'Treasures of Sciences in the Lovely Realm of Sights': An Investigation into Amuli's Manuscript of Nafais al-Funun fi 'Ara'is al-Uyun

Abstract

The Library of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC), which in 2012 was named SMNA Library after its founder Seyd Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, is custodian to a wide range of manuscripts from all over the Islamic world that includes some 350 titles in Persian. One of such titles is a manuscript of Nafāis al-Funῡn fī 'Arā'is al-'Uyῡn (Treasures of Sciences in the Lovely Realm of Sights), a remarkable work on the classification of sciences authored by the 13th century Iranian scholar and physician Muḥammad bin Maḥmῡd Āmulī. This paper aims at providing an expanded understanding of the volume via pushing the boundaries of conventional codicology, with the hope of a panoramic view that allows its study, not only as an academic source of knowledge, but also as a significant cultural object.