Abū Bakr az-Zubaydī (), also known as Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Madḥīj al-Faqīh and Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan az-Zubaydī al-Ishbīlī (), held the title ''Akhbār al-fuquhā'' and wrote books on topics including philology, biography, history, philosophy, law, lexicology, and hadith.

Life

Az-Zubaydī was a native of

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

(present-day

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

), whose ancestor, Bishr ad-Dākhil ibn Ḥazm of

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

i origin, had come with the Umayyads to al-Andalus from Ḥimṣ in the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

(

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

). Az-Zubaydī moved to

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

, the seat of the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

, to study under Abū ‘Alī al-Qālī. His scholarship on the philologist Sībawayh’s grammar, ''

Al-Kitāb Sibawayh ( (also pronounced in many modern dialects) ; ' ; ), whose full name is Abu Bishr Amr ibn Uthman ibn Qanbar al-Basri (, '), was a Persian people, Persian leading Grammarians of Basrah, grammarian of Basra and author of the Third boo ...

'', led to his appointment as tutor to the son of the

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

caliph Ḥakam II, the crown prince Hishām II. At the Caliph’s encouragement, az-Zubaydī composed many books on philology, and biographies of philologists and lexicographers. He became

qāḍī 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 ...

of Seville, where he died in 989.

Works

*'' Al-Istidrāk ‘alā Sībawayh fī Kitāb al-abniya wa’z-ziyāda ‘alā mā awradahu fīhi muhadhdhab'' (

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, 1890) (

Baghdād 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 ...

, 1970), (

Riyad Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

, 1987) *'' Ṭabaqāt an-Naḥwīyīn wa-al-Lughawīyīn'' () ‘Categories of Grammarians and Linguists’; (973–6)

Biographical dictionary A biographical dictionary is a type of encyclopedic dictionary limited to biographical information. Many attempt to cover the major personalities of a country (with limitations, such as living persons only, in ''Who's Who'', or deceased people o ...

of the early philologists and lexicographers of the Basran,

Kufan Kufa ( ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya and Najaf, ...

and

schools; almost contemporaneous with Ibn an-Nadim's ''

Al-Fihrist The () (''The Book Catalogue'') is a compendium of the knowledge and literature of tenth-century Islam compiled by Ibn al-Nadim (d. 998). It references approx. 10,000 books and 2,000 authors.''The Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the ...

''. Both works bear witness to the emergence of the science of Arabic philology, and to the close intellectual contact between the Abbāsid and

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

seats of power at Baghdād and Cordoba, respectively. (Cairo, 1954) *''Akhbār al-fuquhā; al-muta’akhkhirīn min ahl Qurṭuba''; History of the jurisconsults of Córdoba *''Amthilat al-abniya fī Kitāb Sībawayh Tafsīr Abī Bakr al-Zubaydī'' *''Basṭ al-Bāri’'' *''Al-ghāya fi ‘l-arūḍ'' *''Ikhtiṣār''; Selections from Bukhārī’s '' Ṣaḥīḥ'' in Francisco Pons y Boigues *''Istidrāk al-ghalaṭ al-wāqi’ fī Kitāb al-‘Ayn'' () *'' Laḥn al-‘awāmm'' (); dialectical speech errors; ed., R. 'Abd al-Tawwāb, Cairo 1964. *'' Mukhtaṣar al-Ayn'' () ‘Selections from '' Al-Ayn'' of Khalīl ibn Aḥmad’ (before 976) *''Al-Mustadrak min az-ziyāda fī Kitab al-Bāri’ alā Kitāb al-‘Ayn'' *''Ar-radd ‘alā Ibn Masarra'', or ''Hatk sutūr al-mulḥidīn'' *''Risālat al-intiṣār li ‘l-Khalīl'' *''At-Tahdhīb bi-muḥkam at-tartīb'' () from the Laḥn al-ʻāmmah *''At-Taqrīz'' *''Al-wāḍīḥ fī ‘ilm al-‘arabiyya'' (); grammar after Sībawayh (Cairo, 1975), ('Ammān, 1976) *'' Az-ziyadat ‘alā kitāb 'iṣlaḥ laḥn al-ʻaāmmah bi-al-Andalus'' ()

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zubaydi (al-), Abu Bakr 10th-century births 989 deaths Year of birth uncertain Writers from Seville 10th-century historians from al-Andalus 10th-century biographers 10th-century philologists 10th-century lexicographers 10th-century Arabic-language writers Encyclopedists from al-Andalus Arab biographers Arab grammarians Arab lexicographers Medieval grammarians of Arabic Encyclopedists of the medieval Islamic world Philologists of Arabic

Life

Works

See also

References

Bibliography