Established in Tashkent in AH 1361/1943 CE, the Abu Rayhan Beruni Institute of Oriental Studies, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences promotes worldwide scholarship and learning through its extensive manuscript collection, which UNESCO placed on the Register of Cultural Heritage in AH 1420/2000 CE. The institute is home to an estimated 26,000 manuscripts, with an even larger number of lithographed and printed books. The collection holds great significance for the study of the history of Central Asia and its neighboring states (Türkiye, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China) and Arab countries, and reveals the political, economic, diplomatic, and cultural links between these regions. The selection presented in the Biennale focuses on the role of Uzbekistan in advancing the Islamic scientific legacy. Among the country’s most prominent scholars are Al-Biruni, who made significant contributions to the study of history, the sciences and mathematics, and the ruler Ulugh Beg, who promoted the study of astronomy.

Al-Tafhim li-Awa’il Sina‘at al-Tanjim (The Book of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of Astrology) of Al-Biruni

Al-Tafhim li-Awa’il Sina‘at al-Tanjim, completed in AH 420/1029 CE, surveys a wide breadth of subjects. While the title suggests a focus on astrology, the Tafhim actually covers elements of mathematics, astronomy, geography, and more. It is written as a series of questions to which the author provides clear and easy-to-grasp answers.

This author, Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (AH 362–440/973–1048 CE), is one of the great scholars of the Islamic world. Born in Khwarezm, in present-day Uzbekistan, he wrote extensively on various subjects, from the sciences to history and religion, producing at least 146 treatises.
The pages illustrated in AlMadar explain the concept of abjad, a numeral system used in the Arabic-speaking world that employs letters of the alphabet (in a different order from that commonly used today) to represent numbers. For example, alif (أ) symbolizes 1, ba’ (ب) represents 2, and so on up to 9 (ط). The following letters continue to represent the 10s (10–90) and hundreds (100–900), ending with 1,000 (غ). The chart on the left folio provides the letter and number equivalents using the Persian names for each number.

It is believed that Al-Biruni wrote Arabic and Persian versions of the Tafhim simultaneously; this manuscript copy contains the Persian text.