Author
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad al-Ṭabarī
Publication Date
9 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 780 AH)
Type
Book
Language
ara,ota
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Pages Count
1
Physical Dimensions
256 x 168mm
Library
Qatar Digital Library
Library Asset ID
Or 9454
Record ID
vdc_100099021706.0x000001
Library Location
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Date
9 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 780 AH)
Notes
Luxury copy of a practical treatise on archery, very popular and widely-used especially in the Mamluk period, by Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad al-Ṭabarī (Abu Muhammad Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad al-Tabari, active ca 9th century). The present copy was completed by an un-named scribe on 9 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 780/29 March 1379 (see f. 88r, line 5).
An illuminated Mamluk-style frontispiece (f. 2r) dedicates the volume to the library endowed by al-Sayyid Fakhrī (with a drawing of the guarded Sayyid Fakhrī high treasury), a dedication echoed by the numerous
waqf
notices encountered throughout (see Provenance) pertaining to the Madrasah Fakhrīyah 'between the two walls' (The Honorary School among the Syrians). Indeed, the mosque-madrasah of Amīr ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Fakhrī,
dawādār
to sultan al-Muʾayyad Shaykh (Al-Muayyad Shaykh, reg. 1412-21), was built in 1418 in a location between the walls of the older Fatimid city and the expanding suburbs to the south.
In the text, an abbreviation of a fuller work on archery, al-Ṭabarī synthesises the methodologies of the three foundational schools of Abū Ḥāshim al-Bāwardī (Abu Hashim al-Bāwardī, or al-Māwardī, see ff. 26r-34v), Ṭāhir al-Balkhī (Tahir al-Balkhī, ff. 34v-40r), and Isḥāq al-Raffāʾ (Ishaq al-Raffāʾ, ff. 40r-47r); consequently al-Ṭabarī was considered the founder of the 'eclectic' school (
madhhab al-ikhtiyar
, the doctrine of choice). The preface names the work (f. 3v, line 2) and mentions its structure in twenty-six
bāb
s (f. 3r, line 7), an amount which varies in different copies.
Intermittent interlinear translations in Ottoman Turkish have been added to the opening chapter on mentions of archery in the Qurʼān and
ḥadīth
(ff. 4r-20r).
Contents:
The merits of archery and its mentions in the [Quranic] verses and reports (Chapter on the virtue of archery and its verses and reports, ff. 3v-20v);
Who first made the Arab and Persian bows?
The names of the Imāms of archery (Chapter on the Names of the Imams of Archery, ff. 22r-23r);
On the different opinions about the number of principles of archery (Chapter on the number of principles of archery and their differences therein, ff. 23r-26r);
Description of the School of Abū Hāshim al-Bāwardī (Chapter containing a description of the doctrine of Abu Hāshim al-Bāwardī, ff. 26r-34v);
Description of the School of Ṭāhir al-Balkhī (Chapter containing a description of the doctrine of Tahir al-Balkhī, ff. 34v-40r);
Description of the School of Isḥaq al-Raffāʾ (Chapter containing a description of the doctrine of Isḥaq al-Raffāʾ, ff. 40r-47r);
The correct and incorrect square grasp (Chapter on the validity and invalidity of the square grasp, f. 47r-50r);
The different opinions [of the Masters] regarding aiming (On Credits, ff. 50r-53v);
The differing opinions on the capacity of the arrow (Chapter: The amount of the archer’s crossbow and the difference therein, ff. 53v-55v);
The differing opinions on the capacity of the bow (Chapter on the size of the archer’s bow and their differences regarding it, f. 55v-59r);
al-Tabari's eclectic approach (Chapter on al-Tabari's choice for himself, ff. 59r-62v);
What happens to the forefinger upon stringing (Chapter What happens to the forefinger upon stringing and what removes it, f. 63r-64v);
On the archer's forefinger as it draws (Chapter on the archer's forefinger as it draws, ff. 64v-65v);
On the blow of the bowstring upon the archer's forefinger (Chapter in which the bowstring shines upon the archer's forefinger and what removes it, ff. 65v-66v);
On the blow of the bowstring on the archer's thumb tip (Chapter on the blow of the bowstring on the tip of the archer's thumb and what removes it, ff. 66v-67r);
On the blackening of the flesh of the archer's thumb (Chapter on the blackening of the flesh of the archer's thumb and what removes it, ff. 67v-68v);
On the blackening of the archer's nail (Chapter on the blackening of the archer's nail and what removes it, ff. 68v-69v);
On the wounding of the archer's left thumb (Chapter on the wounding of the archer's left thumb and what removes it, ff. 69v-71r);
On hitting the archer's beard with the bowstring (Chapter in which the bowstring shines on the archer's beard, ff. 71r-72v);
On the blow of the bowstring upon the archer's forearm
On the movement of the arrow after its release (Chapter on moving the arrow after it releases from the bow, ff. 73v-75r);
On manufacturing the distance and flight-shooting bow.
