Obituaries of

Eminent
Men

Ibn Khallikan’s
Biographical Dictionary – Book 1
Translated by Baron Mac Guckin de Slane
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 IBh KH-41, IJK A N'S

TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC

MEWBER OF 'TIIE COUNCIL OF THE ASIATIC 9OCIETY OF PARIS, CORKESPOZinlNG MEMBER OF THE \C\DEM\.

OF SCIENCES .OP TURIN, ETC.

___-I. __ -

VOL. I.

PARIS,
P K l N T E D FOK T H E
ORIENTAI. TKANSLA'IION FUNI) OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND :
SOLD BY
B E N J A M ~ NDUPHAT, BOOKSELLER TO THE BIBLIOTH&QUE ROYALE, 7, RUE DU CLOITRE ST-BENOIT,
ANn
-4LLEN ANI) CO., 7, IAE.jDENH'\LL-STREET, LONIION.

' 3lDCC(;XI,II.
R I G H T HONOURABLE T H E E A R L OF MUNSTER,

President of' the Royal Asiatic Society of London, etc. etc. etc.,

IS MOST R E S P E C T F U L L Y DEDICATED

BY THE

TRANSLATOR.
 IBNKIMLL~KAN'S ~ I O G ~ A P H I C ADICTIONARY
L has always been considered as a
work of the highest importance for the civil and literary history of the Moslim
people. From its first appearance till the present day, its reputation has
continued undiminished, and the judgment of the author's countrymen has
been confirmed by the unanimous voice of Oriental scholars. If the later
Arabic hislorians filled their pages with extracts drawn from it as from a
pure and abundant source, -if rhetoricians, grammarians, and compilers
of anecdotes have culled from it the choicest passages, -if learned men
essayed to complete it by supplements, or to condense it by abridgments
with the design of rendering its utility more general, -we find, nearer
home, an equally valid testimony borne to its merit by the suffrages of the
illustrious Pococke, Schultens, ~ e i s l i e ,and De Sacy.
The variety of its subject might have alone sufficed to fix the attention of
every person who took an interest in Moslim history and Arabic literature,
but when that quality was combined with others which clearly indicated the
intelligence, learning, and abilities of the author, the work had an undoubted
right to general estimation. None felt this more deeply than Sir William
Jones, and none expressed their opinion in stronger terms. When that
accomplished scholar penned his Poeseos Asiaticce Commentarium, he traced
these lines, in which, notwithstanding the heightened tone of his colouring,
there is a degree of truth such as precludes me from adding any eulogy of
nly own : " Scriptoris politissimi Ebni Khallikan opus historicurn non magis
" verborurn eleganti$ et ubertate comm endatur , quam illustriorum poetarum
'' versibus quibus conspergitur. Ac nescio an hic omnibus vitarum scripto-
 is INTRODUCTION.
ribus (no,l)sit anteponendus. Est certl: copiosior Nepote, elegantio' l'Iot:ll'-.
cho, Laertio jucundior : et dignus est profectd liber, qui in onlncs t<ul'op:1'
linpas coi~ve~~sus prodeat .
"

\vere the work of lbn &hnllili&nnot before the reader, it l~igllthe neccs-
sarv to point out the sources whicl~he consulted and the pla11 which lle
adopted ; but the author here speaks for himself, he names the writers wllose
works he has consulted, he or his translator gives their lives in nearly elrcry
case, and he folloas the natural system of noticing those persons only who
held a conspicuous place in the Moslim world. It is true that when lle trenls
of those men whose names figure in history, he prefers relating anecdotes
illustrative of their personal character to the less amusing duty of fully
sketching out their lives. For this, however, a reason subsists : the great
historical work of his friend and professor, Ibn al-Athir, eonlaiiled all tlw
requisite information, and was then generally read; he did not think it ne -
wssarg to repeat the tale more fully set forth in a book the well deserved po-
pularity of which he could not suppose would ever be rivalled by the reputa-
tion of his own. W e might even add that those very anecdotes wit11 whicl~
he Glls his articles are more precious to a European reader than the fullest
narrative of the series of events which mark the life of any individual, since
from them we acquire a clearer insight into the manners of the different
classes, and collect more useful hints on the civil organisation of the Moslim
people, than any indications which a notice exclusively hiogmpl~icalcould
supply. It must also be observed that in judging a work of this kind, thc
European reader may find faults where the Dlosli~nsees only beauties, a11d
vice vend. The former will blame Ibn Iihallikin's idea of giving the lives OS
those persons only, the date of whose death was known ; of quoting poetry
too frequently, and of showing bad taste in the selection ; of givir~gtoo many
notices on doctors of the law, and too few on historians, poets, and other
literary men. Yet we find that a native of Aleppo, the s/taikh NGr ad-dill
Hasan I bn Habib, who died A. H. 779 (A. D. 1577-g),extracted from Ibn lihal-
lik&n's work the lives of two hundred and thirty persons with the passages .
from their books, and this selection he published under the title of ilfurini Ahl
il Bnyri2 rnh Wbfycit 16n Khallikrin, or Reorrties of enfijrent writers es-
t~ucredfrom1bn KKhnZZiklin's hiogrphictrl tr)ork. It would appear from this
 INTRODUCTION. V

that our autlzor's taste it1 11;s quotalions was not considalecl as bad in the
country where his 1ango:lge was spoken and io wllich tlic writings of thr
poets were read and uirdcrstood. Ibn 1 lebib composed also a history of
Egyl>tfrom A. H. 6/18 to A . 11. 761. It is entitlrd D L L I ol- ~ ~ fi Dnwlot
. ~ Asldk
- i illere is a copy of it in the J,eytlcn 1il)iary a i d ar~otllerin tlw
HiLZic,/hCque du Boi. Wc sllall ncxt allow Ilajji 1ihnYfa 10 speak : Sonrc: &'

historians," says he, meairing of course hloslim wrilers, '' li:~veblanled Ibir
KhallikB~rfor his concisio~~ in the lives of incn einiirent for their learniilg
in the law; in sollle cases he confi~zeshis notice of them to a few lines,
whilsl he lills pages, nay slleets, with the life of a single poet or of a lite-
rary man. 11,llappens also, iir Inore than one case, that those to \vhoin
lie has allottcd the loilgesl articles were persons accused or laxity in their
religious belief, and ycl be llientions them with praise and quotes passages
from their poenls. But it 111ay perhaps he offered in extenuatioir d this,
that the llistory- of tlic man learned in the law was already well known, and
that the lustre of his reputation, like the light of the sun, could not possi-
bly be hidden from any, whilst llrc renown of the poet was by no meaus
gener:ll." U e drc i~npcr*fcctio~is of his work what they may, we must yet
lake into considcratioiz that it was the first of its kind in lie long series OS
Arabic lileraturc. Beforc him, none ever thought of combining in one trea-
tise and in alphabetical order, the lives of the most reinarkable man of Isla-
iuism, no inattcr to what class they belonged. There existed, it is true,
a great number of biographical dictionaries composed anteriorly to his,
and some of them dating from a remote period, but they were works of a
special cast and limited in their subject: some treated of eminent juriscon-
sults, to the exclusion of every other profession ; others contained notices
on the learned ineli wlio inhabited a particular city ; some again gave the
lives of such persons as were mentioned in the Sunan, or Collections of Tra-
ditions. The only book which borc any resemblance to his by the generality
of its contents was the Filtrist, composed in the fourth century of the Hijra.
hut that curious biographical and bibliographical work is formed of six see-
tions, each of which is devoted to one particular class of persons, to the total
neglect of alphabetical or chi~onologicalarrangement.
Uuring many year$ my attention was directed towards Ibn Khallikbn's
 \ i INTRODUC'TION
work, knowing hat from it, all others, tile ~lcarcstand most corrcr'
ideas be acqllired of the rise and progress of Arabic literature,
that it furnished many facts of the utmost importance for generd
and not to be found in any other A nat~lral~X'Nlsition led me L'orrk
to the author, and in my endeavours to attain a fair appreciaiioll
of the one, 1Ras ledDto inquire into the life and times of the otller- In Pur-
suing this task, 1 from different sources a great nulnljer of noliccs
him, his masters, his disciples, and his acquaintances; whilst tllc
indications furnished by his own work, enabled me to fix with precisioll thc~
dates of the principal occurrences which marked his life. But the circurn-
stances which influenced his character in youth, the relations which sub-
sisted at different periods between him and the masters of the empire, thc
great political events which occurred during his career in the world and
always attracted his attention; -these were subjects which required long
study and extensive researches. The results which I have already obtained
encourage me to proceed yet farther, and for this reason I shall reserve my
notice on the Lifk and Times of Ibn Khallikkr~till the last volume of this
translation shall be given to the press. The materials collected 1)y me will
be then better digested, and form an article more complete than any which
1 could draw up at the present moment. But as the just curiosity of some
readers may require a more immediate satisfaction, I shall give here the texl
and translation of a notice on Ibn Khallikin by the celebrated historian Abij
'l-Mahisin. It is extracted from the first \ d . m e of his al-fin/Lal ns-S+,
a work on which some observations will Le found in a subsequent page.
Another life of the same W'ikr by anonymous author has been given in
Arabic and in Latin by Tydeman, in his Conspectus operis Cjlajlikani,
and a note on the same subject has been inserted by M. onatremere in his
translation of al-iMakrizi's History of the Mamlfik Sultans, vol. 1. part 2, p. 180.
INTRODUCTION. v11
 .,.
v111 INTRODUCTION.

d*Abii'l-Abbiis Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Abi Bakr Ibn Khal-
l i k L Ibn Biiwak Ibn Shikal Jbn al-Ilusain Ibn Milik lbn Jaafar Ibn Yahya
Ibn lihgid Ibn Barmah (l), surnamed Shams ad-din (surz of religion), drew

(1) This genealogy is incomplete; the descent of Ibn Khallikhn from the Barmekide bmily i s a p o i ~which
I shaI1 examine when treating of his life and times.
ilis descent fro111 a family of ?3:llIt11. 'I'fris very cmincnt scholar ;\nil f ~ l l ~ ~
as-Sh3fi's doctrines w;is I~ornat Ar'bela, I)ut rrsidctl auci tlicd at I):tmascus,
wlrere he had fillcd tlre ol:lce of chief kidi. Ry lris taleirts and his .ivrililrg.;
l1e Inelaitpcl tllc 1lonoural)le title of tlie irlost learnc(1 man 2nd the ablesl
I1islorian of that city. IIc was born on Thursday, t l ~ e11th of the iattclb
fiaI,i, A. 1 1 . 0 8 (2Qnd Scpt. A.D. 1311). His mother descended from Khalal'
Ibn Aiyilb, n disciple of Abil I-lanifa. He passed the lirst years of his life
:tt Arlrela and dlcn proceeded to Mosul, where he studied jurisprudence, ant1
was still iir the prime of youth when he went to Damascus. After a short
residence in that city he travelled to Egypt, where he rcsumccl his studies
lid acquired n conlpetent knowledge of all the sciences, whilst he attained a
great pre-eulinence :IS n jurisconsult, a tl~eologiao,and n grammarian. 111
tlrat country hc :rctecl in the capacities of a r ? z n f , i and a public teacher, hut
without n r d e c t i ~ ~togcultivate his talent as n prose-writer and a poet. Having
been appointed k5di of Dan~ascus,he left Cairo on the 37th of Zii 'l-llijja,
A . 11. 666, and arrived at the former city on thc third of' Muharram, h. H.
667 (l).During n period of tell years he fullilled in person the duties of
l ~ i sofiicc; at lirst lie cxcrcised his authority without a colleague, but he hen
t*rceived inforination that n decrce had been issued by order of the noble
prince al-Malik az-ZAhir (l5'ibn,:r), declaring that there should be four k9dis
at Damascus. Three acts of investiture then arrived, drawn up in F~vourof
Sl~alnsad-din Abd Allah lbn Muhamrnad Ibil Ata the I-Ianifite, Zain ad-din
Abd as-Salim az-ZowAwi ihe Malekite, and Shams ad-din Ahd ar-Rahm9n
he IIanhalite. Before that time they were merely the deputies of the Shafite
kadi. 11 was remarked as an extraordinary circumstance by ihe shnikJ~Shi-
lrib atl-din Abii Sima that there should be at the same time three k2dis at
Damascus, all surnamed Shanrs ad-din (sun rf~~eligion).It was on this oc-
casion that the following lines were composed by one of the literary men in
the city :

The people of Ilamascus have witnessed a perfect miracIe: the greater the number
of suns, the more the world was in'the dark.

( 1 ; These dates are wrong. Iba KhallikAn was appointed kddi o f ~amoscus;8 . H. 639.
b
 X INTRODUCTION.
Another poet said on the same subject:
'The men of Damascus are bewildered with the multitude of legal decisions ; tl~cir
liadis are all suns? and yet they are in the dark.

Ibn tihallik4n was afterwards removed from the kidiship of Damascus,

and proceeded to Cairo, where he was nomillatecl deputy to the chief kidi
Badr ad-din as-Sin~iri. During his residence there lro pursucd llis literary
labours, and discharged the duties of a pro!'hsor and n2rdh' till llis reappoint-
ment to the place of k5di at Damascus, as successor to izz ad-din 11~11as-
Sigh. He then set out for that city, and at his approach the governor ize
addin Aidmor went out in state to receive him with the emirs allcl h e per-
sons in oace; as for the principal inhabitants, tlrey had already niadc a jour-
ney of some days to meet him on the road. Numerous /iasid(z.s \ ~ c r ccorn-
posed by the poets. in which they congratulated him on his rei~lsta~ement;
and one of these pieces, which was recited 10 him by the s6aik6 Rasl~idad-
din Ornar Ibn Ismail al-Firiki, contained the following passage :
Like Joseph in Egypt, you have now completed your probation, and in my opinion
all generous men form a race apart. They all have seven years of suffering to un-
dergo, but then cometh a year which sheds joy and abundance upon mankind.

In this he alludes to the length of time Jbn Khallikin was away from
tbem. The piece \\-hicl1 follows was coniposcd by Niir ad-din Ibn Musab :

Among all the people of Damascus, Z did not find one displeased. After evil, good
has come unto them ; it is the time for joy unrestrained. The pleasure which he had
already inspired was succeeded by grief, but fortune acted justly in the end: after
protracted sadness they were restored to joy by the arrival of one kidi and the dis-
missal of another. They are now all grateful for what is coming, and all complaining
of what is past.

He continued to till the post of k$di at Damascus till the year 0 , w h e n hc

a

was dismissed, and from that period till the day of his death, he ilever went
out of doors. He died on Saturday the 26th of Raj&,- some s3y, the l(ith,
-A.H. 681 (29th Oct. A. D. l282), in the Nnji6zj-a College at D a n ~ a s c u sand
~
was interred at Mount Kiisiybn. He was a man of the greatest reputatioll
for learning, versed in various sciences. and highly accomplished ; he was a
scl~olar,a poet, a compiler, and an historian. His celebrated biographical
 INTRODUCTION. r; i

wol.k, tile W n f a y r i ~ ,is thc acnle of perfection. Tlic contemporary poets weye
ellcourage(l by his generous cllayacter to c c l e l r a t 11is 1)laises in poelns of
(.real ljcautv, cert;iin of oblaining an ainplc reconlpensc l'r0111 11is liberality.
h
l ]is con(lnct \\.as marked 1)sprudence, moderation, and i~ldnlgeiellceb r da:
clilings o l odlcrs. Whcii residing in Egypt, subsequently to his ( j r s l ) lBe-
Illr,val f;>oi~l of'licc, he was for a time much reduced in circumst:ulces, aild
llle lol-tl-treasurer Badr ad-din, who happcnecl to he irlformed of his situ:l-
tion, ortleiw!l hirn a large sum of rnoiley as a presenl, with one hundred
, , ~ / t : l , s of nlieat besides ; this gift however he would never consent to accept.
'J'l~e /L$; Kutl) ad-din mentions him in his ilistorj,, and styles him an linrim,
:I learned scholar, n man of superior abilities, an equitable judge, an historian,

and a compiler. Ile is also spoken of by the hriJiz Abii Mullammad al-Ber-
ziili in his Mojum, as " one of the most illustrious scholars of his lime, the
chicf of the learned men of the age, even the most famous ; master of a
" grcat variety of sciences, such as law, grammar, history, philology, etc.
a lile collipilcd a valuable historical work, in which he gives the lives of those

'Lpersons only \v110 had attained celebrity in the class to which they be-
" longed. llc filled for a time the place of Shafite kidi a i d was also a pro-
fessor ancl a mllf'i. Ile learned the Traditions at Arheln from Ibn al-Iiarm
as-Sfifi, who also explained to him the Sul~i/iof al-Oukl~$ri,after having
a b c m taught it himself by Ahil 'l-Wakt. He received also Traditions from
at-T5wi and Tbn al-Jumaizi, :rnd was licensed to teach Traditions by al-
a Muwaiyad a[-TBsi, A b i ~R6h ibn as-Saffiir, al-Ilusain lbn Ahmad al-
Kushairi, lsmail Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ali lbn Abd Allah lbn as-Saiyid al-
Ilusaini, and others at Naisipilr." The historian the11 gives the date of his
birth, and continues : '' Ile was profoundly learned in the pure Arabic lan-
guage, and no person of that time was better acquainted with the poems
" of al-Mutanabbi than he. When he received company, the conversation
'' was most instructive, being entircly devoted to learned investigations and
'' the elucidation of obscure points." Shihib ad-din Mahmfid says in his
history : " The second time that he filled the place of khdi, I used to visit him
" very often, that I might profit by his instructive conversation." Many other
writers have spoken of him in equally favourable terms, but the details which
have been given on that subject are already sufficiently copious. It is now
sii INTRODUCl'?ON.
nbsolutdy- necessary that we should give some p7ssages of his 1)0(~{1.y
; s11(.lt
are the following :

1 had your image before my eyes, though you dvelt in a distant l a n d ; and i t srrnltvl
to me that my heart was your place of abode. Though absent and far away, my 11031.1
held converse with you; you seemed to speak familiarly (with your lover), but in rcolily
him s i t h your aversion.
you were still afflicth~~

Maiden! thou who dwellest near our tribe, can l dare to hope for thy ret~irn? Tlle11
perhaps, may thy lover, who now suffers from the intoxication of passio~l,recover his
reason. There is but one thing in the world which 1 desire: lot nlo nlcct tbcre a n d
all the cruelties of love shall be forgotten !

0 Lord! thy humble creature strives to conceal his faults: in thy kindness, cast a
veil over his faults when they appear. He has come unto thee, but has no friend to
intercede for him; receive then the intercession of his hairs hoary with age."

The well merited celebrity which Ibn KhallikAn's work rapidly ncquiibcd,
and the esteem in which it was justly held for its exactocss, induccd many
learnetl men to undertake the task of rendering il s ~ i l ln~orc conlplclo.
1 sllall here enuulerate those different essays as I find lllern i~rdic*:trctli l l tlrt.
Bibliograplry of Ilajji lihnlifa and other sources.-" Tij ::Id-dill Abd :tI-
BAki Ibn Abd al-Hamid al-bIakhzdmi, a rnernber of [he scct of hl:ilili, :tddctl
to it about thirty articles. This writer, who died A. 11. 743 (A. D. 1342-33,
hlanles the poverty of Ibo lihallikln's style, and gives tlre prcfcrcncc 10
that of Ibn al-,ithir. "-He cannot mean I b ~ ial-A~hir~ l l chistorian, wllosc
style is remarkably simple; hut as there were three brothers who ho1.e tllis
name ant1 who arc all noticed fly our author, Tij ad-din may perilaps haw.
had i l l vie\\- some \ ~ o r kcomposed by one of the two others, and written in
the full dig,li[y of what the Arabs consider a fine style, and which is always
the more admired the less it is intelligible to the ordinary reader. Indeed
maur of their authors explained their own works to students, who ren-
dered die same service to others; but when this traditional exegesis was
interrupted, a consummation which happened sooner or later, no person
was tempted to take up a book which he could not hope to understand,
and the masterpiece of style reposed undisturbed on the shelf and finally
sank into oblivion.
A contiuuation of Jbn Khallikin's work was written by Husain Ibn Aiheli
G
 .L Wllodiedin tllc yycar tro (lure giur.~~)." I suspccl tlrnl llajji lihnlil:~acvc,L
saw tile work ancl that 110 lillcw nothing 01' tllc :tulltola. l'l~erewas nil lbl,
Aibeli wllo \\.rote a sirpplunice~tto lbli lil~:illik:i~r, but of dtis 1lrol.e l ~ c r e a f [ ~ , ~ .
i o ~ i : i ~ * l i c\ lY~~~S;~i (,i ( t ( ~ l I)y z:iil\
-- 2'0 tllis S U ~ ~ ) ! C I H ( : I ~:l Lc o ~ l ~ i ~ i ~ ~O ;S t ttlliilty
4 k

ad-tlin Abtl :~~--ll:llrlriiin BLil :il-llusai~ial-lr~Aki,who died A. 111. 806 (A. I).
1405-/1)."-a A~lolJlersu~)plcnnent,bearing lire title of Olrtirl al-tlht(ilr (I,[ril,,
L L of ihe g-u-rlelr),and co~l~aioingdlc lives of inany persons irlentiollcd inci-
L deei:dly in 1l)n lilrallik5n's 13iographical L)ictionary, was drawn up by ihtb
L L Daclr ad-din az-%:lrkaslli, who died A. IJ. 994 (A. D. 1586)."--
.~h(lilil~
4 b Sal911 ad-din DIulrallllrrad Ibn S11:ikir coll~poscda work called /f7(c~rvi/
& 6 al-W(zjiyc~t(onzissio12s of tile WafayAt)." - kYu!J;gritul-AiJ-ritt, or derrrha
' e e I , is the AmLic title o f lbn 1ihalliliAn's Ihn ShBliir*
6 i died A.41. 764 (A. U. Z'J6!2--'i)."-This is probably be ~ o r l of i wllic~ll;i
volunlc is described by C:~siriin his i~iBliollr.Arub. IJisp. No. 277'1. -Anodlrl.
supplement, not no~icedby Hajji lillalifa, is the T d l i Kitrib Wufirydt nCAi7*iil,
(COI~~N~ILIII~OII ?f Ibn lihnllikri~t's6iog1.uphical ~Ziciclionn~y), l ~ yal-Mwaft'ali
Fad1Allah lbn ALi F;tkllr as-Sakk&idsLdj- This is a short work nrrengcd xl-
pliabeticnlly ancl aca~iopaniedwith a supplement, which is arranged chroilo-
logically and cxtends liaorn A . 11. 660, to A. 11. 7%. A copy of the 7'di i:; in
the Bib. du Noi, uodcr [lie No. 752. It appears froin all illscriplion o ~ lilts i
Grst page of this MS.,thal il ollce belongcd to Iihalil 1l)n Aihck, ~ l l eaullror
of tlie following worli : WiJi'I- W n f uycit (supj9lenlent lo rlre IVaByBt), by
Salhh ad-din l[il~alilIhil Ailjek as-Safadi. This author died A. 11. '765
( - 3 ) . In it he has collected the lives of all the illtlstrious ancl emirlcr~t
mcn wlio lixed his ni.tentioii ; thus he gives notices of the principal compa
" nions of Muhammad and the next class (?'ribis) of the early hloslirns ; hcb
" mentions also princes, emirs, kldis, governors, koran-readers, Tradition-
" ists, jurisconsults, shnikhs, holy men, saints, grammarians, literary men,
'- poets, pl~ilosophers,physicians, followers of heretical sects, authors, etc. "

-Hajji libalifa does not say expressly that this work was intended as a s u l ~
plemellt to that of Ibn IihallikSn, but the title is a sufficieut proof that it was
SO. And what a supplement ! -ttventy-sit. large volumes ! This enormous
compilation had the usual fate of works too extensive; it was seldom co-
pied, and remained almost unknown. Eleven detached volumes of it are
xir. SNTRODUCTION.
preser~-edia the Bodle]-an Librarv, another is in tbe possession of M. d(:
Hammer, and one, as I ]]a\-e been informed, was lalely :lall~irrd 1)y
M. Gapngos. This unwieldy supplement was ilot howev(:~bsuSli(:ien~ly
complete in the opinion of' a very learned Egjptinn histori:~~. " 1'110
emir Jam31 ad-din AbB 'l-Rlahhin Yhsuf Ihn Tngilri 8ertli7'--or 'll:lngri
\'er&-- b'who died A. H. 874 (A. D. 1469-70),composed"- as a supplcmc~lt
this supplement- ' L three vo]umes, which he ~l-Ma/t/~(lZ ns-SriJi url
'I-J$fustnu$'band abWa)$(rite plue source and the full c o ~ ~ g ) l ( ~ a ?(flel.
oll,
the Wifi). This forming three volumes, conlains the livrs or em;-
b. nent men, drawn up in alphabetical order."--'l'lre copy ill iltc Jib. r l r r
Roi is cotl~posed of five volumes, and yet the last two or three 1t.ttc.r~ anb
ranting. The saae writer drew up the history of Egypt in tllc Torn1 01' :111-
nals, and enlitled an-kijunz a;-Zril~irn; which, tllougli very voln~i~inons
(eight ' l i o volumes), has survived ; but his al-Bahr nz-Zdhhii., oi* au~lalsof
Islamism, wwsnot SO fortunate ; only one volume of it, ihc jijih,exists in thc:
R1b. clu Roi; it contains a part of [he reign of the bhalil' Othmbn, the reign
of Ali, that of bfoawia, and the first years of Yazid; a space of about tjlirtv-
]line gears; and for this he has required a large juarto volunle. J F Ilc
bPought the history down to his own time, the work must 1l;kvih 1'01.~11etl
twenty volumes at the lowest evaluation.
We now come to the abridgmen ts : ' AZ-J~JM~IZ
L (the gurdetr) by Slla~nsad-
& &din hluhammad Ibn Ahrnad at-Turkom9ni ; this writer died some time
after the year 750 (A. D. 1549-SO), Another abridgment of' it was made by
a l l a l i k al-Afdal Abbis Jbn al-Malik al-Afdal al-luj5hid Ali, sovereign 01'
.b Yemen ; he died A .H. 778 (A .D. 1376-7)."- See Johannsen's Historirr Ye-
nznncr.- A third was made by Shihib ad-din Ahrnad Ihn Abd Allah, a
member of the sect of as-Shifi and a native of Ghazza (Gaza in Pulestine);
" he died A. H. 899 (A. D. 1419)." A fourth was made subsequently to the
appearance of Hajji KhalEfai bibliographical dictionary. I n the MS. of that
m r k , Bib. du Roij fonds Scl~ulz,the following additional article i s found :
'' h abridgment of the original work was also made by Ibrahim Ibn Mus-
" a a a{-Faradi, who died A. 11. 1126 (A. D. 1714)). He entitled it at-'lhj-

' ' rid (sr1perj7uitiesstripped of) ."

We ~~~n also from Hajji Ualifa that the biographical dictionary was trans-
]:,ted into Persia11 I)v Z:lhir :ul-din :11-Ardel~ili,who died at C:liro, A, tJ.
' l

9 (A. D, - says he, " i l l :l Persian epistle coiliprlscd

4 1 ha\ c I-at(,!,"
by Kalairr I1,11 iJw:lis 1b11 Blullauimad, Lut better known by the nallrc of
& L 1i:izi Zitl;~, who (lied A . 11. 930, that tllc sull:~ri Sclilrl liliin lllct First"
-dm son ol' Ilnynzid ; Ilc came to tllc throne A.11. D18 (A.D. 1Ij1%,15) arid
died 9"Lj (Ili20)-" 11:d been irialiing searclres for books 011 history, :~lld
L c 11j.t he paid a particu1:tr degree of atlc~lLionto thc work of il)n li1l:llliliin.
'This incluced :\l-Ardt~bilito translale il into Pcrsian for his usc, l ~ u Ilet ]lad
L L only cxecutcd ihc half of his task when the sultan died. This is plbobal,ly
tile same pcrson as the Znllir atl-din above-menrioned."
The facts and ohser~ationslrerc presented rcfcr dircctly to ILil lil~allilidil
or to his work, but some lurtller remarks are requisite in ordcr tliat n nunl-
ber of allusions pcculinr to Arabic literature, and frequently occnrring in [h(;
course of tllcsc volurncs, inay hc clcarly understood. rJ'llc points intended
to be clucidatcd are the inanner in wlricll learning was developed 1)y thr
influcncc of Isla~nism,the distinction between the sciences positively cncou-
raged by it and tllosc wliicli it ~nerelytolerated, the difference bctwecn Mos-
liln scliools ancl Moslirn colleges, the special cast ol'tlle sciences taught equally
in e:lc.h, the cllaractcr of Arabic poetry and the nature of the kn,~idn. l lad a
I-egular il~eatiseorr t l ~ cllislory of Ar:dian literature csis~cd in that lan-
guage, these parilcularilies could ilot llave long escaped iloticc ; but as they
are oilly nrentiorrcd incidcrltally by native writers, tlrcy have been usually
passed over without receiving that attelllion whicll they deserved. These
points, liowever, arc OS such material importance for the literary history of
tlie Arabs that I felt it my duty to investigate thcm ; the extreme difficulty of
discovering the scattered facts serving to cstablisll h e m was amply repaid by
occasional success, and the results to which I have been led shall be confided
to the followiilg pages, with other olservations which, though familiar to
Orientalists, are not on that account less requisite ibr most readers. And ye1
it must be acknowledged that niucll more reillains to be done; the founda-
tions are indeed laid out, but the edifice is yet to be reared; a task which
110 doubt will sooner or later be accomplished by the zeal and learning of

European scholars.
Tllc oldest monumenls of Arabic literature which we still possess were
151

the birth of nal,:1111111:1(1 ( 1).

\viljl in the century nldeh
c.he spur or lJlc (Bi,
They consist in short pieces of verse uttered
of combats between l~nstiletribes, P ~ S S : ~ ~inC Srh y lllmi(3:ilIII.OS(~(3,
r~nrr:rkions
or The study of these renlxills le'ie:tlS 111~c ~ i s t ~ l n01x'
o language perfect in its fornl and application, :~tlmirnblysr~itcdto cxl)rbcssI t ~ r b

rnrious idens which the aspect of nature could suggest 10 :l p:~slo~~:~l peoljlc,

Sacy, in his llimirc lur l,,, anciemmonumanr be in liltlrature @r(rbetllas fillly cstnl"is'lrll
painL in >\lberf c.&,hulten's extravagant opinions on the rnliquity Of iltcriill'rc' '""('

alVibvted to ~ b Ibd b a , or Odaina (see Schulten's fifonumentfl ~ ~ Arabifl+ ~ I'u ) ~

one of the few pieccs M. de Sacy as of genuine antiquity, arid a(cfir(lin~ to ?litn jL ' l n s

ro,,ards A.D. 480. 1 am by no means inclined to admit this opinion; the l~l%"agc nnll s l ~ l lof '
pieec are comparatiselpmodern and such as denote an author \vh0 lived in the scfl)fld cc1llJlry flfli'r L1lc l i i ~ r i l .
a in many literary forgeries of a sim~larkind were cornmittcd. The re;rl ilulflnr \V:ls ~ ) c r l ~ : l l ~ <
[ ~ f ,%hosecharacter as a fabricator of ancient poems was notorioils (see DllRr fi71 o f Llli+
~ h ~ al-Ahmar,
The poems of Amro 'I-Rais, or, as the name should be properly pronounccd. Jmro 'I-ILnia, ore tht*
pieces extarlt of an undeniable antiquity: they \\*ere composed at least fifty years bcforr 111r: 1)irlh o l
Muhammad, as I hate shown in my preface to his Diwdn, and my deduction is fully cnnlirrncvl I,y tllc f01-
[owing passage, nbich the learned author of the History of Aleppo, Iiarnhl ad-din Ornilr Ihn 111-Atlin~,11114
inserted in his biographical dictionary of the remarkable men who lived in or visited llral city (Ilu!jli!/at ( ~ 1 -
Talab fi TdrDhh Halab, MS. of the Bfb. dzc Roi, ancien fonds, NO 120, fol. I 9 4 verso): '' T l ~ cItRfiz .Al)ft
Amr Othman Ibn Bakr estimated that Amro 'l-Kais was anterior to Muhammad I)y one hurrdrell r t r ~ t l f i l l y
07 two hundred years; but al-Wazir al-Bfaghribi observes that by estimation illtd rpproxirnoliorl i t ]ifis ])(,(.XI

esthlished that the interval between the death of Amro 'l-Kais and the birth of the I'rophct, W , ~ S rpally
a.fifty or fifty-five years."
(2) These pieces of verse are almost always of the measure called rojaz, one of ihp sirnples~nrrtl IIISO 111~.
jery earliest of the systems of versi6cation employed in Arabic poetry. The old rajoz vcrscs wrrc collsi-
dered by Arabic philologers and grammarians as of the highest importance for their favourite fittll]y, on ac-
count of the rare words, eapressions, and constructions with which they abound. TO a pcrsorl h m i { i a r
with the Arabic a€ the Moslim writers, these productions of the old pagan Arabs seern to belong to nrlol\lel
langua,% as it frequently happens that in a fragment of five or six lines he will not meet
with the meaning of which he is acquainted. They are the remains of the different dialects sIIoltell ill
the Arabian peninsula and in the plains which separate Syria from Mesopotamia, before [hc illwhic,l
the Koran, that $real monument of the Koraish dialect, had fixed the Arabic ]anguagc.
(3) w h e n the Arabs of the desert wished to express themselves with elcgnnce, they adopted a rhylllmir,,l
a m g e m e n t of words and that parallelism of phrase which is the characteristic of good ~ ~ pmse.~ Tllir.
b i ~
psculihll evident in h e pieces which have been handed down to us 8s rpe&mcns of
idiom spokes in
IbeDLM, and is no means an innovation of Moslim writers; the HaMsa, (he x i r d b nl-dlhdni,
of M Ali 'I-EAli furnish a copious supply of examples which prove that the art of
in
l pO~E ~ Yexisted before Mubarnmad's time, but was even then
r h ~ t h m i ~not
praetiacd and ha,j
been braghi to a high degree of perfection.
 IN'YI\O1)UCTTON. svii

: ~ n d:ls equally ad;~pled U) porlray the firrcbrr passions of ihc milltl. TI,P
variety of its inflections, t l ~ crrgu1:irily of its syot:lx, :lil(l t l 11:~111101iy
~ 01'

its prosody arc not less striking, :tnd tlrcy lbrnisll in t1lo~nselvi.s:l sullicicnt
proof of tl,~: lligll (legrcc of culture which the larrguagc of' tlrc Ar:ll,ic oation
r l
had already :lt 1:rincd [l). 1 hr superior merit of this c:lr*lylitor:llli~r!was ever
afterwards :~ckno\vledgcd by t l ~ eAr:lbs tlleinsclves ; it furnisl~al~llclnnot
only with rnodels but ideas fat* 111cir. poelir:ll p~.oduclions; ;ui(l its in1luenc.c
has always corrtinued perceptible in the kosz^lla (2), whivh still a)ntains tile
s:kme thoughts, the snme allusions as of old, and drags its slow lenglll
along in njouotooous dignity.
A great change c a m over thc spirit 01' Arabic litcraturc on l l ~ eappearancc
of' the Koran, an exlraordinary compound d fiilschood and trur,b, which
lnoulded a people of sl~epherdsand robbcrs into a nation and laun(*tlcdthem
li~rtlrto the conquest of the world. It is considered b y Mosliins ss the word
of Cod, -his eternal, uncrcated word, - revealed to ~naukindin the language
of Paradise, to remain n standing miracle by its adlnirnble stylc. This opi-
lion deterred nearly every :ttlempt at imitation (3); the book stood apart in
thc majesty of its sopposed exmllenw, but the study of its contents, combined
with that of the Tradilions relative to its aulhor, gave risc to almost all the
Lirancl~esof Arabian learning. Tlre iriode by which this was cflecled shall
be hcre briefly explained, hut it is requisite to make some previous observa-
tions on the Traditions.
The sayings of Muhammad were considered by his followers as the result
of divine inspiration, and they ihcreforc [reasured them up in thew memory
with the snme rare lvllich they had iakcn in learning by l~earth e chapters

(1) This is in some degree nltributable to the annual mectings o f the poets at the fair of OlcQz, but tile
poems of Amro 'l-Kais are a proof that the language had acquired its regularity and flexibility from somc
other source, as he never attended theseassernblies. His was t.h~dialect of lhe Zfimyarite Arabs, and it was
most probably at the court of his ancestors, the kings or thc tribc of Kinda, that i t received its polish.
(2) See Introduction, page x x x ~ v.
(3) Ibn al-Mukaffa, al-Mutanabbi, AbO 'l-AI& al-Maarri, and a few others who like them did not hold very
orthodox opinions, essayed in some of their writings to surpass the style of the Koran, but their attempt was
tlaturally considered as a failure. Were we to examine the Koran by the rules of rhetoric and criticism as
they are taught in Moslim schools, we should be obliged to acknowledge that it is the perfection of thought
and expression; an inevitable result, as the I\boslims drew their principles of rhetoric from that very book.
C
xviii INTRODUCTION-
of !he lioral, ~l~~~recorde(j also his bellavios t. under p:lrliclll:kl' ( ' i ' ' ( ' l l l ' l -
slanres, aes of llis dlily life, even the most iriflirlg, :ln(l l!'('! r'('l:1t('t1
to the rising c l (:v('lD). M()s'i'l' ( 1 )
as examples of c ~ l l d ~ i ibr
be easily ilnngined tllat the mass tllese Tr:ditiol~s ill(ul*r:ls('(il':ll)i(lly
lt
the different accounts of the salne event, the Same tho~l~llls (!y [)l't!ssetli l l

olhec terms, and even fabricated statements were receivcd will1 ('(lo:ll :lvi(lily
by the followers of Jslnmisln, and soon became so nuolarrlls l8Il;]l3 110 s ~ I I ~ \ ( ?

rnuld recollect all. 11was thererore necessary 10 (l()wlb

in writing, and tile firstessay of this kind was made by II)X] Sflill.:ll) : ~ ~ - % l l l l l . i
during the reign of the kllalif Oinar Ibn .4bd al-Aziz (2). Olbcr tlo(.lol.s iI t
different cities ol the hfoslim empire, and between [he years 14sO i l t l ( l l:;() 01'
the Nijra, classed the Traditions according i o the sul~jectswlli(:l~tlley sor~r%d
to illustrate p), and towards the beginning of the lhird col~ur~y, :il-llekl~i~~i
undertook to reduce their number by selectir~gthose only wllicll wr?r.c sup-
ported by the best authority. In discriminating between the l r l i c :111(1 t l t ~
false, he was guided by the character of the persons through wllonl ttwy Il:t(I
passed down, and he rejected those which could not IJC t~.:~retlu p iltrougl I
an unbroken series of Tradi tionis ts, all men of unimpeaclled wr;lc.i ty :IINI
acknowledged piety. His example was followed by other cloctow, :lnd t I ~ b
united contents of the six Sal~ihs,or genuine collections, b r m to tllc prescllt
day one of the four colomns which support the edifice of Moslim law.
These Tmditions serve to explain points of doctrine not set foorlhwith sul:
fieient clearness in the Koran, and they are therefore considered as the in&$
pensable supplement 10 that book. Their style is concise and ollipli(;, l,rrt
Pure and e l e ~ m;t abounding with idiomatic expressions , peculiar to ih
of the desert, and not to be perfectly understood a c(,,ll-
mengry. The perusal of these documents iq however 'most instructive, alld
lhe
scholar who makes it his task to study them will acquire

(1) The distinction betaetn the Eodlth (rayings) and the Sunan ( B i g # ) is not altslt~led t o by doctors
of the &&m law ; both are equally authoritative.
(2) The mtbr of the MuhdPimt al-Awdil mentions this fact on the authority o f as-SoyOti, most probably
from th4 A W , @R. of the numerous treatises by that niter.
(3) 04 funber notice will be taken ; see p y e r m .
 1NTliODUCTION. six

only n profound knowledge OS pure Ar:il)i{., bul :I tlcep insight into the man-
~ l e r sand c.h;~rncterof evc:rByni1oslinl people.
Tile necessity of distinguislling tlle genuine Tradilions from t l llllse ~ gave
13iseto new l)r;t~lc-l Ins of literatn~.e. h just appre(siai,ion of the credit to which
l?:lcll Tr~:ldilio~list was cnti~lcdr:ould only b Sonrlcd libon) :l linowledgc of his
lll,)l+;lIc ~ ~ I ; I ~ ; ~ c :111d
L P ~ *this
, coiild I J ~best estimated from an exal~~ination of'his
life. llrnce ille numerous biogr:lpllic.nl worlis arr:~oged in chronologioll
order 3 r d containing s h o ~accounts ~ of tlrc principal Trnditionisls and doc-
tors oftlrc law, wit11 the indicatio~~ o f h e i r tutors and their pupils, the y1:lres
(,I' tlicir 1,irth and residence, the race from wllicll they sprung, and tllc year
of e r l . T l ~ i sagain led Moslim critics to the study of' genealogy and
geogi-aph y .
The usc of wriling existed in Arabia before the pr*onlulgntionof' Islamism,
L u t gmllln,ar was not known as an art till the dificulty of reciting the lioran
~~oi~rectly i ~ d u c e dthe k11aliSAli to make it an object of his attention. He
ilnposed on Abir 'l-Aswad ad-Duwali the task of drawing up such instructions
as would cn:lble [lie Mosliuls to rend their sacred book and speak their lan-
guage without making gtaossfiults (1).
The sense of' tlie lioran was iklt to be ol~scurein rnany places, and this
was justly attributed to two causes: indirect allusions to circumstances of
which no further notice was taken, and the use of many words and phrases
I)orrowcd. from the tribes of' the Desert. The allusiot~swere exp1:Jned by
h e comp:lnions of Mulrammad, m d these explanations, handed down by
11-aditio~i,are still preserved in the comulentaries on the Korau ; bul ihe
~ . ~ e a n i nofg ils obscure expressions could only he obtained from a compa-
rison of the passages in which they are found with similar passages pre-
served in ihe early nionurnents of the Arabic language. It was this reason
which induced lbn AJ.)bis, soon after the dcath of' his cousin Muhammad,
to encourage the study of poetry, and from that time it became an indispen-
s:lble branch of edtication. But the poems of the ancient Arabs were usu-
ally made on some particular occasion, and to understand them well i t was
necessary to know the nlotive which led the author to compose them ; and

(1) See the life of AbO 'l-Aswad in this volume, page 662.
 it generdly happened that lie was no1 Only :lpoel, 1)111 'v~'l"'i"" "'"Y v

often allusions to the baltle-dnys whereill ~ ~ ' 1;)1%l11-

~ l i ~ ~ l 11:11! l f

This led lfos\irn scholar 10 study the history Of tb(! 0 1 ( I A l s i l l ) i ( ' lt'il)('sq
and bere he could not see his way wilhotll tlla ll(;ll) ()l K'"~(''"~'K! .
~h~ duty of pilgrimage contribLlled to t11r1l lhcir :~lknti()ll1 0 ~ ~ ' ( ' ~ 1 ' ; ~ .~ ) 1 1 ~ '
~h~ believers who dwelt in dislant lands rcquired 10 know [!l(' :kll(l

through which they had to pass \)C[O~C : l l ' l l i ~ i l l:lt~ hl('h : li..lls
andilinenrier were drawll up for l]lis pu13posr,all(!henfl? ~~ll('ir ~('('~~':ll)lli(':lI

receired the general title of d9a,sdlilc wa Mamrllili (Ibnrlr nri (1 ii(*(li?tt,~ l.

Every mosque in the Moslim empire rnusl he turned 1ow:knls hltshk:l. nlld
the founder had therefore to ascerhiii previously the 1nliltl(lih:111(1 11 ) I I K ~l ! I ( ~ ( S
the place where the edifice was to be erected. Tliis 1~(111ir(d S0111(' krlo\v-

ledge of astronomy, a science of foreign growth, I W 1 1 I * Y ~ I ~e ~ l -

~touragecifrom Be earliest period of Islamis~a,sincc sorrlf: ktrowl(rlg(?01' i I
was requisile to ascertain the hours of prayer, wlricll (aoril(l o ~ l yl u + I ! ( ~ I , ( ~ I -
wined by mems of ihe altitude of the sun. in the hitiltl(lr 01' 81(*kk:t tlw
daily variation of the hours, caused by the sun's lnovcnle~ltill l IN?(.(*liptic, 1~:)s
so slight, that it produced vcry little change in tile tiecs of' pr*:)yor i l l 1 - 0 ~ ~ ~ 1 ~ -
out the year ; but in higher latitudes the dillercncc becarno prrt:(~l~tilll(~, :II~I~

it was only by tables or almarlacs that thc muwazzin was enal,lfacl kllclw
the precise moment at which he should call tlie faitbfl~f pll~lJi<: ,v()I*-
ship (I) . Moslim Lenl begins on the first appearance (1s
The n(!w 1110011
in the month of Ibmadin. The sul~nite doctors require illat tile lnt,oll
should seen hfore the fast can commence; but in Egypt, t~,(~
Fatimides, and in the countries where the $hiire prcv;,il(al, 111(,
day of the new moon was fixed beforehand by ca1cculations to llicj l lun:l,.
lables served as a basis, and these tables were gradually improvetlby tllc
astronomers, encouraged in their labours by tile
gorernmen t.
In their arithmetical calculations the Arabs employed certain 1cttt:rs of tll
d ~ b h with
t a numerical value, but they afterwards adopled llle lntlia~l

P) Theworb semhg to point out the precise hours of prayer were called Marodli1t
Df~wo*tildsj ; Lilo oiutnaiii,tr of mosques ware sometinea muwa/J;ilr. and llrcir
 INTI'\ODIJCTION. xxi

cipl~ers(1). The arithinctic ol' hac:iions was cultivated l)y them very eai.1~;
the I(oran, in fixing tlbc sh:\l*cs of inhmuitanc:eto whit.li the nearer end the
nlorc clistan t heirs :Ire cnli tled, rcnde~.ed i t indispcnsa hle (9). 'l'lle first
I~-ioriplcs 01' :llgel)t~asecrn to 1l:lve 1)ccn known to tlleni even in the libtimn
01' ~ T ~ l l l : l l t ~ (5).
l~~:~d
(;encx,:ll 1listoi.y was not at first c-onsidered by Moslinis as a lawli~lscience,
alld many doctors were led hy religious scruples to condernn its study. But
tile 11isloryof lilernry mcn, ih:ll is, o l do(-lorsof the law, poets, philologers,
g~:ln~tn;lrians, rcceivetl their approval, inasmuch as the writings of such
~ C P W I I Swerc (aonnccted will1 tllose bla~rchesol' learning, ibc germs of which
1l:ld espalided under thc inllucnce of tlic Koran and the Traditio~~s.All thc
great cilies 1i:ld their 1iiern:rrv Ilistory , into which the patriotism of the author,
ai~xiousto esalt llie glory of his native place, sometimes introduced the lives
of great princes, generals, viairs, and other pul~licoficers (4). It was only
wlieri piot~sMoslims had been led to believe that political llislory was in -
struclive and eclilying, since it marks thc ways of God towards Inan, thnl
writings of this cast ol~tainedat length a besitsling approval.
The docnmcnts rclative to Muharnmadan history wcre transmittcd during
the first centur~iesby oral tradition from one l t d j z 10another, and these par-
sons made it an object of their particular care no1 to alter, in the least degree,

( 2 ) In their astronomical worlts they cmploy both systcms of notation, but in the tables they generally
make usc of lettcrs, as by their means they call express all numbers below two thousand.
(2) T h e art of rcclioning fractions was known to Zaid Ibn Thbbit, one of Muhammad's companions, and
he applied it, with the approbation of his mastcr, to the division of inheritances. The imam as-ShAR im-
proved on Zaid's principles, and his system was taken by the author of the Sirdjiya as the basis of his work.
(3) Though the history of algebra was not the immediate object of my studies, I met in Arabic writers
some particular circumsta~icesrelative to it which have fixed my attention and led me to the conclusion which ,
I here announce; but more extensive researches must be made before 1 can furnish the complete proofs of my
assertion.
(4) Some of these histories with their continuations formed collections of from eighty to one hundred large
volumes, a few of which arc yet to be found in European libraries. The B<bliothOq?lc dzc Roi possesses ii
lolio volume closely written and containing a very small part of the Klhdtib's History of Baghdad-u portioli
only of the lelter atn. Another large volume on the History of Aleppo contains only a small part of the
first letter of the alphabet. T h e extent of some of lhese collections may be best appreciated from Hajji
Khalifa's account of lhern in his Bibliographical Dictionary; see the articles Tarlkh Baghddd, TarZkh Haleb.
l'awdrlkh Dimcsch, etc.
 T ,I 1

ssii t R I IIODUCTION.
The / , ~ c c ~lIllls
s j'!'('~fb1'~(:'l \Y('I'('
[he narralions Nbieh they
l'~]:l~('(l
-
pllelally fwnished by eye-will~esses (,I' l11c l k l s wllit'll i l l tI~('111.

