Al-Akhdari, Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad

Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Saghir ibn Muhammad ibn Amir al-Akhdari, a Maliki jurist and versifier from the Maghrib. ¹

He became known for verse works on jurisprudence and worship, which are taught in the traditional schools. ¹

The encyclopaedia says he was born in 920 AH (1514 CE) and died in 953 AH (1546 CE). ¹

Both dates need an additional source to confirm them; they rest on the tradition alone.

The Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.) names him Abu Zayd 'Abd al-Rahman b. Sayyidi Muhammad al-Saghir al-Akhdari, an Algerian author of the 10th/16th century. His best-known work is al-Sullam al-murawnaq (composed in 941/1534), a short versification of al-Abhari's Isagoge on logic. It quickly became very popular, acquired many commentaries (one by the author himself) and glosses, and was often lithographed; its editio princeps appeared at Bulaq in 1241 within the Majmu'a muhimmat al-mutun, and it was later lithographed at Cairo and Lucknow. J. D. Luciani translated it into French as Le Soullam (Algiers, 1921). Equally popular is al-Jawhar al-maknun fi sadaf al-thalatha al-funun, a versification of the Talkhis al-Miftah with a commentary by the author (composed 950/1543), printed and lithographed in Cairo from 1285. Also printed or lithographed are al-Durra al-bayda li-ahsan al-funun wa-l-ashya, a metrical treatise on arithmetic, inheritance and bequests (composed 940/1533), Nazm al-Siraji fi 'ilm al-falak, a metrical treatise on astronomy (composed 939/1532–33), and a Mukhtasar fi l-'ibadat, a popular elementary treatise on ritual duties according to the Maliki school. Several other works survive in manuscript. He is buried in the zawiya of Bentiyus, the modern Ben Thious, south-west of Biskra. ²