# Al-Burini > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Al-Burini > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Al-Burini.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Burini > Source revision: 1333410721 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Syrian historian, poet and Shafi'i jurist (1556-1615)}} {{distinguish|Al-Biruni}} {{Infobox person | name = Al-Burini | image = | caption = | birth_date = July 1556 | birth_place = [Saffuriya](/source/Saffuriya), near [Nazareth](/source/Nazareth), [Galilee](/source/Galilee) | death_date = June 11, 1615 | death_place = [Damascus](/source/Damascus) | occupation = Historian, Poet, Shafi'i Jurist | notable_works = ''Tarajim al-A'yan min Abna al-Zaman'', ''al-Rihlat al-Tarabulusiyya'', ''al-Rihlat al-Halabiyya'' }} '''Badr al-Din al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Dimashqi al-Saffuri al-Burini''' (July 1556-11 June 1615), commonly known as '''al-Hasan al-Burini''', was a [Damascus](/source/Damascus)-based [Ottoman](/source/Ottoman_Empire) Arab historian and poet and [Shafi'i](/source/Shafi'i) jurist. ==Life== Al-Burini was born in mid-July 1556 in the village of [Saffuriya](/source/Saffuriya) near [Nazareth](/source/Nazareth) in the [Galilee](/source/Galilee), hence his ''[nisba](/source/nisba_(onomastics))'' (epithet) "al-Saffuri".{{sfn|Brockelmann|1960|p=1333}} His father Muhammad was originally from the village of [Burin](/source/Burin%2C_Nablus) near [Nablus](/source/Nablus) hence the ''nisba'' "al-Burini".{{sfn|Mullazadih|2013|p=45}} At the age of 10 he moved to [Damascus](/source/Damascus) with his father.{{sfn|Brockelmann|1960|p=1333}} Al-Burini learned the [Qur'an](/source/Qur'an) at the [Manjak Mosque](/source/Manjak_Mosque) in the [Midan](/source/al-Midan) neighborhood in his adolescence.{{sfn|Mullazadih|2013|p=45}} Afterward, he received an education in [Arabic grammar](/source/Arabic_grammar), ''[qanun](/source/qanun_(law))'' (secular law) and arithmetic from Damascene ''[ulema](/source/ulema)'' (religious scholars) at the Madrasa al-Umariyya in the [Salihiyya](/source/Al-Salihiyah%2C_Damascus) neighborhood.{{sfn|Mullazadih|2013|p=45}} His studies there were interrupted by a famine, which prompted him to relocate to [Jerusalem](/source/Jerusalem) from 1567 to 1571.{{sfn|Brockelmann|1960|p=1333}} In Jerusalem he was taught by Muhammad ibn Abi al-Lutf.{{sfn|Mullazadih|2013|p=45}} He moved back to Damascus in 1571, settling in the [Sufi](/source/Sufi) lodge of Samisatiyya where he expanded his education to literature, ''[fiqh](/source/fiqh)'' (jurisprudence), ''[tafsir](/source/tafsir)'' (Qur'anic interpretations), and [hadith](/source/hadith).{{sfn|Mullazadih|2013|pp=45–46}} By 1580 he had mastered [Persian](/source/Persian_language), as taught to him by Persian author Hafiz Husayn al-Karbala'i (d. 1588) in [Aleppo](/source/Aleppo) or Damascus.{{sfn|Mullazadih|2013|p=46}} Later in life, he also learned [Turkish](/source/Ottoman_Turkish_language).{{sfn|Mullazadih|2013|p=47}} After completing his studies, al-Burini became the head of the [Shafi'i](/source/Shafi'i) ''fiqh'' in the [Umayyad Mosque](/source/Umayyad_Mosque) in 1580. About the same time he began making sermons at the Sultan Mosque and became a lecturer in a number of Damascus madrasas. He was known by his students for his eloquence, charisma and literary knowledge, while the historians and religious scholars of the period lauded al-Burini for the same qualities, as well as his interest in history and philology. The governors and judges of Damascus trusted and appreciated al-Burini, considering him an accomplished Shafi’i jurist with independent judgements.