Abu Nasr Baha al-Din Sabur ibn Ardashir (Arabic: ابونصر بهاء الدين شاپور بن اردشیر; also spelled Shapur) was a Persian statesman who served as the vizier of the Buyids of Iraq five times between 990/1 to 1000.
Sabur was born in 942[1] or May 948 at Shiraz.[2] An adherent of Zaydi Shi'ism, he is described by C. E. Bosworth as a " taciturn and exacting functionary, adept at extracting money for his masters".[1]
He began his career as deputy in Baghdad of the vizier Abu Mansur ibn Salihan, whom he then succeeded in 990.[1] His first tenure was of brief duration, being arrested a year later, and escaping to the Batihah marshlands after his release,[2] where he possessed estates and some sort of power base, that often served as a refuge in his career.[1]
Sabur was re-appointed to the vizierate on 10 October 992, jointly with Ibn Salihan, until they both resigned their office following a mutiny of the Dailamite soldiery in 993/4.[3] Their successor, Abu'l-Qasim Ali ibn Ahmad al-Abarquhi, did not last long in the office, fleeing in turn to Batihah, so that Sabur was appointed vizier again in the same year. This vizierate lasted until 994/5, when he was dismissed and replaced by none other than Ali al-Abarquhi, whom he succeeded again in 996/7 for two months.[3] In 1000, he again served as vizier in Baghdad, but had to flee in December after the Turkic soldiers mutinied.[4] Nevertheless, in August/September 1001 he was appointed governor of Iraq alongside al-Hajjaj ibn Ustadh Hurmuz, until March/April 1002, when he again fled to the marshlands.[5]
Sabur was captured in November/December 1002, and later released. He withdrew from Buyid politics, and spent the rest of his life in Baghdad, where died in 1025/6.[1][5]
He is best remembered for his patronage of scholars and poets, as well as the foundation of a college (dar al-ilm) in the Bayn al-Surayn quarter of Baghdad, with a library of 10,000 books.[1]