Idah al-Maknun fi al-Dhayl ala Kashf al-Zunun

Idah al-Maknun fi al-Dhayl ala Kashf al-Zunun (Clarification of the Hidden: A Supplement to the Removal of Doubts) is a two-volume Arabic bibliographical dictionary by the Ottoman bibliographer Ismail Pasha al-Babani (d. 1339 AH / 1920 CE) al-Maktaba al-Islamiyya+1. It serves as an extensive supplement (dhayl) to the classical bibliographical encyclopedia Kashf al-Zunun by Katib Chalabi (also known as Hajji Khalifa, d. 1067 AH / 1657 CE) al-Maktaba al-Islamiyya+1.

Composition and Scope

Although several scholars composed supplements to Kashf al-Zunun—including Muhammad 'Izzati (d. 1092 AH), Husayn al-Abbasi al-Halabi (d. 1096 AH), Muhammad Afandi al-Arzrumi (d. 1146 AH), Naw'i Afandi (d. 1201 AH), and the incomplete supplement reaching the letter Jim by Shaykh al-Islam Arif Hikmat (d. 1275 AH)—Idah al-Maknun is widely recognized as the most comprehensive supplement to the work al-Maktaba al-Islamiyya+1.

Al-Babani commenced compiling the book in 1296 AH (1879 CE) and continued writing it over roughly thirty years while residing in the village of Makriköy near Istanbul, where he was actively engaged in completing it in 1323 AH Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1. While the original Kashf al-Zunun recorded around 15,000 book titles, Idah al-Maknun supplemented it by adding approximately 19,000 additional titles, covering earlier omissions as well as later Arabic, Persian, and Turkish writings up to the author's era al-Maktaba al-Islamiyya+1.

Structure and Methodology

The work follows the organizational pattern and methodology of Kashf al-Zunun al-Maktaba al-Islamiyya:

• Alphabetical Arrangement: Book titles and names of disciplines are arranged in strict alphabetical order al-Maktaba al-Islamiyya.
• Disciplines: Fields of study are defined under their corresponding alphabetical entries (for example, the discipline of jurisprudence, 'Ilm al-Fiqh, is defined under the letter Fa'), whereas individual treatises on jurisprudence appear under the first letter of their specific titles (such as al-Muqni' under the letter Mim) al-Maktaba al-Islamiyya.
• Related Works: Immediately following the entry for a base text, al-Babani lists its associated commentaries (shuruh), abridgments (ikhtisarat), supercommentaries (hawashi), and glosses (ta'liqat), arranged alphabetically al-Maktaba al-Islamiyya.

For each entry, the author generally records the book title, the author's name, lineage, and year of death, frequently citing opening lines (incipits) or specifying the volume count and dates of composition Idah al-Maknun fi al-Dhay…+1.

Publication History

Following al-Babani's death in 1339 AH (1920 CE), the manuscript remained in the possession of his family until the Ministry of National Education in Turkey acquired it alongside his complementary biographical dictionary, Hadiyyat al-Arifin Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1. Idah al-Maknun was published in Istanbul in two volumes between 1364 AH (1945 CE) and 1366 AH (1947 CE), edited by Muhammad Sharaf al-Din Yaltkaya and Kilisli Rifat Bilge, and has subsequently been reprinted multiple times alongside Kashf al-Zunun Manhaj al-Imam Taj al-Din…+1.