Item Summary

Treatise on zoology in two parts (maqālah), an introduction and a conclusion on zoology. The text is followed by a table of contents on fol. 374b-386 and by nine autograph letters praising the text, signed Maḥmūd al-Ḥamzāwī, muftī Dimashq al-Shām (fol. 388b, with seal), Muḥammad Salīm al-ʻAṭṭār (fol. 389a, with seal), Muḥammad al-ʻUthmānī (fol. 389b, with seal), Muḥammad al-Ṭanṭawī (fol. 390a, with seal), ʻAbd al-Qādir al-Usṭuwānī (fol. 390b, with seal), Muḥammad ʻĀrif al-Munīr(?) al-Ḥusaynī al-Shāfiʻī (fol. 391a), Muḥammad ʻAlāʼ al-Dīn ʻĀbidīn (fol. 391b, with seal), Bakrī ibn Ḥāmid al-ʻAṭṭār (fol. 392a, with seal), and Muḥammad Ṣādiq al-Maydānī (fol. 392b). For the description of a similar list of autograph approbations on a copy of another text by the same author, see Aʻyān Dimashq fī al-qarn al-thālith ʻashar wa-niṣf al-qarn al-rābiʻ ʻashar, 1972 (2nd. ed.), p. 337.

Descriptive Information

Title
كتاب البراهين البينات في بيان حقائق الحيوانات / لمؤلفه العالم العلامة والمدقق الفهامة الشيخ محمد افندي الاسكندراني
Transliterated Title
Kitāb al-Barāhīn al-bayyināt fī bayān ḥaqāʼiq al-ḥayawānāt / li-muʼallifihi al-ʻālim al-ʻallāmah wa-al-mudaqqiq al-fahhāmah al-shaykh Muḥammad Afandī al-Iskandarānī
Call Number
Islamic Manuscripts, Garrett no. 427Y
Identifier
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/kd17cs91v
Publisher
[Damascus?, 18--?]
Language
Arabic
Date Created
1800-1899
Format
Manuscript
Extent
i, 392, ii leaves : paper ; 236 x 189 (172 x 130) mm.
Provenance
Acquired from Abraham Shalom Yahuda, 1942.
Source Acquisition
Gift ; Robert Garrett, Class of 1897 ; 1942.
References
Mach, R. Yahuda, 4772
Rights Statement
No Known Copyright
Notes
Ms. codex.
Title from title page (fol. 1a). The same title appears in the preamble (fol. 2a).
Physical description: 28 lines per page. Written in medium small naskh in thick black and magenta ink. Modern paper, with an embossed stamp on most leaves bearing the inscription in Arabic script: "Athar-i jadīd-i ʻahd-i Humayūn" [Eser-i Cedid-i Ahd-i Hümayun] (same as Islamic manuscripts, Garrett no. 404L). Catchword on the verso of each leaf. A few marginal notes correcting the text. Note in Ottoman Turkish mentioning the date [1]303 [1885 or 6] on fol. 1a. Modern foliation in pencil using Western numerals. Inscription in Arabic script on a label pasted on the upper cover: "Shīn 105".
Origin: Copied by Aḥmad al-Shaṭṭī Ibn al-Shaykh Ḥasan (colophon, fol. 372a). This might be the same as Aḥmad al-Shaṭṭī (24 Ṣafar 1251-22 Ṣafar 1310 / 1835-1892) mentioned in Aʻyān Dimashq fī al-qarn al-thālith ʻashar wa-niṣf al-qarn al-rābiʻ ʻashar, 1972 (2nd. ed.), p. 385.
Incipit: يا من شرح صدور المتقين بانوار الاسلام ... [2أ] ... اما بعد فيقول العبد ... محمد بن احمد الاسكندرانى قال لي الفريق المومى اليه آنفا ان من المعلوم عند اهل العرفان ذوي البصاير والاتقان ان من انفع العلوم بالمنطوق والمفهوم علم الحيوان لا سيما معرفة حقيقة الانسان
Explicit (fol. 373a):وكثيرا ما تكون لها اعين ملساء ايضا ولا يوجد ادنى اثر من عضو الابصار في الحيوانات الرخوة عديمة الراس كما تقدم ولا في الحيوانات الشعاعية وقد تمت الخاتمة بعون الله تعالى وحسن توفيقه
Binding Note
Quires and loose leaves wrapped in paper.

Discovery Information

Subject
Zoology—Islamic empire—Early works to 1800
Damascus (Syria)—Intellectual life—History—19th century—Sources
Muslim scholars—Certification—History—Syria—Damascus—19th century—Sources
Muslim scholars—Certification—History—19th century—Sources
Muslim scholars—Syria—Damascus—History—19th century—Sources
Manuscripts, Arabic—New Jersey—Princeton

Physical Characteristics

File Count
790

Institutional Information

Collection
Manuscripts of the Islamic World
IIIF Manifest URL

https://figgy.princeton.edu/concern/scanned_resources/a00fdd42-2ad6-4e08-ac6e-d97272bf910c/manifest