Abstract
This article presents a study, edition and translation of a hitherto unpublished and overlooked source, shedding new light on the final days and death of the celebrated Fakhr al-DÄ«n al-RÄzÄ« (d. 606/1210). An anonymous obituary, the text was composed by one of his students and is known to have survived in a single manuscript copy housed at the Library of the Prophetâs Mosque, MS Medina, al-Masjid al-NabawÄ« 30/900. The article critically examines the obituaryâs authorship and biographical content, drawing on further historical, biographical, and geographical data to reconstruct the last two years of al-RÄzÄ«âs life against a turbulent background of factional conflict. It disproves the widely-accepted report that he was buried in secret and verifies his burial site.
Introduction
The anonymous obituary published and studied for the first time in this article sheds new light on the final days and death of Fakhr al-DÄ«n al-RÄzÄ« (d. 606/1210), now recognized as one of the most influential philosophers, theologians, jurists and QurʾÄn exegetes of the premodern Islamic world. Complementing the reflections and instructions that he dictated eight months before his death through his well-known testament-cum-will (waá¹£iyya), as well as scant and often unreliable information passed down indirectly in biographical sources and sporadic data found in his own works, this obituary provides us with the unique perspective of a contemporary eye-witness, clearly a student and close associate of al-RÄzÄ«. The text had very limited circulation, having, to the best of our knowledge, survived in a single manuscript copy housed at the Library of the Prophetâs Mosque in Medina. There is no evidence that any of his biographers had access to it.
In what follows, we provide an overview of the obituary and examine its authorship before turning to some of its biographical content. Drawing upon a mixture of historical, biographical, geographic and occasionally legal data, we leverage this newfound source to piece together the last two years of al-RÄzÄ«âs life against a turbulent backdrop of factional conflict. Amongst other things, we also disprove the widely-accepted report that he was buried in secret, and we verify his burial site. The article concludes with an edition and translation of the text.
1 The Obituary and Its Author
The text starts with praise of God (ḥamdala) and a prayer for the Prophet (taá¹£liya), followed by the transitional ânow thenâ (ammÄ baÊ¿d), and concludes with a prayer for al-RÄzÄ«. These hallmarks indicate that it stands as an independent composition, rather than an excerpt from a larger work. The author narrates a sequence of events that surrounded al-RÄzÄ«âs death, starting with a severe illness that afflicted him and culminating in his passing away and funeral. The account is woven with a blend of mournful lament and eulogy.
The text portrays al-RÄzÄ« as a godly figure during his illness, depicting him as having turned his back on this world, showing no fear of death, yearning to join the spiritual realm and to meet God in the hereafter, and expressing complete reliance on him. He sometimes conveys these attitudes through poetry.1 It is unsurprising that the text also depicts his death as a moment of profound misfortune for Islam and Muslims (ll. 61â2; 65â7; tr. ll. 97; 102â6). By the time of al-RÄzÄ«âs illness, he had achieved an unparalleled scholarly and public stature: he reportedly had three hundred students;2 he was the foremost preacher in Herat and was surrounded by official pomp, ceremony and prestige under both the GhÅ«rids and KhwÄrazmians;3 and he stood as the preeminent scholar in the Islamic East, enjoying such an illustrious transregional reputation that he received a personal honor from the Abbasid Caliph al-NÄá¹£ir li-DÄ«n AllÄh (r. 575â622/1180â1225).4
Judging by its expression of raw and profound sorrow and the authorâs pleas to God for patience, the obituary must have been composed upon al-RÄzÄ«âs death. Although the author is nowhere identified in the sole manuscript copy known to us, he is evidently a close student of al-RÄzÄ«: the author mentions hearing him express a certain view on numerous occasions (l. 28; tr. l. 44) and provides firsthand accounts of most events. Only once does he report an incident indirectly, introducing it with the passive verb, âit was relatedâ (l. 30; tr. l. 46). The authenticity of the text is beyond question.5
In its form, subject matter and purpose, the obituary does not fit neatly in a particular genre. Unlike conventional biographical texts, it is focused exclusively on al-RÄzÄ«âs illness and death, and says nothing about his earlier life and scholarly career. It is also not a letter addressed to a specific recipient, and almost certainly was not intended for one, as otherwise the author would have offered words of condolence and solace. Nevertheless, it remains uncertain whether the author may have circulated the text to multiple recipients. At any rate, it is evident that the primary purpose of the obituary was not solely to inform a contemporary audience of the news of al-RÄzÄ«âs passing, but rather to memorialize the passing of a great scholar and to capture an edifying portrait of his final days for posterity.
2 Al-RÄzÄ«âs Illness and Death
The narrative opens with a sudden deterioration in al-RÄzÄ«âs health, occurring just before daybreak on 27 ShaÊ¿bÄn 606 (24 February 1210). While the illness is unspecified, it was evidently acute and severely debilitating; it is described as catastrophic (baliyya faáºÄ«Ê¿a, raziyya fajÄ«Ê¿a, dÄhiya dahyÄʾ). The author notes that following this occurrence, al-RÄzÄ« disregarded the remedial measures prescribed to him by physicians (l. 24; tr. ll. 37â9), a sign that he realized the imminent approach of death and recognized that such measures could only prolong his suffering. His health continued to decline until he took his dying breaths in the late afternoon of Monday, 1 ShawwÄl 606 (29 March 1210) (ll. 57â8; tr. ll. 89â90).6 This narrative thus suggests that al-RÄzÄ«âs illness lasted for a little over a month before his death. By contrast, earlier studies have assumed that his illness lasted as long as eight months, having presumably started shortly before he dictated his testament on 21 Muḥarram 606 (26 July 1209).7
However, there is good evidence that a prolonged illness started well before the dates given in the obituary and the testament. The physician and biographer Ibn AbÄ« Uá¹£aybiÊ¿a (d. 668/1270) reports that the testament was dictated when al-RÄzÄ«âs âillness intensifiedâ (fÄ« shiddat maraá¸ihi) (and not âwhen,â or âsoon after he fell illâ).8 He furthermore reports that al-RÄzÄ« was taken ill in KhwÄrazm and was then brought back to his hometown of Herat, where he later died from the after-effects (Ê¿aqÄbÄ«l) of the illness. Ibn AbÄ« Uá¹£aybiÊ¿aâs report that al-RÄzÄ« fell ill shortly before he returned from KhwÄrazm to Herat is confirmed by the author of the obituary, who reports that, following his return, al-RÄzÄ« said that when he was in KhwÄrazm he beseeched God that he grant him to pass away on the soil of Herat (ll. 72â3; tr. ll. 116â18). This strongly suggests that he fell seriously ill and felt that death was near when he was still in KhwÄrazm.
