Discussion of some of his teachers and an explanation of some of his noble character traits.
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The student: His teachers: Ibn Malik began his life in al-Andalus, where he studied under its teachers. Damascus was a center of learning; it was a center of learning to which the camels’ flanks were worn down by travel, and it was named after Ibn Malik.
The Shaykh : “To travel to” means: to intend to go to. So “travel” here is used in its linguistic sense. Yes.
The student: So the ambition of Ibn Malik was directed toward the pure springs of its knowledge. He traveled to it and studied under its imams. Among his teachers there and in al-Andalus were Mukram, Abu Sadiq al-Hasan ibn Sabbah, and Abu al-Hasan al-Sakhawi.
And among those from whom he studied Arabic was Jayyan.
The Shaykh : Jayyan, Jayyan.
The student: Jayyan was Abu al-Muzaffar Thabit ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Khayyat al-Kula'i, a native of Lablabah. He read the Book of Sibawayh under Abu 'Abd Allah ibn Malik al-Murshai.
And among his teachers were also Ibn Ya'sh, the commentator of al-Mufassal, and his student Ibn Imran 'Amr, and his student Ibn 'Amr. It is said that he sat with Abu 'Ali al-Shalubayn for about ten days. Al-Tibrizi reported in the end of his *Sharh al-Hajjiyyah* that he sat in the circle of Ibn al-Hajib and benefited from his methodology. He took recitation from Abu al-'Adas Ahmad ibn Nuwar and mastered it until he became an imam in it. He composed a rhymed poem in the Daliyyah meter, a rhymed Daliyyah poem, of the same length as the Shatibiyyah.
The student: His students: A group graduated from him, among them the Imam al-Nawawi, and his son Badr al-Din Muhammad narrated from him, as did Shams al-Din ibn Ja'wan, Shams al-Din ibn Abi al-Fath, Ibn al-'Attar, Zayn al-Din Abu Bakr al-Mizzi, and the Shaykh Abu al-Husayn al-Yuwayni.
The Shaykh : Al-Yuwayni.
The student: Al-Yuwayni, the teacher of the historian al-Dhahabi, and Abu 'Abd Allah al-Sayrifi, and the Chief Judge Badr al-Din ibn Jum'a.
The Shaykh : Jum'a, Jum'a.
The student: Ibn Jum'a, and Shihab al-Din ibn Ghanim, and Nasser al-Din ibn Shafi', and others besides them.
Shihab al-Din Mahmud narrated the *Alfiyyah* from him, and al-Sifdi Khalil narrated it from Shihab al-Din Mahmud by recitation. He also narrated it by license from Nasser al-Din Shafi' ibn 'Abd al-Zahir and from Shihab al-Din ibn Ghanim, by license from both of them from him.
His character: He was of a great degree of religion and worship, abundant in voluntary acts, good in demeanor, perfect in intellect, and chaste.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
The student: And among the manifestations of his sincerity to Allah in his work is what is said that he would go out to the door of his school and say: “Is there anyone interested in the knowledge of hadith or tafsir or such and such? I have purified it from my own claim.” So when he found no one, he said: “I have come out of the harm of concealment.”
And he was sound in character, composed, shy, dignified, and humble despite his vast knowledge. He was eager to impart knowledge and intensely keen on learning and teaching.
The Shaykh : (may Allah have mercy on him).
The student: ... and his excellence. He was a distinguished imam in the sciences of Arabic. He directed his ambition to mastering the language of the Arabs until he reached the pinnacle in it and surpassed the predecessors. He was the ultimate authority in language, and in grammar and morphology he was the vast sea and the towering mountain, until his fame was specifically due to them, and most of his writings were in them.
And among the signs of his deep standing in grammar is that he used to say about Ibn al-Hajib, who is one of the imams of Arabic: “He took his grammar from the author of al-Mufassal, and the author of al-Mufassal is a small grammarian.”
And if you know that he said this about al-Zamakhshari, who was the imam of his time in language, grammar, rhetoric, tafsir, and hadith, and that people would travel to him for every one of these disciplines, if you know this, you will know the measure of Ibn Malik’s knowledge and his excellence.
The Shaykh : And his excellence.
The student: And his excellence. He was broad in his knowledge of hadith. He most often cited the Qur'an, so if there was no evidence in it, he turned to hadith, and if there was no evidence in that, he turned to the poetry of the Arabs. The scholars of his time acknowledged his superiority and excellence. He was an imam in the 'Adiliyyah school, and when he prayed there, the Chief Judge Shams al-Din ibn Khillikan would accompany him to his home out of respect for him.
