al-Zīj al-mu‘tabar al-Sanjarī الزيج المعتبر السنجري Khāzinī, ʻAbd al-Raḥmān خازني، عبد الرحمن

Content

Astronomical handbook with tables composed at Merv (مرو) by the astronomer, mathematician and physicist Abū Manṣūr (also known as Abū al-Fatḥ) ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Khāzinī (أبو منصور/أبو الفتح عبد الرحمن الخازني) around 1120 and dedicated to the Seljuk sultan Sanjar ibn Malikshāh (سنجر بن ملكشاه, reg. 1118-57).

The manuscript is defective at the beginning and the folios are out of order. David Pingree ('A Preliminary Assessment of the Problems of Editing the Zīj al-Sanjarī of al-Khazini' [London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 1420/1999], on pp. 106 and 109) suggests the following as the correct folio sequence: ff. 57-62, 7-8, 2, 1, 3-6, 9-56, 63-69, 71-75, 77, 79, 70, 76, 78, 81, 97, 82-96, 98, 104-107, 102, 99, 103, 108-109, 100, 138-139, 110-123, 127, 126, 124-125, 128-134, 156, 155, 140-148, 135, 149-154, 101, 137, 136 and 157. Maqālah Nine is defective at the end, Maqālah Ten is missing and the Separate Maqālah is defective at the beginning (see table of maqālāt below).

A table of contents is found on ff. 2v, 1 and 3r (in that order), and the text is divided into eleven treatises (مقالات), each subdivided into sections (أقسام), chapters (أبواب) and parts (فصول).

Treatise titles according to the table of contents:

Maqālah One: Epochs (المقالة الأولى في التواريخ, ff. 3v-13r);

Maqālah Two: Introductions (المقالة الثانية في المقدمات, ff. 13r-16v);

Maqālah Three: Ascendants (المقالة الثالثة في الطوالع, ff. 16v-26r);

Maqālah Four: Mean Motion of Planets (المقالة الرابعة في أوساط الكواكب, ff. 26v-34r);

Maqālah Five: Stations, Latitudes and Motion (المقالة الخامسة في القوائم والعروض والمسير, ff. 34r-38r);

Maqālah Six: Parallax (المقالة السادسة في اختلافات المناظر , ff. 38r-42v);

Maqālah Seven: Conjunctions (المقالة السابعة في الاتصالات, ff. 42v-45r);

Maqālah Eight: Eclipses (المقالة الثامنة في الكسوفات, ff. 45r-52v);

Maqālah Nine: Sighting and Rising (المقالة التاسعة في الرؤية والتشريق, ff. 52v-62v, defective at end);

Maqālah Ten: Conversions of Years (المقالة العاشرة في تحاويل السنين, missing);

Seperate Maqālah: Unusual Works (المقالة المفروزة لأعمال غريبة, ff. 63r-68r, defective at beginning).

The eleven treatises of the text (ff. 1r-68r) are followed by tables (ff. 68v-157v). An overview of the contents of these tables is found in Kennedy, 'A Survey of Islamic Astronomical Tables' (1956), on pp. 159-61.

The copy was completed in 20 Jumādá II 620/21 July 1223 by Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Sālim al-Maqdisī or al-Muqaddasī (محمد بن أحمد بن سالم المقدسي, see f. 157, foot of table).

Begins (f. 57r, lines 1-2, defective at beginning):

صعود الكوبك في فلكه وهبوطه وعمق الأجرام السماوية والثاني يعرف بها أقطار الكواكب بعضها إلى بعض والثالث

يعرف بها مقدار أصابع الكسوف من قطب النير المنكسف.

Colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. (f. 157r, foot of table):

آخر الزيج المعتبر السنجري

وفرغ من كتابة محمد بن أحمد بن سالم المقدسي في يوم الخميس العشرين من جمادى الآخرة سنة عشرين وستمائة للهجرة

والحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وسلم تسليمًا كثير (!) وحسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل

Text on back page (f. 157v, lines 1-3 [top of page mutilated, probably 1 line missing]):

[الجـ]ـداول المضافة إليه وجدت (؟)

الأصل المنقول منه وهي من تصنيف مصنّف الزيج

ومصنّف الشيخ الخازني رحمه الله عليه

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. i+157+ii

Physical characteristics

Material: Eastern laid paper

Dimensions: 320 x 230 mm leaf [220 x 170 mm written on pages with text; 260 x 178 mm frames on pages with tables]

Foliation: Eastern Arabic foliation in black ink; British Museum foliation in pencil

Ruling: Misṭarah (?); 19 lines per page; vertical spacing 9 lines per 10 cm

Script: Naskh ; the scribe is Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Sālim al-Maqdisī or al-Muqaddasī (محمد بن أحمد بن سالم المقدسي, see f. 157, foot of table)

Ink: Black, red, green and blue

Binding: British Museum binding

Condition: Many folios mutilated and repaired; extensive iron-gall ink corrosion

Marginalia: Very few, but see f. 69v

Seals: None

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Or 6669

History of this record

Date(s)

20 Jumādá II 620 (AH, Hijri qamari)

Immediate source of acquisition

Purchased from Murad Baroody, 4 November 1905

Related material

Finding aids

Ellis, A.G. and Edward Edwards, A Descriptive List of the Arabic Manuscripts Acquired by the Trustees of the British Museum since 1894 (London: British Museum, 1912), p. 39

Select Bibliography

Studies:

• Kennedy, E.S., 'A Survey of Islamic Astronomical Tables', Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 46.2 (1956), pp. 123-177, on pp. 129 and 159-61
• Pingree, David, 'A Preliminary Assessment of the Problems of Editing the Zīj al-Sanjarī of al-Khazini', in Editing Islamic Manuscripts on Science , ed. by Yūsuf Ibish (London: Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 1420/1999), pp. 105-13
• Abattouy, Mohammed, 'Khāzinī: Abū al-Fatḥ ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Khāzinī (Abū Manṣūr ‘Abd al‐Raḥmān, ʿAbd al‐Raḥmān Manṣūr)' in The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers , ed. by Thomas Hockey et al. (New York: Springer, 2007) pp. 629-30

Subjects

Astronomy--TablesAstronomy--Early works to 1800

People & organisations

ʻAbd al-Raḥmān Khāzinī

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al-Zīj al-mu‘tabar al-Sanjarī الزيج المعتبر السنجري Khāzinī, ʻAbd al-Raḥmān خازني، عبد الرحمن, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Or 6669, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/node/9569> [accessed 17 February 2025]

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