late 12th – early 13th centuries), also known under the laqab Nour ud-Dīn, was a Persian[1] historian, philologist, and author.
Born in Bukhara, Aufi claimed descent from Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf (d. 654) a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
[1] He grew up during the apex of the Islamic Golden Age and spent many years traveling, exploring, and lecturing to the common folk and the royalty alike in Delhi, Khorasan, Khwarezm, Samarkand, Merv, Nishapur, Sistan and Ghaznin.
[2] Apparently Aufi was for some time in the service of the Qarakhanid Uthman ibn Ibrahim who placed him in charge of his correspondence (dīvān-e ensha).
He dedicated his first grand work Lubab ul-Albab, which consisted of poems by kings and poets of ancient times,[4] to Amir Nāsiruddīn Qobājeh (ناصرالدین قباجه) (d. 1227), who was then ruler of Multan.