This allows us to date the start of al-RÄzÄ«âs illness with some precision. We know that he left his home in Herat and travelled to KhwÄrazm sometime in mid-604 (early 1208). In a note dated 14 ShaÊ¿bÄn 604 (4 March 1208), he states that he was residing at the palace of the KhwÄrazmshÄh Ê¿AlÄʾ al-DÄ«n Muḥammad (r. 596â617/1200â20) in his capital Gurganj (JurjÄniyya).9 This move was most likely connected to circumstances that Herat was undergoing at the time, as after three decades of relative stability under GhÅ«rid rule, the city was then experiencing a particularly tumultuous phase.
This phase began to unfold after the city passed on to KhwÄrazmian rule, following the assassination of the great GhÅ«rid sultan MuÊ¿izz al-DÄ«n Muḥammad b. SÄm (r. 569â602/1173â1206) in northern India. The cityâs population, still predominantly pro-GhÅ«rid and agitated by the excesses of the unruly KhwÄrazmian troops, resented their new rulers.10 The tension came to a head in 604/1207â8 when a contingent of KhwÄrazmian troops arrested and executed the cityâs governor Ê¿Izz al-DÄ«n al-Ḥusayn b. KharmÄ«l for insubordination. A vizier of Ibn KharmÄ«l named SaÊ¿d al-DÄ«n al-TirmidhÄ«, a provincial vizier appointed in GhÅ«rid times, subsequently shut the city gates and declared allegiance to the GhÅ«rid GhiyÄth al-DÄ«n MaḥmÅ«d (r. 602â7/1206â10).11 The KhwÄrazmshÄh responded by ordering a siege of Herat, during which many were killed. Shortly afterwards, he was lost in battle with the QarÄ KhitÄy and presumed dead, plunging Khurasan in a brief period of uncertainty as a major power struggle loomed. However, it turned out that the KhwÄrazmshÄh had only been captured and managed to escape. He then swiftly restored control over his dominion, personally joined the siege of Herat, and reconquered the city in 605/1208.12
Against this background, we can attempt to interpret al-RÄzÄ«âs movements. His move to Gurganj in mid-604 (early 1208) was most likely prompted by the pro-GhÅ«rid rebellion that flared up in Herat, and may have preceded the KhwÄrazmian siege. He presumably sought refuge from the impending conflict and more importantly felt fearful of reprisal from the pro-GhÅ«rid rebels. His caution was well founded, as he had already become closely connected to the KhwÄrazmshÄh and moreover was accused of having conspired, on the latterâs behalf, in the murder of the GhÅ«rid MuÊ¿izz al-DÄ«n.13
Al-RÄzÄ« was still in Gurganj on 6 RabÄ«Ê¿ II 605 (18 October 1208), though by then he had moved from temporary accommodation at the sultanâs palace to his own residence.14 He was back in Herat by 27 Rajab 605 (4 February 1209).15 So at some point between these two dates, he fell ill in Gurganj and was subsequently brought back to Herat. Judging by the rate of his writing productivity and its abrupt end, he is likely to have returned closer to the latter date, for between RabÄ«Ê¿ I (October 1208) and Rajab 605 (January 1209) al-RÄzÄ« completed books 2â8 of his major work al-Maá¹Älib al-Ê¿Äliya, but he is not known to have written any works after the latter date.16 It is more plausible that his illness started after this period of writing activity, rather than before or during it. By the time of al-RÄzÄ«âs return to Herat, the KhwÄrazmshÄh had restored his control over the city, and he accommodated al-RÄzÄ« upon his arrival at the royal residence (dÄr al-salá¹ana), presumably located in the citadel of Herat, where the latter remained until he died.17 At the royal residence, his safety was guaranteed and he received the best medical attention.
In all likelihood, therefore, al-RÄzÄ«âs stretch of prolonged illness started in mid-to-late Rajab 605 (late January 1209), approximately fourteen months prior to his passing on Monday, 1 ShawwÄl 606 (29 March 1210). For much of this period, he was able to deliver lessons and sermons, although these are likely to have been delivered to smaller groups. We have reports of individuals studying with him; and the obituary reports that he delivered his last lesson on Friday, 22 ShaÊ¿bÄn 606 (19 February 1210) (l. 44; tr. l. 70).18 Six months into his illness, al-RÄzÄ«âs health may have deteriorated to the extent that he felt that he needed to dictate his testament on 21 Muḥarram 606 (26 July 1209), although his health is likely to have subsequently improved. On 13 RabÄ«Ê¿ II 606 (15 October 1209), he hosted officials and other notables on the occasion of the circumcision of his son Shams al-DÄ«n AbÅ« Bakr Ê¿AbdallÄh.19 The later date given in the obituary, 27 ShaÊ¿bÄn 606 (24 February 1210), marks another, sudden deterioration in his health, resulting in an acute illness that ultimately led to his death a little over a month afterwards.
3 Funeral and Burial
The obituary also affords details on al-RÄzÄ«âs funeral and burial. At the end of his testament, al-RÄzÄ« dictated a will consisting of various instructions affecting him and his family to his students and associates. These include the following instruction to the student who wrote the testament down:
Hereby I command him and all my students and all who are indebted to me that, at the hour of my death, they should go to the greatest lengths in the concealment of my death and not let anyone know about it. Then, they should cover me in a shroud for the grave and bury me according to the stipulations of the religious law. Let them carry me to the mountain that is near to the village of MazdÄkhÄn and there lay me in my grave [â¦]20
There are two instructions here, one concerning the need to conceal his death, and the other concerning the burial place. But were these instructions carried out?
