[Mecmua of texts by Mustafa İbn-i Ali Muvakkıt of Sultan Selim Camii]

This volume contains the following four texts :. (I) ff 1v-26v : Teshilü'l-mikat, an astronomical treatise by Mustafa İbn-i Ali, Muvakkıt of Sultan Selim Camii, on the sinuated quadrant (rub'-i mücip) and its use, consisting of a Mukaddime and twenty-five ebvap;. (II) ff 26v-39r : Kifayetü'l-vakıt l-maarifetü'l-dair ve fazluhu ve el-semt, a treatise on the mukantarat or circles attached to the quadrant, also by Mustafa İbn-i Ali. This text also contains a Mukaddime and twelve ebvap. From the autograph found in the Vienna Collection, the original text was likely completed in 935 AH (1528-29 CE). Although it is not found in any of Haj. Khal.'s works, he does mention an Arabic treatise with the same title from which this item might have been translated. The latter is ascribed to ᶜizz al-dīn ᶜabd al-ᶜazīz Ibn Muḥammad al-Wafā'ī, who died in 874 or 876 AH (1469-70 or 1471-72 CE). The two texts above were both copied by İbrahim İbn-i Mahmud, likely in the 17th century CE, and are found under the same heading, Risale-yi teshilü'l-mikat ve risale-yi kifayetü'l-vakıt li'l-Mustafa İbn-i Ali el-Muvakkıt fi Cami el-Hakani el-Selimi. (III) ff 41v-65r : Risale fi beyan bu'd el-akalim li'l-Mustafa İbn-i Ali, A tract on the distances of a hundred cities to İstanbul. The author, having noticed that popular statements as to the distances of certain places from İstanbul were greatly exaggerated, drew up the present treatise as an offering to the reigning Sultan, Kanuni Süleyman. After selecting 100 cities, he determined accurately their geographical positions, the length of days in each of them, and their distances. The towns mentioned are primarily inside the contemporary boundaries of the Ottoman Empire, and the list begins with İstanbul, Bursa, İznik, Kütahya, Karahısar, Konya, Aksaray, Kayseri, Ankara, and Kastamonu. It ends with Fez, Tangiers and Sus. The work is also known as Tuhfetü'l-mecalis;. (IV) ff 65v-70v : Risale fi istihraç zeviyetü'l-hilal li'l-Mustafa İbn-i Ali, treatise on the course of the sun through the signs of the zodiac, the appearance of the new moon, and the length of days corresponding to the passage of the sun through each sign. The date of composition is fixed by the following passages (f 67v): the author states that the sun entered into Aries on 3 Rebiülevel 958 AH (11 March 1551 CE) and on 15 Rebiülevel 959 AH (11 March 1552 CE), and he announces a table (not present in this copy) that shows the days of Nevruz or the Vernal Equinox, for 960-1000 AH (1553-92 CE). The latter two texts were likely copied in the 18th century CE.

Unrestricted

Acquired from Sir Claudius Rich.

See Rieu, Catalogue of the Turkish Manuscripts in the British Museum, pp. 121-22.

More works by Mustafa İbn-i Ali can be found at Or 9829, Or 12094, Or 12736 text 4, Or 16233 texts 8-10, and Add MS 7896. For more information about the Arabic text that might be the basis of text II and its author, see Haj. Khal. V, p. 227 and VI, p. 209.