Ibn al-Sayqal al-Jazari
- Died
- 701 AH
- Born in
- Cizre
Ibn al-Sayqal al-Jazari (628–701 AH / 1230–1301 CE) was an Arab grammarian, chancery scribe, and literary author from Upper Mesopotamia who was active in Baghdad and authored the fifty-chapter literary collection al-Maqamat al-Zayniyya .
Lineage and Early Life
He was Shams al-Din Abu al-Nada Ma'add ibn Nasr Allah (also cited as Nasr) ibn Rajab ibn Abi al-Fath ibn Hasan ibn Isma'il al-Jazari al-Katib, known as Ibn al-Sayqal . He reported his birth as occurring in Jazirat Ibn 'Umar in 628 AH . He was raised in a scholarly and administrative household; he studied under his father, with whom he completed the chancery manual (Kitab al-Insha') written for the Ayyubid ruler of the Jazira, al-Malik al-Mu'azzam . Under his father's tutelage, he also memorized the Hamasa anthology, the assemblies of al-Hariri, Ibn Jinni's grammatical treatise al-Luma', and the Fusul of Ibn Mu'ti .
Administrative Career and Move to Baghdad
Following his father's death, Ibn al-Sayqal was assigned positions in chancery administration and was confirmed as a scribe in the bureau of correspondence (al-insha'), while also delivering sermons as a preacher at the Castle Mosque (Jami' al-Qal'a) . He later served in the administration of Nisibin, where he began drafting his fifty maqamat in 663 AH (with another report citing 662 AH), completing the work in 672 AH .
Ibn al-Sayqal subsequently moved to Baghdad, where he took up teaching and scholarship at the al-Mustansiriyya Madrasa and issued legal opinions according to the Shafi'i school . In Baghdad, he presented his maqamat to the Ilkhanid administrators Shams al-Din and 'Ala' al-Din Juwayni, who rewarded him with one thousand dinars .
Teaching and Transmission
In Jumada al-Akhira 676 AH, his son Abu al-Ma'ani 'Ayn al-Zaman recited the entirety of al-Maqamat al-Zayniyya back to him from memory in ten sessions held at the portico of the Mustansiriyya Madrasa in the presence of an assembly of scholars, and Ibn al-Sayqal formally granted him an authorization (ijaza) in Dhu al-Hijja 677 AH to transmit his compositions, letters, and sermons . The collection was also transmitted through direct audition by scholars such as 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd al-Qadir al-Raba'i .
Death
Ibn al-Sayqal died in 701 AH (1301–1302 CE) .
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Maqamat al-Zayniyya (The Zaynian Assemblies) is an Arabic literary collection of fifty maqamat composed in 672 AH (1273–1274 CE) on the model of the assemblies of al-Hariri. Structured around the fictional narrator al-Qasim ibn Jaryal al-Dimashqi and the eloquent protagonist Abu Nasr al-Misri, the work features narrative episodes across various cities in the Islamic world, blending moral discourse with witty humor through ornate rhymed prose and embedded verse.