Muhammad ibn Mukarram ibn Alī ibn Ahmad ibn Manzūr al-Ansārī al-Ifrīqī al-Misrī al-Khazrajī () also known as Ibn Manẓūr () (June–July 1233 – December 1311/January 1312) was an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

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

of the

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and author of a large dictionary, ''Lisan al-ʿArab'' (; )

Biography

Ibn Manzur was born in 1233 in

Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...

(present day

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

). He was of Arab descent, from the

Banu Khazraj The Banu Khazraj () is a large Arab tribe based in Medina. They were also in Medina during Muhammad's era. The Banu Khazraj are a South Arabian Qahtanite tribe that were pressured out of South Arabia as a result of the destruction of the Marib ...

tribe of Ansar as his ''nisba'' al-Ansārī al-Ifrīqī al-Misrī al-Khazrajī suggests. Ibn Hajar reports that he was a judge (

qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...

) in

Tripoli, Libya Tripoli, historically known as Tripoli-of-the-West, is the capital city, capital and largest city of Libya, with a population of about 1.317 million people in 2021. It is located in the northwest of Libya on the edge of the desert, on a point ...

and Egypt and spent his life as clerk in the Diwan al-Insha', an office that was responsible among other things for correspondence, archiving and copying. Fück assumes to be able to identify him with Muḥammad b. Mukarram, who was one of the

secretaries A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, Personal assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project manageme ...

of this institution (the so called ''Kuttāb al-Inshāʾ'') under

Qalawun (, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Turkic Bahri Mamluk sultan of Egypt; he ruled from 1279 to 1290. He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious"). After having risen in power in the Mamluk court and elite circles, Qalawun eventually hel ...

. Following Brockelmann, Ibn Manzur studied

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

. He dedicated most of his life to excerpts from works of historical philology. He is said to have left 500 volumes of this work. He died around the turn of the years 1311/1312 in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Works

Lisān al-ʿArab

(لسان العرب, "Tongue of Arabs") was completed by Ibn Manzur in 1290. Occupying 20 printed book volumes (in the most frequently cited edition), it is the best known dictionary of the Arabic language, as well as one of the most comprehensive. Ibn Manzur compiled it from other sources to a large degree. The most important sources for it were the ''Tahdhīb al-Lugha'' of Azharī, '' Al-Muḥkam'' of Ibn Sidah, ''Al-Nihāya'' of Ibn Athīr and Jauhari's ''Ṣiḥāḥ'', as well as the ''ḥawāshī'' (glosses) of the latter (''Kitāb at-Tanbīh wa-l-Īḍāḥ'') by Ibn Barrī. It follows the ''Ṣiḥāḥ'' in the arrangement of the

roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

: The headwords are not arranged by the alphabetical order of the radicals as usually done today in the study of

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

, but according to the last radical - which makes finding rhyming endings significantly easier. Furthermore, the ''Lisān al-Arab'' notes its direct sources, but not or seldom their sources, making it hard to trace the linguistic history of certain words. Murtaḍá al-Zabīdī corrected this in his '' Tāj al-ʿArūs'', that itself goes back to the ''Lisān''. The ''Lisān'', according to Ignatius d'Ohsson, was already printed in the 18th century in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, thus fairly early for the Islamic world. Lisan_al_arab_by_Ibn_Manzur

Published editions of the Lisān al-'Arab

''Bullag Misr al-Matb'ah al-Kubra al-'Amiriyah'' Egypt; 1883, vol.,1
* ''Al-Maṭbaʿa al-Kubra al-Amirīya'',

Bulaq Boulaq ( from "guard, customs post"), is a district of Cairo, in Egypt. It neighbours Downtown Cairo, Azbakeya, and the River Nile. History The westward shift of the Nile, especially between 1050 and 1350, made land available on its eastern si ...

; 1883 - 1890, vols.,20 * ''Dar Sadir'',

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

; 1955 - 1956, vols.,15.
''Ādāb al-Ḥawza'', Iran; 1984, vols.,18

Other works

* ''Aḫbār Abī Nuwās'', a bio-bibliography of the Arabic-Persian poet

Abu Nuwas Abu Nuwas () (756-8) was a classical Arabic poet, and the foremost representative of the modern (''muhdath'') poetry that developed during the first years of the Abbasid Caliphate. He also entered the folkloric tradition, appearing several ...

; printed (with commentary by Muhammad Abd ar-Rasul) 1924 in Cairo as well as published by Shukri M. Ahmad 1952 in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. *''Muḫtaṣar taʾrīḫ madīnat Dimašq l-Ibn ʿAsākir'', summary of the

History of Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth holiest city in Islam. Known colloquially in Syria as () and dubbed, poetically, the "City of Jasmine" ( ), ...

by Ibn 'Asakir. *''Muḫtaṣar taʾrīḫ madīnat Baġdād li-s-Samʿānī'', summary of the

History of Baghdad The city of Baghdad (Arabic: بغداد ''Baġdād'') was established by the Abbasid dynasty as its capital in the 8th century, marking a new era in Islamic history after their defeat of the Umayyad Caliphate. It replaced Seleucia-Ctesiphon, a ...

by al-Samʿānī (d. December 1166). *''Muḫtaṣar Ǧāmiʿ al-Mufradāt'', summary of the treatise about remedies and edibles by al-Baiṭār. *''Muḫtār al-aġānī fi-l-aḫbār wa-t-tahānī'', a selection of songs; printed 1927 in Cairo. * ''Niṯār al-azhār fī l-layl wa-l-nahār'', a short treatise on

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

about day and night as well as the stars and

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

s; printed 1880 in Istanbul. * ''Taḏkirāt al-Labīb wa-nuzhat al-adīb'' (if following Fück identical with Muḥammad b. Mukarram), served al-Qalqaschandi as a source.

References

Sources

Carl Brockelmann Carl Brockelmann (17 September 1868 – 6 May 1956) German Semitic studies, Semiticist, was the foremost Orientalism, orientalist of his generation. He was a professor at the universities in University of Wrocław, Breslau, Berlin and, from 1903, ...

: '' Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur''. Volume II, Brill, Leiden ²1943, p. 21f as well as Supplement Volume II, Brill, Leiden 1938, p. 14f. * Johann W. Fück: Art. ''Ibn Manẓūr'', in: ²

Encyclopaedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is a reference work that facilitates the Islamic studies, academic study of Islam. It is published by Brill Publishers, Brill and provides information on various aspects of Islam and the Muslim world, Isl ...

III (1971), p. 864. *Jörg Krämer: ''Studien zur altarabischen Lexikographie: Nach Istanbuler und Berliner Handschriften'', in: ''Oriens'' 6 (1953), p. 230f. *

Fuat Sezgin Fuat Sezgin (24 October 1924 – 30 June 2018) was a Turkish scholar and researcher who specialized in the history of Science in the medieval Islamic world. He was ''professor emeritus'' of the History of Natural Science at Johann Wolfgang Goet ...

: ''Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums.'' Volumes I - IX, Brill, Leiden 1964 - 1987. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibn Manzur Arab lexicographers 1233 births 1310s deaths Malikis Asharis 13th-century Arab people Lexicographers of Arabic 13th-century lexicographers