Catalogue of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish Manuscripts of the Imperial Library of Vienna

The script, which at first glance seems Mauritanian, is in reality cursive Kufic, already approaching Neschi; and it diverges even more from that than Mauritanian, yet it is still distinguished by diacritical marks, like Asian codices and not like Mauritanian ones. It is therefore gathered from this codex, which had escaped us until now, that in the fifth century of the Hegira, the Kufic script was also used in Persia for writing codices, and that it ceded completely to the more recent characters called Neschi and Taalik only later; while in the West it remained through the Umayyads, and its remnants still survive to this very day in Mauritania. It is a most precious monument of Oriental graphic art, and worthy of great reverence all the more because it was executed by the son of the most famous poet who was a contemporary and rival of Ferdowsi. The paper is of silk, with black ink, and occasionally red and green in the chapter titles; the codex is excellently preserved for such an age, in clear and sharp character, a specimen of which it may be permitted to present to the eyes of the curious in the Oriental mines by a brass plate. It treats in alphabetical order of materia medica, which the author affirms he collected from the most ancient physicians and writers, both Indian and Greek.

84. Aja'ib al-Makhluqat Turki Mirabilia of Creatures, in Turkish. By Jasidschiogli Ahmed Bidschan. An epitome of the most famous work by Zachariah Cazvinensis.

85. Kitab Kanz al-'Ulum wa al-Durar al-Manzum fi Haqa'iq 'Ilm al-Shari'a wa al-Daqayiq 'Ilm al-Tabi'a li-Ibn Tumart The Treasury of Sciences and Pearls Arranged in the Truths of the Science of the Law and the Subtleties of the Science of Nature, by Mohammed f. Mohammed Ibn Tomart. Divided into five chapters: 1) On the science of the law. 2) On the principles of natural science. 3) On the cognition of the intellect and the soul. 4) On the excellence of human nature. 5) On the occult sciences, in 4to.

86. Contained in this codex are: 1) A Turkish treatise called Alif Fal, concerning the meanings of the letters of the Quran in divination called "Fal." 2) Astrolabium Avicennae Astrolabe of Avicenna. The title does not correspond with the preface, by which we are taught that this book was compiled at the request of Harun al-Rashid by the learned men of his court for the sake of divination. It contains 144 chapters or titles for those who consult the lots, and answers for each chapter, which the preface teaches how to adapt to questions. 3) A Turkish commentary on the first Sura of the Quran, with added admonitions on the use of prayers, etc., for the use of Muslims, 4to.