Year of Tanathur al-Nujum
Sanat Tanāthur al-Nujūm (Arabic: سنة تَناثُر النُجوم, lit. Year of the Scattering of Stars) is a title referring to the year 329/940-1. In explanation of this naming, it is said that in this year, a number of scientific and religious figures (scientific and religious stars) passed away,[1] including Shi'a scholars such as Muhammad b. Ya'qub al-Kulayni, the author of the book al-Kafi,[2] Ali b. Muhammad al-Samuri, the fourth of the Special Deputies of Imam al-Mahdi (a),[3] and Ali b. Husayn b. Babawayh al-Qummi, the father of al-Shaykh al-Saduq.[4] Also, from the Sunni scholars, Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Tahawi, a Hanafi jurist,[5] 'Abdullah b. Ahmad al-Balkhi, a Mu'tazili theologian,[6] and Ali b. 'Isa al-Rummani, a Mu'tazili exegete died in this year.[7] In this year, the Minor Occultation also ended and the Major Occultation of Imam al-Mahdi (a) began.[8]
Some have applied the "Year of the Scattering of Stars" to the years 241/855-6[9] or 323/935-6,[10] believing that on a night in one of these two years, numerous celestial bodies and stars fell from the sky and were extinguished. Citing some historical reports,[11] Muhammad Taqi Shushtari in Qamus al-rijal believes that the "setting of stars" occurred in 323/935-6, and on the night of the Qarmatis attack on Mecca, many stars fell from the sky.[12] According to the author of al-Nujūm al-zāhira, this event occurred in Jumada II 241/October-November 855, when 'Isa b. Ja'far b. Muhammad b. 'Asim was killed by the order of al-Mutawakkil and Ahmad b. Hanbal also died in this year.[13]
Notes
- ↑ Qummī, Al-Kunā wa l-alqāb, 1368 Sh, vol. 3, p. 270; Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1404 AH, vol. 51, p. 359; Tihrānī, Al-Dharīʿa, 1403 AH, vol. 16, p. 389.
- ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, 1416 AH, p. 377.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Ghayba, 1411 AH, pp. 241–242.
- ↑ Najāshī, Rijāl al-Najāshī, 1416 AH, p. 260.
- ↑ Dhahabī, Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ, 1405 AH, vol. 15, p. 27.
- ↑ Ibn al-Murtaḍā, Ṭabaqāt al-Muʿtazila, 1961, p. 92; Ibn al-Nadīm, Al-Fihrist, 1978, p. 232.
- ↑ Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-udabāʾ, 1993, vol. 13, p. 324.
- ↑ Ṣadr, Tārīkh al-ghayba al-ṣughrā, 1392 AH, vol. 1, p. 345.
- ↑ Ibn Taghrī Birdī, Al-Nujūm al-zāhira, vol. 2, p. 304.
- ↑ Ibn al-Athīr, Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh, 1385 AH, vol. 8, p. 311; Masʿūdī, Murūj al-dhahab, vol. 4, p. 20.
- ↑ Ibn al-Athīr, Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh, 1385 AH, vol. 8, p. 311; Masʿūdī, Murūj al-dhahab, vol. 4, p. 20.
- ↑ Tustarī, Qāmūs al-rijāl, 1410 AH, vol. 7, p. 437.
- ↑ Ibn Taghrī Birdī, Al-Nujūm al-zāhira, vol. 2, p. 304.
References
- Dhahabī, Shams al-Dīn al-. Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ. Ed. Shuʿayb Arnāʾūṭ. Beirut, Muʾassisa al-Risāla, 1405 AH.
- Ibn al-Athīr, ʿIzz al-Dīn. Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh. Beirut, Dār Ṣādir, 1385 AH.
- Ibn al-Murtaḍā, Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā. Ṭabaqāt al-Muʿtazila. Ed. Sawsan Zakarīyā. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1961.
- Ibn al-Nadīm, Muḥammad b. Isḥāq. Al-Fihrist. Beirut, Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1978.
- Ibn Taghrī Birdī, Yūsuf. Al-Nujūm al-zāhira fī mulūk Miṣr wa l-Qāhira. Egypt, Dār al-Kutub, n.d.
- Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut, Muʾassisa al-Wafāʾ, 1404 AH.
- Masʿūdī, ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn al-. Murūj al-dhahab wa maʿādin al-jawhar. Beirut, Dār al-Hijra, n.d.
- Najāshī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-. Rijāl al-Najāshī. Qom, Muʾassisa al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1416 AH.
- Qummī, ʿAbbās. Al-Kunā wa l-alqāb. Qom, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1368 Sh.
- Ṣadr, Sayyid Muḥammad. Tārīkh al-ghayba al-ṣughrā. Beirut, Dār al-Taʿāruf, 1st ed., 1392 AH.
- Tihrānī, Āghā Buzurg. Al-Dharīʿa ilā taṣānīf al-Shīʿa. Beirut, Dār al-Aḍwāʾ, 1403 AH.
- Tustarī, Muḥammad Taqī. Qāmūs al-rijāl. Qom, Muʾassisa Nashr Jāmiʿa Mudarrisīn Ḥawza ʿIlmiyya Qom, 1410 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-. Al-Ghayba. Qom, Muʾassisa al-Maʿārif al-Islāmiyya, 1411 AH.
- Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī, Shihāb al-Dīn. Muʿjam al-udabāʾ. Ed. Iḥsān ʿAbbās. Beirut, Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī, 1993.