Abstract: Treatise on the drawing of magical squares (with numbers, letters, words, etc.) in three sections (lawḥ). This text is also attributed to Sharaf al-Dīn ʻAlī al-Yazdī (d. 858/1454).Binding note: Red leather over paper boards. Blind-stamped center and corner-pieces, with an outer frame consisting of two double-fillets.Ms. codex.Title from beginning of text (fol. 2a, l. 13).The name of the author appears at the beginning of the text (fol. 2a, l. 7) and in several squares, the latter in the form "ʻamal Yaʻqūb ibn Muḥammad ibn ʻAlī" or "ʻamal Yaʻqūb ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭāʼūsī". See fol. 59a, 66a, 67b, 70a.Physical description: 21 lines per page. Written in nastaʻlīq in black ink with use of red, with squares, tables and circles in red, black and yellow ink. A few tables are left blank. The text is framed within a gold, black and red border, with an outer frame made of a single blue fillet. Simple illuminated headpieces in red and gold on fol. 1b, 35b and 60b. Laid paper ; glossy.Incipit: حمدى بر وفق اعداد نا متناهى مقرون تسبيح افراد وازواج مكوّنات
Binding: Binding with flowers and arabesques, rich in gold.Fihrist: Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate WorldContents: Ḥusayn ibn Ismāʻīl Gāzurgāhī, Majālis al-ʻushshāq (ff. 1a-197a).Decoration: Illustrated with 74 miniature paintings.Hand: Excellent Nastaʻlīq.Record origin: Manuscript description based on: Beeston, A. F. L. (Alfred Felix Landon); Ethé, Hermann, 1844-1917; Sachau, Eduard, 1845-1930; Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstânî, and Pushtû manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford; at the Clarendon Press 1889-1953.
Abstract: "Anthology of letters and short textsAbstract: concerning historical events and important figures related to IranAbstract: and Khurasān in particular. The text starts with short notes mentioning events in the history of Iran from 992 to 1006 H. (fol. 1a-b)Abstract: followed by copies of lettersAbstract: and other short texts attributed to several important figures. The text also contains what appears to be letter models or samplesAbstract: some attributed to Mīr Rūḥ Allāh (fol. 30a)Abstract: and a Fatḥnāmah-i Khurāsān (fol. 5b). On fol. 402bAbstract: beginning of a text by ʻAbd al-Razzāq ibn Isḥāq al-Samarqandī (d. 887/1482; the author's name appears on fol. 403a)Abstract: incomplete at end. On fol. 413a-418b are several short texts written by another handAbstract: including two Fatḥnāmah and a letter."Binding note: Bound in dark red leather, with flap. The covers and flap have an outer frame consisting of a guilloche outlined by fillets in gold (faded on the covers). Brown leather doublure with a frame consisting of a single fillet.Ms. codex.Title from tail of text block.Physical description: 23 lines per page. Written in medium small nastaʻlīq in black ink with use of red. Dark cream laid paper; glossy.Origin: The copy is not dated.Incipit (fol. 1a): 992 در ين سال نواب سلطان حمزه ميرزا در قزوين قشلاق فرمودند ... 2أٔ صورة رقعة بخط مرحوم ميرزاكانى كه به ولد شهريارى كاشى نوشته دو كلمه كه حضرتIncipit (fol. 402b): بسم ... فتح صحايف انشا وابداع وشرح لطايف املا واختراع حمد وثناى بنشى بر كمال كه بر قلم زرين مثال ... 403أ ... وبعد چنين كويد فقير حقير طالب مكارم اخلاق عبد الرزاق بن اسحق السمرقندى باب الله عليهما كه چون حكمت كامله الهى ورحمت شامله نا متناهى اقتضا فرمود
Fihrist: Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate WorldHand: Nastaʻlīq.Record origin: Manuscript description based on: Beeston, A. F. L. (Alfred Felix Landon); Ethé, Hermann, 1844-1917.; Sachau, Eduard, 1845-1930; Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstânî, and Pushtû manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford; at the Clarendon Press 1889-1953
