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Lot Essay
The manuscript is divided as follows:
Folios 1-2a Dedication to the Rasulid Sultan Abu'l Hasan 'Ali ibn Da'ud ibn Yusuf ibn 'Umar ibn 'Ali ibn Rasul al-Jafani al-Ghassani, ruler of Yemen from 721-764 (1321-63 AD)
Folios 2b-5a Historical section giving the most important events before and after the hijra. The last mentioned event is the beginning of the reign of the Abbasid Caliph 'Abdallah ibn Ahmad al-Musta'sim given here as in the year 645.
Folios 5b-7a Table of location of the moon for various zodiacal events
Folios 7b-8a Illnesses of the human body
Folios 8b-9a Table for the arrangement of the court on the basis of the zones of influence of the planets. Folios 9b-15a Various tables and diagrams concerned with astrology.
Folios 15b-18a Circular tables showing predictions for the weather, the orientation to Mecca from various countries and the waxing and waning of the moon.
Folios 18b-19b Lunar eclipses and the predictions for a solar year
Folio 20b-31b Predictions for the year starting 21 Rabi'I 758 for the town of Ta'izz, the Rasulid capital.
Folio 32 Misbound. This folio belongs after folio 20 with four more horoscope diagrams.
This is a rare and imporatant document. The Rasulid Sultans from their capital in Ta'izz ruled the Yermen for a period of more than 200 years. With their thriving port in Aden, they benefitted from a lucrative trade in cloth, spices, slaves and perfumes. Unsurprisingly, the period saw a flowering of literature, and a number of members of the ruling house were themselves authors. It is likely that the author of the present work was himself a member of the ruling clan (Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. VIII, Leiden, 1995, pp. 455-457).
Folios 1-2a Dedication to the Rasulid Sultan Abu'l Hasan 'Ali ibn Da'ud ibn Yusuf ibn 'Umar ibn 'Ali ibn Rasul al-Jafani al-Ghassani, ruler of Yemen from 721-764 (1321-63 AD)
Folios 2b-5a Historical section giving the most important events before and after the hijra. The last mentioned event is the beginning of the reign of the Abbasid Caliph 'Abdallah ibn Ahmad al-Musta'sim given here as in the year 645.
Folios 5b-7a Table of location of the moon for various zodiacal events
Folios 7b-8a Illnesses of the human body
Folios 8b-9a Table for the arrangement of the court on the basis of the zones of influence of the planets. Folios 9b-15a Various tables and diagrams concerned with astrology.
Folios 15b-18a Circular tables showing predictions for the weather, the orientation to Mecca from various countries and the waxing and waning of the moon.
Folios 18b-19b Lunar eclipses and the predictions for a solar year
Folio 20b-31b Predictions for the year starting 21 Rabi'I 758 for the town of Ta'izz, the Rasulid capital.
Folio 32 Misbound. This folio belongs after folio 20 with four more horoscope diagrams.
This is a rare and imporatant document. The Rasulid Sultans from their capital in Ta'izz ruled the Yermen for a period of more than 200 years. With their thriving port in Aden, they benefitted from a lucrative trade in cloth, spices, slaves and perfumes. Unsurprisingly, the period saw a flowering of literature, and a number of members of the ruling house were themselves authors. It is likely that the author of the present work was himself a member of the ruling clan (Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. VIII, Leiden, 1995, pp. 455-457).