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Ibn Abī Jumhūr al-Ahsā’i

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Abstract

Ibn Abī Jumhūr al-Aḥsā’ī (d. after 904/1499), was a Shī‘i theologian and a philosopher who spent his life between his homeland of Baḥrayn, the sacred Shī’i places of Iraq, and Khurāsān. His bibliography is mainly divided in works of Imāmi classical theology (kalām) and works combining theology with philosophical and mystical ideas. In his magnum opus, the Mujlī mir’āt al-munjī fī l-kalām wa l-ḥikmatayn wa l-taṣawwuf (“The Book of the Illuminated, Mirror of the Savior, on Theology, the Two Wisdoms, and Sufism”), he upheld the harmony between Twelver Shī‘ism, Sufism, and – Peripatetic as well as Illuminist – philosophy. Shī‘i scholars would eventually adopt contrasted attitudes towards him; however, his influence upon the “philosophical Renaissance” in the tenth-to-eleventh/sixteenth-to-seventeenth-century Iran was certainly decisive

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Bibliography

Edited Works of Ibn Abī Jumhūr

  • Ibn Abī Jumhūr composed about fifty titles in the fields of theology, philosophy, ḥadīth, principles (uṣūl) and branches (furū‘) of law. For a complete list of his writings, published and unpublished, see Schmidtke 2004, Fārmad in Mujlī, 76–77, and al-Ghufrānī 2013.

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  • Ibn Abī Jumhūr al-Aḥsā’ī, Muḥammad b. ‘Alī. Mujlī mir’āt al-munjī fī l-kalām wa l-ḥikmatayn wa l-taṣawwuf, A. al-Shīrāzī (Ed.). Tehran, 1329/1911, republished with an introduction, table of content, and indices by S. Schmidtke, Tehran: Iranian Institute of Philosophy and Institute of Islamic Studies Free University of Berlin, 2008.

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Other Primary Sources

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Terrier, M. (2020). Ibn Abī Jumhūr al-Ahsā’i. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1665-7_588

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