Kitāb al-Ṭīb by al-Khāzin: Critical Edition and Complementary Notes

Kitāb al-Ṭīb (The Book of Aromatics) composed by al-Khāzin (living in ۴۲۱ A.H./۱۰۳۰ A.D.), is an Arabic treatise written in the fourth/tenth century containing a prologue and five chapters dealing with Simple Aromatic Substances (musk, amber, aloeswood, camphor) and including ۲۳ recipes for making compound aromatics (al-Nadd, alʿŪd al-Muṭarrā, al-Lakhlakha, al-Ghālīya, al-Dharīra, al-Rāmik, al-Sukk and, Duhn Al-Bān). This article tries to prepare a critical edition of Kitāb al-Ṭīb based on the extant copies and considering the parallel texts. In addition to the edited text, the article contains the translation of the prologue to the treatise and a discussion about the title and author of it, while trying to shed light on the toponyms and ethnonyms used for the appellation of simple aromatics of different types.

Keywords:

Kitāb al-Ṭīb , Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan b. Ibrāhīm al-Khāzin , Medieval Islamic Perfumery