Baha al-Din al-Amili
Baha al-Din Muhammad ibn Husayn al-Amili (Arabic: بهاء الدين محمد بن حسين العاملي, romanized: Bahāʾ al‐Dīn Muḥammad bin Ḥusayn al‐ʿĀmilī; 18 February 1547 – 1 September 1621) was a Levantine Arab Twelver Shi'a scholar, poet, philosopher, architect, mathematician, and astronomer who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in Safavid Iran. He was born in Baalbek, Ottoman Syria (now Lebanon) but immigrated in his childhood to Safavid Iran with the rest of his family. He was one of the earliest astronomers in the Islamic world to suggest the possibility of the Earth's movement before the spread of Copernican heliocentrism. He is considered one of the main co-founders of School of Isfahan. In later years, he was one of the teachers of Mulla Sadra.
Baha al-Din al-Amili | |
|---|---|
18th century copy of a miniature depicting Shaykh Baha'i, falsely attributed to Sadiqi Beg. This drawing is presumably a copy of a lost original by Sadiqi Beg | |
| Born | 18 February 1547 |
| Died | 1 September 1621 (aged 74) |
| Nationality | Safavid Iranian |
| Other names | Shaykh‐i Bahāʾī, Bahāddīn Āmilī |
| Academic background | |
| Influences | Nimatullah Wali |
| Academic work | |
| School or tradition | School of Isfahan |
| Main interests | Mathematics, Architecture, Astronomy, Philosophy and Poetry |
| Notable works | Tashrīḥ al-Aflāk, al-Khashkūl, Nān wa ḥalwā |
| Influenced | Haydar Amuli, Mir Damad, Mulla Sadra, Mohsen Fayz Kashani |
Baha al-Din wrote over 100 treatises and books on different topics, in Arabic and New Persian. Several architectural and engineering designs are attributed to him but none can be substantiated with sources. These may have included the Naqsh-e Jahan Square and Charbagh in Isfahan. He is buried in Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran.