Baha' al-Din al-'Amili (al-Bahai, 953–1030/1547–1621)

بهاء الدين العاملي (البهائي)

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Baha' al-Din al-'Amili, Muhammad b. Husayn, known as al-Bahai (953-1030 AH, 1547-1621 CE). From Jabal 'Amila in Syria, he moved to Persia and obtained an honoured place at the court of Shah 'Abbas. His best-known work is the anthology al-Kashkul, and he also wrote a Persian exposition of Shi'i fiqh, the Jami'-i 'Abbasi 1.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
Scholar · Poet
Era
The Gunpowder Empires
Region
Levant & Iraq · Persia & Central Asia
Review
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Life in time

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The Gunpowder Empires Contemporaries: al-Shinhaji al-Fishtali · Seyyid Kasim Gubari · Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti · Ratu Biru of Patani · Francis Bacon

Scripture and its sciencesLiterature

Overview

Baha' al-Din al-'Amili, known as al-Bahai, was Muhammad b. Husayn, born in 953/1547 and dead in 1030/1621, an author of works in Arabic and Persian on many subjects. 1

Career

He came from Jabal 'Amila in Syria, migrated to Persia and obtained an honoured place at the court of Shah 'Abbas. 1

Works

His best-known work is the anthology al-Kashkul ("the beggar's bowl"), often printed in the East. He also wrote an exposition of Shi'i fiqh in Persian, the Jami'-i 'Abbasi, and works on astronomy and mathematics. As a Persian poet he is known for the mathnawi Nan u-halwa, which Ethe considered a kind of introduction to the Mathnawi of Jalal al-Din Rumi, and a second mathnawi, Shir u-shakar. 1

People and things also explored

The seven ahruf· Hadith· Shama'il Muhammadiyya· The Prophetic sira· The Prophetic Sunna· al-Tanahmir: the Himyaritic speech remnant· Aljamia (aljamiado: Spanish written in Arabic script, and its literature)· Command, prohibition and capacity

Sources

  1. Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2008), 13 volumes , vol. 1 p. 458
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Baha' al-Din al-'Amili (al-Bahai, 953–1030/1547–1621)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/baha-al-din-al-amili/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story.
Related

The seven ahruf

The Prophet's saying 'the Qur'an was revealed in seven ahruf, so read of it what is easy' — narrated through Umar's dispute with Hisham ibn Hakim over Surat al-Furqan; its exact meaning is one of the widest debates in Qur'anic sciences.