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al-S̲h̲afaḳ
(1,599 words)
(a.), morning or evening twilight, the periods between daybreak (
al-fad̲j̲r or
ṭulūʿ al-s̲h̲afaḳ ) and sunrise (
ṭulūʿ al-s̲h̲ams ) and between sunset (
g̲h̲urūb al-s̲h̲ams ) and nightfall (
mug̲h̲īb al-s̲h̲afaḳ ). These are of special importance in Islamic ritual because they relate to three of the prayers [see ṣalāt and mīḳāt , i]: the
fad̲j̲r prayer is to be performed as soon as possible after daybreak and must be completed before sunrise, the
mag̲h̲rib prayer begins as soon as possible after sunset, and the
ʿis̲h̲āʾ prayer as soon as possible after nightfall. Al-Bīrūnī [
q.v.] gives an…
Ḳaws Ḳuzaḥ
(2,053 words)
, the Arabic term for the rainbow, formed from
ḳaws “bow” (
Ḳws in the inscriptions of Jordan;
Ḳaws̲h̲ in the inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser, Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal;
Ḳūsu in Babylonian inscriptions of the time of Darius and Artaxerxes I;
Ḳūsu,
Ḳūs̲h̲u ,
Ḳīs̲h̲i ,
Ḳūs̲h̲i , in the Old Testament;
Kos /
Kōs /Κοξε, amongst the Nabataeans;
Ḳaws ,
Ḳays , in Arabia), an Edomite deity known during the first millennium and later venerated by the Nabataeans (cf. Vriezen,
The Edomitic deity Qaus , 330 ff.). He was a war-god, symbolised by the bow, just as Adad…
al-Mīzān
(7,402 words)
(a.) balance, is the
nomen instrumenti from
wazana “to weigh”, which means to weigh in the ordinary sense and also to test the level of something, like the Latin
librare . Here we shall discuss: 1. The various instruments used for weighing in the ordinary sense; brief notes are added on the ascertainment of specific gravities. 2. Levelling instruments. 3. Aspects of the balance in Indian Muslim art. 1. balances. The steelyard (
al-ḳarasṭūn [
q.v.]) has already been dealt with, and the general principles of the balance are also discussed in that article.—The usual balan…
al-Kuḥl
(1,241 words)
, traditionally translated as antimony sulphide (stibnite), is synonymous in the Arabic and Persian geographical sources with
it̲h̲mid and
surma . Its primary source was Iran, where the following places were noted for its production: in K̲h̲urāsān, Ṭūs (
Ḥudūd al-ʿālam , ed. M. Sutūda, tr. and comm. V. Minorsky, § 23.11—
surma), and Gūzgān (
Hudūd a-ʿālam , § 23.51—
sang-i surma); in Māzandarān, Sāmār near Sārī (
Ḥudūd al-ʿālam, § 32.23—
surma) and Ṭabaristān (Ibn Isfandiyār,
Tāʾrīk̲h̲-i Ṭabaristān , tr. E. G. Browne, 33—
surma); and in D̲j̲ibāl province, Mt. Damāvand (Abū Dulaf,
al-Risāl…
al-K̲h̲araḳī
(501 words)
, Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. ( Abī ) Bis̲h̲r , Bahāʾ al-Dīn and S̲h̲ams al-Dīn (and also Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-D̲j̲abbār b. ʿAbd al-D̲j̲abbār b. Muḥammad ) al-T̲h̲ābiti al-Ḥusaynī al-Marwazī , Persian mathematician, astronomer and geographer, who also concerned himself with philosophical questions. He seems to have been a native of K̲h̲araḳ (see Yāḳūt, s.v.) near Marw, whence his
nisba (which Ḥād̲j̲d̲j̲ī K̲h̲alīfa.