Al-RÄzÄ«âs highly unusual instruction that his death should be concealed and that his funeral and burial should be conducted in secret reveals a profound anxiety. The fear that his remains might be exhumed or his tomb desecrated, apart from being an indignity, would have caused great suffering to his soul, for in his later works al-RÄzÄ« held that the soul maintained a posthumous connection to the body and was affected favorably or adversely by aspects of the bodyâs condition and surroundings.21 As for the source of this threat, the biographer Ibn al-Qifá¹Ä« (d. 646/1248) explains that al-RÄzÄ« made the request for fear that his remains would be exhumed and mutilated by âcommon peopleâ (Ê¿Ämma).22 This interpretation has been accepted universally and understood to refer to the KarrÄmÄ« populace of Herat, who continued to harbor enmity towards al-RÄzÄ« for his leading role under the GhÅ«rids in promoting AshÊ¿arism and ShÄfiÊ¿ism at the expense of KarrÄmism.23 Yet while the KarrÄmÄ« populace did pose an immediate threat, al-RÄzÄ« was likely more concerned about the prospect of the resurgence of a GhÅ«rid faction, who would have exacted revenge against him in the established practice of exhuming, mutilating and burning an enemyâs remains.24 As already mentioned, he stood accused by some of plotting the assassination, just over three years prior, of the GhÅ«rid sultan MuÊ¿izz al-DÄ«n on behalf of the KhwÄrazmshÄh, whom he now served. What is more, during his political career he earned the enmity of the KarrÄmÄ« faction of the GhÅ«rids, who made an unsuccessful attempt to establish control over the GhÅ«rid realm after MuÊ¿izz al-DÄ«nâs death.25 The years following the assassination were marked by great uncertainty in GhÅ«rid and former-GhÅ«rid territory, and with Herat recently emerging from a pro-GhÅ«rid rebellion, a GhÅ«rid comeback could not be discounted. It is likely this prospect that concerned al-RÄzÄ« the most.
So extraordinary was al-RÄzÄ«âs instruction that his funeral and burial be conducted in secret that it attracted considerable attention in later sources and gave rise to embellishments in less reliable biographical accounts. Thus, al-ShahrazÅ«rÄ« (d. after 687/1288), an Illuminationist biographer unsympathetic to al-RÄzÄ«, makes the apparently interpretive claim that he asked to be buried under the cloak of night, clearly the best way to conduct a secret burial.26 Ibn al-Qifá¹Ä« recounts the peculiar report that a mock burial was staged publicly at the location designated in the testament and that al-RÄzÄ« was in reality interred secretly at his home.27 Both reports are almost certainly prompted by the contents of the widely-read testament and do not rely on independent data.
The obituary, in contrast, suggests that al-RÄzÄ«âs instructions were not carried out. The author cites his expressed wish for a large group (jamÄÊ¿a Ê¿aáºÄ«ma) of the residents of Herat to attend his funeral prayer, and confirms that this indeed is what occurred (ll. 71â4; tr. ll. 114â18). His body was duly carried by a large group of mourners in the early morning (ghadÄ) of Tuesday, 2 ShawwÄl 606 (30 March 1210), who proceeded first to open ground (á¹£aḥrÄʾ) outside the city walls, where the funeral prayer was held.28 The expression á¹£aḥrÄʾ often denotes a large open ground used for communal festival (Ê¿Ä«d) prayers, and in this instance should be understood to refer to the festival prayer ground outside Herat. This underscores the large turnout of people who attended al-RÄzÄ«âs funeral prayer.29
Al-RÄzÄ«âs supposed lack of concern for concealing his death and subsequent proceedings can be interpreted in more than one way. For some reason or other, perhaps because of shifts in political circumstances that diminished the perceived threat of a GhÅ«rid resurgence, al-RÄzÄ« may have had a change of heart in the eight months after dictating his testament and decided that it was no longer necessary to conceal his death. Another possibility is that, despite his instructions, news of his death swiftly and widely circulated in Herat, making it impossible to avoid a public funeral and burial. It is also conceivable that the authorâs portrayal of the funeral as having been well attended is a fiction intended to detract from al-RÄzÄ«âs instruction that it be concealed, which the author would have perceived as an undignified way to lay the great scholar to rest. We shall see shortly that the location of al-RÄzÄ«âs tomb suggests that the burial could not have been conducted in secret, making this last scenario unlikely.
As for the instruction that al-RÄzÄ« should be buried on a mountain (which we should understand to mean the top or side of a hill or mountain) near a village called MazdÄkhÄn (or MuzdÄkhÄn), premodern and recent sources have, again, accepted that he was indeed buried at that location.30 This village was most likely located in the southern foot of the ridge north of Herat, consisting mostly of hills with an altitude of 200â300m above the city and reaching peaks of approximately 500â600m. However, the precise location of this village remains unverifiable, as there appears to be no mention of it in independent sources. As far as I can tell, all other premodern and modern references to MazdÄkhÄn draw directly or indirectly on its mention in al-RÄzÄ«âs testament.31 A more serious problem arises from the inconsistency between al-RÄzÄ«âs chosen resting place and the topography of the actual location of his putative tomb. The tomb today lies approximately 2km north of where the old city walls of Herat once stood, alongside the important road that historically connected the city to northern Khurasan.32 It is located in what was the district (bulÅ«k) of KhiyÄbÄn, an important district of premodern Herat lying north of the city walls. The present site has long been recognized as the location of the tomb, at least since the 8th/14th century, when notable individuals were reported to have been buried within its walled enclosure (ḥaáºÄ«ra). The earliest known individual was a Sufi named QiwÄm al-DÄ«n Muḥammad al-Bisá¹ÄmÄ«, who died in 743/1343.33 By that time, KhiyÄbÄn had become the architectural focus of Timurid Herat, and al-RÄzÄ«âs tomb in particular had grown in importance and become a center for funerary construction in the area.34 The problem is that this location clearly does not match the one specified in al-RÄzÄ«âs testament, because KhiyÄbÄn lies on the plain of Herat and is devoid of any prominent topographic features. The present tomb is located about 1.5km, as the crow flies, from the foot of the nearest hill, and several kilometers from the nearest sizeable hill or mountain.35 It follows that al-RÄzÄ«âs putative tomb in KhiyÄbÄn cannot be located at the place described in the testament. If he was indeed buried near MazdÄkhÄn, then the present site of his tomb must be spurious.
The obituary, however, allows us to verify the present burial site with a high degree of confidence. The author reports that after the funeral prayer, al-RÄzÄ«âs body was buried beside his motherâs grave in the cemetery located in KhudÄbÄn (l. 74; tr. ll. 118â19). KhudÄbÄn is a well-attested earlier form of KhiyÄbÄn.36 This report thus stands as the sole contemporary evidence â indeed, the sole pre-Timurid evidence â for the location of al-RÄzÄ«âs tomb. It confirms that he was indeed buried in KhiyÄbÄn, where the tomb has been attested by our sources from Timurid times to the present; and we have no reason to contest that the present site is al-RÄzÄ«âs original burial place. Finally, because he was buried in the cemetery of KhiyÄbÄn at a location that remained known to later generations, and not on a remote hill or mountain, his death, funeral and burial are unlikely to have been concealed.
