Six treatises on arithmetic and use of the quadrant

Content

A collection of three texts on algebra and arithmetic, and three on the use of the quadrant. The texts in the volume were copied between Rabīʿ II-Jumādá II 1070/December 1659- February 1660 by ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿĀmilī (علي بن محمد بن الحسن بن زين الدين العاملي, whose transmission had been authorised by his great-grandfather (whom he refers to throughout as jaddī , جدي) Zayn al-Dīn ibn ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Shāmī (زين الدين بن علي بن أحمد الشامي).

References to Zayn al-Dīn's transmission are found at the end of every text in the present volume (ff. 93v, 114v, 133r, 137v, 147r and 165v), in addition to a copy of Zayn al-Dīn's original reading and audition certificate, mentioning three of the works in the volume (f. 115r). This certificate testifies to the transmission of 'a collection of mathematical works' all by Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-‘Abbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Maqdisī al-Faraḍī (شهاب الدين أبو العباس أحمد بن محمد المقدسي الفرضي, d. 1412), known as Ibn al-Hāʾim (ابن الهائم), or commentaries on his works. These are listed as: Sharḥ al-Lumaʿ [ al-yasīrah fī ʿilm al-ḥisāb ] (commentaries on this text were written by Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Sibṭ al-Maridīnī [محمد بن محمدسبط المارديني, d. 1490], among others); Sharḥ Wasīlat al-Maʿūnah fī al-ḥisāb al-hawāʾī (the first text in the present volume); Sharḥ al-Yāsamīnīyah fī al-jabr wa-l-muqābilah (the second text), and al-Nuzhah fī hisāb al-hind al-ghubārī (the third, under a slightly different title).

These texts were transmitted on the authority of ʿIzzat al-Dīn ʿAlī ibn ʿIzz al-Dīn Ḥusayn (عزة الدين علي بن عز الدين حسين) in mid-Shaʿbān 960/late July 1553, a date also mentioned in the notes on ff. 93v, 137v, and 147r). Although more than a century earlier than the date of the present volume, this time span is credible considering the four generations elapsed and the fact that the scribe could have been advanced in years at the time of copying.

Content:

• (1) Sibṭ al-Māridīnī (سبط المارديني), Irshād al-ṭullāb ilá wasīlat al-ḥisāb (إرشاد الطلاب إلى وسيلة الحساب, ff. 1v-93v);
• (2) Sharḥ al-Urjūzah al-Yāsamīnīyah fī ʿilm al-jabr (شرح الأرجوزة الياسمينية في علم الجبر, ff. 94r-114v);
• (3) Ibn al-Hāʾim (ابن الهائم), Nuzhat al-ḥussāb fī ‘ilm al-ḥisāb (نزهة الحُسّاب في علم الحِساب, ff. 115v-133r);
• (4) Risālah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-rubʿ al-marsūm bi-al-qanṭarāt (رسالة في العمل بالربع المرسوم بالقنطرات, ff. 133v-137v);
• (5) Sibṭ al-Māridīnī (سبط المارديني), Hidāyat al-sāʾil ilá al-rubʿ al-kāmil (هداية السائل إلى الربع الكامل, ff. 138v-147r);
• (6) al-Wafāʿī (الوفائي), al-Nujūm al-zāhirāt fī al-ʿamal bi-rubaʿ al-muqanṭarāt (النجوم الزاهرات في العمل بربع المقنطرات, ff. 147v-165v).

Extent and format

Codex A collection of pages, usually gathered into quires, and bound between covers. ; ff. i+165+i

It is grouped into

Irshād al-ṭullāb ilá wasīlat al-ḥisāb إرشاد الطلاب إلى وسيلة الحساب Sibṭ al-Māridīnī, Badr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad سبط المارديني، بدر الدين محمد بن محمد

186 images

Ref: Or 5408, ff 1r-93v

Sharḥ al-Urjūzah al-Yāsamīnīyah fī ʿilm al-jabr شرح الأرجوزة الياسمينية في علم الجبر

43 images

Ref: Or 5408, ff 94r-115r

Nuzhat al-ḥussāb fī ‘ilm al-ḥisāb نزهة الحُسّاب في علم الحِساب Ibn al-Hāʾim, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ابن الهائم، أحمد بن محمد

36 images

Ref: Or 5408, ff 115v-133r

Risālah fī al-ʿamal bi-al-rubʿ al-marsūm bi-al-qanṭarāt رسالة في العمل بالربع المرسوم بالقنطرات

9 images

Ref: Or 5408, ff 133v-137v

Hidāyat al-sāʾil ilá al-rubʿ al-kāmil هداية السائل إلى الربع الكامل Sibṭ al-Māridīnī, Badr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad سبط المارديني، بدر الدين محمد بن محمد

19 images

Ref: Or 5408, ff 138r-147r

al-Nujūm al-zāhirāt fī al-ʿamal bi-rubʿ al-muqanṭarāt النجوم الزاهرات في العمل بربع المقنطرات Wafāʿī, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad وفائي، عبد العزيز بن محمد

37 images

Ref: Or 5408, ff 147v-165v

Physical characteristics

Material: Burnished western laid paper with watermarks

Dimensions: 196 x 142mm leaf [138 x 90mm written]

Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil

Ruling: Misṭarah ; 17 lines per page; vertical spacing 12 lines per 10 cm

Script: Naskh ; the scribe is ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿĀmilī (علي بن محمد بن الحسن بن زين الدين العاملي, see ff. 93v, 114v, 115r, 133r, 137v, 147r and 165v)

Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and source text (item 2), and overlinings in red

Decoration: None

Binding: Red buckram half binding

Condition: Generally good; large tidemark in head margin.

Marginalia: Occasional marginal notes throughout, also see Content for marginal notes on the volume's transmission history

Seals: f. 1r; British Museum stamp: ff. 1r, 127v, 165r

Written in

Arabic in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Or 5408

History of this record

Date(s)

1070 (AH, Hijri qamari)

Provenance

• Muṣṭafá (مصطفى): his seal with date 1168/1754-55 (f. 1r)
• Muḥammad Najal al-Marhūm al-Ḥājj al-Qāsim al-Ṭāʾī [?] (محمد نجل المرحوم الحاج القاسم الطائي [؟): his purchase inscription mentioning ʿAbd al-Qahhār al-Ukhrá (عبد القهار الأخرى), with date Rabīʿ I [??]92

Immediate source of acquisition

Purchased from Kirkor Minassian (1874?-1944), 12 July 1898

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. 40

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Six treatises on arithmetic and use of the quadrant, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Or 5408, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100086325989.0x000001> [accessed 6 October 2024]

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