The Arabic manuscript ref. No 49 in the library collection of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University)

Abstract

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 Naṣīr al- Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d. 1274); and Muḥammad b. Dihqān’s Commentaries on the first chapter of the Miftāḥ al-ʻulūm [Key of sciences] by Abū Bakr al-Sakkākī (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.