Al-Khalāṣī

‘Umdat al ṣinā‘a fī ‘ilm al zirā‘a, ‘The reliance of skill in the knowledge of agriculture’


We know very little about ‘Abd al‑Qādir al-Khalāṣī’s life and work. According to Maalouff (1923, p. 362) he died in 1785/6 and wrote a summary of the earlier, larger treatise on agriculture entitled Jāmi‘ farā’id al-malāḥah fī jawāmi‘ fawā’id al-filāḥah by the 15th/16th century Damascene author Raḍī al-Dīn al-Ghazzī al‑‘Amirī. This was actually one of three abridgements of Al‑‘Amirī’s treatise written during the late-17th and 18th centuries – the first being the Kitāb ‘alam al-malāḥa fī ‘ilm al-filāḥa, ‘Book of the mark of elegance in the science of agriculture’, by ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī (1641-1731), followed by the Risālat al‑bayān wa-al‑ṣarāḥa bi-talkhīṣ kitāb al-malāḥa fī ‘ilm al-filāḥa, ‘Explanation and summary of the book of elegance in the science of agriculture’, by Muḥammad ibn ‘Īsá ibn Kannān (1663/4-1740/1). Presumably, like his predecessors in the field, Al-Khalāṣī was also from Damascus.

We would like to hear from anyone who has any further reliable sourced information on Al-Khalāṣī.  


Published Editions


There does not appear to be any published critical edition of Al‑Khalāṣī’s agricultural treatise.


Manuscripts

Ṣālihīyya, 1984, notes two extant manuscripts of Al-Khalāṣī’s ‘Umdat al‑ṣinā‘a fī ‘ilm al‑zirā‘a:

  • Damascus, Al-Maktaba al-Ḍhahiriyya, ms. 7407 ‘ām
  • Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, ms. Wc 1710 (6210)


Bibliography


Maalouff, I. A. (1923). ‘Les Manuscripts rares de la bibliotèque Taïmouria du Caire’, Revue de l’Académie Arabe de Damas (Majallat Majma‘ al-Lugha al‑‘Arabīyah bi‑Dimashq) 3, pp.  360-366. (in Arabic).
Ṣālihīyya, M.‘I. (1984). ‘Mulāḥazāt ‘alā makhṭūṭāt al-filāḥa: al-taṭbīqīya al-maḥfūza fī ‘l-maktabāt al-‘arabīya wa’l-ajnabīya’. Majallāt Mujma‘ al-Lugha al-‘Arabīya (Revue de l'Académie Arabe de Damas) 59 (3), pp. 566‑586.