The current state of editions, translations, and scholarship on Bahmanyār’s writings remains unsatisfactory. No proper critical edition of his works exists, and some treatises are still unpublished and untranslated. Moreover, both the extant and the lost works attributed to him are marked by considerable confusion and uncertainty. In total, eight works have been ascribed to Bahmanyār, a corpus larger than that attributed to other disciples of Ibn Sīnā. Among these, only al-Taḥṣīl can be regarded as unquestionably authentic: it is mentioned in the bio-bibliographical sources, all surviving manuscripts unanimously attribute it to Bahmanyār, and it is extensively cited by later authors.

One important task for future research is the authentication of the remaining treatises. Yet this is far from straightforward. The inquiry risks reaching a deadlock if al-Taḥṣīl is treated as the sole criterion and the authenticity of all other works is measured exclusively against it. Such an approach presupposes that Bahmanyār’s thought remained entirely uniform and leaves little room for the possibility that his views may have changed over the course of his intellectual development.


1. Kitāb al-taḥṣīl – Book of obtainment

Alternate titles: al-Taḥṣīlāt

Description: A summa dedicated to Bahrām ibn Ḫūršīd that contains logic, metaphysics, and physics. It is a voluminous work that aims to present the main tenets of Ibn Sīnās philosophy following the structure of the Dānišnāmah while referring to and relying on many different works of the great master, primarily the Kitāb al-šifāʾ. There is a certain confusion regarding the title and editions of this work. Al-Taḥṣīl should not be identified with al-Taḥṣīlāt, which is one of the early versions of al-Mubāḥaṯāt [Reisman, 2002, pp. 110–119], as is often the case in catalogues or secondary literature. The so-called Cairo edition of al-Taḥṣīl does not exist; it is a myth created by the mistake of Carl Brockelmann [1937, I, p. 599; I (SB), p. 828], who thought that the Cairo edition (1911) of the two minor treatises of Bahmanyār (Risāla fī mawḍūʿʿilm mā bʿad al-ṭabīʿa; Risāla fī marātib al-mawǧūdāt) also includes al-Taḥṣīl. The mistake was also noticed by Dānišpažūh [Bahmanyār, 1983, p. 29] and Zakir Məmmədov [1983, p. 63]. Afterwards, it was repeated in numerous later publications, even in the recent ones. However, at the moment, there is only one – the Tehran edition (1970) of this work prepared by Murtaḍà Muṭahharī, which is based only on five manuscripts: four Iranian (Tehran: د 644 ;د 404 ;ج 304 ;ج 211) and one Syrian (Paul Sbath 278 771) [Bahmanyār, 1996, pp. 1–5]. The edition is of valuable importance but it can hardly be called a critical edition from a more pedantic perspective: the editor does not specify his methodology, the choice of manuscripts is random, numerous extant manuscripts remained aside, corrections usually lack in the text, and the editor also did not consult the medieval Persian translation of the work and not speaking about stemma codicum and lexicon. Al-Taḥṣīl was translated entirely only into Russian by Artur Sagadeev in 1983–1986, which makes it the first integral translation into a European language. It is distinct for its accuracy, yet is prepared not in a strictly literal fashion, while manifesting the good flowing Russian.

MSS: The manuscript tradition of al-Taḥṣīl is rich and diverse. At the moment, there are 63 manuscripts known, which is a significant number indicating the popularity of the author. In the future, without a doubt, more manuscripts will be found. They are dispersed in different libraries and collections all over the world, especially in Muslim countries, among which Iran, as usual, is the leading one. In Europe, it was possible to find only two: the Vatican and Ireland. Since the work is voluminous, not all of them are complete. Unfortunately, the catalogues do not always give a detailed description of manuscripts. Therefore, the contents and dates of most of them are unknown. From the available information, we know that the oldest ones belong to the 15th century and the others to the later period. A chapter from the physical section of al-Taḥṣīl (III.2.2) used to circulate independently under the title Faṣl min Kitāb Bahmanyār fī iṯbāt al-ʿuqūl al-faʿāla wa l-dalāla alà adadihā wa iṯbāt al-nufūs al-samāwiyya wa fī al-ġāya llatī tūʿahā al-aflāk fī ḥarakātihā wa fī iṯbāt al-aǧsām al-ʿunsuriyya wa fī anna al-ʿālam al-ǧismānī wāḥid. Al–Rahim [2018, pp. 53–54] and other scholars present it as a separate work, which is wrong.

Published: Muṭahharī, 1970.

Translations: Mediaeval Persian, anon., 1983; Russian, Sagadeev, 1983–1986; Azeri (excerpt from Logic), Məmmədov, 1999, pp. 115–121; English (Introduction and excerpt from Physics), Rowson, 2008, pp. 390–406; English (Metaphysics), Malikov, 2023 (pp. 66–224).


2. Risāla fī mawḍūʿʿilm mā baʿd al-ṭabīʿa – On the subject matter of the science of metaphysics

Alternate titles: Risāla fī iṯbāt al-mabdaʾ al-awwal, Risāla iṯbāt al- mabdaʾ al-awwal, Iṯbāt al-mabdaʾ al-awwal, Fuṣūl ilāhiyya fī iṯbāt al-awwal

Description: A treatise mostly extracted from al-Ilāhiyyāt of Kitāb al-šifāʾ. It speaks about five topics: a) the notion of existence as something most common and prior, and therefore, the subject matter of metaphysics (Chapters 1–4); b) substantial and accidental existence (Chapters 7–8); c) the priority of causes over effects in existence (Chapters 6, 9–10); d) the Necessary Existent and the possible existents (Chapters 5, 11); e) the perfection of the human soul (Chapter 12). Several manuscripts attribute it to Ibn Sīnā. The treatise is a part of al-Mubāḥaṯāt as well. Therefore, it has two versions: independent and that of al-Mubāḥaṯāt, the latter lacks Chapter 12.

