patronizing and entertaining intellectuals of ‘Abbasid society. Some notable members of this family are: Abū Sahl al-Faḍl ibn Nawbakht – Nawbakht’s immediate successor as a court astrologer for al-Mansur, Abu Sahl is known to have also worked as a translator in the Ḵezānat al-ḥekma (Treasury of wisdom) of one of al-Mansur’s successors, Hārun al-Rašid. Three of Abu Sahl’s sons, ‘Abdallah, Esma’il, and Abu’l-Abbas Fazl, all also served as court astrologers for al-Ma’mun and were patrons of the poet Abu Nowas and it was the Nawbakhti family that preserved much of his poetry. Abū Sahl Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAlī – the first of Nawbakht’s descendants that can decisively be determined as contributing to Shi’ite doctrine. Abu Sahl was a prominent theologian of Imami Shi’ism, and while the family is known for their loyalty to and influence on Twelver Shi’ism, the family’s relationship to the sect are difficult to discern prior to Abu Sahl’s contributions. al-Ḥasan ibn Mūsā – nephew of Abu Sahl, also a Shi’ite theologian as well as a philosopher and astronomer. Abu’l-Qāsem Ḥosayn ibn Ruḥ ibn Abi Baḥr Nawbaḵti – perhaps the most politically prominent member of the Nawbakhti family, ibn Ruh became the third safir or deputy of the twelfth Imam. References Sources The Golden Age of Persia, by Richard Nelson Frye, p. 163. Khandan-i Naubakhti, by Abbas Iqbal, Tehran, 1933, pp 2–3 & 13. Islamic Science and Engineering, by Donald Hill, p. 10. Year of birth missing Year of death missing Medieval Iranian astrologers Converts to Islam from Zoroastrianism Astronomers from the Abbasid Caliphate 8th-century Iranian astronomers 9th-century Iranian astronomers 8th-century astrologers 9th-century astrologers People from Ahvaz 8th-century translators 8th-century Arabic writers 9th-century Arabic writers 8th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate