Mathematical Treasure: Arabic Treatise on Magic Squares

An anonymous manuscript written in Arabic and probably dating from 1123–1124 is entitled Mathematical treatise on the construction of magic squares and triangles (العدد الوفق, or Dīwān al-‘adad al-wafq). This copy probably was made in the 16th century and was collected in India. The text considers various forms of magic squares. Some sample pages are shown.

This manuscript is owned by the British Library (Delhi Arabic 110) and was digitized in the Library’s partnership with the Qatar Foundation. See the complete volume in the Qatar Digital Library.

Index to Mathematical Treasures