MSS: 8 manuscripts are known at present.

Published: Poper, 1851, pp. 2–16; Saʿd, 1911, pp. 2–11; Malikov, 2022, pp. 59–77.

Translation: German, Poper, 1851, pp. 1–23; Azeri, Məmmədov, 1999b, pp. 122–128; English, Malikov, 2022, pp. 59–77.


3. Risāla fī marātib al-mawǧūdāt – Treatise on the levels of existents

Alternate titles: Risāla fī iṯbāt al-mufāraqāt wa aḥwālihā, Risāla fī iṯbāt al-mufāraqāt, Risāla fī al-mufāraqāt, Iṯbāt al-mufāraqāt, Maqāla fī iṯbāt al-mufāraqāt

Description: A treatise on immaterial and incorruptible substances. It discusses four kinds of substances: a) the existent that has no cause; b) active intellects; c) celestial souls; d) human souls. Each chapter of the treatise brings different proofs concerning the non-corporeality of four different kinds of beings. Therefore, the title containing iṯbāt al-mufāraqāt seems to be more relevant to the style and exposition of the treatise, while marātib al-mawǧūdāt accents the general metaphysical relation of the non-corporeal beings. Most of the manuscripts indicate al-Fārābī as the author, while only two times is it ascribed to al-Maʿṣūmī and Bahmanyār. Ǧawādī [1977], by comparison with the relevant passages from al-Taḥṣīl, argues that the treatise belongs to Bahmanyār. David Reisman [2009] suggests that it is presumably an early draft or a synopsis of the similarly named section in al-Taḥṣīl.

MSS: 35 manuscripts are known at present.

Published: Poper, 1851, pp. 17–28; Saʿd, 1911, pp. 12–19; Hyderabad, 1921–1930, pp. 2–8; Ǧawādī, 1977; Malikov, 2023 (Appendix B).

Translation: German, Poper, 1851, pp. 24–47; Persian, Ǧawādī, 1977, pp. 66–73; Azeri, Məmmədov, 1999c, pp. 129–134; English, Malikov, 2023 (Appendix B).


4. Maqāla fī ārāʾ al-maššāʾīn fī umūr al-nafs wa quwwāhā – Article on the opinions of Peripatetics on the issues of the soul and its powers

Description: An essay on the different forms of perception of the human soul. Daiber calls it ‘a supplementary treatise’ of Ibn Sīnā’s al-Šifāʾ (al-Ṭabīʿiyyāt, Fī al-Nafs) [1988, p. 502]. There is no reference to this work in medieval sources.

MSS: Only one manuscript is known.

Published: Malikov, 2023 (Appendix C).

Translation: English, Malikov, 2023 (Appendix C).


5. Faṣl li-Abī l-Ḥasan Bahmanyār – A chapter by Abū l-Ḥasan Bahmanyār

Description: Is not mentioned in medieval sources. This is a very short piece of writing, also a part of al-Mubāḥaṯāt, that aims to elaborate the doctrine of numbers and specify the nature of knowledge and assumption without manifesting any sympathy or polemics. Al-Rahim identifies this work (that he calls ‘faṣl on cosmology’) with Faṣl min Kitāb Bahmanyār fī iṯbāt al-ʿuqūl al-faʿāla wa l-dalāla [2018, p. 54], which is another confusion since the latter is a part of al-Taḥṣīl. Reisman, while describing the manuscript of this brief note, erroneously gives the kunya of Bahmanyār as al-Ḥusayn [2002, p. 42]. Gutas presents another copy of this note from the Ṣiġnāḫī codex of al-Mubāḥaṯāt and assumes that it is by Ibn Sīnā [1987, p. 13].

MSS: Only one manuscript is known.

Published: Badawī, 1947, p. 116; Malikov, 2023 (Appendix D).

Translation: English, Malikov, 2023 (Appendix D).


6. Kitāb al-rutba fī al-manṭiq – Book on the rank in logic

Alternate titles: Kitāb al-zīna fī al-manṭiq

Description: Not extant. The work is on logic as inferred from the name. Reported by al-Bayhaqī, 1946, p. 97 and al-Šahrazūrī, 1976, p. 38. Whether al-rutba fī al-manṭiqand al-zīna fī al-manṭiq are two different books or two titles of the same work remains unclear. al-Bayhaqī mentions the first version, while in al-Šahrazūrī we find the latter one.


7. Kitāb fī al-mūsīqà – Book on music

Description: Not extant. The book is on music, as noticed from the title. Reported by al-Bayhaqī, 1946, p. 97 and al-Šahrazūrī, 1976, p. 38. Al-Rahim [2018, p. 53 and p. 57] states that this work belongs to Ibn Zayla and thus is misattributed to Bahmanyār.


8. al-Bahǧa wa l-saʿāda – Joy and happiness

Description: Not extant. Presumably on ethics, as the title suggests. Reported by al-Šahrazūrī, 1937, p. 61 and Kāzarūnī [Bahmanyār, 1983, p. 37]. Al-Ḫwānsārī notes that in this book there is an explanation that the Necessary Existent is identical to its own holy self. Just like a sensible form that is abstracted from matter is self-subsistent, then it is both sensing and sensible together, and the same is regarding the state of knowledge of the Necessary Existent who, in his being, is knower and knowledge [al-Ḫwānsārī, 1306Š, p. 140].