Qutb al-Din Shirazi | |
|---|---|
 Epicyclic planetary model in a medieval manuscript by Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi. | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | October 1236 |
| Died | 7 February 1311 (aged 75) |
| Main interest(s) | Mathematics,Astronomy,medicine,science andphilosophy |
| Notable work(s) | Almagest,The Royal Present,Pearly Crown, etc. |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Jurisprudence | Sunni |
| Muslim leader | |
Influenced by | |
Influenced | |
Qotb al-Din Mahmoud b. Zia al-Din Mas'ud b. Mosleh Shirazi (Persian:قطبالدینْ محمود بن ضیاءالدینْ مسعود بن مصلح شیرازی; 1236–1311) was a 13th-centuryPersian[1][2]polymath andpoet who made contributions toastronomy,mathematics,medicine,physics,music theory,philosophy andSufism.[3][4]
He was born inKazerun in October 1236 to a family with a tradition ofSufism. His father, Zia' al-Din Mas'ud Kazeruni was a physician and also a leadingSufi of the Kazeruni order. Zia' Al-Din received his Kherqa (Sufi robe) from Shahab al-Din Omar Suhrawardi[citation needed]. Qutb al-Din was garbed by the Kherqa (Sufi robe) as blessing by his father, aged ten[citation needed]. Later on, he also received his own robe from the hands of Najib al-Din Bozgush Shirazni, a famousSufi of the time[citation needed]. Quṭb al-Din began studying medicine under his father. His father practiced and taught medicine at the Mozaffari hospital in Shiraz. After his father's death (when Qutb al-Din was 14), his uncle and other masters of the period trained him in medicine. He also studied the Qanun (theCanon) of the famous Muslim scholarAvicenna and its commentaries. In particular he read the commentary ofFakhr al-Din Razi on theCanon of Medicine and Qutb al-Din raised many issues of his own. This led to his decision to write his own commentary, where he resolved many of the issues withNasir al-Din al-Tusi.
Qutb al-Din replaced his father as the ophthalmologist at the Mozaffari hospital inShiraz. At the same time, he pursued his education under his uncle Kamal al-Din Abu'l Khayr and then Sharaf al-Din Zaki Bushkani, and Shams al-Din Mohammad Kishi. All three were expert teachers of the Canon ofAvicenna. He quit his medical profession ten years later and began to devote his time to further education under the guidance ofNasir al-Din al-Tusi. WhenNasir al-Din al-Tusi, the renowned scholar-vizier of theMongolHülegü Khan established the observatory ofMaragha, Qutb al-Din Shirazi became attracted to the city. He leftShiraz sometime after 1260 and was in Maragha about 1262. InMaragha, Qutb al-din resumed his education underNasir al-Din al-Tusi, with whom he studied the al-Esharat wa'l-Tanbihat ofAvicenna. He discussed withal-Tusi the difficulties he had understanding the first book of the Canon of Avicenna. While working in the new observatory, he studied astronomy underal-Tusi. One of the important scientific projects was the completion of the new astronomical table (zij). In his testament (Wasiya),al-Tusi advises his son ṣil-a-Din to work with Qutb al-Din in the completion of theZij.
Qutb-al-Din's stay inMaragha was short. Subsequently, he traveled toKhorasan in the company ofal-Tusi where he stayed to study under Najm al-Din Katebi Qazvini in the town of Jovayn and become his assistant. Some time after 1268, he journeyed toQazvin,Isfahan,Baghdad and later Konya in Anatolia. This was a time when the famous poet Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi (Rumi) was gaining fame there and it is reported that Qutb al-Din also met him. In Konya, he studied the Jam'e al-Osul of Ibn Al-Athir with Sadr al-Din Qunawi. The governor of Konya,Mu'in al-Din Parwana appointed him as the judge ofSivas andMalatya. It was during this time that he compiled the books theMeftāḥ al-meftāh,Ekhtiārāt al-moẓaffariya, and his commentary on Sakkāki. In the year 1282, he was envoy on behalf of theIlkhanidAhmad Takudar to Sayf al-Din Qalawun, theMamluk ruler of Egypt. In his letter toQalawun, the Ilkhanid ruler mentions Qutb al-Din as the chief judge. Qutb al-Din during this time collected various critiques and commentaries onAvicenna's Canon and used them on his commentary on the Kolliyāt. The last part of Qutb al-Din's active career was teaching the Canon of Avicenna and the Shefa of Avicenna inSyria. He soon left forTabriz after that and died shortly after. He was buried in the Čarandāb cemetery of the city.
Shirazi identified observations by the scholarAvicenna in the 11th century andIbn Bajjah in the 12th century astransits ofVenus andMercury.[5] However, Ibn Bajjah cannot have observed a transit of Venus, as none occurred in his lifetime.[6]
Qutb al-Din had an insatiable desire[3] for learning, which is evidenced by the twenty-four years he spent studying with masters of the time in order to write his commentary on the Kolliyāt. He was also distinguished by his extensive breadth of knowledge, a clever sense of humor and indiscriminate generosity.[3] He was also a master chess player and played the musical instrument known as theRabab, a favorite instrument of the famous poetRumi.
 | This Worksis missing information about Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi's developments in music theory and notation. Please expand the Works to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(November 2022) |
Qutb al-Din was also aSufi from a family of Sufis in Shiraz. He is famous for the commentary onHikmat al-ishraq ofSuhrawardi, the most influential work of Islamic Illuminist philosophy.
It is remarkable that Dietrich's theory of the rainbow was proposed at about the same time by the Persian Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi (1281).
Qutb al-Dīn Mahmūd ibn Mas'ūd al-Shīrāzī (1236–1311) was a Persian scientist and philosopher.
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