‘Abd al-Ghani ibn Isma’il al-Nabulusi

‘Abd al-Ghani ibn Isma’il al-Nabulusi (March 19, 1641 - March 5, 1731), also known as Shaykh 'Abd al-Ghani al-Nablusi, was a Sufi mystic, theologian, poet and traveler.  A prolific writer who became a leading figure in the religious and literary life of Syria. 'Abd al-Ghani was a self-made religious scholar who relied on texts rather than masters in guiding his own intellectual and spiritual development. Together with his philosophy of religion, 'Abd al-Ghani promoted a new sense of religious rationalism.  He was a prolific author and an influential thinker with over 280 works to his credit.

'Abd al-Ghani was an eminent Muslim scholar and Sufi.  He was born in Damascus in 1641 into a family of Islamic scholarship. His father, Isma'il 'Abd al-Ghani, was a jurist in the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam and a contributor to Arabic literature. 'Abd al-Ghani did not trace his descent to the city of Nablus as some laymen think, hence his surname Nabulsi has nothing to deal with the city of (Nablus).

'Abd al-Ghani showed diligence in the pursuit of Islamic knowledge and before the age of 20 he was both teaching and giving formal legal opinions (fatwa). He taught in the Umawi Mosque in Damascus and the Salihiyya Madrasa, becoming renowned throughout the region as an accomplished Islamic scholar.

'Abd al-Ghani died and was buried in Damascus in 1731 at 90 years of age. He left behind hundreds of written works in virtually all the Islamic sciences.  His works include:

1. Idâh al-Maqsud min wahdat al-wujud (Clarifying What is Meant by the Unity of Being)
2. Sharh Diwan Ibn Farid (Commentary on Ibn Farid's Poem)
3. 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)
4. 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(Curing the heart on the Virtues of the night of Nisfu Sha'ban and The Night of Qadr), private manuscript collection, unpublished.
5. Nafahat al-Azhar 'Ala Nasamat al-Ashar
6. al-Sulh bayn al-ikhwan fi hukm ibahat al-dukhan, ed. Ahmad Muhammad Dahman (Damascus, 1924).
7. Ta‘tir al-anam fi tafsir al-ahlam, ed. Taha ‘Abd al-Ra’uf Sa‘d, 2 vols. (Damascus, n.d.)
8. al-Haqiqa wa al-majaz fi al-rihla ila bilad al-sham wa misr wa al-hijaz, ed. Ahmad ‘Abd al-Majid al-Haridi (Cairo, 1986).
9. al-Hadra al-Unsiyya fî al-Rihla al-Qudsiyya.
10. Nihayat al-murad fi sharh hadiyat Ibn al-‘Imad, ed. ‘‘Abd al-Razzaq al-Halabi (Limmasol, 1994).
11. al-Hadiqa al-nadiyya: Sharh al-tariqa al-muhammadiyya, 2 vols. (Lailbur, 1977).
12. Hillat al-dhahab al-ibriz fi rihlat Ba'albak wa-al-Biqa' al-'aziz.
13. Kitab 'ilm al-malahah fi 'ilm al-falahah.

Alternative names include:

'Abd al-Ghani
'Abd al-Ghani al-Nablusi
‘Abd al-Ghani ibn Isma’il al-Nabulusi
Al-Nablusi
Al-Nablusi, 'Abd al-Ghani
Ibn Isma'il al-Nabulusi
Ibn Isma'il al-Nabulusi, 'Abd al-Ghani