Al-Nuwayrī, full name Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Nuwayrī ( ar, شهاب الدين أحمد بن عبد الوهاب النويري, born April 5, 1279 in

Akhmim Akhmim ( ar, أخميم, ; Akhmimic , ; Sahidic/Bohairic cop, ) is a city in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. Referred to by the ancient Greeks as Khemmis or Chemmis ( grc, Χέμμις) and Panopolis ( grc, Πανὸς πόλις and Π ...

, present-day Egypt – died June 5, 1333 in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

) was an Egyptian

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

historian and civil servant of the Bahri Mamluk dynasty. He is most notable for his compilation of a 9,000-page encyclopedia of the

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

era, titled ''The Ultimate Ambition in the Arts of Erudition'' (, '), which pertained to

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, an ...

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having i ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

chronology Chronology (from Latin ''chronologia'', from Ancient Greek , ''chrónos'', "time"; and , ''-logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of even ...

, amongst others. He is also known for his extensive work regarding the

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...

' conquest of Syria. Al-Nuwayri started his encyclopedia around the year 1314 and completed it in 1333.

Life

The name Al-Nuwayri is a nisba referring to the village of Al-Nuwayra in present-day

Beni Suef Governorate Beni Suef ( ar, محافظة بني سويف ') is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is situated in the center of the country. Overview This governorate's capital is the city of Beni Suef, located about 120 km south of Cairo on the wes ...

. Al-Nuwayri was born April 5, 1279 in

, Egypt. For most of his childhood, he lived in Qus in

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient E ...

, where he studied with

Ibn Daqiq al-'Id Ibn Daqiq al-'Id (; 1228–1302), born in Yanbu into the Arab tribe of Banu Qushayr. He is accounted as one of Islam's great scholars in the fundamentals of Islamic law and belief, and was an authority in the Shafi'i legal school. Although Ibn Da ...

. He later studied at

Al-Azhar University , image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Al-Azhar University portal , motto = , established = *970/972 first foundat ...

, specializing in the study of the

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...

and the sira, in addition to history. Skilled in

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined ...

, he reportedly made a copy of ''

Sahih al-Bukhari Sahih al-Bukhari ( ar, صحيح البخاري, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī), group=note is a ''hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl al-Bukhārī (810–870) around 846. A ...

'' which he sold for 1000

dinar The dinar () is the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, and its historical use is even more widespread. The modern dinar's historical antecedents are the gold dinar and the silver dirham, the main coin ...

s. He worked as a civil servant in the administration of Sultan

An-Nasir Muhammad Al-Malik an-Nasir Nasir ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun ( ar, الملك الناصر ناصر الدين محمد بن قلاوون), commonly known as an-Nasir Muhammad ( ar, الناصر محمد), or by his kunya: Abu al-Ma'ali () or as Ibn Qal ...

starting at age of 23, serving in various roles including property manager for the Sultan and superintendent of army finances in Tripoli. At some point after 1312, he retired from government service and took a job copying manuscripts in order to support himself while compiling his encyclopedia. He died on June 5, 1333 in Cairo.

Encyclopedia

Al-Nuwayri's encyclopedia, ''The Ultimate Ambition in the Arts of Erudition'', was divided into five sections (books): # Geography and astronomy # Man, and what relates to him # Animals # Plants # History The first four subjects comprised 10 volumes, while the last filled 21 volumes. ِAl-Nuwayri based his encyclopedia on several earlier works. In fact, the only wholly original portions are the discussion of financial secretaryship in book two, and some of the historical material in book five. The rest of the work was a compilation of a number of texts including ''Delightful Concepts and the Path to Precepts (Mabahij al-fikar wa manahij al-'ibar)'' by

Jamal al-Din al-Watwat Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Yaḥyā al-Kutubi ( ar, جمال الدين، محمد بن إبراهيم بن يحيى بن علي المروي الأنصاري، الوراق الكتبي), known as al-Waṭwāṭ (, 'the bat', 632-7 ...

and

Avicenna Ibn Sina ( fa, ابن سینا; 980 – June 1037 CE), commonly known in the West as Avicenna (), was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islamic ...

's ''

Canon of Medicine ''The Canon of Medicine'' ( ar, القانون في الطب, italic=yes ''al-Qānūn fī al-Ṭibb''; fa, قانون در طب, italic=yes, ''Qanun-e dâr Tâb'') is an encyclopedia of medicine in five books compiled by Persian physician-phi ...

''.Muhanna, pp. 43, 69.

Life

Encyclopedia

References

Further reading