Abd al-Ghani's family descended from the Banu Jama'a, which traditionally providedqadis (chief judges) for theShafi'ifiqh (school of Islamic law) ofSunni Islam for theMamluk rulers of Syria and Egypt. The Banu Jama'a hailed fromHama before settling inJerusalem in the 13th century. One of its principal branches remained in Jerusalem, providing the preachers for theal-Aqsa Mosque, while another principal branch relocated toCairo, the Mamluk capital, under Badr al-Din Muhammad Ibn Jama'a in 1291 after being appointed by Sultanal-Ashraf Khalil asqadi al-qudat (head judge of the sultanate) andshaykh al-shuyukh (head of theSufi brotherhoods). Badr al-Din died in 1333 and his direct descendants died out in the 15th century. Abd al-Ghani's family descended from Badr al-Din's younger brother Abd al-Rahman, who had remained in Jerusalem.[2] Shortly after the conquest of Mamluk Syria by theOttoman Empire in 1516, part of Abd al-Rahman's family moved briefly toNablus then permanently toDamascus, which attracted numerous people fromPalestine in the 16th century. The family became known as "al-Nabulsi" (ANisba, "Of Nablus" ) after their short stay in Nablus.[3]
The great-grandfather of Abd al-Ghani, Ismai'il al-Nabulsi, was a Shafi'i jurist, the Shafi'imufti of Damascus and a teacher of thefiqh at theUmayyad Mosque and fourmadrasas in the city. One of the madrasas, theDarwishiyya Madrasa, was built by the governorDarwish Pasha and endowed specifically for Isma'il and his descendants to teach the Shafi'ifiqh. Isma'il taught there Turkish, Persian and Arabic students, and was fluent in each of the languages. He grew wealthy, owning several villages and farms and gaining connections to the imperial government inConstantinople. He was the founder of the Nabulsi family's wealth and a mausoleum was built for him by Darwish Pasha in theBab al-Saghir cemetery. Abd al-Ghani's grandfather and namesake inherited wealth from his mother Hanifa bint al-Shihabi Ahmad and owned shops and residences in theSalihiyya neighborhood. He was not known for his scholarship and is remembered by Abd al-Ghani as a generous man.[4]
A map detailing the route taken by Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi on his travels through Palestine in 1698
Abd al-Ghani was born in Damascus in 1641.[5] His father, Isma'il, was a jurist, and had switched to theHanafi school of jurisprudence preferred byOttoman rulers of Syria. Isma'il was a contributor toArabic literature,[5] wrote on legal matters, taught at theUmayyad Mosque and Damascenemadrasas (Islamic schools) and occupied the post ofqadi inSidon for a certain period. He supervised Abd al-Ghani's early education but died in 1653 when Abd al-Ghani was 12 years old.[6]
Even before the age of 20, Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi had started teaching and giving formal legal opinions (fatwa).[1] He joined both the mystical ordersQadiriyya andNaqshbandi[7] and spent seven years in isolation in his house studying the mystics on their expression of divine experiences.[1] He taught in theUmawi Mosque in Damascus and theSalihiyya Madrasa, becoming renowned throughout the region as an accomplished Islamic scholar. He travelled extensively, seeingIstanbul (1664),Lebanon (1688),Jerusalem (1689),Palestine (1689),Egypt (1693),Arabia (1693), andTripoli (1700).[1] He produced hundreds of scholarly works and was identified by contemporaries and later scholars as a significant local authority.[8]
He was married twice, first to a woman named Musliha, who he had a son named Ismail with, then to a woman named Alma, who he had two daughters named Zaynab and Tahira with.[9]
