MS Mahdawi 514. An Anonymous Commentary on Ibn Mattawayh’s Kitāb al-Tadhkira

Ms. Mahdawī 514 belongs to the literary legacy of the Bahshamiyya. It is a commentary on a work by Ibn Mattawayh on natural philosophy which is known under the titles al-Tadhkira fī aḥkām al-jawāhir wa’l-aʿrāḍ and Kitāb al-tadhkira fī laṭīf [ʿilm] al-kalām. Both Ibn Mattawayh's Tadhkira and the commentary contain a detailed chapter on substances, followed by two major sections devoted to physics and to 'biology'. These are further subdivided into several aqwāl, each consisting of numerous fuṣūl. The style of the commentary is characteristic of the bulk of Muʿtazilī literature of the Bahshamī tradition that is amply available to everyone. It is an explicative paraphrase of Ibn Mattawayh's work that closely follows the original in argumentation and doctrinal outlook and can be read independently of the original Tadhkira.