ት Tergwame Greek · Coptic · Ethiopic · Syriac · Armenian · Georgian · Latin

The Lamp of Darkness for the Explanation of the Service

Miṣbāḥ al-ẓulma fī īḍāḥ al-khidma · Abū al-Barakāt Ibn Kabar (Ibn Kubr), d. 1324 · early 14th century (d. 1324) · commentary

Coptic · domain: liturgy · researched 2026-11-13

partial / older only. An English translation exists but is partial or older than the critical edition. The gap is a modern, complete translation from the original. A rendering of a daughter version does not count here: it is recorded on the dossier of the text it actually translates.

Why this is in the register

Arabic editions: Maktabat al-Kārūz, Cairo 1971- (https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/alma990068951910203941) and Maktabat al-Maḥabba 2003 (https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/alma990092426550203941). French: Louis Villecourt, 'Livre de la lampe des ténèbres et de l'exposition (lumineuse) du service (de l'église)', Patrologia Orientalis 20/4 (1928), language 'fre;ara' (https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/alma990117912580203941). English: excerpts only, in Arsenius Mikhail (tr.), 'Guides to the Eucharist in Medieval Egypt: Three Arabic Commentaries on the Coptic Liturgy' (Fordham University Press, 2022), which the catalogue describes as 'an English translation of excerpts from three key texts' (https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/alma99156572870203941). HOLLIS Primo 'Ibn Kabar' returns no complete English translation.

The largest Copto-Arabic liturgical encyclopedia: sacraments (baptism, chrismation, Eucharist, ordination, marriage, burial), feasts and church building. Villecourt's fascicle translates the service portion only; the Fordham volume prints eucharistic excerpts. The chrism section (9) is summarised in the Coptic Encyclopedia article 'Chrism'.

Existing translations recorded

Edition / series
Livre de la lampe des ténèbres et de l'exposition (lumineuse) du service (de l'église) · Patrologia Orientalis 20/4 · Louis Villecourt · 1928
Guides to the Eucharist in Medieval Egypt (excerpts) · Christian Arabic Texts in Translation · Arsenius Mikhail · 2022

Electronic text

No open electronic text was verified for this work. The Greek/Coptic/Geʿez may exist only in a print or subscription edition (Migne, CSCO, TLG, CMCL).

Scanned witnesses

Scan search: open scan — 1 candidate(s). This is a genuine open scan of the work's French translation with the Arabic text on facing pages, which is more than the dossier records (it lists only Villecourt's PO fascicle as bibliography, and the Fordham excerpt volume). Its limit is OCR: the French is usable, the Arabic is not. The fascicle's chapter list (in the avant-propos) runs to CHAPITRE XVI and includes CHAPITRE IX 'rituel de la cuisson du chreme, de sa composition et de sa consecration' and CHAPITRE XV on baptism, but the French text actually printed in this fascicle contains 0 occurrences of 'chreme'/'myron' in the edition portion - i.e. the fascicle stops well before chapter IX, so the chrism material is quoted only in Villecourt's introduction (a 1251 patriarchal consecration relation) and not translated here. No second scan (Arabic Cairo 1971 or 2003 Maktabat al-Karuz / Maktabat al-Mahabbah editions) was located on IA.

Scan / witnessFormatPagesRightsOCREvidence
L. Villecourt, 'Livre de la lampe des tenebres et de l'exposition (lumineuse) d…
internet-archive · patrologia-orientalis-29
pdf702public-domainpoorPDF HTTP 200, 50,154,877 B; scandata.xml leafCount 702 for this volume; text derivative 1,975,404 B. The edition opens at char 1,226,562 with the heading 'LIVRE DE LA LAMPE DES TENEBRES ET DE L'EXPOSITION (LUMINEUSE) DU…

Harvard Hollis

Hollis query: Abū al-Barakāt Ibn Kabar d 1324 — 5 record(s); match basis author_only.

RecordCitation
The Scala magna of Shams al-Riʼāsah Abū al-Barakāt
Ibn Kubr, Abū al-Barakāt ibn al-Asʻad, -approximately 1363 · 2020 · eng, cop, ara
Ibn Kubr, Abū al-Barakāt ibn al-Asʻad, -approximately 1363. "The Scala magna of Shams al-Riʼāsah Abū al-Barakāt." Lovanii : In Aedibus Peeters, 2020. https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/99155181617303941
Miṣbāh al-ẓulmah fī īḍāḥ al-khidmah : mawsūʻah ṭaqsīyah tārīkhīyah qānūnīyah
Ibn Kubr, Abū al-Barakāt ibn al-Asʻad, -approximately 1363 · 2003 · ara
Ibn Kubr, Abū al-Barakāt ibn al-Asʻad, -approximately 1363. "Miṣbāh al-ẓulmah fī īḍāḥ al-khidmah : mawsūʻah ṭaqsīyah tārīkhīyah qānūnīyah." al-Qāhirah : Maktabat al-Maḥabbah, [2003]. https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/990092426550203941
Le calendrier d'Abou'l-Barakât
Ibn Kabar, Abū al-Barakāt, -1324 · 1915 · fre
Ibn Kabar, Abū al-Barakāt, -1324. "Le calendrier d'Abou'l-Barakât." Paris : Firmin-Didot, 1915. https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/990117455790203941
Livre de la lampe des ténèbres et de l'exposition (lumineuse) du service (de l'église)
Ibn Kubr, Abū al-Barakāt ibn al-Asʻad, -approximately 1363 · 1928 · fre, ara
Ibn Kubr, Abū al-Barakāt ibn al-Asʻad, -approximately 1363. "Livre de la lampe des ténèbres et de l'exposition (lumineuse) du service (de l'église)." Paris : Firmin-Didot, 1928. https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/990117912580203941
L'illumination des intelligences dans la science des fondements : synthèse de l'enseignement de la théologie Copto-Arabe sur la révélation Chrétienne aux XIIIe et XIVe siècles d'après les ècrits d'Adu'l-Khair ibn at-Tayyib et Abu'l-Barakat ibn Kabar
Khouzam, Michel · 1941 · fre
Khouzam, Michel. "L'illumination des intelligences dans la science des fondements : synthèse de l'enseignement de la théologie Copto-Arabe sur la révélation Chrétienne aux XIIIe et XIVe siècles d'après les ècrits d'Adu'l-Khair ibn at-Tayyib et Abu'l-Barakat ibn Kabar." Rome : Tip. Poliglotta "Cuore di Maria", 1941. ht…

Sources checked

Cite: Tergwame, “The Lamp of Darkness for the Explanation of the Service” (coptic gap dossier), 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/gaps/coptic-ibn-kabar-misbah