Abu Tahir Tarsusi ( fa, ابوطاهر طرسوسی) was an
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 ...
story-teller and writer of the 12th century.
No information exists about his life. His ''
nisba
The Arabic word nisba (; also transcribed as ''nisbah'' or ''nisbat'') may refer to:
* Nisba, a suffix used to form adjectives in Arabic grammar, or the adjective resulting from this formation
**comparatively, in Afro-Asiatic: see Afroasiatic_lang ...
'' Tarsusi (also spelled Tartusi) indicates a connection to either
Tarsus in
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
or
Tartus
)
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, imagesize =
, image_caption = Tartus corniche Port of Tartus • Tartus beach and boulevard Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa • Al-Assad Stadium&n ...
in
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. His parents, or perhaps himself, may have resettled in Asia Minor or Syria. During this period, this area served as a fronter region between the Muslims and Christians, and was constantly affected by war and raids. Rule over the area shifted various times between the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and numerous Muslim states. This made the Muslim residents migrate to other Muslim lands, and Abu Tahir, or his ancestors, were one of those people. Some of Abu Tahir's stories indicate that was an adherant of
Shia Islam
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, m ...
.
Abu Tahir's Iranian background is confirmed by his grasp over the Persian language, as well as the theme of his stories, such as the ''
Darab-nama
The ''Darab-nama'' ( fa, دارابنامه) (Book of Daaraab) is a Persian language, Persian prose romance, written by the 12th-century writer Abu Tahir Tarsusi, in which the adventures of the Kayanian dynasty, Kayanid Iranian Kai Darab, King ...
'' and ''Qahraman-nama'', both of which are mainly focused on historical or legendary figures of ancient Iran.
Abu Tahir is known to have written seven books.
References
Sources
* {{Encyclopaedia Islamica, last=Bernjian, first=Farhoud, year=2008, title=Abū Ṭāhir Ṭarsūsī, url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-islamica/*-COM_0145
12th-century Iranian people