Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei

For other uses, see Tabatabaei (disambiguation).

Sayyed Mohammad Hosein Tabatabaei(Allameh Tabatabaei)

Full name	Sayyed Mohammad Hosein Tabatabaei(Allameh Tabatabaei)
Born	1892 CE Iran
Died	1981 CE
Region	Iranian scholar
School	Shi'a Twelver
Main interests	Philosophy, Mysticism, Tafsir and Hadith
Notable ideas	interpretation (Tafsir) of Quran with Quran
Influenced by Muhammad, Ali, Mulla Sadra, Allameh Qazi, Naeeni, Muhammad Hosein Esfehani Hujjat Kuhkamari, Sayyed Hosein Badkubi and Abulqasem Khansari
Influenced Morteza Motahhari, Hasan Hasanzade Amoli, Muhammad al-Tijani[citation needed], Henry Corbin[citation needed], Hossein Nasr[1][citation needed], Muhammad Mofatteh Muhammad Beheshti, Jalaleddin Ashtiani Ebrahim Amini, Javadi Amoli, Musa Sadr Makarem Shirazi and Dariush Shayegan [2]

Allameh Seyyed Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei (1892—November 15, 1981) (Persian: علامه سید محمد حسین طباطبائی) was one of the most prominent thinkers of philosophy and contemporary Shia Islam. He is famous for Tafsir al-Mizan, the Qur'anic exegesis.

Biography

Born in Tabriz, Azarbaijan, in northwestern Iran, he studied at Najaf, under masters such as Mirza 'Ali Qadi (in gnosis), Mirza Muhammad Husain Na'ini, Shaykh Muhammad Husain Isfahani (in Fiqh and Jurisprudence), Sayyid Abu'l-Qasim Khwansari (in Mathematics), as well as studying the standard texts of Avicenna's Shifa, the Asfar of Sadr al-Din Shirazi, and the Tamhid al-qawa'id of Ibn Turkah. Along with Sayyid Husayn Badkuba'i, he was a student of two of the most famous masters of the time, Sayyid Abu'l-Hasan Jilwah and Aqa 'Ali Mudarris Zunuzi.

In his later years he would often hold study sessions with Henry Corbin and Seyyed Hossein Nasr, in which not only the classical texts of divine wisdom and gnosis were discussed, but also a whole cycle of what Nasr calls comparative gnosis, in which in each session the sacred texts of one of the major religions, containing mystical and gnostic teachings, such as the Tao Te Ching, the Upanishads and the Gospel of John, were discussed and compared with Sufism and Islamic gnostic doctrines in general.

Tabatabaei, was a philosopher, a prolific writer, and an inspiring teacher to his students who devoted much of his life to Islamic studies. Many of his students were among the ideological founders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, namely Murtaza Motahhari, Dr. Beheshti, and Dr. Mohammad Mofatteh. Others like Nasr and Hasanzadeh Amuli remained and continued their studies in the intellectual non-political sphere.

Published works

It was in Najaf where Tabatabaei developed his major contributions in the fields of Tafsir (interpretation), philosophy, and history of the Shi'a faith. In philosophy the most important of his works is Usul-i falsafeh va ravesh-e-realism (The Principles of Philosophy and the Method of Realism), which has been published in five volumes with explanatory notes and the commentary of Morteza Motahhari. If Ayatollah Haeri is considered the reviver of Qom's hawza in an organizational sense, Tabatabaei's contributions to the field of tafsir, philosophy and mysticism represent the intellectual revitalization of the hawza with lasting implications for the curriculum.

Allameh Tabatabaei in his young ages

His other major philosophical work is a voluminous commentary of Asfār al-'arba'eh, the magnum opus of Mulla Sadra who was the last of the great Persian (Iranian) Muslim thinkers of the medieval age. Apart from these he also wrote extensively on philosophical topics. His humanist approach is underlined by his three books on: the nature of man - before the world, in this world, and after this world. His philosophy is focused upon the sociological treatment of human problems. His two other works, Bidāyat al-hikmah and Nihāyat al-hikmah, are considered among works of high order in Islamic philosophy.

Several treatises on the doctrines and history of the Shi'a remain from him as well. One of these comprises his clarifications and expositions about Shi'a faith in reply to the questions posed by the famous French orientalist Henry Corbin. Another of his books on this topic Shi'ah dar Islam was translated into English by Seyyed Hossein Nasr under the title Shi'a Islam, with the help of William Chittick as a project of Colgate University. These books are claimed to serve as an excellent conduit by which popular misconceptions about the Shi'a faith may be removed further paving the way for a better ecumenical understanding amongst the various Muslim schools of thought.

His written books number forty-four titles overall; three of which are collections of his articles on various aspects of Islam and the Qur'an.

