| Religion: | Islam |
| Occupation: | Polymath, Lexicographer, Linguist, Traditionist, Litterateur, Historian |
| Era: | Middle Ages |
| Honorific Prefix: | Imam |
| al-Firuzabadi الفيروزآبادي | |
| Majd al-Din Al-Ḥāfiẓ | |
| Birth Date: | 1329 CE |
| Birth Place: | Kazerun, Iran |
| Death Place: | Zabid, Yemen |
| Region: | Middle East |
| Denomination: | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence: | Shafi'i |
| Creed: | Ash'ari[1] |
| Main Interests: | Lexicography, Linguistic, Arabic grammar, Philology, Arabic literature, Hadith, History, Islamic jurisprudence, Poetry |
| Works: | Al-Qamus al-Muhit |
| Influences: | Al-Shafi'i Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari Taqi al-Din al-Subki |
| Influenced: | Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani Murtada al-Zabidi |
Abu ’l-Ṭāhir Muḥammad b. YaʿḲūb b. Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm Mad̲j̲d al-Di̊n al-S̲h̲āfiʿī al-S̲h̲īrāzī (fa|فیروزآبادی) also known as al-Fayrūzabādī (ar|الفيروزآبادي (1329–1414) was a Persian[2] [3] [4] Sunni Muslim polymath.[5] He excelled in hadith, grammar, philology, history, literature, poetry and Islamic jurisprudence. He was a revered narrator and preserver of Prophetic traditions. Regarded as a major linguist and one of the prominent scholars of the 15th century.[6] He was one of the leading lexicographers in the medieval Islamic world.[7] [8] He was the compiler of Al-Qamus al-Muhit, a comprehensive and, for nearly five centuries, one of the most widely used Arabic dictionaries.[9]
He was Abū al-Ṭāhir Majīd al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Ya'qūb ibn Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Shīrāzī al-Fīrūzābādī (Arabic: أبو طاهر مجيد الدين محمد بن يعقوب بن محمد بن إبراهيم الشيرازي الفيروزآبادي), known simply as Muḥammad ibn Ya'qūb al-Fīrūzābādī (Arabic: محمد بن يعقوب الفيروزآبادي). His nisbas "al-Shīrāzī" and "al-Fīrūzābādī" refer to the cities of Shiraz (located near Kazerun, his place of birth) and Firuzabad (his father's hometown) in Fars, Persia, respectively.
Al-Furazabadi claims to be a descendent of Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi and ultimately from Abu Bakr, one of the famous Companions of the Prophet.[10]
Al-Firuzabadi was born in Kazerun, Fars, Persia in the year 729/1328. In his hometown of Karzin, Al-Firuzabadi received his early schooling from his father. Al-Furazabadi memorized the Quran at the age of seven and studied Quranic recitation, Hadith, Arabic grammar, and literature in the scholarly hubs of Shiraz, Wasit, and Baghdad during the year (735-50/1336-49). Al-Firuzabadi's early professors included Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Zaradni (d. 747/1346) and 'Umar b. Ali al-Qazwini (d. 750/1349). Al-Firuzabadi studied under the major Shafi'i ulama Taqi al-Din al-Subki and his son Taj al-Din al-Subki in Damascus in 750/1349. He then travelled to Jerusalem, where he studied under prominent scholars of the day, including Salah al-Din al-Ala'i (d. 76/1359) and Taqi al-Din al-Kalkashandi (d. 821/1418).
Additionally, he journeyed to Cairo and studied under al-Kalanisi (d. 765/1363), Izz al-Din Ibn Jama'ah (d. 767/1365), Ibn Hisham al-Ansari, and Ibn Nubata. However, he also taught Jamal al-Din al-Isnawi, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, and Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Aqil. Al-Firuzabadi travelled to Mecca in 770/1370 and remained there for fourteen years. He then spent the next five years in Delhi, India. He returned to Mecca and visited Baghdad and Shiraz one more tim (where he was received by Timur) and finally travelled to Yemen which took place in 796/1394. He spent fourteen months in Taiz in Yemen. In 1395, he was appointed chief qadi (judge) of Yemen[9] by Al-Ashraf Umar II, who had summoned him from India a few years before to teach in his capital. Al-Ashraf's marriage to a daughter of Firūzābādī added to Firuzabadi's prestige and power in the royal court.[11] In his latter years, Firūzābādī converted his house at Mecca, and appointed three teachers, to a school of Maliki law.[9] Al-Firuzabadi passed away in the year 817/1414 in Zabid, Yemen.
Al-Firuzabadi was the final authority in lexicographical history to cite his sources for each factual information he documented. There are around fifty references to the earlier lexicographical works in this collection. Al-Firuzabadi was so troubled by the requirements for a valid entry that he went so far as to enumerate the line of transmission from himself to Ibn Hajar, who obtained it verbally from al-Firuzabadi.[12]
Long after his passing, al-Firuzabadi's significant contribution to the evolution of lexicography in Egypt persisted. This was particularly the case for Hadith scholars in later times. But he wasn't by himself. Al-Sabban, who trained under al-Firuzabadi, likewise blended philological research with hadith study. Fakhr al-Din b. Muhammad Tuwayh was another writer who worked in lexicography and hadith during al-Firuzabadi's time. He wrote "Mama' al-Bahrayn wa Malta' al-Nitrayn," which was written to address the ambiguities in the Qur'an and Hadith.
Firuzabadi composed several poems lauding Ibn Arabi for his writings, including the Arabic: وما علي إن قلت معتقدي دع الجهول يظن العدل عدوانا. Ibn Arabi's works inspired Firūzābādī's intense interest in Sufism.
He was a prolific writer and wrote more than sixty books in the sciences of the Quran, Hadith, language, and other fields including:
. القاموس المحيط. Fairuzabadi. دار الكتاب العربي. 2010. Beirut. Arabic. searchable online.
. Hamilton . Alastair . Alistair Hamilton. Arabs and Arabists: Selected Articles . 2022 . Brill . 253.
. Baalbaki . Ramzi . Ramzi Baalbaki. The Arabic Lexicographical Tradition: From the 2nd/8th to the 12th/18th Century . 2014 . Brill . 391.