Prima Tredecim Partium Alcorani (Ravius, 1646)
Johannes Patruus
http://tinyurl.com/5tebu4f
The Latin translation at the end of the book comprises shapters 1 and 2 of
the Koran, the latter (and longest) chapter in its entirety.
Prof. Hartmut Bobzin writes as follows:
"Christian Ravius was Professor of Hebrew in Utrecht and Amsterdam. This
work is remarkable in several respects. It is, firstly, the only one to
print the Arabic text in Hebrew type in the so-called Rashi-script. It is,
secondly, one of the very rare early attempts to give the Arabic text in
the form of a strictly observed 'scientific' transliteration."
Patruus
Johannes Patruus
Here is Ravius' translation of the "Throne verse" (2:255) -
============
Non est ullus alius Deus, nisi ipse solus,
ille vivus, ille subsistens,
quem non capit dormitatio aut somnus.
Atque ipsius est, quicquam est in coelo & terra.
Quis quaeso audebit apud ipsum intercedere,
nisi ipsius licentia.
Nam solus novit, quidnam gerant in manibus aut [?]nantica[?],
illi autem non possunt comprehendere scientiam ejus
nisi in quantum vult.
Vastissime diffusus est thronus ejus per coelum et terram,
neque cura ipsum torquet conservationis utriusque
namque poterit ille altissimus, ille magnificentissimus.
============
I've not been able to figure out what the word that looks like "nantica"
in the seventh line is actually supposed to be. You can see it in the
image here:
http://www.aliquis.plus.com/NG/ravius.png
Note that the two occurrences of "ille" in each of the second and final
lines above, represent the Arabic definite article.
Now here it is again, with Marracci's translation interlineated beneath
each line -
============
Non est ullus alius Deus, nisi ipse solus,
Deus : non [est] Deus praeter ipsum :
ille vivus, ille subsistens,
Vivus, Subsistens.
quem non capit dormitatio aut somnus.
Non capit eum dormitatio neque somnus.
Atque ipsius est, quicquam est in coelo & terra.
Ipsi [est] quod in coelis & quod in terra [reperitur].
Quis quaeso audebit apud ipsum intercedere,
Quis [est] ille qui intercedat apud eum,
nisi ipsius licentia.
nisi per voluntatem ejus?
Nam solus novit, quidnam gerant in manibus aut nantica[?],
Scit quod [fuit] ante eos & quod [erit] post eos:
illi autem non possunt comprehendere scientiam ejus
& non comprehendent rem ullam de scientia ejus
nisi in quantum vult.
nisi quatenus [ipse] voluerit.
Vastissime diffusus est thronus ejus per coelum et terram,
Ambit amplitudine sedes ejus coelos & terram,
neque cura ipsum torquet conservationis utriusque
neque gravat illum custodia amborum:
namque poterit ille altissimus, ille magnificentissimus.
& ipse est Excelsus, Magnus.
============
So then, Ravius or Marracci?
As Fr Zed is latterly wont to intone: YOU decide!
Patruus
Ed Cryer
I think it's "nautica" ("u").
That note 106 might explain things.
Ed
Johannes Patruus
Alas that doesn't fit too well with the context. The sentence means
something like "He knows what is before them and what is behind them."
http://islamicstudies.info/maarif/vol1/636.gif
> That note 106 might explain things.
I'm not sure what the "(106)" refers to, but there don't seem to be any notes.
> Ed
Patruus
Ed Cryer
Well then, back to the Arabic. Unless, of course, we can stretch our
minds a bit with theoretical amendments.
Three things strke me; perhaps highly subjective, but I've discovered
over the years that my mind works extraordinarily like that of others,
if a little more bookishly.
"Nam solus novit, quidnam gerant in manibus aut nautica"
1. "In manibus aut mente" seems a good phrase.
2. Similarity of "navibus" to "manibus" (N.B. the following "nautica").
3. "Manibus" could be from "manes"; the shades of the dead.
Ed
Johannes Patruus
The Arabic "bayna aydî-him", literally "between their hands", is an idiom
meaning "before them, in front of them, or, in their presence", whence
Marracci's "ante eos", though the Latin version attributed to Kyrillos
Lukaris goes for the more literal "inter manus eorum".
In the subsequent "wa mâ khalfa-hum", the "khalfa" is plain old "after" or
"behind" (Marracci "post"), and I have yet to be convinced that this can
be reconciled with "nautica".
There is something odd about the penultimate letter - "c" - which looks
horizontally truncated in the image.
Patruus
Johannes Patruus
>>>>>>> Ipsi [est] quod in coelis& quod in terra [reperitur].
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Quis quaeso audebit apud ipsum intercedere,
>>>>>>> Quis [est] ille qui intercedat apud eum,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> nisi ipsius licentia.
>>>>>>> nisi per voluntatem ejus?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Nam solus novit, quidnam gerant in manibus aut nantica[?],
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> illi autem non possunt comprehendere scientiam ejus
>>>>>>> & non comprehendent rem ullam de scientia ejus
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> nisi in quantum vult.
>>>>>>> nisi quatenus [ipse] voluerit.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Vastissime diffusus est thronus ejus per coelum et terram,
>> of the temporal "antiquus." Also the (n) before antica might be
>> something like a chopped off "per" (in early printed books there were
>> dedicated types for p with tilde across the descender). I don't know if
>> per antica is good Latin for anything but apparently there was some
>> problem with manuscript interpretation or that (106) wouldn't be there
>> after "aut."
>
>
> "inante" in DuCange seems to have spatial and temporal senses:
>
> s.v.
>
> "Inante absidem rotundam habens."
Thanks. Those are promising leads which I'll follow up.
Patruus