An Investigation on the Translation of Asâs al-Iqtibâs fi'l-Mantık, which was translated into Arabic by Mullā Ḫüsrev by the Order of Mehmed II the Conqueror

Abstract

The Islamic world in the 13th century is a very scientifically productive period, when great logicians and great works emerged in terms of logic. Undoubtedly, one of the leading figures of this century in the field of philosophy and logic is the great mathematician, logician and philosopher Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī (d. 1274). Al-Tūsī, who has produced many valuable works, has written his work named Asâs al-Iqtibâs fi'l-Mantık. (The Basis of Acquisition). It has been modeled on the famous encyclopedic philosophical work of Ibn Sīnā-Avicenna (d. 1037), the first nine books of Kitâb al-Şifā (The Cure) on logic. The work has been among the masterpieces of the history of Islamic logic with its competent expression and original contributions, encompassing all matters up to its age. Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II The Conqueror (r. 1451-1481), who carried out important activities in the scientific and cultural field as well as his achievements in the political field, ordered this important work of logic written in Persian to be translated into Arabic from Shaykh al-Islam Mullā Ḫüsrev (d. 1480) in order to have a more common and useful functionality. In addition, Mullā Ḫüsrev, who was also a great jurist and logician, successfully completed this important task and presented his translation to the Sultan. Many copies of this translation have survived, the translator himself wrote two of which. In this article, the work named Esâsu’l İktibâs fi'l-Mantık and its translation in question have been examined and evaluated.