Abu Sahl Al Nawbakhti

Abu Sahl ibn Nawbakht, author of the book "al-Nahmatan", from which Ibn al-Nadim takes the history of the sciences at the start of the section on the philosophers. He is Abu Sahl Ismail ibn Ali ibn Nawbakht, one of the great Shi'is. ²

Ibn al-Nadim relates from him that the kinds of learning were with the people of Babylon, from whom the people of Egypt learned, and that the people of India practised them. He mentions that al-Dahhak ibn Qays built a city in which he gathered the scholars and learning and stored the books of the learned. Then Alexander invaded the land of Persia, destroyed the cities, ordered the records of Istakhr copied and carried into Greek and Coptic, and burned what was written in Persian. ²

He also mentions that the kings of Persia had copied books and kept them in India and China as a precaution against Alexander's act, and that learning was lost in Iraq, and each group had a king, so they were called the kings of the factions. ²

Ibn al-Nadim describes him as an accomplished, learned and eloquent theologian. Al-Nashi' al-Akbar used to say that he was his teacher, and he held a session in the presence of the theologians. Ibn al-Nadim relates an opinion of his on the qa'im of the family of Muhammad that had not been stated before: that Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan died in the occultation, that his son follows him in the occultation, and so on for his descendants. Ibn Abi al-Azaqir wrote to him inviting him, and he did not respond. ³

His books include "al-Istifa fi al-Imama", "al-Tanbih fi al-Imama", and "Refutation of the Extremists", and he wrote against Ibn al-Rawandi. ³

He is among the leading Imami authorities. The data do not record how Sunni scholars judged him or his view; that needs an additional source.