Aqsarā’ī, Muḥammad ibn ‘Īsá أقسرائي، محمد بن عيسى Nihāyat al-suʾl wa-al-umnīyah fī taʿlīm al-furūsīyah نهاية السؤل والأمنية في تعليم أعمال الفروسية

Or 3631, ff 4v-260v

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The record is made up of Ff. 4v-260v. It was created in 15th century. It was written in Arabic. The original is part of the British Library: Oriental Manuscripts.

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A Mamluk manual on horsemanship, military arts and technology, also known as Nihāyat al-suʾl wa-al-umnīyah fī taʿlīm ʿamal al-furūsīyah (نهاية السؤل والأمنية في تعليم عمل الفروسية), attributed to Muḥammad ibn ‘Īsá ibn Ismā‘īl al-Ḥanafī al-Aqsarā’ī (محمد بن عيسى بن اسماعيل الأقسرائي, died c.1349).

Some folios have been lost (for example, between the present ff. 87 and 88 where some diagrams are missing) and after the present f. 123. A pencil note on f. 3v gives instructions for rebinding.

The pictorial programme is faithful to the existing tradition of illustrated manuscripts of this text (compare British Library Add. MS 18866). The paintings are executed in a simple style, and some are unfinished or do not accurately illustrate their captions. Some illustrations after f. 123 are in a non-standard order, possibly the result of folio loss or faulty rebinding. Two illustrations are missing from the standard recension:

  • 'Illustration of two horsemen wheeling around, with a sword in each one's hand on the horse's back' (صورة فارسين متجاولين في يديهما سيفين كل واحد منهما سيفه على متنه);
  • 'Illustration of a horseman with two swords and two small hide shields, one up at his face and the other in his hand with the sword' (صورة فارس ومعه سيفين ودرقتين صغار درقة على وجهه والأخري في يده مع السيف الواحد).

Contents:

  • Introduction (ff. 5r-29v) [on the virtues of jihad];
  • Book 1: Instruction in archery (الكتاب الأول في التعليم لرماية النشاب, ff. 29v-37r);
  • Book on the illnesses that afflict the archer's body (كتاب في العلل التي تلحق الرامي في بدنه, ff. 37r-44v);
  • Chapter 3: Instruction in the lance (الباب الثالث في تعليم الرمح, ff. 44v-110r); Described in this copy as 'the third chapter', this section is entitled the 'Teaching 2' (التعليم الثاني) in other copies of the text. A previous owner has corrected this in pencil in the margin
  • Teaching 3: Swordsmanship (التعليم الثالث في العمل بالسيف, ff. 110r-140v);
  • Teaching 4: The shield (التعليم الرابع في الترس, ff. 140v-142r);
  • Teaching 5: Using the mace (التعليم الخامس في العمل بالعمود ff. 142r-142v);
  • Teaching [6]: The art of soldiers and cavalrymen (التعليم في صناعة الجنود والفرسان, ff. 142v-150r);
  • Teaching 7: Discussion of weapons (التعليم السابع في ذكر الأسلحة, ff. 150r-181v);
  • Teaching 8: The conscription, assembling and management of troops (التعليم الثامن في عقد الجيوش وجمعها وآلاتها, ff. 181v-193v);
  • Teaching 9: Mobilisation of the battle lines by the general (التعليم التاسع في تعبية الأمير الصفوف في القتال, ff. 193v-213v);
  • Teaching 10: Military strategies with incendiaries (التعليم العاشر في المكايد الحربية من تسليط النيران, ff. 213v-217v);
  • Teaching 11: The division of spoils (التعليم الحادي عشر في قسمة الغنائم, ff. 217v-252v);
  • Teaching 12: What the soldier and others require (التعليم الثاني عشر فيما يحتاج إليه المحارب وغيره, ff. 252v-260v).

