Taḥrīr kitāb uṣūl al-handasah wa-al-ḥisāb تحرير كتاب أصول الهندسة والحساب Euclid أقليدس Ṭūsī, Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad طوسي، نصير الدين محمد بن محمد

Content

Arabic version of the fundamental introduction to geomentry, the Elements (Στοιχεῖα; الأصول) by the mathematician Euclid of Alexandria (Εὐκλείδης, أقليدس; fl. 300 BC), in the annotated edition (تحرير) of Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī (نصير الدين محمد بن محمد الطوسي; d. 1274). The edition was completed on 22 Sha‘bān 646/10 December 1248 (see f. 216v, line 10, transcribed below).

The text is divided into fifteen books (مقالات), the last two of which (Books 14 and 15) are correctly said not to have been written by Euclid, and al-Ṭūsī attributes both to the astronomer and mathematician Hypsicles of Alexandria (Ὑψικλῆς, إبسقلاوس; fl. first half of 2nd century BC).

The copy was completed on 15 Rabī‘ II 656/21 April 1258 by an anonymous scribe (see scribe's colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. , f. 216v, lines 12-13, transcribed below). Although al-Ṭūsī did not die until 1274, the scribe clearly believed he was already dead as indicated by the use of the phrase 'may God sanctify his soul and illuminate his tomb (قدس الله روحه ونور ضريحه; see title page, f. 2r and f. 216v, line 9, both transcribed below)'.

The text contains numerous diagrams.

Title page (f. 2r):

كتاب أوقليدس

تحرير المولى الإمام العلامة سلطان الحكماء المدققين نصير

الحق والملة والدين قدس الله روحه ونور ضريحه

Contents:

• Book One (المقالة الأولى, ff. 2v-38r);
• Book Two (المقالة الثانية, ff. 38r-48r);
• Book Three (المقالة الثالثة, ff. 48r-66v);
• Book Four (المقالة الرابعة, ff. 66v-77v);
• Book Five (المقالة الخامسة, ff. 77v-89v);
• Book Six (المقالة السادسة, ff. 89v-107r);
• Book Seven (المقالة السابعة, ff. 107r-117v);
• Book Eight (المقالة الثامنة, ff. 117v-126r);
• Book Nine (المقالة التاسعة, ff. 126r-134r);
• Book Ten (المقالة العاشرة, ff. 134r-163v);
• Book Eleven (المقالة الحادية عاشر, ff. 163v-182r);
• Book Twelve (المقالة الثانية عاشر, ff. 182r-194v);
• Book Thirteen (المقالة الثالثة عاشر, ff. 194v-208r);
• Book Fourteen (المقالة الرابعة عاشر, ff. 208r-214r);
• Book Fifteen (المقالة الخامسة عاشر, ff. 214r-216v);

Begins (f. 2v, lines 2-4):

الحمد لله الذي منه الابتداء وإليه الانتهاء وعنده حقائق الأنباء وهذه ما [...]

الأشياء وصلواته على محمد وآله الأصفياء وبعد فلما فرغت من تحرير المجسطي [...]

أن أحرر كتاب أصول الهندسة والحساب المنسوب إلى أوقليدس الصوري ...

Ends (f. 216v, lines 6-11):

وإذ قد وفقني الله تعالى في تحرير هذا

الكتاب حسب ما قصد به فلأختم الكلام

بحمد الله خير موفق ومعين وفرغ المصنف

من تحريره قدس الله روحه ونور ضريحه

في 22 شعبان المبارك سنة 646 هجرية

والحمد لله رب العالمين

Colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. (f. 216v, lines 12-15):

وكان الفراغ من نسخه ومقابلته على نسخة الأصل في خامس عشر

ربيع الآخر سنة 656 رحمه الله ورحم من رحم عليه

والحمد لله رب العالمين وصلواته على سيدنا محمد وآله أجمعين وسلم تسليمًا

وبالله التوفيق

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. iii+216+iii

Physical characteristics

Material: Paper

Dimensions: 165 x 127 mm leaf [112 x 83 mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil

Ruling: Misṭarah (?); 17 lines per page; vertical spacing 15 lines per 10 cm

Script: Naskh

Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings, punctuation and diagrams in red

Binding: Morocco leather Islamic binding without flap; blind tooled medallion, pendants and borders on both boards

Condition: Slight waterstains, f. 2 mutilated and repaired, some small tears repaired

Marginalia: Many notes by various hands; one in Syriac (f. 43r) and one in Karshūnī (f. 78r)

Seals: Ff. 2r, 4r, 38r, 48r, 66v, 77v, 89v, 107r, 117v, 126r, 134r, 163v, 182r, 194r, 194v, 208r, 214r and 216r

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Add MS 23387

History of this record

Date(s)

15 Rabī‘ II 656 (AH, Hijri qamari)

Immediate source of acquisition

Purchased from Mrs Taylor, April 1860

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 1334, pp. 618-19

Select Bibliography

Editions and partial editions:

• Euclid, Kitāb taḥrīr uṣūl li-Ūqlīdis min ta’līf Khwājah Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī. Euclidis Elementorum geometricorum libri tredecim ex traditione doctissimi Nasiridini Tusini nunc primum Arabicè impressi , (Romæ: In Typographia Medicea, 1594)
• Euclid, Kitāb taḥrīr al-Ūqlīdis lil-Ṭūsī. Sittat maqālāt min kitāb Taḥrīr al-Uqlīdis. Tarjamah-i shish maqālah-i kitāb-i taḥrīr-i Uqlīdi s (Kalkatah: Hindustani Press, 1824)
• Euclid, Kitāb taḥrīr uṣūl Ūqlīd is ta’līf Khūjah Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī , (Fās: al-Maṭba‘ah al-ʻĀmirah, 1293 [1876])

Edition of original Greek text:

• Euclidis Opera Omnia , Johan Ludvig Heiberg (ed.), vols. 1-4, (Lipsiae: Teubner, 1883-85)

Study:

• Sezgin, Fuat, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums , vol. 5 (Leiden: Brill, 1974). pp. 111-13

Subjects

Geometry--Early works to 1800Euclid. Elements

People & organisations

Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ṬūsīEuclidof Alexandria Hypsicles

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Taḥrīr kitāb uṣūl al-handasah wa-al-ḥisāb تحرير كتاب أصول الهندسة والحساب Euclid أقليدس Ṭūsī, Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad طوسي، نصير الدين محمد بن محمد, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Add MS 23387, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100022599883.0x000001> [accessed 5 October 2024]

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