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2018
ВЕСТНИК САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГСКОГО УНИВЕРСИТЕТА ВОСТОКОВЕДЕНИЕ И АФРИКАНИСТИКА
Т. 10. Вып. 2
ИСТОРИЯ И ИСТОЧНИКОВЕДЕНИЕ
UDC 411.811.21
The Arabic manuscript ref. No 49 in the library collection of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University)
A. Habibulla
Indiana University Bloomington, 107 S. Indiana Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405-7000, USA
For citation: Habibulla A. The Arabic manuscript ref. No 49 in the library collection of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University). Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies, 2018, vol. 10, issue 2, pp. 201-209. https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu13.2018.205
This article addresses the Arabic manuscript which dates back to the 14th century. The manuscript ref. № 49 preserved in the library collection of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) was initially noted in 1994 by D. A. Morozov in his list of Arabic manuscripts preserved in Moscow, and it was the same scholar who three years later published a brief description of the manuscript. Without prejudice to the significance of the work thus undertaken, it might be fitting to point to a number of inconsistencies and errors, for some of them the author cannot be excused by any means. The manuscript consists of two works, copied in 1332 and 1335: al-Tadhkirah fi ilm al-hay'ah [Memoir on Astronomy] by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (d. 1274); and Muhammad b. Dihqan's Commentaries on the first chapter of the Miftah al- 'ulum [Key of sciences] by Abu Bakr al-Sakkaki (d. 1229). The present study brought to light previously unexplored copies of mediaeval treatises on astronomy and Arabic grammar, which possess a high level of quality and reliability. We have also succeeded in clearing up several errors and inconsistencies which had found their way into the previous catalogues, including the reference book on bibliography by the German orientalist Carl Brockelmann. Authors and titles of the works included in the manuscript were identified successfully. Keywords: Manuscript, MGIMO, al-Tusi, as-Sakkaki, commentary, Miftah.
As one leafs through antique manuscripts a chance would now and then present itself to bring to light new realities of a manuscript's quality and identity — discoveries which would complement and enhance its previously existing descriptions. Quite often also one would succeed in clearing up errors or inconsistencies overlooked by previous scholars. A stroke of luck might also make it possible to establish the author's name and ascertain
© Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет, 2018 https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu13.2018.205
the title of a handwritten text in cases where no such identifications existed before. This was exactly what happened once we had started perusing a PDF of the Arabic manuscript ref. №49 preserved in the library collection of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University)1.
The manuscript had caught our interest by its provenance from Bukhara and by previously being contained in the private library of the Naqshbandi shaykh Muhammad Parsa (d. 1420). A token thereof is an impression of a seal az kutub-i waqf-i Khwaja Muhammad Parsa (from the books of the donation by Khwaja Muhammad Parsa). It needs to be said that Parsas library, which had existed in Bukhara nearly until the late 19-th century, has been studied in a number of fascinating publications [cf. 1, 2, 3], whereas myself, as well as my colleagues Professor A. Muminov and Doctor Sh. Ziyadov, have been for several years involved in a joint scholarly project aimed at identification and description of the manuscripts which used to comprise this now scattered collection.
Initially the manuscript ref. № 49 from MGIMO was noted in 1994 by D. A. Morozov in his list of Arabic manuscripts preserved in Moscow [4, p. 197], and it was the same scholar who three years later published a brief description of the manuscript [5, p. 554]. Without prejudice to the significance of the work thus undertaken, it might be fitting to point to a number of inconsistencies and errors, for some of them the author cannot be excused by any means.
The same faults are replicated also in a recently published catalogue [6, p. 9].
The manuscript under consideration contains two texts, written in two different hands: an astronomical treatise and a composition on philology. A study of the PDF copy, which we obtained, disproved the previous researcher's statement that both compositions lack front pages. The fourth PDF in our copy2 is the inception of the treatise on astronomy (Figure 1), whereas image 173 is in fact the initial page of the tractatus on philology (Figure 2). The presence of the very clearly readable basmala and hamdala, which usually precede Islamic compositions, as well as collating the texts with other existing copies of the treatises, unequivocally point to these sheets being prelusory.
The treatise on astronomy of which neither the author nor the title have as yet been ascertained is in fact a popular text by a famous astronomer Nasir ad-Din Muhammad al-Tusi (d. 1274) entitled al-Tadhkirah ft 'ilm al-hay'ah (A Treatise on Astronomy) [regarding this text please cf. 7, pp. 102-106].
As stated by the colophon,
Ajja-A VVV ji^i jt^IjI AJJIJS ¿X ^IjiSi ¿Sj
[wa qad waqa'a al-faragh min kitabatihi fi awakhir Safar 733 hijriyyah]
copying of the composition was completed in the end of Safar 733/November 1332.
It is worth noting that the treatise al-Tadhkirah ft 'ilm al-hay'ah was published together with its translation into English in 1993 as a two-volume edition [8]. The critical recension of the text was based on six manuscripts including an earlier one (ref. A 437)
1 The author wishes to express profound appreciation and acknowledgement of help provided by Reshetnikova Marina Vadimovna, the Head of the Library, in obtaining a copy of the manuscript.
2 The pages of the manuscript are not numbered; thus we refer to numbers of its PDF images.
г |Ш1ш| ЗУЗД Ш ф§
ярр^ш
■юйк^ Ю?.
-t I
^ШшфшШш^й ж
ж
Figure 1. The inception of the treatise al-Tadhkirah ft 'ilm al-hayah.
Source: Ms. MGIMO 49
from the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg. The researcher of the treatise Jamil Ragep states that he selected those six manuscripts following a close scrutiny of thirty five copies all together. Sadly, the Moscow manuscript under discussion had not been then considered owing to there being no relevant information available at the time. Collation with the published critical recension of the text revealed a high level of reliability and quality of the MGIMO copy, which would surely have proved indispensable for the critical recension.
The other composition contained in the manuscript is a commentary on the first section of a rather well-known treatise by a Khwarazmian philologist Yusuf ibn Abl Bakr al-Sakkaki (d. 1229) Miftah al- 'ulum (The Key to the Disciplines).
It is a well-known fact that Miftah al- 'ulum comprises three parts: morphology (sarf), syntax (nahv) and rhetoric (ma'ant wa bayan). The MGIMO manuscript, as was stated above, contains a commentary on the part of morphology (qism al-sarf) of the composition. The title given to the text — Fath al-ghalaq wa daw' al-ghasaq (Disclosure of the hidden and elucidation of the dark) — is taken actually from the preface to the treatise itself
Г-'V - ',' ■
Щ >Î V ^
t; -«и ji^ t^w JB &
^b-j^JULIMIub Jy
z^ ^^ ^
ш-çîiU ^-¡^Vj Ж> uyi ai uè^^j bp j'j' чЛ^ —^ ù L Ь-j^iw 1 iо ¿y-1 U? ti>>.
Figure 2. The inception of the commentary on the first section of Miftah al- 'ulum. Source: Ms. MGIMO 49
and is nothing more than a mere conjecture by the previous scholar, because there exists no testimony as to this expression being the title. In reality the author simply states what he intends to achieve in drafting a commentary — viz. to disclose the hidden [places] and elucidate the dark [aspects] of the treatise Miftah al- 'ulum.
Another manuscript of this composition (Figure 4) bearing the tentative title Sharh qism as-sarf min kitab Miftah al- 'ulum from the collection of Feyzullah Efendi3 disproves
3 The complete digital copy of the manuscript can be viewed as public domain at http://majles.alukah. net/t146564/ (accessed on 27.12.2015)
ï Lïv-f i^j^ï ilp® Li шЩ
^JjiliUij jojii rtii^kii Jy utJi_iKiij
"-■Jlji^
M^ii^i^ ^gj ^¿b ¿V; eM^1 Щ ^
^^¿yMlJtJJfeSvMfcîr
* l -î'
«fiafrt .к^-ИЯЯ. .i*. ¿Я! ..Kffiî ,.. .... . "
■iilwLJb
6 Lit
é> № ^ ygj и. ^ L §
J>jWi^p^b^Vc^UJ.Vb té:®«Ih-oi-ijii^ V/3
Vf1*'
Figure 3. The colophon of the second composition in Manuscript ref. № 49. Source: Ms. MGIMO 49
D. Morozov's idea that the MGIMO manuscript can be the unique and the only surviving copy. To our great surprise in the MGIMO catalogue recently published it is no longer supposed but affirmed that the text in question «is a unique copy of a treatise previously unknown» [6, p. 9].
