Fragment of an anonymous text on domestic economy Anonymous

Content

This text on domestic economy and commerce is defective at both the beginning and the end, and begins abruptly with a discussion of the positive and negative aspects of money (or property more generally, Ar. مال) and royal patronage. It continues with five sections, the first three of which are theoretical discussions of property, while the last two contain descriptions of minerals and perfumes respectively. The author must have lived some centuries after the mid-ninth century AD because he refers to al-Kindī (AD 801-873) as one of the ancients (الكندي وغير المتقدمين; f. 19v, line 4).

The section headings are preserved in this fragment give an indication of the topics dealt with:

• فصل في موضع الحاجة إلى المال الصامت (‘Section on the establishment of the need for dumb property’, f. 10r);
• فصل فيما يمتحن به المال الصامت فيعرف جيده من رديءه (‘Section on how dumb property can be tested and the good distinguished from the bad’, f. 13v);
• فصل في الأعراض (‘Section on goods’, f. 15v);
• فصل في جيد الأعراض ورديءها (‘Section on good and bad goods’, f. 19v);
• فصل في الطيب (‘Section on perfume’, f. 25r).

Begins (defective; f. 10r, lines 1-5):

أصل وإن توهم ذلك مجتمعًا من جوائز الملوك ومعاونة

السلطان أنبأ عن جلالة قدر ونباهة ذكر وإصالة

رأي وإن توهم باتفاق ومصادفة من غير قصد

إليه أنبأ عن سعادة جد ويمن طائر ولو لم يكون في الغني

إلا أنه من صفات الله غز وجل ...

Ends (defective; f. 27v, lines 9-11):

... الفلفل أجوده النطيف (!) من الدق والتراب

والحصي السالم من العفونة والاحتراق والعفونة (!) التي طال عليه

الزمان وعلامة العفن والمحترق أن يحبك النسيج الذي على الحبّة

Extent and format

ff. 10r-27v

It is part of

Medical compendium

370 images

Ref: Arundel Or 10

Physical characteristics

Material: Paper

Dimensions: 174 x 124 mm leaf [130 x 94 mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil

Ruling:

• Misṭarah; 11 lines per page; vertical spacing 8 lines per 10 cm (ff. 4v-27v);
• Misṭarah; 15 lines per page; vertical spacing lines per 10 cm (ff. 28v-104r and 109r-174r);
• No ruling visible; average 18 lines per page; 16 lines per 10 cm (ff. 105v-108v)

Script: Naskh

Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and over lining in red

Binding: British Museum binding in brown leather

Condition: minor waterstains, some foxing and light grime from thumbing, some folios torn and repaired (e.g. ff. 10, 11 and 68)

Marginalia: Occasional marginal annotations and corrections

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript item

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Arundel Or 10, ff 10r-27v

History of this record

Date(s)

711-712 (AH, Hijri qamari)

Context of creation

Aleppo

Provenance

See note on f. 28r of one Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Khalīl (?) ibn al-Ḥaṣūn (?) who inspected and copied the texts on ff. 28v-104r and 109r-174r on 17 Jumādá II 829/26 April 1426.

Front paper i verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. contains an anonymous bookplate with motto ‘NULLIUS IN VERBA’.

Folio 4r contains stamp inscribed ‘Soc. Reg. Lond. ex dono Henr. Howard Norfolciensis’.

Related material

Subjects

Medicine, Greek and Roman

People & organisations

Hibat Allāh ibn Ṣā'id Ibn al-TilmīdhAvicennaGalen

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Cite this record in your research

Fragment of an anonymous text on domestic economy Anonymous, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Arundel Or 10, ff 10r-27v, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/mirador/81055/vdc_100023901480.0x000002> [accessed 20 June 2026]

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