The so-called 'Cambridge Tafsir' is the oldest extant copy of a Persian Qur'ānic commentary, written in 628 A.H. / 1231 C.E., as stated in the colophon. The first volume has not survived and this manuscript contains only the second part of the work, beginning with the Surah Maryam. The manuscript belonged to the Dutch Orientalist Thomas Erpenius Erpenius, Thomas, 1584-1624 .Layout: 21 lines to the pageScript: Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Fatḥ al-Faqīḥ al-Gharīb Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Fatḥ al-Faqīḥ al-Gharīb محمد بن ابي الفتح الفقيه الغريب
Khulāṣat al-ikhtiṣāṣ fī maʻrifat al-qūwā wa-al-khawāṣṣ Contains Ibn al-Raqqām’s Kitāb khulāṣat al-ikhtiṣāṣ fī ma‘rifat al-qūwā wa’l-khawāṣṣ [Compendium of competence in knowing faculties and characteristics], preceded by an anonymous poem on agriculture. As stated in the incipit, Ibn al-Raqqām’s treatise is an abridgement of Ibn Waḥshīya Ibn Waḥshīyah, Aḥmad ibn ʻAlī, 9th cent. ’s Al-Filāḥa al-Nabaṭīya. The work consists of an agricultural tract in fifteen chapters, and an account of 309 plants, with their actions and properties, which are listed and numbered in the table of contentsLayout: 23 linesScript: Clear Naskh, black inkAdditions: Catchwords in the interior bottom-margin of versos marginalia Marginal commentaries in black ink marginalia Numbers referring to the index of plants written in red ink in the margins of ff. 30v-118v
This Aljamiado manuscript contains a compendium of Islamic law written by Baray de Reminjo with the help of a young scholar known as Mancebo de Arévalo. The treatise was composed in Spain in the third decade of the XVI century. A Latin note at the top of the first page states that the manuscript was given as a gift from Engelbertus van Engelen to Henry Sike in 1703.Layout: 23 lines to the page
A richly illuminated and almost complete copy of the Shahnamah with less than a page missing of its prose introduction, probably copied in the 16th/17th Century C.E. The drop-shaped Golkonda seal on the first page appears to be that of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, Sultan of Golkunda, 1565-1612 Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, Sultan of Golkunda, 1565-1612 with the date 1012 [1603/4 C.E.] and a later inscription dated 1091 [1610/11 C.E.]. There is no indication of when the manuscript was completed and no mention of its place of production. The ex libris on the first page is signed by Chas Wilkins, librarian of the East India Company with the date 15th August 1806, which indicates the manuscript's provenance. The double page frontispiece depicting Sulayman enthroned and Bilqis enthroned is followed by a luxuriously executed double page illumination in gold and polychrome [2v, 3r], which ornates the beginning of the introduction and also includes an ex libris of a royal library. The following eleven miniatures found in the text suggest an unusual choice of scenes and depict in order of their appearance: Kayumars enthroned, Guruy executing Siyavusha, Kay Khusrau appointing Tus to lead an expedition to Turan, Kamus fighting Giv and Tus, a full scale battle between the armies of Iran and Turan, Rustam rescuing Bizhan from the pit, Luhrasp enthroned, Isfandiyar's second labour: fighting the lions, Rustam killing Shaghad before dying and Bahram Gur killing a dragon in India. The manuscript is bound in multi-coloured leather with gilded medallions and ornations on the front and back cover and on the flap. This item was included in the Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition Lines of Thought: Discoveries that changed the world .Layout: The text of the poem is written in 4 columns, 25 linesBinding: A multicoloured leather binding with gilded medallions and ornations. The spine was a later addition during a restoration in the 19th Century. The binding was restored in 1999-2002, when the codex underwent a throrough restoration and conservation in Cambridge University Library's Conservation Department by Kristine Rose and Deborah Farndell.
