Al-Damiri (1341–1405), the common name of Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Musa al-Damiri ( ar, كمال الدين محمد بن موسى الدميري), was an Arab Muslim writer from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

and natural history. He wrote the first work to elaborate systematically Arabic zoological knowledge.

Life

Al-Damiri belonged to one of the two towns called Damira near

Damietta Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an easter ...

and spent his life in

. Of the Shafiite school of law, he became professor of tradition in the Rukniyya at

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

, and also at the mosque al-Azhar; in connection with this work he wrote a commentary on the ''Minhāj al-Ṭalibīn'' of

Al-Nawawi Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī ( ar, أبو زكريا يحيى بن شرف النووي;‎ (631A.H-676A.H) (October 1230–21 December 1277), popularly known as al-Nawawī or Imam Nawawī, was a Sunni Shafi'ite jurist and ...

. Al-Damiri is, however, better known in the history of literature for his ''Life of Animals'' (''Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān al-kubrā'', 1371), which treats in alphabetic order of 931 animals mentioned in the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

, the traditions and the poetical and proverbial literature of the Arabs. The work is a compilation from over 500 prose writers and nearly 200 poets. The correct spelling of the names of the animals is given with an explanation of their meanings. The use of the animals in medicine, their lawfulness or unlawfulness as food, their position in

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

are the main subjects treated, while occasionally long irrelevant sections on political history are introduced. The work exists in three forms. The fullest has been published several times in Egypt; a mediate and a short recension exist in manuscript. Several editions have been made at various times of extracts, among them the poetical one by al-Suyuti, which was translated into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

by Abraham Ecchelensis (Paris, 1667). Bochartus in his ''Hierozoicon'' (1663) used al-Damiri's work. There is a translation of the whole into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

by Lieutenant-Colonel Jayakar (Bombay, 1906–1908).

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Damiri, Al- 1344 births 1405 deaths Egyptian writers Zoologists of the medieval Islamic world 14th-century Arabs