EDITED BY: Dr. Zhandos Boldykov, Prof. Mahmud Erol Kılıç PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION BY: Ashirbek Muminov, Kamshat Parimbekova, Selahaddin Uygur, Almat Absalikov, Anuar ArykbaevAbout the book:
The catalog presents a scientific description of Arabic manuscripts and rare editions of the National Center for Manuscripts and Rare Kiig. The descriptions are divided into three main sections, the manuscripts themselves, lithographed books and rare printed editions of works compiled in Arabic, Persian, Turkic and other languages. Most of the storage units of the Arabic fund in different languages are Islamic studies literature and these are books rewritten or published in the 19th – early 20th centuries. Here are works on philosophy (falsafa) and logic (mantiq), Islamic law (fiqh), theology (kalam), interpretations of the Holy Quran (tafsir) and traditions (hadith).Works on Arabic grammar, rhetoric, eloquence and explanatory dictionaries of the Arabic language are also described. Works in Persian are represented mainly by poetry and textbooks on Arabic philology in Persian. The compositions in the Turkic languages are composed in the classical Chagatai, Turkic-Tatar, Turkish, Azerbaijani and Kazakh languages. The range of these works is diverse, ranging from the poetry of Fuzuli and Nava’i, to interpretations of the Holy Koran and chronicles on history. In general, the content of the catalog reflects the state of the spiritual and intellectual culture of Kazakh society in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. The catalog is intended for orientalists, Islamic scholars, historians, philosophers and a wide range of readers interested in the history of handwritten books in oriental languages.