Keys to the Sciences ("Maqālīd al-ʿulūm"): A Gift for the Muzaffarid Shāh Shujāʿ on the Definitions of Technical Terms

Description

Edited with an Introduction by Gholamreza Dadkhah & Reza Pourjavady. 'Maqālīd al-ʿulūm' ('Keys to the Sciences') is a significant source on definitions of Arabic scientific terms in the post-classical period. Composed by an anonymous author, it contains over eighteen hundred definitions in the realm of twenty-one religious, literary, and rational sciences. The work was dedicated to the Muzaffarid Shāh Shujāʿ, who ruled over Shiraz and its neighbouring regions from 759/1358 to 786/1384. The present volume contains a critical edition of 'Maqālīd al-ʿulūm' based on its three extant manuscripts. In the introduction, the editors review previous scholarship on the text, present an overview of patronage at the court of Shāh Shujāʿ and identify some of the sources used by the author of the work. They suggest that the work in its structure mirrors Abū ʿAbdullāh Khwārazmī’s 'Mafātīḥ al-ʿulūm', completed in 366/976. ‎‎English Section Acknowledgements vii Introduction 1 1. A Review of the Previous Scholarship 1 2. Patronage at the Court of Shāh Shujāʿ 3 3. The Structure and the Sources of the Work 8 4. 'Mafātīḥ al-ʿulūm' as the Model for 'Maqālīd al-ʿulūm' 15 5. Some Serendipitous Knowledge of the Author 18 6. 'Maqālīd al-ʿulūm' and the 'Taʿrīfāt': Similarities and Differences 19 7. The Question of the Reception of the Work 21 8. The Present Edition 21 Appendix 1: Other Works in Prose Dedicated to Shāh Shujāʿ or His Viziers 29 Appendix 2: Sources of the 'Maqālīd al-ʿulūm' 32 Bibliography 83 Arabic Section Table of Contents v 'Maqālīd al-ʿulūm' 89 Index of Technical Terms 215