) further notes. One folio in Persian (f. 71) is misplaced and should follow folio 78.
Summary of the branches of knowledge, including the Qurʼān, ḥadīth, and history of Islam; grammar, rhetoric, and logic; medicine, anatomy, and pharmacology; gems and talismans; agriculture and veterinary science; geometry, geodesy, weight, arithmetic, and algebra; music; astronomy, astrology, and magic; theology, ethics, and political science. Marginal notes in a later hand. Pages missing at beginning and end.
Collection of four early treatises on astrolabes and associated astronomical instruments, bound together with a bibliography of the works of Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā al-Rāzī (أبو بكر محمد بن زكريا الرازي).A table of contents appears on f. 1v.The scribe (of at least Item 5 [see colophon, f. 113r, to the left of lines 17-18]) is ‘Alī ibn Yūsuf ibn Marwān (علي بن يوسف بن مروان)A reader's note at the end of the first text (f. 36v, lines 6-7) is dated 683/1284-5 in the province of Dīyār Muḍar (ديار مضر) of the Jazīrah (in modern Syria, Turkey and Iraq).A waqfīyah seal and associated ownership inscription (f. 2r) makes it clear that the manuscript was endowded to the madrasah of the Mosque of Abū Ḥanīfah (here called مدرسة الإمام الأعظم) in the al-A‘ẓamīyah (الأعظمية) region of North Baghdad by Mi‘mārzādah Ḥusayn al-Anṣārī al-Qādirī (معمار زاده حسين الأنصاري القادري) in the year 1290/1873-74.Contents:(1) Abū al-Ṣalt (أبو الصلت),
Risālah fī al-‘amal bi-al-aṣṭurlāb(رسالة في العمل بالأصطرلاب; ff. 2r-36v);(2) al-Farghānī (الفرغاني),
al-Kāmil fī ṣan‘at al-asṭurlāb(الكامل في صنعة الأسطرلاب; ff. 37v-85r);(3)
Kitāb ‘aṣāh al-Ṭūsī wa-hūwa al-asṭurlāb al-khaṭṭī(كتاب عصاة الطوسي وهو الأسطرلاب الخطّي; ff. 86r-104v);(4) ‘Alī ibn ‘Īsá al-Asṭurlābī (علي بن عيسى الأسطرلابي),
al-‘Amal bi-al-ṣafīḥah al-jāmi‘ah al-ma‘rūfah bi-al-āfāqīyah(العمل بالصفيحة الجامعة المعروفة بالآفاقية; ff. 105r-107v);(5)
Fihrist kutub Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā al-Rāzī al-mutaṭabbib wa-aghrāḍiha(فهرست كتب محمد بن زكريا الرازي المتطبب وأغراضها; ff. 108v-113r).Codex; ff. ii+113+iiMaterial: Eastern laid paperDimensions: 235 x 165 mm leaf [180 x 125 mm written (ff. 2-85 and 108-113); 175 x 110 mm written (ff. 86-103)]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil; the second and third texts (ff. 38-104) are also foliated in Eastern Arabic numerals in red and black ink; there are unfoliated leaves between ff. 36 and 37, and 107 and 108Ruling:
Misṭarah; 19 to 21 lines per page (ff. 2-85 and 108-113) and 14 to 18 lines per page (ff. 86-103); vertical spacing 10 to 13 lines per 10 cm (ff. 2-85 and 108-113) and 9 to 11 lines per 10 cm (ff. 86-103)Script:
Naskh; the scribe (of at least Item 5 [see colophon, f. 113r, to the left of lines 17-18]) is ‘Alī ibn Yūsuf ibn Marwān (علي بن يوسف بن مروان)Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and tables and diagrams in redBinding: British Museum binding in red leather with gold toolingCondition: Some water damage and burn (?) marks on ff. 60-61; ff. 37-38 replaced with later paper; some edges torn and replacedMarginalia: Infrequent, mostly maghribī and mostly in first textSeals: F. 2r
Commentary by Quṭb al-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Mas‘ūd al-Shīrāzī (قطب الدين محمود بن مسعود الشيرازي; c 1236-1310) on the
Kitāb al-tadhkirah fī al-hay’ah(كتاب التذكرة في الهيئة; see British Library, MS Or. 11209) a treatise on the astronomical system presented in the
Almagestof Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus; c 90-c 168) by Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī (نصير الدين محمد بن محمد الطوسي; d. 1274).A Persian note on f. 1r claims that the manuscript is undoubtedly in the hand of Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī himself, but the extensive and hyperbolic eulogy for the author with which the text begins (see f. 2v, lines 2-4, transcribed below) argues against this.The text is divided into four books (أبواب), each subdivided into chapters (فصول), and occasionally further subdivided into smaller sections variously designated as مباحث ,أقسام and قوانين.Contents:'Book One: What must be introduced before attempting the aims [of the text], containing three chapters' (الباب الأول فيما يحتاج إلى تقديمه قبل الشروع في المقاصد وفيه ثلثة فصول, ff. 3r-7r);'Book Two: The arrangement, placements and movements of the simple bodies, and associated and related matters, containing sixteen chapters' (الباب الثاني في هيئة الأجرام البسيطة وأوضاعها وحركاتها وما يلزم منها وما يتعلق بها وفيه ستة عشر فصلًا, ff. 7r-131r);'Book Three: The arrangement of the Earth and its division into populated and empty [regions] et cetera on account of differences in the placements of the heavenly bodies and the like, containing thirteen chapters' (الباب الثالث في هيئة الأرض وقسمتها إلى العامر والغامر وما يلزمها بحسب اختلاف أوضاع العلويات ونحوه وهو ثلثة عشر فصلًا, ff. 113r-151r);'Book Four: Knowledge of the quantity of distances and (heavenly) bodies, containing three chapters' (الباب الرابع في معرفة مقادير الأبعاد والأجرام وفيه ثلثة فصول, ff. 151r-169v).The beginning of the text as preserved here differs from that of the copy of this text preserved in Add. MS 23393, f. 2v, but corresponds to that of Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī's