He died and was buried in Damascus in 1731 at 90 years of age. His was a large and public funeral, attended by the Ottoman governor and chief judge, and he was later entombed in the Salimiyya Mosque near the mausoleum ofibn Arabi.[8]
He left over 200 written works.[1][8] Among al-Nablusi's contemporaries, his studies of 13th-century Sufi writerIbn Arabi were his most famous works.[8]
His views onreligious tolerance towards other religions were developed under the inspiration of the works of Ibn Arabi. He made two visits to Palestine, in 1690, and 1693–4, visiting Christian and Jewish sites, as well as sacred Muslim shrinesMaqam (shrine), and he enjoyed there the hospitality of localChristian monks.[5]
Idâh al-Maqsud min wahdat al-wujud ("Clarifying What is Meant by the Unity of Being")
Sharh Diwan Ibn Farid (Commentary onIbn al-Farid's Poetry)
Jam'u al-Asrâr fi man'a al-Ashrâr 'an at-Ta'n fi as-Sufiyah al-Akhyar (Collection of the secrets to prevent the evils castigate the pious Sufis)
Shifa' al-Sadr fî Fada'il Laylat al-Nisf Min Sha'bân wa Layllat al-Qadr (Curing the heart on the Virtues of the night of Nisfu Sha'ban and The Night of Qadr)
Nafahat al-Azhar 'Ala Nasamat al-Ashar, abadī‘iyya in praise of the Prophet, 'no doubt' inspired by'A'isha al-Ba'uniyya'sal-Fatḥ al-mubīn fī madḥ al-amīn (Clear Inspiration, on Praise of the Trusted One); both writers accompanied their respectivebadī‘iyyas with a commentary.[11]
al-Sulh bayn al-ikhwan fi hukm ibahat al-dukhan, an influentiallegal treatise advocating thelawfulness ofsmoking tobacco; ed. Ahmad Muhammad Dahman (Damascus, 1924).
Ta‘tir al-anam fi tafsir al-ahlam, ed. Taha 'Abd al-Ra’uf Sa‘d, 2 vols. (Damascus, n.d.)
al-Haqiqa wa al-majaz fi al-rihla ila bilad al-sham wa misr wa al-hijaz, edited by Ahmad 'Abd al-Majid al-Haridi (Cairo, 1986) is the longestrihla. Thisrihla also goes by the titleal-Rihla al-kubra and covers over 500 folios in minuscule. The journey began onMuharram 1005/ September 1693 and ended with theHajj 388 days later.[12]
al-Hadra al-Unsiyya fî al-Rihla al-Qudsiyya, also calledal-Rihla al-wustd focuses on al-Nablusi's trip toPalestine, specificallyJerusalem andHebron.[12]
Nihayat al-murad fi sharh hadiyyatIbn al-'Imad, a treatise on the rites ofprayer; ed. ‘'Abd al-Razzaq al-Halabi (Limmasol, 1994).
Hillat al-dhahab al-ibriz fi rihlat Ba'albak wa-al-Biqa' al-'aziz, often known asal-Rihla al-Sughrd, was the first of al-Nabulsi'srihla. It describes a 15-day journey toLebanon inAH 1100/ AD 1688.[12]
al-Tuhfa al-Nabulusiyya ft 1-rihla al-Tarabulusiyya was his secondrihla, describing a 40-day trip across Lebanon toTripoli.[12]
Kitab 'ilm al-malahah fi 'ilm al-falahah ("The science of elegance within the science of agriculture")[10]
Book of Dreams Kitab al Manam[13][14][15] (described as "arguably the most important text in the rich history of Islamic dream interpretation," translated into English in 2022 byYasmine Seale[16][17])
^abcdMasters, Bruce Alan.The Arabs of the Ottoman Empire, 1516-1918: A Social and Cultural History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, 118–9.
^Iain R. Edgar The Dream in Islam: From Qur'anic Tradition to Jihadist ...2011 0857452363 - Page 58 "However, in Islamic countries, al-Nabulusi's dream encyclopedia still is a popular dream interpretation book."
^Yehia Gouda - Dreams and Their Meanings in the Old Arab Tradition 1419654020 2006- Page 419 According to Al-Nabulsi, in his alphabetical book of dreams the toilet represents the relief, welfare, and largesse of the household or, on the contrary, the hardships, poverty, and stinginess. It also alludes to the wife whom the dreamer takes ...
