A study of the principles and categories related to the world of architecture in the book of Nuzhat Nama-yi Ala'i

Ancient Persian sources are among the most important sources for understanding the past architecture of Iran. Among these texts is the book Nuzhat Nama-yi Alachr('39')i by Shah Mardan Ibn Abi al-Khayr, which was written in the last years of the fifth century AH. This book is an encyclopedia of common sciences of that time and includes various subjects such as animals, plants, jewelry, arithmetic, astronomy, handicrafts, etc. The subject of this article is the extraction, categorization and study of principles and categories in the book Nuzhat Nama, which is used for theoretical discussions of architecture. The research has been done with the interpretive method and in the way of reading, understanding and interpreting the book of Nuzhat Nama through the text itself, so the focus of this research is the book of Nuzhat Nama and only secondary sources have been referred to for more knowledge and better reasoning. The product of this research is organized in three chapters. The first chapter is dedicated to the context and time of the book and in it a brief outline of the position of Nuzhat Nama and its author is outlined. In the second chapter, the dominant principles of the book about the world and man are discussed and categorized. These principles lay the foundations for the third chapter, which are the principles extracted from the book on architecture, including: the dignity of architecture, the discovery of wisdom and meaning, the observance of time, the knowledge of nature and moderation, the harmony of form and good meaning. According to the world of architecture, architecture is one of the noble crafts. The architect needs to be aware of the times of misfortune and different natures in his work, to master the techniques of his work in order to be able to estimate a good building, to seek wisdom and meanings, and to try to implement the principle of moderation in architecture.