Author
the Yemeni astronomer Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr al-Kawāshī
Publication Date
14th century (CE, Gregorian)
Subject
1
Type
Book
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Pages Count
1
Physical Dimensions
235 x 160 mm
Library
Qatar Digital Library
Library Asset ID
Or 9116
Record ID
vdc_100063278240.0x000001
Library Location
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Date
14th century (CE, Gregorian)
Notes
Astronomical handbook (Zij) by the Yemenī astronomer Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr al-Kawāshī (Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al-Kawashi, fl. 13th century, see King,
Mathematical Astronomy in Medieval Yemen
[1982], p. 27). The text is dedicated to the Rasūlid ruler of Yemen al-Malik al-Muẓaffar Yūsuf (I) ibn ‘Umar (Muzaffar King Yusuf ibn Omar, reg. 1250-95, see f. 1v, lines 8-9), to whom the authorship of the treatise is sometimes erroneously attributed (e.g. Kâtib Çelebi,
Ke
şf-el-zunun
, vol. 1, p. 519).
The manuscript is defective at the beginning. The title can be found on f. 2r, lines 7-8.
The treatise is divided into three books (Arts), each divided into chapters (Chapters) and further subdivided into sections (Chapters). A table of contents is found on ff. 2r-3r.
Book One: The necessary prolegomena and introduction to the foundations upon which the principals are built (ff. 2v-20v);
Book Two: Explanation of using the treatises and elucidation of the methods stipulated by the ancients
Book Three: How the tables are laid out and make their purposes accessible to the user.
The first two books are introductory while Book Three is composed almost entirely of tables. Further diagrams and tables are found in the first two books on ff.5r, 7r-8r, 19r, 23r, 24r, 26r-28r, 29v-30v, 32r, 33r, 34r, 42r, 44r, 45r, 51v-52r, 56v, 73v, 76v.
Begins (f. 1r, lines 1-4, folio mutilated towards edge):
Their raids, travels, and what they prepare for, such as meeting an enemy or preparing an army, are monitored
times and choose omens for them and then do not differ from them at a specified time [...] nor [...]
In a horoscope they extract it, so the people interpret their bad fortune according to the proverb used, barley [...]
He disparages...
Ends (f. 139v, lines 11-13):
...Then you add and decrease those equations
Its components emerge according to what we have explained, and God grant us success
May God’s blessings be upon our master Muhammad, his family and all his companions
Erişim Koşulları
Unrestricted
Edinme Kaynağı
Purchased from Isaac Benjamin Shlomo Ezekiel Yahuda (bookdealer at Cairo and brother of Abraham Shalom Yahuda, d. 1951), 10 June 1922
Köken
Ḥusām al-Dīn (حسام الدين): his inscription with date 1[2]31/1[8]15-6?, and his seal, with date 1[2]28/1[8]13? (f. iii-v [first end flyleaf])
Seçilmiş kaynakça
Study and partial edition and translation:
Gingerich, Owen and David A. King, 'Some Astronomical Observations from Thirteenth Century Egypt',
Journal for the History of Astronomy
13 (1982), pp. 121-28
Studies:
Kâtib Çelebi,
Ke
şf-el-zunun: elde mevcut yazma ve basma nüshaları ve zeyilleri gözden geçirilerek, müellifin elyazısiyle olan nüshaya göre fazlaları çıkarılmak
, 6 vols, ed. by Şerefettin Yaltkaya and Kilisli Rifat Bilge (İstanbul: Maarif Matbaası, 1941-55), vol. 1, p. 519
King, David A., Mathematical Astronomy in Medieval Yemen (Malibu: Undena Press 1982), p. 27
Rosenfeld, B. A. and Ekmeleddin Ihsanoğlu,
Mathematicians, Astronomers, and Other Scholars of Islamic Civilization and Their Works (7th
-
19th c.)
, (Istanbul: IRCICA, 2003), no. 614, p. 221
