Mahmud Maqdish
- Died
- 1228 AH
- Born in
- Sfax
Abu al-Thana' Mahmud ibn Sa'id Maqdish (1155–1228 AH / 1742–1813 CE) was a Tunisian Maliki jurist, theologian, and historian from Sfax, best known for his historical chronicle Nuzhat al-Anzar fi Ajaib al-Tawarikh wa al-Akhbar.
Early Life and Education
Maqdish was born in Sfax in 1155 AH / 1742 CE. He began his studies in his hometown, where his primary preceptor was Ali al-Lumi; he also studied under Muhammad al-Furati, Ali al-Masmudi, and Ramadan Abu Asidah, and studied Khalil ibn Ishaq's Mukhtasar under Ahmad ibn Abd al-Sadiq al-Trabelsi and Ibrahim al-Jimni al-Hafid.
He later moved to Tunis to continue his education at the University of Ez-Zitouna and al-Madrasa al-Ashuriyya, learning from scholars such as Qasim al-Mahjub, al-Shahami, Abd Allah al-Susi, and Ahmad ibn Nasir al-Dari. Maqdish then traveled to the East, residing in Cairo to study at Al-Azhar University under teachers including Ahmad al-Damanhuri and Ali al-Saidi. During his stay at al-Azhar, he copied numerous manuscripts to build a rich personal library in history, biography, and geography. According to an interpretation of his travels by Carlo Alfonso Nallino, he also visited Venice during his journeys.
Scholarship and Standing
Upon his return, Maqdish taught in Sfax. Among his students were his sons Muhammad and Mahmud, as well as the scholar Mahmud al-Siyala. In biographical literature, including Shajarat al-Nur al-Zakiyya, he is characterized as a jurist, theologian, pious scholar, and well-informed historian.
Maqdish witnessed the devastating plague of 1199 AH / 1785–1786 CE, which claimed many contemporary scholars in Sfax, an event he lamented in the introduction to his history as having swept away key transmitters of local knowledge. His major historical work, Nuzhat al-Anzar fi Ajaib al-Tawarikh wa al-Akhbar (also known as Dairat Maqdish), combined Islamic general history, geography, and dynasties of the Maghrib with a monograph on Sfax and its scholarly lineages. In addition to his historical writings, he composed a supercommentary on Abu al-Suud al-Imadi's Quranic exegesis titled Matali Sa'd al-Su'ud ala Tafsir Abi al-Su'ud, and a commentary on Ibn Ashir's didactic poem titled Nur al-Haqq al-Mubin.
Death
Maqdish died in Kairouan in 1228 AH / 1813 CE and was transported to Sfax for burial. A variant transmission attributed to his student, the bash-mufti al-Furati, places his death in 1229 AH. The orientalists Carlo Alfonso Nallino and Ignaty Krachkovsky suggested that he lived past 1233 AH / 1818 CE due to mentions of later rulers in printed copies of his history, though researchers identified those passages as copyists' additions appended to later manuscripts.
Answer updated
List of Works
Also known as Da'irat Maqdish, this work is a general and regional history. It surveys Islamic geography, general history, the dynasties of the Maghrib, and the Ottoman state, and concludes with a detailed historical and biographical monograph on the city of Sfax.