ʿUbaydī: Jalāl
al‐Dīn Faḍl Allāh
al‐ʿUbaydī
İhsan Fazlıoğlu
Died 1350
There is little information about the identity and life of ʿUbaydī.
According to a recorded note in one of his works, he was the student of
Quṭb al‐Dīn al‐Shīrāzī
(Istanbul, Süleymaniye, Nuri Efendi MS 149/2, 16b81b). Since copies
of his astronomical works are extant in Turkish manuscript libraries, it
is assumed that he was educated, and that he studied in Anatolia.
ʿUbaydī's work represents
a continuation of the tradition of studying mathematics and astronomy at
the Marāgha School and Marāgha Observatory as well as ideas put
forth by Ibn al‐Haytham.
He was particularly interested in ʿilm
al‐hayʾa (theoretical astronomy) and wrote a commentary on Maḥmūd
al‐Jaghmīnī's
al‐Mulakhkhaṣ
fī ʿilm
al‐hayʾa al‐basīṭa. ʿUbaydī informs us
in the preface that he wrote the commentary in 3 days at the request of
some professors and students. There are at least 20 extant copies of the
commentary in Turkish manuscript libraries.
ʿUbaydī wrote another
important astronomical work, in February 1328, entitled Bayān al‐Tadhkira
wa‐tibyān al‐tabṣira,
which was a commentary on Naṣīr al‐Dīn al‐Ṭūsī's al‐Tadhkira
fī ʿilm al‐hayʾa. Al‐tabṣira in the title refers
to Muḥammad al‐Kharaqī's
al‐Tabṣira
fī ʿilm
al‐hayʾa. There are at least four extant copies of this work
in Turkey.
One often finds copies of both works bound together; this was probably
intentional since their contents complement one another. ʿUbaydī's
two commentaries need to be examined more closely; only then will their
place within the tradition of ʿilm
al‐hayʾa be established. We do know, however, that ʿUbaydī's teaching
of the subject in various schools certainly contributed toward making the
tradition more widespread.
Selected References
Brockelmann, Carl (1943). Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur.
2nd ed. Vol. 1, p. 624. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
İzgi, Cevat (1997). Osmanlı Medreselerinde İlim.
2 Vols. Vol. 1, pp. 389, 401402. Istanbul: iz Yayinlare.
Karatay, Fehmi Edhem (1966). Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi
Kütüphanesi Arapça Yazmalar Kataloğu. Vol. 3, p. 755 (no. 7058),
pp. 763764 (no. 7083). Istanbul: TopKapi sarayi Muzesi Yayinlare.
Kātib Čelebī (1943). Kashf al‐ẓunūn
ʿan asāmī al‐kutub wa‐ʾl‐funūn.
Vol. 2, col. 1819. Istanbul: Mulli Egition Bahantigi Yayinlare.
Ragep,
F. J. (1993). Naṣīr al‐Dīn al‐Ṭūsī's
Memoir on Astronomy (al‐Tadhkira fī ʿilm
al‐hayʾa). 2 Vols. Vol. 1,
pp. 6162. New York: Springer Verlag.