John ‘Yehya-en-Nasr’ Parkinson

http://www.muslim.org/woking/is-rev-mar14.htm

A few words are in order about John Parkinson, a distant cousin of the family through the West line.

John Parkinson was actually born in1874, in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland, his family having left County Down for Scotland. John was a particular devotee of astronomy and was a member of the British Astronomical Society. What is curious about him is that in 1901 he left behind his Presbyterian roots and converted to Islam, assuming the name Yehya-en-Nasr. He was a particular admirer of the Orroman Empire and wrote a number of volumes of poetry devoted to his new religion as well as continuing his astronomical research. His long epic poem the Osmanli Nameh was presented to the Sultan Abdul Hamid II himself, who was reportedly an admirer of Parkinson's work. He died in 1918, and since he had already been upset that the First World War had pitted the British against the Ottomans, it was probably for the best that he did not live on to see the final dismemberment of their empire.

For more about John Parkinson, see Yahya Birt's website.