Abd al-Rahman ibn Nasr al-Shirazi
- Died
- 590 AH
- Born in
- -
Abd al-Rahman ibn Nasr al-Shayzari (d. c. 590 AH / 1194 CE), also cited as al-Shirazi, was a Syrian Shafi'i jurist, judge, and author from the Ayyubid period, known for his manual on market inspection, Nihayat al-Rutba fi Talab al-Hisba (The Utmost Rank in the Pursuit of Market Inspection) .
Identity and Career
His full name is given as Abu al-Najib Jalal al-Din Abd al-Rahman ibn Nasr ibn Abd Allah al-Adawi al-Shayzari . His primary nisba refers to the fortress and town of Shayzar near Ma'arrat al-Nu'man and Homs in Syria, though manuscript traditions and biographical compendia frequently record variants such as al-Shirazi and al-Tabari . An alternate biographical entry also records his name as Abu al-Fada'il Jamal al-Din Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah ibn Nasr .
Al-Shayzari adhered to the Shafi'i legal school and served in judicial and administrative capacities in Syria and Palestine . He held the office of judge (qadi) in Tiberias (Tabariyya) and took up residence in Aleppo, where he is also reported to have practiced medicine around 565 AH (1169 CE) .
Scholarly Contributions
Al-Shayzari wrote treatises spanning public administration, market inspection, statecraft, and dream interpretation . His work Nihayat al-Rutba fi Talab al-Hisba served as a practical regulatory guide for market inspectors (muhtasib), detailing the oversight of crafts, weights, commercial fraud, and public standards . In political thought and courtly ethics, he composed al-Manhaj al-Masluk fi Siyasat al-Muluk (The Traversed Path in the Governance of Kings, also titled al-Nahj al-Masluk), which he arranged into twenty chapters and dedicated to Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi . He also authored Khulasat al-Kalam fi Ta'wil al-Ahlam (The Essence of Discourse on Dream Interpretation) .
Death
Al-Shayzari died around 590 AH (c. 1194 CE), with another report placing his death around 589 AH (c. 1193 CE) . A significantly later date of 774 AH recorded in Hadiyyat al-Arifin is treated by bibliographers as an error, given his documented contemporary relationship with Salah al-Din .
Answer updated
List of Works
Nihayat al-Rutba fi Talab al-Hisba (The Utmost Rank in the Pursuit of Market Inspection) is a classical manual on the office of market supervision and public morals (hisbah). Written during the Ayyubid period, it serves as a specialized practical treatise on market inspection, trade regulation, and the detection of commercial deceit and adulteration according to Islamic legal principles.
al-Manhaj al-Masluk fi Siyasat al-Muluk (The Traversed Path in the Governance of Kings) is a 12th-century treatise on Islamic political thought, administrative ethics, and statecraft. Composed for the library of Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, the work presents principles of governance, royal decorum, the administration of subjects, the pillars of the realm, and military regulations through practical guidance, philosophical maxims, and historical anecdotes.