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5.Encyclopedias
Variouscompiledencyclopediascontainmuchofthegeographical
informationondifferentcountriesandnations.Mentionshouldbe
madeofsomeofthoseencyclopediaswhichcontainspecialmaterial.
WithoutadoubttheworkofAn-Nūwayrīd.731/1331Nihāyatal-
arabfunūnal-adab.Itismostcitedinthefirstchapterofthiswork
onmajordatainastronomy,cosmography,andgeography.Theauthor
speaksabouttheearthanditsshape,theSevenClimes,theseas,the
mountains,therivers,andthecountriesofthattimeknowntohim.
Aboutahalfcenturylater,asimilarworkentitledṢubḥal-aʻša
ṣināʻatal-inšāwaswrittenbyAl-Qalqašandīwhoappropriatedone
volume
for
the
geography
of
the
world.Al-Qalqašandīʼs
contemporary,Al-ʻUmarī,producedagreatencyclopediawhichinits
volumeonecanencounterabundantgeographicalinformation,but
unfortunatelymostofthesevolumesarestilloutofprint.The14th
centuryandthebeginningofthe15thcenturywereindisputablythe
epochofgreatencyclopediasandcoveredallMuslimsciencesand
heritage.
6.GeographicalDictionaries
TheimportanceofthegeographicaldictionaryMuʻğamal-buldān
(TheDictionaryoftheCountries),compiledintheearly7th/13th
centuryMuʻğamal-buldān(TheDictionaryoftheCountries),by
Yāqūt,comesfromthefactthathissingletextbasedontheauthorʼs
informationgatheredduringhisextensivetravelsthroughoutthe
Islamiclands.Ontheotherhand,theintroductorychaptersofYāqūtʼs
dictionary,whichperhapsistheleastknownandthemostneglected
partoftheworkbyreadersandevenspecialists,isveryimportantfor
studyingMuslimgeographicalliterature.Itseemsthattheauthorwas
admiredbyAl-Bīrūnī,fromwhomhedrawssoextensivelyinhis
introductorychapters[71].
Itmaybeappropriatetounderlinetheexistenceofabundant
referencesontheimageoftheworldofMuslimgeographersofthe
MiddleAges.Inthosechapters,Yāqūtnotonlyexplainsthescopeof