Kas̲h̲f , Tehran 1947, 338, reads as al-K̲h̲iraḳī). He lived in Marw, whither he had been summoned by the K̲h̲wārazm-S̲h̲āh Ḳuṭb al-Dīn Muḥammad (490-521/1097-1127…
Mag̲h̲nāṭīs
(3,721 words)
, Mag̲h̲natīs, Mag̲h̲nīṭīs, Arabic rendering of ἡ μαγνῆτις (λίθος), indicating 1. the magnetite and 2. the compass. 1. The Magnetite and Magnetism The magnetite (lodestone, magnetic iron ore, Fe3O4) is a very widely-spread mineral, well-known since antiquity, and found in huge quantities in individual deposits as well as a finely-allotted constituent of almost all kinds of volcanic rock. The Islamic natural scientists, geographers, cosmographers and encyclopaedists transmit much information about its properties. The magnet…
Kusūf
(1,741 words)
, K̲h̲usūf , eclipse of the sun or of the moon. As regards linguistic usage, it may be noted that
al-kusūf is used alike for the eclipse of the moon (
kusūf al-ḳamar ) and for that of the sun (
kusūf al-s̲h̲ams ), e.g. in al-Farg̲h̲ānī, Ḳusṭā b. Lūḳā, al-Battānī, al-Bīrūnī; but they are often distinguished as
al-k̲h̲usūf , eclipse of the moon, and
al-kusūf, of the sun, e.g. by al-Ḳazwīnī (on the linguistic usage, it should be noted that according to the
Mafātiḥ al-ulūm , ed. van Vloten, 222-3 the viith form, as in
inkasafat
al-s̲h̲ams , should not be used, although this…
al-Kura
(1,052 words)
, the sphere. 1. The sphere itself. The Arabs studied the properties of the sphere, following Euclid, Archimedes and Theodosius. They also dealt with certain principles of spherical trigonometry, which form the foundations for astronomical theory, the principle of the transversal (
s̲h̲akl al-ḳaṭṭāʿ ), the principle of the four magnitudes (
al-s̲h̲akl al-mug̲h̲nī ) and the principle of the shadow, i.e. of the tangent (
al-s̲h̲akl al-ẓillī ) following Menelaus and Ptolemy. (On the translations cf. M. Steinschneider in
ZDMG, i [1896], 161 ff.; the mathematical principles are …
al-Anbīḳ
(440 words)
, in medieval Latin Alembic, is the name for that part of the distilling apparatus which is also called "head" or "cap". The word was borrowed from Greek ἄμβιξ.
Al-anbīḳ occurs as early as the 10th century in a translation of Dioscorides, in the
Mafātīḥ al-ʿUlūm and in al-Rāzī. The
anbīḳ is often referred to as "one of the apparatuses used in distilling rose-water". The complete distilling apparatus consists of three parts: the "cucurbit" (
ḳarʿa ), the "head" or "cap" (
anbīḳ) and the "receiver" (
ḳābila ). Modern retorts have the "cap" and the "cucurbit" mad…
Ḳuṭb al-Dīn S̲h̲īrāzī
(1,432 words)
, Maḥmūd b. Masʿūd b. Muṣliḥ , Persian astronomer and physician, was born in Safar 634/October 1236 in S̲h̲īrāz and died in Tabriz on 17 Ramaḍān 710/February 1311. Like many Muslim medical men, Ḳuṭb al-Dīn belonged to a family of distinguished physicians; at the same time, however, he was not only a prominent medical man, at least as regards his writings, but he distinguished himself also in astronomy, philosophy, and the treatment of religious problems. This versatility induced Abu ’l-Fidāʾ to give him the name
al-
mutafannin “experien…
al-K̲h̲as̲h̲abāt
(235 words)
, pl. of Arabic
k̲h̲as̲h̲aba “wooden beam”, the name given towooden pillars which in mediaeval times were driven into the seabed at the place where the S̲h̲aṭṭ al-ʿArab empties into the Persian Gulf. These beacons were placed at six miles’ distance from ʿAbbādān, and were meant to guide sailors in danger of been drawn into a dangerous whirlpool and also on occasion to signal the approach of pirates. Al-Masʿūdī,
Murūd̲j̲ , i, 230, 330-1 = §§ 242, 361-2, mentions three pillars, and al-K̲h̲ wārazmī,
Mafātīḥ , 124, states that lamps were lit on their upper parts. Nāṣir-i K̲h̲usraw,
Safar-nāma …
al-Sahm
(829 words)
(a.) “arrow”. For the use of arrows in archery, see ḳaws . 1. In science. a. Geometrical term. If one erects a perpendicular
c b in the middle of a chord of an arc, which reaches to the arc, this is called
al-sahm, the versed sine (
al-d̲j̲ayb al-maʿkūs ) of the arc
a b; the sine (
al-d̲j̲ayb al-mustawī ), which corresponds to our sine, is
a c (see—in ¶ addition to many other passages— al-K̲h̲wārazmī.
Mafātīh al-ʿulūm ed. van Vloten, 205). The versed sine played a much more important part in the older mathematics from the Hindus onwards than it does in modern mathematics (cf. e.g. A. von Braunmühl,
Gesch…
