al-Shihab al-Khafaji
- Died
- 1069 AH
- Born in
- Egypt
Shihab al-Din al-Khafaji (977–1069 AH / 1569–1659 CE) was an Egyptian Hanafi jurist, chief judge, philologist, and man of letters, best known for his supercommentary on al-Baydawi's exegesis and his biographical anthologies .
Lineage and education
He was Shihab al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Umar al-Khafaji al-Misri al-Hanafi . His nisba derives from the Arab tribe of Khafajah, a branch of Banu 'Amir . He was born and raised in Egypt, with sources placing his birth in 977 AH (1569 CE), though 979 AH is also reported .
He began his early education under his father, Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Khafaji, and studied Arabic linguistic sciences under his maternal uncle, Abu Bakr al-Shinwani . He pursued various religious and rational sciences under prominent scholars of his era, including Shams al-Din al-Ramli, Nur al-Din Ali al-Ziyadi, Ibrahim al-Alqami, Ali ibn Ghanim al-Maqdisi, Uthman ibn Ali al-Izzi, and the physician Dawud al-Basir .
Judicial career and travels
Al-Khafaji travelled to the Ottoman lands (Bilad al-Rum), where he gained the patronage of Sultan Murad and was appointed as the judge of Thessaloniki (Salonica) . He was later elevated to the chief judgeship of Egypt . Following his dismissal from this office, he journeyed across the Levant, staying in Damascus and Aleppo, before returning to the Ottoman capital . He was subsequently exiled back to Egypt, where he was granted a judicial stipend to support himself and remained there for the rest of his life .
Standing and students
Al-Khafaji was regarded as one of the preeminent literary stylists and authors of the eleventh century AH, earning praise for his prose composition and analytical precision across multiple disciplines . Among his major scholarly achievements was ‘Ināyat al-Qāḍī wa-Kifāyat al-Rāḍī, an eight-volume supercommentary on al-Baydawi's Quranic tafsir . He also compiled Rayḥānat al-Albā wa-Zahrat al-Ḥayāt al-Dunyā, an extensive biographical anthology of contemporary poets and scholars that included an autobiographical account of his own life and travels , as well as Nasīm al-Riyāḍ, a four-volume commentary on the prophetic biography work al-Shifāʾ by al-Qadi Iyad .
Numerous scholars studied under him, notably the lexicographer and philologist Abd al-Qadir al-Baghdadi and al-Sayyid Ahmad al-Hamawi .
Death
Al-Khafaji died in Egypt on 12 Ramadan 1069 AH (1659 CE), having lived past ninety years of age .
Answer updated
List of Works
This work, formally titled ‘Ināyat al-Qāḍī wa-Kifāyat al-Rāḍī, is an eight-volume Arabic supercommentary on Quranic exegesis. It serves as an extensive gloss on al-Baydawi's renowned commentary, Anwār al-Tanzīl wa-Asrār al-Ta'wīl, tracking the base text across the Quran to provide grammatical analysis, rhetorical insights, and explanations of difficult phrasing alongside investigations into legal theory, theology, and jurisprudence.
Rayḥānat al-Albā wa-Zahrat al-Ḥayāt al-Dunyā is a biographical and literary anthology of eleventh-century AH poets and scholars. Composed in rhymed, ornate prose, it compiles biographical sketches, prose writings, and selected verse of contemporary figures from across the Islamic world, arranged into geographical sections alongside an autobiographical account of the author's education, travels, and career.
Sharḥ Durrat al-Ghawwāṣ is an integrated Arabic philological commentary on al-Hariri’s classical treatise on linguistic errors, Durrat al-Ghawwāṣ fī Awhām al-Khawāṣṣ. Composed as an intertwined commentary, it embeds the base text within expository prose to analyze lexical, grammatical, and stylistic corrections, defend classical usage, and evaluate the original assertions alongside earlier critiques.