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Manuscript/Mixed Material Kitāb al-Uss fī al-ʻamal bi-al-sayf wa-al-turs. Wa-yalīhi Kitāb al-kifayah fī ʻilm al-rimāyah كتاب الأس في العمل بالسيف والترس. ويليه كتاب الكفاية في علم الرماية / / Ass fī al-ʻamal bi-al-sayf wa-al-tars

About this Item

Title

  • Kitāb al-Uss fī al-ʻamal bi-al-sayf wa-al-turs. Wa-yalīhi Kitāb al-kifayah fī ʻilm al-rimāyah

Other Title

  • كتاب الأس في العمل بالسيف والترس. ويليه كتاب الكفاية في علم الرماية /
  • Ass fī al-ʻamal bi-al-sayf wa-al-tars

Summary

  • This original manuscript preserves two treatises, both written in the form of an urjuzah (type of Arabic poem) and copied by the author himself. The first one is entitled Kitāb al-Uss fī al-ʻamal bi-al-sayf wa-al-turs (The basics of using the sword and the shield), and the second al-Kifāyah fī ʻilm al-rimāyah (The sufficiency in the science of archery). The identity of that author, however, is unclear except that he was from Hamah (in present-day Syria) as his name attribute indicates. Colophon notes attribute both works to Muhhammad ibn ʻAli al-Hashimi al-Hamawi. One of these notes states that the second treatise was completed on Wednesday, 18 Shaʻban 996 AH (July 12 or 13, 1588). However, an entry in Zirikli's al-Aʻlam biographical dictionary, an authority in the field, attributes both treatises to Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn ʻAli ibn Ghazi al-Hamawi, nicknamed al-Asil, a Hanafi judge and poet, who sought the patronage of Ayyubid Sultan al-Kamil (known in the West as Meledin, reigned 1218-38). Both the colophon notes and Zirikli's entry indicate that al-Hamawi was at some point a judge in Yemen, which might help explain some of the confusion about his identity. Interwoven with the history of Arabic and Islamic conquests, the two treatises discuss the use of the arms mentioned in the titles. The first treatise is divided into an introduction and a few sections. Each section discusses an aspect of swordsmanship, including the best types of swords (Yemeni and Hindi), how to draw a sword (hold the upper end of the cross-guard at the center of your waist, the scabbard pressed against your thigh), and how to train to be a good swordsman (use a horse-high tree branch). The use of a shield is also explained, and presented as complementary to that of a sword, as "a sword is useless for a knight without a shield." The second treatise is similarly divided into topical sections but is twice as long, elaborating on specific uses of archery, including shooting from a distance, in the dark, and over the walls of a fortress. The manuscript is written in black ink with red section headings, in naskh script, and in two columns on cream laid paper. There are catchwords on rectos. World Digital Library.
  • Two poems, the first on swordsmanship and the second on archery.

Names

  • Ḥamawī, Muḥammad ibn ʻAlī, active 1588-1591, author
  • Ḥamawī, Muḥammad ibn ʻAlī, active 1588-1591, scribe

Created / Published

  • 19 Jumādá al-thānī 999 [14 April 1591]

Contents

  • Kitāb al-Uss fī al-ʻamal al-sayf wa-al-turs -- Kitāb al-kifāyah fī ʻilm al-rimāyah.

Headings

  • -  Archery--Poetry--Early works to 1800
  • -  Manuscripts, Arabic--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  Swordplay--Poetry--Early works to 1800

Notes

  • -  "ʻAllaqahu fī tārīkh li-nafsihi kātibihi wa-nāẓimihi Muḥammad ibn ʻAlī al-Ḥamawī, Qāḍī Zabīd"--Colophon, 2nd work.
  • -  "Qad nuqila ilá al-ʻabd al-ḥaqīr al-Ḥājī Ḥasan ... sanah 1155"--Folio 1a, first work.
  • -  Each work has separate title page.
  • -  Folios 1a-12a (first work); folios 1a-33b.
  • -  Library of Congress. Arabic manuscript, SM 6.
  • -  Manuscript
  • -  Marbled paper over leather envelope binding.
  • -  Naskhī script; 21 lines in written area 14 x 8.5 cm.
  • -  Paper; cream-color laid paper, black ink with red section headings, written in two columns. Catchwords on rectos.
  • -  Second work dated 18 Shaʻbān 996 [13 July 1588]
  • -  Title from folio 1a (1st work).
  • -  Yemen.
  • -  Fihris al-makhṭūṭāt al-ʻArabīyah fi Maktabat al-Kūnghris, p. 6
  • -  Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.
  • -  Arabic.
  • -  Colophon (2nd work): تمت الكفاية ... يوم الابع ثمان عشر شعبان ... سنة ست وتسعين وتسعمائة ...
  • -  End of poem before colophon (1st work): فرغت من نظمي نهار الجمعة التاسع عشر اعد جمعه, ثاني جمادى عام تسعة خلت كذاك تسعون عليه جعلت, تسع مئاه تبدأ بالهجرة لصاحب الحوض مع الشفاعة ...
  • -  Incipit (1st work): بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم رب يسر يا كريم, حمدا لمن منه الحديد انزلا منافعا والبأس فيه جعلا ...
  • -  Incipit (2nd work): بسم الذي بفضله قد علما, من علمه الانسان ما لم ييعلما ...

Medium

  • 1, 12, 33, 1 leaves (21 lines) bound : paper ; 20 x 15 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • U865 .H36 1591

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2014371008

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:

Ḥamawī, Muḥammad Ibn ʻAlī, Active , Author, and Muḥammad Ibn ʻAlī Ḥamawī. Kitāb al-Uss fī al-ʻamal bi-al-sayf wa-al-turs. Wa-yalīhi Kitāb al-kifayah fī ʻilm al-rimāyah. [19 Jumādá al-thānī 999 14 April, 1591] Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2014371008/.

APA citation style:

Ḥamawī, M. I. ʻ. & Ḥamawī, M. I. ʻ. (1591) Kitāb al-Uss fī al-ʻamal bi-al-sayf wa-al-turs. Wa-yalīhi Kitāb al-kifayah fī ʻilm al-rimāyah. [19 Jumādá al-thānī 999 14 April] [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2014371008/.

MLA citation style:

Ḥamawī, Muḥammad Ibn ʻAlī, Active , Author, and Muḥammad Ibn ʻAlī Ḥamawī. Kitāb al-Uss fī al-ʻamal bi-al-sayf wa-al-turs. Wa-yalīhi Kitāb al-kifayah fī ʻilm al-rimāyah. [19 Jumādá al-thānī 999 14 April, 1591] Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2014371008/>.