Abu ʾl-Faḍl Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Naysābūrī al-Maydānī (died 27 October 1124) was an Arab scholar in Persia, an expert on Arabic philology and on Islamic adab (etiquette).[1]

Little is known of al-Maydānī's life.[2] He was a native of Nishapur (Arabic Naysābūr) and took his surnames from his place of residence off the maydān Ziyād. He was educated in Nishapur under the Qurʾānic scholars Abu ʾl-Ḥasan al-Wāḥidī (died 1076), Yaʿqūb ibn Aḥmad al-Kurdī and ʿAlī al-Mujāshiʿī al-Farazdaqī. He in turn taught Abu ʾl-Ḥasan al-Bayhaqī.[1] He died on 27 October 1124[2] and was buried in the cemetery of the maydān quarter on 5 November 1124.[1]

Fifteen works by al-Maydānī are known, of which the most famous is the paremiological Majmaʿ al-amthāl, which remains the "most popular collection of classical Arabic proverbs".[1] It was produced around the same time as al-Zamakhsharī's collection in response to a request by the majlis (council) of Muntajab al-Mulk Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad ibn Arslān, the kātib (secretary) of the Sultan Aḥmad Sanjar.[1][2] Many abridged versions of the Majmaʿ have been made, the first appearing in 1137. An edition with Turkish annotations appeared in 1627 and a full translation in 1877. A Latin translation by Georg Freytag, entitled Arabum Proverbia, was published at Bonn in 1838–1843. At least two versifications have also been made, the first in 1668.[1]

Al-Maydānī's other works include an edition of the rasāʾil (letters) of Manṣūr al-Harawī (died 1048); an Arabic–Persian dictionary, completed in 1104; a critique of al-Jawharī's earlier Arabic dictionary; and various grammatical and philological works and commentaries.[1]

Notes

Bibliography

  • Sadiq Feidi, Fatina (2016). La sabiduría árabe antigua reflejada en los proverbios de al-Maydānī: traducción y análisis paremiológico de un corpus seleccionado (PDF) (Doctoral thesis). Complutense University of Madrid.
  • Sellheim, R. (1991). "al-Maydānī". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Volume VI: Mahk–Mid (2nd ed.). Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 913–914. ISBN 978-90-04-08112-3.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.