Al-Damiri
Al-Damiri | |
---|---|
Title | Kamal al-Din Al-Ḥāfiẓ |
Personal | |
Born | 1341 CE Cairo, Mamluk dynasty |
Died | 1405 (aged 63–64) Cairo, Mamluk Sultanate |
Religion | Islam |
Era | Late Middle Ages (Mamluk era) |
Region | Egypt |
Denomination | Sunni |
Jurisprudence | Shafi'i |
Creed | Ash'ari[1] |
Main interest(s) | Kalam (Islamic theology) Fiqh, Hadith, Arabic, Zoology |
Notable idea(s) | Elaborate systematically Arabic zoological knowledge |
Notable work(s) | Life of Animals (Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān al-kubrā, c.1371) |
Alma mater | Al-Azhar University |
Occupation | Zoologist, Jurist, Scholar, Muhaddith, Theologian |
Muslim leader | |
Influenced |
Al-Damiri (1341–1405), the common name of Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Musa al-Damiri (Arabic: كمال الدين محمد بن موسى الدميري), was a Shafi'i Sunni scholar, jurist, traditionist, theologian, and expert in Arabic from late medieval Cairo.[2] He was best known for his writing on Muslim jurisprudence and natural history.[3] He wrote the first known systematic work on zoological knowledge in Arabic, the Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān al-kubrā, c.1371.[4]
Life
Al-Damiri was born in 1341 (742 AH) in Cairo, where he lived, learned, graduated, and died. His family’s origins go back to the countryside of Lower Egypt, from the village of Damira, close to Samannud on the eastern or Damietta branch of the Nile in the Delta. Since his youth, he worked with his father in a sewing shop, and his love for animals continued to grow with him, along with his passion for science and other knowledge, which prompted his father to direct him to complete his religious studies at Al-Azhar University.[5]
He mastered the sciences of theology, jurisprudence, hadith, Arabic, etc at al-Azhar under the leading scholars of his day, most notably Jamal al-Din al-Isnawi, Bahaā' al-Din al-Subki, Burhan al-Din al-Qirati, Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Aqil, including the three marvels of his era, Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini, Zain al-Din al-Iraqi, and Ibn al-Mulaqqin.[5]
His brilliance and distinction enabled him to become a professor; at Al-Azhar, he taught lessons on Saturdays; at Rukniyya, where he became the professor of tradition and lectured on hadith studies; at the ibn al-Baqri School in Bab al-Nasr, where he preached to people on Jumu'ah; and at Mosque of al-Zahir Baybars in the al-Husseiniyah neighborhood, where he used to give his lessons after Jumu'ah.[3][5] He was a mystic, or Ṣūfī, who was renowned for his fasting, prayer, and asceticism. He made Hajj more than six times.[6]
Among those who mentioned that they studied under Kamal al-Din al-Dumiri was the hadith scholar and historian, Taqi al-Din al-Fasi, the Shafi’i jurist, Ibn Imad al-Aqfahsi and the scholar and historian al-Maqrizi
Works
Al-Damiri was a prolific writer and excelled in jurisprudence in which he wrote a commentary on the Minhāj al-Ṭalibīn of al-Nawawi.[3] He excelled in the sciences of hadith, Arabic, and theology. However, he was best known in the history of literature for his Life of Animals[7] (Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān al-kubrā, c.1371), which treats in alphabetic order of 931 animals mentioned in the Quran, the traditions and the poetic and proverbial literature of the Arabs. The work is a compilation from over 500 prose writers and nearly 200 poets. The correct spelling of the names of the animals is given with an explanation of their meanings. The use of the animals in medicine, their lawfulness or unlawfulness as food, and their position in folklore are the main subjects treated. Occasionally, long, irrelevant sections on political history are introduced.[3]
The work exists in three forms. The fullest has been published several times in Egypt; a mediate and a short recension exist in manuscript format. Several editions have been made at various times of extracts, among them the poetical one by al-Suyuti, which was translated into Latin by Abraham Ecchelensis (Paris, 1667). Bochartus in his Hierozoicon (1663) used al-Damiri's work. There is a translation of the whole into English by Lieutenant-Colonel Jayakar (Bombay, 1906–1908).[3]
Notes
- ^ "The Notables of the Shafi'i-Ash'ari school". almostaneer.com (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 28 September 2017.
- ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol. 7. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1973. p. 103.
- ^ a b c d e
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Thatcher, Griffithes Wheeler (1911). "Damiri". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 788.
- ^ Egerton, Frank N. (2012). Roots of Ecology: Antiquity to Haeckel. University of California Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0520953635.
- ^ a b c "Kamal al-Din al-Damiri...the Egyptian genius who created "The Great Animal Life"". doc.aljazeera.net.
- ^ "ad-Damīrī - Muslim theologian". britannica.com.
- ^ "Islamic Medical Manuscripts § Al-Damiri". U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
External links
- Vernet, Juan (2008) [1970-80]. "Al-Damīrī, Muhammed Ibn Musa". Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Encyclopedia.com.
- Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān al-kubrā (1893 reprint)
- Copy in Wellcome Library
- v
- t
- e
- Al-Shafi'i (founder of the school; 767–820)
- Al-Muzani (791/92–878)
- Al-Humaydi (d. 834)
- Harith al-Muhasibi (781–857)
- Bukhari (810–870)
- Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (d. 875)
- Ibn Majah (824–887)
- Al-Nasai (d. 915)
- Ibn Khuzaymah (837–923)
- Ibn al-Mundhir (855–930)
- Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari (874–936)
- Fakr ad-Din
- Al-Daraqutni (918–995)
- Abu Talib al-Makki (d. 996)
- Al-Hakim Nishapuri (933–1014)
- Ibn Furak (d. 1015)
- Abd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmad (935–1025)
- Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi (d. 1037)
- Abu Nuaym (d. 1038)
- Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi (1003–1083)
- Al-Lalika'i
- Al-Tha'labi (d. 1035)
- Al-Mawardi (972–1058)
- Al-Bayhaqi (994–1066)
- Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (1002–1071)
- Al-Qushayri (986–1072)
- Al-Juwayni (1028–1085)
- Al-Baghawi (d. 1122)
- Ahmad Ghazali (d. 1123/26)
- Al-Ghazali (1058–1111)
- Al-Shahrastani (1086–1153)
- Ibn `Asakir (1105–c. 1176)
- Abu Tahir al-Silafi (1079–1180)
- Ahmed al-Rifa`i (1119–1183)
- Shahab al-Din Yahya ibn Habash Suhrawardi (1154–1191)
- Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1150–1209)
- Sayf al-Din al-Amidi (1156–1233)
- Ibn Abi'l-Dam (1187–1244)
- Ibn al-Salah (1181–1245)
- Ibn Abil-Hadid (d. 1258)
- Izz al-Din ibn Abd al-Salam (d. 1262)
- Ahmad al-Badawi (1200–1276)
- Al-Nawawi (1230–1277)
- Ibn Khallikan (1211–1282)
- Ibn Daqiq al-Id (1228–1302)
- Al-Baydawi (d. 1319)
- Safi-ad-din Ardabili (1252/53–1334)
- Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Mizzi (1256–1341)
- Yusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn
- Safi al-Din al-Hindi (d. 1315/16)
- Al-Dhahabi (1274–1348)
- Taqi al-Din al-Subki (1284–1355)
- Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (1302–1367)
- Taj al-Din al-Subki (1327–1370)
- Ibn Kathir (d. 1373)
- Taftazani (1322–1390)
- Badr Ad-Din az-Zarkashi (1344–1392)
- Zain al-Din al-Iraqi (1325–1403)
- Ali ibn Abu Bakr al-Haythami (1335–1404)
- Ibn Nuhaas (d. 1411)
- Ibn al-Jazari (1350–1429)
- Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (1372–1449)
- Al-Mahalli (d. 1460)
- Al-Sakhawi (1428–1497)
- Al-Suyuti (1445–1505)
- Al-Qastallani (1448–1517)
- Zakariyya al-Ansari (1420–1520)
- Ali ibn Ahmad al-Samhudi (1466–1533)
- Al-Sha`rani (1492/93–1565)
- Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (1503–1566)
- Al-Khaṭib ash-Shirbiniy (d. 1570)
- Abdullah ibn Alawi al-Haddad (1634–1720)
- Ibrahim al-Bajuri (1784–1860)
- Abd Al-Rahman bin Ahmad al-Zayla`i (1820–1882)
- Ahmad Zayni Dahlan (1816–1886)
- Shaykh Sufi (1828–1904)
- Uways al-Barawi (1847–1909)
- Ahmad Khatib al-Minangkabawi (1860–1916)
- Yusuf al-Nabhani (1849–1932)
- Abdallah al-Qutbi (1879–1952)
- Said Nursî (1877–1960)
- Abd al-Malik Karim Amrullah (1908–1981)
- Muhammad Hamidullah (1908–2002)
- Ahmed Kuftaro (1915–2004)
- Abdullah al-Harari (1906–2008)
- Wahbah al-Zuhayli (1932–2015)
- Taha Jabir Alalwani (1935–2016)
- Cherussery Zainuddeen Musliyar (1937–2016)
- Hasyim Muzadi (1944–2017)
- Ahmad Syafi'i Maarif (1935–2022)
- Abdul Azeez Madani (1950–2022)
- Kanthapuram A. P. Abu Bakr Musliyar (b. 1931)
- Naqib al-Attas (b. 1931)
- Mohammad Salim Al-Awa (b. 1942)
- K. Ali Kutty Musliyar (b. 1945)
- Ali Gomaa (b. 1952)
- Nuh Ha Mim Keller (b. 1954)
- Zaid Shakir (b. 1956)
- Gibril Haddad (b. 1960)
- Umar bin Hafiz (b. 1963)
- Ibrahim Khalil al-Bukhari (b. 1964)
- Muhammad bin Yahya al-Ninowy (b. 1970)
- Ali al-Jifri (b. 1971)
- Afifi al-Akiti (b. 1976)
- Awn Al-Qaddoumi (b. 1982)
- Muhammad Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal
- Hanafi
- Hanbali
- Maliki
- Zahiri