Isaac b. Solomon ibn al-Aḥdab b. Ṣaddiq Sefardi's The Epistle of the Number was composed at the end of the 14th century after Isaac settled in Syracuse, Sicily, and this is the only known copy of the work. The Epistle is a translation and enlargement of the famous Talḵīṣ ʿAmal al-Ḥisāb ('A summary of the operations of calculation', 13th century) by the Moroccan Muslim mathematician Ibn al-Bannā ابن البنّاء and it is especially notable in being the first known treatise in Hebrew to include extensive algebraic theories and operations. The Epistle attests novel mathematical vocabulary and enhances our linguistic understanding of the mechanisms that helped create the scientific vocabulary of Medieval Hebrew. The work proper begins on f.1v, with an explanation of how Isaac came to compose the Epistle. Book 1, arithmetical operations on integers, fractions and roots is on ff.1v–25r, and consists of three parts: part 1, arithmetical operations on integers; part 2, arithmetical operations on fractions; and part 3, arithmetical operations on the roots of expressible (rational) and inexpressible (irrational) quantities. Book 2, the rules which enable us to obtain the unknown from the given known, is on ff.27r–38v, and also consists of three parts: part 1, proportions and scales; part 2, the algebraic operations of restoration and operation; part 3, solution of problems of a practical nature by methods of algebra. The last words in part 3, on folio 38v, are 'another example', thus the manuscript is truncated. First words and headings are written in larger, bolder script; some words and the numerals in calculations are rubricated. There are tables with both Hebrew and Arabic numerals, as well as diagrams. There are occasional marginal calculations in a different hand, e.g., f.6r, as well as manicules, e.g., f.7v. Diagrams include the place-value numerical system with zero and Hindu-Arabic numerals, f.2r; various scales, ff.25v–26v; and multiplication tables of algebraic expressions, f.34v. Unrelated to the Epistle, f. 1r describes a mathematical problem, with a diagram of two birds sitting on two towers of unequal height, and referring to Elijah Mizraḥi אליה המזרחי in the last line. Various elaborate signatures and owners' marks follow in the lower half of the leaf, including the name Judah Eli יאודה עלי.Condition: Slightly affected by damp, a few pages show evidence of ink corrosion.Layout: Written in one column with 37-38 lines per page.
A late African copy of the Dalāʼil al-khayrāt, a 'manual' composed of blessings and prayers for everyday life and in particular for the pilgramige to Mecca. Partly composed of selections from the Qur`an and sayings of the prophet, the original work is attributed to the Sufi Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Jazūlī (d. 1465 CE), who lived in in Marrocco . This text has been copied by hand throughout the Islamic world from North West Africa to South East Asia until the last century, with many copies containing illuminations and illustrations. The present manuscript is an example of an originally unbound copy, held together by a string, which is attached to the cardboard cover, probably self made or comissioned by the last owner of the book. The text is clear and in the right order. Not containing illustration, it is an evidently used copy, bearing witness of a tradition of manuscript production common to its region of descent.Layout: 106 59Script: African script in brown ink; vocalization in red ink
This manuscript contains al-Makkūdī (d. 1404)'s commentary on one of the most popular Arabic grammatical works, the Alfīyah of Ibn Mālik, Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd Allāh, d. 1274 Ibn Mālik (d. 1274) . The exceptional importance of this manuscript resides in the fact that it has preserved marginalia and commentaries written by its owner, Erpenius, Thomas, 1584-1624 Thomas Erpenius , Dutch Orientalist and author of the first scientific grammar of Arabic written in Europe. The Arabic text of al-Makkūdī is interleaved with folios containing Erpenius annotations, which provide important information about the way Arabic was studied in Modern Europe, and also about Erpenius' relationship with the Morisco Aḥmad ibn Qāsim al-Ḥājarī, with whom he read al-Makkūdī's work.Layout: 28 lines to the pageScript: Main text in Maghribi script in brown ink. Marginal notes in European nask, brown ink.
