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HĀRUN B. ALTUNTAŠ, son of a Turkish slave commander of Maḥmud of Ghazna (q.v.) who served as governor in Kᵛārazm from 423/1032 until 426/1035 (see CHORASMIA ii.), first of all for the Ghaznavids, and then as an independent ruler. Hārun succeeded his father Altuntaš as de facto governor of Ḵᵛārazm…

HĀRUT and MĀRUT, two fallen angels who taught mankind magic in Babylon. They are mentioned once in the Koran (2:96 [2:102]) in a passage admonishing (Jewish) disbelievers who follow the teaching of the Satans (Šayāṭin) at the time of Solomon. “Solomon did not disbelieve, but the satans disbelieved, teaching the…

ḪARZIANU, a city and a district in Media, mentioned in the Assyrian texts of the time of Sargon II. In 716 B.C.E., when Sargon was in Media in the land of Saka, he received tribute from several Median city chieftains, including Zarduka of Ḫarzianu (Levine, p. 50, l. 62). The…

ḤASAB O NASAB, a compound term adopted from Arabic, and used in both Arabic and New Persian literature to express complementary aspects of the concept of nobility. In Persian literature, the phrase gowhar o honar is also used to express the same concept. The second element, nasab, denotes genealogy or…

ḤASANB. NUḤ B. YUSOF B. ĀDAM BHARUČI HENDI, a Mostaʿli Ṭayyebi Ismaʿili savant and the author of Ketāb al-azhār, a chrestomathy of Ismaʿili literature (d. in Yemen, 11 Ḏu’l-qaʿda 939/4 June 1533). According to Bharuči’s own statement, he was born and brought up in Khambhāt (Cambay), a port city in…

ḤASAN B. ʿABD-AL-MOʾMEN, ḤOSĀM-AL-DIN ḴOʾI, scribe, poet and lexicographer from Azerbaijan of the 7th/13th century. Little is known about his life. References in some of his works indicate that he lived during the reigns of Yāvlāq Arslān (r. 679-90/1280-91) and his son, Amir Maḥmud (r. 692-?/1292-?), two of the Çobanoğulları…

ḤASANB. ʿALI AL-QOMMI, ABU NAṢR, astrologer of the late 4th/10th century. Very little is known about this person. He was allegedly the author of an astrological treatise, titled Ketāb al-Bāriʿ or Ketāb al-madḵal elā ʿelm aḥkām al-nojum, dedicated to Abu ʿAmr Moḥammad b. Saʿid b. Marzubān Eṣfahāni; according to Ḥājji…

ḤASAN B. ʿALI B. ABI ṬĀLEB, eldest surviving grandson of the Prophet Moḥammad through his daughter Fāṭema, and second Imam of the Šiʿa after his father ʿAli. According to traditional sources, he was born on 15 Ramażān 3/2 March 625 and was brought up in the Prophet’s household until the…