United Kingdom, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Huntington 502

Miscellany
Physical Description
  • Material: Paper
  • Pages: 264 leaves
  • Leaves Format: not available
  • Dimensions: 182 x 140 mm
Detailed Description
  • Foliation:
    Catchwords, many of them cut off when the edges were trimmed.
    Two leaves given the number 8.
  • Collation:
    The part on ff. 240r- 264v originally did not belong to this volume; its size is x mm.
  • Condition Description:
    Edges trimmed
    Paper water-stained and soiled through thumbing
  • Decoration:
    Avicenna 's verses are written in red while Averroes ' commentary is given in black. Body of text (except the poem on coffee): frame ruled. Avicenna 's Poem on Medicine (Cantica) and Jaghmīnī 's Little Canon on Medicine: headings in red. Paper: watermarks on ff. 19r- 43v ; watermarks (anchor in circle with six-pointed star and the initials AP) on ff. 47r- 239v ; small traces of watermarks on ff. 240r- 263v .
  • Layout:


    14-22 lines to the page.
  • Hand Description:
    Four or five hands (at least).
    Avicenna 's Poem on Medicine (Cantica): This text was copied by Jamāl al-Dīn (…?) in the Sacred Precinct at Mecca in 1561-2 (969 h.) . It is written in a medium-small, inelegant, inconsistent Naskhī, black ink, occasional vocalization; body of text: 130 x 85 mm, 15-18 lines per page; no clear evidence of ruling.
    The poem "On What are the Benefits of Coffee Beans and Coffee": This text was written by a later hand on the last three folios of the final quire of the portion of the volume containing the preceding poem of Avicenna . The Coffee poem must have been transcribed sometime between 1561-2 (969 h.) (when the copy of Avicenna 's Poem on Medicine (Cantica) was finished) and the 17th century when the manucript came into the possession of Huntington . Text written in a large, careful, rather elegant Naskhī, black ink, considerable vocalization; body of text: 153 x 120 mm, 14-16 lines per page.
    Averroes ' Commentary on Avicenna 's Cantica: This text was copied by ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn Muḥammad al-Mugharbal in 1568 (975 h.) (the first part is dated January 8th, 1568 (Rajab 8th, 975) while the second part was completed on February 13th, 1568 (Shaʿbān 14th, 975) ). It is written in a medium-small, careful Naskhī, black and red ink; body of text: 152 x ca. 100 mm, 15 lines per page.
    Ibn Buṭlān 's treatise: no information given by the catalogue.
    Jaghmīnī 's Little Canon on Medicine: This text was transcribed by another copyist. It is written in a medium-small, carful, consistent and compact Naskhī, black ink, considerable vocalization; body of text: 168 x 104 mm, 20-22 lines per page.
    Ff. 1r- 18v : cream-beige paper with a thickness of about 0,14 mm, with vertical laid lines, and chain lines in groups of 3s; ff. 19r- 43v : smooth, semi-glossy, cream-beige paper with a thickness of 0,09-0,12 mm and an opaqueness level of 5, with vertical laid lines, and single chain lines; ff. 47r- 239v : smooth, semi-glossy, cream paper with a thickness of 0,15 - 0,16 mm and an opaqueness factor of 5 to 6, with vertical laid lines, and single chain lines; ff. 240r- 264v : smooth, lightly glossed, beige paper with a thickness of 0,16-0,19 mm and an opaqueness level of 4 to 5; it is slightly fibrous with small inclusions, horizontal laid lines, and single chain lines.
  • Binding Description:
    Binding secondary (European), with envelope flap, tan leather blind-tooled; the fore-edge lining is tan buckram , the doublure of the envelope flap is multi-coloured marbled paper (Ebru style); the pastedowns are done of pieces of manuscripts; no endpapers.
  • Acquisition:
    The manuscript was purchased in 1693 from Robert Huntington , together with the remainder of his collection of oriental manuscripts.
