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Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i

Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i

محمدحسین طباطبایی

1903–1981 · Iran · Shia philosopher, theologian and Qur'an commentator in Qom

Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i was born in Tabriz around 1903. He studied the Qur’an and Persian literature as a child and then Arabic, jurisprudence and legal theory at a Tabriz school. He went on to Najaf, where he spent about ten years studying with leading jurists, philosophers and mystics, among them Muhammad-Husayn Na’ini, Muhammad-Husayn Gharawi Isfahani and Sayyid Ali Qadi.

After returning to Iran he farmed for some years before moving to Qom in 1946. There he taught philosophy, Qur’anic exegesis and the Islamic sciences, and held a long series of conversations with the French scholar Henry Corbin, which were later published. His students included Morteza Motahhari, Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Hussein-Ali Montazeri, and he exerted a lasting influence on Shia philosophy and exegesis in the twentieth century. He died in 1981.

His great work is Tafsir al-Mizan, a commentary on the Qur’an written in Arabic over about two decades. He also wrote The Principles of Philosophy and the Method of Realism, textbooks of Islamic metaphysics such as Bidayat al-Hikma, essays and a book on Shia history and belief that appeared in English as Shi’ite Islam. He also wrote poetry in Persian and Arabic.

Photo: Unknown, Public domain (PD-Iran), via Wikimedia Commons

Archived 19 October 2026 · Biography sources: en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · archive.org

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Archived 23 October 2026 · Sources: the Wikipedia article of each author and the biographies on this site. Whole network

In their lifetime, in the History Hub:Ottoman EmpireSaudi statesEuropean colonial rule and the NahḍaEnd of empireNew states and revivalRevolution and renewal

Works

Language:

Books 5

BOOK 1975 · English
Shi'ite Islam شیعه در اسلام

A concise account of the history, doctrines and practice of Shi'ism, translated and edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and published by SUNY Press.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive

Cite

Tabataba'i, Muhammad Husayn. Shi'ite Islam. 1975. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/shiite-islam. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/muhammad-husayn-tabatabai/#muhammad-husayn-tabatabai-shiite-islam

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BOOK Arabic
Bidayat al-Hikma (The Elements of Islamic Metaphysics) بداية الحكمة

An introductory textbook of Islamic metaphysics, presented in Arabic with an English translation in the linked edition.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive

Cite

Tabataba'i, Muhammad Husayn. Bidayat al-Hikma (The Elements of Islamic Metaphysics). Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/bidayah_al_hikmah. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/muhammad-husayn-tabatabai/#muhammad-husayn-tabatabai-bidayat-al-hikma-the-elements-of-islamic-metaphysics

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BOOK Arabic
Tafsir al-Mizan تفسير الميزان

Tabataba'i's major multi-volume Arabic commentary on the Qur'an; this link is to volume 1 of the English translation.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive

Cite

Tabataba'i, Muhammad Husayn. Tafsir al-Mizan. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/al_mizan. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/muhammad-husayn-tabatabai/#muhammad-husayn-tabatabai-tafsir-al-mizan

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BOOK English
The Qur'an in Islam: Its Impact and Influence on the Life of Muslims

A short book on the place of the Qur'an in Muslim life and thought, and how it has been understood.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive (borrowable)

Cite

Tabataba'i, Muhammad Husayn. The Qur'an in Islam: Its Impact and Influence on the Life of Muslims. Internet Archive (borrowable), https://archive.org/details/bwb_S0-CBR-802. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/muhammad-husayn-tabatabai/#muhammad-husayn-tabatabai-the-quran-in-islam-its-impact-and-influence-on-the-life-of

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BOOK Persian
Usul-i Falsafa va Ravish-i Realism (The Principles of Philosophy and the Method of Realism) اصول فلسفه و روش رئالیسم

A multi-volume philosophical work with commentary by Morteza Motahhari, discussing knowledge and being from the standpoint of Islamic philosophy.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: en.wikipedia.org

Cite

Tabataba'i, Muhammad Husayn. Usul-i Falsafa va Ravish-i Realism (The Principles of Philosophy and the Method of Realism). Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/muhammad-husayn-tabatabai/#muhammad-husayn-tabatabai-usul-i-falsafa-va-ravish-i-realism

No free copy online