Arithmetic needed by scribes and officials

A practical arithmetic book by Abu al-Wafa, for scribes and officials, distinct from his trigonometry and artisan constructions. The sources describe seven sections but differ in their summaries of financial headings and ordering; they agree on integers, fractions, measurement and transactions ^{2 3}.

The book uses numbers in words and verbal calculation rather than relying on positional Indian numerals. The discussion interprets this as accommodation to practical readers, not evidence that the author did not know those numerals or belonged to a hostile rival school ^{2 1}.

The sections cover proportion, multiplication, division, measurement, taxation, exchange and other transactions. Each source's account is retained rather than fabricating one definitive list from differently ordered summaries ^{4 3}. The second section includes complement multiplication with a debt intermediate:3×5 uses a debt of2 multiplied by10 and adds35, giving15. This is a bounded example, not the foundation of every negative-number theory ¹.

TDV dates it961, MacTutor961–976, and Iranica979–983 from the patron's title. The discrepancy remains explicit, not corrected without new research ^{4 2 3}. TDV/Iranica list Saidan's Amman1971edition,pp64–368; this is reported bibliography, not a claim that the edition itself was read ^{4 3}.

This account uses secondary studies and page2of the reflowed university-hosted Youschkevitch PDF, not independent inspection of all manuscripts or Medovoy's papers. Modern algebra in the algorithm explanation remains separate from the historical verbal account. The inspected scholarly page is not republished.