Muhibbi was born in
Damascus in 1651 to a scholarly family from the
Hanafi madhhab, the Islamic school of law favored by the
Ottoman state, which conquered the Levant in 1516. His great-grandfather Muhibb al-Din Muhammad was originally from
Hama and served as a
qadi (judge) in several northern Syrian towns,
Cairo and an instructor in Damascus. Muhibbi moved to
Beirut when his father Fadlallah ibn Muhiballah was appointed the
qadi (head judge) of the city, a position he held until 1669. Muhibbi returned to live in Damascus on several occasions during this period. Sometime after his father died in 1671, he studied in
Bursa for a short period, returning to Damascus in 1675. He was patronized by the prominent qadi Muhammad ibn Lutfallah ibn Bayram al-Izzati, who had funded his studies in Bursa and later secured him an appointment as the qadi of
Edirne. When Izzati became ill and resigned, Muhibbi accompanied him to the Ottoman capital
Constantinople where he died in 1681. Upon his return to Damascus shortly after his patron's death, Muhibbi began his writing career. After making the
Hajj pilgrimage to
Mecca in 1690 he was appointed a deputy qadi in Damascus and worked as an instructor in the Aminiyya Madrasa. He died in the city on 11 November 1699. ==Works==