Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Azharī (; 282–370 AH/895–980 AD) or simply known as Abu Mansur al-Azhari (), was an

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

and grammarian of

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

. a prominent philologist of his time, known for his talents and the transmitting of philological knowledge. His most important work is ''Tahdhib al-Lughat'' (; ''The Concise Guide of Languages'').

Biography

Al-Azhari was born in the city of

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...

Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...

, at the time controlled by the

Samanid The Samanid Empire ( fa, سامانیان, Sāmāniyān) also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply as the Samanids) was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, of Iranian dehqan origin. The empire was centred in Kho ...

dynasty. He is known as ''al-Azhari'' after an ancestor whose name is ''Azhar'' and nothing is known about him. In his youth, al-Azhari travelled to the city of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, which was considered a center of science, the city was still under the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

rule. Studying in Baghdad, he met the famous contemporary grammarian of the Abbasid court

Ibn al-Sari al-Zajjaj Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Sarī al-Zajjāj () was a Grammarians of Basra, grammarian of Basrah, a scholar of philology and theology and a favourite at the Abbasid Caliphate, Abbāsid court. He died in 922 at Baghdad, Baghdād ...

(d. 923). According to

Ibn Khallikan Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ibrāhīm bin Abū Bakr ibn Khallikān) ( ar, أحمد بن محمد بن إبراهيم بن أبي بكر ابن خلكان; 1211 – 1282), better known as Ibn Khallikān, was a 13th century Shafi'i Islamic scholar w ...

, Al-Azhari happened to also meet another leading grammarian at the time,

Ibn Duraid Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Duraid al-Azdī al-Baṣrī ad-Dawsī Al-Zahrani (), or Ibn Duraid () (c. 837-933 CE), a leading grammarian of Baṣrah, was described as "the most accomplished scholar, ablest philologer and first poet of t ...

. In his travels to acquire knowledge of the Arabic language, he left Baghdad to the city of Mecca. Around this time, the

Qarmatians The Qarmatians ( ar, قرامطة, Qarāmiṭa; ) were a militant Isma'ilism, Isma'ili Shia Islam, Shia movement centred in Al-Ahsa Oasis, al-Hasa in Eastern Arabia, where they established a Utopia#Religious utopias, religious-utopian Socialis ...

are causing havoc in Arabia after revolting against the Abbasids. In 924 AD, as al-Azhari was returning from Mecca back to Baghdad accompanied by a pilgrimage caravan on their way back from

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

, they were attacked by the Qarmatians led by

Abu Tahir al-Jannabi Abu Tahir Sulayman al-Jannabi ( ar, ابو طاهر سلیمان الجنّابي, Abū Tāhir Sulaymān al-Jannābī, fa, ابوطاهر سلیمانِ گناوه‌ای ''Abu-Tāher Soleymān-e Genāve'i'') was a Persian warlord and the ruler ...

. Many of the pilgrims were slaughtered and their belongings stolen. Al-Azhari however was taken as a prisoner, living his next two years in captivity. While he lived among the Bedouin Qarmatians, he recorded in his book ''Tahdhib al-Lughat'' their way of living and learned their idioms and expressions. Al-Azhari died in his native city of Herat in the year 980 AD.

Works

* ''Tahdhib al-Lughat'' (''The Concise Guide of Languages'') * ''Gharib al-Alfaz'' (''Rare Words'') * ''Kitab al-Tafsir'' (''Book of Interpretation'')

References

{{authority control 980 deaths 10th-century Arabs 10th-century lexicographers 10th-century philologists 10th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate Scholars from the Abbasid Caliphate Arab grammarians Arab linguists Grammarians of Arabic Historical linguists Lexicographers of Arabic Medieval grammarians of Arabic People from Herat 895 births

Biography

Works

See also

References