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Country

Iran

Institution

Kitabhane-i Meclis-i Şura-i Milli

Shelfmark

3456

Contents

Maṭāli’ al-Īmān (Naṣīr al-Dīn Mahmud b. Ahmad Khū’ī, fl. fl. mid 6th/13th century)

Author

Naṣīr al-Dīn Mahmud b. Ahmad Khū’ī, fl. fl. mid 6th/13th century

نصير الدين محمود بن احمد الخويي

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Khūyī

Naṣīr al-Dīn Mahmud b. Ahmad Khū’ī , fl. mid 6th/13th century (authorised)

نصير الدين محمود بن احمد الخويي (variant)

Biographical notes

According to his nisba he was from Khūy (Iran) and apparently lived in Konya (Turkey). Nothing is known of the life of this author, and even the attribution of works to him has been debated by modern scholars despite unambiguous references to him as the author in manuscripts. Judging by the formula with which his name is mentioned in the earliest manuscript, Suleymaniye Library, Halet Ek 92, he must have been dead by the time that work was copied in 660 AH [1262 CE]. The field has been muddied by Naṣīr al-Dīn Khū’ī’s identification with the semi-mythical figure of Ahi Evren, اخي اوران, the purported founder of akhī groups in Anatolia (see (Bayram, Mikail. Ahi Evren ve Ahi Teşkilatı’nın Kuruluşu. Konya.: 1991.) ). This can certainly not be sustained, as it is based on assuming the identity of Naṣīr al-Dīn Khū’ī with the full name of Ahi Evren as given in his waqfiyya, Nāṣir al-Dīn Pīr-i Pīrān Akhī Evren (or Evrān) ناصر الدين بير بيران اخي اوران. Nāṣir ناصر and Naṣīr نصير are however, quite different words and cannot be interchanged. The waqfiyya also contains no reference to the Khuy nisba that our author holds. In addition, all the indications are that Ahi Evren probably died in the 8th century [1300-1399 CE] early , whereas Naṣīr al-Dīn Khū’ī, judging by the manuscripts, must have been active in the mid thirteenth century; he was certainly writing before 660 AH [1262 CE], the date of the earliest extant manuscript. Naṣīr al-Dīn Khū’ī’s extant works bear strong similarities to the style and approach of Ṣadr al-Dīn Qunawī, and have been published with attributions to that author. Chittick ( (Chittick, William C.. Faith and Practice of Islam: Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts. Albany: 1992., pp. 255)) argues he may have been a member of Qunawī’s circle. However, the only near-contemporary who is directly referred to in the texts is Awḥad al-Dīn Kirmānī . For a discussion of authorship, see (Chittick, William C.. Faith and Practice of Islam: Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts. Albany: 1992., pp. 255-62).

The attribution of this work to Naṣīr al-Dīn Mahmud b. Ahmad Khū’ī, fl. fl. mid 6th/13th century is uncertain

Title

Maṭāli’ al-Īmān

مطالع الايمان

Notes

The text aims to explain the three principles of Islam: tawḥīd (God’s unity), nubuwwa (prophecy), and ma‘ād (eschatology)

It has been suggested by Chittick ( (Chittick, William C.. Faith and Practice of Islam: Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts. Albany: 1992., pp. 256-7)) that this work may be by Naṣīr al-Dīn Khū’ī, as is is found together in the same manuscript and share a similar style and interests with the al-Manāhij al-Sayfiyya. However, their authorship must be regarded as very uncertain.

The edition is ascribed to Ṣadr al-Dīn Qunawī, something done also, albeit with caution, by Todd (see (Todd, Richard. The Sufi doctrine of man: Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi's metaphysical anthropology. Leiden: Brill, 2014., pp. 185)).

Main language of text

Persian

Bibliography

Editions

Qunawi, Sadr al-Din. "Tabṣirat al-Mubtadī." Ma‘ārif. I 1364: 69-128.

Translations

Chittick, William C.. Faith and Practice of Islam: Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts. Albany: 1992, 59-109.

Studies

Bayram, Mikail. Ahi Evren ve Ahi Teşkilatı’nın Kuruluşu. Konya.: 1991.

Chittick, William C.. Faith and Practice of Islam: Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts. Albany: 1992.

Taeschner, Fr.. "Akhī Ewrān." Encyclopaedia of Islam. , [n.d.].

İlhan, Sahin. "Ahî Evran." TDVİA. I, [n.d.]: 529-30.

Show filiations

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 92

Konya Karatay Yusuf Ağa Ktp. n. 4866

Süleymaniye Yazma Eser Kütüphanesi 333

Physical Description

History

Date of copy

20th. century