Refereed Journal Articles
Imago Mundi, 2023
(Coauthored with Tony Campbell)
In 1282, the Persian scholar, Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d. 1311),... more (Coauthored with Tony Campbell)
In 1282, the Persian scholar, Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d. 1311), included in a cosmographical work a description of a 'Greek' map of the Mediterranean. Rather than reproducing this map graphically, he placed a square grid over the image, listed the cells covered by the sea, and then itemised the toponyms according to their cell numbers. Once this pixelated map is created as he instructed, it is obvious that the 'Greek' map must have been an Italian portolan chart, featuring its unique elements: a realistic outline for the northern coast of Africa, especially the Gulf of Sirte, a simplistic rectangular form for the British Isles, a counterclockwise tilt, and a large size. With a toponymy that matches that on the oldest surviving portolan chart (the Carte Pisane, c.1270) and the next survivor (the Cortona chart), assigned to later that century, the 'Greek' map in Shīrāzī's possession in 1282 seems to be the second oldest portolan chart of which we have specific knowledge. This article recounts how a Persian cosmographer disseminated a cartographic image based on the direct observations of Christian pelagic mariners. This unexpected material evidence confirms that knowledge of those earliest accurate sea charts was not confined to the Latin world, even if such information exchanges were probably rare.
KEYWORDS: Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, cosmography, portolan charts, Carte Pisane, Cortona chart, pixelated map, toponymy, intellectual exchange between premodern Islamic and Christian worlds.
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Intellectual History of the Islamicate World, 2023
Ibn Sīnā’s al-Qānūn fī l-ṭibb, especially its first book, al-Kulliyyāt, elicited dozens of commen... more Ibn Sīnā’s al-Qānūn fī l-ṭibb, especially its first book, al-Kulliyyāt, elicited dozens of commentaries from the 6th/12th century through the 8th/14th century. Among them, Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī’s commentary, entitled al-Tuḥfa al-saʿdiyya, is distinguished in that in it he analyzed and synthesized almost all commentaries written before his death in 710/1311. This article shows how Shīrāzī bridged some of the political boundaries that divided the Islamic world after the Mongol invasion to gather his predecessors’ commentaries, as well as other sources for composing al-Tuḥfa al-saʿdiyya. Shīrāzī’s extensive travels and proximity to patronage allowed him to acquire, and later disseminate, medical and scientific texts that were otherwise unavailable in Anatolia and the eastern territories of the Islamic world.
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Book Reviews
Nazariyat İslam Felsefe ve Bilim Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi (Journal for the History of Islamic Philosophy and Sciences), 2021
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Nazariyat İslam Felsefe ve Bilim Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi (Journal for the History of Islamic Philosophy and Sciences), 2021
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Books
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This book is the first critical edition of two important Persian treatises by Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūs... more This book is the first critical edition of two important Persian treatises by Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, al-Risāla al-Muʿīnyya (The Muʿīniyya treatise) and its supplement, Ḥall-i Mushkilāt-i Muʿīniyya (Resolution of the difficulties of the Muʿīniyya treatise), both written by Ṭūsī during his long residence in the Ismāʿīlī fortresses of Quhistān. Whatever the reason, after the rise of the Ilkhans and the fall of the Abbasid caliphate, Ṭūsī decided to remove the Ismāʿīlī remnants from some of his works, including al-Risāla al-Muʿīniyya, and Ḥall-i mushkilāt-i Muʿīniyya, so that no Ismāʿīlī references remained in either text. He even changed the title of the book from "al-Risāla al-Muʿīniyya" to "al-Risāla al-Mughniya" (The sufficing treatise). The copy of the Muʿīnyya and Ḥall that includes Ṭūsī's revisions became the base copy for the current edition. The Ḥall contains Ṭūsī’s first publication of his device (now known as the Ṭūsī-couple) and its application to his planetary models.
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رسالة في استخراج جيب درجة واحدة (Risāla fī Istikhrāj Jayb Daraja Wāḥida), 2009
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Chapter of Book
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Research Papers (Persian)
Al-Kāshī's novel method for the determination of the sine of one degree is one of the most signif... more Al-Kāshī's novel method for the determination of the sine of one degree is one of the most significant contributions to the Islamic mathematics. He explained this method in Risāla al-Watar wa al-Jayb (treatise on the chord and the sine) which no manuscript of it have yet been found; and therefore the attention of the history of sciences researchers has been attracted to Risāla fī Istikhrāj Jayb Daraja Wāḥida (treatise on the determination of the sine of one degree). This treatise is written by Qāḍīzāda al-Rūmī, al-Kāshī’s friend and colleague, and provides a detailed commentary on al-Kāshī’s method.
Presenting valid documents and evidences, this article aims to prove Qāḍīzāda’s authorship of the aforementioned treatise.
