Hard-coded id of currently selected item: . JSON version of its record is available from Blacklight on e.g. ??
Metadata associated with selected item should appear here...
Or 8349
- Record Id:
- 032-002746985
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002746985
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100022596633.0x000001
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100023510126.0x000002
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Or 8349
- Title:
-
Kitāb al-tafhīm li-awā’il ṣinā‘at al-tanjīm كتاب التفهيم لأوائل صناعة التنجيم
Bīrūnī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad بيروني، محمد بن أحمد
- Scope & Content:
-
Comprehensive introduction to the principles of astrology by Abū al-Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī (أبو الريحان محمد بن أحمد البيروني, ca 973-1048). The text is written in question and answer format (على طريق المسئلة والجواب, f. 2v, line 8), and it deals with the sciences needed by the astrologer: geometry (الهندسة), arithmetic and number theory (الحساب والعدد), cosmology (هيئة العالم) and judicial astrology (أحكام النجوم; see f. 2v, lines 8-9). The author states that he composed the work for Rayḥānah bint al-Ḥasan (ريحانة بنت الحسن , f. 1v, lines 7-8).
The text contains numerous diagrams and tables.
The earliest ownership inscription is dated Rajab 839/January-February 1436 (f. 1r, see Custodial History), so it is likely that the copy was completed at or shortly before this date
Begins (f. 1v, lines 3-7):
قال إن الإحاطة بهيئة العالم وكيفية شكل ألسماء والأرض وما بينهما على وجه الأخبار
المأخوذة بالتقليد نافعة جدًا في صناعة التنجيم لأن بها يقع للمستمع دربة
يعتاد فيها الألفاظ الجارية فيما بين أهلها ويسهل تصورها ومعانئها حتى
إذا عاد عليها متعرفًا وجوده عللها وبراهينها أتاها بفكرة مجردة لاجتمع
عليها تعب كلي الجانبين ...
End (f. 158v, line 14-159r, line 1):
... وعند البلوغ إلى هذا الموضع من الصناعة التنجيم كفاية ومن بعدها فقد عرّض
نفسه وصناعته لما بلغت إليها لأن من السخرية والاستهذاء فقد جهلها المنتسبون إليها
فضلًا على المتيقنين بها والله المستعان والحمد لواهب الحيوة
Colophon (f. 159r, lines 2-6):
تم كتاب التفهيم لأوائل صناعة التنجيم
تصنيف أبي الريحان محمد بن أحمد البيروني
رحمه الله عليه رحمة واسعةً
وصلواته على محمد وآله الطاهرين
والحمد لله أولًا وآخرًا
- Collection Area:
- Oriental Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Qatar Foundation Partnership Programme
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "032-002746985", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Or 8349: Kitāb al-tafhīm li-awā’il ṣinā‘at al-tanjīm كتاب التفهيم لأوائل صناعة التنجيمBīrūnī, Muḥammad…" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002746985
- Is part of:
- not applicable
- Hierarchy:
- 032-002746985
- Container:
- not applicable
- Record Type (Level):
- Fonds
- Extent:
-
Codex; ff. i+159+ii
- Digitised Content:
- https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100022596633.0x000001
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Arabic
- Scripts:
- Arabic
- Start Date:
- 1436
- End Date:
- 1436
- Date Range:
- 839
- Calendar:
- Hijri-qamari
- Era:
- AH
- Access:
-
Please request the physical items you need using the online collection item request form.
Digitised items can be viewed online by clicking the thumbnail image or digitised content link.
Readers who have registered or renewed their pass since 21 March 2024 can request physical items prior to visiting the Library by completing
this request form.
Please enter the Reference (shelfmark) above on the request form.If your Reader Pass was issued before this date, you will need to visit the Library in London or Yorkshire to renew it before you can request items online. All manuscripts and archives must be consulted at the Library in London.
This catalogue record may describe a collection of items which cannot all be requested together. Please use the hierarchy viewer to navigate to individual items. Some items may be in use or restricted for other reasons. If you would like to check the availability, contact our Reference Services team, quoting the Reference (shelfmark) above.
- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Paper
Dimensions: 225 x 150 mm leaf 143 x 105 mm written
Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil
Ruling: Misṭarah; 15 lines per page; vertical spacing 11 lines per 10 cm
Script: Naskh; title on title page in thuluth (f. 1r); labels in one diagram in kufī (f. 16r)
Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings (some corrupting to silver) and tables and diagrams in black and red
Binding: Islamic binding in Morocco leather with envelope flap; blind tooled medallion with pendants and corner pieces all containing flowers on both boards and flap
Condition: Minor water damage; upper quarter of f. 1 mutilated and repaired
Marginalia: Very few
Seals: ff. 1r and 2r
- Custodial History:
-
- Awḥad ibn As‘ad ibn Bahr A‘azz al-Mustawfī (أوحد بن أسعد بن بهر أعز المستوفي), his inscription, dated Rajab 839/January-February 1436 (f. 1r, centre);
- ‘Alā’ ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī al-Bayhaqī (علاء بن الحسين بن علي البيهقي), his inscription, dated 889 AH/AD 1484-5 (f. 1r, left);
- ‘Alā’ ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī (علاء بن الحسين بن علي), his seal, undated (f. 1r, lower centre);
- Endowment statement (waqfīyah), undated (f. 1v, lower margin);
- Seal, illegible (f. 2r, lower left-hand margin);
- Muḥammad ibn al-Salḥ (?) Muṣṭafá al-Muntashwī (?) (محمد بن السلح ؟ مصطفى المنتشوي ؟), his reader''s inscription, undated (endpaper i verso).
- Source of Acquisition:
-
Purchased from Ḥājjī ‘Abd al-Majīd Belshah, 9 November 1919
- Finding Aids:
- Edwards, E. ''Some rare and important Arabic and Persian manuscripts from the collections of Hajji Abu l-Majid Belshah now either in the British Museum or in the private collection of Professor Edward C Browne'', in A Volume of Oriental Studies presented to Edward C Browne on his 60th Birthday, ed. by T.W. Arnold and R.A. Nicholson (Cambridge 1922), p. 141
- Publications:
-
Translation with facsimile edition of MS Or. 8349:
- Bīrūnī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad, The Book of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of Astrology, R. Ramsay Wright, ed. and trans., (London: Luzac & co., 1934)
Study:
- Ullmann, Manfred, Die Natur- und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam (Leiden: Brill, 1972), p. 335
- Exhibitions:
- Moonstruck, Royal Museums Greenwich, London, 19 July 2019 - 5 January 2020
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)