The matter of Al-Imaam Yahyaa bn Sharaf, Abu Zakariyaa, An-Nawawee, who lived from 631AH to 677AH (1233CE - 1277CE), in Damascus, the capital city of the present-day Syria, is a wondrous one.
He lived for just about 45 years yet could achieve a lot of unsurpassed scholarly feats.
He has a lot of publications to his credit such as Shar'h Muslim (a commentary on Saheeh Muslim), Tahdheeb al-Asmaa, Raudatut-Taalibeen, Al-Adhkaar, Riyaadus-Saaliheen, Al-Majmoo, etc.
That al-Majmoo, with the Shaafi'is, has the same status as al-Mughni of Ibn Qudaamah, with the Hanbalis. It is a book of Comparative Fiqh he did on Kitaab al-Muhadhab Fee al-Fiqh ash-Shaafi'ee of Al-Imaam Abu Is'haaq ash-Sheeraazi - rahimahullaah.
(Though Al-Imaam An-Nawawee could not finish the writing of the book. Al-Imaam Taqiyyudeen as-Subuki (d.756AH) and Contemporary Egyptian scholar of Hadeeth and Fiqh Ash-Shaafi'ee, Muhammad Najeeb al-Mutee'i (1915 - 1985CE) finished it after him respectively. It was argued that this last person didn't do much to it. It was Ibn al-Attaar, one of the direct students of Al-Imaam An-Nawawee, that the latter actually wanted to complete the job for him but alas. Nevertheless, the part did by Al-Imaam An-Nawawee in the book stands out. He did from the beginning of the book to the Chapter of Ribaa. As-Subki did from there up to Chapter of Returning Defective Goods Bought, then al-Mutee'i did the rest).
So the little years Al-Imaam An-Nawawee used to achieve all these were amazing. One could but imagine how resourceful his youthful years were. May Allaah bestow His Mercy on Al-Imaam an-Nawawee.
