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Manuscript/Mixed Material Kitāb qurrat al-ʻayn fī tasyīr al-nayyirayn / / Qurrat al-ʻayn bi-tasyīr al-nayyirayn / كتاب قرة العين في تسيير النيرين /

About this Item

Title

  • Kitāb qurrat al-ʻayn fī tasyīr al-nayyirayn

Other Title

  • /
  • Qurrat al-ʻayn bi-tasyīr al-nayyirayn
  • كتاب قرة العين في تسيير النيرين /

Summary

  • Little is known about the astronomer Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Qādir al-Khalīlī al-Jaʻbarī, who wrote the treatise Kitāb qurrat al-'ayn and prepared the accompanying astronomical tables preserved in this copy. Some information about the original work can be inferred from information provided on the last page of this manuscript, where the colophon specifies that the copy was produced in the year 932 AH (1525), based on an older, quite damaged manuscript. This information gives us a terminus ante quem (latest possible date) for the original work. The treatise also opens with an introduction, in which the author explicitly acknowledges his intellectual debt to the astrological works of Ibn al-Shāṭir, a famous inventor of a planetary model that harmonized medieval theory with direct observation, thereby improving the effectiveness of the Ptolemaic system. Ibn al-Shāṭir is known to have died in 1375. The original work by Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Qādir al-Khalīlī al-Jaʻbarī thus must date from between the late 14th century and the early 16th century. The first part of the introduction extends over just three pages and touches upon various problems of calendrical reckoning: the correct identification of days of the month according to the Islamic, Byzantine, and Coptic year; how to differentiate between the Byzantine and Coptic calendars; and how to calculate a date in each of these systems. The second part of the introduction begins at folio 4 verso and is devoted to astronomical problems, in particular the movements of the sun and the moon in the sky. The collection of tables that occupies the second and larger section of this manuscript follows the outline of contents explained in the introduction. The first tables are devoted to calendrical problems and equivalences between different dating systems, while the second set of tables deals with measurements of the movements of the sun and the moon. While the astrological tables are outlined with red ink and show a noticeable care in their layout, the introduction is written in a rather slapdash hand that could indicate a private destination for this copy. World Digital Library.
  • The text is principally based on the writings of ʻAlī ibn Ibrāhīm Ibn al-Shāṭir (1304-1375), as the introduction mentions. The colophon says that the text was copied from a manuscript with many errors written in a bad hand.

Names

  • Jaʻbarī, Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Qādir
  • Ibn al-Shāṭir, ʻAlī ibn Ibrāhīm, 1304-1375
  • Manṣūrī, Maḥmūd al-Imām, former owner
  • Mansuri Collection (Library of Congress)

Created / Published

  • 932 H [1525].

Headings

  • -  Astronomy, Arab--Early works to 1800
  • -  Manuscripts, Arabic--Washington (D.C.)

Notes

  • -  Binding: modern cardboard covered with cloth; leather spine.
  • -  Fol. 1a-31b.
  • -  Library of Congress. Mansuri Collection, 5-781.
  • -  Ms.
  • -  Nastaʻliq script; 23 lines in written area, 19 x 13 cm.
  • -  Paper: yellowed cream with no visible watermarks, in moderate condition but stiff and difficult to turn. Black ink on title page, black and brown ink in text. Title page in a second hand. Fol. 1b-9a contain text, some of which is underlined; the rest of the folia contain tables.
  • -  Tables (fol. 9b-31a).
  • -  Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.
  • -  Arabic.
  • -  Purchase of Mahmud al-Mansuri collection, 1945.
  • -  Incipit: بسم الله الرحمن الرميم من حمد الكون استمد العون و به اكتفي الحمد لله موجد الحركتين و محدث العالمين و منشي الثقلين و مبدع النيرين . . .

Medium

  • 31 leaves (23 lines), bound : paper ; 20 x 15 cm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • QB23 .J32 1525

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2008427056

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

JaʻBarī, Muḥammad Ibn ʻAbd Al-Qādir, ʻAlī Ibn Ibrāhīm Ibn Al-Shāṭir, Maḥmūd Al-Imām Manṣūrī, and Mansuri Collection. Kitāb Qurrat Al-ʻayn Fī Tasyīr Al-Nayyirayn. [932 H, 1525] Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2008427056/.

APA citation style:

JaʻBarī, M. I. ʻ. A., Ibn Al-Shāṭir, ʻ. I. I., Manṣūrī, M. A. & Mansuri Collection. (1525) Kitāb Qurrat Al-ʻayn Fī Tasyīr Al-Nayyirayn. [932 H] [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2008427056/.

MLA citation style:

JaʻBarī, Muḥammad Ibn ʻAbd Al-Qādir, et al. Kitāb Qurrat Al-ʻayn Fī Tasyīr Al-Nayyirayn. [932 H, 1525] Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2008427056/>.