FAKHR  UD-D!N RAZI (1149-1209), Arabian historian and theologian, was the son of a preacher, himself a writer, and was

born at Rai (Rei, Rhagae), near Tehran, where he received his earliest training . Here and at Maragha, whither he followed his teacher Majd ud-Din ul-Jill, he studied philosophy and theology . He was a Shafi'ite in law and a follower of Ash`arI (q.v.) in theology, and became renowned as a defender of orthodoxy . During a journey in Khwarizm and Mawara'l-nahr he preached both in Persian and Arabic against the sects of Islam . After this tour he returned to his native city, but settled later in Herat, where he died . His dogmatic positions may be seen from his work Kitab ul-Muhassal, which is analysed by Schmolders in his Essai sur les 'kola philosophiques chez les Arabes (Paris, 1842) . Extracts from his History of the Dynasties were published by Jourdain in the Fundgruben des Orients (vol. v.), and by D . R . Heinzius (St Petersburg, 1828) . His greatest work is the Mats-ails ul-Ghaib (" The Keys of Mystery "), an extensive commentary on the Koran published at Cairo (8 vols., 1890) and elsewhere; it is specially full in its exposition of Ash'arite theology and its use of early and late Mu'tazilite writings . For an account of his life see F . Wiistenfeld's Geschichte der arabischen Arzte, No .

200 (

Gottingen, 1S4o); for a list of his works cf . C . Brockelmann's Gesch. der arabischen Literatur, vol. r (Weimar, 1898), pp . 506 if . An account of his teaching is given by M . Schreiner in the Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft (vol . 52, PP . 505 ff.) . (G . W .