The son of the Timurid Ruler Ulugh Beg's
head falconer, ʿAlī al-Qūshjī grew up at the
ruler's court in Samarqand
(Uzbekistan), studying the basics of mathematics and astronomy under
Ulugh Beg himself as well as
those in his scientific circle including Qādīzāde
al-Rūmī and Ghiyāth al-Dīn Jamshīd
al-Kāshānī (or Kāshī) After completing his education which involved
extensive travel, he contributed to the preparation of Ulugh Beg's Zīj (زيج) at the observatory of Samarqand (Uzbekistan) Following the assassination
of his patron Ulugh Beg in 1469 [1469 CE], ʿAlī
al-Qūshjī moved to Herat
, where he remained until 1469 [1469 CE] when his patron, the Timurid ruler
Abu Sa'id Mirza was defeated by Aqquyunlus
and he relocated to Tabriz
benefitting from Uzun Hasan's patronage. He first
became acquainted with Mehmed II when he was sent to
Istanbul by Uzun Hasan as an envoy. He soon
after sought the Ottoman sultan's patronage in Istanbul and accompanied him on his campaign against
Uzun Hasan Upon his return
Mehmed II to Istanbul following the Ottoman defeat of the
Aqquyunlu, he was appointed professor at Ayasofya madrasa, which he briefly held until his death in 1474 [1474 CE]. Offering an alternative to
Aristotelian physics as the basis of astronomy, ʿAlī
al-Qūshjī exerted a profound influence on Ottoman thought and
science, as well as in the Iranian world and Central Asia.
An Arabic enlarged version of Persianد dar
ʿilm al-hayʾa (رساله در فتحيه في علم الهيئة), ʿAlī al-Qūshjī presented this work
to Mehmed II following his defeat of
the Aqquyunlu in 1473. A popular work
taught at Ottoman madrasas, it was commented on by Ghulām Sinān
Paşa(d.1506) and Qūshjī's
great grandson Mīram Çelebi, and translated into
Turkish by Seydī ‘Alī Reīs. Show more
There is an autograph copy of this work in Ayasofya 2733, work 1
This astronomical text was composed in Samarqand
(Uzbekistan) 1458. A much copied text, it was used for pedagogical purposes.
Muṣliḥ al-Dīn al-Lārī's
commentary on it likewise became a popular madrasa text. Show more
There is an autograph copy of this work in Köprülü, work 2
Composed in Herat and presented to the Timurid ruler
Abu Sa'id Mirza, this work is
a commentary on
Nasīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī,’s theological work, Tajrīd fī ʿilm al-kalām, or Tajrīd al-kalām
and also otherwise known as Tajrīd al-ʿaqāʾid. Tajrīd al-ʿaqāʾid presents
Ṭūsī's theological doctrine referred to
as "new kalām", which he arrived at through intense interrogation of Ibn Sīnā's thought. In his Tajrīd al-i‘tiqād,
a work which subquently influenced theologians both Sunnī and Shi‘īte, Ṭūsī reworked theological speculation by harmonizing Muʿtazilism with contemporary Ashʿarism. In his commentary of
Ṭūsī's Tajrīd,
al-Qūshjī lays out the philosophical principles of his own
notions of existence, knowledge, nature, and language, and critiques the Ashʿarite position which denies natural
causation. al-Qūshjī likewise argues that astrology is a science
independent of philosophy.
This work on grammar, lexicography, morphology (ṣarf(صرف)) and the derivation of
words (ishtiqāq(اشتقاق)) represents Qūshjī’s major contribution to the newly emerging discipline of Arabic
semantics, known as ʿilm al-waḍʿ (علم الوضع) by building on and reworking
ʿAḍud al-Dīn al-Ījī (1281-1355)'s
seminal work, al-Risāla al- waḍʿiyya(الرسالةالوضعيّة). Produced in İstanbul upon the request of Mehmed II sometime in the years
1470-1474, the work constitutes a summation ofQūshjī’s ideas on the subject, and
made a significant contribution to ʿilm al-waḍʿ
(علم الوضع) or Arabic semantics,
specifically the study of how meaning (maʿnī
(معني)) becomes fixed upon words or
vocables (lafẓ (لفظ)) and its ramifications, developing it from a marginal
field into a discipline of its own right during the Ottoman period.