Contains the only extant copy of al-Māturīdī's Kitāb al-tawḥīd. This treatise discusses the opinions of different religious groups -both Muslim and non-Muslim- on a variety of theological issues, with especial attention to the polemics concerning the attributes of God.Layout: 21 lines to the page
Manuscript of Niẓāmī's Khamsah containing his five major poems: Makhzan al-Asrār, Khusraw va Shīrīn, Laylà va Majnūn, Haft Paykar, and Iskandarʹnāmah. The manuscript is lavishly illuminated with thirty illustrations painted in Indian style, and has fully decorated headpieces marking the beginning of each poem. The manuscript is undated, but it was probably copied in the 11th century A.H. / 17th century C.E.Layout: 17 lines, 4 columns to the pageScript: Clear Indian Taʿlīq
A richly illuminated 16th Century [CE] copy of the Persian version of Qazwini's ʻAjāʼib al-makhlūqāt wa-gharāʼib al-mawjūdāt, "The marvels of creation and the oddities of existence", commonly known as "The cosmography of Qazwini".. The text is structured according to a hierarchical cosmological order, with the celestial spheres, incorporating the fixed stars, the 12 signs of the Zodiac, stellar constellations and the surrounding spheres, which make up the observable celestial phenomena, followed by the invisible phenomena, the "Guardians of the Kingdom of God" and other angels, and the division of time and calendars. In the second section of the work the elemental division of the sublunar sphere is classified into the four elements fire, wind, water and earth. The seas, oceans and islands including their inhabitants, are governed by Water, while Earth contains the mountains, wells, rivers, minerals, plants and the animal kingdom, including human beings and their cultures. Numerous illustrations of commonly known mammals, birds, insects and reptiles can be found, along with strange beings, which conclude the text.Layout: 17 lines to the pageAdditions: A description of the manuscript on 243r in Latin signed by Saloman Negri Saloman Negri
This work is a gloss on the second part of Ḥall mushkilāt al-Ishārāt , that is, 'The Resolution of difficult issues in the Ishārāt' , which is a commentary by Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d.1274) on the Ishārāt wa-al-tanbīhāt (“Pointers and Reminders”) by Avicenna (d.428/1037) Avicenna, 980-1037 , in response to the commentary on the same work by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1209) Rāzī, Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʻUmar, 1149 or 50-1210 الرازي، فخر الدين محمد بن عمر . Avicenna’s original work is divided into two parts; the first part which deals with logic consists of ten chapters called nahj (a path) نهج and the second part is also divided into ten chapters called namaṭ (a mode or manner of acting)نمط. Being the last philosophical compendium of Avicenna, the Ishārāt received special attention by later Avicennian philosophers, as is evidenced by a great number of commentaries and glosses written on this work from the 6/12th century onward. Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī’s commentary created a platform for more sophisticated discussions. The present gloss can be attributed to Quṭb al-Shīrāzī (d. 1310 or 11), a pupil of Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d. 1274). This manuscript is a gloss on Ṭūsī, Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad, 1201-1274 Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī الطوسي، ناصر الدين محمد بن محمد 's commentary, and not a commentary by him (as the title page would have it), most probably by his well-known student Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d.710/1311) or by one of his students. This anonymous collated manuscript, copied in Cairo in Ramaḍān 760/1359 by an Iranian scribe in an informal serifless taʿlīq script, appears to be unique (so far no other copy of this text has been located). It provides yet another proof of the importance of the text of Avicenna not only in Iran but also in the Arab world.Layout: 21 lines to the pageScript: A very early example of taʿlīq scriptAdditions: Catchwords on every verso pageBinding: Rebacked old full-leather Islamic binding with small central decoration (Mamlūk?)
This manuscript bearing the title al-Mughnī fī al-Ṭibābah contains a medical work written by the physician Hibat Allāh ibn al-Ḥusayn (d. 1101) commonly entitled al-Mughnī fī tadbīr al-amrāḍ wa-maʿrifat al-ʿilal wa-al-aʿrāḍ. The treatise, which was dedicated to the caliph al-Muqtadī (d. 1094), classifies a number of diseases according to the part of the body they affected, describing their causes, symptoms and treatments in an original three column display. The date in the colophon of the manuscript is obliterated, but several ownership statements provide a terminus ante quem in the second half of the sixth century A.H / twelfth century C.E.Layout: 22 lines to the page. Main text written in one column and three columns to list disease المرض, cause السبب and symptom العرض