“At-Ta’rifat” is one of Sayyid Sharif Jurjani’s famous books on lexicography. This book is an encyclopedia of specific religious terms.[1] It is well known to scholars that works written in a scientific style have their own terminology, and if those terms are not well understood, it will be difficult to study the subject.[2]
Sayyid Sharif Jurjani felt this problem six hundred years before us and was the first in the Islamic world to write a separate book that contained the terms of all the religious sciences. And he called this book “at-Ta’rifat” (meaning the definitions of terms). Later, many works on this subject were written in Arabic. For example, one of the Indian scholars, Muhammad A’la ibn Ali Tahanawi published his work in Arabic entitled “Kashshafu istilahati-l-funun”.
Before Sayyid Sharif Jurjani, Farabi’s “Ihsau-l-Ulum”, Ibn Sina’s “Aqsamu-l-Ulum”, Khorezmi’s “Mafatihu-l-Ulum”, Fahriddin Razi’s “Hadaiqu-l-Anwar”, Fergani’s “Latoifu-l-ilam” Although encyclopedic works have been written along with a description of their scinces, such as “at-Ta’rifat”, is the first work to compile the alphabets in varies of Islamic science in alphabetical order.
This book contains definitions of about one thousand five hundred terms.[3] This work later became the main source of such works as Tahanavi’s “Kashshafu istilahati-l-funun”, Abul Baqa’s “Kulliyyot”, Riza Tawfiqi’s “Mufassal Qomus”.
In addition to the more than one hundred and sixty manuscripts of “At-Ta’rifat” available in Turkish libraries (for some ancient copies, see Sulaymaniyah Library, Assad Efendi, No. 3203, Shahid Ali Pasha, No. 2607, National Library, Ali Amr Efendi, in Arabic , No. 4170, Burdur Il People’s Library, No. 442) There are several manuscripts in many libraries around the world. The work wich first published by Sylvester de Sacy (Paris 1818) along with an Arabic text and a French translation, was later published in various places (Istanbul 1253; Publisher Gustav Leberecht Flügel); “Istilahatu-s-Sufiyya” together with Leitzpig 2611845; St. Petersburg 1897).
Since then, the researched and unexplored form has been published many times (Muhaqiq: Muhammad Ghamravi, Cairo 1321; Muhaqiq: Ahmad Sa’d Ali, Cairo 1357; Publisher Ibrahim Abyari, Cairo 1403; Publisher Abdurahman Umayra, Beirut 1987; Publisher Muhammad Abdulhakim Qazi, Cairo 1411/1991; Publisher Muhammad Abdulmomin Hifni, Cairo 1991). This work was translated into Persian by Imran Alizadeh (Tabriz B.C. 1360), Hasan Sayyid Arab and Simo Nurbahsh (Tehran B.C 1377), French by Maurice Gloton (Beirut 2006), and Turkish by Arif Erkan (Istanbul 1993). The somewhat vague terms are explained in detail in the Turkish translation and some of the shortcomings are fully addressed.
“At-Ta’rifat” was commented on by Muhammad Abdurauf Munawi under the title “at-Tawfiq al-Mu’immatit Ta’arif” (Publisher Muhammad Rizwan ad-Doya, Beirut 1410/1990). There is also an unknown author “Mutammimatu Ta’rifot” (Istanbul 1275).
It is said that Kamolposhozoda wrote a poem and a margin on “At-Ta’rifat”. Talib Foiqiyzoda, under the pen name “Fahmiy”, made some additions to the work “at-Ta’rifot”, translated it into Old Turkic and published some chapters at the beginning of the work in some editions of “Majmuai Abuzziyo” (Istanbul 1314-1315). Ismail Haqqi Bursawi interpreted the articles of the work “al-Hazaratul hamsul ilahiyya” and “al-insanul kamil” under the name “Risalutul hazarot” (Library of Sulaymaniyah, Mehrishah Sultan, number 189, pp. 136a-164b).
At the same time, in the twenty-eighth issue of Ma’ori magazine, A. Shokir and Nuzhat published a Turkish translation entitled “Ta’rifoti Sayyid”. The Doru Tuvayk publishing house in Riyadh prepared and published a summary of the encyclopedia under the title Mukhtasaru kitabi-t-tarifat (Riyaz 1415/1994).
Although there were separate books on terminology in the fields of science, such as hadith, fiqh, and mysticism, we did not come across a single book published in a single Uzbek language that contained the terms of all Islamic sciences. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that our research work on the subject of “Commentary on the hadiths of the creed in the work of Sayyid Sharif Jurjani” Ta’rifot “is one of the first scientific works.
Yusuf Abduraximov Anasovich
Master of Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies,
Teacher of Tashkent Islamic Institute
Named after Imam Bukhari
Sayyid Sharif Jurjani’s “At-Ta’rifat” is an encyclopedia that contains important terms used in the religious sciences taught up to his time.[4]
[1] Sheikh Muhammad Sadiq Muhammad Yusuf. “The best scholars of Samarkand”. –Tashkent, «Hilol Nashr» 2014. –P. 64.
[2] Sayyid Sharif Jujoniy. “Definition: Dictionary of Turkish-Arabic Terms”, Translator: Arif Erkan. Istanbul, Bahor Publishing House, 1997, -P. 4
[3] Sayyid Sharif Jujoniy. “Definition: Dictionary of Turkish-Arabic Terms”, Translator: Arif Erkan. Istanbul, Bahor Publishing House, 1997, -P. 4
[4] http://busbed.bingol.edu.tr