The location of al-RÄzÄ«âs tomb in Timurid Herat. Based on Allen, Timurid Herat, 94â96; id., Catalogue, 157â58.
Citation: Oriens 52, 3-4 (2024) ; 10.1163/18778372-12340036
To sum up, we have concluded that neither of the two aforementioned instructions in al-RÄzÄ«âs testament concerning his funeral and burial â namely, that they should be concealed, and that he should be buried on a hill or mountain near the village of MazdÄkhÄn â were carried out by his associates.37 His funeral was conducted in public, and he was buried in KhiyÄbÄn.
4 Al-RÄzÄ«âs Date of Birth
A further piece of information handed down to us in the obituary is al-RÄzÄ«âs date of birth: 25 Ramaá¸Än 544 (26 January 1150) (l. 23; tr. ll. 36â7). The sources previously available to us differ on whether he was born in the year 543 or 544.38 Most only give the year, and only Ibn KhallikÄn (d. 681/1282) among al-RÄzÄ«âs early biographers provides an exact date, the same date given in the obituary. However, Ibn KhallikÄn does not identify his source. Some confirmation of this approximate date is afforded by a passage in the TafsÄ«r, where al-RÄzÄ« states his age at the time of writing.39 The obituary provides us with the earliest and by far most reliable witness for his date of birth.
5 The Manuscript and Edition
The obituary is known to be transmitted in only one manuscript copy, which is housed at the Library of the Prophetâs Mosque, MS Medina, al-Masjid al-NabawÄ« 30/900, fols. 39bâ40a.40 The text is appended to a copy of al-RÄzÄ«âs ManÄqib al-ImÄm al-ShÄfiÊ¿Ä« (fols. 1aâ39b), and is followed by a copy of an advice text (waá¹£iyya) by his contemporary the Sufi AbÅ« Ḥafá¹£ al-SuhrawardÄ« (d. 632/1234) (fols. 40aâb). The copyistâs colophon, appearing at the end of al-SuhrawardÄ«âs text, dates the completion of the copy to 14 JumÄdÄ I 938 (24 December 1531) and identifies the copyist as Aḥmad b. Aḥmad b. Ê¿AlÄ« al-BÄbilÄ« al-ShÄfiÊ¿Ä«, evidently a professional scribe based in Egypt.41 The text is executed in a clear and elegant professional naskh hand, and is mostly dotted and partially vocalized.
The edited text has been modified in keeping with modern spelling conventions. Other emendations to the text are noted in the apparatus, and additions are inserted in square brackets.42
6 Timeline of the Last Two Years of al-RÄzÄ«âs Life
Citation: Oriens 52, 3-4 (2024) ; 10.1163/18778372-12340036
Translation
[Obituary for Our Master the ImÄm, He Who
Summons to God, Fakhr al-DÄ«n al-RÄzÄ«]
In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate
Glory be to him who is uniquely eternal and immune from passing away and
Now then, I pray [God] to grant me the fortitude to endure the harrowing a dversity and misfortune, so grievous that it would rend the earth or level
This dreadful calamity unfolded shortly before daybreak in the night of
It is related that an ascetic once visited him in his illness and, in a spontaneous moment, said, âFear not!â So [al-RÄzÄ«] berated and shouted at him saying, âQuiet, you fool! You are but a child, not yet having reached the stature of men. How do you say to someone like me not to fear death, when it is more
He then recited:
When he was done reciting, he apologized to the ascetic so as to soothe his heart. Indeed, he spoke the truth, for he beheld a [higher] world that neither
During his illness, he frequently turned to the exalted majesty of God, most high, with his heart absorbed in [Godâs] attributes of perfection, his thought focused on his vast glory, and his yearning to meet him intense.
The last lesson he delivered was on Friday, the twenty-second of ShaÊ¿bÄn. He
He often recited this during his illness:
When his illness intensified, someone suggested, âYou should entrust your childrenâs
His illness persisted until the first day of ShawwÄl, a Monday, when his condition further deteriorated. In the late afternoon, the veil was lifted for him,
No sooner had the subtle substance separated from the noble body, and had
In the early morning of Tuesday, they carried him to the festival prayer ground,43 and a large group of people performed the [funeral] prayer over
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Citation: Oriens 52, 3-4 (2024) ; 10.1163/18778372-12340036
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Citation: Oriens 52, 3-4 (2024) ; 10.1163/18778372-12340036
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Citation: Oriens 52, 3-4 (2024) ; 10.1163/18778372-12340036
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Citation: Oriens 52, 3-4 (2024) ; 10.1163/18778372-12340036
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Al-RÄzÄ« had a keen interest in poetry and composed poetry himself in both Arabic and Persian. Examples of his Arabic poetry are preserved by biographers, such as Ibn al-ShaÊ¿Ê¿Är and Ibn AbÄ« Uá¹£aybiÊ¿a. Ibn al-ShaÊ¿Ê¿Är, QalÄʾid al-jumÄn, ed. KÄmil al-JubÅ«rÄ«, 9 vols. (Beirut: DÄr al-kutub al-Ê¿ilmiyya, 2005), 5:84â88; Ibn AbÄ« Uá¹£aybiÊ¿a, Ê¿UyÅ«n al-anbÄʾ fÄ« á¹abaqÄt al-aá¹ibbÄʾ, ed. and trans. Emilie Savage-Smith, Simon Swain, Geert Jan van Gelder under the title A Literary History of Medicine: The Ê¿UyÅ«n al-anbÄʾ fÄ« á¹abaqÄt al-aá¹ibbÄʾ of Ibn AbÄ« Uá¹£aybiÊ¿ah, 5 vols., numbered 1, 2â1, 2â2, 3â1, 3â2 (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 2â2:874â76. In the obituary, he is quoted reciting poetry thrice, starting with a Persian quatrain that is sometimes attributed to Ê¿Umar al-KhayyÄm (d. 517/1126) (ll. 34â5; tr. ll. 52â5). The author, however, states that it was composed (anshaʾa) by al-RÄzÄ«; and indeed, Ibn AbÄ« Uá¹£aybiÊ¿a remarks that al-RÄzÄ«âs Persian poetry included quatrains. The three couplets of Persian poetry he is then quoted to have recited (l. 37â9; tr. ll. 57â62) are by SanÄʾī (d. 525/1131), ḤadÄ«qat al-ḥaqÄ«qa wa-sharÄ«Ê¿at al-á¹arÄ«qa, ed. Mudarris Raá¸awiÌ (Tehran: DÄnishgaÌh-i TihrÄn, 1359 AHsh/1980), 327; al-RÄzÄ« quotes him by name in AsrÄr al-tanzÄ«l wa-anwÄr al-taʾwÄ«l, ed. MaḥmÅ«d M. Muḥammad, BÄbÄ al-Shaykh Ê¿Umar and á¹¢Äliḥ M. Ê¿Abd al-FattÄḥ (Beirut: DÄr al-maÊ¿rifa, 2011), 148. The couplet of Arabic poetry (l. 50; tr. ll. 78â9) is not attested elsewhere and is presumably his own.