Abstract: Apparently autograph copy of a treatise in prose and verses on magic using numerals, astrology and the invocation of the names of God, comprising an introduction, seven chapters (bāb) and a conclusion (see description of content, fol. 7a). Incomplete at the beginning.Binding note: Upper and lower covers and envelope flap made of red leather over paper pasteboards. The upper and lower covers are similarly blind-tooled with a central mandorla and an outer frame made of several fillets, with small round stamps on the inner edge. The envelope flap has the same outer frame with a mandorla on its point. Doublure made of blue and yellow decorated paper.Contents: Bāb 1 : Dar ṭarīq waḍʻ aʻdād fard al-fard in table of contents, fol. 7a: Dar ṭarīq waḍʻ fard al-fard.Contents: Bāb 2 : Dar ṭarīq waḍʻ zawj al-zawj in table of contents: Dar ṭarīq zawj al-zawj.Contents: Bāb 3 : Dar ṭarīq waḍʻ zawj al-fard in table of contents: Dar ṭarīq zawj al-fard.Contents: Bāb 4 : Dar kayfīyat-i waḍʻ-i asmā dar alwāḥ bi-ṭarīq muḍmar kah ānrā taksīr-i kabīr khvānan In table of contents: ... dar ashkāl bi-ṭarīq ....Contents: Bāb 5 : Dar kayfiyat-i taksīr-i saghīr.Contents: Bāb 6 : Dar kayfiyat-i waḍʻ-i asmā dar ashkāl bi-ṭarīq muẓhar kah ānrā dhū al-kitābah khvānand.Contents: Bāb 7 : Dar sharf-i kawākib wa-sharḥ wa-kayfīyat-i aʻmāl-i ān.Ms. codex.Title from beginning of text (fol. 7a, l. 3).For the date 608 H. associated with the author, see fol. 1a, l. 2-3. al-Būnī (Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī, d. 622/1225) is quoted in the text. However Ḥajjī Khalīfah mentions a Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ilyās al-Ḥanafī, fl. 912/1506 or 7 (ed. Fluegel, vol. III, p. 190, no. 4872).15 lines per page. Poetry in two columns. Written in medium small naskh in black ink with use of red. Paper with laid lines visible (frame-ruled, 102 mm.). Contains magic squares and tables. A few marginal notes. Foliation using Arabic numerals (starts with "4" on fol. 2a). On fol. 175b : several inscriptions and magical tables. On a piece of paper pasted on the lower cover, inscription in Arabic: "(al-jafr al-ḥarfī) Miftāḥ al-maqāṣid bi-al-Fārisīyah qaṭʻ al-thaman al-kabīr al-masṭarah 15 khaṭṭ Fārisī katabahu Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ilyās sanah 609 (909 lā 609)".On the pastedown of the upper cover, small label with the inscription "12" in Arabic numerals ; label with the inscription: "ELS no. next line, in Arabic characters Miftāḥ al-maqāṣid next line, in Arabic characters fārisī next line, in Western numerals 909". Same label on the pastedown of the lower cover, adding "ELS no. 110".Copied by the author Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad Ibn Ilyās, on 4 Shawwāl 609 (colophon, fol. 175a). According to a label on the pastedown of the upper cover and a note on a paper pasted on the lower cover, this should be read as 909. This later date appears to be more likely.Incipit: كه مدّت بيست(؟) سال در اقطار عالم مسافرت كردم وبخدمت بسياري از كمال(؟) اولياExplicit: (الهى تا دانى بنرياد برس(؟
A Persian version of Book One of the
Elements(Στοιχεῖα; كتاب أقليدس [في الأصول]) by the mathematician Euclid of Alexandria (Εὐκλείδης; أقليدس; fl. 300 BC). The diagrams are collected on three fold outs (ff. 74r, 89r and 95r).Begins (f. 71v, lines 1-2:مقالهٔ اولى از كتاب اقليدس چهل وهفت شكل است ودر نسخهٔ ثابتچهل وهشت زيادهٔ يك شكل و ان شكل 2 است عادت چنان رفته استEnds (f. 94v, lines 6-7)... هشتم پس از نير قايمهٔ با شدوهسمين بود مراد ماff. 71v-95r