On distance and flight-shooting archery (Chapter on the art of long-distance shooting and precedence, ff. 78r-80r);
The median school of archery and the measure of their aims (Chapter on the throwing of the Wasiti and the measure of their purposes, ff. 80r-85r);
Description of the guide and the gauge, and why they were invented (Chapter containing the description of the course, consideration, and the reason for taking it out, ff. 85r-87v).
Begins (f. 2v, lines 2-6):
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, in recognition of His divinity
There is no god but God, submitting to His greatness and praying to God
On Muhammad and his family when he mentions this
The Book of Art in Long Crossbow Shooting
In short, we describe the origins of that...
Ends (f. 87v, line 3-88r line 3):
...and it is used
It has haram blades and it is made from bulad
For the arm and make an example of calculation without
The capacity of the stream is slightly overwritten
With God’s praise, help, and good success
Praise be to God alone, and may God’s blessings be upon our master
Muhammad, his family and companions, peace and blessings be upon him
God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs
Colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
(f. 88r, lines 4-6):
Its copy was finished on the day he knew it
The ninth of Dhu al-Hijjah in the year seven hundred and eighty
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and may God’s blessings be upon His Prophet Muhammad and his family
Erişim Koşulları
Unrestricted
Edinme Kaynağı
Purchased from Maurice Nahman (1868-1948), 14 June 1924
Köken
Tammaro De Medinis (1878-1969):his inventory note 211 T D M (f. 1r);
Waqf
notices of the Fakhrīyah Madrasah 'between the two walls' (المدرسة الفخرية بين السورين), presumably in Cairo: in red (f. 29v) and in every
verso
The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'.
head margin between ff. 38v-70v (42v and 57v erased), additionally apparent erasures on other
verso
The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'.
pages;
ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-[?] ( علي بن أحمد الـ[؟]): his reading notice in large script, 7 lines to the page, with date 10 Jumādá II 804/15 January 1402 (f. 88v);
Muḥammad ibn al-Nuʿmān (محمد بن النعمان): his reading notice in small interlinear script, with date 819/1416-17 (f. 88v);
Muḥammad ibn [?] Aḥmad (محمد بن [?] أحمد): his reading note (f. 88v, margin);
Seal impression with Persian legend, with date [1]251/1835-36 (f. 1r);
Muṣṭafá Fāʾiz ibn al-Ḥājj Aḥmad(مصطفى فائز بن الحاج أحمد): his stamp and acquisition notice (استصحبه; f. 1r).
Seçilmiş kaynakça
Studies:
Al-Sarraf, Shihab, 'Mamluk Furūsīyah Literature and Its Antecedents',
Mamluk Studies Review
, 8 (Chicago: Middle East Documentation Center, The University of Chicago, 2004), pp. 141-200 (see pp. 163-65).
Abdulfattah, Iman R., 'A Forgotten Man: Maurice Nahman, an Antiquarian-Tastemaker', in Bárta, M. et al. (eds.),
Guardian of Ancient Egypt: Studies in Honor of Zahi Hawass
, Vol. I, (Prague: Charles University, Faculty of Arts, 2020) pp. 105-23;
Kropf, Evyn, 'Following the peregrinations of Isl. Ms. 350: Part 2, From Istanbul to Ann Arbor', University of Michigan Library Special Collections Research Center blog, July 13, 2017 [https://apps.lib.umich.edu/blogs/beyond-reading-room/following-peregrinations-isl-ms-350-part-2-istanbul-ann-arbor]
Williams, Caroline,
Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide
(Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2002), p. 130
Williams, J. A., Urbanization and Monument Construction in Mamluk Cairo',
Muqarnas
, 2 (1984), pp. 33-45 [esp. p. 35]