Final Understanding of the Congnizance of the Spheres(نهاية الإدراك في دراية الأفلاك) as preserved in Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Orientabteilung, MS Peterman I 674, f. 0a, lines 2-5 (see https://ismi.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/om4-ismi/public/publicWitness.jsp?eid=164549).The manuscript contains numerous diagrams and is defective at the end, with only a few words of the text's explicit visible on f. 169v, and almost nothing of the colophon legible.Begins (f. 2v, lines 2-4):قال مولاناس وأستاذنا أفضل الورى علامة العالم ملك فضلاء بني آدم قدوة المحققينسلطان العلماء في العالمين حجة الحق على الخلق أجمعين مفخر أفاضل الأنام مالك أزمة (؟)القضاة والحكام قطب الملة والحق والدين محمود بن مسعود الشيرازي أدام الله ظلال جلالهEnds (f. 169r, lines 19-21, defective at end, cf. Add. MS 23393, f. 177r, line 9ff):... ومزاولة الشواغل الدنيوية حتى القضاء والتدريس إذ والزمان زمانفهو بلاء وتلبيس جعله خدمة لمعمور خزانة المولى المعظم والمخدوم الأعظم وتحفة لعالىحضرته وأرجوا أن يقع ذلك من خادم حضرته موقع رضاه وهو سبحانه قادرCodex; ff. iii+172+iiiMaterial: Eastern laid paperDimensions: 165 x 120 mm leaf [120 x 90 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil; three slips of paper have been bound into the volume as ff. 95a, 156a, and 160aRuling: No ruling visible; 21 lines per page; vertical spacing 17 lines per 10 cmScript:
NaskhInk: Black ink, with diagrams and some overlinings in redDecoration: NoneBinding: Red leather binding with blind-tooled medallion, pendants and bordersCondition: Minor tidemarks towards beginning of volume, bleedtrough due to iron-gall inkMarginalia: Numerous towards beginning of volume, fewer thereafter, by more than one handSeals: f. 2r
Treatise on the use of the horizon plate (الآفاقية) by ‘Alī ibn ‘Īsá al-Asṭurlābī (علي بن عيسى الأسطرلابي; fl. 829-833).Text is defective at the end.Begins (f. 105r, lines 3-6):... أوّل ذلك معرفة الميلإذا أردت ذلك ومعرفة الميل فهذه الصفيحة فاقلب الصفيحة وانظر الدرجةالتي تريد ميلها فإن كان بينها وبين أوّل درجة من الحمل أقّل من ص درجةفاعمل بها وإن زادت على ص إلى قف فانقصها من قف واعمل بما يبقى ...Ends (f. 107v, lines 14-19):... معرفة مطالع البروج في الفلك المسقيم إذا أردت ذلكفضع رأس ذلك البرج الذي تريد أن تعرف مطالعه بالفلك المستقيمعلى قطر الصفيحة أيّ قطر أحببت وعلم على مري الأجزاء ثم اطلع ذلكالبرج إلى آخره عن ذلك القطر ثم انظ كم نال مري الأجزاء عن موضعةفما كان فهو مطالع ذلك البرج بالفلك المستقيم.معرفة مطالع البروج بالفلك المستقيم بعمل الجنوب التي في ظهر الصفيحةFf. 105r-107v
Earliest known Arabic treatise on the construction of the astrolabe, by Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Farghānī (أحمد بن محمد الفرغاني; fl. ca 820-860). This manuscript was erroneously dated to the 12th/19th century by Lorch (
Al-Farghānī On the Astrolabe[Munich: Franz Steiner, 2005], p. 17) perhaps on the basis of the first two leaves of the text (ff. 37 and 38), which are nineteenth-century replacements of lost leaves.The text contains sixty-two diagrams and tables:Geometric diagrams (ff. 39r, 40r, 41r, 42r, 42v, 44r, 45r, 45v, 47r, 47v, 49r, 50v, 52v, 53r and 55r);Twenty-five tables for the construction of an astrolabe (ff. 56r-68r);Rule (مسطرة) of astrolabe (f. 71v);Rete (شبكة) of astrolabe (f. 71v, 77r);Plate (صفيحة) of astrolabe (f. 73r, 74r and 74v);Location of diagram missing from exemplar noted (f. 80v);Mater (أم) of astrolabe (f. 76r and 76v, 79r and 81v, 83r and 84r).Begins (f. 37v, lines 2-4):قال أحمد بن محمد الفرغاني إن المتقدمّين من العلماء الحساب والنجومإنّما أدركوا علم حركات الفلك وما يعرض فيه بالمواظبة على النظر والقياسوكان أكثر ما استدلوا به من آلات المقاييس الآلة التي تسمّى ذات الحلقEnds (ff. 84v, line 20-85r, line 2):... وذلك ما لا يحتاج إلى أكثر منه وإن أحدًا إذا أرادأن يعمل الأسطرلاب لموضع من الأرض مما يجوز عرضه خمسين جزءًا إلى تسعين جزءًاففيما وصفنا لاسخراج ذلك من الجدول المفرد بهذا البابما يستدل به على كل ذلك بإذن الله تعالىColophon (f. 85r, lines 3-6):تم الكتاب بحمد الله وحسن التوفيق وصلاته علىجميع أنبيائه الكرام والحمد للهوحده عل نعمائهFf. 37v-85r