Aphorisms كتاب الفصول Hippocrates أبقراط

Content

A copy of the Aphorisms ( Kitāb al-fuṣūl ) attributed to Hippocrates (ca 460-370 BC), in an Arabic translation perhaps by Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq al-‘Ibādī (AD 809-873). John Tytler, the editor of the first printed edition of this text (Calcutta, 1832), owned this manuscript as recorded on f. 1a (see Custodial History for transcription). In an advertisement (i.e. introduction) to his edition of the text, Tytler describes how he came to possess it while living in India as an Assistant Surgeon at the Bengal Establishment of the East India Service :‘[the manuscript was] procured by myself from a native physician in Patna, through the favour of my friend, Henry Douglas, Esq. of that city…’ ( Aphorisms of Hippocrates , 1932, Advertisement).

Tytler had two manuscripts of the Aphorisms at his disposal when he prepared his edition, and he considered his other manuscript to be ‘considerably more correct’ than this one (ibid.).

The text is divided in to 7 books (مقالات):

المقالة الأولى (Book 1; ff. 1v-5r);

المقالة الثانية (Book 2; ff. 5r-8v);

المقالة الثالثة (Book 3; ff. 8v-11v);

المقالة الرابعة (Book 4; ff. 11v-17r);

المقالة الخامسة (Book 5; ff. 17r-22r);

المقالة السادسة (Book 6; ff. 22r-24v);

المقالة السابعة (Book 7; ff. 24v-27r).

Begins (f. 1v, lines 2-6):

المقالة الأولى ثلثة عشرون فصلًا الفصل قال البقراط العمر

قصير والصناعة طويلة والوقت ضيق والتجربة خطر والقضاء عسر

وقد ينبغي لك أن لا تقتصر على اتوخي فعل ما ينبغي دون

أن يكون ما يفعله المريض ومن يحضره كذلك والأشياء

التي من خارج ...

Ends (f. 27v, lines 9-13):

... فصل من تزعزع

دماغه فإنه يصيبه من وقته سكتة فصل من كان لحمته (!) رطبًا فينبغي أن

يجوع فإن الجوع يخفف (!) الأبدان فصل العرق الكثير الذي يجري

دائمًا كان حارًا وباردًا يدل على أنه ينبغي أن يخرج من البدن رطوبة

إما في القوى فمن فوق وإما في الضعيف من أسفل

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. ii+27+v

Physical characteristics

Material: Paper

Dimensions: 246 x 160 mm leaf [168 x 86 mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil

Ruling: Misṭarah; 13 lines per page; vertical spacing 8 lines per 10 cm

Script: Ta‘līq

Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlining in red

Binding: British Museum binding

Condition: minor waterstains to lower margin, light foxing

Marginalia: Very few scribal corrections and other marginalia

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Add MS 6903

History of this record

Date(s)

18th century (CE, Gregorian)

Provenance

The following inscription is found on f. 1r: 'Aphorisms of Hippocrates (Arabic) Obtained at Patna by John Tytler Ass[is]t[ant] Surgeon Bengal Establishment East India Service'.

Related material

Subjects

Medicine, ArabMedicine, MedievalHippocrates. AphorismsMedicine, Greek and Roman

People & organisations

John TytlerḤunayn ibn Isḥāq al-'IbādīHippocrates

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Aphorisms كتاب الفصول Hippocrates أبقراط, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Add MS 6903, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000006416.0x000001> [accessed 8 November 2024]

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