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The book, “Kashf al-ẓunūn ‘an asāmī al-kutub wa al-funūn”, by its author, Muṣṭafā b. ‘Abd Allāh al-Qasṭanṭīnī al-‘Uthmānī, renowned as Kâtip Çelebi and as Ḥājī Khalīfah (1017-1067AH), is considered the largest bibliographical and encyclopaedic lexicon in the author’s era. The author spent over twenty years gathering the material for this work, and writing the draft (al-musawwadah), before beginning work on the fair copy (al-mubayaḍah). However, he died while working on the entries of the letter ‘dāl’, leaving behind the unfinished fair copy, and all the drafts.The author methodically presented the names of books and disciplines, where he would mention and define the discipline, based mostly on Ṭāsh Kubrī Zādah’s “Miftāḥ al-Sa‘ādah”, with corrections. This is followed by book titles arranged in alphabetical order, along with author names, if known to him, and then explanations, abridgements, and glosses related to each book. He would perhaps point out the book’s topic, or reproduce its beginning; especially those works that he had perused.This book acquired great importance among researchers, students, and critical editors, who referred to it frequently, and depended upon it in their research, studies, and critical editions.

Arabic literature