al-Aydarus
- Died
- 1038 AH
- Born in
- -
Abd al-Qadir al-Aydarus (978–1038 AH / 1570–1628 CE) was a Hadrami Yemeni historian, scholar, and Sufi who lived in Ahmedabad, India, best known for his biographical chronicle al-Nur al-Safir 'an Akhbar al-Qarn al-Ashir (The Unveiled Light: Annals of the Tenth Century) .
Lineage and Early Life
His full name was Muhyi al-Din Abu Bakr Abd al-Qadir ibn Shaykh ibn Abdallah ibn Shaykh ibn Abdallah al-Aydarus, and he was also given the honorific Shams al-Shumus . He was born on the eve of Thursday, 20 Rabi' al-Awwal 978 AH, in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India; his mother was an Indian umm walad . (A birth date of 987 AH is also recorded) . Approximately half a month before his birth, his father saw in a dream a group of saints, including Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani and Shaykh Abu Bakr ibn Abdallah al-Aydarus, which prompted him to name the newborn Abd al-Qadir, grant him the kunya Abu Bakr, and assign him the title Muhyi al-Din . Few of his father's children had survived infancy in India, and he was the only one of them to reach adulthood .
Education, Teachers, and Students
Al-Aydarus completed the memorization of the Quran during his father's lifetime, studied various fundamental texts under several scholars, and gathered a substantial library by actively acquiring manuscripts from distant lands alongside what he inherited from his father . He received the Sufi cloak (khirqa) and scholarly training from multiple teachers, prominent among whom were his father Shaykh ibn Abdallah al-Aydarus, Hatim ibn Ahmad al-Ahdal, Abdallah ibn Shaykh al-Aydarus, Darwish Husayn al-Kashmiri, Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kashmiri, and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Chishti al-Gujarati .
He subsequently taught, authored books, and initiated many students into the Sufi path . Among those who studied under him and received the khirqa from him were Jamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Shami al-Makki, Badr al-Din Hasan ibn Dawud al-Kawkani al-Hindi, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahim Bajabir al-Hadrami, and Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Rabi' al-Sunbati al-Makki . His nephew Shaykh ibn Abdallah also traveled to India in 1025 AH and studied under him, receiving from him the khirqa and an unrestricted authorization (ijaza) .
Scholarly Standing
Al-Aydarus enjoyed wide recognition and esteem among rulers, princes, and scholars, receiving letters and gifts from various lands . In historiography, his principal chronicle al-Nur al-Safir 'an Akhbar al-Qarn al-Ashir served as a major source for later chroniclers, notably Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali, who cited it extensively for events and obituaries of the tenth Hijri century . His first composition was al-Hada'iq al-Khadira fi Sirat al-Nabi wa-Ashabih al-Ashara (The Green Gardens: On the Biography of the Prophet and His Ten Companions), written in his youth, and he also produced al-Futuhat al-Quddusiyya fi al-Khirqa al-Aydarusiyya (Sacred Openings on the Aydarusi Cloak) in a large volume .
Death
Al-Aydarus died in Ahmedabad in 1038 AH / 1628 or 1629 CE, where his tomb is well known . Other sources give alternate dates for his death: 1037 AH is mentioned in a gloss on al-Nur al-Safir, while al-Mashra' al-Rawi and Tarikh Shu'ara' al-Hadramiyyin report 1048 AH .
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Nur al-Safir an Akhbar al-Qarn al-Ashir is a biographical and annalistic chronicle documenting historical events and obituaries throughout the tenth Hijri century. Arranged year by year from 901 AH up to 1000 AH, it records significant happenings alongside biographical notices of notable figures across various regions of the Islamic world.