Scholars of Nishapur, 700-1225

Abstract

The main purpose of this work is to present short biographical accounts of the lives of the scholars who were either natives of or visitors to Nishapur from the beginning of the eighth century to the first quarter of the thirteenth century.

The content of the work can best be illustrated by a brief account of the method chosen to present it. After the General Introduction, the work is divided chronologically into four parts dealing respectively with the periods from 700 to 900, 900 to 1000, 1000 to 1100 and 1100 to 1225. Each part is prefaced by a historical introduction to the period and is then divided into five sections according to the five categories I have employed to denote the particular field of scholarship in which each of those scholars who died within that period was most renowned, videlicet, (I) the traditionists, (2) the jurists and the theologians, (3) the mystics, (4) the readers and the commentators of the Qur'an and (5) the men of letters and the poets. In each section, there is an introduction indicating the most significant trends occurring within that field of scholarship in the period and mentioning the most celebrated scholars connected therewith.

Following this introduction are biographical notes of all the relevant scholars who practised in this field in that period. These biographies are arranged in chronological order according to the dates of death of the scholars, with the exception of the biographies of those scholars whose· exact dates of death are unknown and these are listed at the end of each section. Finally, the work is supplemented by four lists tabling respectively: (1) the teachers and their pupils; (2) the scholars who taught in the madrasas; (3) the qadis and the Chiefs of the qadis; and (4) the scholars who acted as muftis. chronologically.