Shining Sun: In Memory of ‘Allamah Tabataba’i

Shining Sun (a translation of Mihr-i Taban) is a tribute to the life and thought of the renowned Islamic scholar, Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i, written soon after he passed away by one of his students. It includes an overview of Tabataba’i’s life and transcriptions of discussions between Tabataba’i and his student. These discussions cover history, philosophy, mysticism, theology, and the Qurʾan. In addition to being a useful reference work on Shiʿi thought, Shining Sun captures the essence of the ethics and morals of the Islamic scholarly tradition in a simpler time.

Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i (1904-1981) was born in Tabriz, Iran. He authored the renowned twenty-volume Qur’anic commentary al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Qur’an as well as several groundbreaking works on Islamic philosophy and mysticism. Additionally, he wrote numerous books on Shi‘a history and doctrine to bring about a better understanding of Shi‘ism.

Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Husayni Tihrani (1926-1995) was a close student Tabatabaʾi and enjoyed a long affiliation with him. An eloquent speaker and prolific writer, Tihrani established and propagated the spiritual school of Tabatabaʾi and Tabatabaʾi’s chain of spiritual masters.