The Moscow copy contains three colophons at the end (Figure 3). According to the last of the three colophons the copying was finalized on 17 December 1335 (Rabt' al-akhir 30, 736) in the city of Jurjaniya in Khwarezm, by a Muhammad b. Rida al-Karmini.
Figure 4. The inception of Sharh qism al-sarf min kitab Miftah al- 'ulum from the collection of
Feyzullah Efendi. S ource: http://majles.alukah.net/t146564/ (accessed on 27.12.2015)
TW Cli^l ¿P ^ ^jjlj^ jà^l £JJJ Ùi^^V f-Jii Aà^ijSl oJA JJj^J ¿x
[faragha min taswid hâdhihi al-nuskhah yawm al-ithnayn fl salkh rabl' al-akhir bi-Jurjaniyat Khwarizm harasaha Allah 'an al-afat sanat 736, Muhammad b. Rida al-Karmlnl]
The first colophon (Figure 3, lines 6, 7) points to the place and the date of completing the composition:
ùÙJI Ai" M^J »IJSJSI "jjg-^ di^l ¿P '"''j- d£jjlb jxjjj ^Ijàll
[wa waqa'a al-faragh 'anhu bi-Tirmiz haffat bi-l-barakat wa slnat 'an al-afat zahirat al-thulatha' ghurrat rajab sanat ithnayn wa sab'imi'ah]
«Completed in Termez, may [Allah] bless and protect from calamities, at noon, on Tuesday, on the first day of Rajab of the year seven hundred and two [9 February 1303]»
The second colophon (Figure 3, line 9 ff.) runs as follows:
Jjljill jj£ »iA _ ^iwull ^Ic. ^JI ¿J ^^ ¿jtaAJ ¿J ¿J ^ Jjjt^ll <*«;■». ull JJSJ
ja lj| lAj _ ^jUl ^tiix ¿x ijj^ll cA^jje Ja ^i ^JVJ^J ^jti^ilj i^..'1'' _ jjljall jjj j
SjJSc. jl^xj '¿j^ ¿»^ll ^jj '¿JSJ «^x^l l^jjJ Sjj£b ^IU^J Jaj ... ^jjlja. Ajjlaj? ( l^jjlxi
[yaqul al-'abd al-da'if al-faqlr ila Allah al-ghani 'All b. Muhammad b. Dihqan 'All b. Abl Bakr b. 'All al-Nasafi ... hadhihi ghurar al-fawa'id wa durar al-fara'id ... jama'aha shaykhi wa ustadhi wa mawla'I fi hall 'awisat qism al-sarf min Miftah al-'ulum ... wa ha ana qad amlaytuha fi Jurjaniyat Khwarizm ... wa qad tahayya'at bakurat intiha' al-imla' bukrata yawm al-jum'ah ghurrat Ramadan sanat thamaniya 'ashara sab'ami'ah]
«[Thus] speaks a weak and impoverished servant of the Rich Allah 'Ali b. Muhammad b. Dihqan 'Ali b. Abu Bakr 'Ali al-Nasafi, ... these samples of usefulness and pearls of jewellery ..., which my shaykh, preceptor and patron collected for loosening the intricacies of the chapter on morphology (sarf) [from the book] The Key to the Disciplines (Miftah al- 'ulum) ... and so [these] I dictated in Jurjaniya of Khwarezm... and completion of dictation became possible early in the morning on Friday, on the first day of the month of Ramadan of the year seven hundred eighteen (October 27, 1318).»
