NASIRIDDIN TUSI’S WORK “TAJRID ALKALAM” AND COMMENTARIES ON IT

Abstract

Tajrid al-kalam differs from other theological works with its small form. It attracted the attention of many commentators in a short period after Nasiruddin Tusi’s death. The 60-page commentary of Ali Kushchi on the Tajrid, written almost 200 years later (1420), is over 400 pages. The article provides information about manuscripts and published versions of Tajrid and its Sharhs, Hashiyas, Ta’liqats, and their features. We can witness the value of some of the Sharhs and Hashiyas in the manuscript when we refer to it. Information about these versions shows that, to date, four copies of Tajrid have reached us. Two of them have been published. The 45 copies of Sharhs under 15 titles written on it come down to us (39 copies of the commentary by Ali Kushchi). Only five of them have been published in a total of 10 editions. 8 of the 53 Hashiyas were written on Ali Kushchi’s Sharh, and 10 copies of the Hashiyas have been preserved. Only the authors of the other 15 Hashiyas are known, and even the names of the other two Taliqats are unknown. Also, the analysis of both philosophical and doctrinal issues in one work shows that the authors were encyclopedic scholars in both the religious and secular sciences. Indeed, the works of both Tusi and Ali Kushchi in the formal, natural and social sciences were well-known and admired by experts in the field. The scientific spheres of most commentators are similar. One of the most famous of them was Dawwani. He wrote treatises on Fiqh and Kalam together with Philosophy, Logic, Ethics, Mathematics, and Geometry. The historical and geographical coverage of Tajrid alkalam was significant. Many scholars referred to the book in each period of history.