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Dar Bayān-i Istikhrāj-i Jayb-i Yik Daraja is a Persian treatise by an anonymous author. The autho... more Dar Bayān-i Istikhrāj-i Jayb-i Yik Daraja is a Persian treatise by an anonymous author. The author’s purpose is to describe and explain a method for the determination of the Sine of one degree according to Qūshchī's Persian commentary on Ulugh Beg’s Zīj, and Qāḍī Zada's Arabic treatise entitled Risāla fī Istikhrāj Jayb Daraja Wāḥida. Qāḍīzāda's work, extant in several manuscripts, is, in fact, a revision of the lost work of the real inventor of the method, Kāshānī (al-Kāshī). Qūshchī in his commentary explains Kāshānī 's method, without mentioning his name.
In this article Dar Bayān-i Istikhrāj-i Jayb-i Yik Daraja is edited based on its unique manuscript, so that one can follow the traces of author’s citations from Qūshchī and Qāḍīzāda's works.
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The sexagesimal system, which is considered one of the major fields of arithmetic during the Isla... more The sexagesimal system, which is considered one of the major fields of arithmetic during the Islamic period has widely been applied in astronomical calculations up to present. This system s also used in precise mathematical calculations . like deriving the square and cube roots of non- sexagesimal numbers . Muslim mathematicians used sexagesimal numeration system to write decimal place values . before the development of the decimal numeration system to a fully positional one.
The sexagesimal numeration system was invented and developed by the Sumerians and dates back to around 2000 b.c. This article contains the aforementioned text and some points clarifying its terminology and methodology . Ṭūsī's work includes reasoning behind the method of sexagesimal multiplication and division on the basis of proportion.
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استاد بشر، پژوهشهایی در زندگی، روزگار، فلسفه و علم خواجه نصیرالدین طوسی, 2012
Zīj-i Īlkhānī was written under the supervision of Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī (d. 672 A.H./1274 A.D.) in M... more Zīj-i Īlkhānī was written under the supervision of Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī (d. 672 A.H./1274 A.D.) in Marāgha observatory in 7th/13th century. Although this work is one of the most well-known zījes of the Islamic period, it owes most of its fame to Ṭūsī and Marāgha, since historical evidences show that this zīj has not been highly regarded as an authentic work by the astronomers of the Islamic period. One should have in mind that zījes were not written necessarily on the basis of a series of independent observations. One of the main factors which can indicate reliance of the author of the zīj on independent observations, is the mean motion of the Sun and planets. This article is to examine the value of the mean motion of the Sun and planets in Zīj-i Īlkhānī and compare them with its values in other zījes. This way, one can investigate this zīj’s authenticity and the degree of its reliance on Marāgha observation.
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Encyclopedic Entries (English)
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam, 2014
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Encyclopedic Entries (Persian)
دایرة المعارف بزرگ اسلامی (The Great Islamic Encyclopedia), 2014
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دایرة المعارف بزرگ اسلامی (The Great Islamic Encyclopedia), 2012
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دانشنامه جهان اسلام (The Encyclopedia of the World of Islam), 2009
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دانشنامه جهان اسلام (The Encyclopedia of the World of Islam), 2007
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Manuscript Studies
مجله کتاب ماه علوم و فنون (Specialist Informative-Critical Mothly of Science and Technology), 2011
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Conferences&Talks
It is extremely difficult to establish cases of plagiarism within Islamic scientific texts. Is a ... more It is extremely difficult to establish cases of plagiarism within Islamic scientific texts. Is a scholar who quotes a scientific work without referencing it engaged in plagiarism, or merely influenced by another author’s thought? The focus of this paper is Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d. 1311), a pupil-colleague of Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d. 1274). Shīrāzī says in the introduction of one his major astronomical works Nihāya al-idrāk that he will follow the linguistic style of Ṭūsī’s major work al-Tadhkira fīʿilm al‐hayʾa, and that he will “incorporate it in the course of the exposition if it is clear, and expound upon it if something in it is obscure.” My investigation of the third book of the Nihāya revealed that Shīrāzī incorporated almost the entire text of the third book of the Tadhkira, most often verbatim or slightly paraphrased. On the other hand, in his later work Faʿalta fa‐lā talum (You’ve done it so don’t blame [me]), Shīrāzī makes an allegation of plagiarism against a certain al-Ḥimādhī, a commentator of the Tadhkira who apparently criticized Shīrāzī.
Based on these two works, it is not my intention to establish a case of plagiarism against Shīrāzī, nor to prove his allegation of plagiarism against al-Ḥimādhī, but rather this paper aims to describe Shīrāzī’s conception of plagiarism and his attitude towards it contextually.