The Shaykh : “To travel to” means: to intend to go to. So “travel” here is used in its linguistic sense. Yes.
The student: So the ambition of Ibn Malik was directed toward the pure springs of its knowledge. He traveled to it and studied under its imams. Among his teachers there and in al-Andalus were Mukram, Abu Sadiq al-Hasan ibn Sabbah, and Abu al-Hasan al-Sakhawi.
And among those from whom he studied Arabic was Jayyan.
The Shaykh : Jayyan, Jayyan.
The student: Jayyan was Abu al-Muzaffar Thabit ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Khayyat al-Kula'i, a native of Lablabah. He read the Book of Sibawayh under Abu 'Abd Allah ibn Malik al-Murshai.
And among his teachers were also Ibn Ya'sh, the commentator of al-Mufassal, and his student Ibn Imran 'Amr, and his student Ibn 'Amr. It is said that he sat with Abu 'Ali al-Shalubayn for about ten days. Al-Tibrizi reported in the end of his *Sharh al-Hajjiyyah* that he sat in the circle of Ibn al-Hajib and benefited from his methodology. He took recitation from Abu al-'Adas Ahmad ibn Nuwar and mastered it until he became an imam in it. He composed a rhymed poem in the Daliyyah meter, a rhymed Daliyyah poem, of the same length as the Shatibiyyah.
The student: His students: A group graduated from him, among them the Imam al-Nawawi, and his son Badr al-Din Muhammad narrated from him, as did Shams al-Din ibn Ja'wan, Shams al-Din ibn Abi al-Fath, Ibn al-'Attar, Zayn al-Din Abu Bakr al-Mizzi, and the Shaykh Abu al-Husayn al-Yuwayni.
The Shaykh : Al-Yuwayni.
The student: Al-Yuwayni, the teacher of the historian al-Dhahabi, and Abu 'Abd Allah al-Sayrifi, and the Chief Judge Badr al-Din ibn Jum'a.
The Shaykh : Jum'a, Jum'a.
The student: Ibn Jum'a, and Shihab al-Din ibn Ghanim, and Nasser al-Din ibn Shafi', and others besides them.
Shihab al-Din Mahmud narrated the *Alfiyyah* from him, and al-Sifdi Khalil narrated it from Shihab al-Din Mahmud by recitation. He also narrated it by license from Nasser al-Din Shafi' ibn 'Abd al-Zahir and from Shihab al-Din ibn Ghanim, by license from both of them from him.
His character: He was of a great degree of religion and worship, abundant in voluntary acts, good in demeanor, perfect in intellect, and chaste.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
The student: And among the manifestations of his sincerity to Allah in his work is what is said that he would go out to the door of his school and say: “Is there anyone interested in the knowledge of hadith or tafsir or such and such? I have purified it from my own claim.” So when he found no one, he said: “I have come out of the harm of concealment.”
And he was sound in character, composed, shy, dignified, and humble despite his vast knowledge. He was eager to impart knowledge and intensely keen on learning and teaching.
The Shaykh : (may Allah have mercy on him).
The student: ... and his excellence. He was a distinguished imam in the sciences of Arabic. He directed his ambition to mastering the language of the Arabs until he reached the pinnacle in it and surpassed the predecessors. He was the ultimate authority in language, and in grammar and morphology he was the vast sea and the towering mountain, until his fame was specifically due to them, and most of his writings were in them.
And among the signs of his deep standing in grammar is that he used to say about Ibn al-Hajib, who is one of the imams of Arabic: “He took his grammar from the author of al-Mufassal, and the author of al-Mufassal is a small grammarian.”
And if you know that he said this about al-Zamakhshari, who was the imam of his time in language, grammar, rhetoric, tafsir, and hadith, and that people would travel to him for every one of these disciplines, if you know this, you will know the measure of Ibn Malik’s knowledge and his excellence.
The Shaykh : And his excellence.
The student: And his excellence. He was broad in his knowledge of hadith. He most often cited the Qur'an, so if there was no evidence in it, he turned to hadith, and if there was no evidence in that, he turned to the poetry of the Arabs. The scholars of his time acknowledged his superiority and excellence. He was an imam in the 'Adiliyyah school, and when he prayed there, the Chief Judge Shams al-Din ibn Khillikan would accompany him to his home out of respect for him.