Ibn al-ShaÊ¿Ê¿Är, QalÄʾid, 5:83; al-á¹¢afadÄ«, al-WÄfÄ« bi-l-wafayÄt, ed. Hellmut Ritter et al., 30 vols. (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1962â2008), 4:248.
Ayman Shihadeh, âFakhr al-DÄ«n al-RÄzÄ« and GhÅ«rid Self-Fashioning,â Afghanistan 5.2 (2022): 253â92, esp. 270â71.
The Caliph invested him with the title âhe who summons to Godâ (al-dÄÊ¿Ä« ilÄ llÄh). See Shihadeh, âAl-RÄzÄ« and GhÅ«rid Self-Fashioning,â 282â84. The title appears in the obituary (l. 20; tr. l. 33).
A possible author is the genealogist Ê¿AzÄ«z al-DÄ«n IsmÄÊ¿Ä«l b. al-Ḥusayn al-AzwarqÄnÄ« al-MarwazÄ« (b. 572/1176, d. after 618/1221), who was a student and close associate of al-RÄzÄ« and was in Herat shortly before the latterâs death. On him, see YÄqÅ«t al-ḤamawÄ«, MuÊ¿jam al-udabÄʾ, ed. IḥsÄn Ê¿AbbÄs, 7 vols. (Beirut: DÄr al-gharb al-islÄmÄ«, 1993), 2:652â55. During this period, he penned a book on genealogy that al-RÄzÄ« commissioned, and titled it after him, al-FakhrÄ« fÄ« ansÄb al-á¹ÄlibiyyÄ«n, ed. MahdÄ« al-RajÄʾī (Qom: Maktabat Äyat AllÄh al-MarÊ¿ashÄ«, 1409 AH/1988 or 1989), 5â7. He mentions that he discussed a certain point with al-RÄzÄ« on âmultiple occasions,â including on 13 RabÄ«Ê¿ II 606 (15 October 1209). Al-RÄzÄ«, FakhrÄ«, 231. There is partial overlap between the epithets appended to al-RÄzÄ«âs name in both the obituary and the dedication in al-AzwarqÄnÄ«âs book. Al-RÄzÄ«, FakhrÄ«, 5: mafkhar banÄ« Ädam ⦠Fakhr al-milla wa-l-dÄ«n nÄá¹£ir al-islÄm wa-l-muslimÄ«n ⦠mufassir ⦠sulá¹Än Ê¿ulamÄʾ al-sharq wa-l-gharb ḥujjÄt AllÄh Ê¿alÄ l-khalq; cf. ll. 13â16 of the obituary; tr. ll. 22â7). However, the similarities are overall inconclusive, as at least some of these epithets were used widely for al-RÄzÄ« by his contemporaries.
He died when sunlight had âturned yellowâ (iá¹£farra), which is to say shortly before sunset (l. 61; tr. l. 95). The death date and time are confirmed by the copyist of a manuscript copy of al-RÄzÄ«âs KitÄb al-Jabr wa-l-qadar. MS Istanbul, Süleymaniye Library, Esad Efendi 1278, fols. 1bâ174b, fol. 111a. The copyist, Ê¿Abd al-JabbÄr b. Muḥsin al-JÄ«lÄ«, is a student of al-RÄzÄ«. Loc. cit., fol. 112a. He met the biographer Ibn al-ShaÊ¿Ê¿Är in Iraq or Syria. Ibn al-ShaÊ¿Ê¿Är, QalÄʾid, 5:84.
For instance, Frank Griffel, The Formation of Post-Classical Philosophy in Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2021), 548; and for the date, Ibn AbÄ« Uá¹£aybiÊ¿a, Ê¿UyÅ«n, 2â2:871.
Ibn AbÄ« Uá¹£aybiÊ¿a, Ê¿UyÅ«n, 2â2:871.
This is the date on which he completed the third and final section of RisÄlat Dhamm ladhdhÄt al-dunyÄ, as stated in the colophon. The first two sections were composed in Herat. Al-RÄzÄ«, Dhamm ladhdhÄt al-dunyÄ, in Ayman Shihadeh, The Teleological Ethics of Fakhr al-DÄ«n al-RÄzÄ« (Leiden: Brill, 2006), 265. It is noteworthy that a manuscript copy of his KitÄb al-FirÄsa was completed by al-RÄzÄ«âs aforementioned student al-JÄ«lÄ« (cf. n. 6 above) in KhwÄrazm on 1 ShaÊ¿bÄn 604 (20 February 1208). MS Istanbul, Süleymaniye Library, Esad Efendi 1278, fols. 175bâ191b, fol. 192b.
Ê¿Izz al-DÄ«n b. al-AthÄ«r, al-KÄmil fÄ« l-tÄrÄ«kh, ed. Carl Johann Tornberg, 14 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1851â76), 12:162; 12:172. On the KhwÄrazmian armyâs reputation for unruliness, see Clifford Edmund Bosworth, âThe Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (A.D. 1000â1217),â in The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 5: The Saljuq and Mongol Periods, ed. John Andrew Boyle (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968â91), 1â202, 5:183.
Ibn al-AthÄ«r, KÄmil, 12:172â4. On the post of provincial vizier, see Heribert Horst, Die Staatsverwaltung der GrosselgÌuÌqen und HÌ®oÌrazmsÌaÌhs (1038â1231): eine Untersuchung nach Urkundenformularen der Zeit (Wiesbaden: F. Steiner, 1964), 48â49.
