The Early Representation of Nature in the Late Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Century in the Islamic Manuscripts of the Central Islamic Lands

Abstract

The early representation of nature in the Islamic manuscripts in the period before the Mongol invasion has been often overlooked. This paper studies the early representation of nature in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century of the Islamic manuscripts of the central Islamic lands. It aims at understanding their relation to text and factors encouraging their representation, as well as their functions in addition to their stylistic and compositional analysis. The manuscripts studied are the two copies of Kitāb al-Diryāq (Paris BnF MS. Arabe 2694 and Vienna Cod. A.F. 10), the two copies of Kitāb al-Bayṭara (Cairo Dār al-Kutub- MS. Khalīl Agha F8 and Istanbul Top Kapi Sarayi Ahmet III 2115), Kitāb Na’t al-Ḥayawān (British Library Or. 2784), Materia Medica also known as Kitāb al-Ḥashāīsh fī al-Ṭibb (Aya Sofya 3703 and dispersed folios), Kalila wa Dīmna (Paris BnF 3465), three frontispieces of Kitāb al-Aghānī (Vol II and IV in Cairo, Dār al-Kutub MS. Adab 579 and Vol XX in Copenhagen, David Collection, Ar. Ms. N. 168) as well as three copies of Maqāmāt of al-Hārirī (Paris BnF 6094 and BnF 5847 and St. Petersburg C-23).