Maqālah fī istikhrāj irtifā‘ al-quṭb ‘alá ghāyat al-taḥqīq مقالة في استخراج ارتفاع القطب على غاية التحقيق Alhazen ابن الهيثم، الحسن بن الحسن

Content

A short treatise describing a geometrical method for precisely determining latitude by Abū ‘Alī al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan known as Ibn al-Haytham (أبو علي الحسن بن الحسن known as ابن الهيثم, d c 1039). The Arabic text is accompanied by a Latin translation produced by Jacobus Golius (1596-1667) in 1643 (f. 7v).

The text were copied on 2 February 1646 in Leiden by Nicolaus Petri of Aleppo (نقلاوس بن بطرس; see title page, f. 1r). The Arabic text was presumably copied from Leiden MS Or. 14 (see Witkam, Inventory of the Oriental Manuscripts of the Library of the University of Leiden, vol. 1, 2007, pp. 19-20), and the text of Golius' Latin translation is said to have been copied from a manuscript owned by the mathematician Samuel Keihel (see title page to the Latin text, f. 7v).

The title page to the Arabic text (f. 1r) reads:

2 Febr. st. n. 1646

Leidae hoc descripsit

Nicolaus Petri

Aleppensis

cuius ms. versio addita est à

clariss. viro Dno Jacobo

Golio, et à me descrita

iuxta exemplar Dni Samuelis

Keihelii mathematici

ingeniosissimi

The title page to the Latin text (f. 7v) reads:

Tractatus

Hazeni Hei-

temidae Arabis

De accuratè invenienda

Elevatione

Poli

ex Arabico in Lati-

num conversus a

clariss. viro

Iacobo Golio

Profess. mathem. in Aca-

dem. Lugd. Bat.

Anno 1643

The texts have two diagrams each (ff. 5v, 6v, 10v, and 11v).

Contents:

1) Ibn al-Haytham (ابن الهيثم), Maqālah fī istikhrāj irtifā‘ al-quṭb ‘alá ghāyat al-taḥqīq (مقالة في استخراج ارتفاع القطب على غاية التحقيق; ff. 2r-7r)

2) Jacobus Golius, Tractatus Hazeni Heitemidae arabis de accuratè invenienda elevatione poli (ff. 7v-12r).

Arabic text begins (f. 2r, lines 2-6):

مقالة للحسن بن الحسين (!) بن الهيثم في استخراج ارتفاع القطب

على غاية التحقيق ليس واحد من المعاني السماوية المدركة بالإرصاد

يستغني في رصده عن استعمال ارتفاع القطب عن أفق

موضع الرصد ولا يتم وجود الحركات السماوية إلا بالآلات وبتحقيق

وضعها على الأفق ...

Arabic text ends (f. 7r, lines 8-17):

... فالساعات التي توخذ من البنكام

تكون محققة والساعات التي تستخرج من الارتفاع ومن موضع الكوكب

غير متيقن فالزمان الذي يستخرج بالحساب من ارتفاع الكوكب

ليس يكون محققًا ولا موثوقًا بصحّته فهذا الذي بيناه هو الطريق

إلى معرفة ارتفاع القطب على

غاية التحقيق وذلك ما قصدنا

في هذه المقالة تمت

والحمد لله رب

العالمين

تم

Latin text begins (f. 8r, lines 1-7):

Heitemidae seu Al-

hazeni Tractactus de accuratè

invenienda elevatione poli.

Rerum astronamicarum, quae qui-

dem per observationes indagari solent, vix utlae (!)

quae ad hoc ipsuim non requirat Altitudinem Po-

li ...

Latin text ends (f. 12r, lines 21-26):

Cum itaque locus stellae certus et accuratus haberi nequeat, nec

tempus ex altitudine stellae computandum certò ac praecisè

definiri potest. Atque haec quidem ad cognoscendam ac-

curatiorem Elevationem Poli nobis declaranda

fuerunt.

Finis

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. xxvii+12+ii

Physical characteristics

Material: Paper

Dimensions: 250 x 150 mm leaf [164 x 110 mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil; pagination in black ink; front papers are paginated in balck ink pp. 946-993, but not continuously or in order

Ruling: Margins ruled, but not lines; 25 lines per page and vertical spacing 16 lines per 10 cm (Arabic); 32 lines per page and vertical spacing 21 lines per 10 cm (Latin)

Script: Naskh ; the scribe is Nicolaus Petri (نقلاوس بن بطرس) of Aleppo

Ink: Black ink, with one book title in red (f. 8r)

Binding: British Museum binding

Condition: Excellent condition; some bleed-through of ink, minor foxing

Marginalia: Three marginal correction by hand of scribe (ff. 4r, 6r and 11r)

Seals: None

Written in

Arabic and Latin in Latin and Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Western Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Sloane MS 3034

History of this record

Date(s)

2 Feb 1646 (CE, Gregorian)

Context of creation

Leiden

Related material

Finding aids

Cureton, William and Charles Rieu, Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum orientalium qui in Museo Britannico asservantur. Pars secunda, codices arabicos amplectens (London: The British Museum 1846-71), Item 404, p. 191

Related primary sources

Leiden, MS Or. 14

Select Bibliography

Sezgin, Fuat, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums , vol. 5 (Leiden: Brill, 1974). p. 366

Witkam, Jan Just, Inventory of the Oriental Manuscripts of the Library of the University of Leiden , vol. 1 (Leiden: Ter Lugt: 2007) pp. 19-20

Subjects

Geometry--Early works to 1800

People & organisations

AlhazenJacobus Golius

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Maqālah fī istikhrāj irtifā‘ al-quṭb ‘alá ghāyat al-taḥqīq مقالة في استخراج ارتفاع القطب على غاية التحقيق Alhazen ابن الهيثم، الحسن بن الحسن, British Library: Western Manuscripts, Sloane MS 3034, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000653.0x0002dc> [accessed 19 April 2024]

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