al-Wahidi
- Died
- 468 AH
- Born in
- Nishapur
Abu al-Hasan al-Wahidi (d. 468 AH / 1076 CE) was a Nishapuri Quranic exegete, grammarian, and Shafi'i jurist . He is best known for his landmark treatise on the occasions of revelation, Asbab al-Nuzul, and his comprehensive Quranic commentary, al-Tafsir al-Basit .
Origin and Lineage
His full name was Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ali, with some genealogists adding the ancestor Mattawayh . His family originated from Sawah and belonged to the merchant class, though he was born in Nishapur . The nisba al-Wahidi is traced by biographers to al-Wahid ibn al-Dayn (or al-Dathan / al-Dayl) from the Arab tribe of Mahrah, while an alternative transmission attributes it to al-Wahid ibn Maysarah . His brother, Abd al-Rahman, was likewise a scholar and hadith transmitter who died in Nishapur in 487 AH .
Education and Scholarly Career
Al-Wahidi dedicated his youth and financial resources to acquiring the religious and linguistic disciplines, traveling in pursuit of knowledge and mastering the fundamental sources . He studied Quranic exegesis extensively under Abu Ishaq al-Tha'labi . He acquired Arabic lexicography from Abu al-Fadl Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Arudi and studied grammar under the blind scholar Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Qahandazi . In Quranic recitations, his teachers included Abu al-Qasim Ali ibn Ahmad al-Busti, Abu Uthman Sa'id ibn Muhammad al-Hiri, and Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad al-Farisi . He also heard hadith from Ibn Mahmash and Abu Bakr al-Hiri .
He subsequently held teaching circles in Nishapur for many years, instructing students who traveled to benefit from his scholarship . Among his prominent students and transmitters were Ahmad ibn Umar al-Arghiyani and Abd al-Jabbar ibn Muhammad al-Khuwari . He was held in high esteem and treated with great honor by the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk .
Standing and Criticism
Biographers considered al-Wahidi the preeminent master of Quranic exegesis of his era, noting his wide erudition in grammar, poetry, and theology . Abu Hamid al-Ghazali famously praised his exegetical mastery, stating that whoever wished to hear tafsir as if from the mouth of the Prophet ﷺ should consult al-Wahidi's works, and he derived the titles of his own legal writings from al-Wahidi's commentaries . His extensive grammatical commentary on the poetry of al-Mutanabbi was similarly described by Ibn Khallikan as unmatched in its thoroughness .
Alongside this praise, some biographers noted that he was sharp-tongued and critical toward earlier scholars . He expressed severe criticism of Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami's mystical exegesis, remarking that had its author claimed it was an actual interpretation of the Quran, he would have committed apostasy .
Death
Al-Wahidi died in Nishapur in the month of Jumada al-Akhirah 468 AH (1076 CE), following a prolonged illness, at an advanced age reported to be in his seventies .
Answer updated
List of Works
Asbab al-Nuzul (The Occasions of Revelation), also titled Asbab Nuzul al-Qur'an, is a Quranic sciences treatise dedicated to documenting the historical circumstances and events surrounding the revelation of Quranic verses. It is the earliest surviving independent book in the genre of asbab al-nuzul.
al-Wajiz fi Tafsir al-Kitab al-Aziz (The Concise Commentary on the Mighty Book), commonly known as al-Wajiz, is a concise Quranic commentary (tafsir) structured on strict brevity, avoiding lengthy discussions and divergences of opinion to provide easily accessible interpretation.
al-Tafsir al-Basit (The Expansive Exegesis) is a comprehensive Arabic commentary on the Quran. It is the largest and earliest work in a trilogy of Quranic commentaries, structured around extensive linguistic, grammatical, and transmitted analytical components.
Sharh Diwan al-Mutanabbi (Commentary on the Diwan of al-Mutanabbi) is an extensive commentary on the collected poetry of al-Mutanabbi, arranged according to the poet's chronological and thematic ordering to examine contextual occasions, rare vocabulary, grammar, and literary meanings across 5,494 rhyming verses.
al-Tafsir al-Wasit, also known as al-Wasit fi Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Majid, is an eleventh-century Qur'anic commentary. It serves as the middle-length work in a trilogy of commentaries, designed to balance between exhaustive elaboration and concise brevity.