Nastoyashchaya kniga posvyashchena issledovaniyu svedeniy po istoricheskoy geografii i topografii gorodov Sredney Azii, soderzhashikhsya v sochinenii "al-Kand fi zikr ulama Samarkand" ("Sladkoe v poznanii uchenykh Samarkanda"), avtorom kotorogo yavlyaetsya izvestnyy sredneaziatskiy uchenyy Nadzhm ad-Din Abu Khafs Umar ibn Mukhammad an-Nasafi al-Maturidi (460 537/1068 1142), kotoryy byl rodom iz Nasafa, no bol'shuyu chast' svoey zhizni prozhil v Samarkande. Etot istoriko-biograficheskiy trud, napisannyy na arabskom yazyke, predstavlyaet soboy sbornik biografiy uchenykh zakonovedov i khadisovedov, zhivshikh v Samarkande v period s ser. VIII v. do sovremennogo avtoru vremeni, t.e. pervoy pol. KhII v., a takzhe uchenykh, priezzhavshikh v Samarkand s nauchnymi tselyami iz drugikh gorodov Sredney Azii i Arabskogo khalifata. Predpolagaetsya, chto trud an-Nasafi yavlyaetsya prodolzheniem nedoshedshikh do nas "Istorii Samarkanda" al-Idrisi (um. v 405/1015 g.) i "Istorii Samarkanda" al-Mustagfiri ( um. v 432/1041 g.). V analiticheskikh chastyakh nastoyashchego issledovaniya privodyatsya lokalizatsii i etimologii srednevekovykh toponimov, upomyanutykh v sochinenii an-Nasafi. Svedeniya an-Nasafi sopostavleny s dannymi drugikh srednevekovykh istochnikov.