al-Naysaburi, Nizam al-Din al-Qummi
- Died
- 850 AH
- Born in
- Nishapur
Nizam al-Din al-Naysaburi (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE or after 850 AH / 1446 CE) was a Persian scholar, Quranic exegete, grammarian, and astronomer from Nishapur . He is best known for his extensive Quranic commentary, Ghara'ib al-Qur'an wa-Ragha'ib al-Furqan ("Wonders of the Quran and Desiderata of the Criterion") .
Lineage and Background
His full name was al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Qummi al-Naysaburi . He was known by the honorific title Nizam al-Din and commonly referred to as Nizam al-A'raj . In certain Indian print traditions, he was also referenced as al-Dawlatabadi . His family originated from the city of Qum, while he grew up and resided in the city of Nishapur in Khurasan .
Biographical sources record conflicting dates regarding his life and death. Haji Khalifa states that al-Naysaburi died in 728 AH, a date also cited as the completion year of his Quranic exegesis . Conversely, the biographical compendium Rawdat al-Jannat places him at the head of the 9th Hijri century, ranking his chronological standing alongside scholars such as al-Sayyid al-Sharif al-Jurjani, Jalal al-Din al-Dawani, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, noting that the recorded completion dates found on manuscript volumes of his exegesis date to around or after 850 AH . While predominantly treated within the mainstream Sunni scholarly tradition, Shi'i affiliation was also attributed to him in some later biographical works .
Scholarly Standing and Exegesis
Al-Naysaburi was recognized for his mastery across both the transmitted and rational sciences, including exegesis (tafsir), Quranic recitation variants (qira'at), pause rules (awqaf), Arabic language, mathematics, astronomy, and Sufi esoteric interpretation (isharat) .
His exegesis, Ghara'ib al-Qur'an wa-Ragha'ib al-Furqan, served as a critical synthesis and refinement of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's Mafatih al-Ghayb alongside material from al-Zamakhshari's al-Kashshaf and early authoritative reports from the Companions and Successors . In this commentary, he corrected and completed discussions where needed, incorporated sections on recognized variant readings and pause rules at the opening of verses, and concluded passages with mystical and allegorical deductions .
Beyond exegesis, al-Naysaburi contributed significantly to astronomy and Arabic morphology. He authored Tawdih al-Tadhkirah, an acclaimed commentary on Nasir al-Din al-Tusi's astronomical manual al-Tadhkirah fi al-Hay'ah, which he presented to Nizam al-Din Ali ibn Mahmud al-Yazdi . In linguistics, he wrote a widely circulated commentary on Ibn al-Hajib's treatise on Arabic morphology, al-Shafiyah .
Answer updated
List of Works
Gharaib al-Quran wa Raghaib al-Furqan, commonly known as Tafsir al-Naysaburi, is a comprehensive Quranic commentary. It gathers essential interpretations of the Quran while elucidating its linguistic, rhetorical, and deeper meanings, functioning largely as a refined synthesis and critical abridgment of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's Mafatih al-Ghayb alongside insights from al-Zamakhshari's al-Kashshaf.