Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Sarī (Surrī) al-Zajjāj | |
---|---|
Born | c. 842 |
Died | 13 October 922 | (aged 80)
Other names | ‘The Glassman’ |
Occupation | Grammarian |
Years active | caliph al-Mu’taḍid |
Academic work | |
Era | Abbāsid |
School or tradition | School of Baṣrah |
Main interests | philology, theology, philosophy, linguistics, natural science |
Notable works | Kitāb mā fassarahu min jāmi‘ an-nuṭq (كتاب ما فسّرة من جامع النطق); ‘Exposition of the "Compendium of Speech"’ |
Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Sarī al-Zajjāj ( Arabic: أبو إسحاق إبراهيم بن محمد بن السري الزجاج) was a grammarian of Basrah, a scholar of philology and theology and a favourite at the Abbāsid court. He died in 922 [n 1] [1] at Baghdād, the capital city in his time. [2] [3] [4]
Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad al-Sarī (Surrī) al-Zajjāj had been a glass-grinder – al-Zajjāj means ‘the glassman’ - before abandoning this trade to study philology under the two leading grammarians, al-Mubarrad of the Baṣran school and Tha'lab of the Kufan school. As top student and class representative he advised al-Mubarrad. He studied “Al-Kitāb” of Sībawayh with the Baṣrah grammarian Abū Fahd. [n 2] [5]
Al-Zajjāj entered the Abbāsid court, first as tutor to al-Qāsim ibn ‘Ubayd Allāh, [n 3] son of the vizier ‘Ubayd Allāh ibn Sulaymān ibn Wahb’s [n 4] and later, as tutor to the sons of the caliph al-Mu‘taḍid.
On his succession to the vizierate, Caliph al-Mu’taḍid ordered vizier al-Qāsim to commission an exposition of the Compendium of Speech by Maḥbarah al-Nadīm. [n 5] Both Tha’lab and Al-Mubarrad declined the project for lack of knowledge [8] and old age respectively. Al-Mubarrad proposed his friend and relative novice al-Zajjāj, who was commissioned to work on just two sections as a trial of his abilities. In doing his research he consulted books on language by Tha‘lab, al-Sukkarī, et al. He was assisted by al-Tirmidhī the Younger, as his amanuensis. The bound two-section commentary greatly impressed Caliph al-Mu’taḍid and al-Zajjāj was given the work to complete the commentary for the payment of three hundred gold dīnār. The finished manuscript was kept in al-Mu’taḍid's royal library, and the issuing of any copies to other libraries was prohibited. [n 6]
Winning the caliph's favour, he received a royal pension of three hundred gold dīnār from three official roles as court companion, jurist and scholar. [9]
Among al-Zajjāj's pupils were the grammarian Abū Alī al-Fārisī and Abū ‘l-Qāsim Abd ar-Raḥmān, author of the Jumal fi ‘n-Nawhi, [n 7] Ibn al-Sarrāj [11] and ‘Alī al-Marāghī [n 8] the rival of Abu al-‘Abbās Tha’lab.{{refn|group=n|Perhaps this was al-Mubarrad Abū al-‘Abbās[ citation needed]
Al-Zajjāj had a dispute with al-Khayyāṭ, [13] [14] a grammarian-theologian of Samarqand, whom he met in Baghdād. [15]
Al-Zajjāj died at Baghdād on 13 October 922 [Friday, 18th, or 19th, Jumada al-Akhirah 310 AH] - other sources give 924 and 928 [311 and 316 AH.], aged over eighty.