:md are tllereforc of' the lligl~est;mport:~nce not orlly fi)18tll(; Iiis~Ol'y(11' ill('
~[oslillrpeople, but for of die Arabic l:~na~r:lgo. TJICh l y ; ~\ ~ J l (o b ~ ) ~ ~ l ~ ~ ~ ~ i -

ninted a of tllis kind to his scllolar, nercsr ll('gI~('l('(l illdi(v:ilillg

kiijrelrand he series of persons through wl~omit ]]:id succcssivoly p:is~t!(l
before it ealne down to him, and this introd~~ction, or S U ~ I ~ O / lsndd
.~, :IS 1111.
,\rabs rill it, is tile surest proof that what bllows is :lud~erriir.. '1'11~~in-
atasing number of these narrations becnare a t lcrlglll a hul.dcir to 11,t: I,i:st
memory,and it was found necessary to write dowrl t Ire Illore :~nc+iclit of' tl tan l ~ s l
[hey should be forgotten. One of the first and nrosl i m p o r . ~ i oI' ~ l ~llics(?(.ollrn,-
lions was lbn 1sh:ik's Ilistory of the Mosli~riwars, a wo1.k oC wlii(:ll WC 1,osscss
but a small portion, containing the life of Dluhaminad, will1 notes id :t(ltli-
tions by a later editor, Ibn Hishlm ; this is a booli O S the lliglicst ii,llIl(ll.it).
and deservedly so, but it is unfortunately of great rareness. Tlla ilisto~-yof
lshmism by at-Tabari was formed also in a sinlilar manner ; bciIlg ~ l l c n : l:l~
collection of individual narrations preceded by theit. isncids : nl:iny of' tltclrt
relate to the same event, and from their lnutual cotl~parisona very (.o~~r~)l(!tt~
idea cm be of the history of that early period. Tllesc thollcrliollsof'
original documents were consulted by later historians, so cl^ as 11)~)al-J:iwzi,
Ibn al-Athir, and otl~ers,alld it was from these s o u n w that they (jrcw
hcts set forth in their respective works. It may hc laid down :is :Lgrhncr:ll
principle that Islamic history assumed at first the form OS a colleclion 01' state-
ments, each of them authenticated by an isnbd ; tlleil came a writer wllo
mmbined these accounts, but suppressed the isndds and the repetitions ; Ilr
was followed by the maker of abridgments, who condensed ihc work of his
predecessor and furnished a less expensive book on the saule subjecl. Tht)
greater work then lay buried in some public library ; none were inclined to go
to the expense of having it copied for their own use when an abridgment of
it could be procured at a cheap rate ; and there it remained till tirne, worms,
and war accomplished its destruction. Abfi 'l-Fed&and as-Soy6ti did nearly
as mueh harm to Ibn al-Athir and at-l'abari as Justin and Florus did to
L i ~ and
y Tacitus.
In all the Moslim cities, the sciences co~nectedw i ~ hislamism were ;ltb-
 INTiiODIJC'I'ION. xxiii

live] cultivated7 1)11r n:lsra and l(1118a tt:iillcd, at :l11 carly period, :l liigll pre-
eminellce b r lcar~litig. A great rivalry prevailed between l l ~ cschool~of
these two cities, 1)ut the lit~lrosldi!krci~cewhiclr WC a n now discover ill
their sys(c11,s of doctrine is no1 vcry material ; lhcy wkcli tr:~ns[nitted,
some v:~l*ini,ioli~, t l ~ oworks of llie older poets, c:~(*hhad a particular mall-
()[' cspl:linir~g h e obscure pass:igcs contained in these pieces, and each
s()lscd certain grammatical difiicullies in n way pecu1i:rr to itself'. The
sludy of Sranlrnar and philology reached a high degrcc of pcrbc.tion in tl~ese
sc~l~ools, ancl through thcm the early literature of ihc Arabs was handed
Jowl1 by or;ll iransn~issioii, wi tli the same cxactness as otliers delivered the
lioran and tlre Traditions. The iciio~nspoken by tllc Ar:ibs 01' the desert was
llle gre:rt object of their studies, and its copioos pl~mseologywas preserved
fiaom oMivion by their labours. The nurn ber of tlieir cornpilnlions, consist-
ing in pnss:lges oI' prosc and verse which thcy 11ad received f ~ r mthe differ-
cot t~nil)es,would l ~ cllnrdly credihlc, werc the Crct 1101 supported l ~ ythe united
tcstinlouy OS :l11 ihc Arabian biographers. The articles cont:lincd in tllese
pl~ilologic;~l collections werc generally classed under different Leads, each of
wlliclr formed a separale treatise. Some were on camels, sotnc on horses,
others on plants, tents, arms, hunting, hospitality, e t . ; in a aorsd, on
cvery subjcct furnished by nomadic lib. These documents served later as
the grot~ndworkof dictionaries, and it was ~ ~ r o h l l dfrom y them that al-li'ai-
riizabldi drcw the qu:lntity of extracts which swelled out his first Arabic
lexicon, the Ldrni, to sixty volumes (1).
During R considerable period all the knowledge of the Moslims was trans-
mitted by tradition ; nay, doclors of the law composed works and taught then1
to their pupils, without having written them down, so great was the preju-
dice against learning acquired from books. Religious scruples long hin-
dered them from putting thcm on paper ; they said also, and very justly when
we consider the nature of their written character, that what was confided to
paper could not he perfectly understood without a master ; and tliey ob'served
hesides that it was more exposed to alterations and destruction than when i t
was engraved on the mind. Information of all sorts continued to accamu-

(1) See his preface to the Kdmtls.

nsiv INTRODUCTIOR
late in this imnoer, till a1 length it obliged them to put it in some order and
have recourse to the pen. " In the year of' thc kIijra 1-43,''says ad-llahabi (Ij,
" the learned men of Islamism began 10 dwlv up (2) the Tradiliolrs, juris-

' L prudence, and the interpre(atiox1 of the Koran. Ibn Jura3 composed lris
'' books at Melika ; Said Ibn Abi Orubn (S), llnmmid Ibn Maslnma, and
others co~nposedtheirs at Basra; AbB Ilanifa and Rabi:it ar-R9i drew up
their works on jurisprudence at l i h b , and :ll-Auz5i in Spain ; filllik corn-
s . posed his dluwatta at Dledins ; Jbn Ishak then drew up his Maglidzi (Wars of'

" Islamism) : Mamar (4) composed in Yemen, and Sofyjn ath-Thauri wrote

" his book the Jdm?. Very soon afier, Ibn Ilisllbm, Lai~llIbn Sa:ld, and Abd
" Allah Ibn Lahia composed their works ; then followed lbn nl-RtubArali

" and rl~e kidi Abii 'iisuf, at which period tlie classification and registering
" of linowledge was carried to a great length. The treatises on grammar and

,lAbb
) Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Othmiln I b r ~libimtiz ad-Dahabi, a doctor of the sect of
as-Shbfi and surnamed Shams ad-dln (the sun of religion', was born i n the month of Rajab, A.H. 673 (January,
A. D. 12751 a t Damascus : but his ancestors, v h o were of the TurcomAn nation, inhabited h1aiybfirik!n.
He was the chief hdfir and Koran-reader of Syria. Having received the first principles of learning at the
place of his birth, he visited successively Baalbek, Cairo, Niblbs, Aleppo, Mekka, Medina, Jerusalem, and
Tripolis, that he might complete his studies under the eminent teachers who then inhabited these cities. He
died at Damascus, A. H. 748 (A. D. 13674). His works were very numerous and consisted in compilalions,
abridgments, and original treatises ; the tktles of sixty-seven are given by Abh 'l-Mahiisin, who acknow-
ledges however that he did not notice the whole of ad-Dahabi's productions. The most important of lhem are
the Annals or Islamism, of which a broken set is preserved in the Bibliolhique du Roi; this work was corn-
posed of twenty-one volumes. An abridged history of eminent men, forming a number of volumes. An
abridged history of the Moslim kingdoms. An examination into the credibility of Traditionists. A chrono-
logical biography of those who bore the title of lldfiz (Tabakdt of a [ - H u f d z ) in two volumes. A biography
of koran-readers (Tabakdt al-Kurrd,, a copy of whieh work is in the Bib. du Roi. A n abridgment of the
KUtb's History of Baghdad and of as-Samini's. An abridgment in ten volumes of the history of Damas-
cus; another of the HBkim's History of Naisiphr. The history of al-HallAj ; a n abridgment of AhQ 'l-Fed&'s
Geography, etc. - (31--anha1 casdd/i, vol. V . f01. 86 verso.)
(2) In the original text, the word employed is tadwZn &,>-G.
(3) Abb 'n-Nadr Said Ibn Abi Orbba Marwln, a native of Basra and a mazola to the tribe of Adi, learned
tbe Traditions from Nadr Ibn Anas Ibn Milik and KutAda; Ibn MuMrak was one of his disciples. According
fo al-Bokhari, he died A. H . i % (A. D. 772-3) -iTabakdt al-Muhaddithin, M S . No. 136.)
(4) Abb Orwa Mamar Ibn Abi Orwa RAshid was n snazola to the tribe of Azd and a native of Basra, but
he settled in Yemen. H e learned the Traditions from 82-Zuhri, and among his own pupils he had ath-Thauri,
Ibn Oyaina, and lbn MubArali. He died in the month of Rarnadln, A. H. 153 (September, A. D. 770),or, by
another statement, in itis. - (Tab.al-Muhad.)
 on the langonge were then dr:wn up (I),:is :dso llistory and the adventures
L

of tlre deserl Arabs. Rcbre this, all ihe learned spolie from memory, and
the infor~nationvlricll tlrcy co~l~illunicaled to their pupils n a s devoid of
L L order, b l i ~li-0111 th:~t ti~rlethe acquisition of learning was relldered easy
L c and its i,resc~*~:t tion by thc incmory became gradually less Sreq uelu (2)."
l'lle task of tracing tlre progress of tire iSIoslims io legal studies would be
rstl-emely dillicult br a E o ~ ~ o p epen,a ~ l and the labour of Inany years would
Il;irdly suflice b r its nccomplish~r~ent. Tllc observations which follow are
~llerclbreto he consider*cdin no other light than as a very irnperbct sketch.
On the first esta,?blisl~n~en~ of lslau~ism,the text of the Koran and the ex-
:~mplegiven by nluhnrnir~:~dsufliced to guide the first doctors of the law to
tlre s o l u ~ i oof'~ the
~ diff'erent questions to \\~hichthe theocratical organisation
of the Bloslim empire gnye risc; but soon after the death of their lawgiver,
llre state of the Arab people underwent an i~nnlensealteration ; a great por-
tion of the no~nadictribes having abandoned their forlr~ernlode of life on set-
ling in the countries which they had subdued (3). The possession of
power and riches p v e rise to new feelings, new ideas, and new manners ;
they had entered into a new sphere of existence and found themselves un-
der the necessity of establishing a system of rules and regulations calculated
to ensure the uiriformity of their ieligious rites, and giye e more eompre-
hensive action to the pri~lciplesof their civil law. Thus their general code,
the main points of whicll had heen previously fixed, received its develop-
llrent liom the progress of the people in civilisation.
Moslim law flows from fpur sources: the Koran, the Sunna, or Tradilions,
~ l l egeneral practice or common consent of the ancient imams, and the prio-
ciples deduced from the comparison of these three. The inr~erbctionof the

(1)Ibn Khallikh and the author of the Fihrist appear, in a number of cases, to designate unwritten
w o r k by the term kutub (books), and written ones by the words kutnb musannafa (composed books). This
is however a point which requires further eramination, for kutub may perhaps signify compilatims and Bultcb
~nusannafa,original zcorks.
(2) This citation is copied from Abfi '1-Mahisin's Nujilm under the year 143.
(3) I n Ibn al-Jawzi's Talkth MS. No. 631, will be found the names of the principal fats who settled ia the
following places: Tgif, Yemen, Yarnkma, Bahrain, Kilfa, Basra, Madiin, Khorasao, Whit, Baghdhd. Syria.
Dlesopotamia, the frontiers of Syria, and Egypt.
d
legal rFgulations eonlnined in the Koran obliged tllc filss[ MOslillls 1,) fa()ljslll 1
~ u h a l l l l l on
l a ~those difficulties thc text of that wol'k w:is ill:i(l(b(lll:lll'
to ; his opinion was scruplllously folloved, and lllc J':lli(lily 01'
decisions ans as incontrovertible. Th"n~i~111 ill):llll~,l l l : ~1, ,
tile oriIl(-i~nl
L I d
iuriseonsults of the first, sccond, and third ccr~illll~ics : ~ I ~ ( L I tlrr
*
Hijla, bunded their general practice on that OS their prctlc(:(3ssO1's7I)111 si)lllc
of tllem pesumed to decide on cases hitherto onforesce~~ , by I I ~ ( Y I I ~ofS ;111:1-

~ h tnujrolrid
c .
deductions from the three first sources of the law. llhi's(' w('l+('(.:tIhh4I
lL~g-i(anl
imnms because they employed the utmosl of(iwts ol' i l ~ c l i ~rtiintl .

to att:iin the right solution of such questions as werc s ~ ~ l ) ~ n i10~ ~ , ( ~ ( l 111(bi1.

judgment (l). Anlong those imans AbO Ilanifa, as-Sh8l'i, Milik, :in(! 11)1111:11,-
h11stood pre-eminent not only for their abilities, hot for t l ~ cilunil~crol' points
which each settled of his own authority and formed into :I l)o(ly of' srlpplc-
nientary doctrines. It naturally happened that these four held (li l I i b l r 1 1 L 01 )i -
nions in some cases, but as all the dogmas and leading principlrs of i l ~ c1:iw
had been already immutably fixed, their decisions related to q~icsti() I ) s of' I I I P I ~ ( ~
secondary importance, and their doctrine, in the main, was parliv.tly o1*1110-
dox. At the present day, the difference which subsisls brcw~~e~l tilt*
practice of their respective followers lies in some particular ~lrotlilic-:itiozrs
of the general form of prayer, and in the solution of some 1eg:tl clots-
tions relating principally to property. Of these four sects, tllr 11:l111-):1-
lite and Malekite may be considered as the most rigid, thc S1]?l I' tlcl :IS tjlct
L

most conformable to the spirit of Islamism, and ihe I-Ianilite as iho niildest
and most philosophical of them all (2). Two other imams, Ahri 1)Awfid :M-

(1) .Ilujtahdd is derived from jahd (efortl. This title has long ceased to be in U60 omnr~gthe Stmniics.
but it is still borne in Persia by the chief jurisconsult of each province. Some OF lhe older trnvellcrx w r i l ~ .
this narne Mushtuhed and derive it from shahad (to bear witness t o the lrulh). The derivalio~lor t l ~ oword
kdid ,chief from kada (to judge) is a mistake of a similar kind.
(2) The following passage, extracled from Ibn KhaldPn's Prolagomno to his Univcrsnl I+irtory, marits n
place here: "The science of jurisprudence forms two systems, that of the followers of private judemmt and
analogy (an1 or-rdi o a 'CKgds), who were natives of I n k , and that of tha followers of Tmdiiiorl. wtlo worla
natives of ~ i j l r . As the people of lrak possessed but few Traditions, they had often recourse ta analngirnI
deductions and attained great proficiency therein, for which reason they were colled iha followon o f p r i G a i a
judgrnmr: the &i dhl Aanifa, r h o was their chief and bad acquired a perfect k n ~ l e d of
~ ofiil 6Y.tem.
a u g h t it to his disciples. The people of Hiihz bad for imdm MllikIb~tA n a and then a+Sh(Q. some time
 IN'l'RODUCTION. xxvii

Zbhiri and SofyBn :~l-~l'lr:luri,were also chick ol' orlboclox sects, hul tlrcir *pi-
nions had 1101 many rollowers, alrd after some tilne wm8etopally :rl,andoned.
lbll Jaril. at-T:~l);u'i,wl-lose reputn lion :IS :in hisior.ian is so i'amili:\r to Euro-
peans, i blln JcJ :11so a parliculnr* sect, which disappeared soon after his death.
Tile 11olotin11doc~~*incs of llle slriiles, wllo, under llle rraruc of RriJdiles
01. [sn~rrilians,llold so pr~omincrrta place in Moslim history, llad litlle in-
jluc~lccon Arabic literature ; but science of scl~olnslictlrcology, a Mota-
zelilc iilnov:ttion, gave to the language a scientifi(: precision which it had
no1 llilllerto possessed, a i d which was still more deeply inipressed on its
style by the translations of Aristotle's works and those of other Greek
plrilosopl~ers. The art of medicine was received from foreigners ; he early
physicians were natives of India, the next were tributary suljects, and al-
Kindi was one of the first Moslims (l) by whom it was practised. The
influence of inedical writings on general literature was necessarily very
slight. Alcllerny, an art cultivated from the most ancient tinres, was always
a favourite study with the Moslims, and in this pursuit they made many
discoveries which served later to form the hasis of chemistry. Astrology,
like :llcheioy, was one of the oldest delusions of the hurnan mind, and,
allho~~glr reproved by the Sunna, it has always continued to flouris11 in every
Moslim counLray, but what they considered :is ils parasitical branch, astro-
nomy, has loilg since faded and shrunk away.
It is generally mentioned by Arabic historians that the first madrasa (place
of study) was founded at Baghdad in the year 459 of the 1Iijra (A. D. 1066),
by the celebrated Nizhm al-Mulk. This statement has led some European
writers to assert that the first Arabian Academy, or College, was established

after, a portion of the learned men disapproved of analogical deductions and rejected that mode of proceed-
ing : these were the Zdhirites (followers of Abzl DdwzZd Szllaimdn\, and they laid down as a principle that
nil points of law should be taken from the Nuszls (text of the Koran and Traditions) and the Ijmd (univer-
sal accord of the ancienl imdms)."
( I )I t was once supposed that al-Kindi was a Jew, but this is now well known to be false. He belonged
to one of the most noble Arabian tribes, that of Kinda, his father and grandfather were Moalims and his
great-grandfather was one of Muhammad's companions. It might be said that he was a convert to the
Jewish religon, but how then did he contrive to escape the punishment of death inflicted by the law of
Muhammad upon apostates, and why should he have borne the title of the Philo#opher of the Moslims ?
M. de Sacy has already remarked and refuted this error in his d bdallatif, p. 487.
xrviii INTRODUCTION.
by that vizir, The idea nihicll they attach to these T V O ~ Jis~ 1101, llowcve"l
very clear : if they mean that an academy or cdlrgc is an inslillllioll
students lnust frequent that h e y mav obtain t11eir dpgrecs, il*:ll ~ I I ( ' Y :lr('
iu supposillg madrasfis to IH: the 6 1 ~eslablisllillel~ts
t of tllc killcl ;
:md if they add that tile acz(jemies jjrere civil fout~dations~ 1 l d O ~ will1 c d l1(*;ll
estates, llld chnnibers or cells in which the ~ t ~ d c r l k
l(j(Jgcd,
s tllc~
:ire still \vrong in the date, for, according to a very good aull~or.ily, mfldrasa
was founded at NaisapOr tr Abfi Isl~alial-Ishr!~ini, the ce1eb~:itcd Sldfil~
doctor and professor, who, we llinow, died A. H. C18 (l). A lilct ol' [his
~laturecould not escape the n~tentionof the celebra~ednnrlalisi : I I I ~ Idogr:)-
pher ad-Dah:lbi, and his observations 011 the subject are dcscrvi~lgof :l place
here. tle says in his Annals of lslamism (2): " Those who pmtcnd t l ~ l t
Niz;im al-Mulk was lire first founder of madrasas are inist;llico. 13eli)rca
his birth the Baihakian madrasa existed at Naisapiir as :dso tllo Sutdiurz
" madrasa: the latter was built by the emir Nasr lbn Subuk~ikin,a brodier 01
the sultan Mahmiid, when governor of that city. The third was Soulidc~l
'' at the same place by the SAS; preacher Abfi Saad Ismail lbrl Ali Ibn :11-
* ' Mutlianna of Astarhbid, one of the khdlib al-BnglldAdi's maslers, The
" fourth 1.3s in ihe same city, and had been erected for the master Ahil
" Ishak-" AS-Soylthi , who cites the foregoing passage in his iiusnal-
- ~ - l u t ~ ~ ~(51,
i p c then
l subjoins sorne extracts from other writers which
merit insertion : " The fldkim (4) says in his article on the luasler AI,;,
" Ishab: Refore rhis madrasa there was no otlteer like it in Naisqdr, froru
.' ~ h i c l itl is lnanifest that others had been founded there previous~y, Tij
" ad-din as-SuLki says in his work, elltitled at-Ta,$a~tdral-Iiubrn (5): upon G

[I Iiis life is given in page 8 of this volume.

i

Cited by as-Soyhti in his Eusn al-ikfuhddiru,MS. No. 652, fol. 235.

(3) As-SoyUti died A. H. 911 (A. D. 1505)- A full account of his life and a complete list of liis writings
rill be found in the work entitled Soiuti liber de interpretibus Kora~ti,by Meursinge, Lcydcn, i839.
(4)This is the celebrated Abb Abd Allah Muhammad Ibnal-Bali. His life is given by Ibn Hllrllikill.
(5) AbP Nasr Abd al-Wahhlb Ibn Takt ad-din Ali ibn D i l ad-dln Abd al-K3B, a doctor of iha sect of
asSh&tland chief kLdi (kddi l-Kuddt) of Damascus, drew his descent from one of those rnembera of the
tribe of Khazrlj who took up arms for Muhammad. He bore the surnames of TQ ad-din (crown of religion)
and as-Subki (native Subk, a rillage in Egypt;. as a juris-
This celebrated imlm was equally illultriou~
xx Y INTROUUCTION.
dam established at Cairo by the Fatirnide khalif al-Mkim in tllc year 595
of the Hijra, and to another college Sounded by the salno pr~llcclota sio-
dents of the sect of Mjlik, A. H. 400 (l). It is therefore mnnihsl 111:il - .

&i&n al-Yulk was not the first who founded a madrasa 01. colhgc, ;1lal 11
is easy to prove that academies eriited long before his lime ; lllat tlley welbc
held in the mosques, as is still the case at Cairo, Ispalin, Bokhara, I<airaw:tn,
2nd Fez. The Egyptian historians remark that under the reign of al-Aaiz
Nizir, public lectures on different branches of knowledge werc opened in tlre
mosque al-Azhar at Old Cairo and that the professors were piiitl by govern-
ment. Still earlier Ihralrim Ibn Hishim al-Malihziimi (g) caused regular lcsso~ls
to be given in the great mosque of Damascus ; in the time of BilY Ibn Abi
Burda, who died A. H. 126, grammar was taught publicly in the mosques,
and Abd Abd ar-Rahmin as-Glarni, who died A . H. 74, taught ihe recldings
of the Koran in the mosque of KOL ; it has been even handed down on good
authority that the Grst who taught in a mosque and inslrucled a circle of
pupils in the reading of the Koran was Abh 'd-DardB, and he died A. 13. 39 (3).
We know moreover that the first school for Arabic literature was establishcc1
by Ibn Abbhs, and that be himself gave regular lectures to an immense multi-
tude who assembled in a valley near Mekka. A great number of passages
might also be adduced, if necessary, to prove that from the time of the
Tn'bis (4), the regular academies or upper schools were held in he mosques ;
and that the sciences taught therein were such as related to the Koran and

68 dinars; for water, i% dinars; for the farrdsh, 15 dinars; for paper, ink, and pens, 12 dinars; for the
mending of the curtains, 1 d ~ o a r ;reparation of books and replacing lost leaves, 12 dinars ; a carpel Tor w i n -
ler. B dinars; for palm-leaves, to strew the floor in winter, 8 dinars.-When SalBh ad-din re-established the
Sunnit% doctrines io Egypt, he founded the college called after him al-Madrasa as-Salrlhiya, and norr~irlated
the shaikh Najm ad-din Muhammad al-Khubushhi as its president, with a monthly salary of forty dinars
(about 20 poundsl as chief professor, and another of ten as administrator of tb wakfi. or property granted
to the establishment for its support. H e allowed him besides sixty Egyptian rarls (pounds' weight] of
bread daily and two skins of Nile water.-(Husa 01-~MeLhddira,fol. 235 )
(i)See M.de Sacg's Druzes, tom. I. pages cccrii and cccxlvi.
(S) Ibrahlm lbn Hishhm al-Makhzllmi was one of Hishlm Ibn Abd al-Malik's provincial governors : that
khalif died in the year 1% of the Hijra
(3) Al-YBfl's bfiraat al-Jan&n.
) note [2;,page 4.
~ 4 See
the 'j'mditions (Z). 'I'he names 01' all the great doctors who prohsscd in
the different cities of tllc Moslim c.mpire are still lcnown to us, and froln
the Tabakdl a/-l.bkahrZ :done a i:brol~ologic~al list of te:lr)~crsmight be drawn
up, comrncncing with 111e Tdbis and descending to the latest tin~cs. Matlle-
mslics, astronomy, medicinc, and meLaphysics were cxcluded Srorn the coul-se
of' usual instruction, even in tlic madrcrsas (l), ailcl cotild only 1)e learned
lion, private masters, as was still tllc case till very lately. From the pre-
ceding observations it may be concluded that Nizlln al-Mulk fouaded nei-
ther the first madrasn nor the first academy, and that the institution called
:llier him the Nizrimiya was merely one of the earliest civil establishments
for the propngntion of learning ; the talent of its professors shed, it is true,
a brilliant lustre upon its reputatio12, but the mosques continued neverthe-
less to he lllc only regular academies acknowledged by the law (3)).
It appears fi-om n number of passages in the different Tabnkdts aird in the
work of Ibn Hh:lllik&n, that the young student commenced his labours by
learning the Koran by heart, and :llso as many of the Traditions as he was
able to acquire at his native place; to this he joined a slight acquaintance with
grammar and some knowledge of poetry ; on attaining the age of from Sour-
teen to sixteen, be hcgen his travels and visited the great cities,where he learned
Traditions and received certificates of licence (4) from eminent Traditionists.
I4e then followed the different courses of lectures which were held in thc
mosques or in the maclmsas, and in some cases he attached himself lo one
of the professors and lived with him not only as a pupil, but as a menial
servant. fb there learned by heart the approved works on the dogmas of'

(4) During the first centuries of Islamism, professors received no other remuneration from their scholars
than the presents which it was customary for the latter to give on passing to a higher class.
(2) The only exception I have hitherto remarked is offered by d-Hakim's Dar al-Hiltma.
(3) These observations will account for a singular statement made by al-Makkari in his History of Spain,
where he sags, MS. No. 704, fol. 60 rccto : Though learning was highly valued by the inhabitants of Spain.
" gentle and common, they had no madrdsas specially established for the propagation of learning; hut all
< ' the sciences were taught in the mosques for payment." M.Gayangos has omitted this curious passage in
his abridged translation of that work.
(4) See a note on the subject of or certificates of capacily, in M. Hamaker's Specimen Catalogd
M S S . Bib. Lugd. Bat. See also M. de Saey's Chrestomathie, torn. I. p. $23.
 rxsii
religion, and sludied the comnlelrtaries on the samc works ulld(?)' tjlc ~ [ l i ~ i ( ) r ~
of his master ; lie acquired a correct knowledge of the difl'crcrrl l u c l : ~ ( l 01'
i~~~s
the Konn and of its orthodox interpretation, whilst he pursncd ill(:slk~tlyof
ancient poetry and philology, grammar and rhetoric, in order to : ~ t k i i l lIIIP
f$cultv,of appreciating perkcdy the admirable style whicll c1r:lr:lctcriscs ~II(.
K . Tlre secondary points of jurisprutlence, forming the doctri~lcs01' t 1 1 t h

sect to \vhirb he lxlonged, then hewine the object ol his parlicul:~~ study, alrd
an acquainbnce lyith logic and dialectics completed his ed~lcali('~l.l':'vil'g
from his professors certilicates of capacity and licc~~ceh ic!l*:ll l"tb
which hp had luastered, he found the career open to the rjla('es 01' I h -
or preacher, i I j l o m , kadi, rnufii,nnd professor. Such Was usn:ll (;olll1sc
of edunlilm, and its beneficial inhence on the mind and c h a r i ~ t c rcarlllot
1% doubred 1'1).
It is much more difficult to mark out the line of sludy Tollowed by tllosr
were destined to 611 places in the public administration. The /m&rib
sleuld tx not only, as his name implies, a good penman, but also a master
of the beauties of the Arabic language, well acquainted with grammar a11d
the writings of the poets, a skilful accountant and gifted with a capacity for
business (2). Some l-dlibs were employed 10 draw up state papers ; others,
to keep the public accounts and registers,. or to receive the titlies and
the revenues of the state; every governor of a province had his Rdlib
whose duty was to keep the correspondence, and to receive the taxes of
the disirict, the rents of the government farms, etc. Out of this money a fixed
sum was yearly remitted to the sovereign ; the governor reserving ihe rest for
his own use and the payment of the troops, and persons entitled to sahries,
such as the kidis, the jurisconsults, tlie imams of the great mosrlues, th(?
clerks in the public offices, etc. Part of it was absorbed also by works of
public utility, and in defraying the expenses of his court. He was obliged
besides to maintain the post-horse establishment, but the postmaster, wlio
acted also as a SPY over the governor, was nominated by the sovereign.

It m a l be remarked that nearly all the Moslim authors with wbose works we are acqurintd, wore
(l)
either doctors of Ihe law, or bad followed the course of studies necessary to become one.
(2) The title of Mtib was sometimes given to copyists of the Koran.
 . INTRODUCTION.
vaied by the genius of h e poet, srld can hardly ~ C P C C ~ V [It(!
C 11';lils01' (h15('
Uste which disfigure, from time to time, his admilaal)lc slylc-
Haring pointed out the influence of the kasida 0 1 , clegyl it ~ ~ l 1101 : l ~1 1 1 '
:Imissto the pbll geuerally followed in this spc(:ic~ ('()lll])(bhili()ll.
The poet, accoisfanied by two friends, approacl~cs,nkcl :I 101tg + ~ o I I I , I ~ ~ ~ \

illrough :hc desert, to the place where 11e saw his ~ l l i s i ~ ~ - (1.~1 s s \ r ( l : ~ ~ *
hebre, and where he hopes to meet her again. A t his rc(1o~stIl t ~ yrli~*vri
the camels on which they are mounted towards ihc spot, 1)[11i l l ( : l*ui~ts of
the rustic d\vellings, the witllered moss, brushwood, and b~*:~rl(:lt(as ol' t I . ~ V ~ S
with Nhiell were formed the frail abodes wherc the lrihc J~:t(lS ~III~
saslmer, the hearthstones blackened by the fire, the soliciry I*:I VPI l Ii( rtg
) v r b ~ b i

around in search of a scanty nourishment --every oljcct h(: pnwivrs slri

him wi~hthe conviction that his beloved and her fanlily 11nvcr.(:il~ou(~l to so111i3
other region in the desert. Overcome with grief, hecdlcss OS tllc col~sol:~[iorls
of his friends who exhort him to be firm, he long reinnins plu11g(~I i r k si lc:~lL
amiction ; at length he finds relief in a torrent or tears, :iud i*:iisi~~g II 1) h i s

head, he extemporizes a mournful elegy. He coinrnenccs by mc11tion i11gt l ~

places which he had already visited in hopes of linding 11m. ~ I I O I S IIIO Iova(1.
and calls to mind the dangers which he had encounlcrccl in tlic c10sct.t. IJv
deseriis the camel which, though btigued slill full of artlour, hat1 I)onl(l
him iuto the depths of the wilderness ; he vaunts his own couclgc :m(l (!S101s
the glory of his tribe. An adventure which happened on ihe pn!vious niglit
then comes to his memory ; a fire blazing on a lofty hill had :kl~r:~ct~(I tlwir.
attention and guided them to the tent of a generous Arsl), whcro tll(.j ~ ' O l l ~ ~ ( l
shelter and hospitality. Re then praises the charms of his n~istmss,:tnd
complains of the pains of love and absence, whilst llis companiorls h u r ~ *llinl y
away. He casts a parting look towards. the place where shc had n:si(icd,
and 10 ! a dark cloud, fringed with rain and rent with lightnings, ovor*l1:111~s
the spot. This sight fills his heart with joy: an abundant shower is :tl)out
to shed new life upon the parched soil, and thus ensure a rich herbsac h r
the flocks : the family of his beloved will then so011 relurn and settle ; I ~ : I ~ I I
in their ibrnler habitation.
may be onsidered as the outline of the pastoral kosiclr; in thesr
productions, Be same ideas almost constantlv recur, aud i l ~ csallle words
 xurviii INTRODUCTIOK.
continued to improve it by additions :111(I ( ()1'1'('(.(i()lls.
remainder of his life
These nltentions are frequenlly perceptible, even in 1 1 il1;\l ~ ~l h l : ~l i ( ) l l l 11('il'
insertion in the text having been efkcted with SO litdc : ~ l l ( ' l l t i ( ) l l ? lJ1:ll 111
mally places they illterrupt the primitive n:~r~~:llion ; lllis, 1101
l l l ) l ( ' h :i11[1
bg Ol.ialtals as a defect, their cuslonl bci~lg((1 I~I:I('('
illus~la~ionsiu the body of the work. T11e ; t ~ ~ t hp~~k)lisl~t:(!
~r 1 1 ( ' ~v~ ~ l i ~ i t ~ ~ i s

of his Biograpphical Dictionary at diLrent pcriods, :t11d lilt! I:i LPSLW ; ~ S )l -

]owed by tire wriler in preparing for the press the cdilioll of' [ / I ( : I\I~:II ) i t i t . %I
from which the following translation is n~ade.
The djlEcully ofrendering a worli of this nature illlo :l !cl~l'Ol)(';lll I : I I I K I I : ~ ~ ( ~
can be appreciated by those only who have nlade si11li1;hr(:?.s:l!'s ; l l t t b )VI+~(~$I-

had at first the intention of giving it in a French cr:iosl:itio~l, :111(1 :I 1 1 0 1 , ~i o l l

of his task was already executed when he offcr~etlhis woruk 10 di(*O r i ( b ~ t t ; ~ l
Translation Committee ; in cornpliarlce with heir WISIICS !I(! I Y ~ ~I I ~ ( &~ I II ~1IYit~~ (
inEnglish, and endeavouredtornakeit aslitcr:~lasI~cpossil)ly (.o11I(i. 11 i s
true that ibe idiomatic expressions peculiar to llle Ar:ll)ic too go^, ~lahs ( . ~ I o -
lastic terms and technicalities, the learned allusions : ~ n t lpic*ccw of' t t 1 i 1,). 10
not alx-ays admit of a close translatioil ; to r c ~ ~ d ~IK!II~
c r fully, ( a I t ~ ; ~ f v l s ,

is incompatible with conciseness, and it was by p:lwpIlr:is(~s y 111:) L

a tnsk could be accomplished. In so~liccases, wlrerc? tht: [(:S( itsvll
required elucidation, the translator has given the necessary iuSol*~ll:~ lion UII-
der the form of notes, and he made it his particular care to copc will1 (.ver*y
difficulty and clear up, if possible, every obscurily. Ile lliily 11ot II:IVB I I X : ~ ~
always fortunate in his efforts; in some eases he l ~ l ;tolinowl(:~lp*d
s llis i11;1-
bility ,and perhaps in many more he may have been niisktken ; luc. 1lis ( l ~ ~ l11s t ; i
endeavours to attain correctness will, he hopes, eniitle him to 1.I1t: i I I ~ I~ I ~ ( + I I ( - ( *
of Orientalists when they detect his errors.
A number of biographical notices, drawn from original alld ;1utllen lit:
sources, have been added in the notes, but there still remain in tlrisvolume
the names of many persons whose lives are not given. Fur this. three rea-
-
sons are to he assigned; he first, that in the text of the following ~ o l u i ~ ~ e s ,
these lives are to be found ; the second, that the translator was un;iI)h to rlis-
cover who they were; and the third, that the information which he h;ld 01,-
tained respecting lhem was too slight to merit menlion, and he prcli.l*l*cd
 and in d,is part of his
*fiers great dialticulties, 1rallsl:llol1;lilll(!(l ~ i r t l -
tltsk lllc
representing the pronunciation of the word as it wollld s l r i h ~;l 11111.0-
pean ear : a system liable to many objections had the origird OX!, 1101 I ) O ( ~ I ~
published. The kh represents die gh as pronounced by the S(.ot(sl~ in f l ( r ~ ~ ! ~ f ~ -
ler, the Spanishj, or the German ch pronourlced with c~nl)ll:~sis.'l'l~t!{/h
is an r deprived of its rattling sound ; tlre a is to be pronouli,(ul :IS i l l man ;
the d as in fader; the i as in pin; the i a s llle ee in beerr; 1l1o?c :IS in Be/: i i r ~ l
tbe ir as the oo in soon. The circumflex, serving to inark thc lor~gv o \ ~ r l s ,
has bee11 sometimes omitted, either by inadverlcoce br bm:lc~a: 11:1111t8 ~ : l h
~ 1 1 t h

so Gmiliar that the presence of such a sign was ileedlcss. ' f ' f ~ 11;1rit(*s01'
some places are given according to the corrupt pronunci:r riot) c+trr.tBcnl i r l ICII -
rope; thus dimrsil is written Most$; al-Kdhira, Cairo; Hnlnb, AlcPp0, OL,..

END OF TIIE IhTROUUC'fIOK.

 IBN KIIALLIKAN'S

BTOGR APHICAL DICTIONARY.

T I E i?LTJTHOR'S P R E F A C E .

1~ the name of God, the Merciful, the Clement (1)! Thus saith the needy A ~ n n r cTEXT,
suppliant for the mercy of the Most High, Shams ad-din AbO 'l-AbbPs Ahmad Page 3.
Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ibrahirn Ibn Abi-Bakr IGn Khallikin, follower of the sect
of as-Sh%fi:

Praise be to God, to whom alone belongeth the attribute of eternal exist-

ence ; who llath passed on his creatures the doom of death, and prescribed to
all living beings a certain term, beyond which they cannot pass wbeii once it
is expired ; who, in this sentence, hath dealt equally between the noble and
the lowly-born, the powerful and the weak : to him do I give praise for his
abundant favours and his gifts pure (.ji.om ill) ; such praise as a man can % .

offer who avoweth his inability to reach even the lowest strain of ( j t t i n g )
eulogy : I bear witness that there is no god but the only God, who hath no
partner (in his power); such witness as a man can bear who showeth at all
times a sincere heart, and who hopeth in the mercy of his Lord, morning and
evening : 1 bear witness that Muhammad, his servant and apostle, is the most
P

excellent of the, prophets, the most noble of the saints ; and that it is he
1
 -
c) TIEE AUTHOR'S PREFf!CE.

nho inGtetll to walk in the path (of salvalio?~): Cod gr;ln l f 0 llir l i :1lld
his family of illustrious princes such blessings as may cndo~-cwltihl I I I * : ~ \ ~ I ~ I I
and earth do last; God be gncious to his wives, 2nd to l ~ i s110ly: 1 1 1 ( 1 ~ l i o l l b
companions.

