Khawaja Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

He is a prominent Iranian poet, philosopher, theologian, jurist, astronomer, thinker, mathematician, astronomer, physician, architect, and politician and was known by such titles as “Nasir al-Din”, “Mohaqeq-e Tusi”, “Ustad al-Bashar”, and “Khawaja”.

He was extremely interested in studying different sciences and had excelled in mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy from a young age and became one of the famous scientists of his time. Khawaja Nasir al-Din al-Tusi was a shining star that shone on the dark horizon of the Mongols.

The Maragheh Observatory was established by order of Khawaja Nasir al-Din Tusi and under his supervision, which resembled an extensive scientific research and educational organization and included a library of 400 thousand volumes of books and astronomical instruments in which he appointed the most famous scientists of the time as the head of each section regardless of their nationality and religion. UNESCO designated 2008 as the year of the Maragheh Observatory, and steps were taken to inscribe this observatory in the list of UNESCO’s tangible heritage.

Some of the famous books of Khawaja Nasir al-Din al-Tusi are Commentaries on Ibn Sina’s Esharat, Tajrid al-‘Itiqad, Al-Tazkirah al- Nasiriyah, Akhlaq-e Nasseri, Jawahar al-Faraiz, Book on Astronomy, Principles of Logic, Twenty Chapters on Astrolabe in Foreign Sciences, etc. Khawaja’s writings were published in Latin in London in 1652 CE, and some of his works have also been published in Egypt, India, and Iran.

Khawaja Nasir al-Din Tusi passed away in Baghdad on June 26, 1274, and his body was transferred to Kadhimiya and buried next to the tomb of the two Shiite infallible Imams.