Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati

Abū Ḥayyān Athīr ad-Dīn al-Gharnāṭī (, November 1256 – July 1344 CE / 654 - 745 AH), whose full name is Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf bin ‘Alī ibn Yūsuf ibn Hayyān , better known as Abū Ḥayyān al-Gharnati (, was an Andalusian Sunni Islam scholar. He was the leading commentator on the Quran and foremost Arabic grammarian of his era. He was also regarded as the best scholar on Quranic recitation of his time. In addition, he was recognized for his scholarship in Islamic jurisprudence, hadith, and history.

His magnum opus, Al-Bahr al-Muhit (Explanation of the Ocean) is the most important reference on Qur'anic expressions and the issues of grammar, vocabulary, etymology, recitation, and the transcriber-copyists of the Qur'an. Quite exceptionally for a linguist of Arabic of his day was his strong interest in non-Arabic languages. He wrote several works of comparative linguistics for Arabic speakers, and gives extensive comparative grammatical analysis and explanation.

Early life Birth He was born in Spain in November 1256 to a family of Berber origins, from the Berber tribe of Nifza. Historians variously cite Gharnati's place of birth as both Jaén and Granada; his appellation "Gharnati" derives from this latter. At the time Jaén was a dependency of Granada, and the appellation conflict may only be apparent.

Education At a young age, Abu Hayyan left Spain and travelled extensively for the sake of his studies.

Teachers Abu Hayyan was a man who loved learning so much that he devoted all of his time and effort to learning. It follows that his achievement of attaining the pinnacle of knowledge mastery during his era should come as no surprise. He has acquired Ijazah and learnt from numerous teachers. He stated that he had received instruction from 450 teachers, yet there were a great number of teachers who granted him ijazah. Al-Safadi, one of Abu Hayyan's students, added that he had 400 teachers, whereas 1500 teachers have granted him ijazah. They were from Andalusia, Maghreb, Egypt, Levant, Hejaz, and Iraq. His teachers provide as evidence of his indisputable expertise in a variety of subjects. In actuality, this gives him the right to be recognised as a multidisciplinary figure in his era. Imam Abu Hayyan is credited by historians with writing a book that includes biographies of his masters. Al-Nudar was the name of the book, but the manuscripts are unavailable.

Abu Hayyan left Andalusia and briefly visited Morocco before spending time in other regions of North Africa, including Ceuta and Bougie. The author has spent some time during this time in hadith circles. After that, he spent some time in Tunisia's hadith scientific circles and received instruction in fiqh from the region's recognised authorities. Among his hadith-related experts were the following: Abu Yakub Yousuf ibn Ibrahim, Abu Muhammad Abdullah ibn Harun, and Abu Abdullah al-Kanani (69A9H/1300AD). He studied under Abu al-Abbas al-Ishbili (699AH/1300AD) in the field of fiqh. After that, he travelled and landed in Mamluk-ruled Egypt. He spent some time studying the hadith and the Qur'an in Alexandria before moving on to Cairo, where he spent the remainder of his days in 679H/ 1279AD23.

Students Imam Abu Hayyan taught a wide range of subjects, including Arabic language, hadith (prophetic tradition), fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), qira'at (Quranic recitation) and tafsir (Quranic interpretation). Many students travelled from all over the world to study under him. This phenomenon can be attributed to the fact that he taught at Cairo's largest mosque and lived long enough to impart knowledge to benefit his society.

Taqi al-Din al-Subki Jamal al-Din al-Isnawi Ibn Aqil Al-Safadi Ibn Hisham al-Ansari Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini Taj al-Din al-Subki

Death Abu Hayyan died on a Saturday in July in the year 1344 at his home in Cairo, He was buried the next day in the cemetery of Bab al-Nasr in Islamic Cairo. When news of his death reached Damascus, the population mourned his death.

Not only was Abu Hayyan regarded by his followers as a pious scholar, but he was also well-liked and polite in public. In addition, he was someone who gets excited when the Quran is recited. Kamal al-Din claims that although love and heroic poetry moved Abu Hayyan, poetry about charity had no such effect on him. Rather than bragging about his charity, the author complimented himself on his thrift. Al-Safadi, one of his students, explained this attitude by pointing to Abu Hayyan's discomfort on his scientific expedition and the fact that he had visited numerous places.

In reference to this verse, Abu Hayyan stated that there are still disagreements among Muslim scholars on the possibility of seeing Allah even in the Hereafter, whereas al-Zamakhshari claimed that this outright was impossible. The majority of Muslim scholars hold that we can see Allah with our naked eyes in the hereafter. This is contrast to the Qadariyah, Mu'tazila, Najjariyah, Jahmiyya, and their likes. Imam Abu Hayyan drew attention to this and defended the consensus since it is supported by so many prophetic traditions. Additionally, Abu Hayyan highlighted that al-Zamakhshari's fanaticism of his school of thought caused him to utilise religious passages out of context. When asked toward the end of his life about a claim he had switched to the Shafi'i madhhab, or some other school, he responded that, anyone who had known the Ẓāhirī school could never leave it.

Views He regarded the Sufism and metaphysics of ibn Arabi, Mansur Al-Hallaj, Ibn al-Farid, Ibn Sab'in and Abu al-Hasan al-Shushtari, as heretical.

On the Arabic language, Abu Hayyan shared the views of his fellow Ẓāhirī Andalusian, Ibn Maḍāʾ. Absolute belief in the divine mover led them to reject the concept of linguistic causality. For them the 'cause' of all things, including language, is attributable solely to God. Thus on theological grounds, he was suspicious of the so-called "eastern grammarian" supporters of 'linguistic causality'.