~h~ wahh induced me to (:ompose this work, ( b r ~ ~ l i1li'il~)lbi(':ll

~~~
was this: I had always been inlent on st~llyillfit l l ( ' I1isll)l.y ()I'
those men of renown who lived before my time ; I Was dcsir()us Of 1 ~ l l ~ ) ~ ~ ' i l l ~
Ille &tes of their birth and death, and of learning wllo 311101)R 1Ij('111 liv('d
\vithimthe limits of each sepante century. ThC! T ' C S ~ ~ L S wlli('Il 1 ~ ) l ) k ~ i l l ( ~ ( l
inbtd me to increase the stock which I had accjuired, :111~1 10 1'('(10111)1(~ I ~ I \
re.welles ; J applied my *,ind therefore to thc study 01' worJis 1r.r.ill(~11 "1"-

cinllJ (In the s&ject, and gathered, froin tlrc moutlls of lhe I~I:IS~PI.S\ l ( b ~ s ~ bi (r lI
this science, that information which I could not find in h o ~ k ;s 1 ~ ) ( : I * s ( ~ \ ~ I ~ Ii *l lo ( ~
tlris pursuit till 1 had amassed a large quantity of' do(:umcrils i . o t l f i l l l ~11 I,:I\V 11
up, which contained the events of a great numlxr of ycnrs; I had :tlso :IIIO~II($I-
portion of these facts impressed on my memory. It so l~:~p~)crr(!(l, I I O (~~ ( k r ,
that nhen I had to recur to my notes, I could not find wlmt 1 s o u g l ~ l1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ~ ~
with some difficulty, bemuse they were not regularly arranged ; 1 \!{as tIb(bl+(b-
fbre obliged to class them, and 1 adopted the alphabetical ordcr, ju(lgillK i t
more convenient than the chronological. In this 1 made il :I r . ~ l ( ! #i\rr t}lI.
i h s t place to those names which begin with a iramaa, and lllc nor1 to i l l o s ~ b ill
which the second letter is a hamza, or the nearest to it in order ; thus, 1 pllt 1l,(.
word lbrahh hfore Allmad, because the letter 6 stands nearer to lllo /,omz(l
dlmtheletterh- ThisplanIfollowed up to thelast, sothat my llliR}l(
Ix: lnore asily consulted ; it led, however, to the necessity of' pl:lciag ( i,l sonrr.
imtafieesj the life of) a modern before that of an ancient, and of inserting ih,,
name One Person hfween those of two others who &long to :I di(li!rant
; but the m~venience( I aimed at) rendered this uoavoidablo.

1 have not assigned a place in this compendium to the companiolls of'Mu-

hammad,,orto the TdbL (2);a few only excepted, whose history many persons
r q 6 r e to know ; neither have I given the lives of the Khalifs, lawuse thr
numerous works on the subject rendered it unnecessary for me to do so ; bet
 /c THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
tlken up by other avocations, ancl living under circumstances unfa~lot~rable
to
such a task. The reader ought therefore to excuse me, and consklcr that it
was the motive I stated which induced me to undertake it, and that no
vain fancy could ever have inspired my mind with the al~surdidea OS
ranking among authors : a current proverb says, There are men ,/or each
business; and how could such an honour happen to me, who lrnvc but :I
limited share of information in this science? Besides, he who I,o;ists of a
talent with which he is not gifted, is like one who arrays himself in thr
garb (4) of klsehood. God preserve us from falling into the gulfs of' error,
aod grant us, through his grace and bounty, that surest safeguard, the know -
ledge of our real abilities. Amen.

(2) In translating this well known expression, which the Moslims place a t the beigir~~~ing
oP 811 lhcir book>,
I have taken az-Zamakhshari for my guide ; in his commentary on the Koran, this writer makes tho foll(~wlol:
remark : a The word Rahmdn denotes a more extensive idea than Rahirn ;for this rcason, lbeoplc sny (in
speaking o f God): the Merciful (ar-Rahm&n)an this world and in the next;" and the Clement ( a r -
"

Bah0mJ in this world! "

(2) The word Tdbi means a follower; it is employed especially to denote a Moslim who lrud milt wit11
some of the companions of Muhammad, but had never seen Muhammad himself.
(3) ~ h iinconsiderate
i authorization of changing and correcting, is the main cause of t11c nurnerotrs Oiscrc*-
pancies between the mannseripts of Ibn Hhdikhn's work.
(4)The word dkj. dual of U
; i g w n n t l , is employed, here and elsewhere, to signify a suit
of clothes -See de Saey's Earlri, p. 65, l. 18. As the clothing of the ancient Arabs consistad of nn f. 1
Iizdr, tied mood the waist) and a >J
= 5 (ridd, thrown over the shouldas), the dual numhcr ir very n i l ~ -
rally made use of to denote tbe entire dress.
ri IBN KHALLIKAN'S
~~k~and Omar, learned the troditions from the Khalif Ali; Ibn MilSbd ( S CdeSn(;yls
~ Anlbolof/ir' f;t'r'l"'lit'~
Arobe, 1.111, p. 1.49) ; aid Aiiishn. liis exacrilll(ls i l l l ( 1 ilillll~ril)
ticale, p. 38, ~~~d (deSacl.'r Chras~onurt,ti~
111''
uaditionist were admitted ; ile died A. H.75 (A. D, 694). Anolllcr i.ell!llriltl'(l
same family, Alkarua Ibn 6ais an-x&hai, native of Kdfa and uncle to al-Assad, Was Or)': 01' 1111: ii'('llt,ahsl (I(l('ll)r'
from Omar, Othmao, Ali, Ibn Ma~fidand Afiisll:~. Ifis ~ 1 ~ ! r i l III'I(!
.f his time; he leanled the ~~adiliona

in such high estimation, that the cornpi~nionrof Mubarnmad themselves consultad him on ~~ilrslions 1(1a(.lti11)
11'. ! i i ~ ~ l i . f l l f i f / l i ~
the law. Be died h. H. 63 ( A , D. h9&3)-LOthm~ni1s T,~)akdlul-Fokultd, manuscript
Hoa, So. 735.

ABU THAUR IBRAHIM AL-KALBI.

The doctor Ab& Thaur I b r a h h Ibn Khiid Ibn Abi 'l-Yamir~ :)l-Kall )i \\;IS :.
disciple of the immas$h$fi, who taught him those ancient sayings (l ) I\ I l i ( . l ~I I I -
has transmitted to posterity. This eminent doctor and trust-wort.lry I l ~ t ( l iollist
i~
on religious affairs wrote some works on the Ahkdm (2), and h(: cvir~e(:(lill I ll(.sr
treatises an equal knowledge of tlre traditions and jurisprudt:oa:. l l is l i ~at
studies were taken up with the doctrines of the Rationalists(B), but. ;a-Slli li l , ; ~ vi iy;
come to Irali, he went often to see him, became his follower, and r.rno~~rlc~c*(l 11rr.
opinions of his former sect. He persevered in his adhesion to as-Sl~ili'sp r i ~ l ~ ~ i l ) l ~ ~ s ,
and died the 26th Safar, A. H. 246 (A. D. MO), at Baghdad, whn~x: IBV wits
buried in the cemetery by the gate of Kenis. Ahmad Ibn Hanbal said 01' 11 iIII :
L' I look on him as a second Sofyian at-Thauri (4) ;I have known him ;is a zca;llol I S
" Sonnite for the last fifty gears."

l 1) These ancient sayings were probably old proverbial expressions used by the Arabs of the I)t%c!rl, H 1 1 , ~
lone were supposed to know perfectly the pure Arabic. As-Sb%f!had passed twenty gears of his lire irr it~t.
desert, studying the language: he had, besides, a profound knowledge of the ancient tiistory of ~ t l oArnl,h.
Othmdni's Tabakdt, f. ?k, verso.\
The AMBrn, or Sentences, are the articles which compose the code of Bloslim Law ; lhc~yI I ~ I I 11rc.11 ~~
drawn from four sources: the Koran: the sonna, or traditions; the general consent of the ancier~tirl~unrh,nr~d
dnaloglcai deductions obtained from the comparison of these three. (D'Ohhson's Tablcuu cle rernrykr~Otko-
man, t. l, p. 5 of the Introduction; FlOgel's HajjZ Khalifa, t. I , pp. 177, 332. )
,3; The followers of Abh Hanlfa's doctrines were called Rationalists, by the members of thc* 01hlll- (hrl+ls
orthodox sects, because they preferred, in certain cases, the guidance of reason to that of tmdition, ie dcri(irla
legal questions. I Shahrashni ;Pocock's Specimen Kist. AT., 1). 292.)
41 Literally thus: .. He is t o me m i f he were i n the skin o f Sohian at-Thauri." T)lis i.ss;lgc 1s 1,) t,(.
found also in Othminl's Tubakdt (fol. 49, r.), where the word rendead by ski* is ~vrittenm i ~ l ( l I ~tlle
/ ~ :nlut.l
noinu having been added by the author himself: this circumstmre leaves s o doubt of ttle e(,rrcrtul;.
reading glren In the printed Arabic text. '5% of t h e
 RISII ISHAK RL-MARWAZl
Ab6 Ishak 1l)rahim Ibn Ahmad Ibn 'Ishak al-Marwazi, doctor of the sect ol' '1
ilsShhli, was the grrntcst mufti and professor of his time. Ile learned the prin-
eiplc ol',jurisprudcncc: from Abii 'I-Abbas Ibn Soraij ; and having attailred great
excellence in this science, he succccdcd I bn Soraij as chief oC the Shafitcs in Irak.
IIe com1,osed many works, and commented the MokAtn.sar, or Abridgment of t . h ~
Ihctrine of asShBfi, by al-Muzani. Be was for a long timc probssor and mufti at
I<aghdad, and a ,great number of his pupils attained eminence. It was after him
thal 1 . h ~street of Marwazi, in that quarter of Baghdad called the Grant 4'
ar-Bnhl (l), received its name. Towards the end ofhis life, he set out for Egypt,
where hc finishcd his days t,llct 9th Radjab, A . 1-1. 3h0 ( A . D. 951 ), and was
i n tcrred near thc ton.,l, of (.he imanl as-Shhfi ;some say he died a littlc before mid-
nislr t, on Sunday, I l th Rajah of llle same yrar .-1Marwazi means b c l 0 , 1 ~ i 1 lo
?~
Murtv a.$-Shd/~il,j&z, one of the Sour capitals of Khorasan, the others being Naisa-
piir, IIcnt, and Balkh. This cily was so named in order to distinguish i t
from Marw ar-Rhd : SfhciJ2-jan is a Persian word, which signifies the soul +/)c
king; for slzcih, means king, and ,an soul ; the custom of the Persians being to
place the consequent beforc the antecedent, when in the relation of annexion ( 2 ) .
This city was founded by Alexander ZS '1-Karnain (3), and is the seat of the
government of Khorasan. In forming the rclativo adjective from Marw, a is
added, as in Hazi, derived from Rai, and I.staklzarzi, from Istakhar; this is one
way of its formation ; but according to the opinion of those who have studied the
subject, such relatives are only used when speaking of human beings; in all
other cases, the z must not be added. Therefore one may say of a man, he is a
Marrvazi; and of a garment o r other thing, i t is Mara~i;some say, however, that
111e 3 may be added in all cases, and that the difference in the form of the rcla-
tive makes no diKerence in its signification. The remainder of our observations
concerning these two cities will be found in the Life of the lildi Abd Himid
Ahmad Ibn Ahmir al-Marwarrfidi .
(1) Some particulars respecting the Grant of Rabt will he found in the Life of ar-Rnbl Ibn Yhnus.
(2) See de Sacy's G~ammaireArabe, vol. 11, p. 47, for the explanation of these terms.
(3) Marw as-Shahjhn is probably the ancient Antiocha Morginna, founded by Alexander the Great, and then
called Alexandria; having been ruined afterwards, it was rebuilt by Antiochus, son of Seleucu~,who gave it
his own name.
 AJ3U ISH AK AL - ISFARAINI.

The master A b lshak

~ Ibrahim Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Blihrlrl nl-
of re1igion)doctor of the sect. of a-Shhl'i,
isfariini, surnamed Rokn ad-din (col~~rnn
was an able divine in scholastic and dogmatic theology. The lhkiru Ab5 Ahl
Allah (1) has spoken of him in these terms : " The generality of' tlu: sl~aikhso f
A t Naisiph took lessons from him in theology, and his learning was ;~ckr~ow-

ledged bp the people of Irak and Khorasan ; he is the author of sorne in~por-
" tant works ; among others that great one entitled : Jdmi 'l-Juli, a trratist.
'' on the dogmas of religion, and a refutation of the impious, which I tmvc
" seen in five volumes. The kidi Abi 't-Tayib at-Tabari, bein$ at lslhdirl,
lessons fmm him in the principles of jurisprudence, and it was fbr him that
the celebrated college of Naisipir was founded (2)." Abii 'l-Hasan A t ~ dal-
Ghifir al-Fgrisi cites his name in his continuation of the History of Naisbph, and
speaks of him thus : He was one of those learned men who attained the rank
of Mujtahid (3) by reason of his profound knowledge in the sciences, and of'
c c his possessing all the necessary qualifications for being an imam (or chief' of' a

sect). This doctor, the ornament of the East, used to say : I wish I may
die at NaiGpilr, so that all its inhabitants may pray over me :' and it was
" there he died, on the 10th Muharram, A. H. 41 8 (A. D. 1027). Ilis body was
G afterwards removed to Isfargin, where it was buried in the chapel which bears

his name." The shaikh Abh 'l-KBsim al-Koshairi frequented his lessolls,
and the hi& Ab6 Bakr al-Baihaki, and other writers, quote frequently in their
11-orkstraditions derived from him. He had heard the lectures of Abii Dakr al-
Ismiili (41, inKhorasan ;those of AbrZ Muhammad Dklaj Ibn Ahmad as-Sajazi ( S ) ,
in Irak; and also those of their contemporaries. W e shall speak of Isfariin irr
the article on the shaikh Abii Himid Ahmad Ibn Muhammad al-Isfariini.

(1) The Life of the hhkim Abh Abd Allah will be found amongst those of the Muhammnds.
(2) T h i is an important fact for the literary history of tbe Moslims; it being generally supposed illfit their
Gnt collage was founded at Baghdad, by Nizbm al-Mulk, A. H. 4511 ( A . D. 1066).
31 Those doctors wbo followed the opinions of no other sect, but judged for tl~emselves,were rolled Muj-
takid. (DeSacg's Chrestomathie Arabe, t. I, p. i 6 9 ) .
(I) AM B& hhrnad Ibn Ibrahtm Ibn lsmail Ibn al-AbbAs al-Ismaili, one of the great doctors al. the sect of
e f t . was 6ighly celebrated b r his writing and his knowledge of the law and the traditions, a great puiln-
tcty of wbieh he picked up in his travels. He composed : 1. A Commentary on the JUmi Salrll,. or Collaniori
 BIOGRAP4IICAL DICTIONARY. 9
of authentic Traditions, by T e r ~ n c d i ;2, a Mojam.
I'+ which treated prol~ablyofthe traditionists, and
t h e right orthography of their names ; 3, a Muonad, or Collectior~of Traditions traced u p to the Khalif Omar
; a correct and excellent work, b u t voluminous. Ismalli had for plu~ilshis son, AhQ Saad, and
all the doctors of JorjBn ; he died in Rajab, A. 11. 371 ( A . D. 982), aged 94 years. ( Tabakdt as-Scjhdfgirc.
Tab. al-Fokahd. A b u l f e d ~Annales, tom. 11, p. 651.)
( 5 )Thc imarn AIlI1 Muhammad Dalaj Ibn Ahmad as-Sajazi (of Sejestan), cclebrated mufti and firsttraditionist
of his day. This doctor WilS also a n extensive trader, and becarne lhe richest merchant of his time by his
commercial expeditions. P a r t of his wealth was cmploycd in founding annuities for deserving persons in
MeLka, Itali, and Sejestan: h e w a s particularly lihcr:~l to men of .Iesraing. He died A. H. 351 (A. D. 962 ;,
t aged 91. DBrakutni, a celebrated doctor, relates thal Dalaj bought the house in Mekka which belonged to
al-Ahhls, urlcle of Muhammad, for thirty thousand dinars. (Ydfi's lliradt al-jandn; Man., KO. 6.37,
fol. 261, 2;erso.I

ABU ISHAK AS-SHIRAZ1.

The sllaikll Abd Ishak Ibrahim Ibn Ali Ibn Yhuf as-Shirilzi al-FirGzabidi, sur- 5
named JamBl ad-din (beauty of religiolz), dwelt in Baghdad, and stndied juris-
prudence under many eminent men ; he was an assiduous pupil of AbB 't-Tayib
at-Tabari, and profited by his lcssons, he then acted as his substitute, and was ap-
pointed by him director of repetitions (or under-tutor) of the class ; after which he
became the first imam of his time in Baghdad. NizPm al-Mulk, haqing founded
the college (called Nizn"miyalz) in that city, offered its direction to Abfi Ishak ;
and, on his refusal, appointed to that place AbO Nasr Ibn as-SabbPgh, author of
the ShLrniZ; this doctor filled the situation for a short period ; then Abii Ishak
consented to accept it, and. held it till his death : I have given the details relating
to this in the life of Ibn as-Sabbigh, to which I therefore refer the reader. Abii
Ishak wrote a number of instructive and useful books, such as the Muhaddab,
a treatise on the doctrines of his sect ; the Tanbih, or Call, a work on jurispru-
dence ; the Lornu, or Glimpses, with a commentary, wherein the dogmas of
religion are treated of; the Nokat, or shrewd Devices on controversial subjects ;
the Tabsirdz, or Monitor; the Marzlnulz, or Succour; the TaZhhfs, or Summary,
a Treatise on Dialectics, etc. The number of those who profited by his instruc-
tion was very great. He composed some good poetry, of which I shall give the
following verses:
2
 10 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
: 'l'( 1 s ~ l ~ h
I asked of men : where is a true friend to be foulid ? Thci r allS\tfOr Illall
there is no ray;-cling, if thou canst, to the robe of the ~~oblc-nlirb(l(~(l
; 1111'
of noble mind is seldom met with in the world.
It is related by the shaikh Abii Bakr Muhammad at-Torthi (whosr lift? t.F(lilII 1)t)
given later), that a clever poet of Baghdad, called ABsim, madc ihc Solloivi~l~;
pretty verses in praise of Abh Ishak (to whom God be merciful) :
Thel srrst his body worn away by his active mind ; it healas the mrl.ts of lhnt
ardour which fires his soul ; when the human mind is great with lofty iliougllls, a b{wly
lean and worn is no disgrace.
-ib$ Ishal; was a man of tlre utmost devotion, and rigidly att(:nliv(*( o his
lrligious duties : his merits were countless. He was born at Firdzab!d, A . 11. :ll):I
S -4. D. 1003), and died in Baghdad on the eve of Sunday, 21 st of the s c n ) ~ i ( l
Jumlda (according to as-Samini in his Zail, but others say thefi~*st Ju~lilclit),
A. H. 476 (A. D. 1083), and uas buried the next morning in the cenwtery ;rl 111(1
gate of Abrez. The following elegy was made on his death by Ibn N l ki y l . rrlros(1
life will be found among those of the Abd Allahs :
bfatal event hath struck our eyes with consternation (1)arld hatli cnosctl our. tvi11.s to
flow mingled ~ 4 t hblood! What hath happened to forlune? She can rlol coII(*(.l 11vr
strength, since the loss of her favoured son, Abil Ishak. Say : IJe is tlc:ttl! h111Iris
memory hath not died; it will live and endure while Time doth run h i s courst,.

Muhihb ad-dinIbn an-Najjar(2) mentions Abil Ishalc in his History of Baglldad ,

and speaks of him in these terms : He was the inlam of the sect ofas-Shif'i, ant1
one of those men of merit whose reputation spread abroad ; in learning and
seledenial he excelled every person of his time ; and most of the learned in thc
great &ties r e m his pupils. Born and bred at the town of FLrhzabid, in t111~
province of Fibis, he went to Shirb, where he studied under Ablj. Abd Alla1.1
G al-Bai&vi (3) and Ibn Rlmin (4) ; from thence he proceeded to Basrah, where
he had al-Jiwzi (5) for master; in the month of $hamvbl, A.H. 41 5, he ell-
" rered Baghdad to study under AbB 't-Tayib at-Tabari. He was born A . 11.393.''
6 c ' l asked him," said Abii Abd Allah al-Humaidi, ('the date of his i)irtll, ar~d
" he mentioned to me some circumstances which point out'the year 3% (A. L).
" i006), as he said that he set out to travel in search of learning in the year

" W O (G), and went to Shiriz : others however place his birth in 395, 1,ut God

" knows it hest." On his death, his pupils sat in solemn mourning in t h e
Ni;kn,iM college, and after that cpremony, Muayvad al-Mulk, son Nizjnl
 THE KHATIB ABU ISHAK AL-IRAKI.

hb8 Ishak Ibrahim Ibn Mansfir Ibn Musallam, native of' Egypt. im(I (lo(llor-
ofthe sect of as-Shifi, known also by the name of al-lriki (nulive (!/!/'lrnk1, ails ;I
preacher (khatib ) of the p e a l mosque (of Amr) in Old Cairo, ancl a l i l l ( l ~ l t ( ' ( I
jurisconsul t ; he wmte a good conimentary in ten volumes on thc: dZnhrrrl(l*lhlry
.4hG Ishak Shirizi. Though not a native of i d k , he was called so, J ) ( ~ ( . i ~ l ~ h. i pt ~
had travelled to Baghdad, and studied there for some time : when ie I h;i[ (bit)',

he took lessons in jurisprudence from AbG Hakr Mphammad II)II i~l-IIos;~i~~ rl-
Ormlrui (I), one of Abd Ishak Shirizi's disciples, and from A l i 'I-llnsnn h111-
hammad Ibn al-5iub5rik, surnamed lbrl al-Khall, native of Bn~ll(l;trl. 111 his
own country, he studied jurisprudence under the kadi AbP ' I-Mail i :I l-'M I!~:I lli
1hn Jumaiya ( whose life shall be given later) ; whea in Baghdad, hc was r;lllt*(l
~ l 1:,/;y)t.
11-Misri (the Egyptian), but he got the name of al-Iriki or1 his r e ~ u r to
He is said to have related that his master, Ibn al-Khall, recited 1.0hinl, in Ilal;I~-
dad, the following verses, but without namiug their author:
Falsehood is rendered pleasing if clothed in gilded terms; and Tr.ulh nr:ly so~nc>-
times assume a repulsive form: in praising honey, you may say : Tt~isis thc s:\\iv:\ (2)
of the bee; in blaming, call it : the ejection of the wasp. Ilescribe it with snc.ll I)lnnlc!
and praise as this, and you do not exaggerate: elegant language can rnakc cinrkr~c~gs
appear like light.
hl-Iriki was born at Old Cairo, A. H. 51 0 (A. D. l l 16) ; he died in that city
oo Thursday, Blst of the first Jumida, A. H. 59G ( A . D. 1200), and was l~uriecl
at the foot of mount Mukattam. He had a son of great talent and merit, nanletl
Abd 3fuharnmed AM al-Hukm, who became preacher of the mosque on i b ( ~
death of his father, and composed some good sermons and pleasing poetrv, of'
which the following verses may be cited; they were written on Imad ad-din 11111
Jibril, commonly called Ibn Ahhi 'l-Ilm, chief of the treasury-officc in Cairo,
who had shattered his hand by a fall :
Imad Ibn Jibril has a hand which bears an evil mark; though given to thieving, i l
had as yet escaped a tardy amputation; but a fracture has happened to il now which
will not be readily healed.

He m t e other verses in the same style of originality as the prrcedin~,which

7 I have, however, since met with in the poetical works of Jaafar I l ~ nSl~alnsal-
lihilifa ( whose life shall be given later) ; so that I cannot decide to which author
 BIOGRAPHICAL 1)ICTIONARY. 23

they belong. Abd al-Hukm composed the following verses on a man condemned
to death (for murder), and who was shot dead by the person authorized to t,ake
blood-revenge ; the arrow striking him in the heart : (3)
]+om thc heart (the mzddle) of thc bow you expclled its son ( the arrow); aird the
bow sighed; for a molher will sigh when separated from her child: but the bow was
I I O I awarc that the arrow you shot off wollld merely pass from one heart to nnothnr.
t

The idea expressed in the first of these verses was taken from the following
lines, composed by a native of Maghreh :
No doubt of my affliction when my friends depart; on that day oF separation when I
arid sadncss shall bc (inseparable) brothers! Thc vcry bow, though formed of wood,
utters a sigh when forced to send away its arrow.
The idea in Abd al-I-lnkm's sccond verse is taken from a poem rhymingin nz,
by Omarat al-Yamani, and of which we shall speak tlcr*partpr in that person's
iik : al-Yamani, having come horn Mekka to Egypt, composed this poem in
praise 01' the reigning prince, al-Fiis Isa Ibn ZiGr al-Obaidi, and of his vizir,
SAlih Ta!aiya Ibn Ruzzik (whose Lives will be found in this work) ; in the
conrsr: of tlic poem, he lauds in these terms the camels which had borne kink
to Egypt :
They wcnt forth at cve from Ihe J(nikb:l of al-Bath9 and the I-larem (L.), to visit the
Kaaba of generosity and noblencss. 1)irl thv ternplc Itnow that, on leaving it, I should
only pass from one harem (sancluary) to anothcr?
The following verses arc also hv AIld al-1IJr1l;m :

When my belovcd perceived my cycs pour forth their. tears, she pressed me to restore
the pearls which had adorned her neck : astonishetl ( then at her rnistalce) she smiled ;
and I said to my friend: That which she thought lost is in her mouth.
This idea is taken from the following piece of verse, composed by Abti 'I-Hasan
Ali Ibn Atiya, better known as Ibn az-ZalrkAk, native of Valentia, in Spain :
-4fawn (-lilce nymph) passed round thc cups at dawn ; the morning brightened up,
and still she pushed them round; the flowery mead o8ered us its anemones, and the
scented myrtles now began to breathe. " Where," said I, " are the white blossoms
of the anthemis?" My companion answered: " I deposed them in the mouth of her
who fills my cup." She who poured out the wine denied the charge; but her smiles
betrayed her, and she blushed with confusion.
Safi ad-din Abb Muhammad Ahd Allah Ibn Ali, commonly called Ibn Shukr,
vizir of al-Malik al-Aidil Ibn Aiydb, having taken from A M al-Hukm the
place of preacher in the mosque of Old Cairo, this poet wrote him the fol-
lowing lines :
 14 IBN KHALLIISAN'S
To door shall I repair for refuge, if not to thine? from I V ~ O(:an~ 1 V ~ l ) c ~lib(>-.
l~l
rality, if not from thee? All paths and ways are closed up against' nip, ibr(:(>l)r ll~al
which leads towards thee; direct me then how to act. It seems as if thr ( I I O ~ ) ~ IbIl Ir )
doors of other men had become ( one single door,) I hy door I It seems as il' ill(n i a l o ~ ~ v
wert all the human race!
8 The thought in this last verse is borrowed from the poet as-Salbrlli, who s;~ys:
I encouraged my hopes with the prospect of dominion, (and) a l l ~ I ~ : ~ I I ~ Ij I my
I(I
subjects) ; the world was to be my palace; and eternity, one day of my reifis !

W e shall speak of the poem from which this verse is taken, in t h I,i
~ h: of'
Adad ad-Dadat (Fenncikhosrzi)Ibn Buwaih, under the letter F.-The ( i ~ l l o ~ v i r l ~ ;
verses were pronounced by Abd al-Hokm when he first unveiled his 1)ridv :
When the charms uf the bride were disclosed to my eycs, shc hid har Sa(.c w ~ l h hctr

hand, on which was graven a net-work tracery ( 5 ) . " Yoor &rts to I ~ I ( I (your ~
countenance will not now avail," said I ; " when has a net hid the light of (ltc ~ 1 1 1 1 ~ / "
R V the s a m e :
At the feast, where we spent the night in pleasure, it seemed as if w c \vclrtt t)orr~c>
asIeep upon the waters; over us were the constellations; under us, tho boal; iri I t ~ o s c ~ ,
stars : in this, full-moons (G).
By the same
Proceed gently! all affairs admit delay : do you, who are a lion, fear to bc: i ~ i h l ~ l l ( v l
If you dwelt in Egypt, you would be a Nile (spreading abundance) I If you wcbr~t IV
Syria, you would be a fertilizing shower l
This author was born on Sunday eve, 19th of the first Jumadl, A. 11. .',ti:{
(A. D. 1168); he died at Old Cairo, on the morning of the 28th Shaabin, A. 11.
613 (A. D. 1216), and was buried at the foot of mount Mukattam. A great. (ltbal
of his poetry, and all of an agreeable cast, was recited to me by his son. Tlls
ImPd ad-din, above-mentioned, bore the name of Ab6 A M Allah Muham~nadI b11
Ahi 'ldmana Jibril Ihn al-Mophaira Ibn Sultin Ibn Nima ; he was a worthy
Inan, and celebrated for his great integrity in the fulfilment of his duty ; he h;~d
been employed most part of his life in different government-ofices at Old Cairo
and Alexandria. Born A. H. 558 ( A . D.1 163) ; died at Cairo, the 51h of Sha+
A. H. 637 (A. D. 1240).

(l\ The irmm and jurisconsult Ahtl Bakr Muhammad al-Ormowi ( naiiue of Ormiya in Adcrhljun wns r
pupil of the celebrated AbO Ishak acShWzi. Died A. H. 537 (A. D. 1142). ( Tab. ol-Fokehd.)
(2) It may appear strange that such a word as this should be thought compatible with an rlcgaat S Q I L ~ : t h ~
bet is, homeer. that it is often employed by Arabic writers : and the Moslim poet, in describing the pleasurea
of love. never fails vaunting the intoxicating draughts imbibed from the honeyed lips of his mistress.
 (3) Litcr;illy: i n the liver. T l i Arabic
~ word signilics also that part of the bow which is equally distant
from tllc two ~ ~ ~ r c m i t i ethere
s : is 3 play upon this double meaning i n the vcrscs immcdiatcly follo~ing.
(4)AI-Bathd, the grauelly, is the narne of the vallcy in which Mekka is built; tllc Harem is the sacred
territory o f Mcl,ka; the Kaaba is the tcrnple or that cily, towards which all the Moslims turn when saying their
prayers ; a LicLabuof generosity mcarls a rloblc and liberal patron, on xhom all eyes are fired with hope.
(31 Among the Arab wonlcri it is still customary to latloo the hauds and arms.
((j, 1" tllis ~ t r * ( , ,the port plays up011 lhe double ~rtcarlir~g
o f tllc vord Ajldk, v\ hich signities the conslcl-
latio,ls n j . t/re sr~dicirant1 ships ; by the full moons, IIO dcsignales his fair companions, the partners in his
i)ltBi~bt~r('\.

A 1 4 Ishak Ibrahim Ibn Nasr Iljn Askar, surnamed Zahir ad-din ( ~ ~ y p o r t o f '
religion), doctor of tlre sect of as-Shifi, kidi of Salllmiya, and native of hTososu1, is
thus spoken of by Ibn ad-Dobaithi i n his I-Iistory (I) :" Abb Ishak, nativc: ofMosul,
studied jurisprudence in that city under the kMi Abli Abtl Allah al-Hosain Ibn
' L Nasr Iblr Khamis, native or the same place, from whom he learned the traditions :
L L having 1lre11travelled to Baghdad, he took lessons from a number of masters,

and returned to his 13a1iveplace. TIe became kidi of Sallimiya, a town in he

dependency of Mosul, and he taught, when in Irbil (ArbeZa), a portiorl of the
" works of Abil 'l-Barakkt Ahd ar-Rahmin Ibn Muhammad al-Anbiri, the gram-
" marian, under whom he had studied at Baghdad, along with many natives of

t,hat city." This talented jurisconsult was originally fronl Sindiya, in Irak ;
he studied law a t the Nidmiva college in Baghdad ; he learned and taught the
traditions, and filled, for a long time, the place of kadi in Sallhmiya. His reigning
passion was poetry, and his verses, the following for instance, are very pleasing:
Oh, my friends I call me not a man of perfidy; no perfidy is in my character. I 9
swear-by the days of my life which have passed away, and by those joys which have
departcd-that I have been always conslant in m y promised friendship, and that the
ties of my attachment have never yet been broken.

R y the same :
The bounty of a generous man, promised but long delayed, is never pure from alloy.
Vain and useless are the lightnings from the cloud, if it withholds its promised showers.
He who defers fulfilling his promise merits blame, though his hands should lavish
riches after the long delay. Oh, tree of bounty I. the man must not be blamed who
shakes thy branches when he needs thy fruit.
 16 IBN IiRALLIKAN'S
In a village called al-Bawizij, near Sallimiya, was a convent inhiil)itr(l by a
fraternity of dervishes, under a sheikh named Mekki, upon whom t i r b~llotviri~
verses were made by AbQ Ishak :
Go bear to Mekki this word of good counsel ;for good counsel merits a ttcs tioll: \vi1(*11
was it taught, as a point of religion, that the (pursuit o f ) riches is a [)rcnll)l i s r ~ ~ l c ~ n l v ( l
by Muhammad, and therefore to be followed? ( Vhen was it taught) that e mall ~ l ~ o l l l t l
eat with the voracity of a camel, and leap about in the conventiclc till hr fill1 U'rre
he hungry, were his stomach empty, he would neither whid round for joy nor lirteo to
musicians. They say : We Bre intoxicated with the love of the Divirlily l 11\11 fttal
which intoxicates the katernity is draughts ( o f the wine cup). Tho ass io a rich \lilslurc\
acts as they ; when its thirst and hunger are satisfied, it skips about .
Abil 'l-Barakit Ibn al-Mastawfi mentions his name with e u l o p ; i ~ ~i ~r ~l ~i hc
History of Arbela, and cites numerous extracts from his works, ar~cl l i n n ~ iho
letters he received from him: the katib Imhd ad-din also speaks of him i r ~ihr
Kharida (2), as a young man of talent. The following verses an: his :
I said to her : Unite me to thee in the bonds of love1 but she turnod away t ~ r rhcatl
asif I had asked her to commit a crime. If she reject my love thro~iehScar of siar~i~l(;
(she should reject) that it is a grievous sin to cause ( by a cruel rerugal ) ttlrt t lonlh c )f ;r
Moslim .
This writer died at Sallimiya , on Thursday , the 3rd of the secorkti Italbi,
A. H, 610 (A. D. 1213) : he had a son whom I met at Aleppo, and who r'rc-it(bcl 10
me a great deal of his own and of his father's poetry : he wrote verses wt:ll, ilrttl
hit upon fine ideas. Salllmiya was a village on the east bank of tht: Ti(;ris, a
day's journey lower down than Mosul, which stands on the west bank : t t l ~t o w n
of Sallimiya, in which Zahir addin was kiidi, is now in ruins, and a new
of the same name has been founded in the neighbourhood.

(1)Thiswork of as-IbnDobaithiis a continuation of the History of9Baghdadby Saad ad-$ambni, whicb ih

iwlf a Supplement to the celebrated work composed by Abh Bakr Ahmad, surnamed al-Khs~thal-Baghdhdi :
the l ~ v e sof these writers will be found in this work.
,ZI See MS. of the Bibliothique du Roi, No. 1414, fol. 191, verso.

lBRAHIM IBN AL-MAHDI.

Abii lshak Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi Ibn Abi Jaafar al-Mansfir Ibn Muhamulad l brl
10 Ali 1bn Abd-Allah Ibn al- Abbls ibn Abd aCMuttalib al-Ilishimi(descendedJi.on1
 B:IOC;I\Al)IIICAL .DICTIONARY. l

flkishim, grandfather to Mulranzmarl), brolllcr to ilariin ar-Raslrid. This prince

had grcat talent as a singcr, and an able hand on musical instnlmcnts ; he was
also an aereeahle companion at parties of' pleasure. Being of a dark complexiorl
,c.llich he inherited from his mother Sliilila or Shakla (who was a negress), and
a large fmmc of body, ho rcceivcd the rlanlcof nl-l'i1zni12 (ihs dr~igon).IIewas a
man of great merit and a. perfect scholar, possessed of an open heart and a
generous hand; his like had never before been seen among thc sons of khalifs,
none of whom spoke with more propriety arld elegance, or composed verses will)
paeater ability. I-Ie was proclaimed khalif at Baghdad some time after A. H. 300,
during the absence of al-MBmPn (the reigning khaltf) in lihorasan; (the his-
tory of that event is well Icnown) (1) ; and he continued for two years khalif in
that city: at-Tabari says, in his Annals, that the reign of Ibrahim lasted one year,
eleven 'months, and twelve days. The cause which induced the people to
renounce allegiance to al-Mgrniin and proclaim Ibrahim khalif, was the conduct
uf the former, who during his stay in Khorasan, appointed for his successor AIi Ibn
Mdsa ar-Rida, whose life shall be given in the letternin. This clloice being highly
displeasing to ( t h e members of the reigning fanzily) the Abbasides (2), who
were in Baghdad, they proclaimed Ihrahim, uncle to al-Mimlln, khalif, under
the title of al-Mubirak (the Blessed) ; this took place on Tuesday, 25th ZA '1-
Iiijja, A . 11. 201 ( June, A. D. 817) . The Abbasidcs of Baghdad began first by
making a secret. promisr of allegiance to IbrahEm, and the inhabitants of the city
took a sirnilar engagement the I st Mullarram, 202 (July 20th, A. D. 817), pro-
nouncing at the same time the deposition of al-Mimbn ; then, on Friday,
5th Mirharram, they published thcir resolution, and Ibrahim mounted the-pul-
pit ( 3 ) . Al-Mimlin, on appointing Ali Ibn MOsa for his successor, had ordered
the public to cease wearing black, which was the distinctive colour of the Abbn-
sides, and to put on green (whiCIz colour was appropriated to thefamily ft Ali
c~ndtheir partisans) : this gave also great dissatisfaction to the Abbasides, and
was one of the motives which provoked their. enmity towards al-MQmiin : the
wearing of black was re-established on Thursday, 29th Zii 'I-Kaada, 207 (May,
A. D. 823) ; the reason which rendered this change necessary is given by at-Tabari
i n his Aqnals (4.)). On al-Mhmiin's setting out for Baghdad from Khorasan, lbra-
him became apprehensive for his personal safety, and concealed himself; this was
on Wednesday, 16th Zii 'l-Hijja, 203 (June, A. D. 819 ) ;before which took place
3
18
-- IBN KFTALLIRAN'S
ill)yi(1{;-
many events loag to relate, andmhiclr I have no space to reconl in
ment (5). Al-htimbn made his entry into Baghdad on Sunday, 15111 Salill., 204
(August, 819). At the time Ibrahim concealed .*liinlself,lhe ~ ) o ( ~i)ildl
t . ;)I-
IihozPi made the following verses on him :
f i e son of and his gang raised tumults in Irrk; then cvery h)ol rind villnil~
flew to join him! \\'ere Ibrahim fit to reign, the empire had d c v ~ l v ~1))'( l rig111 l o
Muharik, to Zulzul, and to Marik! Must it be?-but no1 'tis impossible! Must lho
patrimony of the khalifs pass from one reprobate to another 4

Mubjrik, Zulzul, and mhril;, the persons mentioned in the forcgoi~gvvrsos,

were p b l i c singers of that time. The history of Ibrahim's advcntur(!s is IOIIB (io
relate) and s e l l h o r n (6) (so we shall merely cite the *fidLocr)hgitri(btll 01'
his Zfe, and give it in his own words): Al-MLmin said to me, on nly (;oi~lr;
" to see him after having ., obtained pardon: ' Is it thou who art [.he 1 1q1rl
khalif? ' to which I replied : Conunander of the Faithful ul 1 all1 l)(: 1~110111
" thou hast deigned to prdo;; and it has been said by thc slrvo of i l l , .

' When men extol their worth, the slave of the family of Rashas can supl)ly, h y
' his verses, the aefect of birth and fortune.
L Though I be a slave, my soul, through its noble nature, is free; thoueh my botly bc!

dark, my mind is fair.

a To this a l - M h d n replied : 'Uncle! a jest of mine has put you in a scriol~s

mood.' He then spoke these verses :
' Blackness of skin canuot degrade an ingenious mind, or lcsson tho worth of lhc
' scholar and the wit. Let darkness claim the colour of your body; I claim as minc
' your fairand candid soul .' "

A modern has versified the sarntL

poet, Ibn Kalikis, whose life we shall give,
thought, with some additions of his own, and expressed it most happily; his
words are :
There are females dark in skin, but in conduct clear and pure ; whose presence woul(1
induce the (white) camphor to envy the (black)musk : 'tis thus with the pupil of ihc oye ;
men think it black, though merely (concentated) light.
The khalif al-Motasim, successor of al-MAmdn, was one day seated on his
throne, having on his right al-Abbis, son to al-MAmiln, and on his left Jbrahinl
lbo al-Mahdi, wheu the latter began playing with a ring he held in his hand ;
W h a t ring is that ?" said al-Abbis ; It is a ring," replied Ibrabim,
whicll
L( I pledget1 during the reign of your father (S), llut wlliclr I redeemed only in the
of the Commandrr of the Faithful (Itere 111-esent) ." By Allah ! "
al-Aljbis, l' sincc you are ungratt:ful to my Pathcr, who spnrcd your
life notwi~llstar~din~ the cnorrnity of your crime, you will not be thankrul to
tile Cont~nnndcr* of tllc Faithful for having redertmed your ring." The othcl-
was silenccbd I>y this retort. lljrahinl's ;~tlvciltaresform a very long narrative
wlrich is ~ c l a t c d Ly historians, I, howcvcr, have allridged llis history, and
indicated thc lending points only ; but at,-Tabari and others have given it in Full.
When al-Minliin got Ibrahim in his ],o\ycr, he consulted the vizir Abmad Ihri
Abi Khilid al-Ahwal (0) as to what should be done with the prisoner, and
~~eccived this answer : ' l Commander of the Faithful l if you punish him with
' death, you will have your like (anlong sovereigns) , but if you forgive him,
you will Le peerless." Ibrahim was born about tllc first of Zii 'l-Kaada,
A . 11. 162 ( July, A. D. 779) ; and died at Sarr-man-ria, on Friday, 7th Ra-
madhn, 224. (July, A. D. 839) ; funeral prayers wcre read over him by his
nephew al-Motasim. Al-Jauhari (the lexicographer) mentionsin his Sulzci/~,under
the word rau, six different manncrs of writing Serr-men-raa, viz : Sorr-man-
r j a , Sarr-man-ria, Sorr-win-rii, Sarr-min-rii, Sf a-man-rf a, and Samarrii ;
which last, with the final syllahlc lcngtllened, has been employed by al-Bohtori,
it1 this verse : " And you placed i t as a leading mark at Samarrii." 1 know not,
however, if this pron~lnciationbc in use, or ii' the poet only adopted it from
rlccessi t y ( on account of of' the verse, which here i.egliires U long
,~reast~rc
final syllable). This city, wllich is situatcd in Irali, was built by al-Motasim in
the year 220 (A. D. 835); in i t is tlrc cavern from which the Imamites expect
the coming forth of the tweplr Imam (l O), whose life shall be given in the letter M.
See AbuEfoda Annalcs, 1. 11, p . 117.
(I)
(2) It must bc rccollcctcd that the numbcr of persons dcsccndcd from al-4bbhs amounted, in A. B. 200,
to 33,000, according to a census made by al-MBmbn. (Ibn al-Atllr. AbQ '1-Fadh. )
(3) During more thart three centuries i t was customary for the lthalifs to pronounce, in person, theblltvtbu,
or declaration of faith, from the pulpit every Friday; Ibrah'lm, in mountirlg the pulpit, had thus openly
assumed the functions of khalif. The details of this revolt are to be found in the Annals of Abh 'l-Fadh;
see also, in the Bihliothdque Qrielzfale, the article Marnoun.
(4)The entire orisinal textofat-Tabari is not to be found in the BZbliothBque dol Roi;butIbn al-Athlr, who
has often copied him verbazim in his Annals, furnishes us with the following passage: '* In the year 201 took
" place the revolt o f k b d ar-Rahmin lbn -4hrnad Ibn Abd-Allah Ibn Muhammnd Ibn Omar Ibn Ali Ibn Abi
" Tblib, in the country of the tribe of Akk, situated in the province of Yemen. He called on the people to
.a Rids (the o f God) of family of ?yIuliammad." (Indeed orcry Al~l~fiht(lfi a 110 r('iollr.{l
akinst the Omaiyader, and every member of the family of Ali r h o C C V O ~ ~ Cngitiflst
(~ ill(' A lll)fi'iiljl'*. 1 I'IJI P-
rented h i m a l l as a lieutenant of that mysterious person Be Rida, r h o I\ or of I " o I ~ ~ s ( I: I I I L ~i t I 10~ ~11111 ~ ~ ~ ~ i t i i -
tiat.4 and in some cares was the very individual who headed the insurrcctio~l). " l'lt(' r.flltrfbof' tllir !*l*roll
h * the unjust conduct of the government agents in Yemen, sllich obligad 111~poOll(t to [)n~i*lsirs Abll
&. rr-RahrnAn. When news of thts came to AI-MhmOn, he sent agailbsl l1ir11Iliniir ll~rtAid-hlli111, ~r ill1 n
numerous army, a d gave him also letters of pardon for the rebel. Dinfir, af1f.r visitl~lu I grrnt l ~ i of ri1(1

Mesa, and performing the pilgrimage, marched towards Yemen. and sent l l l ~pnr(1011to h l ~ dnr-linhmln,
c + who aceepted it, and submitted la the authority of al-MlmOn, by ylacil~ghis Ilna~l in tl1,11 e l Dillhr.

.' a h o brought him to al-Mamfin. On account of this (revolt) nl-MDmfin Sorl~itl rlla rncnll~crs of thn
.' family of Ali to enter into his presence. and ordered them to wear hlnck : lhis took pltlcc the 281.11 %l\'/-
Kaada." (Ibn al-Athir's Kdmil, Arabic MS. of the Bib. du Roi, under the yclrr 207.)
(51Those events are related by Abh l'-Fadh in his Annals.
( 6 ) During Be time of Ibrahim's concealment, he had 4 number of hair-brcatlth cscnprri, ntlci tllc* hihtory cif
his disguises and adventures is very amusing; but it has not, as yet, been trarlslotcd inlo nlly Irc~sopc*rt~l Inrr-
page : N Hurnbert, of Geneva, has given however the Arabic text of it in his Artator,tn Artrbfrci ; ntltl
N.Caussin de Perceval intends publishing a French translation of the l i i l a b al-Aghdni, in a hir.11 \\ill 11v
found many curious stories respecting Ibrahlm.
(7) According to the author or Lhe Masdlik al-Absdr, (Arabic M S . of the Bib. du II(oi, nncbien ronds.
no 1371, fol, 78;)this poet's name was Sohaim W , and the BanO 'I-HashAs were a britr~cl~of thu tr101'
c+
of Asad. I suspect him to have lived before I& introduction of Islnmism ; Tabr'lzi c i l c ~R uerua of Iris i l l 1111~
commentary on the Hamdsa, p. 492.
(8) 81-MimQn jvas reputed avaricious, and to this Ibr&lm alluded; for a khalif sl~oultl1101 lrovu s ~ K ( ~ r c t l
any of his family to remain in want.
(g) The vizir Ahmad Ibn Abi Bhilid al-Ahwal wk a freedman, and had been cmploycd o~ K d t i h , or scribc
in the government ofices before his nomination to the place of vizir. He was a Inan of grcnt i~~lalllgcnrc,
prudence, and foresight, and possessed, besides, the talent of expressing his ideas in an eleprrl nad corrrct
style. He died A. B. 210 (A. D. 825), according to Fakhr ad-dlu. (MS. of theBib. duRoi, No. 805, f o l . 218.)
D'Herbelot, in the Bibliothipue Orientale, article AHMED,relates an anccdote tending to provc ihe ignomnrc!
of this vizir : in this he has committed a double mistake; the Arabic expression mtldo usc of by Iho kt~nlif
Motasim is incorrectly translated (compare the note given by Reiske in the second volumc of AI)& 'I-Podh'x
~ n n a l s page
, W, with M. de Sacy's observation in the Anlhologie grammaticale, p. g38); 1110 secorbd cbrror
of d'~erhe1otconsists in applying this anecdote to Ahmad Ibn Abi Iihilid, and not to Ahmod lbn Amrnrlr Ibrr
shadi. ~ j 3 k ,who was the ignorant vizir in qhstion (compare l b n KhollikhnpsLifc of Mullanl-
mad Ibn a?-Zaiyht with F u r ad-din, fol. 218.)
(10) See Bib. Orient., IMAM.

IBRAHIM AN-NADIM AL-M AUSILI.

AbB hhak Ibrahiln Ibn MahAn (or. Maimdn j Ibn Batman
Ibn Busk
adopted member of the tribe of Tarnim, and descended from a fanlily of Ariajiijll~
( a ciy in ihe province of Khcize~tdn) :. he .is generally known by th:
tide of an-Nadim al-hlausili ('the social con~panion01. singer f,-onl JJosnl, )
thou$ not Born in that city; but having gone to live 11ln.c Tor some time, he
was called a Mosulite; (such is the ol~servationmade by AIh 'l-Faraj of Ispahan,
in his Kilbb a2-Aghrini) : he came of a noble Persian housr, but his fatbcr had
emigrated and settled at Kbfa. The first khalif in whose prescnce he sung was 1%
al-Mabdi, son of al-Mansilr ; he was unequalled as a singer, and he discovered
several new musical moties ; when Ibrahim sung, with his ~vife'sbrother, Man-
sbr, called also Zulzul, to accompany him on the lute, the audience were trans-
ported wilh pleasure. 1-1;s adventures and concerts are equally famous : it is
related that the khalif Nariin ar-Raschid was passionately fond of a fair slave
named Mirida, but they quarrelled, and their mutual displeasure continued for
some time. This induced JaalBr the Barmaliide ( flarun's oizir) to order (the
peer) 11-AbbQs lbn al-Ahnaf to con~posesomething applicable to the circum-
stance, and the following verses were written by him in consequence :
Return to thc friends you have abandoned ; the bondsman of love but seldom shuns
(his mistress) : iF your mutual estrangement long endure, indifference will glide (into
your hearts) and ( l o s t affection) will hardly be retrieved.

In pursuance to Jaafar's orders, ibrahim sung these verses to ar-Raschid, who

immediately hastened to Mhrida, and got reconciled to her. She then asked him
what brougt~t about this event; and being informed of what had passed, ordered
to Ibrahim and al-Abbis a present of 10,000 dirhems each, and ar-Raschid, on
her request, recompensed them with a reward of 4.0,000 dirhems (1). Ibrahim
had been put into the Mnrbnk or chief prison of Baghdad by ar -:Rasehid , and
Salm sl-Khbir (2) (tltepoet) related to A b i ~'l-Atihiya what had happened; on
which the latter pronounced these verses :
Oh, Salm I Salml without thee no joy remains : al-Mausili is in prison, and our life
has become bitter I Pleasures are no longer sweet, since their author-noblest of men!
is hidden by the prison ( from our sight) . Al-Mausili has been abandoned by all God's
creatures ; but their life ( n o w ) feels harsh and irksome. Disport and joy are in prison,
and nought remains on earth to disport and give joy.
Ibrahim was born at Kiifa, .A. H. 125 ( A . D. 7 4 2 ) , and he died in Baghdad
of a disorder in the intestines, A. H. 188 (A. D. 804); others say 213(A. D. 828),
but the first is the right date : we shall speak again of this event in the Life of
al-Abbiis Ibn al-Ahnaf (which see) , It is said that Ibrahim a1 Mausili, Abu 'l-
htghiya the poet, and Abh Amr as-Shaibini the grammarian, died at Baghdad, in
tlie year 21 3, and on the same day; it is also related that Ibrahim was yet a child
 p2
