Mūsīqī-yi ḥikmat-i ʿAlāʾī موسيقي حكمت علائي Avicenna ابن سينا

Content

Section on music from the Persian summary of his own philosophical teachings by Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh (أبو علي الحسين بن عبد الله), known as Ibn Sīnā (ابن سينا, latinised as Avicenna, d. 1037), written for the Kākūyid amir ʿAlāʾ al-Dawlah Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Rustam Dushmanziyār (علاء الدولة أبو جعفر محمد بن رستم دشمنزيار, reg. ca 1008-1041).

The text of this copy was completed on 11 Jumādá II 1073/21 January 1663, in the town of Anbālah, (Ambala) 'during the time of the procession towards Lahore' (see f. 161v, lines 24-25, transcribed below).

The text is followed by three folios containing tables of musical modes and intervals (ff. 162r-164r).

Begins (f. 157r, lines 1-3):

خواجه رئيس ابو علي الحسين ابن عبد الله ابن سينا رحمة الله عليه ميكويد كه صناعت علم موسيقى

دو جزء است كمى تاليف است و موضوع او نغمهاست و انذر حال اتفاق ايشان و نا اتفاق

ايشان نكاه كنند...

Ends (f. 161v, lines 23-24):

...و اقامت بريك نمط اندر هر دو جنس نيكوست و تبديل كردن مختلفها وبضد

نیکوتر بود

Colophon Section at the end of a manuscript text. (f. 161v, lines 24-25):

...تمام شد موسيقى كتاب دانش نامهٴ علائي يازدهم جمادى الثاني سنة ١٠٧٣

در قصبه انباله در ايامى كه رايات عاليات متوجه لاهور بود

Extent and format

Ff. 157r-164r

It is part of

A collection of fourteen treatises on music theory in Arabic and Persian

556 images

Ref: Or 2361

Written in

Persian and Farsi in Arabic script

Type

Manuscript item

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: Oriental Manuscripts

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

Or 2361, ff 157r-164r

History of this record

Date(s)

Jumādá II 1073 (AH, Hijri qamari)

Related material

Finding aids

• Rieu, Charles, Supplement to the Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: The British Museum, 1895) Item 162, III, p. 115
• Rieu, Charles, Supplement to the Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: The British Museum, 1894), Item 823, VII, p. 559

Select Bibliography

Translation:

• The 'Metaphysica' of Avicenna (ibn Sīnā). A Critical Translation-Commentary and Analysis of the Fundamental Arguments in Avicenna's 'Metaphysica' in the 'Dānish Nāma-i ʿAlāʾī' ('The Book of Scientific Knowledge') , Parviz Morewedge (ed.) (New York: Columbia University Press, 1973)
• Avicenna, Le Livre de science, translated by Mohammad Achena and Henri Massé, 2 vols., 2nd edition (Paris: Les Belles Lettres/UNESCO, 1986)

Edition:

• Bīnish, Taqī, ‘Resāle-ye Nakhust: Mūsīqī-yi Ḥikmat-i ʿAlāʾī', Sih risāle-ye fārsī dar mūsīqī (Tehran: Iran University Press, 1992), pp. 3-30.

People & organisations

Avicenna

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Mūsīqī-yi ḥikmat-i ʿAlāʾī موسيقي حكمت علائي Avicenna ابن سينا, British Library: Oriental Manuscripts, Or 2361, ff 157r-164r, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100131607039.0x00000b> [accessed 1 July 2026]

Link to this record

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