Iran or India
dated 1070 AH (1659–60 AD)
ink, gold and opaque watercolour on paper; leather binding with flap
copied in naskh script; 28 lines to the page
266 folios; 30.8 x 19.2cm
Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan al-Marrakushi’s treatise, compiled circa 680 AH (1281–2 AD) in Cairo, is the most important written source for medieval Islamic astronomical instruments and includes discussions of sundials, armillary spheres, astrolabes and quadrants for determining time from solar altitude.
F. Maddison & E. Savage-Smith, Science, Tools & Magic, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume XII, Part One, London 1997, cat.118, pp.190–2, 200.
J.M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection, London 2010, cat.368, p.311.