The volume comprises two manuscripts. The first (ff. 3-112) was the notebook of the Qudrat Allāh al-Marandī al-Ādharī, who copied into it thirteen alchmical texts between 919 AH/AD 1513 and 925 AH/AD 1519, first at Fez and then Damascus (see colophons on ff. 11r, 14r, 57r and 66r). The second (ff. 113r-159v) was copied in the 18th century, beginning with ff. 113r-158r copied in 1177 AH/AD 1764 by Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Mawṣūlī in Algiers (see colophon on f. 158v).The volume contains 16 alchemical texts:Anonymous,
Risālah nāfi‘ah fī ghāyat al-naf‘ wa-l-nafāsah lam yu‘raf muṣannifuhā(رسالة نافعة في غاية النفع والنفاسة لم يعرف مصنّفها) (ff. 3r-11r);Khālid ibn Yazīd al-Umawī (خالد بن يزيد الأموي),
Risālah li-Abī Hishām al-Amīr Khālid(رسالة لأبي هشام الأمير خالد ) (ff. 11v-14r);al-Ṣafadī, Khalīl ibn Aybak (الصفدي، خليل بن أيبك), Extract from
Kitāb al-Ghayth al-musjam fī sharḥ Lāmīyat al-ʿAjam(كتاب الغيث المسجم في شرح لامية العجم) (f. 14r);al-Ṭuġrāʾī, al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī (الطغرائي، الحسين بن علي),
Kitāb tarākīb al-anwār(كتاب تراكيب الأنوار) (ff. 14v-57r);Democritus (ذومقراطيس), Untitled alchemical treatise (ff. 57v-66r);Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (جابر بن حيان),
Ayn fuṣūl az ba‘z̤ kutub ustaẕ Jābir(اين فصول از بعض كتب أستاذ كبير جابر ) (ff.66v-67v);al-Rāzī, Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar (الرازي، فخر الدين محمد بن عمر), Selections from
Kitāb al-Mulakhkhaṣ(كتاب الملخص) concerning physics (ff. 67v-76b);al-Rāzī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā (الرازي، أبو بكر محمد بن زكريا), Selections from al-Rāzī’s
al-Kutub al-Ithná ‘asharah(الكتب الإثنى عشرة) (ff. 77r-91v);Ibn Waḥshīyah, Aḥmad ibn ‘Alī (ابن وحشية، أحمد بن علي), Extracts from
Kitāb fī Maʿrifat al-ḥajar(كتاب في معرفة الحجر) (ff. 91b-96b);Anonymous, Excerpts from a commentary on the poem of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Tammām al-ʿIrāqī (عبد العزيز ابن تمام العراقي) (ff. 96v-98r);Anonymous, Excerpts from a commentary on the alchemical poem
Shudhūr al-dhahab(شذور الذهب) (ff. 98r- 110v);al-Sayyid al-Sharīf al-Bukhārī al-Naqshabandī (السيد الشريف البخاري النقشبندي), Excerpts from the
Risālah fī al-Ṣināʿah al-falsafīyah(رسالة في الصناعة الفلسفية) (ff. 111r-112r);Anonymous, Cancelled page of Persian alchemical poetry (f. 112v);al-Maṣmūdī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad (المصمودي، محمد بن أحمد),
Kitāb al-Wāfī fī al-Tadbīr al-kāfī(كتاب الوافي في التدبير الكافي) (ff. 113r-158r);Anonymous, Fragment of a treatise on practical chemistry (f. 159r);Anonymous, Instructions for producing perfumes (f. 159v).Codex; ff. 159+iMaterial: PaperDimensions: 215 x 150 mm leaf [168 x 112 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil; Arabic foliation in the purple crayon typical of Lebanese bookdealers of the 19th centuryRuling:
Misṭarah; 19 lines per page; vertical spacing 11 lines per 10 cm (ff. 113r-158v: 29 lines per page; vertical spacing 17 lines per 10 cm)Script:
Naskhwith
nasta‘līqtendencies and some titles in
thuluth(ff. 113r-158v:
naskh)Scribes: Qudrat Allāh al-Marandī al-Ādharī (ff. 3r-112v) and Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Mawṣilī (ff. 113r-158v)Ink: Black ink, with rubricated, yellow and green headings and overlinings in red (ff. 113r-158v: black)Binding: British Museum bindingCondition: Some worm damage, foxing, and tears towards the fore edge. Folios 19, 21 and 24 have been replaced.Marginalia: Extensive marginal corrections, conjectures, glosses in Arabic and Persian and other evidence of collation and textual study (ff. 113r-158v: very few)
