Muharram 6th marks death anniversary of great Shiite scholar “Sayed Razi”, compiler of Nahj ul-Balagha

The 6th of Muharram marks the death anniversary of the great Shiite scholar and hadith “Sayed Razi”, the compiler of Nahj ul-Balagha, who passed away in 406 AH.

He devoted twenty years of his life in compiling Nahj al-Balaghah, and traveled to many libraries to collect texts that had recorded the lectures, letters, and sayings that Ali had written or delivered on different occasions.

Abu al-Hassan, Muhammad bin Hossein bin Musa Mousavi Baghdadi, known as “Sayyid Razi”, was one of the great Shia scholars born in the year 359 AH in the city of Baghdad.

Seyyed Razi was the younger brother of Seyed Morteza Alam Al-Huda. His mother was a scholarly and pious woman who wrote the book Ahkam al-Nisa at his request.

Seyyed Razi, who is considered one of the prominent personalities of the Shiite world, was a thinker with great intelligence, understanding and talent. After studying in the field of Islamic sciences and reaching a high level of knowledge, he established a school in the city of Baghdad and devoted himself to the training of students in Islamic sciences.

Sayyid Razi’s greatest service to the Shia World was collecting Nahj ul-Balagha. In the introduction of this book, he writes: I started collecting Nahj al-Balagh knowing that its spiritual benefit was immense, and that soon it will dominate the scholarly world.

Nahj al-Balagha includes the precious words, maxims and letters of Amir al-Mu’minin, peace be upon him. The value of this book lies in the fact that the most eloquent speakers throughout history have considered it their honor to study Nahj al-Balagheh. It is also known as “Akh Al-Qur’an” which means the brother of the Holy Qur’an.

In the introduction of the book, Seyyed Razi pointed out that what he brings are only selected words and letters of Amirul Momineen.

Seyyed Razi passed away when he was under fifty years old. Some accounts say he had not visited the Master of the Martyrs, peace be upon him, until the time of his death, claiming that he could not bear to stand in front of the shrine of Imam Hussein, peace be upon him.

He was a great poet and left many poems in his legacy. While visiting for the first time the shrine of Sayyid al-Shuhada, peace be upon him, he composed an ode describing the Master of the Martyrs.

Some sources say he surrendered his soul to his Lord while reciting this ode at the doorstep of the entrance of Imam Hossein’s shrine.