Safina-yi Tabriz
Encyclopedia
Safīna-yi Tabriz is an important encyclopedic manuscript from 14th century Ilkhanid Iran
compiled by Abu'l Majd Muhammad b. Mas'ud Tabrizi between 1321 and 1323.
"Safineh" in Arabic
/Persian
is defined as a vessel. In term of manuscripts, it denotes a special form of a book whose cover is elongated. Thus when the book is opened, it resembles a long vessel. In Persian
use, 'safineh' is a synonym for 'jong' (جُنگ) which means a collection of essays or poems.
ic, Iran
ian and Middle East
ern scholars. It is almost perfectly preserved, and contains 209 works on a wide range of subjects, in Persian and Arabic as well as some poetry denoted by Fahlaviyat and the Iranian language of Tabriz
. According to Professors A. A. Seyed-Gohrab and S. McGlinn, The Safineh: is indeed a whole treasure-house, compressed between two covers. One of the important features of the Safinah is that it contains works of a number of philosophers who were not known until the discovery of the manuscript.
The texts of the Safina-yi Tabrizi contain separate chapters covering hadeeth(traditions of the prophet of Islam), lexicography
, ethics
, mysticism
, jurisprudence
, theology
, exegesis
, history
, grammar
, linguistics
, literature
literary criticism
, philosophy
, astronomy
astrology
, geomancy
, mineralogy
, mathematics
, medicine
, music
, physiognomy
, cosmography
and geography
. According to Professors A.A. Seyed-Gohrab and S. McGlinn, some of the best available texts of important works of Islamic culture and learning are contained in this work.
Several recent conferences have been held in Iran
as well as the West discussing the different aspects of this book. The two most important conferences with this regard were held in the University of Leiden http://ub.leidenuniv.nl/index.php3?m=7&c=204 and the University of Tabriz
in Iran
. The conference held in the city of Tabriz
where the work was composed was designated with the theme: Tabriz in the mirror of The treasury of Tabriz.
According to Professor Seyyed Ali Al-e Davud: The picture one gets from the 7th and 8th century Islamic era from the Safina Tabriz is a complete picture of the cultural, scientific and social settings of that time. One of many aspects of this manuscript deals with Islamic philosophy
. In his recent book Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr
has described the manuscript as an earth shaking discovery. Dr. Nasr
provides a brief overview of the philosophical treatise of the Safina.
articles spanning numerous subjects and topics. All the articles are written in Persian and Arabic although Fahlaviyyat
poetry and sayings are seen in some of the articles.
Article 114, in Persian, is about the history of Tabriz. It mentions the building of Tabriz in the hands of Wahsudan, the Rawadid
ruler. Article 134 contains the dictionary Lughat-i Fors (lexicon of the Persian language) of Asadi Tusi
. The Persian articles 138 and 139 deal with the moral and philosophical topics presented by the Sassanid Vizir Bozorgmehr
.
Articles 77, 79 and 80 are in Arabic and from Avicenna
. They touch upon the question of destiny
vs free will
among other philosophical topics. The questioner is the famous Persian poet Abusa'id Abolkhayr.
Article 84, in Persian, is a philosophical work of Nasir al-Din Tusi
titled: "Aghaaz o Anjaam" (The beginning and the end).
Article 90, also in Persian, deals with how to find the moon in the current Zodiac without using a calendar. This article is taken from Nasir al-Din Tusi.
Article 92 contains tables of the position of stars and astronomical calculations.
Article 97 deals with mathematics. It contains three sections and each section is composed of two subsections.
Article 99 also in Persian deals with medicine and the benefits and harm of various fruits, plants and breads.
Articles 112 and 113 list the date of birth of Prophets, Caliphs, important scholars, pre-Islamic kings of Persia as well as post-Islamic kings, and the birth of important philosophers like those of Aristotle
and Jamasp
, the companion of Zoroaster. Relative to his own time, the author places Adam at 6700 years before and Noah
at 4900 years before.
Article 114 (in Persian) is about the history of Tabriz. It mentions the building of Tabriz in the hands of Wahsudan, the Rawadid
ruler.
Article 134 contains the dictionary Lughat-i Fors (lexicon of the Persian language) of Asadi Tusi
.
