Al-ʿAllāmah al-Fākihī and His Methodology in His Manuscript ʿUqūd al-Laṭāʾif fī Maḥāsin Ahl al-Ṭāʾif.

Abstract

This paper, entitled “Al-ʿAllāmah al-Fākihī and His Methodology in His Book ʿUqūd al-Laṭāʾif fī Maḥāsin Ahl al-Ṭāʾif”, explores the history and accounts of the city of Ṭāʾif, describing its merits, as well as its social and urban conditions. The work survives in a unique manuscript copy, though it contains considerable gaps. In recognition of the author’s effort—who remains little known even among specialists—this study aims to introduce both the scholar and his book, in the hope of discovering a complete version of the text. The study is divided into three sections: the first presents the author’s biography, the second introduces the book itself, and the third examines the author’s methodology. Shaykh al-Fākihī was a Hijazi scholar who authored around eleven works, ranging from books to treatises. He passed away in Mecca in.                                                                                           989 AH / 1581 CE.

From his birth (920 AH/1514 CE) until his death (989 AH/1581 CE), the scholar al-Fakihi witnessed many significant events during his lifetime, having lived during the reigns of three princes who played important roles in political life. Among his works is the book "Uqud al-Lata'if fi Mahasin Ahl al-Ta'if" (The Necklace of Graces in the Virtues of the People of Ta'if), a concise book arranged into an introduction, eight chapters, and a conclusion. The only manuscript copy is the one preserved in the library of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. It is distinguished by its clear Naskh script and consists of 36 double-sided folios. It is devoid of decoration or gilding, indicating its scholarly rather than ostentatious purpose. In his book "Uqud al-Lata'if fi Mahasin Ahl al-Ta'if," al-Fakihi (may God have mercy on him) adopted a methodology that combined history with the literature of virtues and merits.