When Abu Hayyan arrived in Egypt the Mamluk Sultan was ruler. Although Abu Hayyan held the Turkic languages of Mamluk Egypt superior to the Kipchak and Turkmen languages with which he was familiar, he also wrote grammars of Amharic, Middle Mongol, the Berber languages and the Turkic. Other Arabic-language linguists of his day had little regard for foreign languages. Abu Hayyan often illuminated Arabic grammatical concepts with quotes from various language.

Exegesis Al-Bahr al-Muhit ; 'The Explanation Ocean' (Bayrūt, Dār al-Fikr, 1992); archive.org (12 vols., in Arabic); commentary on the linguistic meanings of Quran, composed in collaboration with al-Mansur, late in Gharnati's life. Some of the extraordinary rich non-canonical qira'at, or variant Qur'anic readings, appear first in this, his most famous work of commentary. Tafsir al-Nahr al-Mad min al-Bahr, a sumuary of Tafsir al-Bahir an-Muhit Ithaf al-Arib bi ma fi al-Qur’an al-Gharib, a concise book on the extraordinary vocabulary of the Qur'an (Gharib al-Qur’an).

Arabic language Kitāb Manhaj al-sālik fī al-kalām 'alá Alfīyyat Ibn Mālik - 'Commentary to the Alfiyya of Ibn Mālik'; several grammarians composed commentaries on ibn Malik's Alfiya, a seminal work in the field of Arabic grammar. archive.org (in Arabic; ed., Glazer, Sidney, 1947) Al-Tadhyil wa't-Takmil fi sharh kitab at-Tashil archive.org (in Arabic, 15 vols.); commentary on ibn mālik’s Tashīl. al-Mubdiʻ fī al-taṣrīf (in Arabic; Ṣafāt, al-Kuwayt, Maktabat Dār al-ʻUrūbah, 1982); on Arabic language word formation. Une Grammaire turque du huitième siècle de l'Hégire; "La Pénétration dans la langue des Turcs" d'Aboû Ḥayyân al-Gharnaṭî. (ed., Bouvat, Lucien; 1907). Tuhfat al'Arib bima fi al-Quran min al-Gharib archive.org (in Arabic) Tadhkirat al-nuḥāh 'Concerning Grammarians'; (Bayrūt, Muʼassasat al-Risālah, 1986) Irtishaf ad-ḍarab min lisan al-'Arab 'Sipping from the Arab Tongue'; archive.org (in Arabic); a comprehensive grammatical treatise. Sharḥ al-Lamḥah al-Badrīyah fī ʻilm al-lughah al-ʻArabīyah 'The Badriyah explanation in Arabic linguistics' (ed., Dr. Hadi Nahr, University Press, Baghdad, 1997) archive.org (in Arabic) Al-Nukat al-ḥisān fī sharḥ ghāyat al-iḥsān 'Beautiful Anecdotes on Explanation of the Utmost Good' (Beirut, Muʼassasat al-Risālah, 1985) archive.org (in Arabic) Taqrīb al-muqarrib ; a summary of ibn ʿUṣfūr's Muqarrib Al-Tadrīb fī tamṯīl al-taqrīb ; a commentary on his Taqrīb al-muqarrib.

Other languages Kitab al-Idrak li Lisan al-Atrak -'Aspects of the Turkish language' archive (in Arabic) al-Af’al fi Lisan al-Atrak Zahw al-Mulk fi Nahw al-Tur Nafkhah al-Misk fi Sirah al-Turk Nour al-Ghabash fi Lisan al-Habash Mantiq al-Khurs fi Lisan al-Furs Al-Mahmour fi Lisan al-Yahmur

Qur'anic recitation (al-qirâ'ât) Al-Mudhn al-‘Amir fi Qiraat Ibn ‘Amir Al-Athir fi Qira'at Ibn Kathir Al-Nafi fi Qira'at al-Nafi’ Taqrib al-Nai fi Qira'at al-Kisa'i Al-Ramz fi Qira'at Hamzah Al-Rawd al-Basim fi Qira'at Asim Al-Nayyir al-Jaliyy fi Qiraat Zayd ibn Ali Ghayah al-Matlub fi Qiraat Yakub Iqd al-Laali fi Qiraat al-Sab' al-'Awali Al-Hulal al-Haliyah fî Athanid al-Qiraah al-Aliyah Al-Mawrid al-Ghamr fi Qiraat Abu 'Amr

Islamic jurisprudence and Hadith studies Juz' fi al-Hadith Al-Tus'ayyat Al-Wahhaj fi Ikhtisar al-Minhaj Al-a'lam bi Arkan al-Islam Masaik al-Rushd fi Tajred Mathail Nihayah Ibn Rushd Al-Anwar al-Ajla fi Ikhtisar al-Mukhalla

History Tukhfah al-Nadus fi Nuhat Andalus Majan alHasr fa adâbi wa tarawih Ahl al-'Asr Al-Nudar fi Maslati an Nudar Mashyahat Ibn Abu Mansur Al-Bayan fi Shuyuh Abu Hayyan wa Tarikh al-Andalus

Poetry, Literature, and Rhetoric Dīwān Abī Ḥayyān al-Andalusī archive.org Naqd al-Sha'r Khulasa al-Tibyan fi 'Ilm al-Badi' wa al-Bayan Al-Abyat al-Wafiyah fi 'Ilm al-Kafiyah Nasr al-Zahr and Nazm al-Zuhr Nawafis al-Sihr fi Damais al-Sha'r Al-Mawrid al-Athb Muaradati Qasidah Ka'b