The previous descriptions of the manuscript designate 'Ali b. Muhammad b. Dihqan as the author of the treatise, although it states quite clearly in the colophon that the text is authored by his shaykh, preceptor and patron. The name of the author is not mentioned and it is nearly impossible to guess it right. However, an inscription on the title page of the manuscript of Feyzullah Efendi elucidates the identity of the author of the commentary:
(t cUUll ojlj iaj (innll (t ¿J J£J (JI ¿J (t jtaAJ ¿J (StS^Jl ^tiixJl ^j"
[Kitab sharh sarf al-Miftah li-l-'allamah al-Sakkaki li-Muhammad b. Dihqan 'Ali b. Abi Bakr b. 'Ali al-Nasafi bi-khatt waladihi al-fadil 'All b. Muhammad, 'ala ma yfham mimma fi akhirihi fa-li-yanzur]
«Book: A commentary [on the section of] morphology of al-Miftah [written] by a scholar al-Sakkakl, [compiled] by Muhammad b. Dihqan 'All b. Abl Bakr b. 'All al-Nasafi, [and copied] by hand of his worthy son 'All b. Muhammad. Of this you can learn from [what is written] in the end [of the book]. Look.»
It follows then that the treatise was authored by Muhammad b. Dihqan, whereas his son 'Ali b. Muhammad acted merely as a transmitter of the text by means of dictation. This is confirmed also by a Turkish bibliographer of the 17th century Katip Qelebi, who supplies valuable information on the history of this treatise. He writes that Muhammad b. Dihqan set out to dictate his commentary (al-fara'id) on the first two sections of Miftah al- 'ulum, and was also intent to comment on the remaining third part, which intention, however, he couldn't fulfil because of his demise. His son 'Ali b. Muhammad in the month of Sha 'ban of 719 (September 1319) brought to completion his father's undertaking and presented the book to Uzbek Khan (1283-1341) [9, II volume, pp. 1767-68]. Katip Qelebi also states that 'Ali b. Muhammad himself wrote commentaries on the third section of Miftah al- 'ulum.
A German orientalist Carl Brockelmann, following in the footsteps of Katip Qelebi, also confirms [10, p. 294] 'Ali b. Muhammad b. Dihqan to be the author of «Commentary
on the Section on Rhetoric» (ma 'ani wa bayan), i.e. on the third part of Miftah al- 'ulum, which he concluded in 718/1318. In doing so Brockelman gives the author's full name as 'All b. Muhammad b. Dihqàn 'All b. Abi Bakr b. All al-Nasafi al-Kabindi. In the preface to the manuscript from the collection of Feyzullah Efendi the father's name is also given as Muhammad b. Dihqàn 'Ali b. Abi Bakr b. Ali al-Nasafi thumma (afterwards) al-Kabindi (^AjjSlI). In both cases there is the peculiar and demonstratively unusual nisba — al-Kabindi. Yet, upon considering the information of Kâtip Çelebi we were certain enough to conclude this to be a scribal error which migrated from the manuscript to Brockelmann's catalogue. Çelebi clearly writes this nisba as al-Baikandi pointing to its carrier's
provenance from the mediaeval city of Baykand which was located not far from Bukhara.
To conclude, it would be fitting to reiterate that our work with the manuscript brought to light previously unexplored copies of mediaeval treatises on astronomy and Arabic grammar, which possess a high level of quality and reliability. We have also succeeded in clearing up several errors and inconsistencies which had found their way into the previous catalogues, including the reference book on bibliography by the German orientalist Carl Brockelmann.
References
1. Khalidov A. Rukopisi iz biblioteki Mukhammada Parsa. [Manuscripts from Mukhammad Parsa's library], Peterburgskoe vostokovedenie, 6 (1994), pp. 506-519. (In Russian)
2. Asirbek Muminov, Zijadov Sovosil. L'horizon intellectual d'un èrudit du XVe siècle: nouvelles découvertes sur la bibliothèque de Muhammad Pârsâ. Cahiers d'Asie centrale, 1999, no. 7, pp. 77-98.
3. Subtelny Maria. The making of Bukhàrà-yi sharif: scholars and libraries in medieval Bukhara (The library of Khwàja Muhammad Pàrsà). Studies on Central Asian history in honor of Yuri Bregel, edited by Devin DeWeese. Bloomington, Ind.: Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, 2001, pp. 79-111.
