Document Type : علمی- پژوهشی

Authors

• Nasim Azimipour ¹
• Ali Mohammadi ²

¹ PHD. Researcher in the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, Tehran, Iran

² Department of Persian Language and Literature, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedanm , Iran

Abstract

The poetic text Latâʾef fi al-Usul is the oldest surviving versified Persian encyclopaedia that was composed by Mohammad bp Mohammad Marqinâni, known by the title of Šams-e Dabirân, in 696 AH/ 1297 CE. It comprises 4897 verses in the metre of Hazaj-e Mosaddas-e Mahzhuf. The main subjects that are covered in this work are principles of faith (including divine attributes, the theism of theosophical and pantheistic varieties, proofs of prophecy, scriptural miracles, etc.) and principles of poetry (including rhetorical figures, prosody and rhyme). The poet, who was among the literary and Sunni religious scholars of Transoxiana, composed his poetic work after a ten-year stay in Anatolia in his old age in order to guide his children. He dedicated it to the powerful Ilkhanid vizier, Sadr al-Din Ahmad Xâlediye Zanjâni, also known as Sadr-e Jahân (d. Rajab 697/ April-May 1298).
In addition to introducing the work and its author, the present article focuses on identifying the author's sources in the chapter “Principles of Poetry”, and makes a comprehensive comparison between the topics considered in this chapter and those of similar older works such as Hadâʾeq al-Sehr fi Daqâʾeiq al-Šeʾr by Rašid al-Din Waṭwâṭ, al-Moʾjam fi Maʾâyīr ašʾâr al-ʾajam by Šams Qeys Râzi, Meʾyâr al-Ašʾâr by Nasīr al-Din al-Tusi and Orâzat al-ʾAruziyyin by Jamâl al-Din Mohammad Qarasši. It has been demonstrated that the author of Laṭâʾef did not make use of al-Moʾjam and Meʾyâr al-Ašʾâr, and for this reason, that is, because of its independence from these two pioneering works in explaining Persian prosody and rhyme, Laṭâʾef is one of the significant sources in this subject matter. In the section on rhetorical figures, the single source of Marqinâni was Hadâʾeq al-Sehr fi Daqâʾeiq al-Šeʾr by Rašid al-Din Waṭwâṭ.

Highlights

Extended Abstract

Introduction

In the late thirteenth century, one of the Ulama and literatis of Transoxiana who had migrated to Anatolia, apparently for the first time, compiled a versified encyclopedia in Persian, the introduction of which is the subject of this article. This encyclopedia, which is the oldest known versified Persian encyclopaedia, is called Laṭāʾif fī al-Uṣūl and was composed in 696 AH/ 1297 CE.

Research Background and Theoretical Foundations

Up until now, Laṭāʾif fī al-Uṣūl has not been studied or even introduced in any publication, making this research unprecedented. The idea of compiling encyclopedias apparently gained popularity among Persian writers in the eleventh century, imitating similar Arabic texts. Avicenna’s Dānish-nāma-i ʿAlāyī is the oldest known Persian encyclopedia, after which the number of Persian encyclopedias was increased. Most of these books are selections from previous works due to their nature as encyclopedias.

Discussion and Conclusion

Our knowledge of the author of Laṭāʾif is limited to what is mentioned in the text itself. Apparently, he did not have such fame that his name was recorded in historical sources. As the colophon of the only manuscript of Laṭāʾif, which is an autograph, reveals, the author’s name and lineage are Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī Farghānī, who was born in the city of Qubā in the Farghāna district and originated from Marghīnān, the most famous city in Farghāna. He was known by the nickname of “Shams-i Dabīrān”. It is clear from the religious chapters of the text that the author was undoubtedly a Sunni and followed the Hanafi method in jurisprudential issues.

This poetic encyclopedia apparently follows the scientific traditions prevalent in Transoxiana, and as far as our research shows, it does not directly use any of the previous encyclopedias. Even in the structure of the book and sometimes in the details of the classification of religious sciences, it does not have a clear and meaningful correspondence with those books. In this article, we are not aiming to discuss the scientific insight and perspective of the author in the context of the history of science, but rather to introduce the text and mainly to identify the sources used by the author in the chapters dealing with literary sciences.

