Tuḥfat al-ṭullāb fī sharḥ nuzhat al-ḥussāb تحفة الطلاب في شرح نزهة الحسّاب Ibn Imām al-Naḥḥāsīyah, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad إمام النحّاسية، محمد بن أحمد

Content

A commentary on the Nuzhat al-ḥussāb fī ‘ilm al-ḥisāb (نزهة الحُسّاب في علم الحِساب; see f. 1v, line 21), a treatise on arithmetic and ḥisāb al-ghubār, or calculation by means of a dust covered board (تخت), by Shihāb al-Dīn Abū ‘Abbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Imād al-Qarāfī, known as Ibn al-Hā’im al-Maqdisī al-Shāfi‘ī (شهاب الدين أبو العباس أحمد بن محمد ابن عماد القرافي المشهور بابن الهائم المقدسي الشافعي; see f. 2r, lines 1-4; d. 1412).

Ibn al-Hā’im abridged this treatise from his own work, the al-Murshidah fī ṣinā‘at al-ghubār (المرشدة في صناعة الغبار). The title page (f. 1r) gives the name of the commentary's author as Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ayyūb, known as Ibn Imām al-Naḥḥāsīyah al-Shāfi‘ī (أبو الفضل محمد بن أحمد بن أيوب الشهير بابن إمام النحّاسية الشافعي; fl. c 1485).

The author tells us that he began writing his commentary on 7 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 889 (26 December 1484) and completed it a year later on 7 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 890 (15 December 1485; see ff. 98v, line 18-99r, line 12).

A short and mostly illegible bibliographical note in German and Arabic has been bound into the end of the volume (f. 100r). It was presumably written by Baron von Kremer, who sold the manuscript to the British Library in 1886.

There are three reading certificates (سماعات) on f. 99v (see Custodial History).

Begins (f. 1v, line 2-7):

الحمد لله سريع الحساب جزيل الثواب شديد العقاب

ذي الطول لا اله إلّا هو البرء التواب أحمده حمد من فوض

إليه وأناب وأشكره شكر من رفع عنه الحجاب وأشهد أن لا

اله إلّا الله وحده لا شريك له المنعم الواهب شهادة أعدها

ليوم العرض على رب الأرباب وأشهد أن سيدنا محمد أعبده

ورسوله ...

Ends (f. 99r, line 21-99v, line ):

... فالنفع به إن شاء الله تعالى حاصل

لا محالة فليتفطن لهذه الواقعة الغريبة من له غرض في تحصيل

العلوم وليفرغ فيه عته ليفول (؟)

بالمنطوق من ه والمفهوم

إن شاء الله تعالى

والحمد لله

رب

العالمين وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. i+100+ii

Physical characteristics

Material: Paper

Dimensions: 180 x 135 mm leaf [120 x 95 mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil

Ruling: Misṭarah ; 21 lines per page; vertical 17 spacing lines per 10 cm

Script: Naskh

Ink: Black ink, with rubrications, and overlinings and diagrams in red

Binding: Red morocco leather Islamic binding with envelope flap; both covers have a blind-tooled mandorla medallion with pendants and double frames of two fillets; flap has single border only of two fillets; inside flap has doublure of marbled paper and blue paper

Condition: Minor water damage and foxing

Marginalia: Marginal notes by many hands

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Or 3129

History of this record

Date(s)

16th century (CE, Gregorian)

Context of creation

Damascus?

Provenance

• ‘Alī ibn Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Ṭarāblusī then al-Dimashqī al-Ḥanafī (علي بن ناصر الدين الطرابلسي ثمّ الدمشقي الحنفي), d. 980 AH/AD 1572-3, imāṃ and muwwaqit (time-keeper) of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus: ownership note naming him (f. 1r);
• Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Ṭarāblusī (ناصر الدين الطرابلسي), father of owner mentioned above, b. 917 AH/AD 1511-12, d. 13 (or 23) Ramaḍān 989/11 (or 21) October 1581: short biographical note (f. 1r);
• At least three other ownership inscriptions, erased or illegible (f. 1r);
• Reading certificate (سماع), written by ‘Alī ibn Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Ṭarāblusī then al-Dimashqī al-Ḥanafī (علي بن ناصر الدين الطرابلسي ثمّ الدمشقي الحنفي), d. 980 AH/AD 1572-3, imām and muwwaqit (time-keeper) of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, dated end Ramaḍān 978/late February 1571, recording reading sessions with the two sons of the learned shaykh Mullā Muḥammad al-Ḥanafī al-Baghdādī (ولدي الشيخ الفاضل محمد ملا الحنفي البغدادي) in collaboration with (بشركة) the learned shaykh and ascetic Mullā Khaḍrī al-Kurdī (الشيخ الفاضل الزاهد ملا خضري الكردي) and the learned shaykh Maḥmūd ibn al-Sakkarī (?) al-Baghdādī al-Ḥanbalī (الشيخ الفاضل محمود السكري البغدادي أيضًا الحنبلي) (f. 99v);
• Reading certificate (سماع), written by ‘Alī ibn Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Ṭarāblusī then al-Dimashqī al-Ḥanafī (علي بن ناصر الدين الطرابلسي ثمّ الدمشقي الحنفي), d. 980 AH/AD 1572-3, imām and muwwaqit (time-keeper) of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, dated end Ramaḍān 981/late January 1574 (NB: this conflicts with the death date given for this person in the note on f. 1r), recording reading sessions with Shams al-Dīn ibn al-‘Ijjī al-Ḥalabī al-Shāfi‘ī (شمس الدين بن العجي الحلبي الشافعي) (f. 99v);
• Reading certificate (سماع), written by ‘Alā’ al-Dīn ibn Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Ṭarāblusī al-Ḥanafī (علاء الدين بن ناصر الدين الطرابلسي الحنفي), imāṃ of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, dated mid Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1008/late June 1600, recording reading sessions held over many days at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and at the home of certificate's writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. with Muḥammad Shams al-Dīn ibn Ḥusayn al-Fihād al-Ḥanafī (محمد شمس الدين بن حسين الفهاد الحنفي), preacher and imām (خطيب وإمام) at the Mosque of Murād Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. (جامع مراد باشا) in the Suwayqah district (محلة السويقة) of Damascus (f. 99v).

Immediate source of acquisition

Purchased from Baron von Kremer, 9 January 1886

Related material

Finding aids

Rieu, Charles, Supplement to the Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts (London: The British Museum, 1894), Item 752, pp. 510-11

Subjects

Arithmetic -- Early works to 1900

People & organisations

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad Ibn al-Hāʼim

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Tuḥfat al-ṭullāb fī sharḥ nuzhat al-ḥussāb تحفة الطلاب في شرح نزهة الحسّاب Ibn Imām al-Naḥḥāsīyah, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad إمام النحّاسية، محمد بن أحمد, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Or 3129, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023321246.0x000001> [accessed 18 April 2024]

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