Title: Comments on the Summary of al-Miftah

Description

This early 19th-century work by Qara Hafiz Efendi on Arabic rhetoric (balaagha) is a commentary on Talkhis al-Miftah (The summary of al-Miftah) by al-Khateeb al-Qizweeni (died 1338 [739 AH]). Talkhis al-Miftah was itself a commentary on Miftah al-Uloom (The key to knowledge), by Abu Yaaqoob as-Sikaki (died 1228 [626 AH]). Al-Qizweeni was a student of as-Sikaki, and both men were important scholars of Arabic rhetoric. Efendi’s work also contains excerpts from another work, a dictionary of language usage, figurative speech, and simile by Abu l'Baqa al-Husseini al-Kufawi Al-Hanafi. The manuscript is from the Bašagić Collection of Islamic Manuscripts in the University Library of Bratislava, Slovakia, which was inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 1997. Safvet beg Bašagić (1870-1934) was a Bosnian scholar, poet, journalist, and museum director who assembled a collection of 284 manuscript volumes and 365 print volumes that reflect the development of Islamic civilization from its inception to the early 20th century. The manuscript is item 365 in Jozef Blaškovič, Arabské, turecké a perzské rukopisy Univerzitnej knižnice v Bratislave (Arab, Turkish, and Persian manuscripts in the University Library, Bratislava).

Last updated: October 17, 2011