Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Adanawi
- Died
- 1050 AH
- Born in
- -
Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Adanawi (d. 11th century AH / 17th century CE) was a scholar and biographer best known for his biographical dictionary of Quranic commentators, Tabaqat al-mufassirin (The Biographical Layers of the Exegetes).
Biography
Al-Adanawi lived during the eleventh century AH, and sources record him as being alive in 1092 AH (1681–1682 CE). His geographical nisba appears in bibliographic sources with slight variations, including al-Adanawi, al-Adranawi, and al-Atanawi.
Al-Adanawi is primarily recognized for Tabaqat al-mufassirin, in which he assembled biographical notices for Quranic exegetes spanning from the inception of Islam down to the eleventh century AH. He structured the work chronologically, arranging the commentators into generational tiers (tabaqat) where each layer corresponds to a single century. In compiling this biographical dictionary, al-Adanawi supplemented and rectified omissions from the earlier compilation of Shams al-Din al-Dawudi, leading scholars to consider both works together as among the most comprehensive references dedicated to Quranic exegetes. An autograph copy written in his own hand is preserved in the Egyptian National Library in Cairo.
Answer updated
List of Works
Tabaqat al-Mufassirin lil-Adhnawi (The Biographical Layers of the Quranic Exegetes) is a biographical dictionary dedicated to the lives and writings of Quranic commentators (mufassirun) from the inception of Islam into the eleventh century AH. Arranged chronologically by century into generational layers, it supplements earlier biographical works by focusing exclusively on exegetes, documenting their lineage, teachers, students, and scholarly output.