al-Mujaz fi Maraji al-Tarajim wa al-Buldan wa al-Musannafat wa Tarifat al-Ulum
- Author died
- 1419 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Khānjī
al-Mujaz fi Maraji al-Tarajim wa al-Buldan wa al-Musannafat wa Tarifat al-Ulum (A Brief Guide to Reference Works on Biographies, Geographies, Written Works, and Definitions of the Sciences) is a bibliographical reference handbook by the Egyptian philologist and editor Mahmud Muhammad al-Tannahi (1353–1419 AH / 1935–1999 CE), providing a structured guide to core classical Arabic reference works across various disciplines .
Background and Purpose
The work originated as a series of university lectures delivered by al-Tannahi to graduate students in the Department of Arabic Graduate Studies at Umm al-Qura University in Mecca . He composed it as a practical guide for graduate and advanced research students who struggled with assembling historical and source material or verifying manuscripts and texts within their primary repositories . The book was published in its first edition in 1406 AH / 1985 CE by Maktabat al-Khanji in Cairo .
Scope and Content
The manual is divided into surveys of classical reference literature across four primary categories:
- Biographical reference works (maraji al-tarajim): Covers specialized biographical dictionaries (tabaqat) organized by scholarly and professional classes—including the Companions, Qur'anic reciters and exegetes, hadith transmitters, jurists of the four Sunni legal schools, theologians, ascetics and Sufis, grammarians, poets and men of letters, physicians, judges, and notable women—as well as regional biographical histories (such as those of Mecca, Medina, Egypt, Iraq, al-Maghrib, and al-Andalus), general chronicles arranged chronologically by year or century, and alphabetical dictionaries . It also includes dictionaries on the orthography and vocalization of homonymous and ambiguous personal names, kunyas, and lineages (kutub al-dabt wa-al-taqyid) .
- Geographical and local reference works (maraji al-buldan): Surveys major Arabic geographical compendia and topographical dictionaries used for identifying historical place names and regions .
- Bibliographical reference works (maraji al-musannafat): Details comprehensive bibliographies and catalogues of written works that document the trajectory of Arabic authorship across the centuries, such as al-Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim, Miftah al-Sa'adah of Tashkuprizadah, and Kashf al-Zunun of Hajji Khalifa .
- Definitions and classification of sciences (ta'rifat al-ulum): Introduces encyclopedias and manuals of scientific terminology and conceptual definitions, such as Mafatih al-Ulum of al-Khwarazmi, al-Ta'rifat of al-Sharif al-Jurjani, al-Kulliyyat of Abu al-Baqa al-Kafawi, Kashshaf Istilahat al-Funun of al-Tahanawi, and Abjad al-Ulum of Siddiq Hasan Khan .
Method
Al-Tannahi adopted a selective rather than exhaustive approach, deliberately limiting his coverage to the most prominent and authoritative reference works in each branch of heritage literature . He omitted numerous less accessible or incomplete works to keep the volume concise and readily usable as an introductory handbook for modern researchers and students .
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