The Logic of Ornament: A Classical Taxonomy of Arabic and Persian Rhetorical Figures

This paper examines what appears to be the earliest systematic attempt to classify figurative devices in Persian, found in the logical work Kitāb Asās al-Iqtibās by the celebrated polymath Naṣīr ad-Dīn Ṭūsī (1201-1274). In doing so, it builds upon the earlier systematisation proposed by Ibn Sīnā (980-1037) in his commentary on the Poetics of Aristotle. I present Ṭūsī's classification in the form of a detailed diagram that visually renders his systematic approach to the artifices and embellishments of speech. The diagram highlights their ambitious effort to bring rhetorical analysis into conversation with philosophical principles. I conclude by considerations of how this diagram might be revised or expanded, both to test the limits of Ibn Sīnā-Ṭūsī system and to assess its potential adaptability for broader applications in contemporary rhetorical studies.