MS. Huntington 370 (Bodleian Library, Oxford University)

The copy was completed on 4 Rabīʿ I 778 (5 Apr. 1386). The copyist is not named.

The copy lacks the introduction, beginning shortly after the beginning of the first maqālah with the quotation of the first Hippocratic aphorism. The text begins at a point equivalent to that on p. 951 of the complete edition. The second maqālah begins on folio 29b, the third on 59b, the fourth on 88b, the fifth on 141b, the sixth on 182a, and the seventh on 206b. A lacuna occurs in the first maqālah, between folios 25/26, and another lacuna in the fourth maqālah, between folios 92/93. Folios 93a–98b are in fact the missing text of the first maqālah, and folio 228 is a portion of the text missing in the fourth maqālah. Thus the correct order of leaves is: 1–25, 93–8, 26–92, 228, 99–224.

Dimensions 16.9 × 13 (text area 13 × 8.5) cm; 13 lines per page (12–15 on replacement leaves). The title Kitāb Sharḥ al-Fuṣūl is given in the colophon. The author is not named, but identification was confirmed by comparison with the printed edition.

The first fifteen folios are replacement leaves produced using black ink and were possibly added by the person named Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Qalīs [?] who wrote on folio 224b a note dated 888/1483−4. The replacement folios are written in black ink. The text of the older portion is written in a medium-large, professional, careful Naskh using brown ink fading to a lighter shade. The headings (قال ابقراط) have been over-painted in pale green. There are a few red overlinings, added later. Some final letters of words have been written outside the text area. There are some catchwords, though most appear to have been added later. The copy was originally constructed of twenty-four quires of ten leaves each and a final quire of three leaves. Folio 212 is labelled (in words) the twenty-fourth; folio 16 is labelled the third; the first fifteen folios are replacements for the first two quires of the original copy. Folios have been cut out between folios 29/30, 30/31, 31/32, 138/139 and 181/182. Consequently the fifth quire (numbered khāmis on folio 27) is deficient, as are some of the other quires.

There are no marginalia on the replacement leaves (folios 1–15). In the older portion of the copy there are some interlinear corrections and vocalization made in a later hand using black ink, apparently made by the person named Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Qalīs [?] who wrote a marginal note on folio 224b dated in the year 888/1483−4. There are also scattered marginalia written in brown ink correcting the text, possibly written by the copyist. There are in addition other scattered notes in later hands, often noting the starts of different maqālahs. There are magical formulae written vertically in the margins of folios 190a, 191a, and 214a.

Written vertically at the bottom of folio 224b is a note dated Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1[0]46 (Apr.-May 1637) recording that the volume was studied (نظر في هذا الكتاب المبارك) by Yūsuf ibn Jurjis al-ṭabīb al-maʿrūf bi-Ibn al-Mazūq [? = al-Marzūq] al-naṣrānī al-malikī (the Melchite Christian)

Followed by a fragment on medicine and a theological treatise [lacking the beginning]

On 224b there is an obliterated ex libris, some pious phrases, and pen practices (some possibly Karshūnī).

References

The copy appears to have been added to the volume shortly after the previous item, which was completed on 4 Rabī‘ I 778 (5 Apr. 1386); for the latter see the first item of this volume ( entry on Sharḥ al-Fuṣūl li-Ibqurāṭ). It is written on the same type of paper as the previous item, though the paper appears more heavily worn. The copyist is not named.

It is a fragmentary copy, breaking off abruptly at the bottom of folio 227b.

Dimensions 16.9 × 12.8 (text area c.14 × 10) cm; 15 lines per page. Both the author and the title are given at the start of the text. The text area has not been frame-ruled. The text is written in medium-small, casual Naskh with virtually no diacritical marks in a dark-brown ink with overlinings of important words.

There are no marginalia

References

Extracts ( قصة ) from accounts of various prophets, beginning with Adam, Noah, Abraham, then Muḥammad and continuing with Mary, Shu‘ayb, David, and Zacharias

Folio 244a has a khawāṣṣ recipe and an owner’s note (different hand)

References