Research on the attribution of the treatise Ausaaf al-Qolub to Ibn-Khafif

There is a valuable manuscript called Ausaaf al-Qolub which is held in Astaan Qods library in Mashhad. The index of the library attributed the manuscript to Ibn Khafif, great Persian Sufi (from Shiraz in 10/4 century). Although Carl Brockelmann mentioned the manuscript in the index of Ibn Khafif’s works, Annemarie Schimmel hesitated in this attribution because in the old biographies about Ibn Khafif has not mentioned the name of the treatise. The article tries to demonstrate that the manuscript is truly written by Ibn Khafif, great Persian Sufi. Three series of reasons help us with discovering the real author of the manuscript, Firstly ‘chain of narrators’ and secondly Content similarity between Ausaaf al-Qolub and Ibn Khafif’s statements quoted in Helyat al-Aulia by Abu Noaim Isfahani( One of the greatest biographer in Sufi history who personally was familiar with Ibn Khafif and took a part in his lessons as his disciple)  and thirdly the similarity between some personal information such as travels to Mekka and Qods mentioned in Ausaaf al-Qolub and the information which is available about Ibn Khafif travels in his biographies. These three series of reasons confidently show the real author of the treatise is Ibn-Khafif and the article suggests that the real name of the treatise is something other than Ausaaf al-Qolub.