The text includes a number of extracts from other works including poetic verses, passages from the Greek military writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. Aelian's (اليانس) treatise Tactica (written ca 106 CE), and a treatise on sword making by the philosopher al-Kindī, addressed to the Caliph al-Mu‘taṣim (باب في السيوف وأنواعها وسقاياتها وهي رسالة أبي يوسف يعقوب ابن إسحق الكندي لأمير المؤمنين المعتصم, f. 134r).

Illustrations with accompanying captions:

  • 'Illustration of two horsemen whose lance-heads are between each other's shoulder-blades' (صورة فارسين سنان كل واحد منهما بين كتفي صاحبه, f. 90v);
  • 'Illustration of a number of horsemen taking part in a contest, their lances on their shoulders' (صورة عدة الفرسان يلعبون ناوردًا وأرماحهم على أكتافهم, f. 92v);
  • 'Illustration of a horseman taking part in a game with a lance, the lance-head being in his hand and its shaft to his rear' (صورة فارس يلعب برمح وسنان الرمح في يده وعقبه إلى خلف, f. 94r);
  • 'Illustration of a horseman on a steed, brandishing two lances in his hand' (صورة فارس على جواد وبيده رمحين يلعب بهما, f. 102r;
  • 'Illustration of a horseman standing up in his saddle on a black steed and impaling a bear which is in front of the horse' (صورة فارس قد قام في سرجه على جواد أدهم وقد طعن دب من قدام الفرس, f. 105v). The bear is not depicted;
  • 'Illustration of a horseman brandishing his sword, riding a grey steed' (صورة فارس يلعب بسيف على جواد أشهب, f. 112v);
  • 'Illustration of a horseman with a sword in his hand and his sleeve wound over his hand as he rises out of his saddle and strikes with the sword' (صورة فارس في يده سيف وكمه ملفوف على يده وهو بارز عن سرجه وهو يضرب بالسيف, f. 114v);
  • 'Illustration of a horseman with a sword in his hand with which he strikes from the horse's ear as far back as its right croup' (صورة فارس وبيده سيف يضرب به من أذن الفرس إلى كفله الأيمن, f. 116v);
  • 'Illustration of a horseman on a red steed with the edge of the sword under your [his] right armpit, the hilt in his left hand [with the reins]' (صورة الفارس وهو على جواد أحمر وذبابة السيف تحت إبطك [!] الأيمن والقائم في يساره [مع العنان], f. 119r);
  • 'Illustration of a horseman with a small shield around his neck and a sword in his hand which he brandishes left and right' (صورة فارس مقلد بدرقة صغيرة وفي يده سيف يلوح به يمينًا وشمالاً, f. 121r );
  • 'Illustration of a horseman with a hide shield over his face, the sword edge under his right armpit and the hilt on his left' (صورة فارس ودرقة على وجهه وذبابة السيف تحت إبطه الأيمن والقائم في شماله, f. 121v);
  • 'Illustration of a horseman with an iron helmet on his head, with a sword. A fire is lit on the helmet, the sword blade and in the middle of the shield' (صورة فارس على رأسه خوذة حديدة ومعه سيف والنار تؤجج في الخوذة وفي ذبابة السيف ووسط الترس, f. 123r);
  • 'Illustration of a horseman with a lance in his hand which he is dragging behind him, and a shield in his other hand' (صورة فارس في يده رمح يجرّه وراءه وفي يده الأخرى ترس, f. 125v);
  • 'Illustration of a horseman with a sword in his right hand, its blade on his left shoulder and a sword in his left hand whose blade is under his right armpit' (صورة فارس ومعه سيف في يده اليمنى وذبابته على كتفه اليسرى وفي يده اليسرى سيف وذبابة تحت إبطه الأيمن; f. 126r);
  • 'Illustration of a horseman with a sword in his left hand and its tip under his left armpit' (صورة فارس في يده اليسار سيف وذبابته تحت إبطه الأيمن; f. 127v);
  • 'Illustration of a horseman with a lance in his hand which he is brandishing, carrying a shield and taking part in a contest' (صورة فارس بيده رمح يلعب به ودرقته بحميله يلعب ناوردًا, f. 128v);
  • 'Illustration of four horsemen, each one with a sword and a hide shield, and each one carrying his shield on his horse's croup' (صورة أربع فوارس مع كل واحد منهم سيف ودرقة وكل منهم درقته على كفل فرسه, f. 130v).

