Abu Mansur al-Azhari

Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Azharī (; 282–370 AH/895–980 AD) or simply known as Abu Mansur al-Azhari , was a lexicographer, philologist and grammarian of Arabic. 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 in Khorasan, at the time controlled by the Samanid dynasty. He is known as al-Azhari after an ancestor whose name is Azhar and nothing is known about him.

In his travels to acquire knowledge of the Arabic language, he left Baghdad to go to Mecca. Around this time, the Qarmatians were causing havoc in Arabia after revolting against the Abbasids. In 924 AD, as al-Azhari was returning from Mecca to Baghdad accompanied by a caravan of pilgrims on their way back from Hajj, they were attacked by the Qarmatians led by Abu Tahir al-Jannabi. 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)