230 – al-Sayf ʿAlī ibn Abī ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad at-Taghlibī *

The erudite scholar, prolific author, and “knight of dialectic”: Sayf al-Dīn ʿAlī ibn Abī ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Sālim at-Taghlibī, originally from Āmid, first a Ḥanbalī and later a Shāfiʿī.

He was born in the early fifties of the sixth century AH.

In Āmid he studied the canonical Qurʾānic readings with ʿAmmār al-Āmidī and Muḥammad al-Ṣaffār, and in Baghdad he recited before Ibn ʿAbīda.

He memorised al-Hidāyah and studied jurisprudence with Ibn al-Mannī. He heard hadith from Ibn Shātil and others, kept close company with Ibn Faḍlān, and trained under him in juristic disputation.

He reached distinction, retained the method of al-Sharīf, examined the school of Asʿad al-Mīhanī, and mastered the philosophy of the Ancients—whereupon his religious commitment became thin and obscured, though his intellect blazed with brilliance.

ʿAlī ibn Anjab (1) says in Asmāʾ al-Muṣannifīn: “He studied in Syria with al-Mujīr al-Baghdādī, then went to Baghdad and immersed himself in al-Shifāʾ and al-Shāmil by Abū al-Maʿālī. He memorised a number of works, repeatedly reviewed al-Mustaṣfā, became an ocean of learning, and stood unrivalled in the rational sciences, logic, and dialectical theology. Students travelled to him from many lands; he would assist them as best he could, explain the material to them, and show great patience in teaching.”