the encyclopedic entry of Al-Zamakhshari

Al-Zamakhshari

Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Umar al-Zamakhshari also called Jar Allah (Arabic for "God's neighbour") and known widely as al-Zamakhshari (1074 or 1075 – 1143 or 1144) was a medieval Iranian Hanafi scholar with Muʿtazilite theological influences.

Biography

Al-Zamakhshari was born in Zamakhshar, Khwarezmia, and became a renowned scholar of the Mutazilite school of Islam. He used Persian for some of his work, although he was a strong supporter of the Arabic language as well as an opponent of the Shu'ubiyya movement. After losing one of his feet to frostbite, he carried a notarized declaration that his foot was missing due to accident, rather than a legal amputation for any crime.

He is best known for Al-Kashshaaf, a seminal commentary on the Qur'an. The commentary is famous for its deep linguistic analysis of the verses, however has been criticised for the inclusion of Mu'tazilite philosophical views.

For many years he stayed in Makkah, for which he became known as Jar-Allah ("God's neighbour"). He later returned to Khwarizm, where he died at the capital Jurjaniyya.

He died in 1144 at al-Jurjaniya, Khwarezm.

He studied at Bukhara and Samarkand while enjoying the fellowship of jurists of Baghdad.

Works

Zamakhshari's fame as a commentator rests upon his commentary on the Qur'an. In spite of its Mu'tazili theology it was famous among scholars.

Works include:

Al-Kashshaaf ("the Revealer", Arabic: کشاف ) — A tafsir of the Qur'an)
Rabi al-Abrar
Asasul-Balaghat dar-Lughat (Arabic:اساس البلاغه) — Literature
Fasul-ul-Akhbar
Fraiz Dar-ilm Fariz
Kitab-Fastdar-Nahr
Muajjam-ul-Hadud
Manha Darusul
Diwan-ul-Tamsil
Sawaer-ul-Islam
Muqaddimat al-Adab مقدمه الادب (Arabic to Chorasmian Language dictionary)
کتاب الامکنه والجبال والمیاه (Geography))
مفصل انموذج (Nahw: Arabic grammar)
and more

Zamakhshari and the Chorasmian Language

The greater part of the now extinct Iranian Chorasmian language vocabulary is to be found in the form of interlinear glosses throughout a single manuscript (of ca. 596/1200) of the Moqaddemat al-adab by the native Chorasmian speaker, Zamakhshari. Some other manuscripts of the same work contain but a few such glosses. Thus the Moqaddemat al-adab is a very important primary source for the study of this extinct language.