Ibn al-AthÄ«r, KÄmil, 12:175â76. Ibn al-AthÄ«r says that the siege of Herat lasted for one year and one month, while JÅ«zjÄnÄ« says that it lasted for eleven months. ṬabaqÄt-i NÄá¹£irÄ«, ed. Ê¿Abd al-Ḥayy ḤabÄ«bÄ«, 2 vols. (Kabul: Anjuman-i tÄrÄ«kh-i AfghÄnistÄn, 1963â64), 1:259; cf. Peter Jackson, âThe Fall of the Ghurid Dynasty,â in Studies on the Mongol Empire and Early Muslim India (Farnham: Ashgate, 2009), VI, 16.
Shihadeh, âAl-RÄzÄ« and GhÅ«rid Self-Fashioning,â 268â69.
The authorâs colophon at the end of Book 3 of al-Maá¹Älib al-Ê¿Äliya states that it was completed then and there, and gives the name of the street in which the house is located. However, the name is illegible in the only manuscript copy in which the colophon is transmitted, MS Dublin, Chester Beatty Library, Ar 3114, fol. 147a (fÄ« l-dÄr al-mamlÅ«ka lÄ« fÄ« sikkat â¦). It is absent in the printed edition of the work. Book 2 of the Maá¹Älib was also completed in Gurganj, in the second half of RabÄ«Ê¿ I 605 (early October 1208). Al-Maá¹Älib al-Ê¿Äliya min al-Ê¿ilm al-ilÄhÄ«, ed. Aḥmad Ḥ. al-SaqqÄ, 8 vols. (published in 9 vols; however, vol. 9 is in fact a separate work wrongly included in the edition) (Beirut: DÄr al-kitÄb al-Ê¿arabÄ«, 1987), 2:151. Books 4â7 were completed between 1 JumÄdÄ I 605 (11 November 1208) and 4 Rajab 605 (12 January 1209), but the location is not specified. Maá¹Älib, 4:427; 5:185; 6:215; 7:428â29.
An anonymous note at the end of a manuscript of Avicennaâs RisÄlat al-ḤudÅ«d states that the text was read with al-RÄzÄ« in Herat on that date. Ê¿Abd al-AmÄ«r al-AÊ¿sam, al-Muá¹£á¹alaḥ al-falsafÄ« Ê¿inda l-Ê¿arab (Cairo: al-Hayʾa al-miá¹£riyya al-Ê¿Ämma li-l-kitÄb, 1989), 132. Two brothers also read al-RÄzÄ«âs MaÊ¿Älim and ArbaÊ¿Ä«n with him and received a ḥadÄ«th from him in the city in Ramaá¸Än 605 (FebruaryâMarch 1209). Ê¿AfÄ«f al-DÄ«n al-Maá¹arÄ« (not al-Ê¿UbÄdÄ«, as in the published edition), Dhayl á¹abaqÄt al-fuqahÄʾ al-ShÄfiÊ¿iyyÄ«n, ed. Aḥmad Ê¿U. HÄshim and Muḥammad Z. M. Ê¿Azab (Cairo: Maktabat al-thaqÄfa al-dÄ«niyya, 1989), 28â30. Cf. EÅref AltaÅ, âFahreddin er-Râzîânin hayatı, hâmileri, ilmî ve siyasî iliÅkileri,â in Ä°slâm düÅüncesinin dönüÅüm çaÄında Fahreddin er-Râzî, ed. Ãmer Türker and Osman Demir (Istanbul: Ä°SAM, 2013), 41â90, at 79â80.
I examine the complexities of dating the Maá¹Älib and al-RÄzÄ«âs other later works in a forthcoming study. Books 2â7 of the Maá¹Älib are dated in the authorâs colophons, respectively, to the second half of RabÄ«Ê¿ I 605 (early October 1208), 6 RabÄ«Ê¿ II 605 (18 October 1208), 1 JumÄdÄ I 605 (11 November 1208), 17 JumÄdÄ I 605 (27 November 1208), 12 JumÄdÄ II 605 (22 December 1208), and 4 Rajab 605 (12 January 1209). Book 8, probably incomplete, is undated but must have been written immediately after this last date. Al-RÄzÄ« also penned his short theological work MaÊ¿Älim uṣūl al-dÄ«n during this period. He did so in one day, on 7 JumÄdÄ I 605 (17 November 1208), as he indicates in a note found in MS Istanbul University Library 3613, fol. 82a.
Al-á¹¢afadÄ«, WÄfÄ«, 4:250; Ibn AbÄ« Uá¹£aybiÊ¿a, Ê¿UyÅ«n, 2â2:871. The latter reports that al-RÄzÄ«âs children continued to reside at the royal residence after his death.
See n. 15.
Al-AzwarqÄnÄ«, FakhrÄ«, 231. ShÄfiÊ¿Ä«s prefer to conduct circumcision on the seventh day after a childâs birth, but consider it obligatory on puberty. Shams al-DÄ«n AbÅ« Bakr could not have been a newborn when he was circumcised, as he is named in the testament, dated 21 Muḥarram 606 (26 July 1209), and is said there to have exhibited signs of intelligence. Al-RÄzÄ«, Waá¹£iyya, in Muḥammad al-ZarkÄn, Fakhr al-dÄ«n wa-ÄrÄʾuhu al-kalÄmiyya wa-l-falsafiyya (Beirut: DÄr al-fikr, 1963), 642; cf. Ibn AbÄ« Uá¹£aybiÊ¿a, Ê¿UyÅ«n, 2â2:870. He is therefore likely to have been circumcised around the age of ten.
Ibn AbÄ« Uá¹£aybiÊ¿a, Ê¿UyÅ«n, 2â2:874; translated by Emilie Savage-Smith et al., Literary History, 3â2:972, with minor amendments. Cf. al-RÄzÄ«, Waá¹£iyya, in al-ZarkÄn, Fakhr al-DÄ«n, 643. Although the testament received some attention in recent studies, none are relevant to the biographical questions examined here.
For instance, al-RÄzÄ«, Maá¹Älib, 7:275â77.
Ê¿AlÄ« b. YÅ«suf b. al-Qifá¹Ä«, TÄrÄ«kh al-ḥukamÄʾ, ed. Julius Lippert (Leipzig: Dieterichâsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1903), 291.
