Risālat al-shifāʾ li-adwāʾ al-wabāʾ رسالة الشفاء لأدواء الوباء. Ṭāshkubrīʹzādah, Aḥmad ibn Muṣṭafá طاشكبريزاده، أحمد بن مصطفى.

This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or 11247
  • Dates of Creation
    • 17th century
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
    • Arabic Turkish
  • Physical Description
    • Codex ff. i+74+i. Material: Mix of Eastern and Western laid paper. Dimensions: 225 x 115 mm leaf [160 x 65 mm written]. Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil. Ruling: Misṭarah; 21 lines per page; vertical spacing 13 lines per 10 cm. Script: Naskh with nastaʿlīq elements. Ink: Black ink, with rubricated headings and overlinings in red. Binding: British Museum binding; evidence of envelope flap on previous binding (see ff. 58-63). Condition: Tidemarks towards head (ff. 63-72), some offsetting and mould stains (see ff. 34-39). Marginalia: Notes by more than one hand. Seals: none.

Scope and Content

Treatise on the prevention and cure of plague by the Ottoman polymath ʿIṣām al-Dīn Abū al-Khayr Aḥmad ibn Muṣliḥ al-Dīn Muṣṭafá Ṭāshkubrīʹzādah (عصام الدين أبو الخير أحمد بن مصلح الدين مصطفى طاشكبريزاده, Taşköprīzāde, d. 1561). The text is divided into the following sections, of which all but the conclusion are further subdivided into problems (مطالب):. Introduction (مقدمة, ff. 3v-15r); First Course of Action (المسلك الأول, ff. 15r-19v); Second Course of Action (المسلك الثاني, ff. 19v-21v); Conclusion (خاتمة, ff. 21v-25r); Addendum (تذليل, ff. 25r-63r); Spaces are left blank for diagrams (magic squares) on ff. 46v, 47r, 49v and 61v. The text is followed by notes, mostly on medical topics, in Arabic and Turkish and poetry in Turkish (ff. 63v-74v). There are three blank unfoliated leaves between ff. 71 and 72. Begins (f. 3v, lines 1-3):. الحمد لله الملك المتعال والمتفرد بالعظمة والجلال مقدر الأرزاق. والآجال ومصرف الأمور ومقلب الأحوال والصلوة. والسلام على سيد أرباب الكمال. Ends (f. 63r, lines 8-18):. ... قال ابن أبي حجلة مات فيه. على جهة المغرب نصف العالم أو أكثر وزاد. بالقاهرة كل يوم على عشرين ألفًا وفي. ثلث وثلثين وثمان مائة وقع. بمصر طاعون لم يقع نظيره بعد تسع. وأربعين وسبعمائة هذه الطواعين. العظام وإلا فعددها أكثر. من هذا والله أعلم بالصواب. منه المبدأ وإليه. المآب تمت بعون. الوهاب.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Purchased from Oskar Rescher (1884-1972), 7 August 1930.

Other Finding Aids

Hamarneh, Sami, Catalogue of Arabic Manuscripts on Medicine and Pharmacy at the British Library (Cairo: Les Editions Universitaires d'Egypte, 1975), Item 311, p. 231.

Bibliography

Edition:. Ṭāshkubrīʹzādah, Aḥmad ibn Muṣṭafá, Risālat al-shifāʾ li-adwāʾ al-wabāʾ (Cairo: al-Maṭbaʿah al-Wahbīyah, 1292/1875); Studies:. Cankaya, Nurten, 'Taşkopruluzade Ahmet İsameddin Efendi'nin Risaletü'ş-Şifa li-edva'il-vebâ adli Risalesi Uzerine bir Değerlendirme', in VIII. Türk Tıp Tarihi Kongresi: Kongreye Sunulan Bildiriler, edited by Nil Sarı and Ayşegul Erdemir, (Istanbul: Turk Tıp Tarihi Kurumu, 2006), pp. 313-22; Melvin-Koushki, Matthew, 'Taşköprīzāde on the (Occult) Science of Plague Prevention and Cure', Nazariyat 6/2 (2020), pp. 133-68