-- IBN KIIALLIICAN'S
when his father died,and that the tribeofFamim took charge ofiin~,andI)n)l~gh~ hitn
up; forwhich reasonhewis styled Tarnhi. We shall make n~cntionofiliss(l11IS-
hak. According to al-Jauhari (3) and al-HBzimi, the word Arr~Lj61r is w r. i I t rll i I I 1
a double r : we shall speak again of this place in the Life of Ahmad nl-A ~*r:!i$rli.
( L ) The silver dirhems of ar-Rashid's coinage are nearly of the same wcight as the Frrnrh punr, but t l ~ t y
are much broader and thinner.
(P) AbUAmr Salm Ibn Amr al-Khbrir (the loser) native ol'Basra n poet ~~olorious for hin p r ~ ( l i g ~ lift*.
to l i r ~ ~ l
atBagbdrd, and was cotpmporarywilh the khalifs al-Mahdi, al-mdi, nnd ar-~ilschld; he rnndc vrrxaa i s p m l ~ f s
of the khalifs and the Barmilkides. The surname of the loser, was given to Ilirn, becaufo he sold 11 ropy of'
the Koran to buy a book of poetry with the money, or else bccausc he had squandered t b r i r 1 1 ~ ~ 11th

inherited from his father; such are the explanations given in the Kamils; but the nnonyrrtaun rulhor of t l ~ v
remodeled edition of Ibn Khdlikin's work (&IS. of the Biblioth@ue du Roi, NO. 731) 8rtys thnl Sdldlrt. f o ~
so he calls him erroneously, bought a lute with the money he got for his Koran; 1,he snmc wrllcr ~ l v ~ *Lllc. ?c
year 1% as that of his death; but it must be remarked, that this author i s very oftcn mistaken, rlr~tlHIIOM r
great ignorance in rhany of the alterations made by him in Ibn Khallikh's work. The outl~orof thc Kirdl,
al-Aghdni, mentions Salm in the Life of Abh 'l-Atlhiya, but furnish~sno informnlion refillectir~ghlra. I t ~ l
al-Abbb, in his al-Hullat as-Siyard (Arabic MS belonging to the Asiatic society of Puris) , ulnit*s ilrnt ~ I I ( ~
book ofpoetry boughtby Salm was the diwln of Amro'l-kais (fol. 111, recto). The onalyuis of thiH work ir
given by Casiri in his Bibliotheca Arabica under the number 1649.
(3) f i n KhalliiAn has omitted the Life of al-Jauhari in his work, but some information mny be o b l i ~ i ~ ~ v t l
on this subject from Hamalier's Specimetl Catalogi Cod. MSS., Lug d . Bat., p. 48. This lericogruplitr d ird :I 1
Naaphr, A. H. 392 (A. D.1002). ( P a r s Kitdb al-Jandn, US. No. 137. )

IBRAHIM AS-SULI.
Ibrahim Ibn al-Abbas Ibn Muhammad Ihn Sbl-Takin as-Sbli was ii
poet of reputation and talent ; his works have been collected and form a snlall
voliime of exquisite pieces; the following is a specimen of his tender style' :
Visits draw close the hearts which coolness had parted ; but my visit to (the c a p r i c i l ~ ? ~ )
Laila has changed her affectionto dislike I The maids that dwell in the (distant) v n l k y
of al-Liwa are nearer to me than Laila, though her dwelling be hem at hand (1).
The style of his prose writing is admirable ; as, for instance, in the follow in^;
threatening letter written by him in the name of the khalif to some rckls :
'5 a Know that the Commander of the Faithful bath patience; to which, if useless,
threats succeed ; if they avail not, his resolutions shall. Adieu." Tllis
address is not only concise but also highly figurative ; in fact, it has @yen rise to
the followi~gverse :
To useless delay threats succeed; if they avail not, resolution shall.
 This author used to say : " In composirv my letters L relied inerely ol-L
tfiose ideas which my mind might inspire, and on those sentimcnts which
" might spri~lgfrom my heart ; I exccpt, however, tllese two passages : c l ' / ~ o l
a c cy/zi~h gurrrded tlrenz expo.red then4 ( to danger ) ; ar2d ilieir n.ylrcm hecamr
c their ix-ison!' and in anollrcr kttcr of mine : Tllg llurlcd h i n 2 f i ~ mhisJbr-
tress to a prisotz, and they coirsed him to ercltange hope for death ( 2 ) ! ' In
the latter sentence, I imitated the following verse by Moslim Ibn al-%Valid al-
l' Ansiri, sur~mmedSaria 'I- Ghawci12i he vm~quishedby the fair) (3) :
' ( JIo appeared,) standing on (mou~zt)Mahaj, on the ( f a t a l ) day OF ZA-Rohaj (4) : he
' seemed the speedy death of all my hopcs .'

In the former sentence, 1 irnitated ail cxprcssion used by Abh Tamrnim in

L these verses :
If he cntcr thc dcserbt, he shall meet with sword and lance inslead of hospitality ;anti
' he shall quench his thirst at the cistern of Death ! If hc raise a wall around him, i t
L shall not be his fortress, but his prison I If not, let him know thal you arc angry
' with him, arid fcar alono shall doubtless cause his dealh.'

Ibrahim as-Sbli was sister's son to al-Abbis Ibn al-Ahnaf, he ramous poet; he
was called as-SW, after his grandfather, Sbl-Tekin, a prince of Jorjhn, who madc
profession of Islamism to Yazid Ibn al-Muhallab Ibrl AbiSufra (the MosZi~~zcon~ue-
ror o j Khorasrilt.).The h i & Abii'l-liisim IIamza 1bnYQsufas-Sahmi(5) says, in his
IIistory of Jorjin : "As-Shli came of a family native of Jorjin; (Sill, or as it is some-
" times pronounced, Jiil, is the inme of a demesne situated in Jorjan) ;he was pa-
" ternal uncle to the father of Aljil Bikr Muhammad Ibn Yahya Ibn Abd Allah
" Ibn al-Abb$s as-Sfili, author of the Boolc of Vizir-Sand otller works ; so their
genealogies meet in one common progenitor, al-Abbis (as-SI*"li'sfat/2er)."
Abd Abd-Allah Muhammad 1bn Dawhd Ibn al-Jarrlh (6) mentions him in his
Kitab al-War-akat in these terms : Ibrahim Ibn al-Abbis Ibn Muhamrnad
Ibn Sill, surnamed Abu Ishak, native of Baghdad, drew his origin from Kho-
" rasan ; he was a better poet than the other Ktitibs (7) who were coternporary
with him, and his style was more graceful than theirs ;his poems are short, con-
' ' taining from lhree to ten verses only ; but his descriptions of the vicissitudes of
" fortune have not been outdone. He belonged to a highly respectable Turkish
" family ; the two brothers, Sill and Firhz were Turkish princes of Jorjin, who

" had adopted the Magian religion, and become quite like Persians. When
 Ill('il9 :lmo('aly,
yazid lbn al-Muhallib came to Jorjin, h e y obtained from
I'and ~ bhaving
l made to him profession of Islamism, remained ('OllstilIll will1
6.km till they bob fell in the battle of a]-Akr (8). Abfi OmQri~M~1J1a111111ild
4.Ibn was one of the principal ( Abbaside) missionaries (9) ; h(' \vns k illf*!.
64along with Muk$til Ibn Hakim al-Akki (10) and somc olhfl*~,
Aid - AlIilIl
Ibn Ali al-AbbiSi, uncle to the Khalifs Saffihand al-Mansh, vvh~ola: ~ r ~ v o l l ( d
against his nephew (I l ) . lbrahim and his brothcr Ahd-Allah ))(.crrrit: n d l ~ r -
" rents to (the uizir) a1 Fad1 Ibn Sahl, surnamed Zb 'l-Riisatain (1 2) ; 1I)r:lhirn
" was [hen employed in the provinces, as agent for the Sultan, and lill(l(l s ~ i r c ~ s -

" sively different places in the government-ofices, till hc dicd; lub mils 1 1 1 1 h t t
" director of the demesne and gratuity ofice (1 3) at Sarr-mart-ria : his 0r.a 111

" took place in the middle of Shabin, A. H. 243 (December, A. D. 85'7). TIIV
" poet Dibil al-Khozgi said of him : ' If lbrahim had sought to make 0111 his

"livelihood by his poetical talents, he would have (gained all [rnd) Icft 11s

14 nothing.' " I read the collection of his poems and made tlrc followirl(; PS-
tracts from it; but I suspect the first not to be his, as 1 bund it also i l l tlw
poetical works of Moslim Ibn al-Walid al-Anshri :
Let not the longing of your soul for family and home prevent your orijoyin(; ;ID
easy life in comfort : in every country where you choose to tlwcll, you will fiat1 n
family and (frieadly) neighbours, in place of those you left behind.

The following verses are by as-S8li ;and it is said that if they he frcqoenily
repeated by a person under sudden misfortune, God will deliver him from it :
A man meets with a disaster he cannot avert, and from which God alone cnrr dcliver
him. But often, when the evil is complete, with rings (and iron meshes) strul~gly
riven (ih), it passes away while he thinks that nothing can dispel it.

By the same :
The Pttest sharer in your joy is he who has been partner ($5)in your sorrow : w h ~ n
generous (travellers) repose in the plain, they think of those who kept them comlsny i n
the rugged stations (left behind).

The next verses are said to have been written by him to Muhammad Ibn Abd
al-&lik az-Zai yit, vizir to al-MO t asim :
When Fortune treated me as a brother, you were also my brother; but vhon $h(:
rejected me, you became my rancorous foe. I once blamed Fortune b r her rigour
towards you, but now I blame her (for the treatment I experienced ) from you. l counted
you (as a protectorj against misfortunes, and behold me now imploring your marcy!
 By the same :
Thou wast dear to me as the apple of my eye ; for thee (alone) my eyes shed their
tears. I)ie now who may, since thou art gone 1 Thou my only care.
Abu Tammbln citcs i n his Ilnrniisa (I G ) , in ihe chapter of irmatory poetry, tllo
bllowing verses 1)y as-Shli :
I am told that Laila has sent an intercessor to implore my favour; why is not Laila
herself that intercessor? Jlocs there then exist one whom 1 honour more than Laila?
(find such and challenge glory!) (17) or am I then a mar1 that will not obey h e r ?
This poet has written a great number of charming pieces, (wlziclz I cannot
cite here, as) 11revity suits best such an abridgement as this. We shall mention
his nephew Muhammad Ibn Yahya as-SQliamong the Muhammads. Ibrahim as-Sfili
died the 45th Shabin, A.11. 24.3 (L)ecernl,er, A. D. 857) at Sarr-man-rha.
(1)The Arabic word which signilics lo drau; near.means also to be reconciled; and, by a similar analogy,
the word which denotes separation or distance can be taken i n the sense of alienation or mutual coolness;
such quibbles and coneeits wcre highly in favour a t the time when lbn Iihallilthn wrote, though ancient
iiuthors were very sparing of them. The walley of Liwa, or theretired spot o n the edge of the desert, is
ficqucntly mentinned 11y the antc-Islamic poets ; lhcrc i t is that the rnistrcss of the poet is supposed t o
reside. Thc Moslirn pocts m;llic continual allusioris to thc works of their predecessors, the nomadic Arabs;
e them \I hat the Grceli and Latin classics are for us.
tl~oseworks ~ c r for
(2) Hcre, in theArabic tcxt, somc words of rleilrly a similar sound, but of different significations, are joined
together artfully enough; but the beauty, IP any, of these cxprcssions is quitu lost in the translution.
(3) Moslim Ibn al-Wal'td al-Ansiri was one of tlrc galaxy of pocts who shone at the court of the Abbasidc
khalifs. I n his verses he cclcbratcd the praises of al-Mlrnhn, ar-Rasclltd, the Barmnkides, and other great
rrlen ; he was appointed Redressor of Grievar~ces(see dc Sacy's Cl~restomalhie,t I, p. 132) in Jorjan, througl~
thc protection of tbc vi-/ir al-Fadl IBn Sahl Zh 'l-Rllsatain. kle was surnamed the vanquished by the fair
~ I account
I of his having composed the rollowing verse :
W h a t then i s life, if we spend not our evenings with (those we) love, a n d if we fall not, towards
morning, vanc/tcished by the wine-cup and by f a i t s large eyes?
(See Frcytag's Hamasu, p. 428. )

The author of thc K i t d b al-Aghani gives little information respecting this poet; he merely says that Ibn
Iionbar9 J$ F~JI 3a,, y? (a poet of!he time of .l-MLmtln, and Moslim Ibn al-Waltd
composed virulent salircs against each other, a n d that they sometimes came to blows. (Aghani, t. 111, p.252.)
(4) Such, I believe, is the sense of the Arabic words, b u t I rnust acknowledge that I have still some doubts.
(5) As-Sahmi died A . 11. 427, (A. D. 1036) : (Tab. al-lilo[&z). Besides the History of his native place.
Jorjan, he composed some other works, such as the A r b a i n al-Boldaniya,which is mentioned by Hajji Khnlifa
ill hie Bibliographical Lexicon; Flagel's edition, vol. I, page 233.
(6) Muhammad I b n Dawlld Ibn al-Jarrbh, one of the most learned men of his time, had been brought u p
urlder the tuition of the ablest masters in eloquence, poetry, and the sciences, H e followed the profession of
copyist, and transcribed a great number of works, the copies of which he always read over after, in order to
correct whatever faults he might have made. W h e n Abd-Allah, son to the khalif al-Mbtazz, usurped the
sovereigri authority, A. H. 296 ( A . D. 908), I b n al-Jarrilh became his vizir, and filled that place till the fall
4
26
-. IBN TCE-IALLIKAN'S
of hir master, who reigned only one day; he then sought. conccalmcnt in rhr ~ I O U S Cof illc ('11rlWlt 11(1 111.. 1) 11o111
he thought his friend, but MQnis caused him to be murdered, in ordcr 10 gait1 lllc P Y ~IITJ tIrtl
~ II I~I I I 11111ill-
Furlt, who had advised him to commit this treacherous action. (I{ildb 01-Filbrcst, No.874, f o f . 174, t (lrvll
See also the life of Ibn al-Furit in this work. a

t7\ The Kdtibs, or loriters. were the persons employed in the public offices ; l116 (lirrrtsrfi, 14r~rkr.ni~tl
secrelaries in government service were all called Kdtibs.
(8, Some particulafi about the battle of rl-Akr will be found in t h Lire
~ of Yazl(l ibn a l - f i f u l l ~ l l ~ l ) +
10 the thmso a n ~ ~ l o ~ ngrlllq
(9) During the first four centuriesof Islamism, every family which yre~et~dcd crl
or missionaries to second their views; those men were sent to dilfcrc~ltprovirtces of thu cln(~irr,ulrrrt* L ~ I . ~

established seeret clubs, or lodges, themembers of which had to pass through difl'ereat tlegrt!ae of' ir~lllaliotr;
each club was under a president, who received his orders from the provit~cialmissionary, who snr I~irrt+c+lf
under the orders of the grand-master, Dai. 'd-Dodt. The family of Ali, t l ~ eAbbnsidcx, t l ~ cJGlri*ilr*a,o1i0
the Fatimites always kept up their missionary establishments, even uhcn in lhc llcigllt uf' 111c.i~Ilourr i .Litvs
Ibn al-hthir and Ibn Khaldhn, passim.) M. de Sacy has givcn a most ~nlcrcslirtgrccounl t l t ~linrninr
missions, ahich nere established for the purpose of overturning the Abbnsidcs, and t l c ~ t r o y i r rtill
~ rc~11ginrr~
H hatsoever i See Expos6 de Ia Religion des Druses, t. I, Introduction. )
(10) MukLtil, one of he most active abbaside missionnries, was the11 govcrnor of IIarrAn, ~ h i r l tc-rry n.lr
taken by Abd Allah after a siege of forty days. His son Muhurtmad lbrr Mukhttl was foslar-brother thch
khalif ar-Rashld, who appointed him golernor of Ifrikiya in A. ET. 181. (Oyzln al-Al~leb~~r, bTS. No. 7:10, fr,l
137.-Ibn al-Abbhr's al-Hullat asSiyard, f. 13, MS. belonging to the Asinlic Society ol' I'uris.)
(11) See Abulfedle Annales, t. 11, p. 9.
(DZQ 'l-Rilsatain, the possessor of the two authorities, namcly, the civil and rho military,
&\ surname of honour given to the vizi al-Fad1 Ibn Sal~l. (Sec l l i ~L i L in I l l i s work.) T l l t r
title became afterwards very common, particularly in Spain.
(13) The government was then in possession of a great number of demesnos, rnoslly in the cnncluersd pro-
vinces, and whichwere usually farmed out (their Arabic nameis Ddaa, farms). Pcomihepafifia~cof ibn nl-JsrrAb
cited by Ibn KhallikBo, I am induced to believe that the income of these lands was divided, as n gta[ultous
donation, among the persons employed by government. W e find very often the Juzd, or paid troops, rcreiv-
ing gratuities or free gifts from the khalifs and the governors of provinces; it I s probablo tlrnt tlrose li~rrn-
rents were emptoyed for the purpose.
(14) This metaphor is taken from thelarge and wide coats of mni1,vhich were so liigbly prized and so loutlly
celebrated by the ante-Islamic poets : as a coat of mail covers the body of the warrior, so mirifortu~rcdN I I C T O I I ~ I ~
the wretched on every side.
115) The verb FL is employed here for S!!
which takes its signification from the word
8Irurn..
(See at-Tabrizi's Commentary on the Hamha, page 696.)
(16) Fnytag's Hamlaca, p. MO, with the Commentary of at-Ttbrlzi.
(17) This reminds us of Virgil's Dic quibus in tenis, et eris mihi m ~ g n u sApollo.'*

NIFTAWAIH.
A l l Abd Allah Ibrahim Ibn Muhammad Ibn Orfa Ibn Solaim6n lbn al-MO-
$xtira IbnHabib Ibn al-Muhallab Ibn Abi Sufra al-Azdi, surnamed Nif~awaitl, f h ~
grammarian, native of Wdsit, was a man of learning and talent, and au~llorol.
some esteemed works on general literature. llc was horn at W k i l , A. 1-1. 211/b
(A. D. 8581, tl~oughsome say A. H. 250 ; he dwelt at Baghdad, where he died 011
Wednesday, 6th Safar, about an hour after sunrise, A. H. 323 ( A . D. 935);
that he and lbn Mujihid nl-Mukri (1) died at Bashdad in
others say, l~o~vever,
the year 324 : he was buried the noxt day at the gate of Kiifa. 1bn Klralawaih
remarks that Niftawaih was tbc only man among the learnccl who was namrd
IbmhEm and surnamed Abh Abd Allah. The following specimen of his poc~ry
is quoted by Abii 41i al-KPli in his Kitdb a)-Anzali.
My hcart (fixed)on thce, is more tender than thy chcclis (2); my strength is less
than the power of thine cyes (3) 1 Why wilt thou not pity him whose soul is unjustly
torturbed, and whom love inclincth towards thce with affection?
The following epigram was madc on him by AbS Abd Allah Muhammad lbn
%aid Ibn Ali Ibn al-IIosain, native of Wlsit, a celebrated metaphysician, and
author of the Jmn'nzu and a treatise on the urlattainable excellence of h e style i11
which the Koran is written, etc. :
IIc that likcs not the sight of a reprobate should avoid meeting NiAawaih! May
God burn him with onc half of his name (3)' and cause him to be denounced wit11
the other.
( The author of' tl~is charade) Abii Abd Allall Muhammad died A. H. 307
(A. D. 919 ) or 30G. Abd al-AzEz Ibn al-Fad1 relates this anecdote : G Ibn So-
" raij, Ibn Dawdd az-Zjhiri, and Niftawaih went forth to a feast, whither they
were invited : now the way lead them to a narrow passage, and each of them
' I wished his companions to pass before himself; so Ibn Soraij said : ' A strait
h road begetteth evil manners.' (' Yea !') said lbn Dawbd, ' but it tencheth
L the true worth of me11 ;' to this Niftawaih rejoined : When friendship is
'' solid , ceremony is done away.' " N ~ n w n i / zis sometimes pronounced, but
not so correctly, NafintvailL ;Abd Mansdr at-Thailibi says, towards the begin-
ning of his work, thc Latcfii nl-MadrzJ; that he received this name for his ugli-
ness and dark complexion, he being likened t o the substance called nzP (naph-
tha or bitumen): this name was given him in imitation of that or Sibawaih (the
a f i m o u s grnrnnzat.ian), whose son he was called, on account of his grammatical
knowledge, and of his following the system, and teaching the work of that writer.
We shall treat of Nftawnilz and the other names of this form in our life of
Sibawaih, whose name is Amr : consult that article.
(1) Abil Bekr Ahmad Ibn Milsa Ibrl al-AbbAs lbn Muj&hid al-Mukri (teacher of the right reading of the
 l('fi11 Ill('
in l a k in that, capacity, \usbars in Baghdnd A. 11. 2 4 ( 11 1'.
*

K&anl, and fint

Koran orer ~ ) irveog
i timer, un@ the tuition of Abd m - H I I ~ I ~ Illln I ~ I IAllllfib; 111% *)111!'1 I I I I I U I s l
Koebol Abd.Allah ~ b Salsma.
n he d c h r a ~ d
grammarian Tllalllll *nyx: " S ~ l l f111 llllr 111111.

,c know the ~~~k ~~d ithe Koran) better than fin Mujlhid." 11111 ~II-AIIX~II~I ~('llll~li
11111. 1111 $ : ~ l l l $ III
kghdad, he foWd lbn Mojahid's coune of lectures fol\owed h y llcarly l l l r ~l l~l l l l ~ l r~~~ ~I I ~ I I ( IIIIqII.
'II~ I &.S# ;
and hli ib Omar a\-Ghani states that Ibu Mujhbid had forty-f~llr anrisLan1 tcocl~nrttn l 11iti rtlllre: L. A!

U"
W\ Js
G j i L *+ h \+*L, &.
He used io any, wl~anvar rmds tllr i o m n in lllr
8 J
manner taught by fil Arnr.and follows the doctrines of the sect of a$-ShhB, i8 in tlin ri~I11w n l or .nlvntiotl.
Ibn Mujihid r a s B o m elegant and accomplished sch01ar; and taught from memory t C pntlfrtr IIT il)n nl.
N o t a z ; he died A. H.3'34(A. D. 936). (Tabakdt as$hafyin).--The pcrsvrlfi W ~ I O R O11nm~sa l l * rrla~!f~nrlc*rl
in the preceding passage arc spoken of by f i n ~hallikbn; so further o~)scrvn~iat~narc jxatponrtl
(2) The Arabic po& say of a fair lady, that the petal of a rose would hurt Iwr vhrcek, or111 t111i1 4 ~lnnr-l1
from her lover's eye makes it blee'd; that is blush.
(3) To please Arabian taste, ladies' eyes should be la$$ishing
1- 8 and tendor; I,lrt itinf,tinr n114 tnndpmn.8
l o of io ~ h i fIi- ~ S P:
ere nearly synonymous with feebleness, the Arabic equivalent of which is gcncrally ~ n n ~ nhe
some poets go farther, and talk of heir being vanquished by sickly eyes.
(4)The first half of his name is rrift (naphtha or bitumen); lhe other hnlr i~wa.ilr (%tort) !
+

ABU ISHAK AZ-ZAJJAJ.

; 11t* 1)1I\,--
rian, was a man of solid informationon philological and rrligious sltl)j(i(*t.a
lished the following works : Treatise on the figurative expressions of tlrc Iio~.ari;
Book of Dictates (I); Extracts from his complete Treatise on Logic, widl ;I curil-
menary by himself (2); different treatises on etymology, prosody, vo+silic;htiori,
the Moslim sects, the nature of man, and of the horse ; au a bridgmcwi. o l' (;lb;, rr 1-
mar; a work on the relation between the first and fourth forms of Arallic vtaI*l,r ;
Treatise on nouns which are either of the first or second declension ; F,x-11atliltio~i ,
of the Arabic verses cited as examples by Sibawaih in his gralIlmilr ; Ijook oI'
16 Anecdotes; Treatise on the influence of the constellations upon tllr wc:s111(~(:I),
etc. Al-Mubarrad and Thalab gave him lessons in philology : he wra o ~ b i g 11911 i y
a glassgrinder,and was therefore named az-Zajjdj (thc glassman),even ii I'ti9r1 ~ l :~ i u i
his trade to study philology. The vizir Obaid Allah lbn Solaimhn ILn
Wahb (4) honoured him with his intimacy, alld al-Kasirn, $00 of Ol,ai(l
Allah, had him for master in belles-lettres ; and when al-Kasim was aI)lloin trcl
vizir, az-Zajjij pined considerable sums through his influence. The sl-laikll Al,A
Ali 'l-Arisi, the grammarian, relates the following anecdote : I and my master,
" az-Zajjij, went to visit the vizir al-Kasim; we had just entered all
 r.

BIOGRAPIIICAL D1CTIONARY. 29

eunuch came up, and whispcrcd to him some sccrct inbrrnation, on which the
'6 vizir, who appeared highly pleased, rose and withdn.w, 1)ut came b c k almosr

immediately, with marks of great dissatisfaction in his countenance: Thv

&aikh, who was on familiar terms wit11 him, having asked what was rl,t.
matter, received horn him this answer : ' Tl~erecamc llerr occasionally a Gkir
6 d slave helonging to one of our (public) singing women, who liad rrfilscd to
sell ller to me though I offered to purchase her : some person, howevc~,
advised the mistress to make mc a present of the slave , in hopes of my givirlg
it in return double the value. Just as you carne in, the eunuch informed mrB
.' of the circumstance, and I went out immediately to convrne with her, but
found her unwell : such was the causc of the dissatisfaction you remarked
in me. ' On this, our shaikll took the inkstand placed hefore the vizir, and
lvrote these lines :
1

(5) Eques impetuosus, cum hast%s u i promptus ad confossioncm in tcncbris, praedar~i

suam sar~guineinficere voluit; sed eum prohibuit illa, cum sanguine, a sanguine suo."

W e shall speak again of these two verses in the life of Birin, daughter to al-
Hasan Ibn Sahl; thc story is thcre related in a diNcrent manner, as if this circum-
stance had happened to her with al-MimBn : it is hard to say which relation is tllr
true one, but that concerning al-Mimdn was perhaps thc source whcnce az-Za-i-
jftj took the verses which he applied to the vizir's case. Thisgrammarian died a t
Baghdad, on Friday, 19th of the second Jumida, A. II. 31 0 (October, A . D. 922) ;
according to others, his death took place in A. 11. 311 or 316; having then
passed his eightieth year. It was after him that Abi 'l-Kasim Abd ar-Hahmiu,
author of the J v m a l j 'n-Nahwi, was called a;-Zujcfji, having been one 'of his
pupils, as will be mentioned in his life ;Abii Ali 'l-FArisi was another of his pupils.

( l )Dictates 3 L!; oonsult M. de Sacy's Anllrologie g~amrnalicale,p. 137. and Flugel's Hajji HhaMfa,
t . l, p. 427.
(2) I t must be observed that many professors taught from works written by themselves, and not published
till later, sometimes even not till after the death of the author. The extracts here mentioned were pro-
bably those portions of az-Zajj?ijls treatise which he had explained to his scholars. This seems to be the work
mentioned under the title of k in Hajji Khalifab Bibliographical Dictionary.
(3) See Pocock's Specimen H t ~ t .
c
Arabum, p. 168. Hajji Khalifa remarks that a considerable number of
works has been written on this subject.
(4)OBaid Allah, vizir to the khalif al-Motadid, and an able statesman, died A. H. 288 (A. D. 901). His
son al-Kasim was vizir to the khalif al-Motndid, and his successor aI-Muktafi ; he died in the reign of the
 30 IBN ILIIALLIBhN'S
Ms.NO. f. '21.
for his talents and br his rkill ns a poiiliriln.
bun epally ; ~III-.
(JI There a n cerLIio paslages in this work which cannot, for obvious rCasoIl& bc ~ i v r l lill

for example.

~ b f 'l-Kasim
i lbrahim ibn Muhammad Ibn ZakariyH Ihn Muliij lhn Yahy:~11111
~ i i an
d Abd Allah Ibn Khilid Ibn Saad Ibn Abi Wakkhs id-Ko~aishi k/t?.rcr*nrlod
from the tribe ofKoroish) ar-Zahri (l),
generally known by tlre rlilrlle O S al-lllili,
was a nati~eof Cordova and a first-rate grammarian and pllilolo~rr; 11ii 1)os-
sessed also a perfect acquaintance with the explanations wlliclr hilvs 1~cc;ri(;iw~ l

of those (obscure)ideas which are met with in (ancient) poetry ; hr \l1n)tc4 n (;oo(l
and well-known commentary on the poetical works of al-Mutaoal)i)i, and
taught from memory the Book of Dictates, by Abii Ali 'l-Kili, which work h,.
had learned from AbC Bakr Muhammad Ibn al-fIasan az-xabaidi. As a ~ c a c ~ ] r c ~ r .
of helles-lettres he held an eminent rank in Spain, where l ~ ealso l , c ~ c ~ n ~ ~ vixir.
lrb

to al-Muktafi Billah (2). He knew by heart the poetry (of the ancirnt Arrrbs).
and could relate their history and the traditional accounts of their com1)ilts; his
memory was also furnished with a considerable stock of poetry cornpoaecl by Iris
own countrymen. He was most particularly exact in his choicc? of wortls ; his
tongue was veracious, his private conduct good, and his heart pure. Arno~l(;a
number of works which he studied may be reckoned the Gharfl,a l - A ~ i r . m n ~ ~ ~ / ;
the aZ-Aydz ((3, etc. His birth took place in the month of Shawwbl, 352 (A. 1).
963), and his death happened towards the end of the eleventh hour, o n St~nday,
4 3th Zd 'l-Kaada, 441 (April, A. D.1050) : he was buried on Sunday, late irk 111(*
17 afternoon, in the court of a ruined mosque near the gate of Mmir at, Cord(lvn.
AZ-@iZi sipifies a native of al-Iflil, a village in Syria, from whicll ikiu f'arnily
originally came.

(i)Z&rt means belonging to Zahrd, or Medinat arZahrd, a palace and town founded by tit* Mourinh
p r i m Abd W-Rahmm, in the year 324 (A. D. 936) at three leagues from Cordova. The AraUc hifitorinllr
speak in the highest terms of the magnificence of this new city, of which not a single trnca now romaina.
(P) TheMS. of Ibn Ehallik~n'swork agree in the orthography of the name al-Mukzufl-Billah ; hut Caeiri.
in his Bibliorhem Avubica. I. 11. p. 207, CondC altd Ibn 9CAbbAr in his ol-Hullct ar-Sipor4 rrritlt i i
 BIOG R AI'IIIC AL DlCTBO!cTARY. 31
(11-MustakfiBillall ; which title was assumed by Muhammad Ibn Abd ar-Rahmln an his accession to thr.
tl~roncof Cordova A . JI.4lti (A. D . 1024).
(3) Hajji Khalifs says, in his Biblio,oril~)hicalDiclionary, that tllc formcr of lhese works is by Abh Amr
as-ShaibAi~i,arrtl illat ;II-Asmai, Ibn al-Arilbi, arldThnlab, llave each writtcrl a work called al-AEfhz (vocn-
O zdaryj ) .

ABU ISIIAK AS-SAN.

Ahli Ishak Ibrahim Zbn I-Iilhl Ibn Ibrahim Ihn Zahriin Ibn Habblin al-Har-
,,jni (I) as-Sihi (2). author or the celel~ratedepistles (3) and of some charming
poetry, was clerk of the Baghdad cllarlcery ofice (41, in which he acted as secrr-
lary to tllc khalif (5) an cl to Izz ad-Dawlat Bakhtyir, or the family of Buwaih, t h ~
Ilailamite. In the year 34.9 (A. D. 960) he was appoinled president of the board
of correspondcnce ( G ) , and incurred the hatred of Adad ad-Dawla t Ibn Buwaih, in
consequcnce of having addressed to that prince some letters hurtful to his feel-
ings. When Izz ad-Dawlat was slain (?'), Adad ad-Dawlat took possession of Bagll-
dad, and put Aba Ishak in prison ; this happened in the year 367 (April, A. I).
978). His intention was to have had Ah&Ishak trodden to dead1 by elephants,
but (a respite was granted hint) through the intercession of his Mends, and he
(inally recovered his liberty in 371 (A. D. 981) ; Adad ad-Dawlat having previously
required of him to write a history of the Dailamite dynasty. In consequence ot
this order, Abh Ishak composed his work entitled at-Tdji (the in~perial),but
(could not regair~thefuvour of dddd ad-Datvlat), who had learned that a
friend of Abii Ishak's, on going to see him, found him busily engaged in. com-
posing notes and making rough and fair copies (ofsome work; and that this
.frierto!) having asked him what he was doing, received this answer: '' I am
" writing falselzoods and putting lies together." This story stirred up the then
appeased anger of Adad ad-Da~vlat, and excited his hatred afresh ; so that,
during his life-time, Abri Ishak continued in disgrace. Abii Ishak as-Sabi was
very strict in the observance of his religion, and had refused to turn Moslim,
notwithstanding the pressinz solicitations of 1-42 ad-Dawlat ; he kept the fast of
Ramadin the same as the Moslims ; he also knew the Koran by heart perfectly
well, and quoted it in his epistles. He had a black slave called Yumn, to whom
 32 IBN ;KflAELIKAN1S
Ile was attached, and on ~vhotnhe made soure verses mrnarkal)l(*i;)l. thhil-
originality of thought; the following, for instance, which arc citta(l: 1 1 0 1 1 1 ; ivilJ~
others of his by at-Thailibi, in his Kitdb 02-Ghilnzlin :
The dark-skinned Yumn said to one whose colour oquallt?d l110 whilrrlc*\ of' 1 1 1 ~
eye (8): Why should your bee boast its clear complexion? Do y011 1I1inL tllsl, 1))
'' so clear a tint, it gains additional merit? Were a mole of my roloer OII th;tl S i z ( . r . i t
'' would adorn it (9); but one of your colour on my cheek woulrl (iisfi(;ar(+n l i a . ' '

In this last verse is an allusion to the following lines, fro111 ;l j,ict't* "I' v(.l.s(.
written by ibn ar-Riimi on a black slave girl :
One advantage of a dark complexion i s (and truth can never he col~t:anl(vll j (10)-
that a spot of deeper shade does not misbecome it; though a white sp(x:k or1 ir f a i t rL11i
is considered as a blemish.

In these well known verses, the poet has attained to perfection (I I ). At-'I'll;lb li hi
gives also the following verses composed by Abii Ishak on his slave :
Your face is so (handsome)that my hand seems to have sketchcc1 its o ~ ~ t l i n(l%),
o i)tlt
your words (are false und ) have fatigued my hopes. In that ( counlanr~nre) i n ~ 0 ~ * at)
11
image of the full moon, over which night has, however, cast a tint of h c ~tli\rkr~t~ss
Black misbecomes you not; nay, by it you are increased in boauty ; 1)Iark i s the orrl)
colour princes wear. Were you not mine, I should purchaso you with all rrly we;llll~!
Did I not possess you, I should give my life to obtain you.

The prose and verse of Abfi Ishak contain every species of beauty : IN! ( l i ( b ( l :I[
Raghdd on Monday (or Thursday according to others) 42th Shnwwll, A . !I. :1Hh
48 (November, A. D. 994,), at the age of 71 years. Abii 'I-Faraj M u l ~ n r ~J~ eI t ~) r ;~ ~
Ishak al-Warrik) better known by the name of ibn Abi Yakilb ;in-Nodi~n i l l -
Raghdidi, says, in his Kitdb nZ-Fihrest (1 3), that AbA Ishak as-S&Li was larrl s o t l ~ ( ~
time after the year 320 (A. D. 932), and died before 380 ; be was t ) ~ ~ r i cin d rlkt*
cemetery of Baghdad called Shlinbi, and a well-known elegy, the rhymr of wl~iclk
is in D, was written on his death by the Sharit' ar-Rida; it begins thus :
Hast thou seen whom they bore aloft on the bier? Hast thou seen how 1110 lighl of
our assemblies is extinguished ?
The public blamed ar-Rida for this poem, because he, who was a sharifb(u'e.~c'ert-
dant from Muhammad) had lamented the death of a Sabean, but lie rc11litv.J:
It was his merit alone the loss of which 1 lamented." The word SdLi (So-
bean) is written with a final hamza; but many different derivations are givnl of
it ;some say it comes from Sgbi, son of Mathhalah (Methuselah), son of idris
(Enochj, who was of the ancient orthodox religion (14); otllers derive it li.oIn as-
 I3IOGJ~hl~EIICAL
DICTION A I\Y. 33
S a i , son of Miri, a conteolporary of Abrallnrn ; ot1lcr.s a p i u s n y that thc
word Su'bi was used hy the Araljs of the descrt to denote a prrson \v110 aban-
doned the n*lii;iorrof his proplc, and for [Iris rcason i t \\-as 111nt Mlrhnn,niad was
called Scihi by 1114' I ril~tlof liu~.aisll:but Got1 ~ ~ I ~ O(Wh Sa [ )bcst !

(1) ~ / - l r ~ r r h rneilns
ni rtr~fiueo f Ilarrdn irr Mcsopot,n~rrin,n. city Sormcrly inhabihcd l)y ihc Sabcans, and Lhc
c.llieSscfilof tllcir rcligiorl : it was in ruins v h e n AM 'I-Fadit e r o t c his Geography.
(3As-S&bi he‘ Stcbcan); sec thc BibliolhBque Oriet~talc.Snur; Salc's Koran, Introduclion, sccl. I ; autl
I'rideo~~z's Connesion, vol. I , p. 248 ; ediliorr of 1820.
(3) Tllc ;hutlior of ttrc .Hilab al-lcihrest (Arabic M S . of the BiOl. du I(oi, No. 874, fol. 182 1 mcrltions tno
c.ollcctiolrs OS cI,islIcs \vrit.tcn by ab-SZllji ; orlc cnlitlcd Correspondence with the shartf m - R i d a ; the other :
(.'ol/ecliono f B p i s i l e s ; ~rcithcrof which worlcs I II;IVCmet with.
.
(4) I n the Charrccry-oflicc of the khirlifs wcrc draw11 up tlrc diplomiis, lcttcrs patent and of provision, poli-
tical corrcspontlcr~rc, ctr. : as tlic stylc of those writings was, ancl has alw;lys bccrr, elaborately elegant, the
rlcrks of this office wcro ricccssarily chosc~rilmong nlcn of talent and instruction.
( 5 ) This khalif, whosc name Ibrr Klrallilcar~scerns unwillirrg to mcntion, was ill-Mutt I,illah, the 23rd of thcl
Abbasidc dynasty. I l c was a weak prince, completely governed by Moizz ad-ljawlat, and Izz ad-Dawlat,
son of Moizz.
(S) President of llte noarll of Correspontlencc, or Secretary of Statc, under tlrc ~ b b i s i d c s ;his duty was ~o
rcad ovcr anti corrcct official letters, aftcr which hc scaled them with a sort of r e d clay lcncadcd with water.
on which hc stitmpcd tlrc dcvice of thc Itllalif. Scc Von Ilarnmcr's work, elititlcd Uebcr die Lalldcr-verwa2-
lung unter dem li/trnlifute; v t ~ c r cwill be found, in a small compass, much important information concerning
thc organisation of the Moslirn cmpirc.
(7) See Abulfedn! Annales, t. 11, p. 535, and thc lifc of Ilakhty8r in lhis work.
*. , G
(8) Tllo cxpression W A ~ y I'Adeceiving eyes, occurs in the Koran, rur. XL, verse 20; this ilhduces me
to suppose that thc word cr;~.&=jl, in the vcrse cited by I b n IChallitbn, is employed to dcnotc the eye alone.
nithout suggesting tlic idca of' any c~ualitywhatsoever. Sirnple adjectives, serving as nouns, are met with in
rrrarry lariguagcs, but this is more particularly llic casc in Arabic. Though not rornplctcly sure of thc rncnning
of this word, I am nevcrthclcss ir~clirlcdto thirrk that 1 havc cxpressed the idea of the poet.
(9) Blacli nlolcs on the facc wcrc and arc considered by thc Moslims as rcal beauty spots.
(10) This singularly-placed parcnthcsis signifies literally : and Truth possesses a ladder afid a hole;
n strar~geexpression, irrritlttcd from the Koran, sur.VI, ver. 35, which Sale rcrlders tllus: '' If their aversion
'' ( t o thy admonitions) be grievous unlo thee, if thou canst, scek out a den (whereby thooc mayest perbetrate)
" into (lhe inmost purls) of the earth, or a ladder ( b v ulhiclr. thou mayest ascend) unlo heaven," etc. From
this the poet's mcaning appears to be : Truth must make its way; it can mount to heaven, and penetrate into
the depths o f the earlh.
(11) These verses are, howcvcr, by no mcans remarkable for their stylc in the original Arabic; their sense has
been just given; from which i t will probably be inferred that our author did not possess a very corrcct taste or
judgment ; though i t must bc recollected that his taste was precisely that of the epoch in which he lived.
(12) This vcrse is quite sufficient to prove that its author wils not a Moslim, for representations of the
lruman figure are cxiressly forbidden by Muhammad; sec the Mislrkdt al-Masablh, vol. 11, p. 368.
(i3) See al-17ihrest, M S . NO; 874, fol. 182. This work wa$ composed A. H. 337,
5
the old and true religion.

il'il-
h lbratlim Ibn Ali Ibn Tamim, surnamcd a\-11 osri, 1l:ll i l'(' 11'
~ b lsh&
winand a celebrated poet, the following works : a i)iv;lrl, 01. \.()111111(' 01'
poetry ; the Zohr uLAdd6 (Flower of Irtstrclctior~u t ~ d745~1C(!l!/' / ~ ( V I ~ I . j,S i 11
three volumes, Glled with singularities of every sort ; ld~cKi/(ib o l - , l f r r . ~ [ ~( tthe
/
Secret or lMystery of hidden Love) in one volume, conhininc arl~llsi~l~; iillfl

instructive anecdotes. lbn Rashik mentions him in his A~mui(/~tj, :111rl (;ir(.s.

along with some par~icularsof his life, a quantily of his poetry. " 'I'll(* y o ~ l i l l01'
'' Kaimmln," adds this writer, " gathered to his llouse and took Ibis it*seons;
'' they looked on him as hcir chief, and felt ibr him dorp i.(bsl)(A(*~ ; llis \\-arks
'' got into circulation and gifts poured in upon him from all si(1t.s." 1 1 IIIVII ~
cites as his these verses :
I love you with a love which surpasses understanding, a n d ~viiichis Ciir l ) v y o n t l III(*
reach of my powers of description. The utmost of my k n o w l c d ~ otllc?l,coL'ig, 1I1:lt 1
'
feel my inability to acquire a just knowledge of it.

Ibn Bassdm, author of the Daklzlra 6i ~ r.ios C/i or,,

ury ; ~ q p t a i n i nl)c:n~l
the writings) of the natives of the (Spanis insula (I) relates n story ill whir11
he gives two verses of al-Basri's :

The lam of that izdr (2)has caused my heart to drink of death. I1 in dark nu 11i{:hf,
upon ( a shn)clear as day.

Al-Husri was son of a maternal aunt to AbB 'l-Illasan Ali al-ll~~sri,the 1%: ol'
which poet we shall give in the letter Ah. Abil lshak died at Kairnwin, A. I I .
41 3 (A. D. 1022) ; Ibn Bass$m says, however, in the Dnkl~ira: t 4 1 l(1nr1lcd t ll;t~.
" his death took place in 4.53" (A. D. 1061) ; but thc first is 111e corrrct dato,

though the kidi ar-Raschid Ibn Zohair states in his Kit& oCJan&rir,,vol. 1 , i l l
the life of Abh 'l-Hasan Ali Ibn Abd al-Azlz al-Fakik (3), that hahovt- mcntio ncd
osed hisworkthe Zahr at-Adrib, A.lI.4,50,which iodicatcs tllnt lljn
correct in what he said (4); God, however, knows that bcsl.--A&
HLuri means ;
I maker or seller of ma(s (lir~.ru.r*).Kairucvht is a city in I J'rikiya
(Africap,-olj~i(~j, and was foondcd ljy 0kl)all)n Airnir(5) as-Sallalli (contpcrtliorr 4'
Jfl&am,nud) : ((fi.lliiyuwas so call(1d after Ifrikus or iliikin Ibn Kais Ibn Saili,
the tlirnyarite, who sul~ducdthat c o ~ ~ n t r y .Soinr sry that Jaqjir govcrned if. al.
that timc, arid t.llat it was lllen thr, Bcrl)rrs got tlicir n n m c ; llc having said to
tllenr : L' 110W great is y o ~ giljberish
r ( h / - h c ~ n ) !1"~ 1 1 1God I~IIOWS i~ I)osl(G). Al-
r l a n ,a common noun, signifies a curavnrz j it is a l'ersian word inlro-
/ ~ ~ ~ ' i r u ~\rfhen
(luccd in10 illc Arabic laneoage : i t is rela~edthat a caravan had halted on tbc
spot where the city was afterwards built, wllcreSore it was called liairawin. This
word means also a troop ~flr,oZdier.$;Ihrl al-liatt8 llre philologer says, on some
competent audlority, 111at kaircrwrin signifies a troop, and kairuwcin a caravan.

I 1) Ily thc wortl .la:ira (isle) thc Arabic writers dci;ignate both Mcsopotarnia and Spain: Ilajji Khalifa, who
gives thc title 01 Ibn Bassim's worlc i n his Biographical Dictionary, says l~ositivclythat thc J u z i ~ ahere men-
tioncd is Andalns, or Spain.
( 2 ) W h a t is rilcnrit hy ltic ldm of tbe i a d r is explainod in the Iritroductio~~
to this volume, to which the:
rradcr is rcfcrrcd; rriy reason for not translating this cxprcssion is lherc given. See also my article in t h r
.lournal Asiatique of Paris for Fcbruary 1839, pagc 474.
(3) In thcXIiaridu of Tmnd cd-din (Arabie mirauscript of thc Bib. dzc Roi, fonds Asselin,No.363, fo1.7, verso)
nre given sonlc fragments of poctry by al-Fakik, who is tllcrc said l o havc had grcat reputation as a satirist,
;lad to have (lied A. H. 500 ( l 106-7).
(4) I t may be casily perceived that [he passage containing thc slatcmcnt from the HZtdtr ul-Jandn has b c w
itlscrted later; indced it is not to be found i n some MSS.
( S ) Abh 'l-FadB in his Annals, Ibn lihaldiln in his Universal History, and other writers name thc founder o f
liairalvar~Oliba lba Kbli; but A b d ar-Rahrnhr~al-liorashi, historian of the conquest of Africa, calls him Okbi~
Ibn Ahmir (sec Arabic MSS. of the Bib. du Rot, No. 824, f. 2), and so also I b n Khallikln writes his name.
The following prrssngc from thc Hzcllu~as-Siyara (fol. 138), militates strongly howcvcr against Jbn Khallikln:
Okha Ibn Nhfi al-Fihri \\as sent on an expedition by M o a s i a l b n Abi Sol'yian, A. &
b b 43I . D. 6631, and
(A.
cntercd Ifrikiya a t tllc hcad of ten thousand Moslims. U e founded the city of KairawBn, and left after
" him an honorablc reputation ; h c was an cxccllent govcrnor, and Cod grunlcd all for vhicll he praycd.
" H e was dcprivcd of his placc, a n d reinstated, A.H. 62 (A. D. 651-2). I n the year 93 (A. D. 711-2) he and
" some troops which accompanied him were slain by t l ~ e Bcrbers a t TahOda, where his tomb is revered to
" this day." The author then cntcrs into t h e details of his death.
(6) Ibn KhaldOn, in his Universal History, gives a similar reliition with some details too curious to be ornit-
led here. H e says: " T o Abraha Zu 'I-MnnAr succcedcd his son Ifrlltush ; Ibn al-ICalbi says that Ifrtkush was
" the son of Kais I b n SaiG and brother to al-Rhrith ar-Itdish, and that it was he who built, in the Gharb
" ( O T Maghreb), the city named after him Xfrikiga, to which (city) he sent the Berbers from the land of Ca-

" naan, on his passing close by them when Josua had dcfeated them i n Syria and slain (a number of) them.
" (Ifrikush) then rook charge of the few (who remained) and marched them before him to Ifrlkiyn, where hc
" settled them. I t is said that Jirgfs was king of that country, and that i t was he (Ifrlkusit) who gave
" lllc Derbers this namc; for, on conquering nlaghreb he heard their &range language, i ~ n dsaid: ' Bow
36 IBN K'GI.4I,LIICAN'S
.... great
I is &ibberish ( B s r b e r d for .Nhicll rwson they r e r e rilllall ilrrltrrr : lllir \\01(1, i l l
of the desert hrabs, signifies mingbd and u f i i n t e l ~ i ( i /miscl;
) ~ ~ I Y ~ P I I I ' Ctill' l'lllllill p 111' 1111'
1111. in~~yllnyl.
1 1 1111 i b~llll'd
4. bnbrra. when (rfv;bfb) from big ~ ~ p c d i t i o to
r l MagLrl!lt. h0 1l'I'L tlll'rl' ~ I ~ I I ~ I { 111111
~J*I iits~hrrlrl.
(brancj,es: of the tribe of Hirnyar, and t b e 6 ~810 still there, l l ~ tll l ~ yi1l.P 1101 01 1 1 1 ~~111111*1111('1i I t \ lilt* 11.1-
6. ben.-~hur ray at,-Taberi, al-Jorjani, al-lasidi, Ibn ill-Knlbi, i~l-l)uill~~ki. 111111
tlill Y F I I C P I O ~'' ~ * ~ ~

This statement requires some 0bserv;rtions: llie Jirjls menliollcd hy Iltn lillilldfili a1111 I hn Khnlliliit~* I . ~ * I I I ~
to haye been considered by them the same person as thc prefcct (;rrgol.irld, WIIIIH(* Ilist{~ry1 % I t ' l i ~ l t ~i t~1 l 1Ii1.
3fst chapter of Gibbon's Decline and Fall ; for ibn BhaMbn, in anotlkr llart of his r ~ l r I +rnl.
. [ ~ o r ii lt 1.1 \ I!IIII
he commanded in & g e b when Abd Allah Ibn Abi Sarh conquered lhnl co~llltryin 11)(. I\linIifat 01' 0thn1A11.
The dubitative erpression it is said, made use of herc by bolh authors, 1)rovcs lhril Lltry ttntl (;lcuil1 11,11llrt~ III'
Jirgs being a contemporary with IfrOkbsh. But the most ~.emnrkt~hlc cirrun~c;lntlcc!sl)nkr~lof 1,). Illit fiIrnl111\11
is that of Josua'sdestroying the Rerbers in theland of Caanae, whiell coirctlss t i i r t ~ ~ ~ l i\r~irlltg~\ \ I l a l I ' I I J C O ~ ~ I ~ ~
saysin his history of thevandal war, par1 11, 10, p. 449; editior~of Bons. !V(& li1111 ~ I I I * I * Ii~lhtt * i11v t ; , ~ ~ ! , ~ t ~ , ~ ~ i
i'aptroSa;, theGirgashites of the Bible, JOSIIUA,xxiv, I I , which word has n rrrc~sl~ 1 1 ~ ~ l ~I ~~~i~OI *l Il11, I~( Q111,.
, ' L( I; i ~ . ! ~ l , q
of ourArabic writers. CouldIbn al-Kelbi, whosc authority is ciletl by 1 1 ~ I1i l ~ u l t l f ii ~l l ~t l ~ i sIriIkeilgc*, Ilrltl. r(.il1l
an incorrect Arabic translation of Procopius ?
The preceding citation from Ibn Khaldhn is takcnfrorn the Arabic text of his I l i ~ ~ o or yf till. ArntlH, ,{H;! l l l r ,,
rvork, which i s now (1839) in a forward statc of publication at l'aris, Ilili; brcn r r i ~ i c . ~ ~~ tl l~~l ~ n/l lit j~ Irfirlu- *~l
lated by the learned editor, the Abate Arri of Turin, to whosc friendship I 0111 il~d~!bt,c!ti t.lll. r t l l , l r l l l l l l i l ~ n ~ i l , l l
of the foregoing passage.
For further particulars I refer the reader to tile note (3), pogc 99 or that gcl\tlp,rnnll's Itillina ~ r ~ l l l c l n t i o r l ,

ABU ISHAK IBN KHAFAJA AL-ANDALUSI.

Abb Ishak Ibrahim Ibn Abi 'l-Fath Ibn Abd Allah lbn I(ll;lK~js:\l - A ~ l ( l i i l ~ ~ s i
(native of Spain); a poet praised by Ibn Basslm in his Drrkl~i~o : 4 t 1 1 Iiv(~(1,''
~
says this author, "in the east of Spain and never rssayrd to co111.t~ I I V ~ ~ V O I I I .
" of the petty kings who ruled that coontry, notwidairndir~g r l l t b ~ l i i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
which they shewed to patronise literary men ." IIr con~~~osccl a v01 11~ n oI' e cbs-
rellent poetry (l),from which are taken the following original na(l p l c ~ i ~ r i ~ q ;
verses on an evening party :
Oftin social evenings has ebriety borne me to ihe ground and mado m y I : I I I I ( * ~S~I ~ ( ~ I
soft and even. The acacia clothed me with its shade, wllilst tho brascllas wnrtb,las11 tin8
doves held (mutual) converse. 'Ihe sun. sunk feebly towards Ulc wost, Illa 11111IIIIIY.
rose (fromthe h o r i m ) and the clouds breathed (coolncsa).
The following fine thought is by the same author :
What means that izdr (2) which seems to have traced s i t h the sh:kdru of oi(;lll a
mihrdb on the libla of thy face (3)? Therein I see thy youth (whicll llcforr wnr sot
sobmissi~ive,)sink prostrate, lowly bent and turning (from its former stntc) (h). I s ~ I l
knew by the lightning-flash of thy (brilliant) teeth, that a cloud would soos i)c cilst
upon thy cheeks (5).
 By thc same :
Thy yonttl hath dcscrtcci thc mansion in which i t dwttlt, and I slopped to wecp ovcl.
tile timc-woro vestiges of its krrncr abocic. In that facc tllc izdr shows like the trcnc),
1yhic11surrountls [the Arab's tent),and the molcs on thy h c c reprcscrit the (Olac/cenetl)
stont:s of thc rustic; hcarlll ( G ) .

A poet 01' lnler times, iiamed Lmad ad-dill AbG Ali 1b11 Alxl an-Nfir (7)
