Sadīd ud-Dīn Muhammad Ibn Muhammad 'Aufī Bukhārī (1171-1242) ( fa, سدید الدین محمد عوفی), also known under the
laqab
Arabic language
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 ...
Nour ud-Dīn, was a
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
,
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
, and
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
.
Biography
Born in
Bukhara
Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...
, Aufi claimed descent from
Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf (d. 654) a companion of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
.
He grew up during the apex of the
Islamic Golden Age
The Islamic Golden Age was a period of cultural, economic, and scientific flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 14th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign ...
and spent many years traveling, exploring, and lecturing to the common folk and the royalty alike in
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
,
Khorasan
Khorasan may refer to:
* Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
* Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
,
Khwarezm,
Samarkand,
Merv
Merv ( tk, Merw, ', مرو; fa, مرو, ''Marv''), also known as the Merve Oasis, formerly known as Alexandria ( grc-gre, Ἀλεξάνδρεια), Antiochia in Margiana ( grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐν τῇ Μαργιανῇ) and ...
,
Nishapur,
Sistan
Sistān ( fa, سیستان), known in ancient times as Sakastān ( fa, سَكاستان, "the land of the Saka"), is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran ( Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and Southern Afghanistan (N ...
and
Ghaznin. Apparently Aufi was for some time in the service of the
Qarakhanid
The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; ), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia in the 9th through the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek K ...
Uthman ibn Ibrahim
Uthman ibn Ibrahim was a Karakhanid ruler in Transoxiana from 1204 to 1212.
Biography
Uthman was the son of the Karakhanid Ibrahim ibn Hussein (1178-1202/1203).Karev, Yury. "Qarakhanid wall paintings in the citadel of Samarqand: first report ...
who placed him in charge of his correspondence (dīvān-e ensha). Aufi left Samarkand before 1204. Later he spent most of his time at the court of the
Ghurids
The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; fa, دودمان غوریان, translit=Dudmân-e Ğurīyân; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a Persianate dynasty and a clan of presumably eastern Iranian Tajik origin, which ruled from the ...
. He dedicated his first grand work ''
Lubab ul-Albab ''Lubab ul-Albab'' (لباب الالباب) is a famous anthology written by Zahiriddin Nasr Muhammad Aufi in the early 13th century in eastern Persia.
It is considered as the oldest extant biographical work in Persian literature and the most im ...
'', which consisted of poems by kings and poets of ancient times, to
Amir Nāsiruddīn Qobājeh (ناصرالدین قباجه) (d. 1227), who was then ruler of
Multan
Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab.
Multan is one of the List ...
.
His second magnum opus ''
Jawami ul-Hikayat
''Jawāmi ul-Hikāyāt wa Lawāmi' ul-Riwāyāt'' ("Collections of Stories and Illustrations of Histories", commonly known by the shorter title, ''Jawāmi ul-Hikāyāt'', also transcribed ''Djami al-Hikayat'' and ''Jami al-Hikayat'') (جوامع ا ...
'' was written under the name of the Vizier of the Ghurid Amir of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
. He lived during the reign of
Shamsuddin Iltutmish
Shams ud-Din Iltutmish ( fa, شمس الدین ایلتتمش; died 30 April 1236, ) was the third of the Mamluk kings who ruled the former Ghurid territories in northern India. He was the first Muslim sovereign to rule from Delhi, and is thus ...
(
Altamash
Shams ud-Din Iltutmish ( fa, شمس الدین ایلتتمش; died 30 April 1236, ) was the third of the Mamluk kings who ruled the former Ghurid territories in northern India. He was the first Muslim sovereign to rule from Delhi, and is thus ...
) (r. 1211–1236) who was the third Muslim Turkic sultan of the
Sultanate of Delhi, and the book is dedicated to his minister, Nizām-ul-Mulk Muhammad, son of Abu Sa'id Junaidi.
These two are the only remaining works from him today. His works on ''The History of Turkistani Lords'', and his book ''On the Properties of Matter'', both referenced elsewhere, do not exist anymore. A small fragment of his ''Madāyih al-Sultān'' remains.
Works
* ''
Lubab ul-Albab ''Lubab ul-Albab'' (لباب الالباب) is a famous anthology written by Zahiriddin Nasr Muhammad Aufi in the early 13th century in eastern Persia.
It is considered as the oldest extant biographical work in Persian literature and the most im ...
'' (Heart of hearts, لباب الالباب), published 1220.
* ''Al-Farj ba'd ul-Shudat'' (Joy after difficulty, الفرج بعد الشدة), translated 1226.
* ''
Jawami ul-Hikayat
''Jawāmi ul-Hikāyāt wa Lawāmi' ul-Riwāyāt'' ("Collections of Stories and Illustrations of Histories", commonly known by the shorter title, ''Jawāmi ul-Hikāyāt'', also transcribed ''Djami al-Hikayat'' and ''Jami al-Hikayat'') (جوامع ا ...
'' (Collection of tales and the light of traditions, جوامع الحكايات و لوامع الروايات), published 1228.
Work online
*
See also
*
List of Iranian scientists
The following is a non-comprehensive list of Iranian scientists, engineers, and scholars who lived from antiquity up until the beginning of the modern age. For the modern era, see List of contemporary Iranian scientists, scholars, and engineer ...
*
List of Persian poets and authors
The list is not comprehensive, but is continuously being expanded and includes Persian writers and poets from Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, India, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. This list is alphabetized by chronological or ...
References
External links
*
*
People from Bukhara
Aufi
Aufi
13th-century Iranian historians
Iranian emigrants to India
Historians of India
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