al-Safaqsi
- Died
- 742 AH
- Born in
- Sfax
Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Safaqsi (c. 697–742 AH / 1298–1342 CE) was a Maliki jurist, grammarian, and Quranic scholar known for his work on Quranic grammatical analysis, al-Majid fi I'rab al-Qur'an al-Majid .
Life and education
His full name was Burhan al-Din Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Abi al-Qasim al-Qaysi al-Safaqsi . He was born around 697 AH, though 698 AH and 692 AH are also reported .
Al-Safaqsi began his legal education in Béjaïa, where he studied under its leading scholar Nasir al-Din . He subsequently performed the pilgrimage to Mecca and traveled through Egypt and the Levant, studying Arabic grammar in Cairo under Abu Hayyan al-Andalusi . In 738 AH, he arrived in Damascus alongside his brother and studied hadith under scholars including al-Mizzi, Zaynab bint al-Kamal, Abu Bakr ibn 'Antar, and Abu Bakr ibn al-Radi .
Scholarly career and standing
Al-Safaqsi taught and issued legal opinions for many years, attaining prominence among contemporary Maliki jurists . His contemporary al-Dhahabi commended him, noting that he possessed high ambition in the sciences and virtues .
In grammar and exegesis, al-Safaqsi composed al-Majid fi I'rab al-Qur'an al-Majid, in which he gathered, organized, and abridged the grammatical discussions dispersed throughout Abu Hayyan's extensive commentary al-Bahr al-muhit . In doing so, he frequently disagreed with and refuted his teacher's syntactic assessments, prompting an offended Abu Hayyan to compose a certificate (ijazah) containing criticism of al-Safaqsi for challenging his positions on Quranic syntax . In jurisprudence, biographers also recorded his commentary on Ibn al-Hajib (Sharh Ibn al-Hajib) .
Death
Al-Safaqsi died on 18 Dhu al-Qi'da 742 AH . Ibn Taghribirdi uniquely placed his death in 743 AH .
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Majid fi Irab al-Quran al-Majid is a multi-volume treatise on Quranic syntax and grammatical analysis (iʿrāb). Structured around the sequential order of the Quranic surahs, the work extracts and distills the grammatical discussions dispersed throughout Abu Hayyan al-Andalusi's expansive Quranic commentary, al-Bahr al-muhit. It condenses these analyses into a focused study while incorporating supplementary material from other reference works, earlier grammatical authorities, and variant Quranic readings.