;I\-I,;lzzi, who inhabited Mosul and \v110 shall be mentioned again in the lifc of'
MGsa Ibri Yhnos, has talien llold of this idea and said :

I took the i;dr on thc da~*krnctlchecks of that youth for the trench (which sur-
rot~r,& he tent), and thc molos 011 his fitcc l;)r t l ~ cblnckcned stoilcs of the hearth i n t h c b

midst OF the ruined dwelling. So I sloppctl to Inmcnt (his youth now passed away ; I
wept as) with thc eyes of Orwa, alld sighcd u s if 1 were Chailhn (8).

This A h i ~ Ishiilc was born A . Ii. 4.50 ( A . D. 1058), in the isle of Sukr 20
(Xiicnr), a dependency 01' nnlassiya (Firlcncia), ,a city-of Spain; he dicd on
Sunday 25111 Shnwwil, B. IT. 533 (Jurrc, A. U. 1430). - Sukr is a village
e c ~ ~ (Xiztiva) and Valcncia; it is called an isle from its
lying b ( ~ ~ . w SlrStiha
being surrounded by the walors (of the river cv/~vl/zbears dzc Jar?ze name).
Andali~sis an island (9) joirted to the long lar~d(or continent) which rcachcs
to Constantinople ~ h cgrcnl; it is called an island because tllc sca cuconl-
passes it on all sides cxcrpt the northern; its shape is tr.iangular, the cast-
ern angle being contiguous to the mountain (mnge) through which the way
lcads to Ift.ar~ja(France); did this mountain not exist, the two seas had been
united. It is related that thc first person who dwelt in that country after thc
deluge was Ancl;llus, son of Jnphet, son of Noah, from whom it took its
name.

(1)The poetical works of Ibn KhafAja ai-Andalusi are still extant: see No. 418, fonds Asselin in the
Bibliothdque du Roi.
(2)The meaning of the word izdr is givcn in the Introduction.
:3 In this piece the poet fancies a rescrnb1onc.e bctwccn the face of the person whom.he addresses and a
mosque in which a true believer worships. The Kibla is that part of the horizon, or of a mosque, which is in
lhe direction of the temple of Mekka, towards which thc Moslirns turn when they say their prayers. T h e Mihrdb
i s a niche or recess in the wall of the mosque, and serves to point out the Kibla. Far-fetched ideas Iike this
iire frequently met with in t h e writings of the Moorish poets.
(4)This verse is a mere play up011 words ; in pluce of saying simltly, tfby youth is gone, this fine writer repre-
wnlril as prosmted l. lllc pound like a miqvho prays; $0 it is new lrun~l~lrd. lllfllll4ll is'li)rl'lllll of h ~ a r l h l i
fi1rrllc.r nil! *.
;
nerr,. and it has quilted itr former stale, like repenting sinner who ill)lhfl,l.lls
"1 the poets of the later school, handsome lee111 are said l o flnsli li~hlllillu: 11111 I I ~ I I I I I I I I iYh 111 I 11111
(g
pnied by clouds, SO bere tbc cheeks are shaded or rlouded by tile growtll (l( tllfi ( ~ f l r .
(6 811 those ideas, milh tire czception of the bdr, are borrowcd liws tlic ilneiant AmDir r l ~ t # r i ~ a111;tt
. 1% 1,.

sal, from the works of the anteirlomite poets, vhich every well educnle~lAr1111 k ~ r t ~ r lty
t l III+I~!. I,II~(T , ' ~ I ~ I I I I
poetry is often m iolcntionnl imitation of these old authors; the thougl~trnrc g ~ l l ~ ~ r i l ~111.
l l y Hnsli., I ~ I ~ I I 1.1-
J ~ ~ I

in a diflerent manner. Such was the taste of Arab criLi06, v110I o ~ k ( ~on d lllr potqfr~.l i l the a~trba~ll
l r a b s perfect models in stjle and ideas: whence the key to all the ohfiru[r illlush*r lllFt u 1111 I I I I ~ MIW P
lim poets must be loohcd for in the loallalias, the poems of Arnr 'l-Xuir, E A b i ~ b a ,rlr.
(7)Abd an-Nur means the Servant of Light ; Light is one of the ninety-11isc ~lnlnrahy w l i r l ~(;at1 liiid BI--
signated himself in the Koran; see Surut XXIV, verse 35, where il is sllid : "Bo(l in the 1.ipht 01IIIP f11.4111.11.
and the earth."
(8) The Arabic poet generally begins his piece by describing the sorrow t~hdragtct ko i i . t . 1 ~ on nrrlvlirw, nI'tt.1
a long absence and a fatiguing journey, at the station where tho triheaf his rnistrc~lrwaa lshl ct~~rntrll~c*ri, r~nll111
ahich he expected to find her again; but where nothing now rernairlsexrcpt lhe nearly ublitrrn~c~rl rtrlns of 1111.
rustic dvellings. The poet O w a died of a broken heart on hearing d ~ nhis l mlstrcsfi had ~ a n r r i r ~ Il I ~ I O I I ~ I
Ghaildn or Zu 'l-Rumma excelled in painting the pains of lovc. I-Jis lire ie givnn in thin work
(9) There is no word in the Arabic language for peninsula; they ninkc use or ja:!ro, iulrl, 111 i t s h ~ t + a t L .

ABU ISHAK AL-KALBI AL-GElAZ%I.

Abfi lshak Ibrahim Ibn Yahya Ibn Othmln Ibn M ~ I I ~ ~ ~ I I;~i-Kitll)i I~~I;I~I
(belorzging nigo the tribe of Ka1b)al-Ashhabi(1); or, according IO11111 i t ~ l - N i \ i j b l . i l l
his History of Baghdad : Ibrahim Ibn Othmlin Ibn Abbts Ibn RI I I \ I ~ ~ I I I I I I ; L1 ~l ) r r
Omar Ibn Abd Allah al-Ashhabi al-Kalbi al-Ghazri j native ' ; [llir

celebrated and talented poet is S of in these 1el*ms 1 , AsPkir i l l

his history of Damascus : " He ca alnaseus in [lle year 4,8,1 (A. 1). 1O H N )
and attended the lectures of Na lidisi (2) hejurisconslllt ; , I , ( . ~ S(,,
~
out for Baghdad and fixed his dwelling in the Niramiyn CoIlog~*SOI. n i i i l l y
'- gears; thew he composed elegies and panegyrics on more tharl orlv ~ ~ r o l i ~ s s ~ ~ *
and also on other persons; from thence he travelled to Ktlorasan i\lld I ~ l i l d ( b
a eulogiums on a number of its princes, and his poetry got into ~ i ~ * ( t.ioll * ~ ~ l i ~

" there." Ihn AsPkir then gives a number of his pieces and finishes l,y sllrailkilll;
highly of him : the volume of his poetical works, selected hy himaell; c(lllluills
One thou~ndverses, according to what he says in his preface. Tile khlib llllPd
ad-din memions him in the Kharida, and, after pnisiog hiIn, says : ]lc 11.a-
 BIOCRAPlIICAL DICTIONARY. 39
velled over the provinces and journeyed abroad; hc was rrpratcdlg drparting
and rernovillg; hc penetrated far i n t o the rcpions of Iil~orasanand Kcrrnall,
. Land mct will1 tllc r~cmar~kablc men ( { f ' l h e tL?la)." Nasr ad-din Mokram 1h11
al-i\lj, viair o f Iicrman (R), was cclebrat~dby lrim in a poem rllymiog in /,,
\\-l~icl~
coni.aiils illis origirlal idea :

OL' (evil) fortune WC have bornc s load abovo our strenglh; 'tis thus thc, fractur.t?cl
liml~bcars its bandages.

Tlrc samc poem contains this pretty thought oo s short ni,ght:

It was 3 night over u hosc fscc wc I~opctlthc izdr (6.) ~vouldslowly glide, but n o
sooncr ti;td it tracctl its (dark) outlitre lhan i t turnctI p a y horn thc prcscncc ol'
morning.

The poem (F-on1 rvltich rlrese oerses are taken) is n long one. The followirrj;
is n good and wcbll known piece of his composition :

Jlow 1 said they, jou have abandoned poetry? Yes ; through compnlsion, I rcplicd ;
thc sourcchof my indr~cemcntsand of my motivcs (to it) is scaled up (5). The dwellings
(of hospitalil?~~arc tlescrted ; no generous man now lives whose bounty may bc hopcd
for; no fair i)vauty now cxists deserving of love. 'Tis strange that poetry should find
no purchaser, and yct bc adultcralctl and stolen tllough it clog thc market.

The following verses, hy the same author, arc remarkable for the pleasing arti- 91
Gce with which rlwy are worded (G):

Biting sarcasms and base submission lo a worthless (guardian) are two thirtgs
which render prohibition bitter (to the soul). Neason (says) : Rather choose wounds
from the points of pliant (lances), than court (a mistress) and meet with those two bitter
(humiliations).

By the same :
The only privileec granted to this vizir In the council-chamber is the right of
wagging his beard as a sign of consent. Such a. pillar of the state (wazir) and sup-
porting nothing is like the waterless sea of prosody (7).

Ry the same :
(The hearts of) men are so dried up, that if they wept, a tear would hardly flow to
wet their eyes. The hand of (the patron) whom we praise no longer sheds the dew (o[
liberality), and the forehead of him whom we satirize no longer grows moist (with
shame).
 'r 0 IBN K YfhLLIKAN'S
This author composed a number of long poems l'1111 of ol*igirl:ll l ; i~lltl
the following extract is considered by literary mcrl as a i)(~an~iliil n11d
ll:~ss:~f;t~
elegantly turned :
A mark (of recognition) from you will suffice me ; the bp!?( Rnl\%'Cl'11) ii ~ : l l l l t i l l i ti l l , 011
the morning lovers separate, is madc by a rosy Gnger (R) I -
( IVhsa ar trl rt r r il(1 i n ) Iwr
"

mantle flew off in her confusion, and the knot which SC('III'('II hrr c~oll;~r of' ~ , c k : r l . l x \V:\$
broken during the darkness : she then smiled so as tu illtirnit~ute 1 1 1 ~~ ~ i ( ; l iklid ~ l . *\\P
gathered up her scattered pearls by the light of her well rr~tgcd(teeth).

In this last verse he alludes to the following thougllt, ox~)rcasc(ll)y iln* Sliitl.il'
ar-Rida in one of his poems :
During that night, the lustre of her (smiling) teeth lighlrd up, nmitlat tlrcl (;ioorli 01'
darkness, the spot on which to impress my kisses.

A poet of Baghdad has come near the above idea in a Mucx)rilin (!l), cVo~n-
posed according to their usual system of either omitting tllo linal vowc*ls, or.
placing them at random :
I held Laila in my arms with a wild embrace, and said : A pr'opilioria ~ t : l r . llns
risen upon my fortune. She smiled, and the hidden pcerls shone forth ; tllc* ~li{;lllS ( * ( V I ~ ( V ~
day ;and the jealous spies awoke (10).

The original source of this idea is in one of the followinp; v(.rscs conll,osr(l l l y
Abh 't-Tamahin al-Kaini :
1 spring from a race of which alone the men are men I when one of i 1s p1.i sa~nt liex,
another like him arises. So shift the stars of heaven ; when onc sots, nr~otll(brn p p ~ ~ i t ~ . ~ ,
followed by others. (The brightness o f ) their glory and their hcaa lightt!(l 1111 thp ni(:hl.
so that the artisan could string the pearls he drilled.

03 This last verse is said to be the most laudatory of any madc in the Timrs
of Ignorance (l l ) ; it is also said to be the most lying. (The nexl vr,:rr: r,/le,-
it is :)

W ~ e r e v e rthey were, they always had a noble chief ; wherever his squacirullr w c ~ l ,
there also went Death. +

The author of these verses, Abii' t-Tarnabin Hanzala ibn as-Sharki (l 2) was on($
of the poets who lived iq.$e Times of Ignorance -Ghazzi was born A . 11. 4.41
(A. D. 1049) in the town of Gbazza (Gaza), (where Hishim, grandfather tt,
Muhammad was buried) ; and died A. H. 524 ( A . D. 1130 ), in Khorasnn
i/2e road) belwcen Marw and ilalkh; to which latter place he was carried, and
there he was inlerred. I t is related of him that he said on the approach of
death : I hope God will pardon me for three reasons: I am horn the same
town as as-Shtfi ; I am an old man, and am far from my family." May God be
merciful to him and justify his hope! As it is possible this book may fall into
the hands of some person living far off from our country, and who, not
knowing where Gaza is situated, may desire information on that subject; I shall
state that Gaza is a town in the dependencies of Palcstine and situated on the
Syrian Sea (or Meditermnean) near A s k a l b (Ascalon); it is the first Syrian
town met with on passing the frontier of Egypt, and is one of those caravan
stations which the Koran makes mention of in thcse terms : die caruonn statiorz
of winler and of sunzmer (sur. CVI, verse 2), where all thc commentators agree
in explaining the winter station by the country of Yemen, and the summer sta-
tion by Syria; for the Koraishites, in their commercial expeditions, went to
Syria in summer on account of the healthiness of the country in that season ;
and they travelled to Yemen in winter, because it is a hot country to which it is
impossible to go in summer. Ibn Hishim says towards the beginning of his
Sirat ar-Raszil ( 1 3) : The first who established for the Koraish the caravan
stations of winter and summer was IIbshim, grandfalher to the blessed pro-
" phet : " a little farther on he writes :'(Ibn Ishalc says : ' Then Iliishim, son of
Abd Manif, died at Gaza in the land of Palestine on a commercial cxpecli-
tion : "' and a little farther on : " NlatrQd Ibn Kaab al-Khozl'i said in an
'' elegy on the descendants of Abd Manlf-" he then gives a poem in which is
this verse :
And HAshim (is) in a grave over which the winds sweep (the sand), in the midst of
the desert between the Gazas .

On which he makes this observation : Those skilled in etymology say that

the Gazas mean here Gaza alone; it would seem that the poet had given to
" each part of the town the name of the whole town, from his putting Gaza in

" the plural number (14)." Tlris place was known from that time by the name
of the Gazaof Hishim, for his graveis there, though not apparent or known : and
on passing through the town, I could obtain no information from the inha-
bitants respecting it. W h e n the celebrated poet Abii Nawis went from Baghdad
to Old Cairo with the intention of reciting 10 al-Khasib Ibn Abd al-Hamid (1 5),
6
 42 IBN XL11hJ,LIICAH'S
i ) l ' ; t i ~ t ~ 1, 1 1 ,
president of the landtax at Old Cairo, a poem mad(: l)?' llilll i
(Irk 1 I ~ I ' :l\.; ( k l i l l ) ( '(111.
inserled in it the namesof the different places he slopp(&(I
verses is :

There (women] r e n t with the caravan towards t l w b (;(I;* of ildrllire. :111(1 *lll~illl~,
business (shaliir) awaited them at al-Farama.

There are t ~ v owords here which require rxplanaliorl : ilI-l.';ll';l 1 f i h ~ ~ ~ l ~ l I

[he name of the great which was capital or Egypl in i!\C tilnr (I(' ( h ( ! ~ ' i tli' i i k ~ ' ( ~ \ '
Bbrajlam; and Hijir (Hagar), mother of fsmael, from O r ~ ~ rfr~z l - / l ~ ~l i) li oj l l ~ r / -
4 the Ambs), a village in its dependencies : al-Fi~~'ami\is i t v l L a o w ~ t
p5 station on the right hand of the traveller going fro111 12p;ylll to S Y I . ~ ; Il ) v 1I1i.
sl~ore\%-ay; it is situated on the edge OF the desert 1yi11gI ) e l \ u ~ ( ~St li i l l ( 1 (; ;)11(1
Kosair (on ilie Red Sea) : when I saw it, it was io ruins, 11011lillf; 11(11tiai11i11(;1 1 1 1 1
its vestiges ; it was situated on a high hill. The A~>ahsIT ~ i l l i t r ~ i ~ l i oi tl l~ s
considering lsmael to be their progenitor, and in I ) ~ l i ( ! v i ~!!)at
~ c 1lis I ~ I ~ ) I I I (i*tIi ,.S it
native of O m m al-Arab, the village above-mentionc*tl. Tbc sc:c:ollrl w o l ~ t lto l,(#
explained is shaklir, pronounced also ~Jzulriir;it signifies llling,~ (ak~,,. i o /,crr/./
causing serious rejZexions; he singular is shakr.

(1)81-Ashhabimeans descended from al-Ashhab, whowusprobably onc of 111-Clit~rzl'uanrrstora.

(2) T h e sheikh Kasr Ibn Tbrahtm Ibn Nasr al-Makdisi ( n a t i ~ eo f Bail ol-Maktlis or Jtrnraalam), tin i11r:inl
of great authority and a piilar of Islamism, was equally %arned and pious; he eomposcd thc li~llowi a g U c~slir: r l i t *
Tchrlib +.-.L$ 1, the Maksad &I, the K&li auf
and a commentary ou lhu I~hdrcl! w e Iltljji l i t ~ n l i S ~ ~ .
1, n3;Gs)of Salim ar-RBzi, etc. He studied jurisprudence at Shr (T?/re)undcr Sollrri ar-lMzi li)~+ four >c'llr\,
and thensettled at Damascus,A. H.480,where he spent his life in tllc pracliac! oTgrent uusterilicei~r~tl tnortilic.,~
tions ; died in the month of nfoharram, 490 (January, A.D. 1097), and was buried u l I)rr r r ~ n s v t ~ du, llc+rol i t \
tomb conlinued to be highly venerated. (Tabakat as-Shdfiin. Tab.aE-Folcahd.)
(3) The province of Kerman was at that time an indcpcndcn! statc govcrned by Scljhk 11riocc.s.
-5) See note (2). page 35.
8

,S) Literally: The door of inducements and motives i s locked.

:6i Tbis artifice consists in bringing together words of d i b r c n t significalions, b u l all writtell n11(1 ~ ~ I I I I ~ I I J I I I ~ I I ~
nearly in the same manner: it is obvious that sense must, i n such cams, be t'roquently xacriRm(l rs rsa111.
(7)In the Arabic system of prosody, the different metres are called seas.
18) he r o r d & Anam. here translated byrosy finger, is the namc of n long and rcd(iiul~Rrlt r t ~ i t ~Kn,r. ll

in ~ i j a z the
I
; poets compare their mistress's taper fingers, when dyed with I d n ~io, t11lr fruit. (S,,(*
(11: S,I,Q! '9

Chcbtowthie, t. 11, p. 416 ; ar~,dFreytag's Hamasa. p.288.)

(9) ID L e Arabisehe Verskumt, by professor Freytag, some notice is taken ol' thc songs called r n ~ ~ a l l;, ,
the derivation of this name is gireo by the Baron r o n Hammer in thc L u r n a l Ariat(quc RI h ~ ( ( ~ 1
a l~, 0 .
(10) The mistress of the Arabic poet is generally represenled as closcly guardcd, 10 ihilt [Ovcrtil rneC~inyr
could only take place by stealth.
 --
Tawhid, fhVlfimli<)n : ; I ) I ~ ' * I ' n i t :~
( I ) The Suralentitled Ml&jrtnelrs rhsignation) is l180 called
it is (he one bun&d and twelfth chapt,-$of the Konn, and ronlninr ollly f0llr 9 l l s r l *I1r*P~;43 trlttiitiian
tllc i*lllir4'Hilrnn.
Muhammd hag declared its recitation three times to be cquivalcnt to ttlaL
'l-l:ntlb, ill l ~ i n(;f*oympIiirnl
@) the life of gri,the author rnereb refers hack to what hc arya iltrc : A
work (see Arabic text, p. (24). menlong Aastr as a fort in the ~rovinceor fiu&ln.

THE IMA# 'AAMA

i W
,'
The imam Abd Allah aas$$dbni al-Marwa~i( ( l f i . ~ ~ ~roYjl. ~ ~//l(!
~(~~'(!/
trihof ~ / ~ ~ and i b h o)&owl),&s~ &the son of M~ll~n~nm;l(l 11)11 llalll)al

Ibn Ibn Asad Ibn Ibn Ahd ~ l l &Ihn IIaiybn 1l)n A A1l;lil l l ) r l
Ibn AGf Ibn Khsit lbn Mizin Ibn Shaibin Ibn Zok1 Ibn T11al:ll)ilI l ) l l Okhllil
Saab Ibn Ali Ibn Bakr Ibn WQilIbn Kisit Ibn I-Iinh Ibn Afsn (1 ) I1111 1k)fl)alhl
Ja$da Ibn Asad Ibn Rabia lbn Niztr Ibn Maadd Ibn Adnan ; 1hi.r i 3 h i s ('or'l'('('t
genealogg, though some make him descend from MBzin 1l)n %oh1 11111 ~hail)Qr~
Ibn Thalaba Ibn i)k&ba,which bowever is a mistakc, for it n111st 01)~1lr\'('(I
t h t he came from Shaibin Ibn Zohl and not from Zohl Ibn Shaibi~t,wllos(* 1"'-
ternal uncle was the Zohl Ibn Thalaba above mentioncd. IIis rnntk~orleft (I)(! t'ity
of Marw during her pregnancy, and brought &m.tor th at Baghdad in tile tnorlll l
of the first R& A. H. 164 (A. D. 780); but sorneBay be was born at Mavw :~rl(l
was a child at'& breast when brought to ~ a ~ h a a d :Ibn Ilanbnlal was r ~ n d i -
tionist of the first cstass, and composed a Masnad or collection of nlnbcnticatcul
traditions more copious than those any other person had .till tkl(:n 1,c:t:n alrls 10
form; it is said that he knew'by heart one million of these tradiLions. Ile llad
l a favourite of as-SMfi's, and continued constantly wi 111l ~ i u~lt.il
94 been a ~ u p iand ~n
that imam set out for Egypt :as-Shifi inspeaking of him said : I went f1nm
" Baghdad and left not behind me a more pious mm or a jarisconsult
" than Ibn Hanbal*" In the yFy~*220 (A. D. 8361, some time betwcm the 20111
30th Ramadbn, he was required to declare that the Koran was crealcd (2), bllc
not, dtbuf$ beaten and imprkoned, persisted in refusal. He was
a hanhwme man of middle sizei. having his hair dyed of a light red colour willi
(3)9 and a few black hairs appeariug in his (wllite) beard, He a u g h t tra-
r eminent doctors, among whom were Muhammad al-Bo-
ditions to a n ~ m b e of
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 45

khari and Muslim ibn al-Hajii,j an-Naisaphri; and in the latter part of his life be had
not his equal for learning and piety (4) : he died at Baghdad, A . 11. 24.1 (A. D.
555), on Friday morning at sunrise, the 12th of the first Rabi; othcrs say thcb
4 7tll, and some place his death in the second Rabi ;he was burinl in the ccrncterv
n.ithout the Gatc ofI-Tarb, which is so called after IiarbIbn Abd- Allah, a companion of
the khalif Abii Jaafar al-Mansljr's, from whom also the street called nl-f1~crbiyu
cook its name. ,The tomb of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal is a well known object in that
~~orving-ground,and is visited (by pious persons). It was estimated that the
number of men present at his funeral was eight hundred thousand, and of
women sixty thousand ; and it is said that twenty thousand Christians, Jews, and
Magians became Moslims on the day of his death. Abd 'l-Faraj Ibn al-Jawei
writes in the 46th chapter of the work in whiclr he treats of llre history of Bishr
al-HQfi : " lbrahim al-IIarbi ( 5 ) relates as follows : I saw in a dream Ilishr al-IEifi,
'i who seemed to come out of the Mosque of RusiL (G) bearing something in his
slcere which swung aholrt, and I said : What hat11 God done with thee? he
replied : He bath pardoned mc and honoured me. And I said : What is that in
thy sleeve? he replied : Yesterday the soul of Ahmad Ibn IIanbal came unto
us and pearls and rubies were scnttcrcd over it, and thesc are some I picked up.
" I said : What were Yahya Ibn Main and Ahmad lbn IIanbal doillg? He
'' answered : They werc gone to visit the Lord of all created things, and the table
was laid out for them. I said : Why didst thou not eat with them 'r He rcplied :
He (the Lord) knew that I had to abstain from eating, so he allowed me to look
'' on his sacred face (7)." In the genealogy or Ibn Hanbal, fIa&n'n is written
with a double Y n ; the names of his other ancestors arc sulliciently known and
common, for which reason I need not fix their ~rt~hographg, which I should do
however, did I not apprehend being prolix (8). I have seen some differences in
the statement of his genealogy, but the series I give is the most exact of any I
have met with. He had two sons, both men of learning; their names were SBIih
and Abd Allah; SLlih was kadi of Ispahan and died there at an early age in the
month of Ramadin 266, (A. D. 880); he was born in 203 (A. D. 8'18) : his
brother Abd Allah lived till the year 290 (A. D. 903), and died at the age of
seventy-seven years, on Sunday 22nd of the Grst Jurnida, some say the second ;
he was surnamed Abii Abd ar-Rahmln, and it was after him that the imam
A hmad was called Abii Abd Allah (fnlrzer of A d Allah).
 (1)in the manuscripts of lbn Khallikfi&this name is written dkl~.
but it flpltearh, frfinl ttll iilfbfTa fll-(rfta

and Othmani's Tab&& (h!o.%fifj, f. M),that'tbe right orthography is Af8a.

(21 The eternity of the ]<ornu, considered as the word of Cod, is thC orLboclo%fif(Jblifn(l(l('lrillp
(3) bJ'c ancient Arabs dyed their h& and beard n d with the l a a ~ Of ~ s1110 lllnnt rflll~l!l f i r b l i f ~f Lfl*t'mfia(i
inanis); Muhammad recommended his followers to adopt this custom, 80 ttlnt 1lll.y nliyill i l ( l l si~\li~hrl~
- for Christians or Jews, n ho, as he says, never colour their hair. (Sce Mi8hlidl-nl-fi;I(tn~11)1/1,
I. 11.11. :l311 r l rr3(/.,

(I)The author betrayshere his partiality towards the founder of his rccl. ui-Sl~bli,N bo ili~vlitlt11111 LISI?! ( . I I I
before Ibn Hanbal.
(5) ~ b Ishali
h Ibrahtm Ibn Jbn Bashjr i+l-F.Iarbi was n h u k of t(lX!llt r.cput~tIt~l,
tl I('ilrll('cl lrnllllifl1l
plllldllI\
ist, and had studied jurisprudence under Ahmad lbn IIanbal; he wrote it r1~11Jlror 0f warh.s. r l t l t l
holy in praeiice and precept. Died at Baghdad, A. B 285 (A. D. 80R), nuad 87 gcnrr. ( l'flp. . l f ~ ~ b l t t r t . o r ~ i
Tllrikh al-Ehatib, MS. belonging to the Bib. du Roi, NO.634, f01.62.)
(6; Rusdfa is the name of a quarter of Baghdad situated, according 10 hhh 'I Pktfb i r l l~iw(i('o~rnl'll!. 1 ~ 1 1
theeast bank of the Tigris.
(7) The Moslims are laught to believe that those dreams are true in which (I ltoly man, n 11ropht.t. or 1111-
Divinity himself is seen; they are authorised thereto by thc Sunna. SGOMdahlrdt-al-MnnR/rth. 1. 11. 1,. 3:IH:
Lane's ,odernEgyptians, and a note on the life of IbnNubbtn in tlir lownal A8iatlpuo for Jnti. 1NJI).
(8) Thc imperfections of the Arabic alphabet are well knawn ; a sin8le p o i n ~ornitbrd, ntlded, or tlrrpln~vtl
may cause one letter to be taken for another, and therc are noless lhan sixtecrl of l110 Araltir laurrh U h i r l ~nrr,
pointed; the vowels are also oniitted in the MSS.; this increases the cliffic~lticsof l110 rsnd~-r: nrtd nl~ttr,~rb IISI.

obligtd to mite out in full the spelling of the word or name which tticy wish to prcscrvc! frorn b c 1 i n ~tllt(*rcld l,!
ropyists.

IBN SURAW.
Abb 'l-Abbis Ahmadlbn Omar Ibn Suraij, doctor of the sect O f ~ ~ * $ l l & lisi ,s ~ ~ ) l \ ( . r i
'L
of in these terrns by Abb Ishak as-Shirizi in his 7'abakn"t ( l ) :
Ile .rv;~s o r ) c 1 01' It I O
a great Shafite doctors and Moslim imams, and was surnamed T h e JIt~ghfIt'i~.t~ ;

he filled the post of kadi at Shiriz and surpassed in talent all as-Sllili's p p i 15,
even al-hluzani himself : the catalogue of his works contains f'orl~.1111 ~ l c l r . t + ( l
" articles. He was an active defender of the sect of as-Shifi and r~l'utcdi ~il(lv(11.-s
95 saries ; he wrote also observations on the works of Muhammad ll)n i~1-1 l a s i ~I I
al-Hanab. The sheikh Abh Himid al-Isfariini said of him : L 1 s ow tno~i~l(*cll;c
of the plain points of jurisprudence we keep pace with AbQ 'l-AhbBs, 11u1111.
surpasses us in the niceties of that science.' He studied the law i ~ r l d ( ~Alllj
~.
'l-Kasim al-AnmSti, and some of his own pupils became the b s t doecllms arl loll!;
" the Moslims : throughhis medium as-Shafi's doctrines \vere spread irlill tn;lny
" countries." He had frequent discussions with Abb Bakr Muhammad az-%Q-
hiri, who is related to have said to him once (ill the course of an orgrcnlnrl) :
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTJONA R\Y . 'c7
Give mc timr. to swallow my saliva (and I u ~ l l anawer l you) ; " to ~vllicb111t.
(,llrer rcplicd : You rni!;llt swallow tJle river Tigris (bt;/o~-e3,011 a,ts(vcr- m e ) ! "
l\llol]ler time Abri I3akr said to him : '' Givc rno a ~norncrit,(10 c~~).scvel.);"aucl 1lis
~ ~ y : I mill give yorl to lhc end or time (2) ( ~ I J / OyI o~u
; ~ d r p r ~ s nrc1(ortcrl ill."
I~~otllc:~. di~yA l l i ~Ilakl. nladc him dlis rcrrla~-li: I speak in y o t ~cot~(xbt.r~i~~g ( 1 1 1 8

L foot, ;lnd y o nllswoib

~ ~ rnc a)nccl\ning the 1le;ld; " to whicll Ibn Sor.ai,j 1.cto11tnl;
h L 11 is so wit11 t l ~ OX,: when its hoof is sore, tllcy ercase its llorrls (3j." l t \ I ~ ; I ~
3;)icl ( o liirn in speaking of the age in wllicli he lived : " God raiscd up Omar II,rl
LL 12 lid ;~l-Azizat thc beginning of h e first centurhy after ill(: Ilijra, rlmc hc inig11t

L L ~llalrilislor~thndoxyantl dcstroy iunova tioll ; tllc11 God in his I~ounly t,laccd ;r l

a tllc o1)cnin!; o l tllr ricxt ccntuibyillr inlam as-S1\iIi, t11;kt 11arniclrt rnariircstor~d~o-

( L doxy and force innovaiiorl 10 l i t ' liid; allcl Got1 ~1-acio11sIy (*ontilrr~d ( l l e ~0 1 1
n i ~t t 1~ ;foliowi~~$
4 4 ( 1 ~ :I ~ c ~ g i ~ ~of ~ (xor~l~trty7
~ ~ K I Il .l ~ o i i rtii!;l~((~st,str(m{;tllcn 01,-
11lodoxy anti nenltcn innovation." Alorlc nfi~llhis otlicr* talents, Ihn Suraij
])oss(&sbedtlrat of composing good p o c t ~ ~ g died at liaghd;~d11rc 26111 of' tlrc first
;lm
.lumada RO(i (A. I). 918); ot1lc:l.s say Monday 25dl of thc first I\abi; lrc was I)ulicbtl
in tlrc court or his 1lo11scat the Srccruuiknt (;l,cilll, (Gll.cilib7.s S n ~ n l Hnznar)
l wlliclt
i s on the wost r S I r i ~ i s a, l s r l - K : ilc was a;;od
57 years antl sis nlnrltlrs. Ilis toull) is still co~tspicuous in that spot and i s
\.isitet1 by dcvotccs : rio otllcibcdilicc or roml) ncnr it 113s ~ ' c ~ ~ ~ a and i ~ l t1lcl.c.
( ~ d , it
stantls alone. Ilis grandfadlcr. Si1rai,i was cclcbratcd for the cxtrcrne sanctity of his
li : I have road in somc hook that Ile was a Persian without any knowlcd~."
O S Arabic, and that. llc had n vision (h,), i n wllicll l ~ saw c and convcrscd with the
Creator, who, in ending, said to liim : " J7u Surnij! tnleb korz," to which he
answered : " Ya Khoda! ser hi-ser :" these words, which werc repeated three
times, are Persian, and nlcarl : 0 Suraij! seek.-0 Lord! l~e~cr! willt /lead : which
is as much as if' hc had said : II nnz co~ztentecZto altairz salvnlion, head with
hend(5). 1 have since found i n ~ h cllislory of Baglldad illat hc who had this
vision was called Suraij Ibn Yhnus Ibn Ibrallilxl Ibn nl-llarith al-Marwazi ; he-
was a devout and self-denying man, possessing supernatural gifts : died at
Baghdad in the month of the first Rabi 235 (A. D. 84.9) (6). 1 also saw in ;I
dream a hook con~ainingtraditions traced 111) to Suraij through an ullbroken
series of sound authorities (7). As for the first anecdote, 1 heard it from one of
onr iloly shaikhs.
--
(1) &U ~ d Shubba
i and Hajji Ualifa call ibis work, 'Z'obddt (rl-lbkahd(oJ@saa#firj t s i r r ~ ~ ~ ~ d u;l l m
is, Biographical notices of celebrated juriaconsul~s,classified in a l)nrticular nrdar. it % i ) i t l ~ lililtmr, front
obsenation nadebyal-Othmlni in his Thobddt (fol. 111, v~T#o),whcn ipnnkto$ of Ahfi nlld h l a t i ~ ~ r t ~ r411. ltn~
Naishpbri, lhlt in the work of A b l lshak as-Shtrhzi, the lives of tho ductnrr nro arran(ipd arnjrditl~to the dpyrn-
of merit and learning of each individual.
(2)Literally :2111 the hour (of final judgment) ComOJ.
(5) T K ~ananer of ibn Suraij means in other tcrms: "Tho~ghwhat l laid M YOUap(n.rfi 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ~irrvivi 1 1 1 ~ 111
precise and well applied, but you hara [tot t h ~nrt~*t*1 1 ) prrrrirc i t :
4i J O U question,
~ it is
.' yw are like theor r h o knows not that the greasiog of it8 horns will cur0 Lha 8orsttrna of itr b0{11$.%hlrbi.
nevertheless the fact." In comparing his adversary to on or, he troatr him nu n hnaty nlrti rttll,irf Ir\ir,r:
the Arabs call such aperson bakr (ox).-See M. Humbert's Afithoiogie Arab, IHQ.

(4) See note (79, page 46.

(5) He& with head; that is: without obtainiag ppreeminencs ouer vthwl. Thlr rn~tni)bbrl u trrhrr~rrr~rrt
howe-racing. See also Reiske's note in Abh'l-FadB's Annals, t. 11, p. Xj0.
(6) IbnghaUikh appearshere tohavesome doubts respecting the idontitgof t l ~Surnij i ~ w it11 Surnij ~ r ~ r l r l -
bther to BbO'l-Abbh; Yh6 however says, in his Annals, that hc woe so, (888 I i m d t cl/-Jnr~drr,No. 0:li.
folio 187.)
(7) It has been already said, that dreams in which holy men appoar nra conaiderod h y thr? Mttrrlrrrw rr ttilc4,
see page 46, note (7); here then is a proof that Suraij was n traditionlsrc of' unquealiunrd nutltority, binrr
the series spoken of goes no farther than him. He was therefore an imam of tmditlonr ;a kuly rknrarrrhr In III(.
eyes of the Moslims: he must also have obtained ateroal happiness, or Ibn Khrtllikhrt would not h ~ u(lclac lillrl
with so sacred a book in his hand as a Collection of Traditions; for such is Lho conc\uwiun wkicL uur aurl\c,t
wishes to be drawn from his dream.

IBN AL-KASS AT-TABARI.

Abii 'l-Abbls Ahmad Ibn Abi Ahmad, better known by thc name of I bn al-Kiss
L?
at-Tabari, wasa doctor of the sect of as-SMP and a native of Taberestan, wlkprc he
wasesteemed the highest authority of the time in religious matters. After learnillg
jurisprudence fiom Ibn Suraij (whose life has been just given), ho cornlmsid a
great number of works, among others : the Talkhh (Abridgment) (I ), the Guide
for Kadis, the Mnwiik~t,the LW@& c2), etc. The Talkhts has been con~nlent(?d
by AbB Abd Allah al-Khatan and the shaikh Abfi Ali as-Sinji(3);it is a little book,
and is cited by the h a m (al-Haramain) in different pwb of his Ni/tt&tb and
by m a z z i l i : the works of ibn al-Kbs are short
very instltuetivr.
He often addressed pious exhortations to the people, and having come, in one OS
his Journeys, to Tarsfis (where it is said he acted as kadi), an assembly met r,
llcar him preach, and he was ttlcre seized with sucll cnmpunctiorr 2nd tcrror a1
rile t l ~ o u ~ l lof
t s God's mejesty, that he s~voonedaway and died, A. 11. 335 or. 83(i
( (1. D. 94.6-7). llis f a t h e ~was calle(1 rd-Kiss (rite flarratot.), 1,ecause 11e ust~!
10 relate (l,u.c.so)Irislories and anecdotes (4.). - f uber~sta12is a n exlcllsive pro- W i
r 7

kince in Prrsin nd4jac(.nito K l ~ o l - a s : ~i t~ has

~ ; two capitals, 8 r i a (5) and Amol,
and is well defcbrldcd l)y Sor*trcssrsand deliles.--Tarsus is a city 011 dlc fr-ontie13
of Rhnliyn ( d s i u Mirzor) ncar lire towns of nl-Mossisa ([he anciettt Mopsuesliu)
n r ~ dAdnna ; al-Marnhn, son of Ilarbn ar-Rashid, was interred r11crc : ihis plar-c
n in the Muhnddal and the FV~l.sll(G) in the clrapter of wakfs ((7).
i s s l ~ ~ l i eof

This
,l) work is ;I treatisc orr the sccorldary polrlts of jurisprudencc; sec Flugel's IIdjji Khalifa, No. 3543.
(1) Hajji Khnlifa nicntio~lsthc Mawdltlt (tlie prcscribcd times), without giking any i~librmationas to it3
voiltcnts ; the n f i f t d h , 01. Kcy to thc Icgal tloctrir~csof tlic Sliafilc scct i s also mcr~tiorlcdl)y 11irn.
(3) In the Arabic t e x t this narnc ih il~rorrcctlyprinted as-Skinji.
14) I n the carly i ~ g r sol' Islii~nism,the narrator of histories was a person Ilighly rcspcctcd ; a t that time fen
I~istorieal\torlts had been composed, ancl i t was from these persoris olone that inforrnaliorr coultl be obtained;
tl~eyalways hcgan cach ol their rcli~tions by n slaterncnt of the pcrsolrs through n l i o n ~i t was successively
tinrldcd down, ant1 lliey wcrc particularly caref~ll ilot to chi~ngeor s u ~ ~ l ~ rnc single ss word in those nririent
traditions; it vn.4 wit11 suc.11 clor~r~rnrrrts tlji~tnt-Tabari composed his celebrated history, rnerclynrranging tllerti
I I I chronologicnl ortl('r.

( 5 ) This appears to I,t: tlie siirne city nhicll is now called Seri; Abb 'l-VadA places it i n Mazrndcriln.
(6) T h e M u l l a d d o b \\;is n rilter~hy Abh I41ak as-Shlrfizi, and the W'asEt hy Abtl flilmid Muharnmad al-Cl~az-
~Ali.
(7) The term Tkhkf, in the Muharnnictlnn law, desigrlates any sort of propcrty conccdcd in perpetuity to a
rrligious establishmerit ; rnally pious Moslirns willed tlicir cstiites to the support of strong places on the ene-
my's hnrders, wi\r with infidcls bring a religious d u t y ; TarsDs must therefore have possessed much property ol'
this hind, on account of its importance as a I'rontier city, and it is probably for this reason that it is spokcn of
in t h e treatise on It7ukfs.

ABU HAMID AL-MARWARRUDI.

Abh Hlmid Ahmad Ibn ABmir Ibn Bishr Ihn Hlmid al-Marwarrbdi, doctor of
the sect of as-Shifi, studied jurisprudence under Abh Ishak al-Marwazi; he com-
posed the work called the Jkmi, a collection of doctrines special to his sect; n
commentary on the Muklltasnr by al-Muzani, and a treatise on the principles of
jurisprudence. This doctor, who was an imarn of surpassing [herit (I), set-
tled at Basra, where he gave public lessons and had among his auditors the
7
 IBN IiIl hC,LI 1L AN'S

neither sllould lie be blamed ; for dli: tiill lnnn i s,,.I I O I III..I~S(.LI (;)I* I ) i'
1 )i(d . !l . :l( i'2
shtore, nor thc ugly " man blamed for his ill-fi~vrrl~~~(~dnt~ss.
U

(A. D. 9i2-.T).---Afarwnr?~~i mcnns native qf'~lfurc;llrrmid,a IV(~II-AIIOI\11 vi r v i II

I(horasan, built on a river, in l'ersinn ar-&,id, ;i11(1 si(l~nl(rlill I;)I.~ II:II.:I--
bangs from l\lar\r. as-shalljhn; these arc the two fi9ctr~rtl.rSO f ~ r ~ r l ~ ~~ I ~L ( ~* Hl ~l ~lOlI ~I ~ ~ I I
ljy poets: thewonl ShaJljn'nis added to the name (,I' ~llrIitl~(:(~l.0111., { ' I * o I ~ \~, l ~ i t s l l
also is derived the relative adjective illanenzi; ~la:I V O ~ .~.riil~ ( r i o ~ ,is) , i o i l l v ( l 1 1 1
that of the ot\~ercity in order to distinguisl\ bctwccri I ~ I ( . I T I : R ? ~ I ~ * \ \ . : I I ~ lI ~~ iI1' I5(I ~~ I I -
. .
clat at ire adjective Jf~r~~ar-r~idi, and W n r w z i also acrolbdir~!; to il~-Sil111:11lI : I I 11i t c
one of the cities taken by aal-Ahnaf Ibn Kais, and menlion sllsll l r r II\:I(II~ (11' i~ i l l
his life (3); he had been sent against it at tlro ))cad of 1116: \ l i l ~ l - / ; ~ ~ i ~I)\. ~ n l lA l ~ l
, - l
Allah Ibn Almir, general of h e army. Shah;dt~ri,l mcans rho fi~t,g .S so((/: III\
reason for making these long observations is to prrvel~tthesr plilr(hs SIT,111 I i I I!;
taken one for the other.

(1) Literally, whose dust was not split or entered into; a strange exl)rcssion, btil li.(!11111!11~1y lnntl(*\IS(' 01
hy ~ r i t e r who
s affect eleganceof style; the poet Nbbigha ad-Duhyhi scerns to 1 1 a v 1)ccn
~ ~ I I Cl i r h l who irnngir~r*tl
it. and it is still found in one of his poems: PBsuf as-Shantmari, author of an cxccllcnt c.orrhlnch~ltnry olt 1110 ~ i . 1 .
poets (see the Diwart d'dmro 'l-Kai's, introduction,) gives the following explunulio~lof its ~nccirri~~(r;
: 'I'ltott
--hasl not split my dust, that is: I have surpassed tliee, and the distance bcinecrl uu is no witl(b, t11c11t h o ~ ~
" hast not come up s i t h me or split my dust; this expression originntcd in spookieg al' 0 good rr~rrl-l~orhc-

" which passed tlre others and got clear of them, so that they could not cnlcr inlo thc dust ho rnised."
'2) AbO'l.Baiyhn Ali Ibn Muhnmmad lbn al-Abbhs at-Ta~vlildi,native of Iiogbdnd, vvnu sl~rtikhor sul)csrior
ol the SO&, ahose doctrines he lrealed or in the Treusurcs (Uclclrai'r), and otl~crworLs. 111 LIIC life of 11b11
al-Omaid Muhammad, by Ibn Khallikhn, will be found more particulars rcspet:ting him ; scc4also l'ubalcdt o~-
Shufyila, fol. 21, uerso.
1 3 )I n the life of al-Abnaf the author says little or nothing about these cities, and scnrrcly ally i~ilirr~~ieticrn
on the subject is to be found in d-M&kin or Abh 'l-Fad&; the following details may [lot Ll~rrrforcl)tl ulrirl-
trrrsting. In the thirtieth year of the Hijra (A.D. 6804), Tabarcstan was conquered by the M o ~ l i r nI~I I I I ~ I ~ I .
the orders of Said lbn al-ALs, and Abd Allah lho AImr Ibn ~ n r i z ~ subdued j ; Pan, Srjtrtnn usd Kilo-
r w . he people of Berat offered same resistance, but were defeated; thc dties of Nnlaqlhr rri(l RnmkL*
&r surrendered peaceably, and i a r w also obtained peace on condition of payir~gt ~ t ornilliollli of tlir-
hems every year. AI-Ahnaf Ibn Kais was then sent by Abd Allah Ibn Afimir into T o k h ~ r c ! s t ant
~ ~tllv 11~:atl
of four thousand horse, and defeated the forces of that country, thou& seconded by thole u l l u r r ~ ~ j f inntl
lr
other dulricts; he then, with four hundred thousand(?)men, laid siege to the city of Balkb, and endcavoure~l
t o pnetrat8iat.a Ehanarezm, but without success. Abd Allah lbn Admir then set out from NcidpOr to la:rfuml
$2 IBN 1ilT;lLLIIOiN'S
~ b Imrin
i the Hsnefite (1) and slut{icd uncler 1 1 i 1 t i : I)(' s : l i d i l l ~ l ' l ' ~ ~ : l l ' ( (111
/ ~ , 1'0111 -
(;0[1 l i ~ t - ~ * ( * i f1
J ) l '0
~ll
his Jfllk]21asar or Canlpcndiunl or J ~ ~ i * i s ~ ) r ~ l ( :l ( ~ ~ i ( ~ ( ~
i\bh ibrahim '' al-Ml,rani), " n c l i ( b II(. l i v i l l f ; , l i t ' ~ 1 1 ~ ~ 1 1 111:1\'1*
f1 111

( 1 expiate his oah(2)." &4l>fiY a h al-I~l~alili says, i l l llis f t ' . ~ l / ( ~ (:!/ , i t 1 ! \ ) I - lil'l,
1

of &MuZani : f i At-Tahjwi Tras sister's son to : ~ l - l ( f ~ ~ %;i ~:I!I{) t ~ i \ ~ ~ I ~ ~ . I ~ I ~11111 I I I : I ~ ~

as-Shur$ti relales havillg a s k d Iiim why IIV ( l i l b b ~ * . ( l i l l o i ~ i ~ l i o r/ Il * I , I I I

his uncle, and preferred AbB ilallib's doc~rine).' to a l ~ i ( . l l i11--'1':1 ,
II:I i\i i . t + l j li(.(l .
1 . 1

1 1 Because I saw my uncle pore over ill(! \\'ol.k~0s nllh 1 Iil l l ilit.
'1 11i% ~ ~ o I - ~ o I .

\yrote a number of instn~ctivebooks, sl~rllas tllr .//r/i,ir/~, ( t / - / i o / l i l t '1 , / L / I ( I / , / /

rrl-mnld (Points of i l o n l i n e on which / I I / f ) ilrllifrr ' l - ,l/ / 1 ( t ,
(Tjleobsclrn ideas a,zd a1le.elirn.s i12 !he i/'r~liti~rr.i), I I I I * .5'/trrr./i'/ 7'1t l ( r , t , r v o r ,
1

dmwing up Bonds), a great l~istorieal\TO&, ate. AI-T<o~liii l l 1 1 i % li/i!/,~( ~l~,~,~

of him in these terms : " I n his y o l ~ ~.lrc l l lnrt \ ~ i l hs l - 3 1 1 1 a i 1 r 1 i :11111 1110'11 1 , ( ' t 111.
"doctors contemporary with him, alld i)rcrnto I * ( ~ I I I ; I I Q L B O sI L~ t l l , . l l i l l ( ! I ~ : ~ I ~ ~ ~ ,
" up bonds (5). Thc kldi Abli Oliaid Allalr i I f l 1 l l i 1 1 ~ 1 1 l n d 11111 ,\II(I:I 1 ; I{I,II, J 4 i l i l
for secretary; he was then in B d c s ~ i i ~~ot n~d i l i o ~\,III ) , W:IS c - r l ~ . i c , l ~ ~ . c[ JI ? I f ~ t '
kindness of Abb O h i d , who was n vcrg gc~ncmus111;1t1. '1'11('11 t11(' 1 \ > ( 1 i \L;I
Obaid Ali Ibn al-Husnin Ilm TIat.11 (7) apI)oint t ~ ll i i ~ t i sc*r'ir~c*tii*~' IH :I f't c.rs I l l t.
circumstance which occurred hetwccn Mansilr tlac: tIoc*(.ori i t t ~ Iil i r ~ l ? i ~l', i !t ; i l I is
was in the year 30G (A. D. 01 8). The puljlic r~ol,;lr.iosw(*l*r!: I V ( * I ~ S #IIIIYIII!;I~ ~

jealousy to his heing nomitlated scriv(~nc>r,as ihcy (lid tioi ivi*!) I I H * S:IIJ)(~
person to be both chief jurisconsult (1 0) and n:u:iver of :II I vst ii l iorlr ; 1111 :I
" number of them having gone that year to Mekks 1.0 sojtl~lrrlI 1 1 1 4 1 . ~501111' l ~ I I I ~ .
" from religious motives, Abil Ohaid tool< advan~;~l;co l ilrvir iilfi('~~t.(' :i 1111 1 1 0 -

" xninated Abil Jasfar on the attcstarior~sof' Ahd 'I-Kixiri~ HI-hi;irtrr;tt ; t r i t l A l ~ i

" Bakr Ibn SaklBIj (1 l)." At-Tahiwi was 1)orll in 238 (A. I). Hrt'L , ( 1 1 - ?.L!]
{A.D. 843). according to Abh Saad as-Sanllr~i,who is 1wre ril;llt ; :IIIOOII*I+ it11 I 1101-

adds that his birth was on Sunday eve, I I h of tlrc lirst, itall? ; 1 1 I t I )I,I
Cairo on Thursday, of 26 'l-Kada 321 (A. D,{ K I ) , i \ ~ l O ~ s i i sI ) l i ~ . i t b ( i i r l I I U *
Karih (12) where his tomb is still remarked. In the lib of dlt. rlf)c.crjl. & l ; l ~ l ~ i ~ l .
Ismail ad-Darir, mention is again made of him, so tile I+(IIIIjIII,is I.I.I;+I1.~.~I
it. His father died A- H- 264 (A. D. 877-8). y7(~/~lit+>i ~ ~ ~ ~ ,i(l/iitcj

Ta@ which is a town in Upper Egypt ( S a f d ): Aadi signi(itls . Y , r y L l , g /;vrl,

Ad, a great and renowned tribe in Yemen,

 his lectures \yere attended hy more than (1lr00hurl(lrc1(1~ l 1 l ( l ( ~ 1 1if1b1 11 1 f . i \ l l l . l l ,
.
dence : (the subject ?f Itis les,so,ls a~us)tllr f i f ~ r k h / n i n r I)!. i ~ I - J l l ~ / : l lt i fi I l i ( * 1 1
I t 1 1

additional observations of his O ~ V I I ; :II,CI {/!)' . . /I/'$

jil(l'tvv;/;~/

IIt*
Ulstruciion) he filled the earth with partisans (of rr,s-.\'/t(@'r f ~ / J l t l t ( ~ r .l . ~
plained the doctrines of his sect in two works, 1.11~(;~,onl n r l d I l 7'~-
lika (2); another short work of his, the J ~ I L F01.~ f .~a ~~* (Ll t b t ~t ,. o ~ ~ s i h \ \ ? \ ~ I ~ ; ~ I \ ; \ I *
I)/

anecdotes. He learned jurisprudence Born AbB 'l-lKas;i~~I I)II ill-\lii 1.1 I I l 1 i 1 1 :III(I
then, from Abil 'l-Kisim ad-DHraki; eontemporarit~s:III : ~ r k ~ ~ ~ \ v l t *\ii.( l l'111 ;dII~I.IIII.
merit and discriminating judgment ; and the Kbaril) ( A bli lin/i~. .I/tnt(~rll \~)(I:I 6s
of him, in his History of Baghdad, in these terms : " A h i ~Jliu)i(l t i ~ ~ ~ i ii: lr ~ li ~ i l l l
L L portion of traditions, which he himself had lrarnnl S t 3 0 t i l Aljrl A l l s l \ l I ,11 htli,

" Ab5 Bakr al-Ismaili, lbrahim Ibn Muhammad JLn Al)tlal al-lsi';lr-;iirli;111(1 O I \ \ ( ' I ' S;
L' (as a tmditionist) he is a sure authority. 1 saw Ilir11 nor(^ t I I ~ I Io i i ( $ t . ;IIVI ~i it3

'' present at his lectures in the mosque of Abd Allah ll)n :ll-M ~ ~ l l i l I\~ l\i(,!l ~ ~ l r1 i t . s

at the upper end of the Grant of ar-Rn6i (3),nrld 1 h c a r ~ ls o l r l c t jrc+tast111s I I ~ c - i rior~ ~

" that seven hundred students of jurisprudence wcn t to his Icc'ttlr9c..s, ;I r l c J ! / o r . /l~l,r

" reason) people used to say : tf'as-ShdJ s r r r v /lint, 110 t ~ r v , ~ i l/W d ~/t~lrgl//r~(/."
The shaikh Abii Ist~akas-Shirizi, in his T~~hukcil, ~ ( ~ l i as t ~ li,llou
~~s s : :il)it

98 " 'l-Husain al-Kuddri the Hanefite used to praise and exk)l AI& I l h ~ l i i l ;Il l - I 3 I l t I ~ i tI l i
above all others; and it was told to thc vizir AbG 'I-Kasinl ~ l l1f)rl i i \ l - I I ~ i s ; r i r t 1'1)
that he had said : L I consider Abh IIimid an ahltrr doclorb ; z r ~ ( l t l i \ . i i l c * t11it11
as-Shifi.' On this, I remarked to the vizir that i~ was al-ICucli~ri's c.011 li(l(brtc*(. i r
4bBHBmid's talents, and his zeal for the Harlefite sect, wllich 1t.d l l i ~ l l10 1111111'1.
" value as-Shin, so no attention should be paid to ~ v h a tlrt: harl s ; irl~ ; li ) I * 041~(l
'' H%mid,and even more ancient and learned doclors tllan tle, \ V ( ~ ~ . I I&: ~ I - l i r , i l \ 1111.
" rank of as-Shifi ; to whom and to whose successors we migt t ;ipl,l y 1 l) is u k l 0 s v
" OF the poet's :
' They sojourned at Mekka among the tribes of Naufal,but tlla~ha51 sl*ttlr(ln t : t l - l { i l l ( l f i .
' the most distant station.' "
It is related of Abii HPmid that he said : I never, in quining t hc t n o ~ * l i r l ~ ;l si ) r
discussing points of lam (5) had to regret omittiog a necessary ol )scvvilt ion II .'l

is also related that, in one of those meetings, a doctor addressed ]kin1 1 1 ) ;l11 i l l r -
proper manner, and then went to him that night to ask his pardon ; 011 wllictl A bI"
HQmidrepeated these verses :
 h tlclibcr:lle insuit is oflcrcd I~eforc,tlrc public; tllc~ncorncs a privatc cxcusc which olily
rtsniir*mstlrc filult. Ilc wllo thir~hsthat ;1 priv;il(: cxcusc call cn'acr n 1)ul)licinsull is i f )
;I g1~;1tn~ist:llir.

rr]lis( / O ~ ~ [ O \\as
I* 14. 1 l . 3 1 4 (A. D. 9?;5), ancl \n!111 ( O Ragl~clad in :j(i;j
~)OIYI ill

(,l.l) !)~;I-'I), or- 36 '1 accorb(li~~{;

to K ~ I :lil)
t lI :~[IWII! lat~ght, j ~ ~ ~ ~ i s ~frolit
b ~~~i~(
1 1 \cL:lr :l$() ( i l l l l i s cleatll, which l~appent*(fJi:~.itlay cvening, 18111 Sl~nwwil,A. 11.
, A 01 (ij,a t 1l:lglldad; the il(*rtmorning he was 1)nricd in ( / / ) cco,,r.(
!,06 ( X l a l ~ \ l ~ .U.I
0 )i s S . His body was aftc>~twards rrarlspor~cdto ille (cerrlelery al ihe) Gat($
(IT ilnr4, in 1 1 1 t h yeall f1.10. T l ~ cKhatil) says : " I pray(hd owhrhis bier in t l ~ cplain
<Sn/~rcrj 1)cyond tlre Bridge of A l A 'd-l)nrrn ; and 1 1 1 imnlrl ~ who lead thc praycr
\vas ill)ii A l ~ dAllall, son to ( / / ) cK / t d ~ 'n l-Mahtadi,
) ant1 prcaehcr of thc M o s q ~ ~
o r 111-Mansi~r , it was a clay wi~ncbssed l ~ ycrowds or ~,roplcand filled wit11 deep
7I
w gr*ievons larne~rtatiorl. -I.sfh~.iiirli means native of /.furEiin, a
a s o ~ ~ r ' o and
tow11 of Khorasan in tllc teneitory of Naisipilr, half way bclii7ccn i t and .Jo~jSn,-
1 vcbrscal)plicd to as-Sh%fi b y the shaikh A1)G lsllak has a n o t h c ~btrlonging
r 5

I r ( b ~ to i t
which n l n s tllt~s:

1:or thou didst Ccar on her account (G) the evil talk of hitiden focs with sharpenvtl
tongue ; who say, b u t rlcvcr pcrrorm.

(1) ~ t rxprossien
~ e 5 Jl
C)?.d r / t i s ~ t o i n s / ~ ior r, t r c world owl of r a r~e n g c n is so orscunl.
signification can only he fbund t)y cornparing the dilTercnt passages in which it iccurs. Itsr.cal mean-
i l l e t its
ill:, deduccd from an examination of six passages, appears to bc that givctl here: rramcly, the places of imam
trttd chief professor; for it is to be o b s e r ~ e dthat all thc persons to who111 this title is applied, were grcat

irnnn~sand filmous professors, and nothing more. Tn ill-OthmAni's Tabalcdlwc find that Diuhnmmad as-Sllltllii
I~ccamethr imam of the world i l l jurisprudence, exegesis, politc litoraturc, philology, grammar, poetry,
itnd scholastic divinity ; the sarnc i ~ u t h o rsays of Ibrah'lm al-Marwazi, that he succeeded 10 the place of
W1 L'+,) chieftnit~shipof science or hcad-professorship, and that he filled the land with his pupib.
