Author
Aristotle
Publication Date
13th-14th century (CE, Gregorian)
Type
Book
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Pages Count
1
Physical Dimensions
173 x 103 mm
Library
Qatar Digital Library
Library Asset ID
Add MS 7511
Record ID
vdc_100000006638.0x000001
Library Location
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Date
13th-14th century (CE, Gregorian)
Notes
This Arabic work on zoology is actually a compilation of translations of three treatises by Aristotle (384-322 BC). The Arabic text is arranged into 19 books (sayings), which divide the Aristotelian treatises as follows: Books 1-10 (
Historia animalium
), Books 11-14 (
The partibus animalium
), and Books 15-19 (
Generation animalium
The translation is traditionally supposed to be the work of Yaḥyá ibn Bitrīq (AD 1129-1203 or 4), but this attribution has not been confirmed.
Of the text’s 19 books, 12 are preserved here in their entirety (Books 1, 2 and 10-19), and another two are partially preserved (Books 3 and 9), while five books are missing (Books 4-8; approximately half the
Historia animalium
):
First statement (‘Book 1’; ff. 1v-19r);
The second statement (‘Book 2’; ff. 19r-32v);
The third statement (‘Book 3’; ff. 32v-??);
The ninth statement (‘Book 9’; ff. ??-61r);
Tenth statement (‘Book 10’; ff. 61r-67v);
The eleventh statement (‘Book 11’; ff. 67v-79v);
The twelfth statement (‘Book 12’; ff. 79v-101r);
The thirteenth statement (‘Book 13’; ff. 101r-107v);
The fourteenth statement (‘Book 14’; ff. 107r-133v);
Saying XV (‘Book 15’; ff. 133v-153v);
Saying XVI (‘Book 16’; ff. 153v-177v);
Saying XVII (‘Book 17’; ff. 177v-198r);
The eighteenth statement (‘Book 18’; ff. 198r-219v);
Saying nineteen (‘Book 19’; ff. 219v-231v).
Begins (f. 1v, lines 2-14):
Translation of the first saying of the book that Aristotle wrote
The philosopher in knowing the natures of land and marine animals
It contains the characteristic of mating and the birth of all animals
What is the recipe for it without intercourse with
Classifying its internal and external organs and summarizing its actions
Its actions, benefits and harms, and how it is opposed to what is opposite of it
In which places it is and when it moves from one place to another
A place for the presence of summer and winter and from what
The livelihood of every animal, I mean whatever type it is
Birds, wild animals, sea fish, and any wild animals that live there as well
ابتداء القول الأول
Some parts of animal bodies are called non-composite parts, which are parts that are divided into parts
يشبه بعضها بعضًا ...
Ends (f. 231v, lines 10-13):
... فقد ذكرنا علة نبات
Teeth and why do some of them fall out and also grow after falling out and some of them do not fall out and say
Totally for any cause of the formation of teeth, and we have mentioned the causes of all the lesions that appear, not from
Necessity, but rather due to the condition of something and the condition of the driving cause
Colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
(f. 231v, lines 14-17):
The nineteenth statement of Aristotle's book has been interpreted
The philosopher in the nature of animals, with God’s help and success
The book was fulfilled, and praise be to God always
May God’s blessings and peace be upon Muhammad and his family
Erişim Koşulları
Unrestricted
Köken
There are four or five partially legible owners’ inscriptions on f. 1r, one of which is dated 1152 AH/AD 1739-40.
Seçilmiş kaynakça
Study:
Filius, Lou, 'The Arabic Transmission of the
Historia Animalium
of Aristotle', in Arnoud Vrolijk and Jan P. Hogendijk eds.,
O ye Gentlemen: Arabic Studies on Science and Literary Culture
(Leiden: Brill, 2007), pp. 25-33.
Editions:
Aristotle,
Ṭibā’ al-ḥayawān tarjamat Yuḥanna ibn al-Biṭrīq
, ʻAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī, ed., (Kuwait: Wakālat al-Maṭbūʻāt, 1977)
Aristotle,
Ajzā’ al-ḥayawān tarjamat Yūḥannā ibn al-Biṭrīq
(
Aristotelis De partibus animalium
), ʻAbd ʾal-Raḥmān Badawī, ed., (Kuwait: Wakālat al-maṭbūʻāt, 1977)
Aristotle,
Fī kawn al-ḥayawān: al-maqālāt 15-19 min Kitāb al-hayawān. Tarjama min al-yunānīyah ila al-arabīyah nusibat ilā Yaḥyá ibn al-Biṭrīq
(
Generation of Animals: The Arabic translation commonly ascribed to Yaḥyá ibn al-Biṭrīq
), Jan Brugman and Hendrik Joan Drossaart Lulofs, eds (Leiden: Brill, 1971)
