Writing Logic in Farsi at the Ottoman Seat of Government: A Commentary on Shamsiyya by Sheikh Ali Bastami (d. 875/1470)

Abstract

Many of the scientific works of Islamic civilization are yet under-explored. A case in this regard is a book on logic by Sheikh Ali Bastami (d. 875/1470), who composed a commentary on Shamsiyya in Farsi. The Bastamis’s commentary contains a neat translation of Shamsiyya, while exploring the wording and content of the text, and sometimes giving an account of the views of other logicians. Meanwhile, some doctrinal novelties may also be traced in the work, prominent among them is the discussion on the definition of the logical term “Tasdiq” (Assent). Being written in Farsi, Bastamis’s commentary may be considered as a rare, valuable source that represent the style of scientific Farsi prose in the 9th/15th century. A critical edition of this work is much needed for both the scholars of Islamic logic and those of Farsi language, and would open new directions in the study of the history of logic.