ZAMAKHSHARI [Abu-1 Qasim Mahmud ibn `Umar uz-Zamakhshari] (1074-1143)

This article appears in Volume V28, Page 951 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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ZAMAKHSHARI [Abu-1 Qasim Mahmud ibn `Umar uz-Zamakhshari] (1074-1143) , Arabian theologian and grammarian, was born at Zamakhshar, a

village

VILLAGE

of Khwarizm, studied at Bokhara and Samarkand, and enjoyed the fellowship of the jurists of Bagdad. For many years he stayed at Mecca, from which circumstance he was known as Jdr-ullah (" God's client "). Later he returned to Khwarizm, where he died at the

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

Jurjaniyya. In theology he was a pronounced Mo'tazilite (see MAHOMMEDAN RELIGION: section Sects). Although he used Persian for some of his works he was a strong supporter of the superiority of the Arabic language and an opponent of the Shu`ubite

movement

MOVEMENT

. Zamakhshari's- fame as a commentator rests upon his commentary on the Koran, called al-Kashshaf (" the Revealer "). In spite of its Mo'tazilite theology it was famous among scholars and was the basis of the widely-read commentary of Baidhawi (q.v.). It has been edited by W. Nassau Lees (Calcutta, 1856), and has been printed at Cairo (1890). Various glosses on it have been written by different authors. His

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

grammatical

work

WORK

is the Kitdb ul-mufa.sal, written about 1120 and edited by J. P. Broch (2nd ed., Christiania, 1879). Many commentaries have been written on this

work

WORK

, the fullest being that of Ibn Ya'ish (d. 1245), edited by G. Jahn (2 vols.,

Leipzig

LEIPZIG

, 1876-86).
Of his lexicographical works the Kitab Mugaddimat ul-Adab was edited as Sanzachscharii Lexicon Arab. Pers. (ed. J. G. Wetzstein, 2 vols.,

Leipzig

LEIPZIG

, 1844), and the Asds ul-balagha, a lexicon of choice words and phrases, was printed at Bulaq, 1882. Of his adab works the Nawabigh ul-kalim, an

anthology

ANTHOLOGY

, was edited by H. A. Schultens (Leiden, 1772), by B. de Meynard in the Journal asiatique, ser. 7, vol. vi., pp. 313 if. (cf. M. de

Goeje

GOEJE, MICHAEL JAN DE (1836—1909)

in Zeitschr. d. deutsch. morg. Gesellschaft, vol. xxx. pp. 569 ff.). The Atwaq udh-Dhahab was edited by J. von

Hammer

HAMMER, FRIEDRICH JULIUS (1810-1862)

-Purgstall (Vienna, 1835) ; by H. L. Fleischer (Leipzig, 1835) ; by G. Weil (

Stuttgart

STUTTGART

, 1863) ; and by B. de Meynard (Paris, 1876; cf. de

Goeje

GOEJE, MICHAEL JAN DE (1836—1909)

as above). (G. W. T.)

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