Author
Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ‘Alī ibn Qays al-Kasdānī
Publication Date
25 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 919 (AH)
Type
Book
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Pages Count
1
Physical Dimensions
180 x 125 mm
Library
Qatar Digital Library
Library Asset ID
Add MS 23604
Record ID
vdc_100026565682.0x000001
Library Location
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Date
25 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 919 (AH)
Notes
Treatise on poisons, theriacs and their antidotes composed by Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ‘Alī ibn Qays al-Kasdānī (Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Qays al-Kasdānī), known as Ibn Waḥshiyah (Ibn Wahshiyah; fl. first half of the 10th century), then dictated to Abū Ṭālib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī ibn Aḥmad al-Zayyāt (Abu Talib Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn Ahmad al-Zayyat; see f. 2v, lines 2-5, transcribed below)
The following is written on the title-page (f. 2r):
Book
Poisons and antidotes
Ibn Wahshiyya
Writer and owner
His owner is Muhammad bin Sheikh
Ali bin Muhammad, nicknamed Sharaf al-Din
The noble (?) called the Nimidhi
May God forgive
Our sins
Book
of Poisons and Theriacs
[by] Ibn Waḥshīyah
Its copyist, owner
and possessor is Muḥammad ibn Shaykh
‘Alī ibn Muḥammad, called by the
laqab
Sharaf al-Din
al-Sharīf (?), named al-Nīmidihī
God forgive
our sins
The copy was completed on 25 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 919/21 February 1514 by the 'Servant of the divine scholars and godly Islamic sages, Muḥammad ibn Shaykh ‘Alī ibn Muḥammad, called by the
laqab
Sharaf al-Dīn, known as al-Nīmidihī' (servant of the divine scholars and Islamic divine sages, Muhammad ibn Shaykh Ali ibn Muhammad, nicknamed Sharaf al-Dīn, known as al-Nīmidihī) who produced the copy for his own use (see
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
, f. 108r, lines 9-13, transcribed below). The
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
also say that he produced his copy from an exemplar dated Dhū al-Qa‘dah 113/January-February 732, but this cannot be correct, because the text’s author, Ibn Waḥshīyah, was not active until the early 10th century (see
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
, f. 108r, lines 13-15, transcribed below). The copyist is the author of a Qur’ānic
tafsīr
(exegesis) called the
Risālat al-anvār fī maʿdan al-asrār yā tafsīr-i āyah-'i Nūr
(ed. by Ismāʿīl Ḥākimī [Tihrān: Bunyād-i Qurʾān, 1361/1982-3]).
The main text is followed (f. 108v) by two short medical notes: the first is a poison made from dung beetles, and the second is a fragmentary discussion of the astrological causes and treatment of passion attributed to the sage Tinkalūsha (Tinkalūsha/Teukros of Babylon [in Egypt], fl. late 2nd-early 1st century BC; see Manfred Ullmann,
Die Natur- und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam
[1972, pp. 278-79]).
Begins (f. 2v, lines 2-6):
This is a book filled by Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Qays al-Kashdani
Known as Ibn Wahshiyya Ali Ibn Abi Talib Ahmad
Bin Al Hussein bin Ali bin Ahmed bin Muhammad bin Abdul Malik
Al-Zayyat, a book he wrote about poisons, said (!) on
The doctrine and opinion of the Kashmiris...
Ends (f. 107v, line 19-f. 108r line 1):
...Therefore, it attracts poison from
The depth of the body to the outside, and whoever makes this a place can see it
It is true that it hurts, irritates, and hurts the scorpion, explaining and tightening it
On the site of its bite, it attracts the poison out and settles
There are many medicines for pain, but these are more effective, better, and more peaceful
Colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
(f. 108r, lines 2-18):
The book on poisons and antidotes, written by the Sheikh, has been completed
The honorable, perfect, wise and generous president, who is older than this
The famous Islamic sage, the virtuous Ahmad
The famous bin Ali bin Qais Al-Kashdani
Ibn Wahshiyya taught him a doctrine
The Kashdani wise men
And their opinion is on hand
Servant of the divine scholars and divine Islamic sages, Muhammad b
Sheikh Ali bin Muhammad, nicknamed Sharaf Al-Din, known as Al-Nimdhi
God covered (?) his faults and forgave his sins in twenty-five
The month of Dhul-Hijjah al-Haram in the year nine hundred and nineteen
The Hijri version was copied from a copy written by him
In the month of Dhul-Qa'dah in the year thirteen hundred
The Prophet's Hijri, praise be to God
Lord of the worlds
First and last
Written for me
Erişim Koşulları
Unrestricted
Bulma Yardımcıları
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 1357, pp. 630-31
Hamarneh, Sami,
Catalogue of Arabic Manuscripts on Medicine and Pharmacy at the British Library
(Cairo: Les Editions Universitaires d’Egypte, 1975), Item 72, pp. 62-4
Edinme Kaynağı
Purchased from Mrs Taylor, widow of Colonel Robert Taylor (1788-1852),
Political Resident
A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency.
in Baghdad (1828-43), 14 April 1860
Köken
Colonel Robert Taylor (1788-1852),
Political Resident
A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency.
in Baghdad (1828-43): his seal, undated, with legend عبده تيلر (f. 2r);
Two round seals, illegible (f. 2r).
Seçilmiş kaynakça
Study and translation:
Levey, Martin,
Medieval Arabic toxicology: the Book on poisons of Ibn Wahshiya and its relation to early Indian and Greek texts
, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, new series 56.7 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1966)
Study:
Ullmann, Manfred,
Die Medizin im Islam
(Leiden: Brill, 1970), pp. 228-29
Edition of text authored by copyist:
Nīmdihī, Sharaf al-Dīn Muḥammad,
Risālat al-anvār fī maʿdan al-asrār yā tafsīr-i āyah-'i Nūr
, ed. by Ismāʿīl Ḥākimī (Tihrān: Bunyād-i Qurʾān, 1361/1982-3)
