al-Qartajanni

Abu al-Hasan Hazim al-Qartajanni (608–684 AH / 1211–1285 CE) was an Andalusian literary theorist, grammarian, and poet who settled in Tunis and is best known for his treatise on rhetoric and poetics, Minhaj al-Bulagha wa Siraj al-Udaba (The Pathway of the Eloquent and the Lamp of Men of Letters) al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1.

Lineage and early life

His full name was Hazim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Khalaf ibn Hazim al-Ansari al-Awsi al-Qartajanni Tarajim al-Muallifin al-T…+1. He was born in 608 AH (1211 CE) in Cartagena in eastern al-Andalus, to which his nisba refers al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1. He was raised in a scholarly family; his father was a jurist who served as a judge in Cartagena—or in Murcia according to another account—for more than forty years, dying in Shawwal 632 AH (1234 CE) at the age of sixty-eight al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1. His father oversaw his early education and directed him toward scholarly pursuits at an early age al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya.

Education and travels

Al-Qartajanni pursued his studies in Cartagena and Murcia, and received instruction from scholars in Granada and Seville Mujam al-Shuara al-Arab+1. Among his principal teachers was the grammarian Abu Ali al-Shalawbin Mujam al-Shuara al-Arab+1.

Following the Castilian conquest of Cartagena and Murcia—around 637 AH or upon their initial fall in 640 AH (1243 CE)—he left al-Andalus when he was around thirty years old al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1. He initially settled in Marrakesh, joining the court of the Almohad caliph Abu Muhammad Abd al-Wahid al-Rashid, whom he praised in verse al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1.

He then moved to Tunis, entering the service of the Hafsid ruler Abu Zakariyya Yahya, who recognized his learning and appointed him as a scribe in the royal chancery (diwan) al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1. Al-Qartajanni remained in Tunis for the rest of his life under the Hafsids, retaining his traditional Andalusian dress and composing panegyrics for Abu Zakariyya, his son Muhammad al-Mustansir, and his brother Yahya Tarajim al-Muallifin al-T…+1. Al-Mustansir held his literary judgment in high regard, frequently consulting him to evaluate the quality of literary and scholarly texts al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya. Al-Qartajanni divided his time in Tunis between his administrative duties and holding instructional circles for students, with figures such as Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati and Ibn Rashid transmitting from him al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1.

Scholarly standing and poetry

Al-Qartajanni was acclaimed as an authority in rhetoric, Arabic philology, prosody, and poetry al-Mawsua al-Muyassara fi…+1. Abu Hayyan described him as the peerless scholar of his era in both poetry and prose, noting his command of Arabic linguistics, his vast memorization of Arab poetry and traditions, and his engagement with rational sciences, where critical insight (dirayah) predominated over mere transmission (riwayah) al-Mawsua al-Muyassara fi….

In addition to his collected poems (Diwan), he composed a renowned ode rhyming in alif maqsura (the Maqsura), which begins:

لله ما قد هجت يا يوم النوى ... على فؤادي من تباريح الجوى "By God, what agonies of passion you have stirred in my heart, O day of separation!"

This poem was later commented upon by al-Sharif al-Gharnati in his work Raf' al-Hujub al-Manshurah Mujam al-Shuara al-Arab+1.

Death

Al-Qartajanni died in Tunis on the night of Saturday, 24 Ramadan 684 AH (December 1285 CE), having lived to an advanced age al-Mawsua al-Tarikhiyya+1.