Manifestation in the One: Singularity of Knowledge in Mīrzā Ibrāhīm’s Numerical Riddle (Lughaz-i marqūm)

This paper explores how an interest in mathematics and alphanumerical relations led to a vision of the unity of knowledge as reflected in the Numerical Riddle by the 17th-century Safavid Iranian scholar and statesman, Mīrzā Ibrāhīm, also known as the Vizier of Azerbaijan. It also examines how this perspective was coupled with an openness to foreign sciences, exemplified by his support for the construction of a church in Tabriz for the Capuchin Fathers and missionaries where he and his son could learn from them.