A collection of treatises on astronomical instruments and their use

Content

Composite volume containing fourteen texts on astronomy and the construction and use of astronomical instruments.

All the texts are copied in various Maghribī hands, and a number are by Maghribī authors. The volume itself is assembled from sections dating to over a 300-year period between 9 Muḥarram 903/7 September 1497 (ff. 101v-122r) and 1199/1784-85 (ff. 158v-181r), although most of the texts are undated.

Seven of the texts in the present volume are copies, commentaries, and super-commentaries/glosses on works by Badr al-Dīn Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Shāfi‘ī al-Miṣrī al-Dimashqī (بدر الدين أبو عبد الله محمد بن محمد بن أحمد الشافعي المصري الدمشقي, b. 1423, d. 1490), known as Sibṭ al-Māridīnī (سبط المارديني), timekeeper (موقّت) of the al-Azhar Mosque at Cairo, on the operation of the sine quadrant. The other seven texts concern the construction and operation of other observational devices such as the astrolabe Ancient instrument for astronomical observations. , celestial globe, and sundials.

Contents:

• (1) Ibn al-Shāṭir (ابن الشاطر), Takhbīr al-aḥbāb fī al-ḍarūrī fī ʿilm al-asṭurlāb (تخبير الأحباب في الضروري في علم الأسطرلاب, ff. 1r-4r);
• (2) al-Sanbāṭī (السنباطي), Sharḥ al-Risālah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-rubʿ al-mujayyab (شرح الرسالة في العمل بالربع المجيب, ff. 4v-17r);
• (3) Anonymous, Taʿlīq ʿalá Sharḥ al-risālah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-rubʿ al-mujayyab (تعليق على شرح الرسالة في العمل بالربع المجيب, ff. 17v-39r);
• (4) Ibn ʿAṣr (ابن عصر), Taḥṣīl al-maṭlab fī al-rubʿ al-mujayyab (تحصيل المطلب في الربع المجيب, ff. 41r-47v);
• (5) al-Mazalī (المزلي), Nubdhah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-rubaʿ bi-muqanṭarāt (نبذة في العمل بالربع بمقنطرات , ff. 47v-50r);
• (6) Anonymous, Manẓūmah Wāfīyat al-Maṭlūb fī al-rubaʿ al-juyūb (منظومة وافية المطلوب في ربع الجيوب, ff. 50r-52r);
• (7) al-Maqdisī (المقدسي), al-Nasamah al-nafḥīyah (النسمة النفحية, ff. 52r-57r);
• (8) al-Maqdisī (المقدسي), Tawḍīḥ al-Nasamah al-nafḥīyah (توضيح النسمة النفحية, ff. 57v-73r);
• (9) Anonymous, Taʿlīq ʿalá Sharḥ al-risālah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-rubʿ al-mujayyab (تعليق على شرح الرسالة في العمل بالربع المجيب, ff. 73r-94v);
• (10) al-Ghiyāthī al-Tāzī (الغياثي التازي), Muqarrib al-maṭālib fī taʿdīl al-kawākib (مقرب المطالب في تعديل الكواكب, ff. 94v-100v);
• (11) al-Tūzarī (التوزري), Ikhlāṣ al-naṣāʾiḥ fī takhṭīṭ al-ṣafāʾiḥ (اخلاص النصائح في تخطيط الصفائح, ff. 101v-122r);
• (12) al-Sanbāṭī (السنباطي), Sharḥ al-Risālah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-rubʿ al-mujayyab (شرح الرسالة في العمل بالربع المجيب, ff. 123v-138v);
• (13) Qusṭā ibn Lūqā (قسطا بن لوقا), Kitāb al-ʿamal bi-al-kūrah al-falakīyah (كتاب العمل بالكرة الفلكية, ff. 139v-157v);
• (14) al-Jazāʾirī (الجزائري), Risālah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-kūrah al-falakīyah (رسالة في العمل بالكورة الفلكية, ff. 158v-181r).

