The Safina is a massive, well preserved manuscript from 14th-century Tabriz in Persia, a centre for learning and cultural activities including manuscript production and illumination. Containing 209 works in Persian and Arabic, it is a complete treasure-house between two covers. The texts in the compendium show the canon of learning for a man of letters in the Islamic world. It covers prophetic traditions, ethics, mysticism, jurisprudence, theology, exegesis, history, grammar, literature and literary criticism, philosophy, astronomy and astrology, geomancy, mineralogy, mathematics, medicine, music, cosmography and geography.
For the first time, Safina Revealed introduces diverse aspects of this compendium. Safina Revealed contains fourteen articles each revolving around a specific topic, explaining its importance in the cultural and literary milieu of the 14th-century Islamic world.
Foreword
Persian Miscellanies
A.A. Seyed-Gohrab, Casing the Treasury: the Saf.na-yi Tabriz and its Compiler
I. Afshar, Codicological Characteristics and Geographical Contents of the Saf.na-yi Tabriz
F.I. Abdullaeva, What's in a Safina?
History
S.A. Al-e Davud, A Review of the Treatises and Historical Documents in Saf.na-ye Tabriz
Ch. Melville, Qadi Baydawi's Nizam al-tawarikh in the Saf.na-yi Tabriz: An Early Witness of the Text
N. Mottalebi Kashani, Newly Discovered Testament of Khw.ja Shams al-Din Muhammad
Juwayni Sahib Diwan in Safina-yi Tabriz
Literature
A.A. Seyed-Gohrab, Literary Works in Tabriz's Treasury
N. Pourjavady, Literary Debates in the Safina-yi Tabriz
S. Sharma, Wandering Quatrains and Women Poets in the Khulasat al-ash'ar f. al-ruba'.yat
G.R. van den Berg, Wisdom Literature in the Safine-yi Tabriz - Notes on the Pandnama-yi Anushirvan
Sciences
S. Tourkin, Astronomical and Astrological Works in the Saf.na-yi Tabriz
Z. Vesel, La représentativité des matériaux scientifiques dans Safine-ye Tabriz: le cas de minéralogie et de sciences occultes
M. van Zutphen, The science of Physiognomy in the Safina
Philosophy and Mysticism
F. C.W. Doufikar-Aerts, Aristotle and Alexander: the Never-Ending question(s)
B. Radtke, Die mystischen Schriften der Safina-i Tabriz
Asghar Seyed-Gohrab is Professor of Iranian and Persian Studies at Utrecht University in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, and member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). He has published extensively on Persian literature, mysticism and religion. His publications range from Persian poetry to Sufism and the role of religious and mystical motifs and metaphors in Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) and how peaceful religious injunctions are used to justify violence. Currently, he is the Principal Investigator (PI) of an ERC-Advanced Grant entitled Beyond Sharia: The Role of Sufism in Shaping Islam (www.beyondsharia.nl), examining Islamic non-conformist movements.
S. McGlinn is an independent scholar who writes and translates in the fields of Bahai studies, Iranian studies and Islamic studies.
