Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (22/180)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Ṭāhir al-Shīrāzī, the Khafri(1), the Fayrūzābādī, a Shāfiʿī and Sufi who later settled in Egypt.

He authored several works on the mystical allusions of the Sufi masters, yet they contain an obvious departure from the Sunnah. His diction was graceful, his memorisation vast, and his prestige considerable.

He was born around the year 530 AH.

He heard many narrations from al-Salafī, wrote extensively, and—while in Damascus—studied under Ibn ʿAsākir.

Those who transmitted from him include al-Barzālī, al-Mundhirī, and a number of others; among those who related to us on his authority were Abū al-Maʿālī al-Abarqūhī and Abū al-Hasan Ibn al-Qayyim.

Ibn al-Ḥājib said: “He practised spiritual disciplines, stations, and interactions, yet he was foul-mouthed, often spoke ill of people, and was unduly bold; a streak of humour marked him most of the time.”

I add: He also had a pronounced attraction to images.

Ibn Nuqṭah said: “I read to him a report from Ibn Maʿīn, whereupon he cursed him and disparaged him. He wrote on speculative theology, and produced both verse and prose. He spent a period in devotional seclusion, then withdrew to the shrine of Dhū al-Nūn al-Miṣrī. He lived a long life until he died on the sixteenth of Dhū al-Ḥijjah in 622 AH.”

… and in Al-Nujum al-Zahira, 6:263; Ibn al-Furat’s History, vol. 10, fol. 66; Ibn Abd al-Hadi’s Muʿjam al-Shafiʿiyya, fol. 28; Suyuti, Husn al-Muhadara, 1:259; and Ibn al-Imad, Shadharat al-Dhahab, 5:101. (1) He came from Khibr Shurushin, a district of Shiraz, as al-Mundhiri reports on the authority of this Fakhr al-Din. The place is listed by Abu Saʿd al-Samʿani in Al-Ansab, Ibn al-Athir in Al-Lubab, Yaqut in Muʿjam al-Buldan, and al-Dhahabi in Al-Mushtabih. Only al-Bakri, in Muʿjam Ma Istʿajam, diverges by vocalising the letter ba with a fatha; the authorities just cited are more reliable than he.

طَاهِرٍ الشِّيْرَازِيُّ، الخَبْرِيُّ (١) ، الفَيروزآبَادِيُّ، الشَّافِعِيُّ، الصُّوْفِيُّ، نَزِيْلُ مِصْرَ. لَهُ تَصَانِيْفُ فِي إِشَارَاتِ القَوْمِ، فِيْهَا انحرَافٌ بَيِّنٌ عَنِ السُّنَّةِ، وَكَانَ حلوَ الإِيرَادِ، كَثِيْرَ المَحْفُوْظِ، وَافرَ الجَلاَلَةِ. وُلِدَ: فِي حُدُوْدِ سَنَةِ ثَلاَثِيْنَ وَخَمْسِ مائَةٍ. وَسَمِعَ الكَثِيْرَ مِنَ: السِّلَفِيِّ، وَكَتَبَ وَحصَّلَ، وَبِدِمَشْقَ مِنِ ابْنِ عَسَاكِرَ. رَوَى عَنْهُ: البِرْزَالِيُّ، وَالمُنْذِرِيُّ، وَطَائِفَةٌ، وَحَدَّثَنَا عَنْهُ: أَبُو المَعَالِي الأَبَرْقُوْهِيُّ، وَأَبُو الحَسَنِ ابْنُ القيِّمِ. قَالَ ابْنُ الحَاجِبِ: صَاحِبُ رِيَاضَاتٍ وَمَقَامَاتٍ وَمعَامِلاَتٍ، إِلاَّ أَنَّهُ كَانَ بذِيءَ اللِّسَانِ، كَثِيْرَ الوَقِيْعَةِ فِي النَّاسِ وَالجرأَةِ، وَكَانَ عِنْدَهُ دُعَابَةٌ فِي غَالِبِ الوَقْتِ. قُلْتُ: وَلَهُ مَيْلٌ شَدِيدٌ إِلَى الصُّوَرِ. وَقَالَ ابْنُ نُقْطَةَ: قَرَأْتُ عَلَيْهِ حِكَايَةً لابْنِ مَعِيْنٍ، فَسبَّهُ، وَنَال مِنْهُ، وَصَنَّفَ فِي الكَلاَمِ، وَلَهُ النَّظْمُ وَالنَّثْرُ، جَاورَ مُدَّةً، ثُمَّ انْقَطَعَ بِمَعْبَدِ ذِي النُّوْنِ المِصْرِيِّ، وَعُمِّرَ دَهْراً، إِلَى أَنْ مَاتَ فِي سَادسَ عشرَ ذِي الحِجَّةِ، سَنَةَ اثْنَتَيْنِ وَعِشْرِيْنَ وَسِتِّ مائَةٍ.

= والنجوم الزاهرة: ٦ / ٢٦٣، وتاريخ ابن الفرات، ١٠ الورقة ٦٦، معجم الشافعية لابن عبد الهادي، الورقة ٢٨، حسن المحاضرة: ١ / ٢٥٩، وشذرات الذهب: ٥ / ١٠١. (١) هو من خبر شروشين، من عمل شيراز، ذكر ذلك المنذري نقلا عن فخر الدين هذا. وهذا الموضع قيده أبو سعد السمعاني في " الأنساب " وابن الأثير في " اللباب " وياقوت في " معجم البلدان " والذهبي في " المشتبه "، وشذ عنهم البكري في " معجم ما استعجم " فقيده بفتح الباء، والذين ذكرناهم أعلم منه.