This encyclopedia, which like many other encyclopedias follows educational purposes, is composed of 4897 verses in the metre of Hazaj-i Musaddas-i Maḥdhūf. The main subjects that are covered in this work are principles of faith (including divine attributes, the theism of theosophical and pantheistic varieties, proofs of prophecy, scriptural miracles, etc.) and principles of poetry (including rhetorical figures, prosody and rhyme). The author composed his poetic work after a ten-year stay in Anatolia in his old age in order to guide his children. He dedicated the work to the powerful Ilkhanid vizier, Ṣadr al-Dīn Aḥmad Khālidī of Zanjān, also known as Ṣadr-i Jahān (d. Rajab 697/ April-May 1298), whose contemporaries have praised him for his knowledge and generosity towards nobles and poets.

After praising God and the Prophet and mentioning the virtues of the four caliphs, Marghīnānī, the author of Laṭāʾif fī al-Uṣūl, discusses the classification of religious sciences into three categories: rational, traditional, and rational and traditional or intellectual and transmitted. He then mentions the Ancillaries of the Faith (furūʿ-i dīn) under two general categories of “maqṣūd” (intended) and “tabaʿ” (subordinate). The next chapter, by the title “on types of knowledge,” discusses the four types: impossible to perceive, possible to perceive, possible beings, and necessary beings. The following chapters are all related to the principles of faith: Attributes of God’s transcendence, attributes of God’s generosity, and proving the existence of the Maker of the World through different wisdoms, which is a relatively long chapter divided into sub-chapters.

In the context of discussing the principles of faith, Marghīnānī turns to “the beliefs of the Imams of Ahlul Sunnah, and the beliefs of the people of innovation in the principles of faith” and explains the beliefs of Islamic sects in two sections: “First section: the Imams of Ahlul Sunnah,” and “Second section: in explaining the beliefs of the seventy-two sects of heretical and innovator groups who deny some verses”.

In the chapter “Ancillaries of the Faith,” the author chooses “Jurisprudence” from the "Maqṣūd” category and explains what is related to acts of worship. From here until the end of the work is the chapters on “Principles of Poetry” consisting of three sections. In the first section, which is about rhetorical figures (daʾāqiq), the author explains forty-nine literary arts along with some terms used in this field and gives an example for each. The second section is on Persian prosody (ʿarūḍ), and the third section deals with rhyme (qāfiya).

As mentioned above, in addition to introducing the work and its author, the present article focuses on identifying the author’s sources in the chapter “Principles of Poetry”, and makes a comprehensive comparison between the topics considered in this chapter and those of similar older works such as Ḥadāyiq al-Siḥr fi Daqāyiq al-Shiʿr by Rashīd al-Dīn Waṭwāṭ, al-Muʿjam fi Maʿāyīr ashʿār al-ʿajam by Shams Qays Rāḍī, Miʿyār al-Ashʿār by Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī and ʿUrāḍat al-ʿArūḍīyyīn by Jamāl al-Dīn Muūammad Qarashī. It has been demonstrated that the author of Laṭāʾif did not make use of al-Muʿjam and Miʿyār al-Ashʿār, and for this reason, that is, because of its independence from these two pioneering works in explaining Persian prosody and rhyme, Laṭāʾif is one of the significant sources in this subject matter. In the section on rhetorical figures, the single source of Marghīnānī was Ḥadāyiq al-Siḥr by Waṭwāṭ.

Keywords: Early Persian Encyclopaedias, Laṭāʾif fi al-Uṣūl, Rhetorical Figures, Persian Prosody and Rhyme, Muḥammad Marghīnānī, Ṣadr al-Dīn Aḥmad Khālidī.

The Holy Quran

Abharī, Athīr al-Dīn, Tanzīl al-Afkār fī Taʿdīl al-Asrār, Ms. no. 2662 at the Nuruosmaniye Library, Istanbul, Copied in 657AH/1259.

Abu ʿAlī Sīnā, 1331/1952-3, Ilāhiyyāt-i Dānish-nāma-i ʿAlāʾī, Ed. by Muḥammad Muʿīn, Tihrān, Anjuman-i āthār-i millī.

Ibn Abī al-Wafā al-Qarshī, Muḥyī al-Dīn Abī Muḥammad ʿAd al-Qādir, 1413AH/1992-3, Al-Jawāhir al-Muḍiyyah fī Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanafiyya, Ed. by ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Muḥammad al-Ḥulw, Vol. 2, Giza, Hājir lil-Ṭibāʿat wa al-nashr wa al-tawzīʿ wa al-Iʿlān.

Keywords

• Persian Poetry in Anatolia
• Laṭā&rsquo
• if fi al-Uṣūl
• Rhetorical Figures
• Persian Prosody and Rhyme
• Muḥammad Marghīnānī

Main Subjects

• Persian Rhetoric and Grammar