Abū Hayyān al-Tawhīdī


ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbbās also known as Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī was one of the most influential intellectuals and thinkers of the 10th century. Yāqūt al-Ḥamawī described him as "the philosopher of litterateurs and the litterateur of philosophers." However, he was neglected and ignored by the historians of his era. This neglect continued until Yāqūt wrote his book Muʿjam al-Udabāʾ, which contained a biographical outline of at-Tawḥīdī, relying primarily on what al-Tawḥīdī had written about himself.

Origin

There are differing views on the dates of al-Tawḥīdī's birth and death, and his origins. According to Tārīkh-i Sistān, he was born in 923 Near Baghdad or Fars, and died in 1023 in Shiraz. Al-Tawḥīdī had a difficult childhood. He was born into a poor family that sold dates called tawḥīd, and spent much of his childhood as an orphan in the care of his uncle, who treated him poorly.

Works

In spite of the incident of burning his books collectively by himself, he has left a set of literary, philosophical, and Sufi works, which were distinctive in the history of the Arabic literature. Perhaps the most important works are: