Ibrahim al-Ibyari
- Died
- 1414 AH
- Born in
- Tanta
Ibrahim al-Ibyari (d. 1414 AH / 1994 CE) was an Egyptian scholar, manuscript editor, and researcher known for his extensive work in editing classical Arabic literature and co-authoring reference works such as al-Mawsu'a al-Qur'aniyya (The Quranic Encyclopedia).
Early Life and Education
Ibrahim Isma'il al-Ibyari was born in Tanta, Egypt. He began his education in a traditional elementary school (kuttab), where he spent three years learning reading, writing, basic arithmetic, and memorizing portions of the Quran. He then attended Tanta Primary School for four years before moving to Cairo to enter the preparatory section of Dar al-Ulum, later progressing to its higher division. He began writing short stories while still a student at Dar al-Ulum.
Career and Scholarly Activity
Following his graduation, al-Ibyari joined the literary section of the Egyptian National Library (Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya), where he received practical training in working with classical texts and archives. During this period, he became acquainted with prominent Egyptian literary figures, including Ahmad Amin, Taha Husayn, and Abbas Mahmud al-Aqqad, collaborating with them on various scholarly publications and textual editions.
After leaving Dar al-Kutub, he held various positions in the Egyptian Ministry of Culture that remained focused on the preservation and publication of classical heritage. He later taught as a professor at the Institute for Islamic Studies in Madrid, where he sought to establish a center for Andalusian heritage studies and founded an Arabic printing press. He also contributed essays to major periodicals, including al-Balagh, al-Siyasa al-Usbu'iyya, and al-Muqtataf. Among his notable editorial contributions were his collaboration on the edition of Ibn Abd Rabbih's al-Iqd al-Farid and his supervisory role in editing Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani's Kitab al-Aghani.
Standing and Death
Al-Ibyari was regarded as the "doyen of editors of Islamic heritage texts" (شيخ محققي كتب التراث الإسلامي) due to his decades-long dedication to manuscript editing and textual scholarship. He noted that his primary intellectual debt was owed to the library collections of Dar al-Kutub, though he acknowledged being stylistically influenced by the prose of Ibrahim al-Muwaylihi and Mustafa Lutfi al-Manfaluti.
He died in Egypt in the month of Shawwal 1414 AH (April 1994 CE).
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Mawsuʿa al-Qurʾaniyya (The Quranic Encyclopedia) is an extensive multi-volume reference work on the Quran and its associated sciences. Published in Cairo in six volumes in 1388 AH (1968–1969 CE), it is structured into thematic sections covering Quranic historical context, exegesis, vocabulary, and reference tools, including the biography of the Prophet Muhammad and specialized concordance indexing of Quranic vocabulary and proper names.