Kassaf istilahat al-funun and its sources: the case of qafiya

Kaššāf iṣṭilāḥāt al‑funūn (comp. in 1158/1745), by the Indian scholar Muḥammad Aʿlā Ibn-ʿAlī al-Tahānawī, is an Arabic-Persian dictionary of technical terms used by the Muslims. It has always been regarded as an excellent reference work for Islamic sciences, but few scholars have actually studied it in its own right. This paper attempts to outline how al-Tahānawī compiled his dictionary by investigating the sources that he quotes and taking into account all the entries concerning the science of qāfiya (i.e. «rhyme»). How accurately al-Tahānawī quotes and credits his sources should be investigated as well.