(4
These two passages, selected from many others, appear decisive as to the sense of the 6;J 1 LLJ, chief-
lainship o f the world. The chieftainship of the 1-eligiom indicates, most probably, the place of the chief'
irnam.
(2) Tulika signifies an a p p e n d i ~o r supplement; thc llloslim schoolmen give this title to collcctions of
lrotcs and observations on the system of doctrinc followed by the sect; these notes were generally taken by
the scholars during the lectures of their professors. Hajji Khalifa mentions a number of works bearing this
title, and he remarks that nl-Isfar%iniYsTalikdt treats of the Sbafite doctrines. (See Flugel's edition, t. 11.
No. 3130.)
(3: See page 7, note (1'. The Khattb could not then have been more than eleven o r twelve years of age.
56 IRN I { I I I \ J , L ~ ~ ~ A N ' S

the different sects between themselves.

(6) The miitrerr the Arabic poet is generally U difftre~ltirilbc fr01r1 hi*, n111lrllv i* * I I I I I I I ~ ~ I *1 I1 1~ III. i 1 I i 5 / I \ I.

guarded by number of jealous relationi, rcndy l,o rrenk r ~ : n g c i ~ ~0 1~1 v(111y

o 1 1 1 b t ~ rU 1111 ~ 1 1 o ~ 1 11 11i 111 1 ~ 1 1 1 1 1 1 : ~ l r

known the object of his passioll.

A ~ ']-Hasan
P Ibn Muhamrnad ibn Ahmad I I)II i ~ l - f ( i i ~111i I I ihrll:lil l
guhammad Ibn Ism&lIbn Said Ibn &in ad-D~il)l)i;]l-M~lihik~ili, (l()('lt)f. 01' tit('

sect of as-SGfi. He learned jurisprudence from A l ) i ~I I : i ~ ~ i ( i~I-l*l'il

l 13:lifl 1, i l ~ l ( !

in writing a Tulika (l) which was ti~ugllt llilll AI~I'~ llillii(l,illl(l

put
,hose name it bears. The penetration and int,rllif;rrl(*(b
will, wlli(.ll 11 ;I> r;il'l(a(l 1 \ 1 8

enabled \ I ( * I )rv+i;ulc.~-c+il~itrl\
him to eclipse all his contemporaries ; in ju r.ispr.~itl(~rlc.(* --
*
ably eminent, and professed it both in the lil'cctirnc or his ~ I ~ ; \ s11l)iiI ( ~ II -I i ~ l ~ i iir~rl
( l

after his decease. He learned the Traditions From Mi~ha~llr~tad 111n i\l-ll~~/.rill':~~. ( '1,

and other traditionists of the same period, having I)een fa ken l,y his I: ,\tllt~l.O l t ;l
journey to Kifa, in order that he might hear them L'rom tlw li1b.i 01' 111;1( 111:1(411(*1s,
He composed on the doctrines of his sect a large hook, enlitl~ulillc illoi,,,,i ( I b/-
Iection); another in one vohlme, called M~ikni(.~idfji:cisnt) ; :i l i ( I I t s ) i l k V I I I i-

tlcd the ,50666 ( M Q ~ ~and w ) a, fourth wlled ihc dusnl (Morlrirnrj, Ia.si(It*r :I
great mmber of treatises on controversial subjects. IIl: p r ~ f t b ~ ~ t b :I( I1 i~;~~;!l(Iil(J,
and his name is mentioned in the chronicle of tllat city eonlpile(l 1 I,,. l(lla, il).
99 Died onWednesday, 20th of the second Rabi, 4 9 5 (A.D. 4 ~ 2 / ,;. ) ,l .:II;H
11,
(A* D- 978-9)---Dubbimeans belonging to Dubb, which is grlcbllciillll ,v(bll-
knoa7ntribe; Maumili is derived from Mulidmil, which is tile ~ ~ a n l ~ lit~ -
ters in which travellers are carried.

( l )See page 55, note (2).

(3 Abd 'l-Hasan Nuhammad f i n al-Muzafir was born at Baghdad, A.H. %O(A. D. 899). Ile I**mntc tBi
first traditionist of his time in lrak, and had among his auditors the.celebrated ad-Dhrakubni. !lied A. II 379
(-4.P. 989). It appears that he was a partisan of the Shfite ijoclrinas. ( ~ a )&HuflZ),
.
 Abh I3akr Alln~adIbn al-1Iusain ILn Ali Ibn Abd Allah Ibil Milsa al-Baihaki al-
Khosri?jenli, doclor of the sect of as-Sllifi, the grcat and ill~rstrio~rs
11:1fis ((l),
who in his agc stood alonc witllout a rival for thc varicly or his allain~ncnts,was
one of the principal disciples of tllc hjkirn ALh Abd Allall 1Ln al-Baiy, by whom
he was taught the traditions, hut whom hc soon surpassed in all llle dil&rent
parts of linowlcdge. IIe learned jurisprudcncc from Ahh 'l-Fath Nisir Ibn
Muhammad al-Omari al-Marwazi (2j, but tllc traditions were his favourite
study, and it was as a traditionist that he altnined reputation. In this pursuit,
he travelled to Irak, Jibil (Persialz h k ) , lIij&z ant1 Khorisan, in which coun-
try, as well as in all t.hc others visited by him, hc rcccivcd thc traditions rronr
{he lips of the lcarncd of' that timc; hc then bcgan to writc on thc subject, and
composecl a grcat nunaher of works, which, it is said, amoulll to one tllousand
volumes. It was hc who lirst collec~edthe sentences (3) oC as-S11ifi, with which
11e formcd t,cn volumes : the best ltnotvn of his worlts arc-the Grcal and thc
Small Collections of Tradi~ions; Proofs of the prophetic Mission ; Acts and Tra-
ditions (of Muhanznzud); Pat11 of Faith ;Merits of as-Slrliifi, desccrldant of Abd al-
Muttalib; R'Icrits of Ahmad Ibn IIanbal, etc. Al-Baihaki was a man little solici-
tous about worldly goods, and the Irnam al-l1aramain said of him: " Therc was
'' no follower of the Shafitc sect who was not under some obligation to as-Shhfi,
'' al-Baihaki excepted ; for as-Shtili was under obligations to him." Al-Bai-
haki was a most active defender of the doctrine ins~itl~ted by as-Stlifi, and was
invited to Naisjpilr, in order to propagate the knowledge (g that doctrine); he
went there in consequence, and led a (,~impk:ancl Izoly) life such as that of the
primitive Moslims; he taught traditions to a great number of eminent doctors,
among others, Zihir as-Shahimi (h), Muhammad al-Forlwi and Abd al-Munim
al-Kushairi (5) ; he was born in the n ~ o n t hof Shahin, 384, (R. D. 994.); died
rhe 10th of the first Jumida, 4.58 (A. D. 106G), at. NaisSpiir, whence his body
was transported to Bnihnk (his nativeplace), which is a collection of villages in
the dependency of Naisibdr, at twenty parasangs from that city; Khosrcijerci is
the name of one of those villages.

(1) The persons who know the Koran by heart are called Bdfiz j but this title is given more espccially to
8
 h o s e daeW19 who have learned by heart the contents of the six great collections of ~ r a d i t i o n s(see the .Wiskdt-
ol-l)las&b$h, sol.1, p. 3), who tan cite the names of the pcrsons by whom each tradition has bcen successively
handed down, and who can point out those traditionists whose authority cannot be admitted without limita-
tion and those who merit full confidence. The tvord hdfiz is sometimes made use of to dcsigr~ate a narrator
of historical traditions.
(2) Abh 'l-Path al-0mari was one of the most noted doctors who studied under al-ICaffal and AhO 't-Taiyh
as-SLlbki; he died A. H. 444 (A. D. 1062).-( Al-Othmhni's Tubukdt, fol. 85 verso.)
(3) Sentences; that is, legal opiltions received as positive precepts by the followers of his sect. AI-
Othmttni remarks (Tabakdt,fol. 22 verso), that among the numerous authors who wrote on the life and
virtues of as-ShLfi, the ablest and most exact was al-Baihaki, who, in two thick volumes, treated fully of his
merits, the circumstances of his life, etc. all on the best authority.
(4) Abh 'I-Khsim Zihir Ibn Thhir as-Shahami and his brother Abll Balir Wajth wcre two celebrated tmdi-
tionists of that time.
(5) A b i ~'l-Muzaffar Abd al-Munim al-Kushairi was son to Abd al-Karfm Ibn Hawhzin, ahosc life is givcrl
in this work.

The hifiz A b Abd ~ ar-Rahmhn Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibn Shoaib Ibn Ali Ibn Sinin
Ibn Bahr an-Nashi, chief traditionist of his age and author of a Sunatz, or col-
lection of traditions, was an inhabitant of Old Cairo, in which city his worlts got
into circulation, and where he had also many pupils. Muhammad Ibn Ishak al-
Isfah$ni gives the following account of his death : " I heard our elders in Old
Cairo relate that Abfi Abd ar-Rahmhn left Misr towards the end of his life and
went to Damascus, where he was asked what he thought of Moiwia and what
a traditions he knew respecting the merits of that prince; to whidl he made this

reply : 'It is not then enough for Moh~viato enter (into salvation) on an equal
footingwith others, but he must even surpass them by exclusive merits (I)!'
But some relate that his answer was : 'I know not any tradition respecting his
" special merit but this : May God never satiate thy belZy!' (2) Now this
doctor was an advocate for the rights of the khalif Ali ; so the people began
to strike him on the sides, nor did they discontinue till they thrust him
out of the mosque. (In another account it is said that they struck him
" on the testicles and trod him under foot.) He was then borne to Ramla,
" where he expired." The h%Ez Abd 'l-Hasan ad-Dkrakutni relates as fol-
50 lows: An-Nasii, after the ill-treatment he underwent at Damasals, asked
 BIOGRAPIJICAL DICTIONARY. 59

to be borne 10 Mecca, where he died on his arrival, and n-as buried b,+
tween asSafa and al-Mama; his death happened in the month of Sha&n,
A. H. 303" (February, A. D. 916). The hifiz Abii Noaim al-Isfahini
adds the following particulars : " The people having trampled on an-Nasii at
a Damascus, Ile died from the effects of that ill usage whilst he was bearing (to
L& iFIek/irr). Ile composed a work called al-K/zasdis ((Particularities),treating of
the merits of Ali Ibn Abi Tilib and those of his family; the greater part of the
L traditions contained iherein are alleged on the authority of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal.
Having been asked why he did not write a work on the merits of Muhammad's
companions, he answered : ' On entering Damascus, I found a preat number of
persons holding Ali in aversion, for which reason I intended that God should
direct them by means of this book.' He used to abstain from food every
second day, and was remarked for being of an ardent temperament." The
hifiz Ibn Ashkir of Damascus relates that he had four wives, to each of whom he
paid equal attentions, and that he possessedconc~ibinesbesides. Ad-DBrakutni de-
clares him a martyr, on account of the trials he underwent at Damascus, and says
that he died on Monday, I 3th Safar, 303 (August, A. D. 94 5 ) , at Mekka; others state
that he died at Ramla, in Palestine. Abd Said Abd ar-Rahmh Ibn Y b u s , au-
thor of the Annals of Egypt, writes in that work : " An-Naski came to Misr a
" long time ago, he was a traditionist of the first order; his word was held a sure

authority, his information was exact, and his memory retentive. He left Misr
in the month of Zu 'l-Kaada, 302." I find in my handwriting, in the rough
copy of this work, that an-Nasii was born at Nasi, A. H. 21 4 or 21 5 (A. D.
829, 83O).-Nastii means native of &-mri, a city in Khorasan, which has pro-
duced a number of eminent men.

(a The expwshn 5 1-5 has been already explained, page #$ note (5).
(4) Mdlwia was so voracious that his greediness became proverbial. (See Freytag's Prozlmbia Biaiaaczii,
t. I, p. 138.) The imprecation cited by an-Nadi was probably uttered by one of MoBwia's euemies, and party
spirit prevented it from being forgotten.

AL-KUDURI.
Abb 'l-Husain b a d Ibn Md- Iba A h m d Ibn JaafsrqIbn Ham&,
surnamed &KudAri, a doctor of the sect of AhB IIaniB, ;Ill(l l)('cnnl~'J)I'('s~-
dent of the Hane[ites in irak. In treating speculative 1 ~ ) i l l II(!
l ~ lKi(1 dl(' 1;1 [ ( ' I l l 01'

expressing his ideas with gmat precision ; he was also vcrsrd i l l ilk(' I ~ ~ ; s ions
l i t ; :~rr!

,he khatib AhA B & - , autlror of the llistory of Baghdad, wllo 1r;ld ~ t b : ~ ~ '[Ikun ~~(l
from him, alleged his aut1lority in citing them. IJe rvvr.01~S O V O ~i~~t~:llis(~s
~ ~ or) t h
doctrines of his sect; among others, that celebrated work, lllc AYucrkhluanr. ( A l ) ~ - i d
merit). He was accustomed to discuss controversial sul),ja.t s ~ vI ill i\l)i~IIbnlid
al-lsfaraini, the Shah te doctor; in whose life has already bco11i;ir?cri t lv! lliell ol)i-
nion which he expressed of Ahh Elimid's merits (l). A1-1C1i(lt"11.i was 1)or11A . 11.
362 (AD.972-3); he died on Sunday, 5111of Rajab, h28 (April, A. 1). 10:17), nt
Baghdad, and was buried the same day in (the corwt qf) his dwollilr~;, ir, ill(: s l n v * l
of AbP Bllalf; but his body was afterwards transported to a torn11 in (he (;~rnlslrn.1
of al-Mansdr, where it was placed by the side of Abh Bakr ~ I - K l l o w l r o ~ r nt11p
i,
Hanefite doctor (2).-Kurlziri is derived from kudur, plural of kid,*(mhlroll): I
know not for what reason he was so called ; but such is illc c l e ~ * i v a rofi ~ ~c hat
~
appellation as given by as-Samini, in his work called oWnsri6.

(l) See page 54.

(2) The shailih and imam Abb Bakr Muhammad Ibn Musa Ibn Muhnmrnnd nl-Iil~owllrczrni,n celcbrotod
professor, and mufti of the Hanefite sect; for intelligence, lenrnitig, and integrity, Iic ~~osseased(I high rcpu-
tation; and his society was courted by persons of every rank. Died A.H. 403 (A. 1). lOi%:I]. ('l'ubakdt al-
Hanafyin; MS. of the Btb. du Roi, fonds St. Germain, No. 132, fol. 142 verso.)

AT-TIIALABI AN-NAISABURI.

Abb Ishak Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim at-Thalabi, nalive of NaisipJ~~,
and a well-known commentator on the Koran, was the most skilful man OS his
time in explaining the difficulties of that book; and his work, entitled the Great
Commentary, surpassed all others on the subject. Be is also author of the Kifdh
al-Arais(Bookof Brrbles), containing the history of the prophets, and of otllcr trea-
tises. As-Samlni makes mention of him and adds : L' Some of thc learned say
that the name of Thahbi, or Thailibi, was given to him not as a patronymic,
" but as a surname." Abd 'l-KPsim al-Kushairi relates the following circum-
62
IBN J{HliLLllth if's
i ~ s drew its origin from a village near Kinnisri* ( : l ) , I ) I I ~h('
Abi D u w family
himself, \denyet a boy, was g k r n to Damascus (4) fa'll('r, lvhOry('Ilt
dlere on 3commercial Abmad passed ).()lltll in '1''' ~"lrs'lit
' 6 Of learning (more particularly jurispr?~denccand scl~ol:lsli(:tl't'olo!:~), (ill IN'

attained clrat eminence he held. Me studied urldcr fjai).SJ 11)Jl a]-

" ~ 1 as-~ulmi,
2 and had been a pupil of WBsil Ihn i\tb's (5); h i s r(!nd(!I'('(lllinl
ii partial to the doctrines of the Motazelites." "Never," Says Ahil 'I-hilli, " (lid
i~1 meet a person invested with authority who spoke with more a ~
L I precision than Ibn Abi Duwjd," Ibn Ibwhim al-Mnllsili rciotrs &)I-
]owing anecdote respecting him: ' L I heard 1bn Abi D U Wsay ~ ~a t (l)(' mllrt ()I'
U al-Motasim 6 1 never speak first to a khalif about business in the prcstblra*of
the vizir Muhammad Ibn az-Zaiy8t, lest he should lcarn (,/iom my r.xnn~~)/
how7to begin a conversation with the prince and how buain(as is c l o ~ l ( ((i).'*
He was the first who ever opened a conversation with a khalif, for till t.b:~t, limtb
none spoke to the prince till he spoke first to them." Abli'l-Aini says tllnt l br~
Abi Duwad was a good poet, and that hc expressed his tboaghts wirh c~lc*fr;anv
and precision. Al-Marzobini relates that his name is mcnt ioncd by ilibil llrrr
Ali l-Khozii, in his book containing the list of poets, and that some lioc vcb~*scts of
his am quoted there.--Ibn Abi Duwid used to say: "There arc tllree c*lausrs ot'
" men who must be treated with honour and esteem: thc lcarnctl, ill(! m;)gis-
" trates, and our friends; whoever slights the learned, loses his religiolr ; w l ~ o -

" ever slights the magistrates, loses his property; and slloev(:r sli(;llts his

" friends, loses his manliness."-Ibrahim Ibn al-IIasan r.chtcsas [iillows :

" We were assembled in the presence of al-Mimiin, and the i,amps l)~.(~II1~b

" of Medina whoengaged their fideli~y toMuhammpd on the niB]It of'nl-i\k;l],n (7),
1L
vere enumerated; there was some disagreement however on dr: sul)jecc,
L' when Ibn Abi D u ~ i d came in, and counted them up one by one, names,
" names, and genealogies ; on which al-Mirnhn said : 'When men walll
" of for companion, let them take a person like Ahmad 1' (Nay,' said
" Ahmad, 'but when a man of learning keeps company W+& a khalif, let hiln
" fhd One like the Commander of the Faithful, from whom he may
" ation, and whose convel'sXti0n is more learned than his .own D-
1 oneof ~ h
mad Ibn Abi DumPd's maxims was : " A Illan is not perfect unless he have abilities
"
for elevating to the pulpit his friend, t&h a simple soldier of
 lice, and for sending to the gibbet his enemy, tliough a vizier (8)." AbB '1-
AinP relates of him the following anecdote: " Al-Afshio (9) bore envy towards
Abl; I)ulaf al-KQim Ibn Isa 'l-Ijli for his knowledge of the pure Arabic lan-
guage and for his bravery; he therefoolt plotted against him, and &used witness
to bc borne that he had committed treason and murder; he then had him
arrested on a pretext he imagined, and, having held a sitting to try him,
c ' he ordered him to be brought forth along with the headsman that was to put

him to death. When news of this reached Ibn Abi Dukvid, he instantly
mounted his horse (I O), set oB with the notaries who happened to be present (at
a his tribunal) (I I), and came in on at-Afshin, before whom Ahb Dulaf had
just been led for execution. He then stopped and said : l L I am a messen-
L' ger to thee from the Commander of the Faithfi~l;he commands thee to do
no ill 10 al-Kisim Ibn Isa, and moreover lo give him up to me.' Tdrn-
ing then to the notaries, he said: 'Bear witness that I have delivered him the
message sent by the Commander of the Faithful, and that al-Klsim is alive
and in health.' The notaries answered: W e are witnesses thereof.' So al-
Afshin could not do al-Kisim harm, and Ibn Abi DuwAd went instantly to the
'' khalif al-Motasim and said : L Commancler of the Faithful ! I have fulfilled in
l l thy name a message which thou didst not give me, yet I count it for one of my

best deeds, and throilsh it I hope for Paradise.' He then told him what had
" passed, and the khalif approved his conduct, and having sent for al-Kasim, he
" set him at liberty and gave him a present ; he then reprimanded severely al-

L' Afshin for having dared to act so.-Al-Motasim, being moved by violent anger
" against Muhammad ibn al-Jahm the %irmalcide, ordered his head to be
struck off; the prisoner was already placed blindfolded on thedw,executioner's
L ' leather carpet (1 2), and the sword was just brandishing to strike him,when Ibn

" Abi Duwhd, conscious that no petty shift could save him, said to the khalif:

" ' How canst thou take his wealth, if thou Lillest him ?l-' Who is to hinder
" me?' replied the khalif. -' God,' answered the other, ' doth not permit itj nei-

" ther is it allowed by the Apostle of God, nor by the justice of the Commander of

'' the Faithful ! for his wealth belongeth to his heirs if thou slayest him, unless thou
'' givest legal proof of his guilt. It is much easier for thee to order him, while
" he yet Liveth, to refund what he hath embezzled.' ' Keep him in custody,' said

' al-Motasim, c till an.inquest he held. ' Then, after some delay, the affair ended
' 1 but a\-Motasim considers him learned in ail thosc sciences." Ibn Abi D I ~ ~ F : ~ ~
narrates in thcse terms the origin of his connection with the khalif nl-dimf fin :
I used to go with the other doctors to Yallya Ibn al-Alctham's assemblies (I h ) , ss
'L and I was there one day when a messcnfjrer canle from al-Mimiln to slate that

6 1 the Commander of the Faithhi1 desired Ibn al-Aktllam to go to him wit11 all Ilis

L L compnny. Ibn al-Aktham was onwilling to take me with him, but he had
no means of leaving me behind; so I wcnl wit11 the others, and we held a con! er-
sation in the preser~ceof al-MBmCm,who turned to look at me when I began to
speak, and listened to my words with attention and approbation. IIe then
asked me who I was, and I told him my pedigree. 'What,' said he, L has delayed
you so long from coming to see us?' Wot wishing to do an ill ofice to Yahga,
1 replied: 'Destiny detained me, a ~ l dit was necessary that the term of God's
written decree shoultl arrive.' ' Let it be lcnown to you (l S),' said he, that
L

I c in f u ~ u r e
mt: shall hold no assembly unless you come to it.' I answered :
Yes, Commander of the Faithful (f hall obey y o u r 01-der).' After that,
L our connection was gradually formed ." Others relate this affair in a different
manner: k'ahya Ibn al-Aktham, they say, went to Basra from Khorasan to act as
khdi in the name of al-Jllrni~n; this was towards the end of the year 202 (about
June: A . I). 818). Ynhya was then a young man, somewhat more than twenty
years of age. Ile there chose for companions a number of men remarkable
for their learning and honourable character, among whom was Ibn Abi Duw$d.
\Vhen al-MAmbrr came to Bagdad ill 204, he told Yahyn 10 choose some from
alnong his companions to be admitted into the society of the lihalif and to he
his frequent visitors. In consequence of (his, Yahya selected t w e ~ t yand , amoog ,
them Ibn Abi DuwAd, but the khalif, on finding the number t ~ gwt, o ordered
Yahya to make a selection out of them, and ten persons were chosen, amongst
whom was Ibn Abi Duwid ; but the khalif desired a fresh reduction to be made,
and Yahya chose five, one of whom was lbn Abi Duwid: such was the origin of
his connexion with the khalif. when al-Miimiin was on his death-bed, he ad-
dressed to his brother al-Motasim his testament, which contained this recommen-
dation: " As for Abd Abd Allah Ahmad Ibn Abi Duwid, let him never cease 10
" be ihe.associaie of your councils on every ~ubject,for he is most worthy of
" having such confidence placed i n him(16); and I recommend you not to take

' L a vizir when I die." Al,Motasirn, on his accession to the khalifate, appointed
* 9
 1bn Abi DnJ\-$dchief k$di ( k i d ; 'l-kodk/),and deposcd Ynhy:~1 1 ~ 1:ll-A k[h:lrl, ;
and Ibn Abi Duwad became so grpa(, a favourit(! will1 the k l l s l i f , 1Ih;i(. ~ l ( ' i ~ l l (Ili.;
'r
public nor privale business was done ~ v i t l ~ ohis
t ~ tadvice. In 111(' 11101111) of' Ilil-
rnadin, A.11.220 (September,A.D. 835), lhrl Al)i Duwid eril(:lly [i(l~~s(~(.~llal i\I111lii(I
Ibn Hanbsl and tried to force him 10 admit [hat the Koran lvas (*rral(rl( 1 '7 ).-
Al-Molasim in dying was succeeded by his son d-WBthik nill;ilh, I I J I ( ~ ( Y . n.lio11l
Ibn Abi Dllw$d continued to cn<joyhiell f a ~ o u;r when h(. di(*d,llis l)r+ot1)t.r ;\I-
&lu~utawakkilsucceeded to the khalifate, and in I he I~eginr~ir~g of' his I I l l ) ~ ~

Abi DuwPd lost the use ol his right sidc from n parnlyt i(: SI roLi*, ilk (borls~b-
quence of which, al-Mutawakkil conferred h e place of k i d i or1 IM~ll~ili~l~ll;ld, so11

of Ahmad Ibn Abi Duwld, who was afterwards, in 236 (A. 1). 850), ;is
~ . c b l ) l ; \ c ~ r ' t l

Inspector of Grieuances(1 S) by Yahya Ibn a l - . A k l h a m . - A - t l llntl o~rllbl.cv l

[hat every person should arise on seein; the vizir Muhammad 1l)rl Albrl ni-Millik
a A a i y i t , and Ibn Abn Duwld would stand a p on seeing ih(: vizir, 1,11r I II(tII

turn towards the kibla in order to say his prayers; for wlhic*lr ~.c~;isolrIl,rl nz-
Zaiyit pronounced the following verses :
He says his prayers since he had the advantagc of boaring halrc~tl:igainsl rat- ; I scbtb
that from that time, he fulfils his pious dutics and his lasts. May his llcart bo nc*vcbr.
free from such envenomed hatred as may leave him no repose (19).

The praises of Ibn Abi Duwid were celebrated by n numl~erO S (bor~loti~l)otsiiry

poets, and Ali ar-RBzi relates this anecdote on the suljcct : I saw t llc ~ ) o ( ~ t
Abfi Tammim with Ibn Ald Duwid, to whom he was making a rnarl r x > ( . i ( v
for him a poem in which were these words :

' Thegenerosity of Ahmad Ibn DuwAd has caused all the afflictions of avil Fo~turlc10
' be forgotten ! Kever did l travel to distant regiunr without owing to h i s i ~ o a n l y
' my conveyance and my subsistence.'

lbn Abi Duwid here asked him if {hat thought was his own, or if IIV Ilad
a borrowed i t ? To which Ahd Tammlm replied that it was his owo, I)III t11:1(
he made in it an allusion to the following verse, composed l ~ yAALi N:lwls :

34
' IF our words seem to convey the praises of any other, it is thou alone oil wta)rll our
' thoughts are turned (.20).'

Ab& Tammim had passed a great . n u e b e r of days at the door of Ibn Abi
 BIOC RAPHICAL I)ICTIONARY. G7

Duwid witbout being admitted LO see him, for wllicl~reason be complained bit-
terly of his conduct to one of his friends. Some time after, he was introduced,
and Ibn Abi Duwicl said to h i m : " 0 Ahlj Tammhn, have you reproached
enough?" To which he answered : '' Rcproaclles are made to individuals only,
b u t lllou art. all lnarrkind (21) ; and how can reproaches be made to them 2''
L L Where did you come 11y that idea?" said the kidi. Abil TammCm replied :
I borrowed it from the knowing one" (meaning Abd Nawisj, who said of
L L al-Fad1 Ihn ar-Kabi :

' God is not to be blamed if he unite (the noble qualities o f ) all mankind in a sole
' individual.'

On the appointment OF Ibn Abi Duw5d as Inspector of Grievances, Ahh Tam-

n~llnaddressed his complaints to him in a poem, which contained the following
passage : .
Since your neglect causes the ruin of poetry and poets, we need not wonder if they
perish through the neglect of foreigners (22)! Yet poetry (like the laden camel) stirs
from side to side, and strives to rise with the burden you put on it since you became
redresser of wrongs (23). Did poetry not give to facts a permanent form, men ambitious
of glory woultl never learn whence you obtained your honours.

The same poet made his eulogium in a poem beginning thus :

Thdst thou see the ([air) faces which appeared to us between al-Liwa (24)and Zarhd?

And which contains this elegant thought:

When c;od wishes to reveal (to .!he knowledge o f the zcorld) that excellence which re-
mains (modestly)folded up, he allows an envious tongue to attack it. Did fire not
inflame whatever it approaches, the sweet odour of aloes-wood had remained un-
known (25).

The praises of Ibn Abi Duwid were celebrated also by MarwCn Ibn Abi 'l-Ja-
nfib in the following verses :
The tribe of NizAr (26) possesses all glory and honour despite its foes ! Tell those
who pretend to surpass that NizAr From whom spring the tribes of Iihindif(27) and
IpAd-Tell them that the Apostle of God and the khalifs belong to that family which is
ours, and that Ahmad Ibn Duwad comes from it also. Until Ihe day of judgment (28),
no such persons will ever be found in any family but ours I (To it alone belongj a pro-
phet sent by God, the successors in his covenant, and he who is direcied and who
directs to good.
 GS LUN I(lIBLLII( AN'S
When Ab& Hiffin al-Muhaezal~~i
(21)) heard IIKS(: V(4t'St!S, 111' l ~ ~ . O I I ~ ~ I fI II 1I ~~ , ~ ~
following :

ji \\']len Ibn Alli Duw$d l~eanl11lesevcrscs, hc I\'()o n f bI*!'{+I' {Fir 1. lllfl SO

s:lid : 'l

selrere 3 rnround as that boy al-Muhazzarni has ~ O I I :( ~ac*1*(*I 1101 111tivil l ill!; fo
show that I pay attention to him, i would i ~ ~ l l iutl
r t l l i 1 1 ~it ~ ~ I ~ ~ ~ ~ S I I I %III.II
III~III
as none ever suffered befol~c! He has con(! 111) to o ~ ~ I ~ H o1)1~011(1t*st
~ f Ihor~o~it-~

'' and utterly destroyed it (30)."-1l)n Ahi D I ~ irse(1H ~ to irt(~it 1'

1 .(~1111*111
!l 1 1 1 1 .
following verses, but did not say whc~hcrthey wcrc llia owit 01%~ I I ~ ( I ( ~: ~ ( ' I . ' S

Thou ( 0Lord!) art no feeblc aid;-and sncccss in all nhiru is c~r~a\~l-cvi

Iry 1 ) o \ x vrfi~1
aid. To-day we stand in need of thy succour ; thc ~hysiciatiiti o111y(*:111~~1 irr hvr~
the disease is violent.

,&fi~arzob~nihas furnished us with some (h(! ~wo('(dii~(;:\ ~l('('(lo(('~ ')'L(

anolller historian gives the following on t,hc nlllllorily of fll)il ' I - i f i 11;; " 'I'll('
khalif al-b3[otasim was displeased wit11 Iihilid Il)n Yazitl Il)r~hIil/.)';~~I iis-~1riii-

bini" (whom we shall speak of again in lhe lib of l r is fiilllt*i.Y i ~ ~ i d' l iill(l l ,

" recalled him from his government (31), tlrat hc ini{;lrt ill)l)t':ij. I w l i ~ t ~11irn r ((1

answer for his inability to make u p a sun1 of money \vlliclk h(. rvss ( ~ ~ ~ l l ~ ~
upon to pay; he had besides to answer ollrcr accusaliolix. Al-bIo~iisi~~~
'' held therefore a sitting in order to condemn him to p o t ~ i s l l ~ l ~11r1d c ~ , \vo~jld
~,
not listen t o the intercession of Ibn Abi Duwid, 011 ~vllomgf*l~et.osity I(llbli(1
had thrown himself. The khalif lraving taken his seal, tlle tA(li Ahli~acl( i f ~ r r
" d6i Durvid) went to a pace irlferior to his own, on wl~icll:II-XI~I:AS~I~I ~ i i i (:
l

a ' L Abii AM Allah (32), you are sitting out or your place.' I ' o tliis tlkr Li[li
" replied: It is meet 1 should not sit in my place, but in a \j'tky i(,\vcbr,'

" $
0
'' said the khalif. The kadi answered: 'Because the pllI,lic say lhiit 111y
" place is not (he place of one who can intercede arid whose! irll(*l+w:saio~lwill
" heheard-' o place,'said al-Motasim. 4Slrall 1
L G o b a ~ k tyour said the
" khdi, 'as one whose intercession has been heard or as one wlrosc int(srccassiall

l ' has been rejecled?' 'Nay,' replied the khalif, (go as one whllse
incpn:cssioll
'L has been heard.' Ibn ALi Duwid went up heref fore to his place, and, when
seated, said: 'The public will not he aware that the Colninander of the Failll-
fu\ has him, ur~less1le receive a robe of honour. ' The khalif ordelrd
1' him to bc clotlled in a robe of honour. Abh U u ~ i dcont,inucd : ' Ther-cl is
due to h i ~ n and Iris pcoplc six ~nonths' salary, which must, l)c, paitl
them, so if thou givest orders that they receive it now, it will serve instead 01'
the (custonza~?.)present.' T h e khalir said : ' I shall order it to be done.' "-
(Tlte hi,rtoria~zcontinues to relate) that when Khiilid went forth in his robe of
Iionollr with the money bor.ne before him, the people were waiting in tile strt:tlts
to witness his punishment, and onc of tlwm called out to him : "Praise llr to
God for thy escape, 0 ~ ~ b i n cofe Arabs !" to which Khilid replied : " Silence !
" hg God ! the prince of' Arabs is truly All~nadIbll Al)i Dlrwid !"-Great jea-
lousy and mutual dislike existed between the kidi Ahmatl and rhe vizir Ibn az-
Zaiyit ; so much so, ttlat the latter refused to receive tllc visits of ;l frieud of thcl
kidi's, specially cornnlissioned by him to direct his alTairs : the kMi, on hearirig
o f this, went to the vizir, and said : "I assure you that I do not comc to yolr
(as others do), to obtain horn you eirlwr augmentation of slender Ineaus 01-
d L rxaltation from lowly rank; but the Commander of the Faithful has placed
c c you in a post ~vllichobliges me to visit you: when I do so, it is on his ac-

" count; and when I remain absent, it is on yours." fIc then rose op nnrl
retired. TIe was indeed possessed of such noble and honol~rablequalities as sur-
~)assetldescription. A poet con~poseda satire of seventy verses against the
\,izir Iljn az-Zaiyit ; when the k&di Ahmad heard of it, hc pi~onouncetl these
verses :
Better than a satirc of seventy vcrscs, is tlicir purport condensed into a single verse,
l'low much he slate requires a shower of rain, to wash awuy t / ~ afillAy
t slniqz of o i l ! (33)

W h e n Ibn az-Zaiyit heard of illis epigram, he composed ihc following, in

which he allllded to the profession of one of the lcidi Ahmad's ancestors, who
was reported to have been a seller of pitch :
0 thou nho vainly thinkest to satirize us, thou erposest thyself to death in attacking
me. Our honour cannot be diminished by thc mention of oil; the reputation of our
family is too well known. 'Tis you who defiled the state with your pitch, and no-
thing could clcan it till m c washed it: with our oil.
Ibn Abi Duwid lost the use of his side the 7th of the sccond Jumlda, 233 38
70 IBN K1ItiLLIKAla"S
hi.9 (antblli\.
(January, A. D, S/&), a lrundrcd and some (lays nfler ~ h (( '~ ( ' : I I I I
the vizir; some say $rly-nille or fifty days only : t l ) ~(lat(. OF (h(' \ . i ~ . i ! ~ ' (1(*;1(11
s
sllall be given inthe letter M(34.). Wlirn flrc bidi nlccivtrl his II;\I.:I i(. sf r - o L ~ * ,
he was replaced by his son Abt~'l-Waiid Muhammad, \vI\o (lid IIOI llo\v(*v(.~.t/lIIi\
the duties of his place fo satisfaclion, having iocl~r.~*t*[l 1 1 1 1 ~I ) I i i l ~ l ( 01'
$ I~I~IIIY

and merited the praise of a few only ; so in~lcbso, h a I. I ~ ) I . : I ) I ~ IlI\ )~r i ; I I - A I ) I , ~ ~

as-Silli, whose lib has been already given, composed ,l' (,r a i t ~ s tI I ~ I I Ith~*se1 i 1 l ~:s

The faults which appear in you so plainly have rHnea(1 (the inputor?/o f ) I I I V r i ~ . t i ~ ~ b s
which your father left you as a legacy. By him you surp~ssc~ltla! sons of I ~ I ) I I o ~ ~ I . : I I ) I I *
men, as by yourself you have surpassed the sons OF the vile.

In which verses, I must say that the poet has gone to tlhc (:xtr18rra:s01' (*111o-
gium and blame : the idea is quite novel. -Muhammad n ) ~ l t . i ~ l o t ~foc l IiII
the places of kidi and inspector of wrongs for [he arllly t i l l t l t f b ~ V ; I I .
237 (A. D. 851), when al-Motawakkil, being displeased will1 llilrl i111l1 his
father Ahmad, ordered his lands to bc sec~uestcrcd; this Irappc.r)c*tl o r 1 I !1(.
25th Safar of the above year; he then deprivcd him of llis I)I;L(~(* ;1si11-
spector of wrongs, and afterwards, on Thursday, 5lh of t IN* lirst Iliit)i, t l r *
dismissed him from his place of kidi and took from him a suln of' I~III~-
dred and twenty thousand dinars (35), with precious sro~les to tllc I.:~III(I ol'
forty thousand dinars, after which he sent him away from Baglrdncl to S;II.I*-
man-ria. The place of kidi was then entrusted to Yahya II)r1 Alitllalrl ;IS-Silili
(whose life shall be given in the letter F).--At the time whcn Ibrr A l ~ iI ) ~ i . w i ( l
incurred the displeasure of the khalif so far as to be deprived of his i:~nclv(l I ) I * ~ -
perty, witnesses had been examined 10prvve the crime he was ;lec~lsrdol', i i ~ l ( I;I
great number of them and olher persons were present in court; thert?wag
of those witnesses in whom the kidi, during his adminislradon, h;ld p1ecr:rl lit.t.l(:
confidence, and who now stood up and said : '' Call on us to wi tnrss irl yo r h-
' half(36) according to what is written in this instwment;" on which t IN. k i d i arl-
i

swered : No ! no! no ! that is not your place ;" and turning round 10 till: ot llvr
nitnesses, he said: "Bear ye witness for me ;" on whicll the man &I!, dowr1
rhshed, and the ~ u b l i cm-ere filled with admiratio~lfor the firmness of tllc k~cli
and his strength of mind (37).--The kldi Ahmad Ibn Duwed died of his palsy
in the month of Muharram, A. H. 240 (June, A. D. 854,), and it is slated Jlis
own authority that he was horn at Dasra in I F0 (A.D. 776-7): lle was, it is said,
a[loul twenty years older than the kddi Yallya Ibn al-Alitllanr, but this is i l k
conrradiction lvith what. is mcnrioned by mc in the life ol' Yallya; I have, l ~ o \ \ -
evrlu,~ v r iten
t it d o n n h c ~ ~ase I found it givtw, and God linnws lxsl wl~ether.i f
correct or not.-Mullarnmad, so11 of Ibn Al)i Duwid, died irl the inonth trC
%II 'I-Ilijjn, twenty days before his father. Al-Marzobini, in lris book alxwe-
~ncntioned(the Mu/-,sllid), notices great vnrbiations in tllc dates of Ibn Abi l),[--
\\id's and his son's death ; so I prefer giving here all he says on the subjecr :
c - Al-Mutawaklcil appointed Muhammad, son of Ibn Abi Duwid, to act in thtb
i L place of his father as Ichdi and inspecror of wrongs for (lie army; h e then dis-
i L rnissed h i m from these places onbvednesday, 19th Safar, 240, and scquestercd
& i the landed property of the father and son, bul this busincss was settled hy a
fine of one million of dinars. Abii 'l-Walid Muhammad, son of Ahmad, died
a t Baghdad in Zii 'l-Kada, 240, and his father died twcnty days after. As-
&: SSli statcs, however, that the anger of al-Mutawalikil against Ibn Abi Duwirl
' took place in 237." Al-Marzobini says farther on : '(The kidi Allmad diecl
in Muhawam, 211.0, and his son diecl tnrcnty days before; some say that tllc!
death of the son occurred towards the end of the year 239, and that thcbv
hot11 died at Baghdad; some again state that the son died in Zu' 1-IIijja, 239,
and the father on Saturday, 23rd Mul~arramof the year 211.0, a t about a
l' month's distance. God alone linows rhe triilll in all that."--Alh Bakr lllrl
" Doraid says that Ibn Abi Du\vhd was full of afrability towards men of edhcation,
no matrer to what country thcy belonged, and that he had taken a great num- 5 7
])er of them under h i s care, treating them as members of 11is fanlily and defray-
ing their expenses. 011his cleat11 a crowd of those clients went to the door ol'
his house and cried out : "He is to be buried, that man who was the pillar of
l' generosity and the ornament (35) of lilerature! of whom it was never said:
" Here Ae I~ascorn~~~ilted a fault; there his talent has fiited liirn." When
his bier was borne up, three of them went forward to it, and the first recited
ihese verses :

To-day is dead the support of the state and of the language; he is dead, the prote'ctor
\vllose succour was ever implored in misfortune I The paths of learning are dark since
the sun of generosity is hidden by the mist of the winding-sheet.

The second then advanced and said ;

 Through humble modcsty he sought not the pulpit or Lhv (vcrtr's) sc:~l; JL'L, 11ad
\~ished,the pulpit and :he (virir'aj seat were his. Taxes are (;alllercrl ('or :trlolb(~~~,
bllt
for him is gathered a llarvest of praises and (iienzlo~lg)rewnr(ls.

Then the third came brivard and saicl :

It is not the powder of musk rvhich has been usrd to 1)cr furnc his (:orper, lliil i.:ltllrr
the praises r y h i ~ [ hl p lcft behind. The noise y o t l her1 is not the crcaki~li;of llle hirr ; it is
the sound of hearts wliiclr arc breaking.

hbh Bakr al-Jurjini ,elates having h e a r d Abh 'l-AinB ad-l)arir (/he blirtcr!)
say : I never met i n the world with a man more polite than ihn Abi D ~ ~ w ;i llc d
never say, on my leaving him : Pnge, take hLs hand (30); IJIII, F " ~ P ,
t 6 go out t r l i / i /2in2. I look on this expression as free from alloy, ;~rr(l (thoitgh
/ ~ rrlfered
e irj, he will not be the poorer (40) ; and I ncver heard i t from a n y
L L other."--We may now conclude, for this article has hccome ratlrerb long, Ijut
the honourable actions of Ibn Abi Duwid were so numerous! -Iycitli means
hrlf~nging ro the iribe of' $id, who was son to NizPr lhn Maadd llln AdrGli.

,,l)This name and the preceding arc uncertain; the MSS. all di8cr.
(23 In the Arabic text, this name is erroneously printed Obaid Allall.
(3) The tolvn of Kinnisrin no longer exists, having been gradually abandoned by its inhabitn~ltsfor the city
of Aleppo, from ahich it lay a t the distance of ten miles in a southern direction. It was howcvcr one of the
most important places of Syria during thc first centuries of Islamism, h;iving heen one of the rnilili~rycolo-
nies or settlemer~ts + established by the Arabs, when tlicy conquered that country.
( 4)Damascus; in the Arabic: as-Sl~am.
(3) Whsil Ibn Atd was the founder of the Motnzelitc sect. His life is givcn by Iba Khalliklln.
(6) The printed lrabic text and r ~ ~ oof
s t the DISS. hare herc v
iS;l,d\ but S;'l+.)\ is t h right
~ rci~ding.
('ij A b u l f e d ~Annales. t. I , p. 59.
18) The pulpit or minbar was in those times specially reservcd for the khalif or his deputy, wlro alouc had
the right of pronouncing thekltotbu. (Seed'Ohsson, t I, p.204.) The gibbet was merely the trunk oL'n palm-tree
to .n hich the bodies of executed persons were tied and exposed to public view. I t sorlletimes happcned that
living criminals were tied up in the same manner.
( 9 ) See Elnkakin, p. 141 et seq.-To what d'Herbelot says of this general, under the hcads A ~ ~ S C Uand IN
BABEK,1 shall ollly add here, that lbn ShLkir,in his Oyiun at-Tawdrikh (MS.';~ the Bib. dlt Iloi, No. 638,
fo1.232 u. ), says that al-Afshin was descended from the ancient kings of Persia; and Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi states in his
Mirait az-Zamdn (lilS.R'o.~O,fol.ll7u .), that the real name of al-Afshtn was Haidar Ibn Kaus; and that the
governors of OsrLshana ~ ~ a province
~ in Transoriana,
1 , bore the title of Afshin, in the same way as
each king of Persia was called Chosroes, and of Greece, Caesar.
(10) In the East, respectable persons never stir out but on horseback.
(11) See page 53, note (S;.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 73
(3.2) As executions often took plilce in Lhe audience-hall of the khalif, a skin was then spread under the toll-
demned person to c a ~ c hthe blood.
(13! The\erbs and hate both a peculiar sigitication in certain cases, and mean to do .some-
L
thing esrony or rlisagreeabte : d->
thou hast done (wrong) and committed (evil).-
&y2
L'
i,lwY 1 ~ h o l 1c10 ond art. i. e. I shall ptrnisit - a femak who acts (wrong). a prostitute.
IS The \izir> and Lhtl~sl~eltlassemblies at their houses on stated daj S.
15 m the Arabic text 0&!Y is printed for &2, which is the right reading. though the PSS. girr
the other; a s~rrlilarerror exisls in good MSS. of the Koran, \\here is written for in thc
21bt rcrse of the 27th Surat.
(16, Litcrallj : He 1s the place for that.
,l;, Ibn Abi Duv Ad folloned the Motazelite doctrine, and of course believed the Koran to have been created :
orthodor IIloslims are bound to believe that i t existed from all eternity. [See Pocock's Specimen, 2nd edit.
p. 222; and d'ohsson's Tableau de I'Empire Othoman, tom. I , p. S3 et seq.)
(18) The Inspector of Grievances was a judge like the hhdi, but he possessed moreover executi\e
11ouer.
119) Literally: As may leaoe himsitting down and standing up. (SeeDe Sacy's Chrestomathie, tom. I, p. 89,
nrld t. 111, p. 270 ,-The vizir had in lien the double signification of this expression.
(201Ibn Khallihhti has certainly madea mistake here and given a wrong Terse.
:a) 1'houa~tall mankind, because thou possessest all their good qualities.
(-F)) This appears to be an allusion to the Turkish officers in al-Motasirn's service.

1%) The burden you put on it is the obligation of celebrating Sour justice-
(U)See note ( l ) ,page 25.
,?S; Bloes-wood does not emit its perfume till burned.
(361W e have seen, by Ibn Ahi DuwAd's genealogy, that he descended from Nizir.
(2'1) Khindif is the true orthography of the word, not khindik, as given in the Arabic text on the authority
of the MSS.
(281 Literally: The day whenmen shall call unto one another. (See Xoram, surat 40, verse 34.)
$29 Abfi HiKAri Abd Allah Ibn Ahmad Ibn Harb is supposed by the Khatib to have been born a t Basra. He
dwelt at Baghdad, and n as considered as possessing great literary acquirements : the celebrated al-Asmtii
was one of his masters. (History of Baghdad by the Khatib, Arabic MS. of the Bib. du Roi, fonds Asselin,
Xu. 541.) The date of his death is not given.
(30)Literally: LJ2ldid it buttorc by button. "51" means a loop or button-hole.
(31) -&lid had obtained from al-MdmQn the government of Mosul. (See the life of Yazid.)
(32) The khalif here addresses him by his surname, which was a mark of great friendship.
(33) i b n as-Zaiylet means: son of the oilman.
~34)Ibn az-Zaiyht died A. H. 233.
(35)The dinar of that time would now have a n intrinsic value of about eleven shillings British.
:36; The verb +
signifies : bear witness agmnr t or for a person. I t is used with the latter signifi-
cation in the Koran, surat 5, verse 48. As a legal term, i t means: bear witness i n respect to a person or
Ihrng.
,371 Ibn Abi Duwhd had so unfavourable an opinion of this person, that he would not allow him to give
even in favour of himself.
t.1 idence

383 Literally : The date.

10
 The celel,rated Irifi1. AbCl Noaim All~ned1l)n Abd Allall I I ~ Allrl)il(l
I~ I1)l) I s l , , ~ h

llln JIGsa I],a i\lillr:'n al-Islrahhni (,ta/ivc OF L ~ I ~ Z / ~alllll(jt'

~ L / I )O(', ( / l ( ' / f i ( j , t i (
(i(-drr,/ili(I), one of tile principal iradilionis~~, was ;I tia(iz 01' 111(. I)i{;!~(!sf
t o (2) : 1 , ~llnd studied under mcn o l t l l ~(irsl ~ n ( ~ r i t~, 1 i 01 1 ~ 1 1 i s ( vs &1\
receiyed from lrim tlseftll information. IIis i G , o l is a v t * ~ ' ylifl(: I ) o ~ k i,l ~ l ( Illis
Ilistory of Ispahan has furnished mc wilh ille life of his f,< I ( ! I C ~ /41)(1 A l l i i l l ;III(I t 110
genealogy here given. In illis life lle says that his :~rlcestor M illr.:irl I ~ b ( : i l ~ t l t b hlos-
lirn, whicl, indicates that he was the first of them who !i)llo\v(~(lI I I ~ I I r*(*lif;ior~ ; h(*
also adds that Mihrin was freedman to Al)d Allall Ihn Monwi;k 1I)ri ~ \ l ) t l 1\11;1I1
Ibn Jaafar Ibn Abi TQlib, of nlronr \VC sllall again m;~kcrtw11io11(:I!. 111 t 1 1 ~

same article, he states that his fatllcr Al)d Allall cliotl i r l 111(! rrlo11tl, of' I\;~,i;rt),
A. II. 365 (A. D. 976), and was buried beside his matt:rn:ll (;r*:lr)(lli~tlwr.. A l ,il
Soaim was born in Rajab, 336 (beginning of A. D. 9/18), 01. :I:{'I. ;rc.c:or.tlini; 1 0
some, and died at Ispahan in the month of Safar, 630 (Novt:rnlrc!r*, A . 1). 'I 038);
others placed his death on Monday, 21 st Muharram ol' ~ l l n ty a l ~ * . - - /sl/rrl~rirt,
'' pronounced -4sbahkn and IsJhhdn ('I.), is one of thc most filn~ol~s ci t ivs irl 1 I)(*
" province of alJibll (or Persian Irak), and was so call(:d h n ~ its l ~ I'ar.sia~~
38 '' name Sib612rin, which means collection oJ' troops. It was dvllor~lir~:ll('d tllus
l- because the kings of Persia, the Khosroes, used co asscmblc: ~ l w i riroops ~ J J
" that place as io the encampments (asknr) of Firis, Krrnl$n, n l - ~ 4 l ~ w i retc. , 01)
" the occurrence of any serious event. Sibah&l, i n A~.;ll,iv I,rbnl~ri,2,was
'' built by Alexander Zh 'l-Karnain." Such are the obscrvn[iorls mad(. 1)y
" as-Sarnbi.

:i) The Ililyat ul-Awlia, or Ornament of [he Holy Men, contains the lives of the prilicil~nl n l n s l i ~ r ~ ~ s n i ~ l l .
the relation of their miraculous gifts and actions, etc.
(2) The meaning of the word hifir has already been explai~~ed: see page Si, i~otc(l).
(3) See d'Herbelot, A U D A L L fils
A , de Moauie.
(4) Tbc Arabs, not having in their alphabet an equivalent for the letter p, arc obliged to wrill: Ispnhnn will1
a b or an f.
 Tile hifix Abh Bali~.Ahrnnd Il)n Ali Ilm Tllihit l1)n r2llmn(l Il)n Malldi Ibrl
ThBbit, Ilrcter lino\\.ll 1)v the llamc of ai-l(11at ill ( [ h e prencher), native ol' Bag11-
s . was a ldfix ( 1 )
dad, eompostrl a history or that city, and otb(81.llscful \ ~ o ~ % l i Ire
of esact linc~nledge a n d a scholar of profoullrl learning: ; had 11c writ tell nothing
hut his IIistory, that produc~ionwould be suflicient for. his reputation, as i t
sl~o~\-shim to have possessed vast informalion; and ye1 he is author of nearly oncb
hundred works, and his merit is loo well known to require description. Hc
learned jurisprudence from Abll 'l-llasan nl-MalG~nili, thc ltidi Ab;t 't-Tayib
at-Tabari and other masters, 1111~though a doctor. of the law, he made the Tra-
rlitions aad history his principal study. His birth took place on Thursday,
23rd of' the latter Jumida, 392 (May, A . D. 1002), and his death occurred at
JIn~hdadon Morrday, 7 t h Zu '1-llijja, 463 (September, A . D. 1074 ) : as-Samirti
savs that he died in the m o ~ t hof Shawwil. I am i~lfo~.med that Ablj Isltak
as-Shirki was orle of' those who carried his bier, through gratitude for the
