al-Nuwayri, Shihab al-Din
- Died
- 733 AH
- Born in
- Qus
Shihab al-Din al-Nuwayri (677–733 AH / 1279–1333 CE) was an Egyptian Shafi'i administrator, historian, and encyclopedist best known for his thirty-volume universal encyclopedia Nihayat al-Arab fi Funun al-Adab (The Ultimate Aim in the Arts of Belles-Lettres).
Lineage and early life
His full name was Ahmad ibn Abd al-Wahhab ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Da'im ibn Ubadah, with variant records giving his grandfather as Ahmad or Abd al-Karim. He bore the honorific Shihab al-Din and the kunya Abu al-Abbas, alongside the nisbas al-Bakri, al-Qurashi, al-Taymi, and al-Shafi'i. His nisba al-Nuwayri traces to Nuwayrah, a village in Beni Suef, while he was born and raised in Qus in Upper Egypt on 21 Dhu al-Qa'dah 677 AH (1279 CE), though another report places his birth in 682 AH (1283 CE).
Education and scribal practice
Al-Nuwayri studied hadith under several scholars, including al-Sharif Musa ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ya'qub ibn Ahmad al-Hadhbani, Ahmad ibn Ni'mah al-Hajjar, Zaynab bint Munajja, and the chief judge Badr al-Din Ibn Jama'ah.
He was trained in calligraphy, mastering proportional script (al-khatt al-mansub), and was noted for copying up to three quires per day. He copied Sahih al-Bukhari eight times, personally collating each manuscript, transcribing transmission records (tibaq) and textual variants, and binding the copies himself, selling them for between 700 and 1,000 dirhams each.
Administrative career and controversy
Al-Nuwayri held multiple administrative positions across the Mamluk Sultanate, serving as the supervisor of the army (nazir al-jaysh) in Tripoli and directing the financial bureaus of al-Daqahliyya and al-Murtahiyya in Lower Egypt.
He entered court circles through Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Ubadah, the sultan's deputy, who appointed him as his substitute over the endowments of the al-Nasiriyya Madrasa and the al-Mansuriyya Madrasa and introduced him to Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad. The sultan grew fond of al-Nuwayri, entrusted him with personal business, and regularly summoned him for conversations. However, during these audiences, al-Nuwayri spoke disparagingly of Ibn Ubadah. The sultan reported the remarks to Ibn Ubadah and surrendered al-Nuwayri to him; Ibn Ubadah had him beaten with rods and confiscated his property, a turn of events for which contemporaries condemned al-Nuwayri due to his betrayal of his benefactor.
Scholarly standing
Biographers described al-Nuwayri as an intelligent, handsome, and personable scholar who engaged widely across disciplines and composed both prose and poetry. His major encyclopedic work, Nihayat al-Arab fi Funun al-Adab, spanned thirty volumes covering literature, statecraft, natural history, and universal chronicles; an autograph copy of the text was sold to Jamal al-Kufat for 2,000 dirhams. In jurisprudence, he also authored al-Tawdih ala al-Tanqih, a commentary on Tanqih al-Lubab.
Death
Al-Nuwayri died in Cairo on 21 Ramadan 733 AH (1333 CE). Another report places his death in 732 AH (1331–1332 CE) while in his fifties.
Answer updated
List of Works
Nihayat al-Arab fi Funun al-Adab (The Ultimate Aim in the Arts of Belles-Lettres) is a multi-volume Arabic encyclopedia composed during the Mamluk period. The work synthesizes classical Islamic learning, natural history, statecraft, administration, and universal history.