Abu Jaʿfar an-Nahhas

Abu Jaʿfar An-Nahhas (أبو جعفر النحاس; died 949 / AH 338) was an Egyptian scholar of grammar and Qur'anic exegete during the Abbasid period. His full name was Abū Jaʿfar Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ismail Ibn Yūnus al-Murādi, surnamed an-Nahhās "copper-worker" (a term for artisans who make brass vessels).

Life

Abu Jaʿfar An-Nahhas—whose full name was Abū Jaʿfar Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ismail Ibn Yūnus al-Murādi, surnamed an-Nahhās "copper-worker" (a term for artisans who make brass vessels)—was born in Fustat, he studied in Baghdad under the foremost grammarians of the period like al-Zajjāj who familiarised him with the Kitāb by the famed grammarian Sībawayh (d. c.180/796). He also studied philology with ʿAlī b. Sulaymān al-Akhfash al-Aṣghar (d. 315/927) and Nifṭawayh (d. 323/935). He is the author of an influential work on abrogation, Al-Nasīkh wal-Mansūkh. He wrote a treatise on the grammatical analysis of the Qur'an and a grammatical primer known as "The Apple" (التفاحة at-Tuffāha), besides works on poetry, including a commentary on the Mu'allaqat.

Death

According to Ibn Khallikan, An-Nahhas was of extremely niggardly and avaricious character. He was killed as he was reciting poetry sitting on the banks of the Nile in Cairo, as a passing peasant thought he was uttering a charm to prevent the rise of the Nile, "so as to raise the price of provisions" and threw him into the river.

gollark: Yes, but they do *sometimes* confiscate them and it would be a hassle to have to pick it up again later.
gollark: As a somewhat more rule-abiding person I mostly don't, although the cost/benefit probably does come out in favour.
gollark: Yes. Quite a lot of people use them anyway and just deal with them being confiscated occasionally.
gollark: Also, I can have internet access all day - my school foolishly banned use of phones during lunch break (not just while eating, during the entire 1 hour 30 minute break).
gollark: I do less pointless busywork, less work generally, have a more comfortable home environment to work in, get to type things instead of foolish "writing", and don't have a 45 minute commute to school, which is all nice.

References
    • Mac Guckin de Slane, (trans.), Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary, vol. 1, Paris, 1843, p. 81.
    • Louis Moréri, Le grand dictionnaire historique (1759), Abou-Giafar al Nahas
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