Shihab al-Din al-Abshihi

Shihab al-Din al-Abshihi (790–after 850 AH / 1388–c. 1448 CE) was an Egyptian Shafi'i scholar, homilist, and adab anthologist from al-Mahalla al-Kubra, best known for compiling the encyclopedic literary anthology al-Mustatraf fi kull fann mustazraf (The Novelties of Every Elegant Art) Mujam al-Muallifin+1.

Life and career

His full lineage is Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Mansur ibn Ahmad ibn 'Isa al-Abshihi al-Mahalli al-Shafi'i; he held the kunya Abu al-Fath and was also addressed by the honorifics Baha' al-Din and Shihab al-Din Mujam al-Muallifin+1. He was born in 790 AH / 1388 CE in the village of Abshawayh in the Gharbiyya province of Egypt, from which he derived his nisba Mujam al-Muallifin+1. He settled in the nearby city of al-Mahalla al-Kubra, where he served as the public preacher (khatib) of his town Mujam al-Muallifin+1. During his career, he traveled several times to Cairo, where he attended the scholarly lectures of the jurist al-Jalal al-Bulqini Mujam al-Muallifin+1.

Scholarship and standing

Al-Abshihi devoted himself to preaching, prose composition, and poetry, seeking to synthesize religious guidance with entertaining belles-lettres Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1. In compiling his magnum opus, al-Mustatraf fi kull fann mustazraf, he aimed to assemble a broad compendium encompassing Quranic citations, authentic prophetic traditions, ethical maxims, historical anecdotes, and verses of poetry; he drew extensively from earlier classical anthologies, particularly al-'Iqd al-Farid by Ibn 'Abd Rabbih and Rabi' al-Abrar by al-Zamakhshari Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1.

Biographical sources note that while he was prolific in literary arrangement, his command of Arabic grammar had limitations, occasionally leaving grammatical solecisms in his prose Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1. Besides al-Mustatraf, his known writings include Atwaq al-azhar 'ala sudur al-anhar (Collars of Flowers upon the Breasts of Rivers), a two-volume work on homiletics and preaching, as well as an unfinished treatise on epistolary writing Mujam al-Muallifin+1. His primary anthology achieved wide circulation and was translated into French by G. Rat at the turn of the twentieth century Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi….

Death

Al-Abshihi died after 850 AH / 1446 CE Mujam al-Muallifin. Other biographical accounts place his death in 852 AH / 1448 CE or 854 AH / 1450 CE al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1.