Laṭā’if fi al-Uṣūl

Laṭā’if fi al-Uṣūl, the oldest versified Persian encyclopaedia from the late 13th century The poetic text Latâʾef fi al-Usul is the oldest surviving versified Persian encyclopaedia that was composed by Mohammad b. 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.