A collection of short extracts of poetry and prose in Perisan and Arabic on various topics related to the natural sciences. The extracts are attributed to such authorities and works as Sharaf al-Dīn ‘Alī Yazdī (شرف الدين علي يزدي, d. 1454; f. 5r), the
Optica(كتاب المناظر) of Euclid of Alexandria (Εὐκλείδης; أقليدس; fl. 300 BC; f. 6r, top); the
Majma‘ al-bayān(مجمع البيان) of Abū ‘Alī Faḍl ibn Ḥasan al-Ṭabarsī (أبو علي فضل بن حسن الطبرسي, d. 1153; f. 6r, lower left).The text is arranged in irregular columns and blocks on the pages, written horizontally, vertically and diagonally.Begins (f. 4v, right column, lines 1-2):سمن برى كه سيم حرف تام او عدويتكه مال آن عدد اور است اول وثانىEnds (f. 6r, left column, 10-12):فهو قوله التعالى ولا الليل سابق النهارأي قد سبقه النهار قالهالطبرسي في مجمعه 5Ff. 4v-6r
Folio 12v contains six lines of unpointed Arabic text entitled
'On ascertaining the distance between countries (في معرفة قدر المسافة بين البلدين)', and a diagram showing the orbit of the moon around the earth.Folio 13r contains a short and mostly unpointed Persian text attributed to Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī's (نصير الدين محمد بن محمد الطوسي; d. 1274), and a diagram.Ff. 12v-13r
Abstract: Leaf from the Manāfiʻ al-ḥayawān, with a miniature depicting two crows, one of which stands on a rock, and a fruiting tree in the background.Ms. leaf.Title from heading.Physical description: 13 lines per page; written in medium naskh in black on tan Arabic paper. Text framed in double red lines. Rubrication and catchwords. Heading in large, dark blue Kufic script. Lower outer corner repaired. On verso is a miniature measuring 110 x 96 mm.Origin: According to Moghadam, the leaf is from the late 13th century; likely from Iran.
Binding: Lacquered boards with floral decoration.Fihrist: Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate WorldDecoration: Carpet page, decorative borders, miniatures.Dimensions: 10 × 5⅝ in.Hand: Very distinct Nastaʻlīq.Record origin: Manuscript description based on: Beeston, A. F. L. (Alfred Felix Landon); Ethé, Hermann, 1844-1917; Sachau, Eduard, 1845-1930; Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindûstânî, and Pushtû manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford; at the Clarendon Press 1889-1953.
Compendium of short texts, extracts and notes on scientific and philosophical subjects, compiled by Aḥmad ibn Sulaymān Ghūjārātī (أحمد بن سليمان غوجاراتي; d. 1681), and completed in Dhū al-ḥijjah 1134/September-October 1722 (see note on f. 5r).The manuscript was later owned by the compiler's grandson, Muḥammad Riḍā ibn Ghulām Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Sulaymān (محمد رضا ابن غلام محمد بن أحمد بن سليمان), at Surat, who added ten lines of verse on 18 Ramaḍān 1141/17 April 1729 (see f. 250v, lines 11-14).Amongst the more lengthy and readily indentifiable contents are the following:(1) Extract from Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (قطب الدين الشيرازي),
Kitāb Nuzhat al-qulūb(كتاب نزهة القلوب) [Arabic] (f. 1v);(2) Extract from
Rabī‘ al-abrār(ربيع الأبرار) by al-Zamakhsharī (الزمخشري) [Arabic] (ff. 2r-2v);(3) Method for
istikhārah(استخارة) prayer [Persian] (f. 3v);(4) Collection of extracts, notes and riddles on various subjects [Persian and Arabic] (ff. 5v-19r);(5) Notes on the following text and other subjects [Persian and Arabic] (ff. 23v-25v);(6) al-Bīrūnī (البيروني),
Maqālah fī rāshīkāt al-hind(مقالة في راشيكات الهند) (ff. 26r-35v);(7) Abū Ja‘far al-Khāzin (أبو جعفرالخازن),
Burhān ākhar ‘alá al-shakl al-sābi‘ min kitāb Banī Mūsá(برهان آخر على الشكل السابع من كتاب بني موسى) [Arabic] (ff. 36r-39r);(8) Extracts from
