Nizam al-Din al-Nisaburi

Nizam al-Din Hasan al-Nisaburi, whose full name was Nizam al-Din Hasan ibn Mohammad ibn Hossein Qumi Nishapuri (d. 1328/29) () was a Persian Sunni Islamic Shafi'i, Ash'ari scholar, mathematician, astronomer, jurist, Qur'an exegete, and poet.

Family and education

Nizam al-Din Hasan al-Nisaburi, who according to genealogical information provided in his full nameÃ¢ÂÂNizam al-Din Hasan ibn Mohammad ibn Hossein Qumi NishapuriÃ¢ÂÂhad a grandfather from the city of Qom, was born in Nishapur.

Little is known about NÃÂ«sÃÂbÃÂ«rÃÂ«'s early life and education. His early education was in the city of Nishapur, but he later moved to Tabriz, the capital of Il-Khanids at the time.

NÃÂ«sÃÂbÃÂ«rÃÂ« studied under and worked with Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi, who was himself a student of Nasir al-Din Tusi. He was one of the great scientists of Maragheh observatory.

In 1304, NÃÂ«sÃÂbÃÂ«rÃÂ« arrived in Azerbaijan; by 1306 he was in TabrÃÂ«z, the largest city in Azerbaijan.

NÃÂ«sÃÂbÃÂ«rÃÂ« died in 1329/1330, the year he completed his .

Works

Astronomy and mathematics

NÃÂ«sÃÂbÃÂ«rÃÂ« started to write (, "Commentary on the recension of the Almagest") in 1303., a commentary on a work by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. Together with an explanation al-Tusi's text, NÃÂ«sÃÂbÃÂ«rÃÂ« added his own results and ideas. He included data about the obliquity of the ecliptic and discussed the possibility that the transits of Venus and Mercury across the Sun had been seen.

NÃÂ«sÃÂbÃÂ«rÃÂ« second astronomical work, ("Uncovering the Truths of the ÃÂªlkhÃÂnid Astronomical Handbook") was completed in 1308/1309. A commentary on a by Ã¡Â¹Â¬ÃÂ«sÃÂ«', it focused upon topics discussed in the , such as the positions of the planets in the night sky.

((), "Elucidation of the Tadhkira") was a commentary on Ã¡Â¹Â¬ÃÂ«sÃÂ«'s ("Memento on Astronomy") that investigated topics that included alternatives to Ptolemy's model of the cosmos, and ideas to explain that accounted the known variations in the obliquity of the ecliptic.

The and the were not written for astronomers, but for students whose curriculum included astronomy.

Nisaburi also wrote a treatise on mathematics.

Religious works

NÃÂ«sÃÂbÃÂ«rÃÂ«'s most famous work is his (, "A Commentary on the Wonders of Quran in Exegesis"), also known as ). It is of the Qur'an, which closely follows al-Fakhr al-Razi's in many places. The work was written to demonstrate the importance of science for religious scholars. The work reflects NÃÂ«sÃÂbÃÂ«rÃÂ«'s scientific background, in contrast with RÃÂzÃÂ«'s bias towards the theologians.

NÃÂ«sÃÂbÃÂ«rÃÂ«'s other religious works include:

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(, "Explanation of the Facts"), an explanation of by Nasir al-Din Tusi, written in Persian
(), a work on the topics in al-Manazer by Ibn Haytham;
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References

Sources

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