Author
the Egyptian mathematician and astronomer Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Fatḥ ibn ‘Īsá ibn Aḥmad al-Ṣūfī al-Miṣrī
Publication Date
Mid-Jumāda II 904 AH)
Type
Book
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Pages Count
1
Physical Dimensions
272 x 178mm
Library
Qatar Digital Library
Library Asset ID
Or 3392
Record ID
vdc_100110631884.0x000001
Library Location
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Date
Mid-Jumāda II 904 AH)
Notes
An bridge in twelve
bābs
by the Egyptian mathematician and astronomer Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Fatḥ ibn ‘Īsá ibn Aḥmad al-Ṣūfī al-Miṣrī (Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Abi al-Fath ibn Issa ibn al-Sufi al-Masry, fl. late 15th-early 16th century) of the description of Egypt entitled
The Cream of Unveiling Kingdoms and Clarifying Routes and Itineraries
(The Butter of Revealing Kingdoms and Explaining Roads and Paths) by the statesman and scholar Ghars al-Dīn Khalīl ibn Shāhīn al-Ẓāhirī (Ghars al-Dīn Khalil ibn Shaheen al-Zahīrī, d. 1486).
The present volume was copied, illuminated, and bound originally (the present binding is a modern replacement) by the author himself, who completed this work in the middle of Jumādá II 904/end of January 1499 (see
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
, transcribed below, f. 68r, lines 4-8). The
colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
is followed by illuminated verses, most often attributed to ʿAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʿīl al-Nābulusī (Abdul Ghani ibn Ismail al-Nabulsi, b. 1641, d. 1731). However, al-Nābulusī lived two centuries after the creation of this copy (see f. 68r, lines 9-10).
The author states that he was commanded to write the abridgement by a powerful but un-named patron (whose signals cannot be neglected, f. 2r, lines 5-6), and that he left out most of the narrative content as more properly belonging to historical and literary works.
A tabulation of the Burjī Mamluk sultans, with the dates and lengths of their rules, appears on ff. 31r-33r, beginning with Sayf al-Dīn Barqūq (Saif al-Dīn Barquq, reg. 1382-99, with interregnum 1389-90) and ending with the still-reigning Abū Saʿīd Qānṣūh al-Ashrafī (Abu Sa`id Qansuḥ al-Ashrafi, reg. 1498-1500).
The title is given on an opening page (f. 1r) illuminated in gold, blue and white. The full title text, contained in an upper register and lobed rosette within a frame below, reads The Book of the Elite in describing the Egyptian Kingdom and the noble Islamic kingdoms it contains. May God preserve the kingdom of its owner and establish the foundations of its state.
Begins (f. 1v, lines 2-9):
Praise be to God, the Creator of breezes and the Creator of nations
And the emergence of existence from nothingness is the source of our Master
Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, with miracles and wisdom
May God’s blessings and peace be upon him, his family, and his worthy companions
And inspiration, honor, greatness, and generosity
As for what follows, when I stood on Butter’s book
Revealing the kingdoms and explaining the roads and paths
By the late Janab Al-Gharsi Khalil bin Shaheen Al-Dhaheri
Ends (f. 67v, line 6- f. 68r, line 3):
...So they said the world is a garden
He fenced off the Sharia, the Sharia is a policy he serves
The king is a shepherd supported by the army
Helpers supported by money. Money is a livelihood you collect
The subjects are free, enslaved by justice
Justice is familiar and has the strength of the world and God
The conciliator and the helper, and He is sufficient for us and the best disposer of affairs
And may his prayers be upon the Master of Messengers, Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets
His family and all his companions, and praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds
Colophon
Section at the end of a manuscript text.
(f. 68r, lines 4-10):
According to the honorable mention, he was honored to author and write it
And his gilding and binding of the poor servant to God Almighty Muhammad
Ibn Abi Al-Fath Muhammad Al-Sufi Al-Shafi’i, praising and praying
And he concluded his prayers in the middle of the month of Jumada al-Akhirah
From the months of the year nineteen hundred Arab Hijri
O you who, when the clouds are stingy with a drop, his fingertips cause rivers of land to flow
People are common and honorable people are all in the month of fasting and you are the night of its destiny
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 704, pp. 477-78
Edinme Kaynağı
Purchased from Sidney John Alexander Churchill (1862-1921), 13 November 1886
Acquired in Tehran (see
recto
The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'.
of fourth un-numbered flyleaf, f. iv-r)
Seçilmiş kaynakça
Edition of
Zubdat Kashf al-Mamālik
(of which the present text is an abridgement):
Ibn Shāhīn, Khalīl,
Kitāb zubdat kashf al-mamālik wa bayān al-
ṭuruq wa l-mas
ālik
, edited by Paul Ravaisse (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1894; reprint Lavergne: Nabu Press, 2016)
Translation of
Zubdat Kashf al-Mamālik
(of which the present text is an abridgement):
Ibn Shāhīn, Khalīl,
La Zubda kachf al-mamālik de Khalīl az-Zāhiri. Traduction in
édite de Venture de Paradis avec une notice sur le traducteur
, edited by Jean Gaulmier (Beyrouth: Institut Français de Damas, 1950)