Kitāb ṣanf fī fann al-rājī wa-laṭā’ifihi(كتاب صنف في فن الراجي ولطائفه),
Ta’rīkh Makkah(تأريخ مكّة) by Quṭb al-Khafī (قطب الخفي), and
Musurgia universalis(كتاب في الموسيقى; Rome: 1650) by Athanasius Kircher (أتهانازيوس كيرﭼروس الفرنكي) [Arabic and Persian] (ff. 39v-45b);(9) Extract from a treatise on trigonometry [Arabic] (ff. 46v-49r);(10) Banū Mūsá (بنو موسى),
al-Shakl al-sādis ‘ashr min Kitāb ma‘rifat misāḥat al-ashkāl al-basīṭah wa-al-kurīyah(الشكل السادس عشر من كتاب معرفة مساحة الأشكال البسيطة والكرية) [Arabic] (ff. 50r-52v);(11) Extracts on various geometrical subjects including a passage from the
De sphaera et cylindro(Περὶ σφαίρας καὶ κυλίνδρου; كتاب الكرة والأسطوانة) by Archimedes (أرشميدس), methods for determining the direction of the qiblah at Akbārābād and Burhānpūr, and an extract entitled
al-Risālah lil-kurah al-mutaḥarikah bi-ḥarikah dā’imah(الرسالة للكرة [!] المتحركة بحركة دائمة; perhaps
De sphaera quae movertur[Περὶ κινουμένης σφαίρας; كتاب الكرة المتحركة] by Autolycus of Pitane [Αὐτόλυκος ὁ Πιταναῖος; أوطولوقس]) [Arabic and Persian] (ff. 53r-57v);(12) Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (نصير الدين الطوسي),
Fī bayān annahu lā yumkin an yajtama‘ min ‘adadayn murabba‘ayn fardayn‘adad murabba‘(في بيان أنه لا يمكن أن يجتمع من عددين مربعين فردين عدد مربع) [Arabic] (f. 58r);(13) Two riddles by Bahā’ al-Dīn al-‘Āmilī (بهاء الدين العاملي) [Arabic] (ff. 76v-81r);(14) Bahā’ al-Dīn al-‘Āmilī (بهاء الدين العاملي)
Tashrīḥ al-aflāk[Arabic] (ff. 113v-123r);(15) Ḥusayn ibn Ibrāhīm al-Tankābanī (حسين بن إبراهيم التنكاباني),
Risālah fī ithbāt ḥudūth al-‘ālam(رسالة في إثبات حدوث العالم) [Arabic] (ff. 125r-128r);(16) Yazīd ibn Mu‘āwīyah (يزيد ابن معاوية),
Qaṣīdah mīmīyah(قصيدة ميمية) [Arabic] (ff. 131r-131v and 146r);(17) Extract from the Fifth Treatise (رسالة) of the Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ (إخوان الصفاء) on music [Arabic] (ff. 140v-142v);(18) Archimedes (أرشميدس),
Kitāb fī qismat shakl samāhu bil-sīṭumāshīyūn(كتاب في قسمة شكل سماه بالسيطماشيون) [Arabic] (ff. 143r-145r);(19) Treatise on
tawḥīd(توحيد) by Muḥammad Afḍal al-Dīn (محمد أفضل الدين) [defective at end; Arabic] (ff. 184r-191r);(20) Qusṭā ibn Lūqā (قسطا بن لوقا),
Maqālah fī al-burhān ‘alá ḥisāb al-khaṭā’ayn[Arabic] (مقالة في البرهان على حساب الخطائين) (ff. 191r-194r);(21) Extract from the
al-Muḥallá(المحلّى) by Ibn Ḥazm (ابن حزم) [Arabic] (ff. 225r-228v);(22) Extract from a work by Bahā’ al-Dīn al-‘Āmilī (بهاء الدين العاملي) concerning density [Arabic] (f. 233r);(23) A qaṣīdah by Khālid ibn Ṣawān Fayyāḍ (خالد بن صفوان فياض) known as
al-‘Arūs(العروس) [Arabic] (ff. 234r-241r);(24) Bahā’ al-Dīn al-‘Āmilī (بهاء الدين العاملي), the conclusion (خاتمة) from the
Khulāṣat al-ḥisāb(خلاصة الحساب) [Arabic] (ff. 249r-250r);(25) Ten lines of verse by Muḥammad Riḍā ibn Ghulām Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Sulaymān (محمد رضا ابن غلام محمد بن أحمد بن سليمان) [Arabic] (f. 250v).Codex; ff. ii+250+iMaterial: PaperDimensions: 195 x 130 mm leaf [135 x 85 mm written]Foliation: Eastern Arabic foliation in black ink; India Office foliation in Western Arabic numerals stamped in black inkRuling:
Misṭarah; average of 17 lines per page; vertical spacing 13 lines per 10 cmScript:
Naskh; the scribe is Aḥmad ibn Sulaymān Ghūjārātī (أحمد بن سليمان غوجاراتي)Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and occasional overlinings in redBinding: British Museum binding with leather from previous cover pasted to front and back of current bindingCondition: Very minor worm damageMarginalia: Numerous by hand of compiler