Shihadeh, âAl-RÄzÄ« and GhÅ«rid Self-Fashioning.â GhÅ«rid control of Herat ended just over three years before al-RÄzÄ« dictated his testament. Although his public role changed under the KhwÄrazmshÄh, he must have continued to advocate against the KarrÄmiyya. There was even a rumor that he died after being poisoned by them. Ibn al-Qifá¹Ä«, TÄrÄ«kh, 292; al-á¹¢afadÄ«, WÄfÄ«, 4:258; Ê¿AbdallÄh b. AsÊ¿ad al-YÄfiÊ¿Ä«, MirʾÄt al-jinÄn wa-Ê¿ibrat al-yaqáºÄn fÄ« maÊ¿rifat mÄ yuÊ¿tabaru min ḥawÄdith al-zamÄn, 4 vols. (Beirut: DÄr al-kutub al-Ê¿ilmiyya, 1997), 4:8.
For an earlier example, see JÅ«zjÄnÄ«, ṬabaqÄt, 1:353â54.
Jackson, âFall of the Ghurid Dynasty,â 6ff.; Ibn al-AthÄ«r, KÄmil, 12:146â48. This faction was led by the hard-line KarrÄmÄ« Ê¿AlÄʾ al-DÄ«n Muḥammad b. AbÄ« Ê¿AlÄ« (d. shortly after 612/1215), who was al-RÄzÄ«âs principal antagonist when the latter was in the service of the GhÅ«rids. Shihadeh, âAl-RÄzÄ« and GhÅ«rid Self-Fashioning,â 262; 265â66; 269. Although Ê¿AlÄʾ al-DÄ«n was imprisoned by GhiyÄth al-DÄ«n MaḥmÅ«d, who established himself as GhÅ«rid sultan, the possibility of a resurgence of the KarrÄmÄ« faction could not have been excluded in 605/1209. Like his father GhiyÄth al-DÄ«n Muḥammad, GhiyÄth al-DÄ«n MaḥmÅ«d was a ShaÌfiÊ¿iÌ.
Shams al-DÄ«n al-ShahrazÅ«rÄ«, Nuzhat al-arwÄḥ wa-rawá¸at al-afrÄḥ, ed. Ê¿Abd al-KarÄ«m BÅ« Shuwayrib (Tripoli: JamÊ¿iyyat al-daÊ¿wa al-islÄmiyya al-Ê¿Älamiyya, 1988), 394.
Ibn al-Qifá¹Ä«, TÄrÄ«kh, 291; and, following him, Bar Hebraeus (= GhriÌghuÌryuÌs al-MalatÌ£iÌ b. al-Ê¿IbrÄ«), TÄrÄ«kh mukhtaá¹£ar al-duwal, ed. Anṭūn SÌ£aÌlhÌ£aÌniÌ (Beirut: al-Maá¹baÊ¿a al-kÄthÅ«lÄ«kiyya li-l-ÄbÄʾ al-yasÅ«Ê¿iyyÄ«n, 1890), 419.
The timeline is more convincing than Ibn KhallikÄnâs report that al-RÄzÄ« was buried later on the same day he died. Shams al-DÄ«n b. KhallikÄn, WafayÄt al-aÊ¿yÄn, ed. IḥsÄn Ê¿AbbÄs, 8 vols. (Beirut: DÄr á¹¢Ädir, 1968â77), 4:252.
The expression á¹£aḥrÄʾ is used here in the sense of bare open ground. Legal discussions on the preferred location of the festival prayer posit a choice between the mosque and the á¹£aḥrÄʾ. E.g. al-Ḥusayn b. MasÊ¿Å«d al-BaghawÄ«, al-TahdhÄ«b, ed. Ê¿Ädil A. Ê¿Abd al-MawjÅ«d and Ê¿AlÄ« M. MuÊ¿awwaá¸, 8 vols. (Beirut: DÄr al-kutub al-Ê¿ilmiyya, 1997), 2:374. And the funerals of notables were often conducted at festival prayer grounds. So it is reasonable to conclude that al-RÄzÄ«âs funeral prayer took place at the festival prayer grounds of Herat. In earlier, Ghaznavid times, those grounds were located in the district of KhiyÄbÄn. AbÅ« l-Faá¸l Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn al-BayhaqÄ«, TÄrÄ«kh-i BayhaqÄ«, trans. Clifford Edmund Bosworth under the title The History of Beyhaqi, 3 vols. (Boston, Mass.: Ilex Foundation, 2011), 2:277, where the district is referred to using its earlier name, KhudÄbÄn, to which we shall return in n. 36 below. This was probably the same location that the festival prayer ground had in later, Timurid times â namely, at the southern foot of mount MukhtÄr (see the map on p. 193). As we shall see shortly, al-RÄzÄ« was buried close by in the same district of KhiyÄbÄn.
Ibn KhallikÄn, 4:252 (who pronounces the name of the village as MuzdÄkhÄn; the original name was presumably MazdÄ KhÄn); and following him, Fakhr al-DÄ«n b. al-MuÊ¿allim, Najm al-muhtadÄ« wa-rajm al-muÊ¿tadÄ«, ed. BilÄl al-SaqqÄ, 2 vols. (Damascus: DÄr al-taqwÄ, 2019), 1:543; Badr al-DÄ«n al-Ê¿AynÄ«, Ê¿Iqd al-jumÄn fÄ« tÄrÄ«kh ahl al-zamÄn, ed. Muḥammad M. AmÄ«n, 4 vols. (Cairo: DÄr al-kutub wa-l-wathÄʾiq al-qawmiyya, 2010â14), 3:240; Terry Allen, A Catalogue of the Toponyms and Monuments of Timurid Herat (Cambridge, Mass.: Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1981), 180; Aḥmad M. A. El-Galli, âThe History and Doctrines of the KarrÄmiyya Sect with Special Reference to ar-RÄzÄ«âs Criticismâ (doctoral thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1970), 27â29; AltaÅ, âRâzîânin hayatı,â 80â81; Griffel, Formation, 299.
This is true, for instance, of SaljÅ«qÄ«, who revived MazdÄkhÄn as a toponym in contemporary Herat, KhiyÄbÄn (Kabul: Anjuman-i jÄmÄ«, WizÄrat-i maá¹bÅ«Ê¿Ät, 1343 AH (1964), 66, and, following him, Allen, Catalogue, 75.
Coordinates: 34 °21â54.6âN 62 °11â04.9âE. See the map opposite.