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. ii+158+i+24+ii

It is grouped into

Takhbīr al-aḥbāb fī al-ḍarūrī fī ʿilm al-asṭurlāb تخبير الأحباب في الضروري في علم الأسطرلاب Ibn al-Shāṭir, ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm, ابن الشاطر، علي بن إبراهيم

7 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 1r-4r

Sharḥ al-Risālah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-rubʿ al-mujayyab شرح الرسالة في العمل بالربع المجيب Sanbāṭī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq سنباطي، أحمد بن عبد الحق

26 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 4v-17r

Taʿlīq ʿalá Sharḥ al-risālah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-rubʿ al-mujayyab تعليق على شرح الرسالة في العمل بالربع المجيب

44 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 17v-39r

Taḥṣīl al-maṭlab fī al-rubʿ al-mujayyab تحصيل المطلب في الربع المجيب Ibn ʿAṣr, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ابن عصر، عبد الرحمن

14 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 41r-47v

Nubdhah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-rubʿ bi-muqanṭarāt نبذة في العمل بالربع بمقنطرات 'Umar Ḥamad al-Mazalī عمر حمد المزلي

6 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 47v-50r

Manẓūmah Wāfīyat al-Maṭlūb fī al-rubʿ al-juyūb منظومة وافية المطلوب في ربع الجيوب

5 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 50r-52r

al-Nasamah al-nafḥīyah النسمة النفحية Maqdisī, ʿAlī ibn Ghānim مقدسي، علي بن غانم

11 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 52r-57r

Tawḍīḥ al-Nasamah al-nafḥīyah توضيح النسمة النفحية Maqdisī, ʿAlī ibn Ghānim مقدسي، علي بن غانم

32 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 57v-73r

Taʿlīq ʿalá Sharḥ al-risālah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-rubʿ al-mujayyabتعليق على شرح الرسالة في العمل بالربع المجيب

44 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 73r-94v

Muqarrib al-maṭālib fī taʿdīl al-kawākib مقرب المطالب في تعديل الكواكب Ghiyāthī al-Tāzī, Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, غياثي التازي، جابر بن عبد الله

13 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 94v-100v

Ikhlāṣ al-naṣāʾiḥ fī takhṭīṭ al-ṣafāʾiḥ اخلاص النصائح في تخطيط الصفائح Tūzarī, ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān توزري، عمر بن عبد الرحمن

42 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 101v-122r

Sharḥ al-Risālah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-rubʿ al-mujayyab شرح الرسالة في العمل بالربع المجيب Sanbāṭī, Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq سنباطي، أحمد بن عبد الحق

31 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 123v-138v

Kitāb al-ʿamal bi-al-kūrah al-falakīyah كتاب العمل بالكرة الفلكية Qusṭā ibn Lūqā قسطا بن لوقا

37 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 139v-157v

Risālah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-kūrah al-falakīyah رسالة في العمل بالكورة الفلكية Jazāʾirī, ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn Muḥammad, جزائري، عبد الرزاق بن محمد

46 images

Ref: Add MS 9598, ff 158v-181r

Physical characteristics

Material: A mixture of different Western papers with watermarks

Dimensions: 212 x 158mm leaf [170 x 108mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil. F. 40a added by cataloguer

Ruling: Misṭarah ; varies between 20-26 lines per page; vertical spacing varies, average 15 lines per 10 cm

Script: Maghribī in various hands (changes of hand at ff. 40r, 41r, 57v, 94v, 100v, 122r, 123r, 138v and 157v). The scribes of two texts give their names: ʿUbayd Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Ṣakhrī (عبيد محمد بن أحمد الصخري, f. 100v, fore edge margin [ff. 94v-100v]) and Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd al-Murādī, known as al-Barrī (سليمن بن أحمد بن سعيد المرادي شهر البري, f. 122r, lines 6-10 [ff. 101v-122r])

Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings in red, some headings in yellow, blue and green ink

Decoration: Diagrams (ff. 75r, 109r and 121r-121v), spaces left for diagrams (ff. 31r, 31v, 88v and 89r)

Binding: Half leather binding with envelope flap, the boards covered in blue, yellow and grey marbled paper. Doublure of envelope flap is of white, yellow, red, green and black marbled paper

Condition: Good, a few smudges; F. 135 is a replacement

Marginalia: Few

Seals: British Museum stamp (ff. 1r, 14r, 33r, 57r, 79r, 95r, 122v, 123r, 138r, 157r and 181v)

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Add MS 9598

History of this record

Date(s)

903-1199 (AH, Hijri qamari)

Provenance

• al-Sayyid Aḥmad ibn Mūsá al-Suwaysī ( السيد أحمد بن موسى السويسي): note naming him (f. 40r, upper margin)

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 407, pp. 192-94

Subjects

Astronomy--Early works to 1800Astronomical instruments

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A collection of treatises on astronomical instruments and their use, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Add MS 9598, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100086323671.0x000001> [accessed 10 May 2024]

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