Articles 138 and 139 (in Persian) deal with the moral and philosophical topics presented by the Sassanid Vizir Bozorgmehr
.
Article 145, which is composed of three sections, is about music
and is written by Ajab ol-Zaman Mohammad ibn Mahmud Nishapuri.
Article 163 in Persian deals with the health benefits of perfumes and good smelling medicine.
Article 165 in Persian is titled: "The reason for snow and rain" and has 20 sections.
Article 166, in Persian, is about geography and deals with the regions and cities of the world.
Article 196, in Persian, is about knowledge and logic.
Article 205 titled: "A short report on the Bani Ummayad" is in Arabic and gives a brief history of the Umayyad
dynasty from Muawiyah all the way to the last Ummayyads of Spain
.
Besides standard Arabic and Persian, the texts contains many every day expressions of the ancient Iranic language of Tabriz
during the Ilkhanid era also termed as Fahlaviyat deriving from the word Pahlavi. As it is evident in chapter 124, page 533, in that time the language of Tabriz was not Turkish and the common language in Tabriz was Pahlavi (or ancient Azari)
A sample expression of Fahlaviyat from the mystic Baba Faraj Tabrizi in the Safina:
انانک قدهي فرجشون فعالم آندره اووارادا چاشمش نه پيف قدم کينستا نه پيف حدوث
Standard Persian:
چندانک فرج را در عالم آوردهاند چشم او نه بر قدم افتاده است نه بر حدوث
The Safina (written in the Ilkhanid era) contains many poems and sentences from the old regional dialect of Azerbaijan. Another portion of the Safina contains a direct sentence in what the native Tabrizi author has explicitly called as "Zaban-i-Tabriz"(language of Tabriz)
and composition to convey moral and philosophical lessons. The following listed articles all in Persian are the debates between the inaminate objects.
Article 45: The debate between the Rose and Wine (Monaazereyeh Gol o Mol / مناظرهء گُل و مُل) by Abu Sa'id Tirmidhi
Article 46: The debate between the Cypress tree and Water (Monaazereyeh Sarv o aab / مناظرهء سرو و آب) by Qadi Nezam al-din Esfahani
Article 47: The debate between the wine and hashish (Monaazereyeh Sharab o Hashish / مناظرهء شراب و حشیش) by Sa'ad al-Din ibn Baha al-din
Article 48: Another debate between the wine and hashish (Monaazereyeh Sharab o Hashish / مناظرهء شراب و حشیش) by an unknown author
Article 49: The debate between the sword and the pen (Monaazereyeh Shamshir o Qalam / مناظرهء شمشیر و قلم) by an unknown author
Article 50: The debate between the earth and sky (Monaazereyeh Zamin o Asemaan / مناظرهء زمین و آسمان) by unknown author
Article 51: The debate between the fire and the earth (Monaazereyeh Al-Naar va Al-Toraab / مناظرهء النار و التراب) by Amin Al-Din Abul Qasim Al-Haji Bolah
Article 52: The debate between the sight and hearing (Monaazereyeh Al-Sama' va Al-Basar / مناظرهء السمع و البصر) by the compiler of the Safina, Abu'l Majd Muhammad b. Mas'ud Tabrizi
Article 53: The debate between poetry and prose (Monaazereyeh Nazm o Nasr / مناظرهء نظم و نثر) by Abu'l Majd Muhammad b. Mas'ud Tabrizi
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
compiled by Abu'l Majd Muhammad b. Mas'ud Tabrizi between 1321 and 1323.
"Safineh" in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
/Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
is defined as a vessel. In term of manuscripts, it denotes a special form of a book whose cover is elongated. Thus when the book is opened, it resembles a long vessel. In Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
use, 'safineh' is a synonym for 'jong' (جُنگ) which means a collection of essays or poems.
Discovery and scope
Based on the manuscript, the book has been published in facsimile by Tehran University Press. As it constitutes a rare Islamic manuscript that has recently been discovered, it has generated a great deal of interest among IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian and Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
ern scholars. It is almost perfectly preserved, and contains 209 works on a wide range of subjects, in Persian and Arabic as well as some poetry denoted by Fahlaviyat and the Iranian language of Tabriz
Tabriz
Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
. According to Professors A. A. Seyed-Gohrab and S. McGlinn, The Safineh: is indeed a whole treasure-house, compressed between two covers. One of the important features of the Safinah is that it contains works of a number of philosophers who were not known until the discovery of the manuscript.