great service rendered him by the Khatib, whom he had been accustomed to
cwnsuit on the difliculties in his works. It is a singular coincidence that
the death of the Khatib, who was the 11il;z of the East, cook place on the
same day as that of Ahlj Omar YusCf Ibn Abtl al-Barr, author of the KZ'!&
a/-lsiiab, who was at that pcriod the 11ifiz of the West ( 3 ) : (see the life
of' Ibn Abd al-Barr in the letter Y). Tbn an-Najjir says in his History of
Baghdad that Abil 'l-Barakit Ismsil Ibn Saad the Shfi (3) related the following
circumstance: " T h e shaikh Abii Bakr Ibn Zahri the Sill had a tomb made
" for himself by the side of Bishr al-Ilhfi's, and went once a week to sleep in it

'' and read the Koran through; but the Khatib, in dying, had desired to be bu-
" ried beside the grave of Bishr, for which reasor] the students of the Tradi-

" tions went to Ibn Zahrg and requested him to give the Khatlb the preference,
'' and allow him to be interred in that tomb which he had got made for him-
" self, but ibn ZahrP gave a most determined refusal, and said : 'Must the place

" I prepared for myself since so many years be taken from me?' On seeing
" him so resolute, they went to my father Abii Saad and told him what had

" passed, on which he sent for Ibn Zahri and addressed him in these terms :
 BIOGR:\PIIlCAL DICTIONARY. '71

JekVel(nl-Kasnb), etc. ; Ile wrote also an accounl of his sittilrgs and con\-ersil-
lions with a number of learned metaphysicians. The doctrines he prorc~ssctl
were peculiarly his own, and are 10 be found stated in the wrilinps of the school-
Inen. He died A . II. 24.5 (A. D. 859), at 11lc place called the Rahaba of Nlilik
Ibn Tawk at-Tllalal,i ( I ) ; some say a t Baf;l~dad;he was then about forty y t w s
of age. I n the work called tllc Uusl6n ((2 his dratlr is placed in 250, but Gocl
kllows best !-Rciwnndi means native of Kdwand, a village in the dependcn-
vies of K Q s h near Ispshan ; there is another placc called ~ b w a n houtside Naisa-
piir; h i s Kfsfn must not he confounded with Kishin, situated in the neighboor-
hood of Kumm. This Riwand is menlioned by Abii Tammfn at-Tii in his
Hamisa, chapter of Elegies (3) ; he says : " They relate that two men of the
" tribe of Asad went forth to Ispahan, and took there into fellowsllip as brothel.
lf a cliftkrin ( h ) ,who lived in a place called both Riwand arid I~huzilc;they made
" hirn their cup-companiorr, and one of them having died, the diltkn"n and the
LL other survivor took his tomb for cup-companion, irlasmucl~as they drank
" two cups and poured out one upon the tomb; then the dik/lrin died, and rhc
man of the tribe OF Asad who remained drank to the graves of both, and sung
" these words:
0 my two friends ! awake ; how long do you repose l Is it then true that your sleep
shall have no end? Is it by reason of your lengthened slumber that you answer not
' him who calleth unto you ?-(It would seem) as if a cup-bearer had steeped your senses
' in wine I Know ye not that in all Rhwand and BhuzAk I have no other friends but you?
' I shall remain by your tombs, and never quit them during the long course of nights,
unless a voice ( ) answer from your graves. I will weep over you till the hour
' of: death, but what will give answer to the moans of the afflicted if he weeps your
loss? Could one life be given to preserve another, I had offered mine as a ransom
for yours. I now pour out wine upon your graves; if it reach you not, it will at
' least moisten the earth by which you are covered.'

Khuzcik is the n a ~ r ~ofeanother village in the neighbourhood of Rtwand.

(i)See Abfi 'l-FadB's Geography, Arabic text, page 280.

(2) Hajji Khalifa, in his Ribliographical Dictionary, notices sixleen worlts bearing the title of Bustan; the
olle cited here by Ibn Khallik2n is perhaps that composed by AbO Hiirnid alJgfar8ini.
(3) See Freytag's Ham&sa, page 398.
(4) Dikhdrt is a Persian word, signifying both farmer and historiun; it is generally uscd to designate a
person of ancient Persian family, possessing hereditary landed property. Sec Dr. Mohl's translation of the
Shah NUmeh. t. I, page S of the Introduction.
(3) See a curious note on this superstition in M. de Sacy's Antlaologie Grammalicale, p.2ii.
 Lj]l(l'l-I\IuzalTa~>
Ahmad 1b11 Mullanlmatl Ihn al-Mlizafiir al-Kl~awifi, doctor
of scct of as-Sllifi, was the most a1)le polemic divine oI' his time; he h;ltI
studied jurisprudence under the Imnm al-llarnmain, and was one of his most
~ l i s ~ i n g ~ ~ i spllpils.
lled He was kidi of Tiis and its environs, and obtained great
~bchp~ltation among the learned bv his sltill irl argument and his ability in silen-
(bill!; an adversary. He \17as a fellow-student of Abd FIjmid al-Ghazzlli, and
Ijotll were equally gifted with great talents, wtlich (he former showed in argu-
IlwIlt, the latter in his writings. Al-Kl~awffi died at Tiis, A. 11. 500 (A. I).
I lO(i).-Khat*~riji is derivcd from Lihnwhf, a canton of Naisapiir, containing
manv villnccs.

ABU 'L-FUTUH AIIMAD AIJ-GHAZZALI.

AI,; 'l-l;ut;ih Allmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ahmad at-Tt~sial-
Ghazzili, snrnnmed Majd ad-din (gloryof . . religion), was a doctor of the sect
of as-Shifi, and brother to the imam Ab6 IIimid al-Ghazzili. IIe was a good
prcxt~er, handsome in person, and endowed with the gift of miracles and
othcr s i p s of divine favour. His ruling passion was making public exhor-
tations, ancl for this he neglected the law of which he was a doctor; but he gave
lcctnres on this science in the Niz61nzya College, when acting as suhstitute fbr
llis brother Ab6 ITlmid, who had ceased to profess from religious scruples.
The work written I)y his brother, and entitled Ilyci' olum ad-din (Revival o j .
Religious Sciences) was abridged by him into one volume with the title of Lobrib
(/l-llyci (Pit6 oj'rhe I/y-d) ; he was also author of another treatise, named AI-
D a k h f r u t j Ihz aCBasfrut (tl2e Treasure, treating of the science of Yz~ision)(I).
He had travelled over many countries, acting as a servant to the SdGs, and was
disposed to solitude and retirement from theworld. Ibn an-Najj8r relates this anec-
dote in his History of Baghdad : "A person in the presence of Abmad al-Ghazzlli
" read out of the Koran this verse : 0, my seruants! cr*?zo haoe tr-ansgressed
 (6against yow~selves, etc. (2), 011 a l - G a ~ ~ a l Ii r l i : l~ (i(l(I l i : ~ l
<,(,.$v,
erinobled them by calling them /)is servanls (1v/1i(8h(u/ / l ~ i/ ) P ~ ' I I
" rvere the possessive y lnno~lilomitted); ancl he t l l c a r l r i ~ t * c l t f ' o l l o irq;~~

'' verses (in si~pppportof his o b s e ~ ~ o n t i:o ~ ~ )

' The blame whicl.1 I incur for loving Laila (3) I)c:~rsli{;lll)y o n trlcl ; 11 Il:rtir* 1111'
L little, that my enemies say: "He i s an o l ~ k a s t . " Wlleli enltc*d l)? tny 1
1 i i 1 1 1 ~ 1 ~ . :1111 (Ivi~l';
' but 1 hear (andanswer) when pcople say : " 0 slavo s l i , ; ~ i l i l ! " '
It is thus another poet has said :
Call me by no other name than sloue ofLaila, for that is lb. ~ i ( ~ l ) l (OS
~ rn,lf
t t1:lslra.

41 Ahmad al-Ghazzbli died at Kazwin, A. 1%.520 (A. 1). 1 1!l(;). '1'11t. ~ ) i ~ t t * o1 1h1 ijc .

Tlisiis derived from T g s , the name of a place in K h o ~ ~ ~ s( i~i i~n lt l ~ o ~ (c 4

v l two
towns, Tiberdn andNawkLn, to which appertain more than o1lcb 11io1l ~ i 1 1 1 dvilla^;^^^.
Gha;zdli is a derivative from Ghazzu"! (cotton c~/~irtner3, li)rrrlrri ;~l'ti+r.t 1 H V S ~ ( * ~ I I
generally followed by the people of Khowlrezrn and Jurjin, w h o I'I~OIIIh'(r.r,rtir. i (I
jitller) form Kassdri, and from Attdr (a dtwggist), Allori (4 j. SOIIW ~ I ~ O I ~I I( ~ I ~ V V

Ghaidli with a single 2, deriving it Corn Gllazulu, the 11ar1)cof' il vill:i(;(b i l l 1111.
dependancies of Tds, but this pronunciation d i h r s from ~1~~ o r ~ itr tlsta. f ; ( 4 ~ l r ~ * : i l

though asSamPni has adopted it in his Ansdb.-Knzwirr, a iiirlph v i l v i l l 1'1*1,-

sian Irak, situated near the castles of the Ismailites (5).

(1) I t is difficult to say what the science of vision may be, but judging liom tltc! cllnmricr of ibi?nuillor, I
am inclined to think that this work contains some rnystie doctrine.
(2) Xoran, surat 39, verse 54.
(3) I have substituted here the proper name Ladla for the pronoun her, so ae to ba annbltrtl t o rc*ntlt3riillo
English theidea which mmes in the next verse; as the words, 0 rlaue of her would l~nusintalllgibl~,t h o l l ~ l l
a literal translation of the Arabic.
( l )The people of Khorarezm, in so doing, committed n great barbarism, for kaaari and a r t r i , i f 1 1 ~ ~ ) .
had any meaning, would signify a fullerman, a d r u g g ~ s t m a ~ ~ .
(3) he fullest account of the Ismallites is given by M. de Sacy in his Higlory of Iba I)ruzc!s, l.1. i n m -
duction.

IBN BARHAN AL-USULI.

Abii 'l-Fath Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibn Muhammad al-Wakil, generally know11 by ill(:
 BLOC;RAI'IIICAL DICTIONARY. 81
name of 11x1 Barhln, was a docror of the sect of as-Shifi, and prolbundly learned
in the dogmas (Oslil) of faith and tire minor principles of doctrine, as also in
those p i n t s wherein the four orthodox sects agree or differ. IIe studied juris-
prudence under AbA Iliimid al-Ghazzjli, ALd Ilakr as-Shjshi and AhB '1-Ilasan
al-Kiya al-Harr'isi ; having become master of the subject, he composed the
W+, or Brief Exposition or the Principles of Jurisprodence, and professed
during less than a month (I) in the NizPmiya College at Baghdad, where llr
died A . 13. 520 (A. D. 1126.)

(1) In the Tubakdt as-Shafyin: \AS?. which fixes the sense of d\

G; d3J, an expression of
very doubtful import. The author of this Tubakdt says: Ibn Barhin was born at Baghdad, A. W. 479; hc
composed the Bdsit or Detailed treatise on the Law, the Wastt or treatise of Medium extent, and the Wajlz,
or Brief exposition, as also other works. His talent for resolving legal difficulties became proverbial; and
though Ibn Khallikiln states that he died in 520, it is well known that 5f8 was the year of his death.

AN-NATIIIAS THE GRAMMARIAN.

Abb Jaafar Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ismail Ihn YSnus al-Muridi, sur-
named an-Nahhis, was an eminent grammarian and native of Egypt. Among
the instructive worlis written by him may be reckoned his Commentary on the
Koran; a Treatise on the grammatical analysis of the Koran ; another on the
verses of the Koran which have been abrogated and those which abrogated them ;
a work on grammar, entitled at-Tu$cihn (the Apple) ; one on Etymology; an
Explanation of the verses given as examples by Sibawaih in his grammar, being
the first work on the subject ; the Secretary's Guide ; the KdJi (Suflcient), a
treatise on grammar; a treatise on the ideas usually met with in poetry; the
works of ten poets edited and commented bv himself; a greater and a less trea-
tise on the Pause and the Commencement of Phrases; a Commentary on the
seven Moallakas ; Lives of the Poets (Tabakdl as-ShuardJ ; etc. His tradi-
tionary learning was obtained from Abfi Abd ar-RahmAn an-Nasii, whom he
he gave as his authority when communicating that species of information to
others; the grammar he learned from Abfi 'I-Hasan AJi al-Akhfash, Abh Ishak
4I
 az-zajjaj, ibn al-Anbiri, Niftawaih, and dlc lirsl li(era13j' l11l1Il O f 1 1 ' ~ k ,hav-
ing travelled from Egypt to that, coullly fol' l l ~ i])l1I1I)O"L: O f "'1(1yi1(:l l l l ~ ! ~
them. He was a man of sordid habits, parsi~nor~ioi and ili(;(:illy(Lly IOIC~IIXIP
himself; on being given a turban-cloth, he w)old crll it. into t\llrb(*,011t. of'
avarice ; what he for his sustenance, ]I(: \ ~ ( ) tldl h).
Ir itlist*lG 01'1~1x(~ ii vr
upon his acquaintances, to whom he became n burdml ; notwi llisra~lrlilv ~ v l i i ( + l
he was ardently sought after by nilrnbers, for the prrdil atal i~lsi~+ti(,tion w1ii~I1
were to be obtained from his lessons. Diet1 at Old Cairo, oil Slltitiii~,5111of %U
'l-Hijja, 338 (May, A. D. 950) ; some say 337. He mm(.by Ilia t l ( b n t l i i l l 1 1 i ~1id-
lowing manner : he had seated himself on tla stair(:nx: of 1111. Ni i o ~ l l v t r ~ t 1,~y,
the side of the river, which was then on the incrcast!, anrl l ~ c + f ; i ~ rto~ sc*;lll somcb
verses according to the rules of prosody, whcrl a common I;*llow nlio I l c ~ ; ~
him, said : "This mau is pronouncing. a charm to prcven t ill(! ovcbrvflow ol' tII(a
'' Nile, so as to raise the price of provisions ;" hc t l m ll~nlsthi*,) wi 11) Ilis foot
49 into the river, and nothing more was heard of him.-Nnlthds rntharla( I cttoI'kel.
in copper; in Egypt this name is given to him who rnakrr i l l ill-;lss.

IBN BAKIYA AL-ABDI Tj3E GRAMMAIlIAN.

Abh Ahmad Ibn Bakr Ibn Bakiya al-&li, an obla aid inIt:~tcd (iI*ikm-
marian ; he wrote a good commentary o n .the grammatical treii~.i*: (:onlpos{:d i ~ y
Ali 'l-FPrisi, and entitled the idall. The only eircuInal;lrlcu
..- - his lik
whlch has come to my knowledp is the fact of his having etodiad (;r;illlnlals
under Abii Said as-SMfi, Abb 'l-Hasan ar.Rummkni and i\bd Ali 'l-FA1*i3i.
Died Thursday, 20th Ramadan, A. H. 4.06 (A. D. 1()I G ) . A6di rneasJ8 --
descended* Abd Kais, who was the son of Afsa ( I ) Ibn Donla and an~(~s1o
of a great and famous tribe.

(i)See note (l!,page 46.

 BIOGltAPBICAL DICTIONARY.

The kitib Abil 'l AbtGs Allmad Ibn Muharnmad Ibn Abd al-Karirn Ibn Salll,
of the KitdL nl-K/~ari;(1 ). IIe died A. 11. 270 (A. D. 883). Being to-
tally ignorant of the circumstances of his life, 1 must pass it over in silence; my
only reason for mentioning him is on account of his celebrated work, as its read-
ers might wish to know at what time the author lived.

(1) This work appears to be a treatise o n the revenue arising from the land tax; the author's having bee11
a k d t i b or writer in one of the government offices appears to confirm this conjecture.

THALAB THE GRAMMARIAN.

Abh 'l-Abbis Ahmad Ibn Yahya Ibn Zaid Ibn SaiyPr the grammarian, gene-
rally known by the name of Thalab, was an adopted member of the tribe of
Shaibln, wherein he had for patron Maan Ibn ZAida, whose l i b we shall give in
the letter M. Thalab was chief gratnmarian and philologist among the learned
men of Kufa (l); he had taken lessons from Ibn al-Aarkbi and az-Zohaic lbrl
Bakkir, and his authority was cited by his pupils al-Akhfash al-Asghar, AbQ
Bakr Ibn al-Anbkri, AbA Omar az-Zihid, and others. Complete confidence
was placed in the exactness of his traditional information; his opinion was de-
cisive in doubtful questions; he was a man of virtue, noted for his retentive
memory, his veracity, his knowledge of the genius of the Arabic language, and
his correctness in reciting ancient poetry: even while a youth, he held a high
place among the masters in learning. When Ibn al-AarAbi had doubts on any
point, he would say to Thalab : "Abd 'l-Abbb ! what is your opinion on the
" subject ?" such was the confidence he placed in his extensive information., Tha-

lab used to say : I began my travels for the purpose of studying Arabic and phi-
lolofiy in the year 21 6;. at the age of eighteen I had read the HudCd by the
grammarian al-Farri, and on completing my twenty-fifth year, I knew by heart
(and n~astered)every question without exception which al-Farrk had treated.
 -.
i(i IXi(' : L ()
Abb Bakr lbn Mujhhid &l\lukri relates as fi,llows : * ' TIU 14 )

d BakF ! the koranists were taken up \\.ill1 lhf!li01'arl ~ 1 1 1 101 ~i ll('(I :I lla])l)y
6. reward; the traditionists were faken up with IIw Trn(li(ioris;IIJ(Iol)f:iir~lld
; the doctors wen: taken up with tI\(! law itO(I f ) I b ~ i i i ~ i t *i t( liml,py
happy
Lc I have been taken up with Zad and ~ ~ ~ (2) ' t ll:~! I Ii I U W I V ~ I ~ I
1 0,
1 ;

mv state will be in the next world!' Aftcr qliiltil~gIli111, I 11:i(I :I i isimi in 1 1 1 ~

d

sleep that, very night, Pmpl~(:f,W ~ I OS;]id t r iln*: ' Give

I saw the ~~CSSCJ.
4. my greeting to Abc Abbis and say : Tltou at+/nrasfrr (!l!/' thtp .s~g)r~i?Lr ~ci-
ence (3).'" On this expression the holy scrvatll Abil 1\1)(1 Allall al.- I\ il(ll)iri(h)
observes that the Prophet's meaning was : By lhir (sciel~(:r).y)obl~r/ r r i ~ ~ r , u ~ o
is made pelfect and discourse beconzes connec~erd; nl( o/hrr. .~ri,*rlr.r,vnl.vo
stand in need of it.-Abb Omar az-Zihid, s~lrrram(?dnl-M~~t;~~.l*ir, i.vlntvrr thp
following anecdote: "1 was once at one of Abb 1 ' ' I litcwry

' l parties, when a person asked him a question, to wl~irhlic n ~ ~ n ~ v ( ~ : t *' la l(10
" not know.' L HOW!' said the other, you say I do not hrtotc., nrltf I;(!t it is
" to reach you that the camels pant (in their. Itnrried nztlwll); ir11t1 t o\vnr.tls yolr
" that travellers advance from every city (B).' T o this 11115'1-Al)l)iis r(ylit~(1:Di(l
4s your mother possess a date (6) for every thing I do llot k~low, sllrt rvotlld be ii
rich woman.' "-Thalab is author of the FasEh (rhc Par(.), ;I (philologicnl)
work, small in size, but of great utility; he composed also some 1)orfry : Abil
Bahr Ibn al-AnMri says, in one of his dictatd lessons (7) : (LrI'l~alill) nhcit(v1 to m(!
the following verses, but I know not whether they arc h i s or anotl~er's:
Since thou, who art tbe food of my life, hast abandoned me ; how lonp; t h m will
L that life endure of which thou wart the food? It will last as long as Lhs desort-liznrd (8)
can live in water ; as long as the fish can live in a vcrdnnt plnin .'

On this, Ab6 'l-Hasan Ibn al-Bari (9) recited us thcso additionill vcrseu :

' Wast thou then deceived in me, because 1assumed aflectod pntioneo, though that
' soul of mine had received born thee a mortal wound? If what 1 suffur woro inflicted
' on the solid rocks; itwohld overthrow them ; if on the wind, tho wind wot~lrlcoase to
' blow, and would remain in a lengthened slumber !--But potioncs I God may cnuao u f ~
''0 meet again; and then I shall complain to thee of tho woes which caused by
' thee and vhich I encountered for thy sake.'

Thalab was born in the third month of the pear 200 (October, A. D. 81 S),
. according to Ibn al-Karib (10) in his History; but others place his birth in 201 or
 BIOCRA PIIICAL DICTIONARY. 85

204 : a circumstance, however, which points out the year 200 is furnished by
the following relation given by Thalah himself: " I saw the kllalif al-Mhmh
on his return from Khowsari in the year 204; he had just gone forth from
the Bab al-fITaclI"cl(lron Core) on his way to ar-Rushfa; the people were
( 6 drawn u p in a double linc, and my father bore me up in his arms and said :

LThat is al-Mamdn, and this is the year four;' which words I have kept in
mind up to the present moment; I was at that time four years of age." I I p
died on Saturday, 17th (some say i 0th) of the first Jumida, A. 11. 291 (April,
A. D. 904) at Baghdad, and was buried in the cemetery at the Gate of Syria.
The accident which caused his death happened in the following manner: he had
left the mosque on Friday, when the afternoon-prayer was over; and some time
before he had got a deafness, which prevented him from hearing unless with great
difficulty; he was holding a book in his hand and reading it in the street, when
3 horse ltnocked against him and threw him into a deep pit, out of which he was

taken nearly senseless. I-Ie was immediateIy borne to his llouse, colrrplaining
of his head, and he died the next day.-Shaibcilzi means belnr2gi12g ro Sllai-
h&, which is a tribe sprung from Dakr Ibn IYiil; there were two chiefs of this
name ; Shaibin son of Thalaba son of Okiba, and ShaibAn son of Dull1 son of:
Thalaba son of Ok2ba ; so the former was uncle to the latter.-Thalab composed
1he following works : the Mastin (Precious, a treatise on g r a m ~ n a ;~ jPoints
on which Grammarians disagree; on the Idiomatic Expressions peculiar 10 the
Koran; on the faulty Expressions made use of by the Vulgar; the differences
which exist between the seven readings or editions of the Koran; on the usual
Ideas found in the poems of the ancient Arabs ; on Diminutive Nouns; on Nouns
of the first and second Declension; on those parts of Speech which can, or cannot
assume the functions of others; on anormal Words and Expressions; a Collec-
lection of Proverbs ; on the Confidence ( f ohe placed in the ancients) ( 1 1 ) ; on the
final Pause and the commencement of Phrases ; a Vocabulary; on the Alphabet;
a Collection of Siltings, or Discourses; the Awsat, or Grammar of Medium
Extent; on the Parsing of the Koran; Questions discussed; Hadd an-Nahv
(the Limits of Gramnzar).

(1) In the early ages of Islamism, the grammarians end philologe~swho studied at Kbfa differed on certain
questions from those of Basra. These two schools are often spoken of.
 IBN KBALLIKAN'S
of 1111~111tlrl c i l r ~ ~ ~ n n n
(2) That is: l h u e been taken up with the study of Arobic grumrlar, ill ~ilidl
examples is qj ?p Zaid beat Amr.

(3) W e have hero a proof that the study of grammar is not only lau~ful )~b
lrat ~ ~ r o i , i ortlly
*a
See note (7), page 46.
(&, Ahd *hrnad i b n \Lr
ar-Rbdbari was il. inl~ilhiltlnt0s ' r ~ r f !nnll rllipf Of lilp Sfifixill
he died A. a. 369 (A. D. 979)- (Al-Ylfi's gnnols).-Anotlwr ccll'l)rt~(drlmikll n1lii sfili. Ill'firill~[L(*
same surname as the preceding, wr Abfi AJi Ahmad Ihn nlullarnrr~u~lIhn al-KL*ill~f i r - ~ ~ f i l j l ) ~fi~llatlvl)
,-
r i . 0l
d , who settled in Egypt, whore he became chief of t110 Mfia
~ ~ g h d a but &Lj Li &. 11. l101
C
studied under al-Junrid and others; and was versed in a grcat variety or ~ri('flr(*s. i f e i n r('lnt4'11 10 hfiv('

said: master in Sbfism was alJunaid, in the Traditiorls lhrahtm at-Uurbi, in j u r j 8 ~ ~ r l l l l ~ tIhll
l r r Sllrflij,
and in literature 'J'balab. Died A. H. 322 or 323 (A. D. 9344.) (YAfi's Annals. hl-OlhrnAlli's ~ u ~ ~ ( ~ k ~ l . )
(5) This figurative phrase, which means simply that persons canle from 1111 purl8 10 (:Oll~IJllIlllll, is v(!rY
frequently employed by Arabic writers.
(6) To avoid the coarseness of the origind Arabic, thc word is Ilorc rceBcrc!tl 11y /lute; its truth ailr(11i-
fication is a pellet of sheep's or gout's dung. The some anccdotc is givcr~by M. do Hnry irl Ilia Antkologicr
Grarnmaticale, page 123; hut he there translates YJ by camels; in this ho d o c ~1101 tipprnr to h(! riuht.
(7) See page 29, note (1).
(8) The desert-lizard, or dubb; this animal always avoids water. (Scc Jarkaon'a Marorco, 2nd rbtiition.
page 102.) It is about eighteen inches long, and burrows in lhc sa~ldsof llru dcscrt.; its Iles!~i s rntc!r hy thv
wild Arabs. Leo Africanus says, in speaking of this animal: Aquum non p o b l . et x i qui.r crquam it& oa irk-
findat. B uestigio moritur.
19) The kAdi Abil 'l-Basan Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-nnrh nl-Abdi wan n ~ t ~ t i vof c l I i n ~ l ~ d i inrld
tl e
reader of the RorAn. Died in ShawwAl, A. H. 291 (A. 11.904). (Tabakat al-KrrrrR, MS. No. 742, fol. 72).
(10) No mention is made of this historian by Hajji IChalifa or the olhor worlrs 1. lmvu conrultcd. Evua llle
pronunciation of the name is uncertain.-The true reading is perhaps i b n al-$'ur(l ;is ul-Y(li'r
Annals, year 384 (A. D. 994) is found the following note: I n this ycnr died All& 'I-~[nsnn Mulrnmmnd Ibrl
al-AbbAs Ahmad Ibn al-Furht, native of Baghdad. He learned tile TradilinrrRfrom nl-MnilArr\ili nrltl
doctors of that period. The Khatfb says (See his life, page 76): 1have beun told t l ~ a l p u s s ~ 8 ~ o d
One hundred quires (of notes) furnished to him by Ali Ibn nluliammad al-Misri; that O1,C Jiulrdretl
commentuies#, and the like number of histories : he was an author of uulllcjrity voraEirY,
T h e b b i c title is xitab al-zmdn (Liber Fidei) ; the subject of this work is doubtful.

THE HAFIZ AS-SILAFZ,

Abi'i 't-TPhir Ahmad lbn Muhammad 1bn Ahmad Ibn Mullammad Ibn ILm-
him Silafa, native of Ispahan, and surnamed Sadr ad-din (cerirre r?/'r(!k;irion),
44 was a hifiz of great information, and a follower of the sect ol. asShAfi. Ire
travelled to different countries for the purpose of gathering traditions respect-
ing Muhammad from the great masters in that branch of knowledge, and went
 BIOGRAPIIICAL DICTIONARY. 87
t,o Baghdad where he studied jurisprudence under al-Kiya al-Harrisi, and
Arabic under the khatib Ab5 Zakariya Yahya at-Tabrizi the philologer. He
taught the Traditions on the authority of Abii Muhammad Jaafar ibn as-Sarrij
and other principal doctors; and having passed through many regions and
journeyed over many lands, he went by sea from the city of S6r (Tyre) to
Alexandria, where he arrived in the month of Zu 'l-Kaada, 51 1 (March, A. D.
1 I I S). Having fixed his dwellins in that city, he was visited by persons from
the farthest countries, who came to attend his lessons and profit by his
tuition. Towards the end of his life, he remained without a rival, and, in the
year 54.6 (A. D. 11 51), al-Aidil Ibn as-Sallir, vizir to az-Zi fir al-Obaidi prince
of Egypt, founded a college at Alexandria and appointed him its president,
which establishment is still called, after him, the Silafi College. In my youth,
I met, in Syria and Egypt, a number of persons who had been his pupils, and
from whom 1 learned traditions which they authorised me, hy a written certifi-
cate, to teach on their authority. As-Silafi wrote a great deal, and I extracted
from his papers a mass of useful information ;among other particulars, I picked
out the following verses by -4bB Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Jabbir,
a native of Spain :
Were my mind not wholly taken up with the Emir and with praises worthy his de-
serts, I should have sung the charms of my fair Gazelle in a more lengthened strain ;
but engaged in the description of Majesty, I was forced to lay aside my description of
Beauty (1).

I found also in his handwriting these two verses, composed by Buthaina on

the death of her lover Jamil :
Never for a single instant have I felt consolation for the loss of Jamil ;that time has
not get come. Whilst thou art absent, 0 Jamfl, son of Mamar! the pains of life and
its pleasures are to me equally indifferent.

As-Silafi used often to recite this verse :

'Tis said that the inhabitants of a dwelling are its souls; but you I look on as the
soul of souls.

His dictates (2) and notes are in great quantity, but, as concision is to be pre-
ferred in such an .abridged work as this ( I 'amlprecZuded from extracts).
-He was born at Ispahan about the year 4.72(A. D. 4.0791, and died in the
a .
 88 IBN KIIALLIKAN'S
i'l'irlil?',
frontier city of *leXandria on the morning, or, ;IS S O l n c S:)., ( ) l 1 [Iif' ''v''
5th of the second 576 (August, A. 1). I It!()). 111 w;ls illl~'l'~''*(l"';ll:l,
,,,hicll borial-place lies the city wells il('ar I (;1'('('11 ( ;ill (' jf(l-JI(;/~ (l/-

AklZdllr), and the tombs of nlany ]l[)ly I?l('n, ~ l l l ' l l :lt-'l'(~l'l~lsi itll(l
lt is said that this cemc[(hry lakes its 11i11110 11'0111 Al)(l illS-l(~l11ll~l)
]bn wala as-Sab$i (,?atbe of h,, Yt?~lell),~ l l 0il1llikl)i(('[l 1 1 ) ~ I ) ( I llilcl
studied under ibn AbhiS (3) : dcrivalioos havtave also IH*('~I( ; i ~ ( ' j l '1'11(' (iall'
here assigned to his birth is the 0°C 1 found given ]by llabI('nl'llcl(l tl%(lifiolli~ls ()I'
and among the rest, the 11lfiz Abd a]-Azim nl-!!ft~n(lil+i ('l), ~ I I Il i'r s t ir.1-
ditionist of his age; but 1 have since found a diflcre~it~ t ; l r t ' l l l t ' t ll ill (]U'
ar-Rid, (Meado\. Flowers, or Elucidator of 1hO ptl~+porf. illl(l )I('OI)(* (O/'

figlrrn*ive ~xpressions Allusions), by Jarnil ad-din ii~-Si~f'~+?i~~i (T)), ~ V I I O

4;r says : My master, the Abfi Tihir as-Sila fi has told rrle fis(,111 n)~;i(~(: t I I Y * ~ *i, l ~ ~ d
not from certain assurance, that he was born in 4.78 ; this ol)li(;(*sxtttl to con-
" clude that he lived to the age of 98 years." I r m l i11~0if\ 11w JIistory of
Baghdad, by Muhibb addin Ibn an-N,?ijt., the following passcif;c: i r t rorrfirniittion
of asSafriwi's statement: "Abd al-Ghani al-Makdisi (ti) rcblii~*stlavi~i!; ;lsktbtl
" the hCfiz as-SilaG the date of his birlh, and that Ilc rcccbivcvl 11)isons\vclr. t'r*om

'' him : L l remember the assassination of Nizhixl al-Mulk (7) ill ihr y var 1185, a r ~ d
" I was then under ten years of age!" Now, if his Lirili was ilk 4.72, ns ~ h c
people of Egypt state, as-Silafi would not havc said : 1 rl~n?c>nrbctr. i/te rr.s,rrrssirl(l-
tion oJ'Niziinz al-Mu& ill the yeur 485 ; for it musl Ic cc~nchldctl f ~ +wllal ~ * ~ ~
they say that as-Silafi was then thirteen or fourtecn years of agc ; 1,111 it is 11ot
the custom for a person (mentioning U ci~.curnstnnceit,hich ) whrrl
/t(ll~,ltt,,(lrl

he was of that age, to say: I ren2enzbe)-suclr arzd such nrc f i p p , l l ; it ec,rllrJ ()lily I*:
said One who was then four or five or six years of age. W\a:rnn:it qqM.a1s
that asSafrawi's statement comes nearer to truth than t h other
~ ; hc was, ],lbsides,
a pupil of as-silafi's and had heard hirn say: My birth ruas ill / , . 7 ~ i. \ d a r r a w i is
an whose word cannot be called into question, and on wllose csxnc,,ntas
no can be thrown; to which 1may add that I have no( heard of any pera,,l
the lastthree hundred years; who lived for a c e n t q , much less (,f olle
for more, the fidi Abh 't-Tayib at-Tabari excepted ; for he lived to (la
'
age of O2 years, as we shall again mention in his life.-ns-siz~ was so
after grandfather lbrahim Silafa. SilaJh is a Persian word, rneaninl: three
lips (sd leh); he received this appellation because one of his lips was split and
appeared double, vithout coun t,ing the other, which remained in its natural state.
This word was originally Silrrba, but tlm C has been replaced by J:

(1) I n the original Arabic, these t n o verses are remarkable for the verbal artifice of their constructton.
(2) See page 29, note (l).
(3) Abh 'l-AbbAs Abd Allah lbn Abbds (son to Abbls, uncle of Muharnrnad), was born a t Mekka, A.D. 619,
three years before the Hijra. Immediately on his birth h e was prcsentcd to Muhammad, who begged of God
to instruct him in the knowledge of the divine law and the inlrrpretation of the Koran. The deep learning
and piety which Ibn AbbAs displayed in aflcr-life werc nllributcd by thc Moslims to the efficacy of their Pro-
phct's prayers; a n d when yet a youth, his merit was SO gcncrally recognised, that the khalifs Abtl Baltr, Omar
and Othman always yielded him the place of Ilonour in their assemblies. BCwas corisidcrcd as the ablest in-
terpreter of the Koran then i n existence, and i t was said of him that llone ltncw better the traditions, the legal
decisions of the three first khalifs, the law, the ir~tcrprelaliorl of the Icoran, and the scic~lccsof poetry and
arithmetic. Crowds flocked to him from all parts to hear his lectures, and i t is related on good authority
that h e gave regularly public lessons, onc day on the inlerpretalion of the Koran ; the ncxt, on the law; the
third, on grammar: the fourth, on the history of the h r a b s -9
r1 ;and the fifth, on poctry. 11 was
to his efforts that the study of the poems composed before the introduction of Islamisrn, became of such im-
portance to the Moslims; for h e frequently quotcd verses of the ancient poets in proof of the explanations h e gavcl
of different passages of the Koran, and he used to say: "When you rncct with a dificully in thc Koran, look
"for its solution in the poems of the Arabs, ibr these arc the registers of the Arabic nation." On being asked
how he had acquired his extensive linowlcdge, he replied: "By means of an enquiring tongue and a n intelli-
" gent heart." H e was appointed governor of Basra by l l ~ okhalif Ali, and remained there for some time; he
then returned to Hijaz, and died a t TLif, A. 11. 68 (A. L). 687), aged 70 years. The celebrated Muliammarl
Ibn al-Hanafiya pronounced funeral prayers over him and said: .*To-day is dead the doctor of this
" people and the sea of learning." H e was tall in stature, l a r ~ bodied,
e of a clear complexion and remark-
able for the beauty of his countenance and his dignilied appearance; his hair was dyed wit11 hinna. Towards
the end of his life, h e lost the use of his sigli1.-(Tab. al-Fukaha. Tab. ul-Kurra. S i a r as-Salaf. MSS. of
the B i b . du Roi.)
(4) The hkfiz Zaki ad-din A b b Mubarnmad Abd al-Azlm Ibn Abd al-Kawi I b n Abd Allah Ibn SalAmi al-
Mundiri was descended from a' family which dwelt in Syria, but he himself was born i n Egypt, in the month
of Shabln, 581 (November, A. D. 1185). Having attained a profound knowledge of the Koran, Arabic
literature, jurisprudence, a n d traditions, and composed a Mojam and other important works, he became
shaikh of the college for the study of the traditions ( D d r al-Eadtth al-Edmiliya); this college was founded at
Cairo, A.H. 622 (A.D. 1225), by al-Malik al-KAmil Nasr ad-din Muhammad, son of al-Malik al-AAdil. This
was one of the only two colleges specially designed for teaching the Traditions; the other was founded at
Damascus by al-Malik al-ABdil Nhr ad-din Mahmhd Ibn Zinki. During the twenty years of his administra-
tion, he led a most abstemious, pure, and holy life, and instructed numerous pupils, who became later illus-
trious for their learning: Ibn KhallikAn was one of the number. He wrote also an abridgement of t h e ima111
Moslim's Traditions; a summary of the Traditions published by AbO. DlwOd; a oolleetion of useful notes on
,*-
the same work; a valuable treatise entitled, At-Targhtb wa 't-Tarhtb (~ncite+%la't'an.d Determent), the
first volume of this work, which contains a colleotion of Traditions, is in the Bib. du Roi, fonds S t . Gerrnain,
12
90 IBN KNALLIKAN'S
died in ~~~~t in 656 (LD.$ ~ ~ S ) . - ( S ETabakat
C nr-Shdfyin.) 11 i h wortlly of r(!mark thut
No. B),
containing n porlio" U( till! ~ ( 1 l . k (11 *I)fi l ) f i s n ( l (No.
the Bfiliothkquc du noi is in possession of a
351, ancian fand,l, in which is found number or notes in ihe llnrldwriting Of *I)d 111-fblrn nl-h111111liri.
(5) T J , ~imam jam$[ Ab& 'l-KaEim Abd ar-Rahmln Ibn Abi 'l-Fa(l1 Ab(1 nl-bltdtd 11111 1fi111i111111,1
~~f~ as-Safrbwi, doetor of the sect of Malik, was born at Alcxnndrin about Ulc cl)slrllrrll.(~rncl~L 01 1111: ypilr
314 pfalr, A.D. 1149)~and died in 636 (A. D. 1238-9) Besides tllr Zulir ar-Ridd. 111' W l ' o l l u 11 trlhnlire( N I lllp
seven of the Koran, the titleof which is: al-Ildn fi 'l-Xaraal US-Sabi.--('lbb(lkdl al-Xorrd MS. or
the Bib. du Roi, ancien fonds, No.742, fo1.191.)
(6) The hifiz *bd al-Ghani ibn Abd al-WPid a1-MaYisi, doctor of the srct 01 1l)n 111111hnl.Ioarsed
Traditions at Damascus, Alexandria, Baghdad, and Ispahbn, and bcc:lrne the lti~llcst ontltority an L J I ~sub-
ject. Be composed a number of works, and was remarkable for his piuty, bi* slricl ob@orvalionof lbr p c -
eepts contained in the Sunna, and the exhortations which he mode to indu(:c his haarcrn to do u l u i was
right, and avoid what was forbidden. Died A.H. G00 (A. D. 120'3). Ilis life t ~ r l v 1rcc~11u r i t t ~ rin~ ~ W OV,,-
lumes by the hifiz DiL ad-Dtn (light of religion). (At-Ydfi's Annals).-Tllc lrhliz 1)ih ntl-l)ln AbO Alld nlloll
Muhammad al-Makdisi, doctor of the sect of Ibn Hanbal, was n tradilioriist of grcnl outhorily in Syria. he
hifiz as-Silati was one of his masters. Died A. H. 643 (A. D. 1248.) (Tab. al-llun;ltz,)
(7) This event is related in the Annals of Abfl 'l-Fad%.

SHARAF AD-DIN IBN MANA AL-IRI3TLI.

Abh 'l-Fad1 Ahmad, son to the learned shaikh Kamil ad-din Abc~'l-Falh kllusa
Ibn Rida ad-din Abli '1 Fad1 YBnus Ibn Muhammad Ihn Mar~nllm Mt~liklbrl
Muhammad Ibn Saad Ibn Said Ibn Akin1 Ibn A&idIbn Kanh ILrl Kais 1Lrl lbra-
him, doctor of the sect of as-Shili, and surnamed Sharal ad-din (uoblcnrss (!f'
~eligion),came of an eminent and powerful family, which was one of I I ~ Olirst,in
Arbela. This imam was possessed of great talent and judgnlent, and i.o an ex-
emplary conduct he joined a handsome person. Hc is aulllor ol' a good conr-
rnentary on the TanbYIt, a treatise on Moslim law (con~poscdby Abli las.rhakas-
ShirLki); two Abridgements of the i l y a 02Gn2 ad-Din by the imam Al-Gllar~Hli,
one of them concise, the other more detailed. In h e course of his lcctures (I)
he explained portions of the ihya, which he cited from memory; his mind l ~ i n g
rich17 stored with traditional knowledge and extensive information. IIis family
was noted for its learning, as may be seen hereafter in the lives of his paternal
and grandfather, as also of his fatherj whose illan of study hc followed in
acquiring his varied information in the sciences. A great number of pupils finisbed
their education under him, and the professorship of the college founded at Arbela
 BIOGRAPHICAL D I C ~ ~ I O N A R T . ni
by the prince of that city, al-Malik al-Muazzanl Muzaffar ad-din Ibn Zain ad-die,
was confided to him after the death of my fathcr. It was towards the beginnine of
the month of Shawwll, A. H. G1 0, that he arrived at Arbela from Musul ; my
father having died on the eve of Monday, 22nd Shabin of the same year. When
a }lay, 1 followed his lessons, and I never yet heard any one who lectured so well;
he did not cease to fill that place until he lnadc his pilgrimage to Mekka; when
he returned, he made a short stay, and then went to Musul, A.H. 61 7 (A.D. 1220),
where he was appointed president of the ICn'hir+a College; he remained in this
place, constantly studying and teaching till his death, which took place on Mon-
day, 24th of the second Rabi, 622 (May, A . D. 1225) : born at Musul, in thc 46
year 575 (A.D. 1179). He was the best of men, andwhen I thinkof him, the
world is of little value in my eyes.-On reflecting, I observe that the life of Sha-
raf ad-din began and ended with the reign of an-Nisir lidin Allah Abh 'l-Abbhs
Ahmad, for this khalif was invested with authority A. H. 575, the year in which
Sharaf ad-din was born, and they both died at one and the same period. It was
at Arbela that Sharaf ad-din began to comment the Tanbfl2, having borrowed a
copy of it from me, whichcontained useful notes written in the margin by a man
of considerable talent, and all which I afterwards perceived to have been inserted
by him in his commentary. The author of these notes was the shaikh Rida ad-
din AbA DBwid Sulaiman Ibn al-Muzaffar Ibn Ghinim Ibn Abd al-Karim al-
Jili (native of Jfl&n), follower of the sect of as-Shifi and mufti in the Niza-
miya College of Baghdad. He was one of the most distinguished and talented
men of his age, and composed a work on jurisprudence, forming fifteen vo-
lumes ; he was very religious and had refused to fill every honorable place
which was offered for his acceptance (2). His death took place on Wednesday,
3rd of the first Ribi, A. H. 631 (A. D. 1233), and he was interred in the Shdniziya
(a cemetery of Baghdad), having lived upwards of sixty years : it was some time
after the year 580 that he left his country to study in Baghdad.-Let us return
to Sharaf ad-din: this doctor did not quit his native place in furtherance of his
studies, but made them at Musul under his father's tuition, and for this reason
the jurisconsults used to express their astonishment at his being able to study at
his nadve place and in the midst of his family, holding, as he did, a high rank
4

and being taken up with temporal affairs. He produced, however, what we see;
and were 1 to undertake the description of his excellent qualities, I should be
long in finishing; so what has been already said must suffice.
 (l The
)expression d ! L$ d which, though of frcqucnl occurrmcc, is not
' 10 be Lurid in our Lcr-
icons, means to make a course of lectures.
(2) He was offered the place of kldi at Baghdad, and tlial of sul~crioror Lho groat rnonaxlery (or-Ribdt ol-
Kabtr); his work was entitled the Ikmdl (completion).-(Tab. as-Shdp~in.)

IBN ABD RABBIIT.

Abd Omar Ahmad Ibn Abd Rabbih (l) (son lo ,he slava r ? / ' / ~ i sI O I ~ Il)n
~ ) hbih
Ibn Hudair Ibn Sjljm al-Kortuhi (nulive of' Cordovr~),was (lc~~crl(lcd frorn an
enfranchised slave of the Spanish Omaiyide khalif lIislr$m ibn Ahtl ar-Rnllm3n
Ibn Moawia Ibn Hishim Ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwin 1l)n al-1l:rknm. This
writer was deeply learned in traditional knowledge and ix)sscssed i;nbat histo-
rical information; his i k d , o r Necklace, is a work of much mc!ril and contains
something on every subject, and the Dicvrin, o r Collection ol' his poetical com-
positions, is very good; the following are specimens of his poetry :

0 thou, on whosc face the izdr (2) hath traced two lincs which oxcilo (my mind 20)
sadness and anguish ! I was not convinced that thy looks wcrc a cutlir~gsword, till
thou placed on thy cheeks (the izhr as) a baldrick.

He has repeated the same idea in the following lines (which have h e n attri-
buted, however, to Ahh T i h i r the kitih (3), and to Abd 'l-Fad1 Muhaulmail Ibn
.4bd al-WQhid al-Baghdadi) :
There was a youth on whose cheeks the izdr had traced its outline wilh (darlc) musk,
whilst they were dyed with the blood of hearts (wounded by his beauty). On fooling
conviaced that the (languishing)narcissus of his eyes was a cutting sword, ho took ihc
violet (-like izhr) for a baldrick.

This idea has been borrowed by BahH ad-din as-Sinjiri, who says, in one of
his poems :

0 sword of his eye, thou art now completein beauty1 Before his izdr appaared, thou
wast without a baldrick.

By Ibn Abd Rabbih:

She bid me adieu with sighs and embraces, aml then asked when we were io meet
again : she appeared to me unveiled, and the dawn was lighted up (by that beauteous
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 93
neck) which tunicks and collars encircled. "0 thou whose looks languish (but not 47
from sickness) l whatever place is before thy eyes becomes the death-bed of lovers.
& L The day of separation is indeed a dreadful day! O! that I had died before the day
of separation ."
By the same:
If the fair see that the garment of thy youth is folded up (by upproaching age), they
will fold up from thee their favours ; and when they call thee uncle (h), that name serves
only to increase thy disappointment.

The next verses are taken from a long kasida addressed to al-Mundir ibu
Muhammad Ibn Abd ar-RahmCn Ihn al-Hakam Ibn Hishhm Ibn Abd ar-Rahmbn
Ibn Moawia Ibn Hishgm Ibn Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwhn al-Makami the Omaiyide,
king of Spain :
Spain is covered with glory through al-Mundir Ibn Muhammad! Its birds have be-
come tame, and its wild beasts accustomed to man.

On which the vizir Ibn al-Maghribi makes the following observation in his
work entitled AduL al-Khncvci'ss: "It is related that this poem, on getting into
" circulation, gave great pain to Abii Tamim Maadd al-Moizz lidin Allah, and
that he felt much mortified by the falsehoods and misrepresentations which it
contained, till an answer was composed to it by his own poet Abl? 'l-Hasan Ali
Ibn Muhammad al-Iyidi of Tunis, who wrote, with that intention, a kdsicla in
ii the same rhyme and meawlre, beginning thus :

The rustic hut where Zainab passed the spring is in ruins; that dweIling, which
' before had a voice, is now become silent.'
By Ibn Abd Rabbih :
The raven croaked and I said: That is the greatest liar among birds unless his fore-
bodings be confirmed by the cry of the camel (5).

In which verse is an allusion to these words of another poet:

The feet of our camels were worn and wounded by their journey; they could no
longer assist (their rider and bear him) towards (the object of his) love : among camels
will always be found some lame and some broken-winded. The evil omen consists not
in the croaking and foreboding of the raven, the only evil omen is the camel, the male
and the female.

There is every abundance of fine ideas, besides the foregoing, in the poems
of this author. ~e was born the 10th of Ramadin, A. H. 246 (November, A. D.
 9k IBN IClrIALLIKAN'S
860); died on Sunday, 18th of the first,Jumida, 328 (Marcll, A . I). !1401, ; i 1 ~ was 1

buried the next day in the cemetery of the nar~il']-A i t l i ' ~at~ (;o~-rlot*a. S o ~ i i t ly ~ 8 ; ~ ~ , s
before his death, he lost tlre usc of his sidr h o n ~p;1ls)..-f~()rafr~bi iwballs , t r t / i l ~ r .
of' Cordoun, which is a great city in Spain and capii;il 01 t I 1 ( > t ~ ~ t ~ p i r t * .

(1) ibn ~ b Rabbih

d is now pronounced, according l0 lh0 vulgnr itliom, Ibn A l ~ d lit4hbtlh. In ltlf'
(Anhie MS. belonging to the Asidic Society of Paris ; ~ l l f i u l On
t thifl work (:a*iri'n 8111(0-
&A

.. .
of our po1'1 nlrd t h ~ hi8
No. 167l), theauthor states that Abd Rabbih was grnlldfi~tl~rr t fnlhor's
name was Muhammad. Besides the Ikd or Collar, a work contninir~~much im[~ortrrel i r l f o r r ~ ~ n l i on
o ~ ~the
manners of the ancie& Arabs, and of which some extracts have bccr~~iverlby BI. Frrrtlol irl l r i ~Irttlcrr, lhtl
Abd Rabbih composed a great deal of poetry, which he collected lrlto a work c*alitl~*dnl-&¶n/lc~sdt;is
which every erotic piece was followed by anotheron morality and devotion; iotc!rrl~onIrr this ann to 11urif)
(Mahas) the profane ideas of the one by thc religious senlirnents of 111s olhar.
(2) See page 38, note (2).
(3) Perhaps Ibn Abi Tahir is the true reading. His life is givcn in tllc abridgernaat of tho KIiRlib'n Ilinlory
of Baghdad: it runs as fo1lowr:-The kttib Ab171-Fad1 Ahmad Ibn Abi Tbllir I'nifoiirJ& r n s ~ t e* r n fn~nilj
which dwelt a t Marw; he was an eloquent man, a poet and a narrrltor of l~istorirultrndilitrns; he I I O H H I * R U C ~
also great intelligence, and was celebrated for his lcnrning. Ile cornposcd n lii~toryof 1110 klialilb nr~d
their adventures, giving his facts after Omnr Ibn Shabba nnd othors. His son ntotolr t h n ~110 tlivd i t 1 W O
(A. D. 893); he was buried in the cemelery near the Gate of Syria (at Baghdad). Iborr~a t Iln~t~tlrrtl, A. H.
204, the pear of al-Mtmhn's entry (to tlmt c i t y : see page 18). (MS. No. 831, fal. 80 vwro).
(4) Uncle and Aunt were the terms made use of in addressing cldcrly porson6; 80% ofmp rtnoln nntl dauglt-
ter of my uncle were the titles used between persons of the samc ago, though ~ t r a n ~ uto
r s atlcll olhar.
(5) The nomadic poet imagined that the raven foresaw thc epoch in which U tribs waa to cllnngc its quur-
ters; and that it then hastened, with ill-omened cry, towards the spot which waR so011 to he rltnndonad, and
in which he hoped to have found his mistress still remaining. The Cllordb al-Badfi, or raoarb topuratibn,
is oflen spoken of by Poets. Some camels utter loud cries when loading for journey.

ABCT 'L-ALA AL-MAARRI.

AbB 'I-A11 (I) Ahmadlbn Abd Allah Ibn Sulaimin Ibn Muhammad ILn Sulai-
i

48 mid Ibn Ahmad Ibn Sulaimin Ibn DAawhdIibn al-Mutahhar Ibn Ziyad Ihn R a l h
Ihn al-Harith Ibn Rabia Ibn Auwar Ibn Asham Ibn Arkam Ij~nan-Nomhu Ibn
;,
Adi Ibn Ghatafan Ibn Amr Ibn Barih Ibn Khozaima (2) Ibn Taim Allah Ibn Asad
Ibn Wabara Ibn Thalab Ibn Hulwln Ibn Irnr%lbn Alhif Ibn kudka at-Taniikhi
al-Maarri (native of Maarrat on-Norndn) was a celebrated philologer and poet,
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 9.5
