In the name of Allah the most Beneficent the most Merciful,

This is a brief biography of a great Islamic scholar Imam Ashatiby (R):

His name was Abu Muhammad Alqasim ibn Fizh ibn khalaf ibn Ahmad Ar'ainy Al-andalusy Ashatiby. He was born in Shatiba east of Andalus in 538 A.H. and is famously known for writing the 1173 lined poem named Ashatibiyya that guides students of knowledge in mastering 7 styles of recitation of the Qur'an. Some scholars stated he was born blind, but some of the lines of poetry that he wrote later in life revealed that he became blind later in life. He was blessed with a very powerful memory which helped him memorise a lot of books of knowledge. He never let his blindness deter him from seeking knowledge, he was a very focused person and his sincerity to Allah never withered.

Imam Ashatiby was also afflicted with poverty but, he never complained to anyone even in the worst of times. This also did not stop him from sacrificing his time for the sake of Allah. The Imam started seeking knowledge at a very young age and he progressed to become a master in many different Islamic sciences. He mingled only with those who took their worship seriously or those who wanted to go far in their studies. Also he received complains from the public which comprised of people from different ethnicities and religions, he was also a khatib(someone who delivers sermons) which enabled him to have a wide reach on the masses.

At the age of 34 in the year 572 A.H. those in authority requested him to deliver sermons praising them in ways that were not comfortable with him. He requested permission from those in authority to embark on Hajj. After performing the Hajj, he did not to return to Andulus he emigrated to Egypt.

At the time of his immigration Egypt was competing with Iraq (the Islamic state's capital at that time). The Imam immediately fell in love with al-Misra(Egypt) because, it was an environment based on Islamic knowledge. He studied under Abu Tahir Asilafiy during his stay in Egypt and he also taught for 8 years in the university of Amr ibn 'Aas from the year 572-578 A.H. He was very generous with his knowledge, he usually taught from the time of Subhi until Zuhr without any charges.

Imam Ashatiby started his book Ashatibyya (Hirz Al-amany) in Shatiba and completed it in Egypt. When he completed his book the people of Egypt abandoned their indigenous book known as 'Unwan and focused solely on his book. Imam Ashatiby made a comment in his book stating that he performed Tawaf around the Ka'aba 12000 times asking Allah that the one who reads his book should benefit from it. Imam Azzahabi also mentions in his siyaf A'alamil nubana Imam Ashatiby said that "anyone who reads this book Allah will benefit him because, I wrote this book for the sake of Allah". After completing his book he got onto a boat and and went into the middle of a river and said "O Allah if I have written this book for anything other than for your sake O Allah let this book drown" and then he dropped it into the river. A few days later one of the students of Knowledge found a book by the river bank, he picked up the book and opened it and the first words he read were "anyone who reads this book Allah will benefit him because, I wrote this book for the sake of Allah" and instantly he recognised the hand writing of Imam Ashatiby. It was this student who returned with the book to Imam Ashatiby, the Imam saw this as a sign that Allah has accepted his work and he proceeded to teaching the book, such was his sincerity.

One of the scholars of the past Attabary made a commentary upon one of the styles of recitation denying that ibn Amr recited to Mughira ibn 'Utbah and Uthman ibn Affan. Imam Ashatiby warned people to stay away from that statement and scholars too from later generations proved the statement wrong. His memory was so powerful that he memorised whole books of Hadith such as Bukhari, Muslim, Abudawood e.t.c. and when he narrated Ahadith from them they were accurate. He was also accurate and reliable in dream interpretation. He forbade his students from speaking about anything other than knowledge or the hereafter. He also summarised the book of Attamheed that is an explanation of Muwatta Malik, in 500 lines of poetry. The Imam was asked to become a teacher of fiqh because, people found out that he was also well versed in that area but he declined and said that the only field of Islamic science that fits the blind person to teach is the Qur'an.

By the year 580 A.H. Alfaadyl who was a judge in Jerusalem under Salahudeen Al-ayyubi's empire had taken notice of Imam Ashatiby and he requested Imam Ashatiby to teach in a school he opened. Imam Ashatiby taught in that school until the year 590 A.H. when he passed away. He lived for only 54 years. May Allah have Mercy upon the Imam and all the sincere believers, ameen.

NB: All corrections are welcomed.