Qu¿b al-Din Shirazi and the Configuration of the Heavens

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As a leading scientist of the 13th century C.E. Qutb al-Din Shirazi wrote three substantial works on hay'a (or the configuration of the celestial orbs): Nihayat al-idrak fi dirayat al-aflak ("The Limits of Attainment in the Understanding of the Heavens"), al-Tuhfa al-shahiya fi 'ilm al-hay'a("The Royal Offering Regarding the Knowledge of the Configuration of the Heavens"), and Ikhtiyarat-i Mu?affari ("The Muzaffari Elections"). Completed in less than four years and written in two of the classical languages of the Islamic world, Arabic and Persian, these works provide a fascinating window to the astronomical research carried out in Ilkhanid Persia. Shirazi and his colleagues were driven by their desire to rid Ptolemaic astronomy from its perceived shortcomings