Ayn-al-Qużāt Hamadānī, also spelled Ain-al Quzat Hamedani or ʿAyn-al Qudat Hamadhani (1098–1131) ( fa, عین القضات همدانی), full name: Abu’l-maʿālī ʿabdallāh Bin Abībakr Mohammad Mayānejī ( fa, ابوالمعالی عبدالله بن ابیبکر محمد میانجی), was a Persian
jurisconsult
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
,
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...
and
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
who was executed at the age of 33.AYN-AL-QOŻĀT HAMADĀNĪ in Encyclopedia Iranica by G. Böwering /ref>
Title
''Ayn-al-Qużat'' in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
means "the pearl of the judges": ''Ayn'' means the eye, implying something very valuable, and ''Qozat'' is the plural of ''
Qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
'', which means judge.
Life
He was born in
Hamedan
Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') (Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ham ...
and his ancestors were of Hamedan
judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
s. He was a disciple of
Ahmad Ghazali
Ahmad Ghazālī ( fa, احمد غزالی; full name Majd al-Dīn Abū al-Fotuḥ Aḥmad Ghazālī) was a Sunni Muslim Persian Sufi mystic, writer, preacher and the head of Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad (c. 1061–1123 or 1126). He is best known in the ...
and devoted of Hallaj. He became a famous scholar at early age, and by the time he was thirty he was chosen to be a judge. Along with Abu Hamed
Al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111; ), full name (), and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali (Persian: امام محمد غزالی) or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Persian poly ...
, he is one of the founders of doctrinal
Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality ...
. According to some accounts, he was briefly a pupil of
Omar Khayyam
Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīsābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131), commonly known as Omar Khayyam ( fa, عمر خیّام), was a polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, an ...
. Upon his return from pilgrimage, Khayyam likely stayed in Hamadan for some time. It is possible that during his stay he became tutor to the young Ain al-Quzat.Mehdi Aminrazavi, ''The Wine of Wisdom: The Life, Poetry and Philosophy of Omar Khayyam'',
Oneworld Publications
Oneworld Publications is a British independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Novin Doostdar and Juliet Mabey originally to publish accessible non-fiction by experts and academics for the general market. Unlike most of the Sufis who have lived as respected and revered members of their communities, he fell afoul of the Seljuk rulers and was accused of heresy and executed, either by crucifixion or burning.
Ayn al-Quzat along with Mansur al-Hallaj and
Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi
"Shihāb ad-Dīn" Yahya ibn Habash Suhrawardī ( fa, شهابالدین سهروردی, also known as Sohrevardi) (1154–1191) was a PersianEdward Craig, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "al-Suhrawardi, Shihab al-Din Yahya (1154-91)" Ro ...
are known as the three martyrs of Sufism.
Work
The most significant works of Ayn al-Qożāt are ''Tamhīdāt (; Preludes)'' and ''Zubdat al-ḥaqāʾiq fī kašf al-ḵalāʾeq (; The Essence of Truth)''. Both books are masterpieces of
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
literature and have mystical and philosophical significance.
Ayn al-Qożāt Hamadānī quoted a few verses apparently in his own
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
A famous quatrain is said to be his:
This quatrain refers to his execution by Caliph's order.
See also
*
Persian literature
Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...