Author
Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad al-Ṭabarī
Publication Date
16th century (CE, Gregorian)
Type
Book
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Pages Count
1
Physical Dimensions
206 x 145mm
Library
Qatar Digital Library
Library Asset ID
Or 3134
Record ID
vdc_100099022269.0x000001
Library Location
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Date
16th century (CE, Gregorian)
Notes
A copy of a practical treatise on archery, very popular 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 author's
nisbah
is frequently invoked by the copyist using the formula 'al-Ṭabarī said:...', Al-Tabari said).
Al-Ṭabarī synthesises the methodologies of the three foundational schools of Abū Ḥāshim al-Bāwardī (Abu Hashim al-Bāwardī), or al-Māwardī), Ṭāhir al-Balkhī (Tahir al-Balkhi), and Isḥāq al-Raffāʾ (Ishaq al-Raffāʾ); consequently he was considered the founder of the 'eclectic' school (the doctrine of choice). Al-Ṭabari also mentions his own training with instructors from the different schools, Muḥammad ʿĪsā al-Samarqandī (Muhammad Issa Al-Samarqandī), ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Qarāwī (Abdul Rahman Al-Qarawi), and Aḥmad Saʿīd al-Khwārizmī (Ahmed Saeed Al-Khwarizmi, ff.24r-24v).
The second
bāb
contains verses on archery by al-Ḥabr ibn ʿAbbās (Al-Ḥabr ibn ʿAbbās, ff. 9r-11v), and the text contains three painted illustrations depicting bows, arrows, and other weapons (ff. 11v, 29r and 32r).
Contents:
Chapter One: Archery in the [Qurʼānic] verses and histories [of the Prophet and Companions] (Chapter One on archery and the verses and reports contained therein, ff. 2v-8v);
Chapter Two: Who first made the Arab and Persian bows?
Chapter Three: The names of the Imams [Masters] of archery (In the Names of the Imams of Archery, ff. 11v-12r);
Chapter Four: On the different opinions about the number of principles of archery (On the number of principles of archery and their differences therein, ff. 12r-13r);
Chapter Five: The Archery school of Abū Hāshim [al-Bāwardī] (Abu Hāshim’s Doctrine of Archery, ff. 13r-18r);
Chapter Six: Description of the School of Isḥāq al-Raffāʾ (In the Description of the Doctrine of Isḥāq al-Raffāʾ, ff. 18r-18v);
Chapter Seven: Nocking the arrow (On Taking the Arrow in the Overtake, ff. 18v-20v);
Chapter Eight: The square grasp (in the square grasp, ff. 20v-22r);
Chapter Nine: The different opinions of the Imams [Masters] [...] regarding aiming (Concerning the difference of the Imams [...] in reliance, ff. 22r-22v);
Chapter Ten: The capacity of the arrow (in the size of the arrow of the archer, ff. 22v-23r);
Chapter Eleven: The capacity of the bow (ff. 23r-24v);
Chapter Twelve: His own [i.e., al-Ṭabari's] eclectic approach to archery (in Choosing Himself in Archery, ff. 24v-26r);
Chapter Thirteen: What happens to the forefinger upon stringing (f. 26r-26v);
Chapter Fourteen: What happens to the forefinger upon drawing (ff. 26v-27r);
Chapter on the blow of the string against the forefinger (ff. 27r-27v);
Chapter on the blow of the string on the end of the thumb (ff. 27v-28v);
Chapter on the secrets of shooting on a windy day (Chapter on the secrets of shooting on a windy day, ff. 29v-30r);
Night-shooting, ff. 30r-32r;
Chapter on competitive shooting and description of the distance bow and arrow (Chapter on competitive shooting and description of the distance bow and arrow, ff. 32r-33v).
Begins (f. 2v, lines 2-6):
The first chapter is about throwing stones and what is mentioned in it
Of verses and news
God Almighty said, “Prepare for them as much as you can.”
With your strength and the tether of your horses you can frighten an enemy
God is your enemy...
Ends (f. 33v, lines 5-9):
...that one of your hands is different
before launching or tightening one over the other
And let me be a king who holds you tighter than you can
If you all did that, no one would mention it
He will precede you, God willing, and God knows best...
Colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
(f. 33v, lines 9-15):
... done the book
With God’s praise, help, and good success
May God bless our master Muhammad
And upon his family and companions
And peace be upon him
Erişim Koşulları
Unrestricted
Bulma Yardımcıları
Rieu, Charles,
Supplement to the Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the British Museum
(London: The British Museum, 1894), Item 817, p. 554-55
Edinme Kaynağı
Purchased from Baron Alfred Freiherr von Kremer (1828-89), 9 January 1886
Köken
Shaykh Riḍwān (شيخ رضوان), his inscription with date 1 Rabīʿ I 1152/8 June 1739 (f. 1r);
Sayyid Ḥasan ibn al-Sayyid Saʿd al-Dīn al-Ḥarīrī (سيد حسن ابن السيد سعد الدين الحريري), his prayers, ownership and reading note dated 1246/1830-31 (ff. 33v-34r);
Reading note and comment, both with date 1248/1832-33 (f. 34r);
Stylised monograms, including that of Salīm ibn Sulaymān (سليم ابن سليمان, f. 34r);
Brother al-Sayyid Salīm (الأخ السيد سليم), his inscription (f. 34v).
ilgili birincil kaynaklar
Or. 9454
Or 9265/2
Seçilmiş kaynakça
Study:
Al-Sarraf, Shihab, 'Mamluk Furūsīyah Literature and Its Antecedents', Mamluk Studies Review, 8 (2004), pp. 141-200 (see pp. 163-65).
