Shubhalishoʿ () was an East Syriac monk, missionary and martyr of the late 8th century. According to Thomas of Margā's ''Book of Governors'', Shubhalishoʿ was an Ishmaelite (i.e., an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

) and his native language was

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 ...

. He was probably a native Christian of Ḥirtā, since he was "trained in the Holy Scriptures and instructed" in

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...

. He was also fluent in Syriac and Persian. He became a monk at the

monastery of Beth ʿAbe A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

. There he suffered abuse at the hands of his fellow monks until the Patriarch Timothy I rebuked them. Shortly after 780, Shubhalishoʿ was commissioned by the patriarch to lead a team of monks to evangelise the regions of

Daylam Daylam (), also known in the plural form Daylaman () (and variants such as Dailam, Deylam, and Deilam), was the name of a mountainous region of inland Gilan, Iran. It was so named for its inhabitants, known as the Daylamites. The Church of the Ea ...

and

Gilan Gilan Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, in the northwest of the country and southwest of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is the city of Rasht. The province lies along the Caspian Sea, in Iran's Region 3, west of the province of ...

. For this purpose, Timothy consecrated him

metropolitan bishop In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...

of Daylam and Gilan. According to Thomas, he went "with exceedingly great splendour, for barbarian nations need to see a little worldly pomp and show to attract them ... to Christianity". This was paid for by wealthy local Syriac Christians. The Daylamites were predominantly Zoroastrians and pagans, although Thomas describes Shubhalishoʿ as also preaching to Marcionites and Manichaeans. His preaching was accompanied by miracles, since, according to Thomas, "the Divine dispensation is accustomed to shew forth mighty works at the beginning of Divine operations." Thomas says that "he taught and baptised many towns and numerous villages", built churches, established ministers, ordered the teaching of the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

and hymns and went "deep inland to the farthest end of the East." Shubhalishoʿ remained for many years in Daylam and Gilan. He was assassinated by some disgruntled Zoroastrians after returning to his monastery. A monk, Qardagh, from within the mission was appointed to succeed him as metropolitan and the mission continued. Shubhalishoʿ's life is known through several distinct passages in the ''Book of Governors'', which Thomas wrote around 840. Thomas is full of praise for Shubhalishoʿ's education and abilities and gives him the title Rabban Mar. He names as one of his sources "the letter which some merchants and secretaries of the kings, who had penetrated as far as hose countries of the Dailamites and Gilaniansfor the sake of commerce and of affairs of State, wrote to Mar Timothy." He also names the Patriarch Abraham II as one of his sources. Shubhalishoʿ is also mentioned in Letter 47 of Timothy I, written shortly before the patriarch's death in 828. Timothy calls him Shubhalishoʿ of Beth Daylamaye and says that he "plaited a crown of martyrdom."

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* * * * * * * {{refend Syrian Christian saints 8th-century births 8th-century Christian martyrs Arab Christians 8th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate Nestorians in the Abbasid Caliphate Syrian Christian monks Christian missionaries in Iran History of Gilan 8th-century Arab people