Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (21/249)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

al-Nawqānī (1), a Shāfiʿī jurist.

He studied law under Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā and mastered both the school’s positions and the science of legal disputation. Afterwards he settled in Baghdad, where people adopted his method, and he later taught at the Madrasah of Umm Khalīfa al-Nāṣir. He also possessed a complete command of Qur’anic exegesis.

Leading scholars qualified under him. He was distinguished by piety, integrity, and unremitting dedication to learning, coupled with generosity, dignity, open-handedness, and contentment.

He transmitted the “Forty Ḥadith” collection of Ibn Yaḥyā and was a venerable, awe-inspiring shaykh.

Among those who narrated from him were ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUmar al-Ghazzāl and others.

Ibn al-Najjār said: “I heard the jurist Naṣr ibn ʿAbd al-Razzaq more than once lavish praise on al-Nawqānī, extolling his character, his generosity toward his students, the abundance of his knowledge, and the breadth of his understanding.

“Ibn al-Najjār also said: I heard the jurist Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn al-Dabbās commend al-Nawqānī, saying, ‘He was one of Allah’s friends.’”

He was born in 516 AH in Nawqān, and he died in Ṣafar 592 AH in Kūfa while returning from the pilgrimage.

(1) In the base manuscript the first nun of the nisba “al-Nawqani” is vowelled with fat-ha, and it appears that al-Dhahabi followed this reading, as did Abu Saʿd al-Samʿani in Al-Ansab. Yaqut, however, records it with damma in Muʿjam al-Buldan, a position adopted by Ibn ʿAbd al-Haqq in Marasid al-Ittilaʿ. Al-Zaki al-Mundhiri, in his notice on this Abu al-Mafakhir in the Takmila, writes: “Nawqan, to which he is attributed, is one of the two towns of Tus; it is pronounced with damma on the nun, sukun on the waw, fat-ha on the qaf, followed by an alif and a final nun.” He then adds: “A pronunciation with fat-ha on the first nun has also been reported.”

النَّوْقَانِيُّ (١) ، الشَّافِعِيُّ. تَفقّه: بِمُحَمَّدِ بنِ يَحْيَى، وَبَرَعَ فِي المَذْهَب وَالخلاَف، ثُمَّ سَكَنَ بَغْدَاد، وَأَخَذُوا عَنْهُ طرِيقتَه، ثُمَّ درّس بِمَدْرَسَة أُمّ خَلِيْفَة النَّاصِر، وَلَهُ مَعْرِفَةٌ تَامَّة بِالتَّفْسِيْر. تخرّج بِهِ أَئِمَّة، وَكَانَ ذَا صلاَح، وَصيَانَة، وَمُلاَزمَة لِلْعِلْمِ، مَعَ سخَاء، وَمُروءة، وَبَذْلٍ، وَقنَاعَة. حَدَّثَ (بِالأَرْبَعِيْنَ) الَّتِي لابْنِ يَحْيَى، وَكَانَ شَيْخاً مَهِيْباً. رَوَى عَنْهُ: عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَانِ بن عُمَرَ الغَزَّال، وَغَيْرهُ. قَالَ ابْنُ النَّجَّارِ: سَمِعْتُ الفَقِيْه نَصْر بن عَبْدِ الرَّزَّاقِ غَيْرَ مَرَّةٍ يُثنِي عَلَى النَّوْقَانِيّ ثنَاء كَثِيْراً، وَيَصفُ خلقَه وَبذله لِتَلاَمِذته، وَغزَارَة عِلْمه، وَسعَة فَهمه. قَالَ ابْنُ النَّجَّارِ: وَسَمِعْتُ الفَقِيْه مُحَمَّد بن أَبِي بَكْرٍ بنِ الدَّبَّاس يُثنِي عَلَى النَّوْقَانِيّ، وَيَقُوْلُ: كَانَ وَليّاً للهِ. مَوْلِدُهُ: سَنَةَ سِتَّ عَشْرَةَ وَخَمْسِ مائَةٍ بِنوقَان. وَتُوُفِّيَ: قَافلاً مِنْ حجّه بِالكُوْفَةِ، فِي صَفَرٍ، سَنَةَ اثْنَتَيْنِ وَتِسْعِيْنَ وَخَمْسِ مائَةٍ.

(١) وجدنا النون الأولى من النوقاني مفتوحة في أصل النسخة، وكأن الذهبي أخذ برأي الذين فتحوها ومنهم أبو سعد السمعاني في (الأنساب) . وقيدها ياقوت بالضم في (معجم البلدان) وتابعه ابن عبد الحق في (مراصد الاطلاع) ، وقال الزكي المنذري في ترجمة أبي المفاخر هذا من (التكملة) : ونوقان التي نسب إليها هي إحدى مدينتي طوس، وهي بضم النون وسكون الواو وفتح القاف وبعد الالف نون) ثم قال: وقد حكي فتح النون الأولى.