Abū Alī al-Fārisī wrote a treatise in refutation of al-Zajjāj, titled Kitāb al-masā’il al-maslahat yurwiha ‘an az-Zajjāj wa-tu’raf bi-al-Aghfāl (كتاب المسائل المصلحة يرويها عن الزجاج وتعرف بالاغفال); the Aghfāl (‘Negligences’, or ‘Beneficial (Corrected) Questions’), in which he refutes al-Zajjāj in his book Maāni (Rhetoric). [20] [21] [22]
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Sarī (Surrī) al-Zajjāj | |
---|---|
Born | c. 842 |
Died | 13 October 922 | (aged 80)
Other names | ‘The Glassman’ |
Occupation | Grammarian |
Years active | caliph al-Mu’taḍid |
Academic work | |
Era | Abbāsid |
School or tradition | School of Baṣrah |
Main interests | philology, theology, philosophy, linguistics, natural science |
Notable works | Kitāb mā fassarahu min jāmi‘ an-nuṭq (كتاب ما فسّرة من جامع النطق); ‘Exposition of the "Compendium of Speech"’ |
Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Sarī al-Zajjāj ( Arabic: أبو إسحاق إبراهيم بن محمد بن السري الزجاج) was a grammarian of Basrah, a scholar of philology and theology and a favourite at the Abbāsid court. He died in 922 [n 1] [1] at Baghdād, the capital city in his time. [2] [3] [4]
Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad al-Sarī (Surrī) al-Zajjāj had been a glass-grinder – al-Zajjāj means ‘the glassman’ - before abandoning this trade to study philology under the two leading grammarians, al-Mubarrad of the Baṣran school and Tha'lab of the Kufan school. As top student and class representative he advised al-Mubarrad. He studied “Al-Kitāb” of Sībawayh with the Baṣrah grammarian Abū Fahd. [n 2] [5]
Al-Zajjāj entered the Abbāsid court, first as tutor to al-Qāsim ibn ‘Ubayd Allāh, [n 3] son of the vizier ‘Ubayd Allāh ibn Sulaymān ibn Wahb’s [n 4] and later, as tutor to the sons of the caliph al-Mu‘taḍid.
On his succession to the vizierate, Caliph al-Mu’taḍid ordered vizier al-Qāsim to commission an exposition of the Compendium of Speech by Maḥbarah al-Nadīm. [n 5] Both Tha’lab and Al-Mubarrad declined the project for lack of knowledge [8] and old age respectively. Al-Mubarrad proposed his friend and relative novice al-Zajjāj, who was commissioned to work on just two sections as a trial of his abilities. In doing his research he consulted books on language by Tha‘lab, al-Sukkarī, et al. He was assisted by al-Tirmidhī the Younger, as his amanuensis. The bound two-section commentary greatly impressed Caliph al-Mu’taḍid and al-Zajjāj was given the work to complete the commentary for the payment of three hundred gold dīnār. The finished manuscript was kept in al-Mu’taḍid's royal library, and the issuing of any copies to other libraries was prohibited. [n 6]
Winning the caliph's favour, he received a royal pension of three hundred gold dīnār from three official roles as court companion, jurist and scholar. [9]
Among al-Zajjāj's pupils were the grammarian Abū Alī al-Fārisī and Abū ‘l-Qāsim Abd ar-Raḥmān, author of the Jumal fi ‘n-Nawhi, [n 7] Ibn al-Sarrāj [11] and ‘Alī al-Marāghī [n 8] the rival of Abu al-‘Abbās Tha’lab.{{refn|group=n|Perhaps this was al-Mubarrad Abū al-‘Abbās[ citation needed]
Al-Zajjāj had a dispute with al-Khayyāṭ, [13] [14] a grammarian-theologian of Samarqand, whom he met in Baghdād. [15]
Al-Zajjāj died at Baghdād on 13 October 922 [Friday, 18th, or 19th, Jumada al-Akhirah 310 AH] - other sources give 924 and 928 [311 and 316 AH.], aged over eighty.
Abū Alī al-Fārisī wrote a treatise in refutation of al-Zajjāj, titled Kitāb al-masā’il al-maslahat yurwiha ‘an az-Zajjāj wa-tu’raf bi-al-Aghfāl (كتاب المسائل المصلحة يرويها عن الزجاج وتعرف بالاغفال); the Aghfāl (‘Negligences’, or ‘Beneficial (Corrected) Questions’), in which he refutes al-Zajjāj in his book Maāni (Rhetoric). [20] [21] [22]
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)