Searching for the origins of things. On the ‘ilm al-awā’il in the culture of the Arabic Middle Ages

Abstract

It is not certain, either, if knowledge of the origins was treated, in Arabic culture, as a separate branch of knowledge or as an element of history or adab literature. Works as Kitāb al-awā’il by Al-‘Askarī or Al-Wasā’il ilā ma‘rifat al-awā’il by Aṯ-Ṯa‘labī (X-XI centuries) can, on the one hand, be considered a proof of some independence of ma‘rifat al-awā’il in the Arabic literature; on the other hand, the sections on the “pioneers” most frequently appeared in historical context, which is the case of Kitāb al-ma‘ārif by Ibn Qutayba; later on, similarly Al-Qalqašandī took a similar route, which will be discussed further on.