The texts of the Safina-yi Tabrizi contain separate chapters covering hadeeth(traditions of the prophet of Islam), lexicography
Lexicography
Lexicography is divided into two related disciplines:*Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries....
, ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
, jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
, theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, exegesis
Exegesis
Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
, linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
literary criticism
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
, geomancy
Geomancy
Geomancy is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand...
, mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, physiognomy
Physiognomy
Physiognomy is the assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face...
, cosmography
Cosmography
Cosmography is the science that maps the general features of the universe, describing both heaven and Earth...
and geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
. According to Professors A.A. Seyed-Gohrab and S. McGlinn, some of the best available texts of important works of Islamic culture and learning are contained in this work.
Several recent conferences have been held in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
as well as the West discussing the different aspects of this book. The two most important conferences with this regard were held in the University of Leiden http://ub.leidenuniv.nl/index.php3?m=7&c=204 and the University of Tabriz
University of Tabriz
The University of Tabriz is a public university in Tabriz, Iran. It is the second-oldest university in Iran after the University of Tehran and the biggest academic institution in northwestern Iran and one of five biggest universities in Iran...
in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. The conference held in the city of Tabriz
Tabriz
Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
where the work was composed was designated with the theme: Tabriz in the mirror of The treasury of Tabriz.
According to Professor Seyyed Ali Al-e Davud: The picture one gets from the 7th and 8th century Islamic era from the Safina Tabriz is a complete picture of the cultural, scientific and social settings of that time. One of many aspects of this manuscript deals with Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy is a branch of Islamic studies. It is the continuous search for Hekma in the light of Islamic view of life, universe, ethics, society, and so on...
. In his recent book Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Seyyed Hossein Nasr is an Iranian University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University, and a prominent Islamic philosopher...
has described the manuscript as an earth shaking discovery. Dr. Nasr
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Seyyed Hossein Nasr is an Iranian University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University, and a prominent Islamic philosopher...
provides a brief overview of the philosophical treatise of the Safina.
Overview of some of the articles
The compendium constitutes about 209 eclecticEclecticism
Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...
articles spanning numerous subjects and topics. All the articles are written in Persian and Arabic although Fahlaviyyat
Pahlaviat
Fahlavīyāt , a designation given especially to the quatrains and by extension to the poetry in general composed in the old dialects of the Pahla/Fahla regions....
poetry and sayings are seen in some of the articles.
Article 114, in Persian, is about the history of Tabriz. It mentions the building of Tabriz in the hands of Wahsudan, the Rawadid
Rawadid
Rawadid , , was a Kurdish principality ruling Azerbaijan from the 10th to the early 11th centuries, centered around Tabriz and Maragheh. The Rawadid tribe was one of the Arab tribes who became Kurdish by culture through assimilation...
ruler. Article 134 contains the dictionary Lughat-i Fors (lexicon of the Persian language) of Asadi Tusi
Asadi Tusi
Abu Mansur Ali ibn Ahmad Asadi Tusi is arguably the second most important Persian poet of the Iranian national epics, after Ferdowsi who also happens to come from the same town of Tus. He was a poet, a linguist and copyist of ancient manuscripts.- Life :The information on Asadi's lifetime is scant...
. The Persian articles 138 and 139 deal with the moral and philosophical topics presented by the Sassanid Vizir Bozorgmehr
Bozorgmehr
Bozorgmehr-e Bokhtagan is the name of a vizier of Khusro I Anōšīravān attested in the literature and legend of Iran. According to Persian and Arabic sources, he was a man of "exceptional wisdom and sage counsels" and later became a characterisation of the expression...
.
Articles 77, 79 and 80 are in Arabic and from Avicenna
Avicenna
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
. They touch upon the question of destiny
Destiny
Destiny or fate refers to a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual...
vs free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
among other philosophical topics. The questioner is the famous Persian poet Abusa'id Abolkhayr.
