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Manuscript/Mixed Material Hādhihi risālah li-Ibn al-Hāʼim al-musammāt [sic] Nuzhat al-ḥisāb, al-mukhtaṣarah min al-Murshidah هذه رسالة لابن الهائم المسمات نزهة الحساب المختصرة من المرشدة

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Title

  • Hādhihi risālah li-Ibn al-Hāʼim al-musammāt [sic] Nuzhat al-ḥisāb, al-mukhtaṣarah min al-Murshidah

Other Title

  • هذه رسالة لابن الهائم المسمات نزهة الحساب المختصرة من المرشدة

Summary

  • According to Carl Brockelmann's Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur (Supplement II, p. 154), the text is an abridgement of the author's book al-Murshidah fī ṣināʻat al-ghubār. The manuscript contains an introduction, two chapters, and an epilogue. On fol. 1a is a table of written numbers for use in official documents as well as verses (in code?). On fol. 33b, verse 6:115 of the Qur'an is written in another hand.
  • Much traditional scholarship holds that the period after about 1250 saw a decline in the production of scientific and philosophical works in the Arab world. This view is challenged by the impressive number of manuscripts written after that date in different Arabic-speaking countries that contain original treatises and commentaries. The work preserved in this manuscript, Nuzhat al-Hussāb al-Muhtasara min al-Muršida (The abridged amusement of the calculator from The guide), is a shorter version of Muršida fī Sina'at al-Gubar (The guide to the art of the numerals), an extensive treatise on arithmetical operations written by Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ha'im (1356-1412) around the end of the 14th century. After completing his studies in Cairo, Ibn al-Hāʼim left for Jerusalem, where he worked as a teacher of mathematics until his death. Several of his works, and especially the Nuzhat al-Hussāb, have a clear educational aim. The introductory section, in which the author describes the Hindi numerals and their correspondences with the traditional Arabic alphabetical numeration (abjad), is followed by a lengthy exposition on the four arithmetical operations: addition (jam'), subtraction (tarh), multiplication (darb), and division (qisma). Ibn al-Ha'im's activity as a professor did not prevent him from devising particularly witty solutions for mathematical problems: he is credited with the discovery of a method for solving general second-degree equations without using divisions of fractions. World Digital Library.

Names

  • Ibn al-Hāʼim, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad, -1412
  • Manṣūrī, Maḥmūd al-Imām, former owner
  • Mansuri Collection (Library of Congress)

Created / Published

  • [16---?]

Headings

  • -  Ibn al-Hāʼim, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad,---1412.--Murshidah fī ṣināʻat al-ghubār
  • -  Arithmetic--Early works to 1900
  • -  Manuscripts, Arabic--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  Mathematics, Arab--Early works to 1800

Notes

  • -  Binding: old torn cardboard with leather spine and edges; spine broken into two.
  • -  Fol. 1a-33b.
  • -  Library of Congress. Mansuri Collection, 5-712.
  • -  Ms.
  • -  Paper: yellowed cream with watermarks, split from spine; termite damage; affected by humidity at bottom of pages, and brown stains on the last page. Text framed by double brown line. Text principally in black, with a few rubricated words. Calculations and notes in margin in brown ink; catchwords on rectos.
  • -  Text is in Nastaʻliq script, with Diwani script on title page including a table of numbers from 1 to 100,000, and a verse from the Qur'an in Thuluth script on fol. 33b.
  • -  Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.
  • -  Arabic.
  • -  Purchase of Mahmud al-Mansuri collection,1945.
  • -  Incipit: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم و به تقتي أما بعد حمد الله تعالى الواحد بكل وجه واعتبار، والصلاة والسلام على نبيه محمد خير من اختار وعلى أله وصحبه وأزواجه البررة الأطهار، فان كتابي الموسوم بالمرشدة فى صناعة الغبار لما تلقى بالقبول وخص بالانتشار كلف به صديق لي يهوى الاختصار فألتمس منى أن ألخصه مبالغا فى الاختصار.

Medium

  • 32 leaves (15 lines), bound : paper ; 21 x 15 cm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • QA101 .I255 1600z

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2008401697

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:

Ibn Al-HāʼIm, Aḥmad Ibn Muḥammad, -1412, Maḥmūd Al-Imām Manṣūrī, and Mansuri Collection. Hādhihi risālah li-Ibn al-Hāʼim al-musammāt sic Nuzhat al-ḥisāb, al-mukhtaṣarah min al-Murshidah. [16---?] Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2008401697/.

APA citation style:

Ibn Al-HāʼIm, A. I. M., Manṣūrī, M. A. & Mansuri Collection. Hādhihi risālah li-Ibn al-Hāʼim al-musammāt sic Nuzhat al-ḥisāb, al-mukhtaṣarah min al-Murshidah. [16---?] [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2008401697/.

MLA citation style:

Ibn Al-HāʼIm, Aḥmad Ibn Muḥammad, -1412, Maḥmūd Al-Imām Manṣūrī, and Mansuri Collection. Hādhihi risālah li-Ibn al-Hāʼim al-musammāt sic Nuzhat al-ḥisāb, al-mukhtaṣarah min al-Murshidah. [16---?] Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2008401697/>.