Treatises on magic, astrology, alchemy and Sufism : manuscript

Description

Title: Treatises on magic, astrology, alchemy and Sufism : manuscript
Published / Created: 1761-1815.
Publication Place: Place not identified
Abstract: Collection of treatises on magic, astrology, alchemy and Sufism: 1. On the magical qualities of the letters of the Arabic alphabet, their numerical values and their categorization into fire, air, water and earth letters, in Ottoman Turkish (folios1a-2a). 2. Talisman (folio 2a), in Arabic. The copyist (Tawakkulī Muṣṭafá) claims to have seen this talisman in the year 1162 Hijrī (1748/1749) and copied it in Jumād Thānī, 1175 Hijrī (1761/1762). 3. Miftāḥ Kitāb Sāmūr Hindī (Key to the book of the Indian Sāmūr" (folios 2b-22a), by Darwīsh Fatʹḥ Allāh Rūmī (could not be identified), in Ottoman Turkish, an elaborate work on numerology with magic squares. The alleged author "Sāmūr Hindī" (or "Shaykh Sāmūr") could not be identified (probably a fictitious name). Copied in Jumād Awwal, 1188 Hijrī (July/August, 1774). Name of copyist and place of copying not mentioned. 4. Chronology (Silsilah "Chain") of some Sufi order in Ottoman Turkish (folio 22b). 5. Sketch of the zodiac with several magical astronomical tables "zāyirjahs" (folios 23a-26b). 6. Alchemy recipes (27a-29b) on how to convert base metals into gold, in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish. Copied in Shaʻbān 1187 Hijrī (October/November 1773) by Tawakkulī Muṣṭafá. Place of copying not mentioned. 7. Second collection of alchemy recipes (folios 30b-33a). The author wrote at the beginning of these recipes that they were given to him by Sharīf Sayyidī Ḥasan of Diyār Bakr (Diyarbakır, Turkey) in the year 1172 Hijrī (September/October, 1758), at the rate of two words a month. The alleged Sharīf lived after that for fourteen years and died in Muḥarram 1185 Hijrī (April/May, 1771) before being able to finish the alchemy process. 8. Taswīdah (folio 33b), a short alchemy recipe copied on 22 Rajab, 1230 Hijrī (30 June, 1815) by ʻAbd Allāh Muḥammad Luṭfī.
Description: In Arabic and Ottoman Turkish.
Title of the codex supplied by cataloger.
Romanization supplied by cataloger.
Incipit of the Talisman : "Aqsamtu ʻalaykum ayyuhā al-arwāḥ al-ʻulwīyah wa-al-suflīyah al-mustakhrajūn min taksīr hādhihi al-ḥurūf al-sharīfah al-muwakkalūn wa-al-ḥākimūn ʻalayhā, yā Fakhāʼīl, yā Khaḍāʼīl ..."
Incipit of Miftāḥ Kitāb Sāmūr Hindī: "Bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm. al-Ḥamdu lillāh alladhī aẓhara dhawāt al-ʻālimīn bi-amrihi al-qadīm, wa-nawwara al-ʻārifīn bi-tilāwat asmāʼihi al-ʻaẓīm, wa-al-ṣalāh al-dāʼimah ʻalá muẓhir al-dhāt Nabīyih Muḥammad Dhī al-wajh al-karīm wa-ʻalá ālihi wa-awlādihi alladhīna uẓhirū min ʻālam al-rūḥ ilá ʻālam al-jism bi-al-faḍl al-ʻamīm ..."
Secundo folio of Miftāḥ Kitāb Sāmūr Hindī: amīdh darkah bayn.
Incipit of Alchemy recipes: "Mabqalah qarībah. Taʼkhudh ʻalá barakat Allāh, taʼkhudh min shaʻr ithnay ʻashar ūqiyah wa-min wa-min [repeated] al-ṣābūn [ṣābūn] al-ḥukamā qadr thalāthīn, yaʻnī thamāniyah wa-tisʻīn dirham, tusḥaq farādah thumma tusḥaq maʻa baʻḍ saḥqan balīghan ..."
Secundo folio of Alchemy recipes: fī muddat laylah.
Incipit of Second collection of alchemy recipes: "Bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm wa-ṣallá Allāh ʻalá Sayyidinā Muḥammad wa-ālihi wa-ṣaḥbihi wa-sallam. Talaqqaynā hādhihi [hādhā] al-ʻilm min Sharīf Sayyidī Ḥasan min Diyār Bakr fī sanat1172, ibtidāʼ kull shahr kalimatayn. ʻĀsha baʻda dhālika arbaʻat ʻashar sanah ḥattá kamulat asmāʼuhā ramzan. Wa-lam kamulat kulluhā, yaʻnī tarkībuhā. ʻAinda al-tarkīb tawaffā [tuwuffiya] fī Muḥarram sanat 1185."
Secundo folio of Second collection of alchemy recipes: ʻalá kānūn ʻalá nār.
Incipit of Taswīdah: "Khudh ʻalá barakat Allāh taʻālá min al-kibrīt al-mistakkāwī ūqīyah wa-min al-zinjafr ūqīyah ..."
15 x 20.5 cm; written surfaces: vary ; lines per page vary.
Binding: In brown cloth modern binding.
In good naskh script in different hands, in black ink on white paper; headings, keywords and markings in red; catchwords.
Title of Miftāḥ Kitāb Sāmūr Hindī from folio 2b.
On folio 34a an ownership statement: "Ṣāḥibī wa-mālikī Nuʻmān Afandī Madanī al-Ḥanafī, khādim al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf. 1246 Hijrī (1830/1831).
Colophon of the Talisman: "Tammat. Naqaltuhu min risālah taḥrīran fī Jumāda Thānī sanat 1175, wa-raʼaytuhu fī sanat 1162, thumma naqaltuhu fī Jumād Thānī [signature] Tawakkulī Muṣṭafá."
Translation of the colophon of the Talisman: "It is completed. I copied it from a treatise in Jumād Thānī, 1175 [December 1761/January 1762], having seen it in 1162 [December 1748/January 1749] and copied it in Jumād Thānī [signiture], Tawakkulī Muṣṭafá."
Colophon of Miftāḥ Kitāb Sāmūr Hindī: Colophon missing. Ends with numerical calculations.
Colophon of of Alchemy recipes: Colophon missing. Ends with: "... wa-in kāna yafḍulu fīhi shayʼ udmushu marratan ukhrah [ukhrá] ḥattá lā yafḍula fīhi min al-māʼ shayʼ wa-yaṣīr mithl al-isfīdāj dawwim minhā ʻalá 6 qamar yaṣīr ibrīzan kāmilan."
Colophon of Second Alchemy recipes. Colophon missing. Ends with: "... wa-in lam yaghūṣ shammiʻhu bi-waznah min al-miftāḥ, shayʼ fa-shayʼ jarribhu, wa-in waqf awḍiʻ ʻalayh min al-miftāḥ waznah wa-qaṭṭirhu wa-rudda al-qāṭir ʻlayh thāniyan wa-thālithan, wa-ammā thālith marrah lam yaḥmil qābilat qizāz yaṭlīh raṣāṣ aw ṣīnī hindī, hādhā nuqṭat al-ḥāriqah ʻalá al-dhahab wa-al-fiḍḍah."
Provenance: Purchased from Worldwide Antiquarian on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 2005.
Extent: 1 volume (34 leaves) ; 21 cm
Extent of Digitization: This object has been partially digitized.
Language: Arabic
Turkish, Ottoman

Collection Information

Repository: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Call Number: Arabic MSS suppl. 600

Subjects, Formats, And Genres

Genre: Early works to 1800
Manuscripts, Arabic 18th century
Manuscripts, Arabic 19th century
Manuscripts, Turkish 18th century
Manuscripts, Turkish 19th century
Arabic manuscripts
Turkish manuscripts
Resource Type: text
Subject (Topic): Alchemy
Astrology
Magic
Magic squares
Numerology
Sufism
Talismans
Subjects: Alchemy > Early works to 1800
Astrology > Early works to 1800
Magic > Early works to 1800
Magic squares > Early works to 1800
Numerology > Early works to 1800
Sufism > Early works to 1800
Talismans > Early works to 1800
18th century
19th century
Arabic manuscripts
Turkish manuscripts

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Access: Public
Rights: The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.
Citation: Treatises on magic, astrology, alchemy and mysticism. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Identifiers

Orbis Record: 13272069
Object ID (OID): 10842249

Treatises on magic, astrology, alchemy and Sufism : manuscript

Description

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