“Falak ʿAlā Tabrīzī” and Three Ancient Educational Texts about Art of Accountancy

ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad Tabrīzī known as “Falak ʿAlā Tabrīzī”, the author of the late 7th and early 8th AH, had three educational books on Letter Writing and Accountancy (Istīfā) named Laṭāʾif Sharafī, Saʿādat-Nāmah and Qānūn al- Saʿādat. These three are of the oldest books on Accountancy (Istīfā) education ever known which unfortunately have not been scientifically and critically published yet. In this article, the biography of the author and the importance of his books in the art of Accountancy (Istīfā) are discussed. As a result, by comparing the books, we find it necessary to refer to all three of them in their critical edition and lexical studies of the terms contained therein.