Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i was born in Tabriz in 1321 AH / 1903.
When twenty years of age went to the University of Najaf to continue his studies. There he studied Shari'a and usul al-fiqh of two of the leading sheikh sheikh-time ie Mirza Muhammad Husain and Shaikh Muhammad Husain Na'ini Isfahani.

But a Mujtahid is not the goal. Tabataba'i more interested in the sciences aqliah, and diligently studied all the traditional mathematical basis of Sayyid Abul Qasim Khwansari, and traditional Islamic philosophy, including Ash-Shifa raw manuscript of Ibn Sina and al-Asfar works of Sadr al-Din Shirazi and Tamhid qawa'id of Ibn al-Sayyid Husayn Turkah of Badkuba'i.


Tabataba'i also studied 'ilm Hudhuri (sciences are studied directly from Allah SWT), or ma'rifat, through which the knowledge was transformed into the appearance of nature-the nature of the supernatural. His teacher, Mirza Ali Qadi, who began to lead him into the mysteries of the divine and lead him towards perfection in spiritual perjalananan. Before you meet with this Shaykh, Tabataba'i thought they had really understood book Fushulli Hikam of Ibn al-Arabi. But when I met with this great Shaykh, he realized that in fact he did not know anything. Thanks to this the Shaykh, the years in Najaf is not only a period of intellectual achievement, but also the asceticism and spiritual practices that enabled him to achieve a state of spiritual realization.