From Arabic Books and Manuscripts V: A One-Volume Library of Arabic Philosophical and Scientific Texts in Istanbul

Abstract

THE VALUABLE Jarullah ( Carullah ) collection, in the Millet Library in Istanbul, includes, as no. 1279, a large manuscript which, in the handwritten catalogue, is described as a majmutah written in 882-3/1477-8 and containing the following works: Tamarat al-hikmah; llm ilahz; Asrar al-hikmah; Ma ba'd at-tabtah; Dalalat alha'irtn; F[ay'ah; Mabadi al-'aqltyah; and M?bjm(ll ft ahkam an-nujum.l G#lancing through the catalogue, I was reminded by llm iZahz of the treatise ascribed to al-Farabi which was identified by P. liraus as a collection of excerpts from the Enneads of Plotinus. The title Dalalat al-ha'irtn evoked memories of Maimonides whose main philosophical work could hardly be expected to exist in an Arabic manuscript in Istanbul. As it turned out, the manuscript did contain Maimonides' work, and llm i7Xhz was the work which I thought it might be. In addition, the manuscript contained a large number of other works, some of them hitherto unattested in manuscripts and most of them quite rare. Since I have reason to believe that Arabic scholars might be interested in learning about the existence of the manuscript, a brief preliminary description of its main contents is published here. Much more study will be needed to determine and exhaust the treasures of this manuscript. A grant from the Bollingen Foundation enabled me to spend my 1952 summer vacation in Turkey and thus to become acquainted with this manuscript. Through the ever helpful cooperation of the Turkish library authorities, I obtained a microfilm of the largest portion of it which I wanted to be photographed. The Committee on the Advancement of Research of the University of Pennyslvania provided enlargements of the microfilm. The manuscript contains 410 folios, of which