Shams al-Din Abu ʿAbdullah Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Sibaʿ al-Judhami, commonly known as Ibn al-Saʾigh, was a distinguished Damascene scholar of Arabic…
Shams al-Din Abu ʿAbdullah Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Sibaʿ al-Judhami, commonly known as Ibn al-Saʾigh, was a distinguished Damascene scholar of Arabic language and literature. He was highly accomplished in grammar, poetry, prose, rhetoric, literary composition and ʿarūḍ, the science of Arabic poetic metre. Students gathered around him in the goldsmiths’ market of Damascus, where he taught important works of Arabic language, poetry and literature. Among his works were a commentary on the Maqṣūrah of Ibn Durayd, an explanation of Mulḥat al-Iʿrāb, an abridgement of al-Jawhari’s Arabic dictionary al-Ṣiḥāḥ, a collection of poetry and a lengthy poem describing the different sciences, crafts and professions of his age. He was remembered for his refined character, humility and pleasant manner of teaching. He died in Damascus around 720 AH/1320 CE and was buried in the historic Bāb al-Ṣaghīr Graveyard.