Or 8086, ff 77v-106r

A teaching manual transmitted from an anonymous author (المؤلف) on navigational practices and nautical information, interspersed with poems.

Following an introductory sermon (خطبة), the first part of the work contains numerous sections (أبواب) on theoretical astronomy and observation (understanding of the solar and sidereal years, practices for observing solar and stellar altitude, and observations and calculations required for plane sailing calculations, ff. 77v-85r).

Then follow many sections describing Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean ports and navigational courses from Baṣrah to the East African coast as far as the Comoros Islands, the Arabian Peninsula, and along the Indian coastline as far as Sri Lanka (ff. 85v-96v). Routes are expressed in terms of stellar navigation, bringing in topographical, marine and climatic observations.

Content:

• A sermon (خطبة) in praise of God’s creation of the world, which was divided among the sons of Noah (ff. 77v-78v);
• Chapters on determining solar elevation using the English or ‘Kachchi’ (كتشي) kamāl (sextant); advice on comportment (ff. 78v-80r);
• On stellar configurations, rhumbs, and the sidereal and solar years (قسمة الدنيا على القول المتقدم الجهات, ff. 80r-82r);
• Chapter on the variation between culminations, tropicals, origin points, descenders, additions, withdrawal and distance, followed by a poem (الباب هذا نذكر في اختلاف الغايات والانقلاب والمبادئ والتنزيل والإضافة والنزع والمسافة, f. 82v);
• Chapters on calculating latitude using the sextant (ff. 83r-83v);
• On navigation between locations with known coordinates (في صفة المجاري في المسافات, ff. 84r-84v);
• On the northern and southern hemispheres and the axial tilt of the equator, followed by a poem (في صفة معرفة البلدان ما كان منها جنوبًا وما كان منها شمالًا, ff. 84v-85r);
• Description of the course by stellar navigation from Ṣūr to Muskat (Musqaṭ) in Oman and on to Baṣrah (المجراة من خور صور إلى مسكت (!) والمجراة منها, ff. 85v-86r);
• Description of Persian ports, followed by a poem (صفة مرسي بر فارس, ff. 86r-86v);
• Several sections on stellar navigation from Baṣrah to Oman and Yemen, return crossings from the south coast of the Arabian peninsula to Somalia and Socotra, and courses down the East African coast as far as Zanzibar and the Comoros Islands (ff. 86v-90v);
• Several sections on the landing-ports (مناتخ) of the Gujarati and Maharashtra coasts as far as Mumbai, and stellar navigation courses between them, giving geographical coordinates, depth soundings, and topographical sketches (ff. 90v-93v);
• Two sections on the yunūd (الينود), plane sailing calculations using latitude, longitude and departure, on calculating stellar altitude using the fingers, and a list of stellar coordinates (ff. 93v-95r);
• Sections on the course along the Malabar coast from Mumbai to Kochi via Mangalore, using stellar navigation and mentioning topographical and weather conditions (ff. 95r-96v);
• A series of rules on plane sailing, outlining the calculation of latitude, distance travelled and distances travelled using stellar rhumbs (ff. 96v-97r);
• Chapter describing taking clearance observations using the chip log (الباطلي), followed by a poem (هذا الصفة لمن أرادها قاعدة مشكورة إذا لم تكن ترمي باطلي وتقاييس بالكمال, ff. 97v-99r);
• An abbreviated tour of the whole world and its populations, in verse (هذا الباب نذكر في دورة الدنيا جميعًا بالاختصار, ff. 99r-100r);
• Advice on making landfall (المنتخ) at different ports, dependent upon the season, followed by a poem (وأما العبرات أول موسم وآخر موسم, ff. 100v-101r);
• A sidereal compass rose of 32 divisions labelled with latitude and longitude values (f. 102r);
• Ff. 103v-106r: additional material apparently added to the volume’s flyleaves:
• Establishing values of latitude, longitude and departure using stellar navigation (f. 103v)
• Instructions for crossing the Red Sea between al-Ḥudaydah to Dahlak via Jeddah and back again, expressed in stellar rhumbs (f. 104r);
• Incomplete compass rose (f. 104v);
• Scribbled coordinates for Omani ports southwards from Musqaṭ to Jirām Inlet near Raʾs al-Ḥādd (ff. 105v–106r).

Begins (f. 77v, lines 2-5):

وبه نستعين ولا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله العلي العظيم قال المؤلف

رحمه الله تعالى فقد هممت في الاجتهاد على أن أصنف خطبة

قبل شرع مبتدئ الغايات وقلت في ذلك الحمد لله الذي علم

الإنسان ما لم يعلم وأكرمه بأحسن القامة والسمع والبصر

Ends (f. 101r, lines 14-16):

إن حل عسر فاليسر ضد له يأتي الفرج في إبرك الساعات

أفر بما لله فيه حكمة كم حسنة يذهب بها السيات

حسبني الله لا إله إلا هو عليه توكلت وهو رب العرش العظيم