Article 84, in Persian, is a philosophical work of Nasir al-Din Tusi
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
Khawaja Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan Ṭūsī , better known as Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī , was a Persian polymath and prolific writer: an astronomer, biologist, chemist, mathematician, philosopher, physician, physicist, scientist, theologian and Marja Taqleed...
titled: "Aghaaz o Anjaam" (The beginning and the end).
Article 90, also in Persian, deals with how to find the moon in the current Zodiac without using a calendar. This article is taken from Nasir al-Din Tusi.
Article 92 contains tables of the position of stars and astronomical calculations.
Article 97 deals with mathematics. It contains three sections and each section is composed of two subsections.
Article 99 also in Persian deals with medicine and the benefits and harm of various fruits, plants and breads.
Articles 112 and 113 list the date of birth of Prophets, Caliphs, important scholars, pre-Islamic kings of Persia as well as post-Islamic kings, and the birth of important philosophers like those of Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
and Jamasp
Jamasp
Jamasp was an Iranian philosopher in the time of Zarathustra.Jamasp was the Grand Vizier of Gushtasp.The book Jamasp Namag is about him.More info needed.-Sources:...
, the companion of Zoroaster. Relative to his own time, the author places Adam at 6700 years before and Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
at 4900 years before.
Article 114 (in Persian) is about the history of Tabriz. It mentions the building of Tabriz in the hands of Wahsudan, the Rawadid
Rawadid
Rawadid , , was a Kurdish principality ruling Azerbaijan from the 10th to the early 11th centuries, centered around Tabriz and Maragheh. The Rawadid tribe was one of the Arab tribes who became Kurdish by culture through assimilation...
ruler.
Article 134 contains the dictionary Lughat-i Fors (lexicon of the Persian language) of Asadi Tusi
Asadi Tusi
Abu Mansur Ali ibn Ahmad Asadi Tusi is arguably the second most important Persian poet of the Iranian national epics, after Ferdowsi who also happens to come from the same town of Tus. He was a poet, a linguist and copyist of ancient manuscripts.- Life :The information on Asadi's lifetime is scant...
.
Articles 138 and 139 (in Persian) deal with the moral and philosophical topics presented by the Sassanid Vizir Bozorgmehr
Bozorgmehr
Bozorgmehr-e Bokhtagan is the name of a vizier of Khusro I Anōšīravān attested in the literature and legend of Iran. According to Persian and Arabic sources, he was a man of "exceptional wisdom and sage counsels" and later became a characterisation of the expression...
.
Article 145, which is composed of three sections, is about music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and is written by Ajab ol-Zaman Mohammad ibn Mahmud Nishapuri.
Article 163 in Persian deals with the health benefits of perfumes and good smelling medicine.
Article 165 in Persian is titled: "The reason for snow and rain" and has 20 sections.
Article 166, in Persian, is about geography and deals with the regions and cities of the world.
Article 196, in Persian, is about knowledge and logic.
Article 205 titled: "A short report on the Bani Ummayad" is in Arabic and gives a brief history of the Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
dynasty from Muawiyah all the way to the last Ummayyads of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
Linguistic Importance
Ancient Azari language
Azari is the name used for the Iranian language composed of groups of dialects which were spoken in Azerbaijan at one time. Some linguists have also designated the southern Tati dialects of Azerbaijan like those spoken by the Tats around Khalkhal, Harzand and Keringan as a remnant of Azari...
during the Ilkhanid era also termed as Fahlaviyat deriving from the word Pahlavi. As it is evident in chapter 124, page 533, in that time the language of Tabriz was not Turkish and the common language in Tabriz was Pahlavi (or ancient Azari)
A sample expression of Fahlaviyat from the mystic Baba Faraj Tabrizi in the Safina:
انانک قدهي فرجشون فعالم آندره اووارادا چاشمش نه پيف قدم کينستا نه پيف حدوث
Standard Persian:
چندانک فرج را در عالم آوردهاند چشم او نه بر قدم افتاده است نه بر حدوث
The Safina (written in the Ilkhanid era) contains many poems and sentences from the old regional dialect of Azerbaijan. Another portion of the Safina contains a direct sentence in what the native Tabrizi author has explicitly called as "Zaban-i-Tabriz"(language of Tabriz)
Debates of inanimate objects
Interesting debates between various objects constitute some of the articles of the Safina. In each of these debates, each object boasts of its own quality relative to its opponent while attempting to belittle their opponents. Through these abstractions of inanimate objects, the authors use both poetryPoetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and composition to convey moral and philosophical lessons. The following listed articles all in Persian are the debates between the inaminate objects.
