Author
Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn ibn al-Majlis al-‘Ālī al-Sayfī Burdbak al-Muḥammadī Ra’s Nawbat al-Nuwab al-Ẓāhirī
Publication Date
2 Dhū al-Qa‘dah 870 (AH, Hijri)
Type
Book
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Pages Count
1
Library
Qatar Digital Library
Library Asset ID
Add MS 14056, ff 19r-123v
Record ID
vdc_100045805361.0x000003
Library Location
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Date
2 Dhū al-Qa‘dah 870 (AH, Hijri)
Notes
Treatise on horses compiled from the works of the Mamluk Amīr al-Sayfī Yashbak al-Faqīh al-Malikī al-Ashrafī (Al-Sayfi Yashbak al-Faqīh Al-Ashrafī, fl. ca 1450) and Abū Bakr al-Bayṭār (Abu Bakr al-Bitar, for both of these names see title page, f. 19v, transcribed below). The second named authority is likely to be Abū Bakr al-Bayṭār ibn Badr al-Dīn al-Nāṣirī (Abu Bakr al-Bitar ibn Badr al-Din al-Nasiri; d. 1340/41), known as Ibn al-Mundhir (Ibn al-Mundhir), chief veterinary surgeon during the third reign of the Mamluk sultan al-Nāṣir Muḥammad Ibn Qalāwūn (Al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalāwūn, third reign 1310-41), author of
Kāmil al-ṣinā‘atayn fī al-bayṭarah wa-al-zardaqah
(The entire industries in veterinary and zardaqa) also known as
al-Nāṣirī
(Nazarene). Against this assumption is the fact that the title page claims that the Abū Bakr al-Bayṭār mentioned composed his work while in the service of Sulṭān al-Malik al-Ashraf Barsbāy.
The copy was completed on Sunday 2 Dhū al-Qa‘dah 870/15 June 1466 by Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn ibn al-Majlis al-‘Ālī al-Sayfī Burdbak al-Muḥammadī Ra’s Nawbat al-Nuwab al-Ẓāhirī (Muhammad Nasir al-Din Bin Al-Sayfi High Council in Burdabk Al-Muhammadi, head of the Nubian Nuba [?] Al-Dhahiri, see
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
, f. 123v, transcribed below).
The title page (f. 19r) gives the full title as follows:
A book on veterinary science
Horse breeding, skill and treatment
And their literature and some of the art of horsemanship
Which meant collecting that artist professor
The sword side clasps the royal jurist Ashrafi
May God treat him with his hidden kindness, Amen
There is another group that includes the characteristic of horses
Which are raised, their disadvantages, properties and benefits
Written by the smart professor Abu Bakr Al-Bitar with his servants
For the Maliki Sultan, King Al-Ashraf Barsbay
God baptizes him with His mercy and nothing like him has ever been created in this art
Book Concerning the Science of Hippiatrics,
Raising Horses and Foals, Their Treatment
and Training, and Something of the Equestrian Art
From what was collected by that diverse master
the Honorable al-Sayfī Yashbak al-Faqīh al-Malikī al-Ashrafī,
(May God recompense him with His hidden subtlety, Amen!)
containing another collection comprising the description of horses
raised, their faults, characteristics and benefits
[taken] from the work of the skillful master Abū Bakr al-Bayṭār in the service
of the regal Sulṭān al-Malik al-Ashraf Barsbāy
(May God support him with his mercy). Never was such a work written on this art.
Beginnings (f. 19v, lines 2-7):
Praise be to God, who exalted His glory above the wilderness
With His power, He built the seven heavens and decorated them with stars
Ascension and the creation of light and darkness
It is He who spread out the earth and placed mountains therein
And rivers and all the fruits he perfected what he made
He ruled what He created and placed what He wanted and raised it
Ends (f. 123v, lines 4-8):
...and it is beneficial
Also, the first thing that appears is to spread it with heated ghee, and it also benefits from it
An ointment of what we have described for the tumor and abscess is applied to it, and the animal is led a little
A little and do not burden her when walking or get tired, for she will defecate quickly
God knows best...
Colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
(f. 123v, lines 8ff, text not laid out in lines):
The book on veterinary medicine was completed, thanks to God and his help, at the hands of the poor man
To God Almighty, Muhammad Nasser al-Din bin the Supreme Council of Saifi in Burdak al-Muhammadi
The head of the virtual noob (?) noob
O Lord, forgive its writer and its boat
To his listeners and to all Muslims, Amen
May God Almighty forgive its writer and boat...
And the one who benefits from it, and for those who prayed for forgiveness from its writer, and for all Muslims
Amen
Copies were completed on Sunday
The blessed second month of Dhul-Qidah
In the year one hundred and seventy, according to God Almighty
May God’s blessings be upon our master Muhammad and his family
May God bless him and grant him peace, and praise be to God Almighty
God Almighty suffices, and He is the best disposer of affairs
And if you see a flaw, then the defect is corrupted (!), so the one who has no defect is a sinner
The script remains for a long time after its writer, and the writer of the script is buried underground
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 1156, pp. 528-29
