Zayn al-Din al-Jadd, Ibn al-Wardi

Zayn al-Din Ibn al-Wardi (691–749 AH / 1292–1349 CE) was a Syrian Shafi'i jurist, poet, grammarian, and historian from Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, best known for his versification of Shafi'i law in al-Bahja al-Wardiyya and his chronicle Tatimmat al-Mukhtasar fi Akhbar al-Bashar al-Alam lil-Zirikli+1.

Lineage and Early Life

He was Abu Hafs Zayn al-Din 'Umar ibn Muzaffar ibn 'Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Abi al-Fawaris al-Ma'arri al-Kindi al-Shafi'i, also linked through his ancestry to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Ayan al-Asr wa Awan al-Na…+1. He was born in Ma'arrat al-Nu'man in 691 AH, recording that his birth coincided with the military encampment of the Mamluk Sultan al-Ashraf at the town while en route to Qal'at al-Rum, though another report places his birth in 689 AH Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1. He was raised and educated between Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, Hama, and Aleppo Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1.

Education and Career

Ibn al-Wardi studied Shafi'i jurisprudence in Hama under chief judge Sharaf al-Din Hibat Allah ibn al-Barizi, and also learned from Fakhr al-Din Khatib Jibrin in Aleppo Manzumat al-Bahja al-Ward…+1. In his youth, he served as a deputy judge (na'ib fi al-hukm) in Aleppo under Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn al-Naqib Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1. Later, chief judge Kamal al-Din ibn al-Zamalkani assigned him to the judgeship of Manbij, an appointment that caused Ibn al-Wardi resentment at being removed from Aleppo, which he expressed in verse addressed to Ibn al-Zamalkani Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1. After failing to regain his post in Aleppo, he stepped down from the judiciary—reportedly taking an oath against judicial service following a dream—and devoted the rest of his life to writing, teaching, and composing poetry Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1.

Scholarly Standing and Reception

Ibn al-Wardi earned wide acclaim among contemporaries for his mastery of Arabic grammar, belles-lettres, Shafi'i jurisprudence, and history Ayan al-Asr wa Awan al-Na…+1. His most celebrated legal composition was al-Bahja al-Wardiyya, a didactical poem in 5,263 rajaz verses versifying al-Hawi al-Saghir of Najm al-Din al-Qazwini; regarding it, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani swore that no one after Ibn al-Wardi versified jurisprudence without falling short of his achievement Manzumat al-Bahja al-Ward…+1. Taj al-Din al-Subki described his poetry as sweeter than refined sugar and more precious than gems Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi….

In A'yan al-'Asr, Khalil ibn Aybak al-Safadi accused Ibn al-Wardi of appropriating poetic themes and motifs from others, citing various examples; Ibn Hajar evaluated the accusation and judged that the borrowing was more likely the reverse al-Badr al-Tali bi-Mahasi…+1.

Death

During the outbreak of the Black Death across the Levant, Ibn al-Wardi authored a literary prose piece on the epidemic entitled al-Naba' 'an al-Waba' Sharh Alfiyyat Ibn Malik …+1. He contracted the plague shortly thereafter and died of it in Aleppo on 27 Dhu al-Hijjah 749 AH (March 1349 CE) Sharh Alfiyyat Ibn Malik …+1.