Faṣīḥ KhwÄfÄ« (d. after 845/1441), Mujmal-i Faṣīḥī, ed. MaḥmÅ«d Farrukh, 3 vols. (Mashhad: KitaÌbfuruÌshiÌ-yi baÌstaÌn, 1960â62), 3:64. A grandson of TimÅ«r was also buried in the enclosure in 809/1407. Ê¿AbdallÄh b. Luá¹f AllÄh ḤÄfiáº-i AbrÅ«, Zubdat al-tawÄrÄ«kh, ed. KamÄl H. S. JawÄdÄ«, 2 vols. (Tehran: SaÌzmaÌn-i chaÌp wa intishaÌraÌt-i wizaÌrat-i farhang wa irshaÌd-i islaÌmiÌ, 1372 AHsh/1993â94), 1:162. See Allen, Catalogue, 180, for references to further burials in the enclosure. References to the site are also attested in 9th/15th-century sources, particularly MuÊ¿Ä«n al-DÄ«n IsfizÄrÄ« (fl. late 9th/15th c.), Rawá¸Ät al-jannÄt fÄ« awá¹£Äf madÄ«nat HarÄt, ed. Muḥammad KÄáºim ImÄm, 2 vols. (Tehran: DaÌnishgaÌh-i TihraÌn, 1959), 2:332; DawlatshÄh SamarqandÄ« (d. 900/1494 or 913/1507), Tadhkirat al-shuÊ¿arÄʾ, ed. Edward G. Browne (London: Luzac & Co., 1901), 136â37; and Muḥammad MÄ«rkhwÄnd (d. 903/1498), Rawá¸at al-á¹£afÄ, ed. Ê¿AbbÄs ZaryÄb, 2 vols. (Tehran: IntishaÌraÌt-i Ê¿ilmÄ«, 1994), 2:1133â34.
On KhiyÄbÄn and in particular the area surrounding al-RÄzÄ«âs tomb, see Terry Allen, Timurid Herat (Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1983), 18ff.; 32; passim; cf. SaljÅ«qÄ«, KhiyÄbÄn.
This is evident from topographic maps. See the map opposite; cf. Rubina K. Salikuddin, âSufis, Saints, and Shrine: Piety in the Timurid Period, 1370â1507â (doctoral thesis, Harvard University, 2018), 223, where the elevation from Darb-i Malik, the north-western gate in the city wall, to al-RÄzÄ«âs tomb is estimated to be a mere 20m.
Mohammad Atashinbar and Heshmatollah Motedayen, âFading out the Sema[n]tic Dimension of Street in Iran (from the Ancient Times to Today) [sic.],â Bagh-e Naáºar (English edition) 15 (2019): 81. YÄqÅ«t al-ḤamawÄ« pronounces the name as KhudhÄbÄn. MuÊ¿jam al-buldÄn under the title Jacutâs Geographisches Wörterbuch, ed. Ferdinand Wüstenfeld, 6 vols. (Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, 1866â73), 2:407. A large cemetery still existed in KhiyÄbÄn in Kartid and Timurid times. Allen, Catalogue, 166; Timurid Herat, 32; 96.
Another, minor apparent inconsistency is that in his will he instructs an unnamed person to act as a guardian for his children. Waá¹£iyya, in al-ZarkÄn, Fakhr al-DÄ«n, 642. In contrast, the author of the obituary reports that al-RÄzÄ« was asked to name a guardian but refused to do so and instead entrusted his children to God (ll. 51â6; tr. ll. 80â8). There are several ways to account for this rather trivial inconsistency.
Year 543: Ibn al-AthÄ«r, KÄmil, 12:190; Ibn al-Qifá¹Ä«, TÄrÄ«kh, 292; Ibn al-ShaÊ¿Ê¿Är, QalÄʾid, 5:84. Year 544: Ibn KhallikÄn, WafayÄt, 4:252; al-ḤamawÄ«, MuÊ¿jam al-buldÄn, 6:2585.
Al-RÄzÄ«, al-TafsÄ«r al-kabÄ«r, 32 vols. (Cairo: al-Maá¹baÊ¿a al-bahiyya, 1938), 18:145 (where he says that he had reached the age of fifty-seven); cf. al-ZarkÄn, Fakhr al-DÄ«n, 16. The passage is dated Rajab or early ShaÊ¿bÄn 601 (March or early April 1205); cf. TafsÄ«r, 18:82; 18:229 (dated, respectively, Rajab 601 and 7 ShaÊ¿bÄn 601).
Although this is the number given on the flyleaf and titlepage of the manuscript (fols. ia; 1a), the library catalogue gives the number as 29/900. Makhá¹Å«á¹Ät Maktabat al-masjid al-nabawÄ« al-sharÄ«f (Medina: Maktabat al-Masjid al-nabawÄ« al-sharÄ«f, 2007), 717, no. 1661. The latter number appears on the flyleaf (fol. ia), but is crossed out. The brief description provided in the catalogue mentions the obituary only in passing.
The nisba derives from the village of BÄbil near Ṭaná¹Ä in lower Egypt. Cf. Shams al-DÄ«n al-BÄbilÄ« al-QÄhirÄ«, on whom see al-MuḥibbÄ«, KhulÄá¹£at al-athar fÄ« aÊ¿yÄn al-qarn al-ḥÄdÄ« Ê¿ashar, 4 vols. (Cairo: al-Maá¹baÊ¿a al-wahbiyya, 1284 AH (1867â68), 4:39â42. The Egyptian link is confirmed by three further manuscripts signed by the same copyist: MS Istanbul, Yeni Cami 460 (a copy of AbÅ« Bakr al-ḤaddÄd, al-Jawhara al-nayyira), whose colophon states that the copy was commissioned by an official based in Egypt, fol. 292a; MS Cairo, DÄr al-kutub wa-l-wathÄʾiq al-qawmiyya 2128 (Ibn al-HumÄm, Fatḥ al-qadÄ«r), located in Egypt; MS Istanbul, Yeni Cami 483 (TaqÄ« al-DÄ«n al-ShummanÄ«, Sharḥ al-NiqÄya), a copy of a text written by a 9th/15th-century Egyptian author, which circulated principally in Egypt. Other manuscripts signed by the copyist include MS Istanbul, Nuruosmaniye 1037 (al-NawawÄ«, al-MinhÄj Sharḥ á¹¢aḥīḥ Muslim), and MS Istanbul, Nuruosmaniye 1782 (al-QudÅ«rÄ«, Mukhtaá¹£ar). I have consulted all five manuscripts.
I am grateful to the anonymous referees for their comments, and to Narguess Farzad and Professor Mohammed Rustom for discussing aspects of the edited text with me. I alone am responsible for the contents of this article.
Literally, âopen ground.â See p. 190 above.
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Sic.
