Abu Musa al-Jazuli (; full name: êsàibn âÂÂAbd al-Azëz ibn Yalalbakht ibn êsàibn Yà «mÃÂrëlë al-Barbarë al-MarÃÂkeshë al-Yazadaktnë al-âÂÂAlÃÂmah; ), was philologist and grammarian, who produced an encyclopaedia called Al-QÃÂnà «n, or Al-Muqaddima of al-Jazà «lë. Many scholars wrote tafsir (literary critiques) or sharḥ (commentaries), and it was incorporated in many grammars. Nevertheless, its opacity challenged the best language scholars. Al-Jazà «lë was the first to introduce Al-á¹¢iḥÃÂḥ fë al-lughah () of al-Jawhari to the Maghreb, and he makes many references to this and other works in his Muqaddima.
Al-Jazuli was probably born in 540 AH (1146 AD) at Idaw gharda. He was from the Yazdaktan tribe, a branch of the Berber tribe Jazula in the Sous region of Morocco. His early education was in the cosmopolitan Moroccan city of Marrakesh, the Almohad capital filled with scholars, writers and grammarians, fine buildings, fountains and public amenities.
After his early education in Marrakesh, Al-Jazuli went to make the pilgrimage to Mecca and medina. Returning from the hajj, he stayed in Cairo and Alexandria. Although he experienced poverty there he attended lectures under Abà « Muḥammad âÂÂAbd AllÃÂh ibn Barrë on Assihah of al-Jawhari and al-Jumal of al-Zajjaji. He also studied the á¹¢aḥëḥ of al-Bukhari with Abà « Muḥammad ibn âÂÂUbayd AllÃÂh. Financial hardship forced his return to the Maghreb. At Béjaïa, he lectured on philology for a time, then moved on to Algiers and taught his QÃÂnà «n to the grammarian Abà « ibn QÃÂsim ibn MandÃÂs al-ÃÂshërë. He then travelled to AlmerÃÂa, in Al-Andalus (present-day Spain), to teach for a period. Then he returned to Morocco and settled down in Marrakesh, where he started teaching Arabic. As his QÃÂnà «n became famous and his reputation grew, so students from far and wide came to hear him lecture. When the mosque where he taught became full to capacity he moved to the Mosque of Ibn al-Abakm, north of Mahallat al-Sharqiyyin, under the passage of the Great Bab Aghmat to the side of Al Awadin. The ascetic Abà « 'l-âÂÂAbbÃÂs al-Maghribë, made representations to the Almohad Caliph, al-Mansur, who entrusted al-Jazà «lë with the khuá¹Âba at the great mosque at Marrakesh. Before his death, al-Mansur declared in his will that the only one who will wash his body is al-Jazuli. Ibn Khallikan quotes a satirical verse that al-Jazuli is said to have quipped to a pestering student about the eighth-century grammarian of the Basra school, Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala', wherein he puns a famous grammatical example of declension.
Al-Jazà «lë died at Azemmour, Morocco AH ( AD).