List of publications

• Shi'a Islam (Persian: Shi’ah dar islam)
• The Principles of Philosophy and the Method of Realism (Iranian: Usul-i-falsafeh va ravesh-i-ri'alism) in five volumes, with the commentary of Murtada Mutahhari.
• Glosses al-kifayah (Persian: Hashiyahi kifayah). Glosses upon the new edition of the Asfar of Sadr al-Din Shirizi Mulla Sadra appearing under the direction of 'Allahma Tabataba'i of which seven volumes have appeared.
• Dialogues with Professor Corbin (Iranian: Mushabat ba Ustad Kurban) Two volumes based on conversations carried out between 'Allahma Tabataba'i and Henry Corbin of which the first volume was printed as the yearbook of Maktab-i tashayyu’, 1339 (A.H. Solar)
• Risalah dar hukumat-i islami, (Treatise on Islamic Government).
• Hashiyah-i kifayah (Glosses upon al-Kifayah).
• Risalah dar quwwah wafi'(Treatise on Potentiality and Actuality).
• Risalah dar ithbat-i dha~t (Treatise on the Proof of the Divine Essence).
• Risalah dar sifat (Treatise on the Divine Attributes).
• Risalah dar ata (Treatise on the Divine Acts).
• Risalah dar wasa'il (Treatise on Means).
• Risalah dar insan qabl al-dunya (Treatise on Man before the World)
• Risalah dar insan fi al-dunya (Treatise on Man in the World).
• Risalah dar insan ba'd al-dunya (Treatise on Man after the World).
• Risalah dar nubuwwat (Treatise on Prophecy).
• Risalah dar wilayat (Treatise on Initiation).
• Risalah dar mushtaqqat (Treatise on Derivatives).
• Risalah dar burhan (Treatise on Demonstration).
• Risalah dar mughalatah (Treatise on Sophism).
• Risalah dar tahlil (Treatise on Analysis).
• Risalah dar tarkib (Treatise on Synthesis).
• Risalah dar i’tibarat (Treatise on Contingents).
• Risalah dar nubuwwat wa manamat (Treatise on Prophecy and Dreams)
• Manza’mah dar rasm-i- khatt-i-nasta’liq (Poem on the Method of Writing the Nasta’liq Style of Calligraphy).
• Ali wa al-falsafat al-ilahiya (Ali and Metaphysics)
• Qur'an dar islam (The Qur'an in Islam).

Poetry

Allameh Tabatabaei was also an accomplished poet. He composed his poetry mainly in Persian, but occasionally in Arabic as well. He was also the author of numerous articles and essays.

کیش مهر

همي گويم و گفته ام بارها .... بود کيش من مهر دلدارها

پرستش به مستي است در کيش مهر .... برونند زين جرگه هشيارها

به شادي و آسايش و خواب و خور .... ندارند کاري دل افگارها

به جز اشک چشم و به جز داغ دل .... نباشد به دست گرفتارها

کشيدند در کوي دلدادگان .... ميان دل و کام، ديوارها

چه فرهادها مرده در کوهها .... چه حلاجها رفته بر دارها

چه دارد جهان جز دل و مهر يار .... مگر توده هايي ز پندارها

ولي رادمردان و وارستگان .... نبازند هرگز به مردارها

مهين مهر ورزان که آزاده اند .... بريزند از دام جان تارها

به خون خود آغشته و رفته اند .... چه گلهاي رنگين به جوبارها

بهاران که شاباش ريزد سپهر .... به دامان گلشن ز رگبارها

کشد رخت،سبزه به هامون و دشت .... زند بارگه ،گل به گلزارها

نگارش دهد گلبن جويبار .... در آيينه ي آب، رخسارها

رود شاخ گل در بر نيلفر .... برقصد به صد ناز گلنارها

درد پرده ي غنچه را باد بام .... هزار آورد نغز گفتارها

به آواي ناي و به آهنگ چنگ .... خروشد ز سرو و سمن، تارها

به ياد خم ابروي گل رخان .... بکش جام در بزم مي خوارها

گره را ز راز جهان باز کن .... که آسان کند باده، دشوارها

جز افسون و افسانه نبود جهان .... که بستند چشم خشايارها

به اندوه آينده خود را مباز .... که آينده خوابي است چون پارها

فريب جهان مخور زينهار .... که در پاي اين گل بود خارها

پياپي بکش جام و سرگرم باش .... بهل گر بگيرند بيکارها

See also

• Iranian traditional humanism
• Islamic scholars
• Islamization of knowledge
• Islamic philosophy
• Ayatollah al-Shirazi
• Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabaee
• List of Marjas
• Allameh Majlesi

Footnotes

1. ^ An Introduction to the al-Mizan
2. ^ * Jahanbaglu, Ramin (1998). Zire asmanhaye jahan (Below the skies of the world), An interview with Dariush Shayegan. Nashr Farzan. ISBN 964-6138-13-6. , (in Persian)[1]

References

External links

• Allamah on facebook
• Ashams Al-Sate'ah (الشمس الساطعة - the Bright Sun) - in Memory of Allameh Tabatabaei by Allameh Tehrani
• Biography of Allameh Tabatabaei by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, preface of Shiite Islam
• Biography of Allameh Tabatabaei Taken from: “Stories from the life of Allama Tabatabai(R) by Ahmad Luqmani, Allameh Tabatabai, Meezane Ma`refit”, translated by S.K. Yusufali, Qum, Iran, 2006.
• Biography of Allameh Tabatabaei by Mohammad Yazdi

Some of his works

• Some of the books of Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai in Bookfinder.com
• Islamic Teachings In Brief
• The Qur'an in Islam
• al-Mizan
• Muhammad [s] in the Mirror of Islam
• Shiite Islam
• Light Within Me
• A Shi'ite Anthology
• VICEGERENCY (Risalah al-Wilayah)
• Kernel of the Kernel A Shi'a approach to Sufism
• Analytic Comparison between ‘Allamah Tabataba’i’s View and That of Henry Corbin concerning Human PerfectionPDF (153 KiB)

Persondata
Name	Tabatabaei, Allameh
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1892
Place of birth	Iran
Date of death	1981
Place of death