A short commentary on the division of the oecumene, said to be ‘as explained by Ptolemy in Book II of Arbaʿ al-maqālāt’ (in fact, in Tetrabiblos II.3). The division between north and south is indicated to be the circle of latitude 36°, which passes through Rhodes, while the division between west and east is the meridian of longitude 90° (or possibly 60°, abjad ص). Mercury is indicated to rule over the centre of the world. In the only surviving manuscript this text is inserted between Books III.1 and III.2 of ʿAlī b. Riḍwān’s Tafsīr al-Maqālāt al-arbaʿ (C.2.3) and is followed by a diagram in a different hand that shows the division of the regions and their association with the signs of the zodiac, a central topic of Tetrabiblos II.3. In this diagram, the middle of the earth is indicated to be at longitude 90° (ص) and the line that divides east and west at longitude 60° (س).

Text: [Jerusalem, NLI, Yahuda Ar. 12]

(229v–230r) صورته ما وصفه بطلميوس في المقالة الثانية في كيفيّة قسمة العمران والأرض على بروج الفلك — يحتوى على جملة بلاد جميع الأنبياء والمرسلين ما عدا يونس على جميعهم أفضل صلاة واتمّ سلامًا وبهذه العلة الموجبة ليقسم ذلك التقسّم. \230r\ [diagram]

Bibl.: —

Ed.: None.