Baha' al-Din al-'Amili

Who was Baha' al-Din al-'Amili?

Bahāʾ al‐Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn al‐ʿĀmilī was a scholar, philosopher, architect, mathematician, astronomer and a poet in 16th-century Iran. He was born in Baalbek, Lebanon but immigrated in his childhood to Safavid Iran with his father. He was one of the earliest astronomers in the Islamic world to suggest the possibility of the Earth's movement prior to the spread of the Copernican theory. He is considered one of the main co-founders of Isfahan School of Islamic Philosophy. In later years he became one of the teachers of Mulla Sadra.

He wrote over 100 treatises and books in different topics, in Persian and Arabic. A number of 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 Avenue in Isfahan, as well as designing the Manar Jonban, also known as the two shaking minarets, situated on either side of the mausoleum of Amoo Abdollah Garladani in the west of Isfahan. He is buried in Imam Reza's shrine in Mashad in Iran. His granddaughter is buried in Bidhand, Isfahan in Iran.