Abd al-Qahir al-Tabrizi

Abd al-Qahir al-Tabrizi (648–740 AH / 1250–1339 CE) was a Shafi'i jurist, judge, orator, and poet who held several judicial posts across Syria and Egypt Mujam al-Shuyukh al-Kabir…+1.

Origin and Early Life

He was Jamal al-Din Abu Bakr (also recorded as Abu Muhammad) Abd al-Qahir ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahid ibn Muhammad ibn Musa Mujam al-Shuyukh al-Kabir…+1. His ancestry traced to Tabriz—with some sources also citing Bukhara—and he was born in Harran in the middle of Sha'ban 648 AH / November 1250 CE Mujam al-Shuyukh al-Kabir…+1.

His mother died when she was twenty years old, and his father, a wealthy merchant, brought him to Damascus at the age of six before dying shortly thereafter al-Wafi bil-Wafayat. His paternal uncle Abd al-Khaliq assumed custody of him, returned with him to Harran, and liquidated the family properties for eighty thousand dirhams al-Wafi bil-Wafayat. While escorting the boy back near Maydan al-Hasa outside Damascus, the uncle attempted to kill him by choking him until he lost consciousness, throwing him into a pit, and burying him under earth and stones al-Wafi bil-Wafayat. Abd al-Qahir remained buried for four days until a passerby from a local hospice noticed movement in the soil and uncovered him al-Wafi bil-Wafayat. He then found refuge with a relative, al-Sadr al-Khujandi, who was in hiding in the al-Salihiyya quarter of Damascus, bearing permanent scars on his head and flank from the incident al-Wafi bil-Wafayat.

Career and Standing

Abd al-Qahir was raised and educated in Damascus, where he specialized in Shafi'i jurisprudence and literature Mujam al-Shuyukh al-Kabir…+1. He entered public office and served as the judge of Salamiyya and Ajlun, and held the chief judgeship of Safad during the administration of Chief Judge Jamal al-Din al-Zur'i in Damascus Mujam al-Shuyukh al-Kabir…+1. He was dismissed from Safad upon the appointment of Jalal al-Din al-Qazwini, after which he relocated to Egypt, where he was repeatedly appointed judge of Damietta Ayan al-Asr wa Awan al-Na….

Noted for his eloquence and dignified appearance, he composed celebrated sermons compiled into a collection of orations (Majmu'at Khutab) and authored poetry, which he personally recited to scholars such as Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi in 704 AH / 1304 CE Mujam al-Shuyukh al-Kabir…+1. The biographer Salah al-Din al-Safadi met him several times in Cairo and praised his prose and poetry, last seeing him in 738 AH / 1337–1338 CE Ayan al-Asr wa Awan al-Na….

Death

Abd al-Qahir al-Tabrizi remained in office as the judge of Damietta until his death there in Jumada al-Akhira 740 AH / December 1339 CE Ayan al-Asr wa Awan al-Na…+1.