Al-Sufi 'Abd al-Rahman (m.986) Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib - Treatise on the Fixed St…
Description

Al-Sufi 'Abd al-Rahman (m.986)

Kitāb ṣuwar al-kawākib - Treatise on the Fixed Stars Iran, Isfahan, 19th century Persian manuscript, 25 leaves, calligraphed in "nasta'liq" in black ink on 15 lines per page, illustrated with 48 pencil and pen drawings heightened with gold. Colophon in Arabic indicating the city of Tehran. Bound in brown morocco. 22.5x17 cm The Book of the Fixed Stars (Kitab Suwar Al-Kawakib) of 'Abd Al-Rahman Ibn 'Umar Al-Sufi (d.986) Persian Manuscript, 25ff, 15ll. to the page of black nasta'liq and ta'liq, with 48 pencil drawings enhanced with gold. This book, based on the Almagest by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy, concerns the forty-eight constellations known as the Fixed Stars. Commissioned by the Buyid Amir, 'Adud al-Dawla, this treatise had a great impact on the Muslim world and was considered a reference for a very long period. Its author, the eminent astronomer Al-Sufi, wrote it in Isfahan around 965 CE. Ptolemy's treatise circulated in the Arab world thanks to the translation of Ishâq ibn Hunayn, made in Baghdad in the 9th century. Al-Sûfi's treatise would be translated into Persian by Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī during the 13th century. Thus, astronomical knowledge circulated in the Arab and Persian world through successive translations and enrichments. Colophon: The first sentence is transcribed in Persian. Transliteration: Tamamtu al-kitāb fī dār al-khilāfa Ṭihrān jafat bil'amn wa al-'amān rab 'ighfir wa liwāliday wa 'irḥamhumā kamā rabbayāny ṣaghīran al-mujjamad ilah al-'amjād Translation: I was transcribing the work at the Caliphate residence in Isfahan, may God guard and preserve it. And for mercy's sake, lower for my parents the wing of humility, show them both mercy as they raised me as a child.

201 

Al-Sufi 'Abd al-Rahman (m.986)

Auction is over for this lot. See the results