Keyword: Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, scientific plagiarism, Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī Nihāya al-idrāk, al-Ḥimādhī, Faʿalta fa‐lā talum
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Precise calculations made sense in the determination of irrational quantities, e.g. the Sine of 1... more Precise calculations made sense in the determination of irrational quantities, e.g. the Sine of 1 degree, π, etc. which they were used in applied mathematics and astronomy. Approximation of such quantities made considerable errors in calculations involved great numbers e.g. the determination of the dimensions of universe. The main idea of this article is to investigate the contributions of the mathematicians and astronomers with approach to precise calculations, in ancient times and medieval Islamic period.
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Uploads
In 1282, the Persian scholar, Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d. 1311), included in a cosmographical work a description of a 'Greek' map of the Mediterranean. Rather than reproducing this map graphically, he placed a square grid over the image, listed the cells covered by the sea, and then itemised the toponyms according to their cell numbers. Once this pixelated map is created as he instructed, it is obvious that the 'Greek' map must have been an Italian portolan chart, featuring its unique elements: a realistic outline for the northern coast of Africa, especially the Gulf of Sirte, a simplistic rectangular form for the British Isles, a counterclockwise tilt, and a large size. With a toponymy that matches that on the oldest surviving portolan chart (the Carte Pisane, c.1270) and the next survivor (the Cortona chart), assigned to later that century, the 'Greek' map in Shīrāzī's possession in 1282 seems to be the second oldest portolan chart of which we have specific knowledge. This article recounts how a Persian cosmographer disseminated a cartographic image based on the direct observations of Christian pelagic mariners. This unexpected material evidence confirms that knowledge of those earliest accurate sea charts was not confined to the Latin world, even if such information exchanges were probably rare.
KEYWORDS: Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, cosmography, portolan charts, Carte Pisane, Cortona chart, pixelated map, toponymy, intellectual exchange between premodern Islamic and Christian worlds.
Presenting valid documents and evidences, this article aims to prove Qāḍīzāda’s authorship of the aforementioned treatise.
In this article Dar Bayān-i Istikhrāj-i Jayb-i Yik Daraja is edited based on its unique manuscript, so that one can follow the traces of author’s citations from Qūshchī and Qāḍīzāda's works.
The sexagesimal numeration system was invented and developed by the Sumerians and dates back to around 2000 b.c. This article contains the aforementioned text and some points clarifying its terminology and methodology . Ṭūsī's work includes reasoning behind the method of sexagesimal multiplication and division on the basis of proportion.
Based on these two works, it is not my intention to establish a case of plagiarism against Shīrāzī, nor to prove his allegation of plagiarism against al-Ḥimādhī, but rather this paper aims to describe Shīrāzī’s conception of plagiarism and his attitude towards it contextually.
Keyword: Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, scientific plagiarism, Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī Nihāya al-idrāk, al-Ḥimādhī, Faʿalta fa‐lā talum
In 1282, the Persian scholar, Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d. 1311), included in a cosmographical work a description of a 'Greek' map of the Mediterranean. Rather than reproducing this map graphically, he placed a square grid over the image, listed the cells covered by the sea, and then itemised the toponyms according to their cell numbers. Once this pixelated map is created as he instructed, it is obvious that the 'Greek' map must have been an Italian portolan chart, featuring its unique elements: a realistic outline for the northern coast of Africa, especially the Gulf of Sirte, a simplistic rectangular form for the British Isles, a counterclockwise tilt, and a large size. With a toponymy that matches that on the oldest surviving portolan chart (the Carte Pisane, c.1270) and the next survivor (the Cortona chart), assigned to later that century, the 'Greek' map in Shīrāzī's possession in 1282 seems to be the second oldest portolan chart of which we have specific knowledge. This article recounts how a Persian cosmographer disseminated a cartographic image based on the direct observations of Christian pelagic mariners. This unexpected material evidence confirms that knowledge of those earliest accurate sea charts was not confined to the Latin world, even if such information exchanges were probably rare.
KEYWORDS: Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, cosmography, portolan charts, Carte Pisane, Cortona chart, pixelated map, toponymy, intellectual exchange between premodern Islamic and Christian worlds.
Presenting valid documents and evidences, this article aims to prove Qāḍīzāda’s authorship of the aforementioned treatise.
In this article Dar Bayān-i Istikhrāj-i Jayb-i Yik Daraja is edited based on its unique manuscript, so that one can follow the traces of author’s citations from Qūshchī and Qāḍīzāda's works.
The sexagesimal numeration system was invented and developed by the Sumerians and dates back to around 2000 b.c. This article contains the aforementioned text and some points clarifying its terminology and methodology . Ṭūsī's work includes reasoning behind the method of sexagesimal multiplication and division on the basis of proportion.
Based on these two works, it is not my intention to establish a case of plagiarism against Shīrāzī, nor to prove his allegation of plagiarism against al-Ḥimādhī, but rather this paper aims to describe Shīrāzī’s conception of plagiarism and his attitude towards it contextually.
Keyword: Quṭb al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, scientific plagiarism, Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī Nihāya al-idrāk, al-Ḥimādhī, Faʿalta fa‐lā talum