Author
the Ottoman Egyptian astronomer Riḍwān Efendi ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Razzāz al-Falakī
Publication Date
1172 (AH, Hijri)
Publication Place
Egypt -
Type
Book
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Pages Count
1
Physical Dimensions
255 x 180 mm
Library
Qatar Digital Library
Library Asset ID
Or 14273
Record ID
vdc_100047914282.0x000001
Library Location
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Date
1172 (AH, Hijri)
Notes
Astronomical handbook with tables (Zij) by the Ottoman Egyptian astronomer Riḍwān Efendi ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Razzāz al-Falakī (Ridwan Efendi ibn Abdullah al-Razzāz al-Falakī, d. 1711). The text, also known as the
al-Zīj al-Riḍwānī
(Ridwani Marriage), is a revision of the Samarqand observatory's
Zīj-i Ulugh Beg
(Zij Agh Bey, also known as the
Zīj-i jadīd-i sulṭānī
[Sultani's new marriage], and the
Zīj-i kūrgāni
[Zig Korkani]) adapted for the latitude of Cairo.
The text contains a preface, four treatise (articles) subdivided into introductions (introductions) and chapters (sections), followed by numerous tables (tables) which account for the bulk of the volume.
Preface (ff. 1v-2r);
Treatise One: Knowing Dates (the first treatise on knowing dates, ff. 2r-9v, of which ff. 6v-9v are date conversion tables);
Treatise Two: Knowing Times and Declination
Treatise Three: Knowing the Planets' Motion and Longitudinal and Latitudinal Positions, etc. (The third article on knowing the path of the planets and their positions in length and width and the consequences thereof, 22v-34r);
Treatise Four: The Remaining Astronomical Operations (Fourth Treatise on the Other Astronomical Works, ff. 36v-40v);
Tables (42v-260r).
The copy was produced for Aḥmad ibn Wafā’ (Aḥmad ibn Wafa’), Chief of the ‘Alids in Egypt (Captain of the Ashrafs in Egypt) in 1172/1758-9 by Aḥmad Abū al-‘Izz al-Aḥmadī (Ahmad Abu al-Izz al-Aḥmadī, see
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
to Treatise Four, f. 40v, lines 17-24, transcribed below).
Begins (f. 1v, lines 1-3):
Praise be to God, who established knowledge as a science that guides us to the correct methods and paths
He made scholars stars in the spheres of guidance and horizons of praise that deserves much more
His benevolence brings the servant closer to His beautiful satisfaction for what He has been given of the niche of His light
End of Treatise Four (f. 40v, lines 12-15):
...buyer
Four hundred and twenty-nine years, and Mars two hundred and eighty-four years
If this period expires, it is customary (!) for Nubia to the sun, and five hundred years have passed according to the principle of royal dating
Eighty solar years, and God Almighty knows best...
Colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
of Treatise Four (f. 40v, lines 15-24):
...The marriage message was completed on
The origins of the new observation of Samarkandi Sultan Al-Ghubayk Khan bin Shah Timur Gurkan
Orkhan, may God Almighty have mercy on him, was written by Al-Fakir to God Almighty, Ahmed Abu
Al-Ezz Al-Ahmadi, may God forgive him, his parents, and all Muslims, Amen
This is done by drawing the branch of the pure tree and the summary of the chain
Mustafawiyya and the Hashemite gang style
Al-Haseeb, the relative, Mr. Ahmed bin
Wafaa, captain of supervision
In Egypt right now
Year 1172
Colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
after tables (f. 260v, line 1):
The marriage took place, thanks to God Almighty, His help, and His good success. Praise be to God alone, and may God’s blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet.
Erişim Koşulları
Unrestricted
Köken
‘Uthmān Burhān (عثمان برهان): his seal without date, and his inscription with date 1233/1817-18 in which he is identified as the '[younger] brother of the Chief of the Scribes, Rātib Efendī' (قرنداش رئيس الكتاب راتب أفندي), perhaps Abū Bakr Rātib Efendī (d. 1799), Ottoman Ambassador to Vienna (f. 1r);
Fu’ād Salīm al-Ḥijāzī
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
(فؤاد سليم الحجازي باشا), friend and correspondent of Muṣṭafá Kāmil
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
(مصطفى كامل باشا, d. 1908; see Dunyā 1969): his seal, without date, with the legend الخزانة الحجازية (centre), وما أوتيتم من العلم إلا قليلًا (
Qur’ān
17:85, above), فؤاد سليم الحجازي (below) (ff. 1r, 40v, and 260v).
Seçilmiş kaynakça
Studies:
Aydüz, Salim, 'Riḍwān al-Falakī: Riḍwān Efendi ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Razzāz al-Falakī', in
The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers
, ed. by Thomas Hockey et al. (New York: Springer, 2007) pp. 970-71
Dunyā, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Ḥafiẓ,
Rasā’il tā’rīkhīyah min Muṣṭaf
á K
āmil ilá Fu’ād Salīm al-Ḥijāzī
(al-Qāhirah: Dār al-Nahḍah al-‘arabīyah, 1969)
Rosenfeld, B. A. and Ekmeleddin Ihsanoğlu,
Mathematicians, Astronomers, and Other Scholars of Islamic Civilization and Their Works (7th
-
19th c.)
, (Istanbul: IRCICA, 2003), no. 1243, pp. 386-87
