ASTANA – The National Center for Manuscripts and Rare Books published a copy of the manuscript of the great philosopher and scientist, Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, found in the United States, the Kazakh Culture and Information Ministry’s press service reported on Jan. 23.
Photo credit: Kazakh Ministry of Culture and Information
The three-chapter original book “Risala Mirat al-Qulub,” written in the 12th century in Arabic script in the Turkic language, describes the humanistic values of justice, honesty, and goodness.
Currently, experts examine the 18th-century copy discovered in the Library of Congress in Washington, comparing it to the original for any differences.
Almat Absalykov, the center’s chief expert, elaborated on the diverse methods used in heritage search efforts, one of which is to search the Internet for electronic versions of ancient manuscripts, rare books, and maps.
“On foreign websites, we identify copies of important written data related to the history of Kazakhstan and make facsimiles,” he said.
The process of binding the book took three weeks. The original work is housed in the National Library of Kazakhstan.