Article 45: The debate between the Rose and Wine (Monaazereyeh Gol o Mol / مناظرهء گُل و مُل) by Abu Sa'id Tirmidhi
Article 46: The debate between the Cypress tree and Water (Monaazereyeh Sarv o aab / مناظرهء سرو و آب) by Qadi Nezam al-din Esfahani
Article 47: The debate between the wine and hashish (Monaazereyeh Sharab o Hashish / مناظرهء شراب و حشیش) by Sa'ad al-Din ibn Baha al-din
Article 48: Another debate between the wine and hashish (Monaazereyeh Sharab o Hashish / مناظرهء شراب و حشیش) by an unknown author
Article 49: The debate between the sword and the pen (Monaazereyeh Shamshir o Qalam / مناظرهء شمشیر و قلم) by an unknown author
Article 50: The debate between the earth and sky (Monaazereyeh Zamin o Asemaan / مناظرهء زمین و آسمان) by unknown author
Article 51: The debate between the fire and the earth (Monaazereyeh Al-Naar va Al-Toraab / مناظرهء النار و التراب) by Amin Al-Din Abul Qasim Al-Haji Bolah
Article 52: The debate between the sight and hearing (Monaazereyeh Al-Sama' va Al-Basar / مناظرهء السمع و البصر) by the compiler of the Safina, Abu'l Majd Muhammad b. Mas'ud Tabrizi
Article 53: The debate between poetry and prose (Monaazereyeh Nazm o Nasr / مناظرهء نظم و نثر) by Abu'l Majd Muhammad b. Mas'ud Tabrizi
Sources and references
In the book "Seyed-Gohrab, A. A. & S. McGlinn, A Treasury from Tabriz: the Great Il-Khanid Compendium. (Amsterdam: Rozenberg Publishers)" to be published in February 2007, the following English articles touch on the various aspects of the Safina:- Abdullaeva, F.I., (University of Saint-Petersburg, University of Oxford) “What is safina”
- Afshar, I., (University of Tehran) “Codicological characteristics and geographical contents of the Safina-yi Tabriz”
- Al-e Davud, S.A., (Tehran University) “A Review of the Treatises and Historical Documents in Safina-ye Tabriz”
- Ali Asghar Sadeqi, "Some poems in the Karaji, Tabrizi and others" in Zaban-Shenasi, Year 15, No. 2 (Fall and Winder), 1379 (2001).
- Melville, Ch., (University of Cambridge) “Qadi Baidawi’s Nizam al-tawarikh in the Safina-yi Tabriz: An early witness of the text”
- Mottalebi Kashani, N., (Library of the Islamic Consultative Assembly) “Newly Discovered Testament of Khvja Shams al-Din Mohammad Jovaini, Saheb Divan in Safina-ye-Tabriz”
- Pourjavady, N., (University of Tehran) “Fabulous debates (munazaras) in the Safine and their historical significance”
- Radtke, B., (University of Utrecht) “Mystical Treatises in Safina of Tabriz”
- Seyed-Gohrab, A.A., (Leiden University) “Introductory notes on the Safina”
- Sharma, S., (University of Boston) “Wandering Quatrains and Women Poets in the Khulasat al-asharr fi al-rubayat”
- Tourkin, S., (Institute of Oriental Studies, St. Petersburg) “Astronomical and astrological works in the 'Safine-ye Tabriz'”
- Van den Berg, G.R., (Leiden University) “Wisdom literature in the Safina”
- Vesel, Z., (CNRS, Monde Iranien) “Scientific Resala’s in Safina-ye Tabriz: indicators of author's culture and elements for discussing the nature/genre of this compilation”
- Zutphen, M., (Independent scholar) “The science of Physiognomy in the Safina”