Invaluable manuscript treasures are on view at Qasr Al Watan
ABU DHABI: At Qasr Al Watan’s House of Knowledge, visitors can access a vast selection of rare artifacts and manuscripts that shed light on the Islamic world’s most notable contributions to the modern world from the 9th to the 13th century, across the fields of astronomy, science, art and literature. Home to over thirty five rare manuscripts, Qasr Al Watan’s House of Knowledge offers access to rare documents from across the globe in a wide variety of languages. Among the ancient documents that can be seen are Qasidat Al Tantaraniah (A Poem by Tantarani), which is a collection of poems dating back to the 11th century, writen by Ahmad bin Abdul Razaq Al Tantaran.
Al Tantaran was one of the most advanced Arab poets of his time, with his poetry considered unusual due to its sophisticated rhymes. In his awe-inspiring works, the author praises the Bengali ruling family of the era, the Chandra dynasty, and Al-ghazali, the famous Persian philosopher who was one of the most prominent and influential Muslim philosophers, theologians, jurists and mystics of the era and founder of the Nizamiah School in Baghdad. Arabian Nights (One Thousand and One Nights/alf Laylah waLaylah) is another piece on view. It is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is one of the Arab world’s most important contributions to literature and has captured the imagination of generations of readers since it was published.
If you grew up or live in the Middle East, chances are you’ve heard at least one of the many stories within the pages of this exhilarating piece of literature. Think Aladdin’s Wonderful Lamp, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves or The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. What many do not know is that these stories were not part of the original collection of folktales, but were in fact collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West, Central and South Asia, and North Africa.
Historia Naturalis Encyclopedia is for those who wish to journey back in time to see the world from another perspective. A work of Roman historian Pliny the Elder, the text gives the most detailed account of the coast of what is now the UAE, and is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire to the present day.
The vast scope of topics covered in this one-of-a-kind manuscript take readers a step back into what Pliny himself described as “the natural world, or life” of the time.
The text is also the only work by the historian to survive, and the very last book he wrote. The author gives a detailed account of learning and art from the classical era of the coast of what is now the UAE, describing the islands, people and places of south-eastern Arabia (you might even be able to identify a place you’ve been to!). The encyclopedia includes around 20,000 entries, and is considered one of the most complete sources of knowledge from ancient times. Ghayat Al Suroor fi Sharh Diwan Al Shuthoor (The Acme of Pleasure in the Commentary on the Poems Nuggets of Gold) allows you to step into the world of alchemy. Dating back to the 11th century, it is considered one of the most precious manuscripts in the field of chemistry and includes a poem about alchemy by Aydmer bin Ali bin Aydmer Al-jaldaki, one of the last and the greatest of medieval Islamic alchemists.
Al-jaldakī was born in Jaldak, a district of Khurasan near Mashhad, Iran, and spent seventeen years travelling extensively before setling in Egypt, where he developed a wide variety of work based on alchemy — the medieval study and philosophy that aimed to transform base metals into silver or gold and discover cures for diseases. The manuscript is writen in a readable Naskh script — a form of Islamic calligraphy still used today — and the poem is composed of more than 1,000 verses. The Atlas Manuscript on Astronomy is where astronomers and stargazers can show their special appreciation. It dates back to the 13th century, and the text contains astronomical tabulations, coloured drawings and maps of the four dimensions of earth. It is one of the first atlases to use tabulations to calculate prayer times in different cities across the Arab world and also includes maps with the names of ancient continents and countries.
Al-qanun fi al-tibb or the Canon of Medicine is the most important source for modern day medical knowledge, writen by Ibn Sina, the Father of Medicine. Referred to in the West as Avicenna, he was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, thinkers and writers of the Islamic Golden Age.
His encyclopedia, The Canon of Medicine, is a compilation of five books and is one of the most famous texts on the topic. In this, Ibn Sina brought together the medical practices of Greek thinker Galen and the philosophy of Aristotle, revealing the strengths of Islamic scholarship and its impact on medicine. Al-qanun fi al-tibb set standards for medicine in Medieval Europe and the Islamic world and was used as a standard medical textbook in Europe during the 18th century. In addition to this manuscript, other pieces of work published by Ibn Sina can also be found at the House of Knowledge.