Imam Sad al-Din al-Taftazani سعد الدين مسعود بن عمر التفتازاني

Imam Sa'd al-Din Masud ibn Umar al-Taftazani (722-792 AH / 1322-1390 CE), rahimahullah, was a Persian polymath born in Taftazan (Khorasan). Among the most prolific and influential scholars of the post-classical Sunni tradition, he excelled in kalam, logic, rhetoric, grammar, and usul. In his later years he served at the court of the Timurid ruler Tamerlane (Timur). His Sharh al-Aqaid al-Nasafiyya (commentary on al-Nasafi's creed) became the standard introductory kalam text in Sunni seminaries. His Sharh al-Maqasid remains a landmark in rational theology. In Arabic rhetoric, he produced two commentaries on the Talkhis al-Miftah of al-Qazwini: al-Mukhtasar (the shorter) and al-Mutawwal (the extended commentary), both of which anchored the post-classical curriculum of balagha alongside his Sharh Tasrif al-Izzi in morphology. He also wrote Sharh Miftah al-Ulum, extending the chain of commentary on al-Sakkaki's foundational rhetoric text.