Islamic Manuscripts : Ḥashiyah ʻala Ḥall Mushkilāt al-Ishārāt wa-al-Tanbīhāt

Quṭb al-Shīrāzī, Maḥmūd ibn Masʻūd, 1236 or 7-1310 or 11

Islamic Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'> This work is a gloss on the second part of Ḥall mushkilāt al-Ishārāt , that is, 'The Resolution of difficult issues in the Ishārāt' , which is a commentary by Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d.1274) on the Ishārāt wa-al-tanbīhāt (“Pointers and Reminders”) by Avicenna (d.428/1037), in response to the commentary on the same work by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1209).<br /><br /> Avicenna’s original work is divided into two parts; the first part which deals with logic consists of ten chapters called nahj (a path) نهج and the second part is also divided into ten chapters called namaṭ (a mode or manner of acting)نمط. Being the last philosophical compendium of Avicenna, the Ishārāt received special attention by later Avicennian philosophers, as is evidenced by a great number of commentaries and glosses written on this work from the 6/12th century onward. Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī’s commentary created a platform for more sophisticated discussions. The present gloss can be attributed to Quṭb al-Shīrāzī (d. 1310 or 11), a pupil of Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d. 1274).<br /><br /> This manuscript is a gloss on Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī's commentary, and not a commentary by him (as the title page would have it), most probably by his well-known student Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d.710/1311) or by one of his students. This anonymous collated manuscript, copied in Cairo in Ramaḍān 760/1359 by an Iranian scribe in an informal serifless taʿlīq script, appears to be unique (so far no other copy of this text has been located). It provides yet another proof of the importance of the text of Avicenna not only in Iran but also in the Arab world. </p>