Ibn Abi al-Isba
- Died
- 654 AH
- Born in
- Egypt
Ibn Abi al-Isba' (585 or 589–654 AH / 1189 or 1193–1256 CE) was an Egyptian man of letters, poet, and rhetorician, best known for his foundational works on Arabic rhetorical figures (badi') and Quranic style, including Tahrir al-Tahbir .
Lineage and Early Life
He was Abu Muhammad Zaki al-Din Abd al-Azim ibn Abd al-Wahid ibn Zafir ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Adwani al-Misri, commonly known as Ibn Abi al-Isba' (or Ibn al-Isba') . He was born in Egypt in 585 AH, though another report gives his birth year as 589 AH (1193 CE) .
Scholarly Career and Students
Ibn Abi al-Isba' established himself in Egypt as a leading authority in Arabic literature, rhetoric, and poetry . A circle of later Egyptian literati trained under him, notably the poet Abu al-Husayn al-Jazzar, who attended his sessions and presented his earliest verses to him for review .
In the field of rhetoric, he is regarded as the foremost Egyptian rhetorician of the seventh century AH . His treatise Tahrir al-Tahbir fi Sina'at al-Shi'r wa-al-Nathr systematically inventoried stylistic embellishments, gathering the foundational categories of Ibn al-Mu'tazz and Qudama ibn Ja'far alongside additions from later critics and three figures from al-Ijdabi, before proposing thirty original rhetorical devices of his own invention, about twenty of which were acknowledged by later rhetoricians . In his subsequent work Badi' al-Quran, he examined stylistic embellishments in the Quranic text across more than one hundred categories, expanding the scope of badi' by incorporating topics traditionally belonging to the science of meanings (ilm al-ma'ani), such as prolixity, repetition, and concision .
Death
Ibn Abi al-Isba' lived for over sixty years and died in Egypt on 23 Shawwal 654 AH (November 1256 CE), with another report placing his death on 13 Shawwal .
Answer updated
List of Works
Tahrir al-Tahbir fi Sina'at al-Shi'r wa al-Nathr is a treatise on Arabic rhetoric and rhetorical figures (badi'). Completed in Egypt at the beginning of the year 640 AH, the work compiles, defines, and systematically classifies rhetorical and stylistic embellishments found in Arabic poetry, prose, and the text of the Quran.