Sharḥ mūjaz li-Kitāb tashrīḥ al-aflāk شرح موجز لكتاب تشريح الأفلاك Dihlawī, Muḥammad Rashīd al-Dīn Khān دهلوي، محمد رشيد الدين خان

Content

Commentary by Muḥammad Rashīd al-Dīn (محمد رشيد الدين) on the Tashrīḥ al-aflāk (تشريح الأفلاك, Anatomy of the Spheres ), a summary of theoretical astronomy (هيئة) by Bahā’ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn al-‘Āmilī (بهاء الدين محمد بن حسين العاملي, d. 1621) in which it is argued that the earth rotates around its axis.

The various inscriptions on the title page (f. 1r) give the author's name as Rashīd al-Dīn Khān (رشيد الدين خان) and the title as Sharḥ Tashrīḥ al-aflāk (شرح تشريح الأفلاك, Commentary on the Anatomy of the Spheres ). This suggests that the author may be the Indian faqīh and ḥadīth transmitter Muḥammad Rashīd al-Dīn Khān al-Dihlawī (محمد رشيد الدين خان الدهلوي, d. 1827). The author's preface, however, gives his name simply as Muḥammad Rashīd al-Dīn (محمد رشيد الدين, f. 1v, line 8), and the title of the work as Sharḥ mūjaz li-Kitāb tashrīḥ al-aflāk (شرح موجز لكتاب تشريح الأفلاك, Concise Commentary on the Book of the Anatomy of the Spheres , f. 1v, line 9).

The text is divided into an introduction and five chapters ( fuṣūl ):

• [Introduction] (ff. 1v-10r)
• Chapter One: Great and Small Circles (الفصل الأول في الدوائر العظام والصغار; ff. 10v-21r);
• Chapter Two: Diagrams of the Seven Spheres (الفصل الثاني في صور الأفلاك السبع; ff. 21r-23r);
• Chapter Three: Explanation of their rates of movement, its direction, what similarity and difference pertains to them (الفصل الثالث في بيان قدر الحركات وجهتها وما يتبعها من شابهها واختلافها; ff. 23v-30v);
• Chapter Four: Regarding the earth and the different placements of its places (?) (الفصل الرابع فيما يتعلق بالأرض واختلاف أوضاع بقاعها [؟]; ff. 31r-39r);
• Chapter Five: Dawn and Dusk (الفصل الخامس في الصبح والشفق; ff. 39v-).

The text is lacking diagrams although some spaces have been left blank for them, sometimes with the accompanying words 'and here is the diagram' (وهذه صورة, e.g. f. 46r).

Begins (f. 1v, lines 2-4):

الحمد لمن رفع بناء السبع الشداد من غير معين وظهير وزينها بالمصابيع

والسراج المنير والصلوة والسلام على النير الأعظم الذي طلع من غبراء

وارتفع إلى الخضراء وملأ الملاء الأعلى لسنا الثناء والدعاء ونور الدنيا

Ends (f. 50v, lines 10-14):

ولم يتنبه له طوارق الحدثان الطوارق الحوادث الأتية ليلًا

جمع طارق وهو الذي يأتي ليلًا والحدثان بفتح الحاء

والدال إن لم يتنبه له الحوادث الأتية

في النهار والليل وإلا لم يغير مثل هذا التصنيف

Colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. (f. 50v, lines 12-14):

... والحمد لله

رب العالمين على التوفيق لتأليف مثل هذا الكتاب

المفقح المتبين الذي كا دان (؟) نسخته أراء جميع الناظرين

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. ii+51

Physical characteristics

Material: Eastern laid paper

Dimensions: 225 x 160 mm leaf [175 x 100 mm written]

Foliation: Eastern Arabic foliation in black ink; India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Library foliation stamped in black ink

Ruling: No ruling visible; 14 lines per page; vertical spacing 9 lines per 10 cm

Script: Nasta‘līq

Ink: Black

Binding: Half-leather binding covered in linen (?) chemise

Condition: Minor insect damage and discoloration to some folios

Marginalia: Marginal corrections and annotations by various hands; see also the reader's note on a scrap of paper that has been pasted to f. 7v

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Delhi Arabic 1930

History of this record

Date(s)

late 18th century-early 19th century (CE, Gregorian)

Context of creation

India

Provenance

The Government of India, its seal with central legend 'Delhi MSS' (ff. 1r and 50v)

Immediate source of acquisition

Purchased by the Government of India at sale organised by Delhi Prize Agents, 1859; administrative deposit India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Library, 1876

Related material

Select Bibliography

Studies:

• ‘Abbās, Dalāl, Bahā’ al-Dīn al-‘Āmilī : adīban, wa-faqīhan, wa-‘āliman (Bayrūt: Dār al-Ḥiwār, 1995)
• Hashemipour, Behnaz, '‘Āmilī: Bahāʾ al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn al-‘Āmilī', in The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, ed. by Thomas Hockey et al. (New York: Springer, 2007) pp. 42-3

Subjects

Astronomy--Early works to 1800

People & organisations

Bahā' al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn 'Āmilī

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Sharḥ mūjaz li-Kitāb tashrīḥ al-aflāk شرح موجز لكتاب تشريح الأفلاك Dihlawī, Muḥammad Rashīd al-Dīn Khān دهلوي، محمد رشيد الدين خان, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Delhi Arabic 1930, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100030672004.0x000001> [accessed 19 April 2024]

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