Al-Zamakhshari, Persian scholar and theologian (d. 1144)
Abu AlQasim Mahmoud ibn Omar Al-Zamakhshari (Arabic: الزمخشري; 1074 –1143) was a medieval Muslim scholar of Iranian descent. He travelled to Makkah and settled there for five years and has been known since then as Jar Allah ‘God’s Neighbor’. He was a Mu'tazilite theologian, linguist, poet and interpreter of the Quran. He is best known for his book AlKashshaf, which interprets and linguistically analyzes Quranic expressions and the use of figurative speech for conveying meaning. This work is a primary source for all major linguists; however, some of its Mu’tazila philosophical ideas were rejected by Ibn Kathir.