Shaykh Ahmad ibn Abi Talib Tabarsi known as Shaykh Tabarsi ( Persian/

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: ), was a 12th-century Persian Shia scholar who died in 548 AH (1153 CE).

Life

Tabarsi was born in the year 1073 AD in Tabaristan province or some scholars said in Tafresh a city which was named at those days Tabres, Iran.Islamic Insights Magazine » Shaikh Tabarsi
/ref> He lived and taught in Mashhad until the year 1128 AD. He wrote a number of books on doctrine, theology, ethics and grammar. He wrote his famous work, a commentary on the Quran, when he was over the age of sixty, living in Sabzawar.Bio of Shaykh Tabarsi
/ref> He had many students, most famous are his son Radhi ad-Din Tabarsi, author of the book
Makarim al-Akhlaq
', and Ibn Shahr-e Ashub. He was killed in the Oghuz invasion to Khorasan. The location of his grave is disputed as to it being within the Imām Ridhā Shrine complexShaykh Tabarsi Mausoleum Mashad
/ref> or whether it lies in Mazandaran. The shrine located in Mazandaran was the location of the

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

between the forces of the

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and the Bábís, followers of the Báb, over the period October 10, 1848 to May 10, 1849.

Work and contribution

Tabarsi had many works, but only around 20 of his books are survived to the present time. His main work is ''Majma‘ al-bayān'' (Compendium of Elucidations on the Exegesis of the Quran), a commentary ( tafsir) of

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

. While Shia Scholars have written many commentaries of the Quran, none has been able to match the eloquence and magnitude of his book. He completed writing this book in the year 1139 AD. His other works are al-Kafi al-shall and Jawami al-Jami.

Notes

References

* 1073 births 1153 deaths 12th-century Iranian writers People from Tafresh People from Qaem Shahr Burials in Mashhad Burials at Imam Reza Shrine Shaykh Tabarsi tomb, Mashhad ">Imam Reza shrine, Mashhad {{Iran-bio-stub