doc.pdf

THE GRECO-SYRIAC AND ARABIC SOURCES OF BARHEBRAEUS' MINERALOGY 237
&I y L w , ,y i& &> 2 bJk J,Al a&-3 &L ,y e2 d.&l lil &I &wl bl
,y >A dl Jl a >I &Ul$b9 &I Jl G,i b @3 -dl dl; &i cl..l ,L GjJI ,y l+&
dl 4 >> LS LA- .iil;JI @ bblj LA AL- jl ,+Ul &I
--
&Loll bl, .uL .I+II
A, .&Ji k,y4Je2 LC> lp~~,>~YlJl&, lil&Jli3LJljl&
.dl ,yAlJI d&~,~Lr;Yl JI iUJ1 i,j 4 Ld .&&Lw2d% ,yL-l
The cause of the descending [whirlwind] is that (la) when amindxscapsfmacld
& strives to descend, (b) then a piece of ~.meeki1~initspath of descent and
knocks it, while other winds are pushing it from above, so that that part [of the wind] is
caught between the downward propulsions of what is above it and [(d)] the upward
propulsion of the cloud below it, (e) ihmm%sahaut [yacricju] fromlhebw mutually
obstruct& pmpulsions that /the wind) moves in a circle; sometimes the
++
crookedness
of the passages augments the contorsion, just as it happens to hair that it is made curly
by the contorsion of its pores. (3) The ascending [whirlwind arises] when_thP3arindy
matter reaches the earfh and strikes it hard, and then ~s M, thenantherxind
meets it from its side so as to twist it; sometimes it also arises from the meeting of two
severe winds. (4) S m . 5 the strength of the ~m reaches such a level that it
uproots trees and snatches ships from thesea.
Here again the similarities between the two passages is such that one can safely
regard the passage of Mab3ith as the main source of the passage of Cand. and
the comparison with the passage in Mabiikth helps us in various ways in our
understanding of the passage of
At the same time Barhebraeus is not quite so faithful here to his source as he
usually is when using Nic. as his source. In parts (lc) and (Id), for example, he
seems to have simplified the corresponding parts of Mabahith and in (2) he
inserts a sentence which has no counterpart in Mab*ith, defining whirlwind in
its ascent as "'a~'iili''.~~ This and the two terms qar~ and kiikitii are most
probably taken from De mundo .46
De mundo syr. 143.25-27 (corr. De mundo gr. 395a 5-8, cf. Ryssel [1880140):
44 We see, for example, that the rather awkward construction of the sentence 'Thus from these
two opposing propulsions it happens that ..." (men traykn d&-yt? ..., d- ... tekr6k ..., gcsdshci
&ih) is due to an attempt to render faithfully the corresponding construction in the Arabic
@z-yacri& min al-dq'ayni ... an ... ).
45 The same definition in the passage of K. d-zalgd, which is evidently a summary of this one,
ms. Bod. Or. 467 l 1r 14-16: A a ~ rrr- a . & M tcsu avar L eunm . . .
-
b3- 12); in Paris 3 1 1 (58v a 19-26) it reads more correctly (cf. tr. Schlirnme 625f.): +z
ut- 1Q- aYLU L.l IdbYrlz e"d : 6 s * &. e.b 9 L -+a
.d&L.lh&A.-&
46 The passage of Bar Kepha quoted by BakoS (p. 125 n.1, from Hex. V.31) defines 'alC~la rather
as the descending whirlwind. As noted by BakoS, the passage is conupt in ms. Paris 241 (191r
.L.laYLUF&M'm&s+ze.b.A-F--**.-
. +S et- * . A&I ut- - There is no corresponding
passage in Bar Shakko, ms.. IV.24, where Bar Shakko otherwise closely follows Bar Kepha
(at least not in ms. Brit. Lib. Add. 7193, the manuscript available to me [fol. 80r-v]; 6. Nau
[IS%] 323 n.1).