Ibn al-Shaar
- Died
- 654 AH
- Born in
- Mosul
Abu al-Barakat Ibn al-Shaar (593–654 AH / 1197–1256 CE) was an Iraqi historian and man of letters from Mosul, best known for his extensive biographical dictionary of contemporary poets, Qala'id al-Juman fi Fara'id Shu'ara' Hadha al-Zaman.
Life and scholarship
He was al-Mubarak ibn Ahmad (also named Abu Bakr) ibn Hamdan ibn Ahmad ibn 'Ulwan al-Mawsili, titled Kamal al-Din and carrying the kunya Abu al-Barakat. He was born in Mosul in 593 AH (1197 CE), where his family was based. In hadith, he studied and transmitted from Ya'qub ibn Sabir al-Manjaniqi and others.
Ibn al-Shaar spent roughly fifty years collecting and recording poetry and biographies both while traveling and at home. Among those who related from him were the hadith scholar al-Dimyati and Baha' al-Din 'Ali ibn 'Isa al-Irbili.
His primary scholarly focus was on literary biography and poetic anthologies. He arranged his biographical dictionary of seventh-century poets, Qala'id al-Juman fi Fara'id Shu'ara' Hadha al-Zaman (also known as 'Uqud al-Juman), in alphabetical order, documenting the lives, anecdotes, and verse of poets from his era whom he met or gathered reports about. In Sha'ban 631 AH, he completed Tuhfat al-Wuzara', which served as a supplement to the biographical work of al-Marzubani, chronicling poets active up to the year 600 AH. He also compiled a twelve-volume literary collection titled al-Tadhkirah.
Death
Ibn al-Shaar died in Aleppo on 7 Jumada al-Akhirah 654 AH (1256 CE) at the age of sixty-one; another report places his death in 655 AH. A manuscript copy of his biographical work was later preserved in the Sumaysatiyyah monastery in Damascus.
Answer updated
List of Works
Qalaid al-Juman fi Faraid Shuara Hatha al-Zaman is a multi-volume biographical dictionary and anthology devoted to poets of the 7th century AH. Organized alphabetically according to the Arabic alphabet, the work gathers biographical details, genealogies, dates and places of birth and death, anecdotes, and verse selections to provide comprehensive documentation of both prominent and minor contemporary literary figures.