Diagrams:

Executed in red and black ink, with captions.

  • Diagram of the 'dispatches' (تساريح) of Shaykh Najm al-Dīn al-Aḥdab, with caption صورة الجدول (f. 75r);
  • Six diagrams of dressage patterns (ميادين, ff. 86v-87v);
  • Left half of a diagram of a parade ground (الموكب, f. 88r);
  • Labeled diagram of the layout of a royal fortress (منزلة الملك و الجيش والحصار; ff. 192v-193r);
  • 'Seven figures' [of military formations] (سبعة أشكال, ff. 196v, 197v, 198v-199v);
  • Three sketches of Euclidean figures (أشكال أقليدس, see f. 205r, line 17) used by the ancient Greeks as military formations (ff. 205v and 206v);
  • A mangonel missile, drawn in in pencil (f. 216r);
  • Unlabelled diagram (f. 260v).

Begins (f. 4v, lines 2-5):

الحمد لله ناصر من أطاعه واتّقاه وكاسر من حاده وعصاه ودارع من

أعرض عنه وعاداه ووادع من اعتقد أن لا اله إلا سواه أحمده حمد

من أيقن بنفعه وضرره وأذعن لقضائه وقدره وبذل مهجته

في نصرة دينه وأقرّ بالوحدانية...

Ends (f. 260r, line 21- f. 260v, line 3):

مرهم النورة المستعمل وحده يؤخذ نورة وتشد في...

خرقة رقيقة وتحرك في إناء فيه ماء حتى يخرج ما فيه من النورة ويبقى التفل

ويترك حتى يصفوا ثم يصب الماء عنه ويلقى عليه زيت ويضرب

حتى يجتمع ويستعمل

Colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. (f. 260v, lines 3-5):

وبتمام هذه المراهم تم كتاب

السوال (!) والأمنية

في تعليم أعمال الفروسية

Extent and format
Ff. 4v-260v
It is part of
Written in
Arabic in Arabic script
Type
Manuscript item

Archive information for this record

Access & Reference

Original held at
British Library: Oriental Manuscripts
Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference
Or 3631, ff 4v-260v

History of this record

Date(s)
15th century (CE, Gregorian)

Related material

Finding aids

Rieu, Charles, Supplement to the Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: The British Museum, 1894), Item 820/1, p. 556

Select Bibliography
  • Jensen, Kjersti Enger, The Mamluk Lancer: A philological study of Nihāyat al-suʾl wa-ʾl-ʾumnīya fī taʿlīm ʾaʿmāl al-furūsīya (Unpublished Master's thesis, University of Oslo, 2013)
  • Tantum, Geoffrey, 'Muslim Warfare: a Study of a Medieval Muslim Treatise on the Art of War', in Islamic Arms and Armour , Robert Elgood, ed. (London: Scolar Press, 1979)

Studies:

  • Al-Sarraf, Shihab, 'Mamluk Furūsīyah Literature and Its Antecedents', Mamluk Studies Review Vol. 8/1, pp. 141-200 (Chicago: Middle East Documentation Center, The University of Chicago, 2004)
  • Smith, G. Rex, Medieval Muslim Horsemanship. A Fourteenth-Century Arabic Cavalry Manual (London: The British Library 1979)

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Aqsarā’ī, Muḥammad ibn ‘Īsá أقسرائي، محمد بن عيسى Nihāyat al-suʾl wa-al-umnīyah fī taʿlīm al-furūsīyah نهاية السؤل والأمنية في تعليم أعمال الفروسية, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Or 3631, ff 4v-260v, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100126831768.0x000002> [accessed 16 November 2024]

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