Ash-Shafaheeni: the Poet of Al-Hilla (725 A H)

الشفهيني الدكتور شاعر الحِلَّة (ت: 725 هـ)

Abstract

After I have finished my research about the life
of Sheikh Ali Bin Al-Hussein Ash-Shafaheeni, I can
affirm that I haven't known everything about
him, but I have reached the following results
throughout my research about him:
1-All of those who have written about his life have
mentioned that he was a poet and a jurist scholar
from Al-Hilla. What Al-Mirza Alafandi mentioned
in his book “Jurists' Meadows” followed by Al-
Khonsari in his»Meadows» and Al-Ameen Al-Amili in
his «Notables» that Ash-Shafaheeni was from Jabal
Amil was not proved. If he was from Jabal Amil, the
proficient Al-Hurr Al-Amili the author of “Hope
of the Hopeful”, who mentioned the conditions of
the jurists of Jabal Amil, would not have mentioned
that he was from Al-Hilla.
2-There are some poetic pieces in which Sheikh
Ash-Shafaheeni(May Allah have mercy upon him)
mentions that he is from Al-Hilla and that he lived
in Al-Jam'ain.
3- Regarding his surname, there are many opinions
about it, but I did not know the historical roots
of this word(Ash-Shafaheeni), and its precise
meaning. It seems that the origin of this word may
be of a Kurdish, Syrian, Persian, or any other non-
Arab origin. Most probably, it is like many of our
colloquial words that contain hundreds of such
terms. These words were predominantly used by the
people of Hilla even after the fall of Baghdad at
the hands of the Mongols. What we have proved is
the right thing , i.e., he belonged to a village in Al-
Hilla holding that name.