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Contributions to Astronomy from the Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library

Ideas Words Objects

إسهامات الحضارة العربية والإسلامية في علوم الفلك من مخطوطات الأزهر

Publication of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and UNESCO (2006) presenting 31 astronomical manuscripts selected from about 434 manuscripts and treatises on astronomy and timekeeping in al-Azhar Library by 136 authors 1 2.

Depth

At a glance

Region
Egypt & Nile

Astronomy and timekeeping

Summary

This book is the second publication in the series "Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to the Sciences" prepared by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina's Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CULTNAT) in partnership with UNESCO's regional office in Cairo, as a product of the digital documentation programme for al-Azhar Library's astronomy manuscripts. 3 4 It was printed in 2006 in 1,500 copies. 1

Contents

  • Al-Azhar Library holds about 434 manuscripts and treatises on astronomy and timekeeping by 136 authors, commentators and compilers, all in Arabic except two in Turkish and one in Persian. 2
  • The book opens with a scientific introduction, "Astronomy and its applications in Arab-Islamic civilisation", by Ahmad Fuad Basha, professor of physics at Cairo University, then presents 31 selected manuscripts with images, arranged by subject: astronomical instruments; calendar and times; moon, sun, zodiac and planets; trigonometric operations; astronomical tables; and the sphericity of the earth. 2 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
  • A glossary of astronomical terms with foreign equivalents follows, with appendices on abjad numerals, the astrolabe, the zodiac and the lunar mansions, and the complete bibliographical list of al-Azhar's astronomy and timekeeping manuscripts. 2 12 13 14 15 16

From the introduction

Ahmad Fuad Basha writes that the Arabs called astronomy by several names, among them ilm al-hay'a, ilm al-anwa' and ilm ahkam al-nujum; that they first absorbed the learning of the Greeks, Egyptians, Persians and Indians; that the first astronomical book translated was the Key of the Stars attributed to Hermes in Umayyad times, followed by the Almagest and the Sindhind under al-Mansur; and that a phase of innovation ran from the third to the mid-ninth century AH. 5 He notes that Ibn Yunus compiled the Great Hakimi Zij, which Laplace used for the obliquity of the ecliptic, and that al-Biruni discussed in al-Qanun al-Mas'udi seven methods of finding the cardinal directions. 17

Connections

Explore the connections

Mentions
Al-Azhar Mosque

People and things also explored

The killing of General Kléber and the trial of Sulayman al-Halabi (Muharram 1215 / June 1800)· The first Cairo revolt against the French, 1213 AH (1798)· يعقوب بن كلس· Cairo· Fatimid Caliphate· Al-Azhar Mosque· Maragha Observatory· Pari Mahal, Srinagar

Sources

  1. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 4
  2. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 7
  3. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 5
  4. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 6
  5. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 8
  6. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 14
  7. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 28
  8. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 38
  9. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 62
  10. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 68
  11. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 76
  12. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 78
  13. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 88
  14. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 92
  15. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 98
  16. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 104
  17. Contributions of Arab and Islamic Civilisation to Astronomy from the Scientific Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library, Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (CULTNAT) and UNESCO, 2006 , p. 10
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Contributions to Astronomy from the Manuscripts of al-Azhar Library”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/work/azhar-astronomy-manuscripts-catalogue/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-06.

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The killing of General Kléber and the trial of Sulayman al-Halabi (Muharram 1215 / June 1800)

On Saturday 21 Muharram 1215 AH Sulayman al-Halabi, a young man from Aleppo who lodged at al-Azhar, stabbed General Kléber, commander of the French, in the garden of his house at al-Azbakiyya, killing him and wounding the engineer with him. The French convened a court that sentenced him to have his right hand burned and to be impaled, and three Gazan Qur'an reciters of al-Azhar whom he had told of his plan to be beheaded, while Mustafa Efendi al-Bursali was acquitted; the sentences were carried out at Tell al-Aqarib on the day of Kléber's funeral. Al-Jabarti copied the trial papers word for word.