4. Morozov D. A. Drevnerusskaia rekopis' na srednevekovoi bumage (Zapolnivshaiiasia lacuna slavianskoi kodikologii) [Old Russian manuscript on Central Asian paper (Filled gap of Rusian codicology)]. Arkhiv russkoi istorii [Archive of Russian history]. Moscow, 1994, no. 5, pp. 193-200. (In Russian)
5. Morozov D. A. Tri moskovskikh rukopisi iz biblioteki Mukhammada Parsa [Three Moscow manuscripts from Muhammad Parsa's library]. Peterburgskoe vostokovedenie [Oriental studies of Petersbutg]. St. Petersburg, 1997, no. 9, pp. 553-554. (In Russian)
6. Kratkii katalog redkikh i tsennykh vostokevedcheskikh knig iz sobraniia Nauchnoi biblioteki MGIMO [A brief catalog of rare and valuable books on Oriental studies from the collection of MGIMO scientific library]. Moscow, MGIMO-University Publ., 2015. 197 p. (In Russian)
7. Rozhanskaia M. M., Matvievskaia G. P., Liuter I. O. Nasir ad-Din at-Tusi i ego Trudy po matematike i astronomii v bibliotekakh Sankt-Peterburga. Kazani, Tashkenta i Dushanbe [Nasir ad-Din at-Tusi and his works on mathematica and astronomy in the libraries of St. Petersburg, Kazan, Tashkent and Dushanbe]. Moscow, Oriental literature Publ., 1999. 142 p. (In Russian)
8. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. Memoir on Astronomy = al-Tadhkira fi ilm al-hay'a (ed. F. J. Ragep). New York, Springer-Verlag, 1993. 2 vols.
9. Kâtip Çelebi. Kashf al-zunun 'an asàmi al kutub wa-al-funun. [The Revelation of Opinions on the Name of Books and Branches]. Istanbul, Maarif matbaasi, 1943. 2 vols. (in Arabic)
10. Brockelmann C. Geschichte der Arabischen litteratur. Leiden, Brill, 1943. Bd. I.
Received: 03.07.2017 Accepted: 27.02.2018
Author's information:
Akram Habibulla — PhD; akkhabib@indiana.edu
Арабская рукопись № 49 из библиотеки Университета МГИМО
А. Хабибулла
Университет Индианы в Блумингтоне, 107 Юг-Индиана-авеню, Блумингтон, IN 47405-7000, США
Для цитирования: Habibulla A. The Arabie manuscript ref. No 49 in the library collection of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) // Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Востоковедение и африканистика. 2018. Т. 10. Вып. 2. С. 201-209. https://doi. org/10.21638/11701/spbu13.2018.205
Статья посвящена кодикологическому исследованию арабской рукописи, датируемой XIV в. и хранящейся в библиотеке Университета МГИМО (Московский государственный институт международных отношений). Рукопись протеходит из Бухары и когда-то принадлежала личной библиотеке накшбандийского шейха Мухаммада Парса (ум. в 1420). Она состоит из двух сочинений: из астрономического трактата и филологического труда, переписанных разными почерками. Астрономический трактат, автор и назание которого до сих пор не были идентифицированы, является популярным произведением известного ученого-астронома Насир ад-Дина Мухаммада ат-Туси (ум. в 1274) «ат-Тазкира фи илм ал-хай'а» («Памятка по астрономии»). Второе сочинение в рукописи является комментарием на первую часть широко известного труда хорез-мийского филолога Юсуфа ибн Абу Бакра ас-Саккаки (ум. в 1229) «Мифтах ал-улум» («Ключ наук»). Впервые рукопись была отмечена в 1994 г. Д. А. Морозовым в его списке арабографических рукописей Москвы, а тремя годами позже им же было опубликовано краткое описание этого списка. Не умаляя значения проделанной Д. А. Морозовым работы, хотелось бы отметить некоторые неточности и ошибки, которые никак невозможно оправдать отсутствием у исследователя научного материала, появившегося за последние годы. В статье устранены неточности и ошибки, допущенные в предыдущих описаниях рукописи, а также успешно идентифицированы авторы и названия трудов, включенных в данный фолиант.
Ключевые слова: рукопись, арабская, МГИМО, ат-Туси, ас-Саккаки, комментарий, Мифтах.
Контактная информация:
Хабибулла Акрам — канд. филол. наук; akkhabib@indiana.edu
