Abu Hayyan Al Gharnati
| Abū Ḥayyān al-Gharnāṭī | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1256 |
| Died | 1344 (aged 87–88) |
| Ethnicity | Berber |
| Era | Islamic Golden Age |
| Region | al-Andalus |
| Religion | Islam |
| Jurisprudence | Ẓāhirī |
| Creed | Ash'ari |
| Main interest(s) | Tafsīr, Arabic |
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| Arabic name | |
| Personal (Ism) | Muḥammad محمد |
| Patronymic (Nasab) | ibn Yūsuf bin ‘Alī ibn Yūsuf ibn Hayyān an-Nifzī al-Barbarī بن يوسف بن علي بن يوسف بن حيان |
| Teknonymic (Kunya) | Abū Ḥayyān أبو حيان |
| Epithet (Laqab) | Athīr al-Dīn أثير الدين |
| Toponymic (Nisba) | al-Gharānaṭī; Al-Andalusi; al-Jayyāni |
Abū Ḥayyān al-Gharnāṭī ("Abū Ḥayyān from Granada", full name Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf bin ‘Alī ibn Yūsuf ibn Hayyān an-Nifzī al-Barbarī Athīr al-Dīn Abū Ḥayyān al-Jayyānī al-Gharnāṭī al-Andalūsī,) was a commentator on the Quran. He has earned near universal recognition as the foremost Arabic grammarian of his era. He is also notable as the only known Arabic linguist to have taken a strong interest in languages other than Arabic, authoring a number of works both on comparative linguistics and extensively analyzing and explaining the grammars of other languages for native speakers of Arabic.
He was born in Spain in November of 1256 to a family of Berber origins. Gharnati's place of birth has been a matter of dispute, with historians having placed it both as Jaén and Granada, from which his appellation "Gharnati" was taken. Because Jaén was a dependency of Granada at the time, it is possible that there is no conflict between the two appellations.
Gharnati was considered tall and he had long hair. In his old age, his beard and hair turned grey, but he was generally described with handsome features.
At a young age, Gharnati left Spain and traveled extensively for the sake of his studies. Within Spain, he traveled to Málaga, Almería before moving on through Ceuta, Tunis, Alexandria, Cairo, Damietta, Minya, Kush and ‘Aydhab in Africa. Eventually, he reached Mecca for the sake of the Muslim pilgrimage and visited Medina before returning to Alexandria. Gharnati memorized the entirety of the famous Kitab of Sibawayh by heart; it was the first treatise ever written on Arabic grammar, and Gharnati held is as much an authority within the Arabic language as are Hadith, or the recorded statements of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, in Islamic law.
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