Summary View

Country

Turkey

City

Istanbul

Institution

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi

Collection

Ayasofya

Shelfmark

1711

Contents

Work 2: Tabṣirat al-Mubtadi (Naṣīr al-Dīn Mahmud b. Ahmad Khū’ī, fl. fl. mid 6th/13th century)

LOC subject headings

IslamDoctrines

Author

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

نصير الدين محمود بن احمد الخويي

Show other names

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

Tabṣirat al-Mubtadi

تبصرة المبتدئ

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 Maṭāli’ al-Īmān. However, their authorship must be regarded as very uncertain.

The attribution of this work is extremely confused. While several manuscripts attribute it to Ṣadr al-Dīn Qunawī, others mention Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Bayḍāwī or Fakhr al-Dīn Rāzī as the author. Others have no attribution at all, and it was probably the lack of any such attribution in early mss that led to the confusion.

This appears to be a wrong attribution to Qūnawī, see (Chittick, William, C.. "Spectrums of Islamic Thought: Saʿīd al-Dīn Farghānī on the Implications of Oneness and Manyness." In The Legacy of Mediaeval Persian Sufism. Lewisohn, Leonard, ed. London: 1992, 203-17., pp. 255-62)

Main language of text

Persian

Foliation

ff. 103b-141b

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

Bibliothèque Nationale de France Supplément persan 113

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 92

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 4819

Mevlana Müzesi no. 2088

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 1692

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 1691

Pir Muhammad Shah Dargah Library 1458

Nuruosmaniye Yazma Eser KÜtüphanesi 2286

Physical Description

Number of folios

142 ff.

Dimensions of folio

width 13cm, height 18cm

Dimensions of written area

width 7cm, height 11cm

Columns

1

Ruled lines

15

Hand

Copyist: Maulānā Sa’d al-Dīn, fl. 1463

History

Place

Edirne

Date of copy

15th. century