Abu Ali Fadhl ibn Hasan Tabresi ( Persian/

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 ...

:ابو على فضل بن حسن طبرسى) known as Shaykh Tabarsi, was a 12th-century Persian

Shia 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, mos ...

scholar who died in 548 AH (1153 CE).

Life

Tabresi was born in the year 1073 AD in

Tabaristan Tabaristan or Tabarestan ( fa, طبرستان, Ṭabarestān, or mzn, تبرستون, Tabarestun, ultimately from Middle Persian: , ''Tapur(i)stān''), was the name applied to a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. ...

province or some scholars said in

Tafresh Tafresh ( fa, تفرش, ''Tafreš'') is a city and the capital of Tafresh County, in Markazi Province, Iran. As of the 2011 census, its population was 25,912 (including 12,884 men and 13,028 women). Tafresh is located amidst high mountains so ...

a city which was named at those days Tabres, Iran.Islamic Insights Magazine » Shaikh Tabarsi
/ref> He lived and taught in

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of Razavi Khorasan Province and has a po ...

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 Sabzwār ( fa, سبزوار) is a town and the center of the Sabzwar District, Herat Province, Afghanistan. It is located at at 1,066 m altitude on the Harut River. The Sabzwar Air Base is located about 15 miles northeast of the town. S ...

.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 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 ...

. 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 for ...

between the forces of the

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and the Bábís, followers of the

Báb The Báb (b. ʿAlí Muḥammad; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850), was the messianic founder of Bábism, and one of the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. He was a merchant from Shiraz in Qajar Iran who, in 1844 at the age of 25, claimed ...

, over the period October 10, 1848 to May 10, 1849.

Work and contribution

Tabresi 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 Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...

) of

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

. 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.

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, Imam Reza shrine,

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