History
  • Origin Date: first part: mid 16th (10th h.) century / last text: 17th (11th h.) century
  • Origin Place: Mecca
  • Emilie Savage-Smith , A new catalogue of Arabic manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford Vol. Vol. I (Medicine), Oxford (2011)
  • Maurice Bouyges , Notes sur les philosophes arabes connus des Latins au Moyen Age: V. Inventaire des textes arabes d'Averroès, Beirut (1922) , pp. 3 - 54, pp. 34 f., p. 47
Content
Avicenna Poem on Medicine (Cantica) 1r - 43v
  • Incipit:
    F. 1v : بسم الله … قال ابو على الحسن ابن عبد الله بن سينا رحمه الله وعفى عنه الطب حفظ صحة برو مرض | من سبب فى بدن عنه ((منه)) عرض قسمته الاولي لعلم وعمل | والعلم فى ثلاثة قد اكتمل
  • Explicit:
    F. 43v : اقل ما تبريه فيه شهر | وربما أتم ((يتم)) ذلك عشر وقد فرغت من ةميع العمل | والآن اقطعه بقول مكمل
  • Note:
    The introduction is lacking. Ff. 44r : blank
  • Colophon:
    F. 43v : تمت الارجوزه بحمد لله وعونه فى الحرم الشريف فى سنه ٩٦٩ فى نوبه الحقير جمال الدين [؟] الفقير المنظور والحمد لله
Abū Ibrāhīm al-Nāshirī On What are the Benefits of Coffee Beans and Coffee (Poem) 44v - 45r
  • Incipit:
    F. 44v : من كلام سيدى الشيخ ابو ابراهيم الناشرى قطب اليمن فيما ينتفع البن والقهوه من كل امر حسن كل البن لاتعدل بذلك تنبلا | لتعلوا به بين الانام وتنبلا ولا تاكلن القات رطبا وياسبا | فذاك مضر دآؤه فيه اعضلا
  • Explicit:
    F. 45r : فيارب انت فى الجنان اصوله | والعمريه فيها علينا تفضلا وصلي الهي بكرة وعشية | على المصطفى ما حن رعد وجلجلا كذا الرسل [كذا] ثم الآل والصحب كلهم وبعد فحمد الله حتما واولا تمت . (last line in the margin)
  • Note:
    No other copy of this text has been identified yet.
Averroes Commentary on Avicenna’s Cantica 47r - 124v
  • Incipit:
    F. 47v : بسم الله … قال الشيخ الفقيه الاجل الامجد القاضي الامام الاوحد ابو الوليد محمد ابن احمد بن رشد ادام الله علاه ووصل نعماه ، اما بعد حمد الله المنعم بحياة النفوس وصحه الاجسام الشفى من الادوآ المعضله والاسقام بما ركب في الوري ((البشر)) من القوى الحافظة للصحه والمبريه من الآلآم وفهم البشر من صناعه الطب …
  • Explicit:
    F. 223v : … يقول وبعد ما يرجع العضو الى مفصله تتركه زمانا محدودا حتى يسلم من الورم … وهنا انقضى القول فى شرح هذه الارجزوة على حسب ما نفد به الامر المطاع ادام الله تاييده وهو فرض ان كان به انتفاع ووقع الموقع المقصود فيسهم كمل وبار سادهم تم وهو موسوم باسمهم ومنسوب اليهم وهو الماجورين فيه والمشكورون عليه زادهم الله رغبة في العلم والحرص علي الحق ومحبة في اهله وبلغهم الامل فى الدنيا والاخره بفضله ورحمته وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد واله وسلم .
  • Note:
    The introduction is lacking. The first juzʾ of the poem with commentary ends on f. 124v with its own colophon. The title for the second juzʾ occurs on f. 126r with the text beginning on f. 126v : الجز الثاني من الارجوزه وهو جزو العمل وتقسيمه f. 114r : the lines of the original poem are not filled in.
  • Colophon:
    F. 124v : تم الجز العلم من الارجوزه بحمد الله تعالى وصلى علي محمد واله بتاريخ يوم الخمس تامن رجب الفرد سنة ٩٨٥ . F. 223v : وكان الفراغ يوم الخميس تامن عشرين سعبان سنه خمس وسبعين وتسعمايه بخط الفقير عز الدين ابن محمد المغربل غفر الله له ولجميع المسلمين امين .
Ibn Butlan Treatise on [the question] whether the chick is hotter than the squab 224r - 238v
Mahmud Ibn Muhammad Jaghmini The Little Canon on Medicine 240r - 263r
  • Incipit:
    F. 240v : بسم الله … وبعد فهذا مختصر مشتميل علي زبدة يجب اسحضاره من صناعة الطب انتخبته من كتب الاقدمين ورتبته علي عشر مقالات المقالة الاولي …
  • Explicit:
    F. 263r : … الفصل الثالث عشر فى احوال الطبيخ اما الاسفيند … والعجني غليظ مولد للسدد . تمت بعون الله تعالى وحسن التوفيق .
  • Note:
    Ff. 263v- 264v : blank