Ibn Aqil
- Died
- 769 AH
- Born in
- Cairo
Baha al-Din Ibn Aqil (698–769 AH / 1298–1367 CE) was an Egyptian-based Shafi'i jurist, judge, and leading grammarian, renowned primarily for his widely studied commentary on Ibn Malik's grammatical poem, the Alfiyya.
Lineage and early life
His full name was Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Aqil, bearing the honorific Baha al-Din and the kunya Abu Muhammad. Tracing his lineage back to Aqil ibn Abi Talib, he belonged to a family with ancestral ties to Balis and Hamadhan. He was born in Cairo on Friday, 9 Muharram 698 AH, though alternative reports place his birth in 694 AH or 700 AH.
Education and scholarly training
Ibn Aqil studied the seven canonical Quranic readings under Taqi al-Din al-Sayegh. In jurisprudence, legal theory, logic, and rhetoric, he trained extensively under Ala al-Din al-Qunawi, and also studied jurisprudence under Zayn al-Din al-Kattani and Jalal al-Din al-Qazwini. In Arabic grammar, he accompanied Abu Hayyan al-Andalusi for twelve years, studying the foundational text of Sibawayh as well as Ibn Malik's Tashil al-Fawa'id. Abu Hayyan praised his mastery, remarking that there was no one under the sky more knowledgeable in Arabic grammar than Ibn Aqil.
Judicial and teaching career
Ibn Aqil served as a deputy judge in Cairo under Jalal al-Din al-Qazwini and later under Izz al-Din Ibn Jama'a. Following a sharp academic dispute with Muwaffaq al-Din al-Hanbali, Ibn Jama'a sent a court official to rebuke Ibn Aqil, who responded by immediately resigning from his judicial duties. Supported by the Mamluk amir Sarghitmish, Ibn Aqil was appointed Chief Shafi'i Judge of Egypt in 759 AH to replace Ibn Jama'a, holding the office for eighty days until Sarghitmish was arrested and Ibn Jama'a was reinstated.
He held several prominent teaching posts, lecturing at al-Qutbiyya al-Atiqa, al-Khashshabiyya, and the Citadel's al-Nasiriyya Mosque. He also succeeded Abu Hayyan as the lecturer of Quranic exegesis at the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, where he completed a full commentary on the Quran over the course of twenty-three years before starting over from the beginning. Among his notable students were Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini—who married Ibn Aqil's daughter—as well as his grandsons Jalal al-Din and Badr al-Din al-Bulqini, and Wali al-Din al-Iraqi.
Scholarly standing and death
Ibn Aqil gained enduring recognition across the Islamic scholarly tradition through his grammatical commentary Sharh Alfiyyat Ibn Malik, which became one of the standard teaching texts on Arabic syntax and morphology due to its directness and accessible presentation. He also produced an advanced grammatical commentary entitled al-Musa'id ala Tashil al-Fawa'id. Ibn Aqil died in Cairo on 23 Rabi al-Awwal 769 AH and was buried near al-Shafi'i.
Answer updated
List of Works
Sharh Ibn Aqil ala Alfiyyat Ibn Malik is a classical Arabic grammatical commentary on Alfiyyat Ibn Malik (also known as al-Khulasa). The work explains the principles of Arabic syntax and morphology across the chapters of the poem, beginning with the definition of speech as beneficial speech.
Al-Musaid ala Tashil al-Fawaid is an Arabic grammatical commentary on the grammatical treatise Tashil al-Fawaid wa-Takmil al-Maqasid. Composed as an abridged commentary, it aims to elucidate concise and intricate grammatical rules, facilitate the capture of elusive issues, and clarify the core benefits and objectives of the base text.