{{sfn|Mullazadih|2013|p=46}} He served as the ''[kadi](/source/kadi_(Ottoman_Empire))'' (Islamic head judge) of the Ottoman [Hajj](/source/Hajj) pilgrimage caravan from Damascus to [Mecca](/source/Mecca) in 1611.{{sfn|Brockelmann|1960|p=1333}} On 11 June 1615 he died in Damascus and was buried in the cemetery of [Bab al-Faradis](/source/Bab_al-Faradis).{{sfn|Brockelmann|1960|p=1333}}{{sfn|Mullazadih|2013|p=47}} ==Literary works== One of al-Burini's main bodies of work was ''Tarajim al-A'yan min Abna al-Zaman'', a collection of 205 biographies of notable contemporary scholars, rulers and artisans, completed in 1614 after ten years.{{sfn|Mullazadih|2013|p=47}} Fadl Allah ibn Muhibb Allah edited and published the work in 1667 with a supplement.{{sfn|Brockelmann|1960|p=1333}} The work was republished in Damascus in 1959.{{sfn|Mullazadih|2013|p=47}} Al-Burini often traveled to different parts of Syria, penning two works about his trips to [Tripoli](/source/Tripoli%2C_Lebanon) in 1599/1600 and Aleppo in ''al-Rihlat al-Tarabulusiyya'' and ''al-Rihlat al-Halabiyya'', respectively.{{sfn|Mullazadih|2013|p=46}} During his visits to Tripoli and its [Akkar](/source/Akkar) countryside he was hosted by the chieftain and governor [Yusuf Sayfa Pasha](/source/Yusuf_Sayfa_Pasha).{{sfn|Abu-Husayn|1985|p=62}} His poetry is mostly found in a ''[diwan](/source/diwan_(poetry))'' located in [Istanbul](/source/Istanbul). His epistle to As'ad ibn Muiin al-Din al-Tibrizi al-Dimashqi is located in [Gotha](/source/Gotha), his ''Marathi'' poems for the Sufi Muhammad ibn Abi'l-Barakat al-Qadiri is preserved in Berlin and number of his poems are held in the [British Museum](/source/British_Museum) in London.{{sfn|Brockelmann|1960|p=1333}} He penned a commentary on the ''diwan'' of [Ibn al-Farid](/source/Ibn_al-Farid) in 1591 and a commentary on the latter's ''al-Ta’iyya al-Sughra'' in 1593.{{sfn|Mullazadih|2013|p=47}} ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==Bibliography== *{{cite book |last1=Abu-Husayn |first1=Abdul-Rahim |authorlink=Abdulrahim Abu-Husayn |title=Provincial Leaderships in Syria, 1575-1650 |date=1985 |publisher=American University of Beirut |location=Beirut |isbn=9780815660729 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D1ttAAAAMAAJ }} *{{EI2 |last=Brockelmann |first=C.|author-link= Carl Brockelmann |article=Al-Burini |volume=1 |page=1333}} *{{cite book |last=Mullazadih |first=Muhammad Hani |title=Historians of the Islamic World: Selected Entries from Encyclopedia of the World of Islam |editor1=Adel, G.H.|editor1-link=Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel |editor2=Elmi, Mohammad Jafar |editor3=Taromi-Rad, Hassan |location=London |publisher=EWI Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-908433-12-1 |chapter=Al-Burini, Hasan ibn Muhammad Dimashqi Saffuri |pages=45–48}} ==Further reading== *{{cite web |last1=El-Rouayheb |first1=Khaled |title=al-Burini, Hasan b. Muhammad (1556-1615) |url=https://ottomanhistorians.uchicago.edu/en/historians/22 |website=Historians of the Ottoman Empire |publisher=The University of Chicago: Division of the Humanities |access-date=8 January 2022}} {{Authority control}} Category:1556 births Category:1615 deaths Category:17th-century historians from the Ottoman Empire Category:17th-century Arabic-language poets Category:17th-century travelers Category:Arab people from the Ottoman Empire Category:Ottoman Palestine Category:Writers from Damascus Category:Shafi'i fiqh scholars Category:People from Sepphoris --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Al-Burini](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Burini) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Burini?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.