Al-Astarabadhi, al-Hasan ibn Muhammad

Al-Hasan ibn Radi al-Din Muhammad ibn Sharafshah al-Astarabadhi, from Astarabad in Mazandaran. He was born in 645 AH (1247 CE) and died in 715 AH (1315 CE), and grew up in a scholarly setting in Mazandaran. Both dates rest on one source and need an additional source. ¹

Abu '1-Fada'il al-Sayyid Rukn al-Din al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Sharafshah al-'Alawi was a Shafi'i scholar, best known for his commentary on Ibn al-Hajib's grammatical work, the Kafiya. This commentary is known also as the Mutawassit, "intermediate", because it was the second of three commentaries. ²

He enjoyed the patronage of Nasir al-Din Tusi at Maragha, where he taught philosophy and wrote commentaries on Tusi's Tajrid al-'aqa'id and Qawa'id al-'aqa'id. He accompanied Tusi to Baghdad in 672 AH (1274), and after his patron's death in the same year he settled at Mosul, where he taught in the Nuriyya madrasa. He later went on to Sultaniyya, where he taught Shafi'i jurisprudence. ²

His death is given as 715 AH (1315-6) or 718 AH (1318-9); two manuscripts in the Bibliotheque Nationale give 717 AH (1317-8) and 719 AH (1319-20). He was reputed for his modesty and for the honour in which he was held at the Mongol court. ²