profoundly learned in all the various branches of polite literature. He studied
grammar and philology under his father at Maarra, and Muhommad Ibn Abd
Allah Ibn Saad the grammarian at Aleppo; his numerous works are well known,
and his epistles have been carefully preserved; the LusPm, or poetical pieces,
composed by him on a more strict principle than is required by the usual rules
of prosody (3), are numerous and C11 nearly five books ; he composed also the
S f i t at-Zand (filling Spark of l'inckr), with a commentary by himself, and
entitled by him, Dau as-Sikt (Light q,f the Spark wlziclz falls). I have been
told that he is also author of a book on belles-lettres, called al-AZk wa'l-
GlzusGn (the Forest and the Branches), and generally known by the title or
al-Hamzn wa'r-Ridf(4), in about one hundred parts; and I have been informed
by a person who happened to read the one hundred and first, that he did not
know what could be wanting on the subjcct after the volume he had read. A b i
1'AlA was the most learned man of the age, and had, among other pupils, Abd
'l-Kasim Ali at-Tanilkhi and the khatib Abb Zakariyi at-Tabrizi. He was born
at Maarra about sunset on Friday the 27th of the first Rabi, A. H. 363 (December,
A.D. 973); about the beginning of the year 367, he lost his sight from the small-
pox, a white film having covered his right eye, while the left had disappeared
completely. (Relative 20 this) the htfrz as-Silafi relates the follots~inganecdote:
" I was informed by Abil. Muhammad Abd Allah Ibn al-Mralid Ibn Azib al-

'' Iyadi that he went with his uncle to visit Ahh 'l-Alh, whom he found sitting
'' 01-1 a felt rug, and that he was an old man. 'He prayed a blessing on me,'
" said he, 'and stroked my head, for I was then a boy. At this moment I
'' think that I still see him and his two eyes, one of which was starting out of his
" head ( 5 ) and the other deeply sunk in its orbit; his face was marked with

" the small-pox; his body lean.' " When Abii 'l-Alf had finished his aZ-L6mi
al-Azizi, which is a commentary on the poems of al-Mutanabbi, one of the
company happened to read to him some of the descriptive passages composed by
that poet, on which Abb 'i-Ali said : One would think that al-Mutanabbi had
" looked into futurity and seen me when he pronounced this verse :
'I am he whose learning is seen by the blind, and whose mnok causeth the deaf to
hear .'
He made a commented abridgement of Abii Tammiim's. poetical works, and
entitled it Zikra Ha&fb.(Recollections of a Beloved) (6); anothei, of, the poems
 96 IBN IUTALLIKAN'S
of al-Bohtori, which hc named AGIILUZ-WUI~CI (Sl,(~fl./ot. (%r%/rrpn) ( 7 . ; nlld
a third of al-Mutanabbi's, to he gave the tillr of ill(+: A / ~ n t r r t li.llrrrrcb.
f i h w l m a d ) (8). In these three works 111: crl)l:litlo(l ~ I I { * ( ) I ) Y I ' j~ ~~)T(Is{I . ~ii11O
~
found in their poems, ancl indicatlrl itI(t:ls wltic,ll tIi(*y 1ii1(I l* j l . i * t l \ ~ t ~ c l

from others, or later poeis from illern; be also (kbrli~rf6(l h i ~ l ~ r f -tlirir

lf rllii11,-
S . .
pion, in crrtlclzmg, however, some passages OS their* \vri l i ti!;a, i ~ i i g i , O ~ ~ ~ ~ i l l ( i o l ~ ; l ~ ~
.

pointing out their faults. IIe went to Dagb(lad in tla! vtl;l~*:{!)S A , 1). 1 I I O Y - ~ ~ ) ,
and a second time in 399, when bc rcmainocl t l . l ~ o;I y ( & i i r;ulti ~ ~ v c +nioi~tlrs rl ;
after which, he returned to Maarra and, confir~i~~l; lli~r~st~lf to liis ! I O I I S ~ - ,
began to compose his works. Numbcrs tllea I ' ~ I ~ ( I I ~ I * I ~
11;sI ~ Y
1 ~ 1 ; i,ulliIs
came to him from every region ; and lcarn(a1 rn(In, rizirn, n l t d Ilt*l.norrsof l.ilrlk
llecarne his correspondents. He called himscl f ila! tlorrl~!,.ir~lprt'.tr,rtt~rl
' (,(,p-
live (g), in allusion to his voluntary confincmenl, nllti llrc* Io8s of' !ii8 si(;\11.
During forty-five years he abstained from flesh illrougll ;l i.eli(;io~ls1 1 1 0 1 i S ( $ , :IS I I I ~
followed the opinion of those ancient philosophers who r*ofi~st~rl to (*a{Ilt*slt , so i \ x
to avoid causing the death of any animal; for in l c i l l i r ~ ~it., ; pail1 i s inllic.tctl; i ~ t l t l
they held it as a positive principle, tllat no liurt ~110111(1 l)(: d011tb 1 0 i i t l y livinf;
creature (1 0). At the age of cleven years he rnatle vcrscs, iirrtl wf* R ( * ~ { ' ( : I 1 I i 1 - 1'01-
lowing from his Luziint ;

Seek not to attain superior rank by thy own efforts; unlres X~ortunufnvotlr tht! (*I(+
gant writer, his pen is as inefficient as a spindlo. Two Simdkn (11) lliivcl their tlwell-
ing in the sky; and though one bears a lancc, tho other i u unarmcri.

49 Abii 'l-A1B died on Friday, 3rd of ihc f rst Rahi, sorn: say t I :Ii11, A . 11. l a b

449 (May, A. D. 108'?'), and I have been told that, in his will, 1 o r 111(l

following verse to be written on his tomb :

I owe this to the fault of my father ; none owe the lika to minu.

This is also in accordance with the belief of those sncierkt plii1osopt)c:r~

. taught that the engendering of a child and the bringing of it irkto d w ! \vor*ltI ix a
wrong done to it, for it is then exposed to accidents and injurkhs. llis i l l n ~ ~ ~
lasted three days, and on the fourth he died, having none near llini l j ~ l fhis
nephews: on the third day, he told them to write down what ile was to
say, and they 'took paper and pens for that purpose, but he dictated to illem
 BIOGRAl'l IICAL DICTIONARY. 97
observations which wcre quitc incorrect; on which the kidi Abh Muhammad
Abd Allah at-TanGl~hi said : "Rla y God liglltcn pour grief! the shaikh is
already dead I" The next day, Abh 'l-Ali enpirncd, and his disciple AbO 'l-Ha-
san Ali Ibn Ilammjrn deplored liis death in these lines :

Though, from religious feelings, you never caused tears to flow, you now oblige our
eycs to shed tears of blood l You have sent abroad a (glorious) reputation, (spreading
around) like (the odour o f ) musk, and perfuming the listener and the mouth (of him
who speaks your praises) (12). When pilrims wish to pass the night conversing on your
merit, I sec the wearer of the ihrdm pay (before-hand) a fine to expiate (the sin of being
perfumed (13).
. *

In the first of these verses tile poet makes allusion to AbQ '1-All's religious
belief, which forbade tile slaying of nni~rials; of this ~ v ehave already spoken.
His tomb is in the court of a housc 1,elonging to his family ; this court' is en-
tered by n little old door; tllc whole is ia cxtrcmcly bad order from neglect
and want of care, for the family do not pay the least attention to it.-Tun~ikhi
means bekongirrg to I a i z i i k l ~ ,which name was given to a numbcr of tribes that
had assernbled togetller, in former times, in the province of Bahrain, .rvlicre they
fixed their dwelling, after binding tllcmselves by oath to aflorcl each other mutual
assistance. Thc -wordtnnticlr, mcans todwell. This was one of the t\~reeArabian
tribes which profcsscd Chrislianily ; the two otlrrrs were Bahrl and Tagh1ib.-
AZ-Jfczurri means belonging to Afuarr6t nn-No1?2&1, a village of Syria near
IIa1n5h and Shaizar; it was called after an-Nomin, son of Bashir al-AnsHri (I A),
who took up his dwelling there. Maarrit an-NomHn was taken by the Franks
lrom the Moslirns in the month of Muharram, 492 (December, A. D. 1098),
and continued in their possession till the year 529 (A. D. 1134-S), when it
was taken bp Imjd ad-clin Zinki Ibn Ak Stinkur, who generously restored to
the (fiiosli,n) inhabitants the property (which the .Frnrzks lzad taken from them).

(1) The orientalists of the old school pronounced this name Abb l'-Ola, cut the true pronunciation is Abfi
'I-AlB: M-de Sacy has published some of his poems in the Chresdo&athbe. The text' and Latin translatior.
of two other poems by >he same author will be found in M. Vuller's edition of Tarafa's Hoallaka.
(2) This is the true reading ; see XaPnzls under
zJ'
(3) There are some poems in which the final f ~ o tof each verse is doubly or even triply rhymed. This is
what the Arabic prosodians call Luzilm ma la Yalzesrn, Iltiadm, or 1yaat.-See De Sicg's. Commentary on
Hariri, page 419.
13
'38 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
(4) This title induces me to think that a t lcast, a portion of l h o work W8 in IrWc, llnriuu fur rhyme a
ham.* with a letter of prolongation, dlich, in that case, is callad 111~ ~ i d I~yArolli(~
f ~ln)*()liinll*.
(5) M.deSacy, in bir Chresfomothie, tom. 111, page R!?, reacls in Lllis plnrc 2)'; for %I 21; ; 1 ~ all
~ tllc
1
MSS., without exception, rod the context, of lbn I~hallil(ln'sarlic!(! ilrt; tIgnillll his ollision.
(6) Or Recollections of Ilabtb; Abh Tammhm's namc was Ilabtb.
(7) Or Amusement afforded by Waltd; tbepocl al-Bohtori was so ~nllctl.
(S) Or Miraezalous Excellence of ARmad, which Bas De real 1li1111co f 01-Mutnnnh1)i.
(9) Literally: The pledge or the two prisons. M . de Sacy has comlllcloly rnisuudarrtootl thle t x l ~ r c s u i o r l . ~
See Clq-estomathie, t. 111, p. 0.
(10) The author of a marginal note in the MS. of Ibn Bhollikln, NO. 83, fondu 91. C r m ~ n i n , says: I t
be from the words of Ibn Khallikln, that Abh 'l-Alh ~0nliI111~tl in Ill(%(:Ilctr~rodoxo ~ i n i o n s
till his death; but, says be, more than one historian slate that h~ rclurncd 10 t l l ~[lrinc.iillcs of Islurnisrq.-
In the essay on the life and poetry of al-nlutanabbi (quotcd pagc 110, IIO~P),
il is elntrtl tt~rilA l ~ n'l-Alb
IIK il (lid in slylc. A
composed a Koran which, as he imagined, was to surpass Midiammad's ill infltl~lrt~(~
short extract of it is then given.
ill)Thestar Aeturus is called by the Arabs the Simdlc bearing a lance (as-Simdlc nr-N(lrni11); nnd Spica
Virginis bears thc name of as-Simdk a l - ~ a z a l(the unarmed Simdlc). The signifiralion of 1110word Sirndk
is doubtful; the Arabic commentator on Ulug Bek says that these slnrs wcrc sn callctl on clccoutrt of tl~cir
altitude .(the Arabic verb Samaka means to rise, to be exalted). M . Idelcr. in 111s Unlursuchungen irber don
Ursprung und Bedeutung der Stempamen, page 51 et seq., has trcatcd lllis quoslioa,willroul obtaining,
honcver, a satisfactory solution.
(12) In interpreting this difficult verse, I have follo~vedal-Ydft, who explains it i n his Anrlnls (Arabic MS.
No. W, year 449.) This writer quotes the Koran, surat 37,vcrscl 47, 10 provo lllat \, takes ~ornotimasthe
signification o f g b . 81-YBfi attributes to Abh 'l-Alb some eloquout ~pistlcs.
(13) The I h ~ d mor, dress worn by pilgrims on enterilig the sacrcd tcrritory of Mckkn, corlsistu in t w o pieces
of clean, white, woollen cloth, without seams. When wearing lho Ihrbm, pilgrims are not ollowcd to make
use of perfumes.-See D'Ohssonas Tdbleau de Z'Empire Otl~omalz,tom. 111, pp, 64,68.
(14) See Mishkdt oZ-Masdbth, vol. 1, page 228 noto. To w h a t is thcro said of o n - W n Ibn Ua8111r may
be added that his death took place A. H. M.

AbB Aimir Ahmad Ibn Abi Marwin Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwln Ibn Zi
'l-WizBratain (I) al-Aala Ahmad Ibn Abd al-Malik Ibn Omar Ibn Mullammad
Ibn Isa Ibn Shuhaid al-Xshjai, native of Cordon in Spain, was descended from
,
?l-Waddih Ibn Razih, who was a partisad of ad-~ahhlki b n Kais al-Fihn at
the battle of Marj Rahit (2). Ibn Bassam mentions al-Ashjai in the Kildb ad-
Dnkhira, and praises him in the highest terms ; he gives also copious extracts
from his epistles and poetical writings, with an account of h e principal
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIORARY. 99

events of his life, He was one of the most lcarrlcd men in Spain, versed in a
variety of sciences, and eminent in all the branches of literature; a written
eorrespondencc in a playful style lvas carried on between him and lbn Hazm
the Zhhirite, and a number of works of singular merit and originality were
composed by him, amongst which the following may be specified : Kaslf 50
ad-DaAB w a I y d L as-Slmlik; at-Tar+&%w a 'I-Zawribi; Hrhrit Atrdr (3).
To his talents be joined a most noble character, and many anecdotes are re-
lated of his generosity. As a specimen of his poetry we give the following
beautiful passage from one of his Kasidas:
The vultures know that his warriors are lions when they meet with a warrior's prey !
pinched with hunger, they hover above his head ; but the points of his lances send then1
to their nests, glutted with food.

Though this is a beaten thought, and one in which he was anticipated by a

riumber of poets both before and after the establishment of Islamism, yet he has
expressed it most happily and turned it with much elegance. The following
verses are a specimen of his light and graceful style :

( M y mistress,) oppressed with inebriation, yielded to sleep, and the eyes of the Cjealous)
keepers who guarded her at night were closed in slumber. Though (her dwelling) was
remote, I went towards it and drew near gently, as one in quest of an object which
he well knows where to find. I glided towards her, as slumber glides towards (weary
eyes), and I went up to her chamber, as a sigh mounts up (from the bosom) : And 1
passed my night with her in delight, fill the mouth of morning smiled: And I embraced
the fairness of her neck and sipped kisses from her dark red lips.

How prettily has the same idea been expressed in the following verses com-
posed by Abii 'l-Mansiir Sarrdarr :
How often, during the shades of night, have we arrived, without previous notice, at
(the encampment of an Arab) tribe; but found not, by their fire, a person who could
direct us to our way (4). And yet their scouts were not remiss; but we fell in among
them (gentZy) as falls the dew.

A number of poets have employed the foregoing thought, but it takes its
source in this verse by Amro 'l-Kais ( 5 ) :
And I mounted up (gently) towards her, a h r her family had m e n asleep; so
mount bubbles in water, one after another. P

Most of AbG APmir's poetry is of surpassing beauiy.: ,bewas born, A . H. 382

 t 1 lirs~ ~ ~
( A , D. 992), and died at Cordova, on Friday morning, :]()~II
was i l l f ( * l u ~ *in c ( l llrc
Jam&, 4.26 (April, A. D. 1035) : on the ncrl day
cemetery of Omm Salma(6). Mention is made of his hthtbrAl)d :I/- hl;llik in the
Kitdb as-Si/al (by l b n Bas/d-urvnl.)- dl-il.r/r;~!irncarls h e / o n ~ h t $ I o A J / ~ o
which is n great tnhe dcscended from Ash'ja son of llaitll son ol' G l l n l : l C l ~ t .

(1) ~ , 'l-m5dratain
j (possessing the double wizirat); a title given 10 lhoso rninistcrs w110 wero nt the
same time invested with civil and military authority.-(See Mr. Mcycr's work, rnlillcd " Spccimen critict~m
' g exhibens locos Ibni Xhacanis de Ibn Zeidouno," pagc 60, note.)

12) ~h~ battle of Marj Rihit took place in the 64th year of the Ilijra b c l w ~ c n1hC ~llll'lilillll~of Ihc ltllfilif
Bfarwan lbn al-aakam and Abd Allah Jbn az-Zubair. A d - ~ n l t l k krough t for Ih11 M-%t~bllir,2llld Was slltin
with a great number of his people. I n the Hamba arc somc fragments of poclry rcblolinlj10 lltt11ov~111.hl-
Waddah nas made prisoner in that batlle by the khalif Marwin, who spnrctl hib lifi1. 11 uns frorrr him l l ~ a l
the family of the Ban& Waddhh in Murcia were dcscended. (Ar-Rushdli; quolcd b y thc aulttor of lhc
Bughiat al-1)fultamis.)
(3) According to Hajji Ehalifa, the Urst of these three works is a trenlisc on Icgcrdcmnirr ; tllc tille of the
second is rendered Genii et D ~ m o n a sbyMr.Fluge1 (sec Lex. Biblog., No. 371 1); and tlral of ltlc third signifies
the Perfumer's or Druggist's Shop; according to the nuthor of the Bughiat, this work trcats of gmrnrnnr.
(4)In the Koran, swat 27,ue?+se7 , is found the follonir~gpassage : 'lRcmcn~l)crw11c11Mosccl said to his
family: I see a fire from vhi& I will bring you tidings (of gour way)." Tho Arnb tribcs used io light fircs
by night on high places, so that travellers in the dcscrt might be directed towards thcir hosl,iiabla dwellings,
and reecivc information to guide them on their way.
(6) See my edition of Le Ddzoan d'Amro 'I-kais, page 34.
(6) Abb Aimir, in his latter dags, was the standard-bearer of poctry and eloqucncc in his country; IIClcil
none'like him, and died childless. He was a man of 'a generous character, and n gay disposition; 11c had con-
siderable k~towledgein medicine. (Bughtal al-Multamis.)

IBN FARIS AR-RAZI Tl-IE PHILOLOGER.

Abh 'l-Husain Ahmad Ibn Firis Ibn ZakariyP Ibn Muhammad Ibn 13abil~
ar-RBzi was a deeply learned man in various sciences and in philology ( y e -
cially, having acquired a most exact knowledge of that subject : liis work the
M~rJ"zilfi 'CLoghat, or Collection of philological Observations, contains, no twith-
standing its concisioo, a great mass of information (I). Re composed also the
Hilyar al-FukalzA ( 0 r A z e n t of Doctors); some beautiful epistles and a treatise
on philological questions, which work jurisconsults studied with great atten-
 BIOGIiAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 101

tion, and from which al-Hariri took the idea of his Jfakrinzn, cntitled nt-Tai- i;!
biya (21, in which he proposes legal questions to the number of one hundred.
Ibn Firis dwelt at Hamadin and had for pupil Badi az-Zamin al-Hamadani,
the author of the i?faX.cinzas (and whose life shall be given). He composed some
good poetry, of which w e may give the following passages :

A (nymph) graceful and slender passed near us, she was a Turk by nature and by
name (3). She looked with a tender, a tempting glance ; (a glance) as languishing as a
grammarian's proofs are slight (4.).

By the same :
Hearken to the words of a true adviser : a man of good counsel and a friend: "Take
'' care ; beware that you pass a single night with your confidence placed in those whose
word alone is an authority (S).

By the same :
When you have to send a person on business which has engaged your mind, send
an agent who requires no prompting, and let that agent be-money.

By the same :
Though the burning fire (of indigence) parches my entrails, I wilI still say: AIay'a
shower (of abundance) fall upon Hamadtln I Why should I not offer a sincere prayer ,

for that city where I had the advantage of forgetting all that I learned (6). 1have for-
gotten what I best knew except (the art of getting into debt) ; for I am now in debt and
have not a dirhem in my house.

lbn Firis has written a great deal of good poetry; he died at Rai in 'the
year 390 (A. D. 1OOO), and was buried opposite to the chapel in which are
'
deposed the remains of the kldi Ali Ibn Abd al-Aziz al-J'orjini; some say
however that he died in the month of Safar, A. H. 375 (June, A D. 985), at
Muhammadiya, but the-first is the more received opinion .--R& means belonging
to Rai, a well known city in the province of Dailam : the derivative takes a n; in
the same manner as Marwaai derived from Marw (7).-Ibn' Firis is also.author
of these verses :

They asked me how I was ;I answered : U Well ; some succeed and some fail :
when my heart is filled with cares, I sag : One day, they may be dispelled.
" A cat is my companion; books, the friends of my a lamp, my beloved
consort ."
 102 IBN IiWALLIIiAN'S
( I ) T h e a t y b of the Mujmil is eonciso, no doubt; I)ut lhc work ilsclf, whirl1 ir fin A r i d l i ~Imcun, formr
folio volumes. A copy of il is in thc D i l ) l i o l l ~ d ( (]U
~ u ~Roi, f i ~ ? ts~l .bc c r m ( ~ i n . NOS.^^^, 196
(2) Tai)ipo is deI.iYedfrom Tat)o, oneof the namcs give11 10 lllr city hl~ilillil. Tllp tlllrly-rrves(l Mnkfima
was so called because, towards the beginning of it, mcntion is rnedc of 'ihllln. I l l h!. t i c S a ~ y ' sctlilion, this
Maklma is enlitled al-Harbiya.
(3) The Turkoman tribes have always had the r q u t a l i o ~ of
l heir~ggrclll ml)borh ; tllil; ludy Wnr of lhnt race,
and sustained the charactcc of her nation by stciIlillg - I I C I I ~ ~ S .
(4)Literally: Weaker than the proof of a grammarian. I1 llns 1)cctl nlrclcrdy obsrrzrtl (pltg0 28, note (3)),
that,*in Arabic, languishing and wealcl?/ are cxprcsscd by lhc srlnle wortl. 'I'lre grc~mmarinn'sproof8
those passages cited by him in confirmation of some general rule.-IL would srcm lllnt Ibn Ffiri~,the pltilo-
loger, had not a very proround respect for grammarians.
(5) This is manifestly directed against thoso relalors of religious and historic111 tratlitinna, wlln, for their
well-known veracity, were dispensed, by public opinion, from niirnirlg llle persons through whom their in-
formation came. The Arabic name is Xhikat, which mcuns conpdence, and is uscd to uif~uil'ya man worthy
of confideace. The verse literally translated would run thus: Deware t k ~ t~ O P pass C u ntglrt with confi-
dence i n confidences; but this gives quite a different idea from lhnt inlondod to bo oxprosscd by 1110author.
(6) The people of Barnadan were proverbial for their ignorance, nr~dIbrl Pill+is prrtrritlti that their com-
pany was contagious; be does not regret, however, the loss of his Ici~rning,allicll 110prol~ablyprized ns little
as the science of the grammarians and the veracity of the Tl~ilcdl. (Sec t l ~ et a u l)roccdi~ignotes.)
(7) See page 7.

ABU TAYIB AL-MUTANABBI.

Abii Tayib Ahmad Ibn al-I-Iusain Ibn al-Ilasan Ibn Abd as-Samad al-J8fi al-
Kindi, surnamed al-Mutanabhi, was a native of KBfa : a different ~cnealogyof
this celebrated poet has been given as follows : Ahmad Ibn al-Ilusain Ibn Mwra
Ibn Abd al-Jab&; but God alone knows which is exact. Al-Mutanabbi came
of a family which inhabited Kfifa, but he went to Syria in his youth, and, tra-
velling over its provinces, studied and attained prbficiency in various branches
of literature(1). He had acquired an extensive knowledge of pure Arabic, drawn
from the best sources and which he has handed down (in poelicul cor~yusi-
tions) (2); and he possessed so great information on the subject of its idio-
matic and obsolete expressions (3) that, when a question was proposed to him,
59 he never failed p~ovinghis opinion by citing analagous examples in prose and
verse composed by the Arabs of the desert (4). It is related that the learned
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 103

Abd Ali 'l-Firisi, author of the ljcIn'l2 and the Tukmila, once asked him how
many plural nouns there were of the forrn.f;l[l, and received immediately for
answer Hqln and Zirbo : and Abil Ali says that he passed three nights in con-
sulting pbilolo~icalworks to find a third plural noun of a similar form, but
without success. Such a remark, coming from Abd Ali, is quite sufficient to
establish al-Mutanabbi's proficiency (in philoEogy). (NEj'ln is the plural of
Hajal (acock-l~nrtridge),and Zirba is the plural of ZaSbkn, a word pm-
nounced with the same vowels as Kutirdn, and which serves to designate a small
quadruped emitting a fetid smell). As to his poetry, it is the height of perfec-
tion, and it is needless to give specimens here, since it is so well known (5);
l shall merely notice two verses which the shaikh Tij- id-din al-liindi has
attributed to him, and are not to be found in his works ; the shaikh gives them
on the best traditional authority remounting to the author, so I insert them here
on account of their rarity :

Was it because you saw me (look up to you) with the eye of one who needs your
favour, that you treated me with contempt and hurled me down the precipice ? But 'tis I
who am to blame, not you; for f had fixed my hopes upon another than the Creakor.

When al-Mutanabbi was in Egypt, he fell sick and was visited, during his
illness, by a friend; who, after his recovery, abstained from goin5 to see him; our
poet, in consequence, wrote him this note : YOUwere a kind companion to
L ' me (may God be kind to thee !), when I was unwell, and you have abandoned

me on my c~nvalescence;it now depends upon you (with God's assistance),

to prevent me from loving sickness, and preserve my health from suffer-
" ing (B)."-The critics of al-Mutanabbi's poetry may be divided into different
classes : some consider him superior to Abd Tammiim and his successors; whilst
others proncrunce Abd Tammiixn superior to him; and the poet an-Nimi (whose
life Eornes immediately after) has said : One single corner of remained
" unoccupied, but a1-Mutanabbi took it up ; and I often wished that I hartqanki-

" cipated him in two ideas which he has versified, and which never ocourred to
" any poet before him ;the one is contained in these verses :

' Mishtane shat at me with the a m w s of calamity, till my heart m ~overedwith

' them, so that the darts which struck it broke against those which were fixed in it
' already .'
 104. IBN BHALLIKAN'S
The other is in the following :
<(Hemarched) at the head of an army raising a cloud of dllsl which ol~scararl the
' sight; and (it seemed) as if the soldiers saw with tlleir ears (7).'
The learned haye taken much pains in explaining and u)mmctllillg tlicb lloelical
\vorks of al-Mutanabbi, and I have been infornlcd by one OS t l l ~~ ~ i ~ s tunder crs
\vhoin 1studied, that he met with upwards ol forty cornmcotar.ies, lwlll !;reat and
small, pn these poenrs : a mark of popularity such as never was oblaiocd 1)y thr
works of any other port. He was, without dodbt, a highly-gilled m m , favoured
with the happy talent of expressir~gperfectly lris ideas in verse. Tllc s1lrn;lrne of
NZ-Mntanabbi'(tAe p ~ r t e ~ ~ c prophet)
ied was given h i m lwcause llc llnd w:t up
for a prophet in the flat country near Sam5wa (8), where hc was followcd by
a great multitude of the Ban6 Kalb and other tribes; but Lillh, govcnlor 01'
Hims (&,zes.so) drld lieutenant to the Ikhslrid family, 'llavine mnr.cllvd ltgainsl
him, took him prisoner and dispersed his partisans ; llc kcpt nl-111lt;tnalbi in
confinement for a long period, and having a t length brot~g\ltllirrr 1)acli to the
~ i s l i r nfaith, he set him at liberty : other accounts have bccn givcn ((8 i/rc
origin of this surnonte), but this is the most Correct. Al-Mulnnalbi then
became a follower of the emir Saif ad-Dawlat Ibn IIamdin; this was in the year
333 (A. D. 948-9); he afterwards left him and enlered Egypt in 34G (A. D. 'J57),
where he celebrated the praises of K & f h al-Ikhshidi and AniljQr 1bu al-Ikh-
shid (g), and was permitted to stand in the presence of the (rnirtister) Kifiir,
with boots on his feet aild the loins girded with a sword; when lle rode out
he was accompanied with two ushers, mamldks of the prince, wearing
swords and belts. Being afterwards dissatisfied with Kifdr, he composed
a satire against him and left him on the eve of the Feast of Sacrifice
(%h, Zii 'l-Hijja), A. H. 350 (January, A. 1). 962). On this, Kkfih dispatched
camel-riders to different quarters i n pursuit of him, but without success. That
85 minister had promised him a government, but on seeing the liberties he took in
his poems and his haughty spirit, he became apprehensive of him (and r~y'krndto
keep his wdrd). On being repoached with his conduct towards the poet, he
said : '' My (good) people ! would he who claimed the gift of prophecy after
" Muhammad's (having ful&lZed his mission), not be capable of claiming ( a

share in). the empire with KAafiir? This reflection should suPce you ."-lbn
Jinni thagrammarian relates that he studied the poems of Mutanabbi under the
 BIOGRL41['HICALDICTIONARY. 105

author himself, and that he once read to him the knsirla in praise of liifhr,shich
begins thus :
I combat my love for you, but love will vanquish; and I wonder at your aversion,
but your affection would be morc worthy of wonder.

On coming to these lines :

O ! that I knew if I shall ever pronounce a poem in which I shall have no complaint
to make and no reproach. I suffer from (afflictions), the least of which had driven
poetry away ; buthow, daughter of a (noble) race 1 that my heart preserves its vigbur !

lbn Jinni said to him : " I t is painful for me to think that such a poem could
have been made in praise of any other than Saif ad-Dawlat;" to which al-
Mutanabbi answered : " I cautioned him however and warned him (against
neglecting me), but it would not avail : did I not say :

'Brother of' Generosity! bestow what you possess; but bestow not on others that
which I pronounce (10).

'' Yet he gave me to KSfhr through his bad management and defective judg-
ment.'' - Saif ad-Dawlat held an assembly every night to which the men
of learning came, and<\vherethey conversed together in his presence : (in one of
these meetings) a discussion took place between al-Mutanabbi and Ibn W a -
lawaih, the grammarian, who (at last) sprung upon al-Mutanabbi and, striking
him on the face with a key he had about hirn, inflicted a wound, from which
the blood flowed on al-Mutanabbi's garments : the poet, moved with anger, de-
parted for Egypt, where he composed poems in praise of Khfiir : he then tra-
velled to Persia and composed panegyrics on Adad ad-Dawlat Ibn Biiwaih
ad-Dailami, by whom he was generously rewarded (4 I); on leaving him, he went
to Baghdad, and thence to KGfa, where he arrived on the 8th Shibhn (A.H. 354,
August, A. D. 965); he was then attacked by a chief of the tribe of Asad, named
Fhtik Ibn Abi 'l-Jahl, at the head of a troop of partisans : al-Mutanabbi also had
with him a number of companions, so a combat took place, in which he was
killed along with his son al-Muhassad and his slave Muflih : this occurred near
an-Norn%niya, at a place called asSBfia, or the Mountains of as-Safia, in the
western part of the Saw$d(orprovince) of Baghdid, at two miles' distance from
Dair al-AAkiil (4 2). Ibn Rashik mentions in that chapter of his Omdcr, which
1.4
 106 IBN 1iHALLIKAN1S
treats of the good and harm done by poetry, that A b i ~Tayil) ill-Rlt~tiiilal)~)i,
seeing himself J~anpuished,was taking to fli~lll.,~111(1t1his sl;rrre ii(I(l~+l~sw~(I l l i l l l in

these terms : " Let it never he said that you fl(a1 ~ ~ O I T(-01llI)ilt
I ; ~ O I I , \v110 are
a the author of this verse :

L The horse, and the night, and the descrt know mt: ( ~ ) d:l lb(!
) swonl illso, i11ld l h ~
' lance, and paper and thc pen 1'
Upon *his, al-Mutanabbi turned back and fought lill h(: wils sl:rirl ; SO i t \Vac
this verse his death. This event happcn(d in tl~c:1 n o 1 1 1 1 1 01' h-
rnadin, 354 (September, A. D. 935): some say, on Wo(lllt+s(lny2'1111,01. 27111
or 28th of the month ; others, on Monday 2 2 4 or on tlkc 3Srl1. I l c ~ k born s
at Kdfa in the year 303 (A. D.915-G), in the qunrtcr callcri K i ~ l t l i i ; S o l which
reason only he was surnamed al-Kindi, as he did not l)(b\oriy: to lllc l r i h of
Kinda,but to that which sprung from Jqfi Ibn Saad al-As1lir;i il)n Mil(lhij Malik
34 1bn Odad Ibn Zaid Ibn Yashhob Ibn GhariL Ibn Zaitl lbrl Killklin (l :l). 'rhc
Saad mentioned in the foregoing genealogy, was named S(md nl-Ashir(r { I L ( I ~ -
piness ~frelaiions), because he rode abroad accompanied witll, it. is s:iid, ihree
hundred sons and grandsons ; and when asked who thcy ltfcrc?,a a s ~ v c r c t l , '' My
relations" (Ash5ati) ; as he dreaded thc influence of thc evil cbyo(It.nrl /if* .cnid :
T?zey are my children) (14,)-Some persons say that al-M~~tnnaldri'sTntllcr was
a water-carrier at Kdb, and that he afterwards emigrated to Syria \\.illl his son,
who was brought up there : allusion is made to this circuirtstancc irk t llc follow-
ing verse, by a poet who lampooned al-Mutanalbi :
What merit (pdl)is there in a poct who from morn to night suoka ltrr rownrtl (/%l)?
A t one time he lived by selling water i n ICiiB; at another, by aclli~lgIlia prostituted
talent (15).

(In the life of Abii TammPm Habib, the celebrated poet, will bc bund some
xlerses (directed a g a i n s ~him), by Ibn al-Moaddal, wllicll contain a similar
thought). -The poet AbB '1-Kasim al-Muzaffar lbn Ali a t-Tabasi (I G) composed
the following elegy on the death of al-Mutanabbi :

Cursed be that fortune which has deprived us unawares of so cloq~lcnta tongue (l?').
Never will a second al-Mutanabhi be seen ;what sooond can be found to match that fault-
less pear1 (is)?His lofty mind was to him an army, and placed him in t h pride of
Power. In his poetry he was a prophet, and the ideas hc has cxprcsaod show forth
his miraculous powers.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONAIZY. 107

Tabasi means native of Tabas, which is a city in the desert lying

between S a i d phr , I s p a h ~ nand Kermin. -It is related that al-Motamid Ibn
Abbid al-Lakllmi, prince of Cordova and Seville, recited one clay the following
verse fronl a celebrated Knsidu of al-Mutanabbi's :

Our camels, broken with Fatigue, receive fresh strength when their eyes obtain a
sight of thee.

In his admiration, the prince continued repeating this verse, when Ibn Wah-
bdn ( I <l), \vbo was one of the company, improvised the two following :

If the son of al-Husain was'skilled in poetry, you also are skilled in making generous
gifts! 'tis gifts \+hich open the lips (of grnteful poets). Proud OF his poetic talent,
al-hjutanabbi declared himself a prophet; had he known that you would recite his
poems, he had thought himself a god.

Al-Iflili relates that al-Mutanabbi, being in the hippodrome (Maid&) with

Saif ad-Dadat Ibn Hamdhn, recited to the prince his KasicZa which begins thus :
firliins g m ~ l t sto each man tAut to tvIzich /ze has been accustomed. When
Saif ad-Dawlat returned to his palace, he desired the poet to repeat the poem,
which he did without rising from his seat; one of the persons present, wishing
to deprive al-Mutanabbi, by stratagem ( o f tAe honour conferred on him in being
allorved to remain sealed), addressed him and said : 'C Abh 't-Tayib ! if you
'' repeat your poem standing, I will be able to hear it, for most of those present
' l do not." To this Abb 't-Tayih replied : Have you not heard the beginning
'' of it : Fortune grants to each rnnn that to +.v/L~c/Lhe has been accustomcd?"
which was an excellent repartee.-To sum up his character, we may only say
that he was a man of high soul and lofty thought; and that his history is long
and his adventures numerous; for which reason we have preferred being concise
on the subject (20).

(1)As i t has already been observed, students, a t the age of fifteen or sixteen, went to hay& for the pur-
pose of taking lessons from professors in different countries.
(2) I have here paraphrased the original passage, so as to give a clearer idea of its import.
(3) In the Histoire des Sultans mamlouks, translated from the Arabic of al-Makrizi b g ' ~ QuatremBre,
.
that learned oriental scholar renders the nord & L . by bar, rustiqus (see preface, pageS. note); this, how-
ever, does not appear correct; i t would have been no recommendation of al-Mutanabbi's instruction, to say
that be had great information in the la. or wQm expressions of the ~ m b i clanguage. The r o r d
 ERN KHALLIKAN'S
obsolete. gone into disuse, an4 is used in opposiLion to ,hg e n e r ~ url*:
l Sec an example in

the Arabic test of Ibn BhallikAn, page 173, line l .

(4)T h e inhahitants of the desert spoke the purest Arabic.
(5) Some information on the subject of al-Mutanabbi's poetry will be found in M. de Sacy's Ch~cstomath{~,
tom. 111, page 27 of the second edition.
(6) I n the original, this note has a terseness and concision of which 111~
trnnslntion call offer no idea.
(7) That is : The dust prevenlcd them from seeing their way, and they were dirccled ollly by the commands
o f their chief; so, their ear guided them on their march, not their eye.
(8) Samalva is situated on the west bank of the Euphrates, i n about lhc latitude of 31.20'.
(9) Some details respecting the life of Anhjhr will be found in the life of ILBTOr.
(10) That is: Let not other princes obtain from me those praises which arc yours by right.-In thc Arabic
text, has been put by mistake for 6 ! which is the reading of the best MSS., and confirmell by all the
copies of the Diwan of al-Mutanabbi which have been consulted.
(11) To form an idea of the great sums this poet must have gained, we nced only stale lllnt Adnd ad-Dawlat
1s said to have given him thirty thousand dinars, and the vizir Ihn 81-Omnid n like sum. (Ydfi MS. No. 637,
fol. 266 verso.) This however appears to be an exaggeration.
(18) Dair al-Akhl was situated on the Tigris, about 30 miles below Baghdad.
(13) This celebrated genealogy is certainly corrupt as here given. Ibn KhnldOn, in his llislory of thc An-
cient Arabs, now publishing by Dr. Arri, has treated the subject will1 his usual learning ant1 judgment.
(14)T o have had so many male descendants must have excited jealousy, and a gluncc of a jenlous cyc
might have had a fatal effect upon them. The superstition of the eastern nations on thal subject is well
known since the publication of Mr. Lane's Modern Egyptians.
(15)Literally: By selling the water of the face. The ingenuous hlush of a modcsl hrrc! tlonorablc man is
called by the Arabs the water of the face +.)! or b+!
*L
1 ; the poct who hils lost all sense of
shame, and sells his praises to the most unworthy, has exchanged his honaurnble character, his modest dig-
nity, for money.
(16) This poet lived to be a contemporary of at-Thaalibi, who in his YaiOma gives somc verses of AbR 'I-
Nasr al-Harthimi on his authority.
(17) Literally: Haud amplius ad pastum ducat Deus agmen temporis quod nobis incidit, l i n g u s tali
(silentium imponens).
(18) Literally: The undrilled pearl of the age.
(19) AbQ Mubammad Abd al-JalEl IbnWahbOn, a celebrated poet and man of learning was born a t Murcit~
in Spain. I n the gear 480 (A. D. 1087) he was killed by a troop of Christians as h e was travelling from
Lorca G to his native place. (Bughiat al-1Multamis.)
I./
(20) AI-Kusain, the father of Abh 't-Taytb al-Mulanabbi, was generally linown by the name of AZddn as-
Sakkd, or Aidan the watef-carrier, forwhich reason this poet is sometimes called Ibn Aiddn or l b m as-Salcka.
When yet a school-boy, al-Mutaeabbi composed verses, whieh are still extant ; and these essays of his youth
announce already that superior talent which shines forth so brightly in the productions of his maturer age.
The early part of his life was spent in Syria and among the Bedwfn tribes which inhabited the desert to the
west of the Euphrates. One of his contemporaries, AbO'l-Hasan Muhammad I b n Yahya al-Alawi relatcs that
al-Mutanabbi, when a boy, lived in his neighbourhood a t Kufa; that he was fond of learning and literature,
and that after living for some years with the Arabs of the desert, he came back a complete Redwtn. H e picked
up the greater part of his learning a t booksellers' shops, his memory being so tenacious, that he had only to
read a book once, in order to learn i t by heart. His intercourse with the nomadic Arabs had a powerful
 BIOGI~L~PHICAL
DICTIONARY. ion
intluence on his character; from them he acquired that intrepidity which pervaded his future conduct, and
that lofty spirit which breathes in his poems; he imbibed also, at the same source, that knowledge of the
pure Arabic tongue wbich excited the admiration of his countrymen and gained the greatest publicity for his
verses. [t was some time after the three hundred and twentieth year of the Hijra, that Abb 't-Tay&
asserted his apostolic mission; and persuaded some of the inhabitants of al-latlkiya that he was a prophet
sent by God. "1 come," said he, " to this ieneration which erreth and leadeth into error; L come to fill the
aorld with justice, as it is now filled v i l h wickedness; I shall reward those who obey God's commands, and
strike off the heads of the disobedicnt !" He pretended also to possess the gift of miracles, and onc of the
signs ahich he gave to confirm his veracity was, that when the rain fell around him in torrents, it did not
touch a certain hill on which he stood. This manifestation of his power (which the orthodox Moslim historian
attributes to magic art) had theeffect of seducing great numbers. Unfortunately for the prophet, the governor
of Emessa caused him to be arrested and imprisoned; and al-Mutanabbi in his cell, with his head and arms
confined in a sort of pillory, and his feet in the stocks, had time to reflect on his situation, and renounce the
dangerous gift of prophecy. I n one of his poetical supplications to the governor, he reminds him that minors
should not be punished for schism or heresy, because by law they are not obliged to fulfil the duty of prayer.
Having at length obtained his liberty, he remained for some time neglected and in poverty; but a poem which
he addressed to Abfi *l-AshYr >k,,At.x)l y \ (an officer of Saif ad-Dawlat'r, r h o commanded at Antioch).
revealed his superior talent. About that time, Saif ad-Dawlat himself came to Antioch, and o a s visited by
al-Mutanabbi, who recited to him a poem composed in his honour; and the piece was of such remarkable
beauty, that the prince conceived the highest esteem for the author, and offered him his protection. The
poet, in accepting this favour, qould not, however, sacrifice the feelings of honourable pride by which he
was alaays actuated: he required and obtained the authorisation of being seated in the presence of Saif
ad-Dawlat, when reciting to him the poems which he was to compose in his praise; and he insisted on being
dispensed from saluting the prince in the usual manner, which was by kissing the ground in his presence. At
the court of Saif ad-Daalat he met the principal poets of the day, but he surpassed them all by his vigorous
and original talent. The celebrated AbO 'I-All used to say, " Abh Nawls expresses himself thus; al-Bohtori,
thus; Abh Tammhm, thus; and the poet (meaning al-Rlutanabbil, thus." Avarice was the only fault with
ahich al-Vutanabbi was reproached; his moral conduct was the more exemplary, as most of his associates
were men of pleasure and debauch: and a rigid Moslim remarked, that though he never fasted, nor prayed,
nor read the Koran, yet he never told a lie, nor committed fornication. When Saif ad-Dawlat went forth on his
military expeditions, he was accompanied by al-Mutanabbi, and on one occasion, the prince and the poet had
10 cut their a a y through the ranks of the Greeks to avoid being taken prisoners. The fortune of Abh t-Tayib
was now too great not to excite jealousy; his rivals, and an-Ngmi among others, succeeded in alienating Saif
ad-Dawlat from his favorite poeb. A number of learned men were one day conversing in the prince's pre-
sence, and the grammarian Ibn Khilawaih was giving his opinion on some question relating to the Arabic
lan,page, when al-Mutanabbi said to him: "Silence, fellow! what hast thou to do with Arabic, thou who
" art a Persian from Khuzestan?" This rebuke was answered b~ a wound in the face, inflicted with a key
which Ibn Hhhlaaaih carried in his sleeve. During this scene, Saif ad-])awlat did not interfere either by
~ o r or
d deed. Al-Mutanabbi continued to perceive other symptoms of his patron's indi.fferenm towards him ;
he remonstrated with him in a noble poem, asserting his right to be respected, and vindicating his character
from the attacks of his enemies ; b u t his complaints were of no avail, his expostulations useless; disgusted at
length with a treatment he m little deserved, he abandoned the court of A l e p p aad refired to Damascus.
This city was then in the possession of the ~ k h s h ¶ dfamily; and its governor, Ibn Halit, a Jew and a native
of Tadmor (Palmyra), was under the immediate orders of K m r , the ruler of -S- The Jew wished al-
 afutanabbi to compose a poem in his honour, but metwilh a prornpt S C ~ I I S ~ostl
~ . ttl(! (lflct, finllilly ilis nitua.
lion most unpleasant, withdrew to Ramla. The emir of tlrat a i l y , llln l.opllj C _J$ rc.i.t.irccl tjirn willi
honour made him prescnis, among vllirh nore 1 lillri(' IYllOsl' l.rl]ll)ili%l\\t'r(' I I ~ ~ v wit11
I.
r i c ~ l ~ l ornamenled.
. 1 c i t I n l 1 1 1 10 1 1 This
gold, and a
able originally a slave, cmploged in tlic most rncrrictl tllll.iW. 1lll(l lr('llll+clsill1 tllc K ~ ' l l ~W~n '-s ~
tumc,g ; but the poor negro eunuch, prornincnt belly, s1,Iry fi:et, ilrrd ~\r:rrornLr!(l It,vtcr l i l ~Ilntl furnicilin(!
such subjects for laughter to his fellonr-slaves, had now bccoln~rn;lSt(!l' of 1111 f'r1l[lil'c'. SWll W f l s llle p(!rNln
,vho claimed the of nl-Bfutar~abbi; and by menns of rich prcscrlls, rntl~c'r lllnll ir~riroitlntior~, ]I(: wrun6

from the poet those measured, and sometimes ambiguous culogiums whiclr till Ill($ lins?tlas c l l e t l 1.11tt Xbf&
r i y d t . Another person ,vl~omal-Mutanabbi saw i n Egypt was OICcolnhrntrd k'hlik al-Mirjnhu, nt~tlt l ~ alloblo
charactet of this emir obtained the ready and hoartfclt cncorniums of Albh 'I-Tng.11). 111rctlurn li)r ~ 1 glory 1 ~

which the verses of al-bfutanabbi confcrred on KBfbr, IIC dcrnnntletl 1.110 govcrrlrlicilt of S r ~ i d t(Siclon
~ but I.
met with a refusal: this, v i t h the obligation of praising a ncgro, cxcilccl tlrcb indignalitr~rof t l ~ o1)or4t, and
though surrounded by spies, ~ ~ informed
h o KZLfhr of all his actions, ho s~irc.nc!tlctl,111 ICIIKIII,i r l csrnping
from Old Cairo, and after a variety of adventures hc arrived n l Kl(ilfu. Ile 1l1c11vir;i(cd I ) : ~ ~ l ~ t l e tnhtrrul,
al-Muhallabi, vizir to Noizz ad-DawJat Ibn Bbvah, received him with cagcr joy, iri 11oprs of trl)tnining
the praises of so illustrious a poet, but al-Mutanabbi rclusrd to grnllly Irig wislles. oo t.hc pretext that
be was accustomed to celebrate princes only. This so provoltcd llla vizir, l l l n t 11n c ! n r o ~ ~ r a ~ rnll t l the
poetasters of Irak to altack al-Mutanabbi, who sct out for Arrajbo. rvht:re I)(\ fi~untl n prolcLrtor irl A W
'I-Fadi Ibn al-Omaid. After spending somc tirnc with this vixir, hc passr!d 10 111a c.ocJrt of htlatl ctd-l)nwlnt
a t Shtriz, and was treated most generously by that prince, who gave lrirn upwr~rtlsof' 1 . ~ 1 1I ~ u r ~ t l r (ittousn~ld
~tl
dirhems (about 8000 pounds sterling) as a testimony of thc satisfuction IIC rcc.(!irctl from tlit? 1)rtrigcsof t h ~
poet. It was on leaving ShPrBz to return to Iidfa that hc was assassinnled. Tlic rlctitils of I.l,is clvnnl rlrc
presewed in a letter addressed by a conlernporary to llic two Ilhdlidilos, who ~vrro~ l o a nl t ~ 1110 court of Sllil
ad-Davlat. The length of this note prevents me from giving a translnlion of t h i ~Ictlcr; I sllnll only observct
that Fatik al-Asadi, by whom he was slain, had a motive for his deed; n l - J f \ l t a n a , b i . ] silljrizcd
and particularly his cousin Dabba and Dabba's mother. Fltik had dcclnrcd 1138 inlcntioll l)ofirrejlund
the writer of the letter, who informed al-Mutanabbi of his danger, and rccommcndC(] llim to tnkc 011 escort
with him; but this advice v a s rejected by the poet, who rcpliod: " I t slinll novcr bo ~ t l i dttlol I ~fluglltany
Other
mY sword!" PersutIsion and cntreaty wcrc employed to r]lnnaO f l j R c ) c : ~ c r n l i o ~ t i ~ n ,
but n'Ould not hearken to any advice: the result of his lcmcrily and o)stinacy was llis dent],.

T'he above note i s the summary of a number of passages contained In an inlorwting worlt. entitled
@ &l fall
(MS- of the Bib. du i l o i , Lnds Assolin, No. 706.-980
I.
de Sacy's opinion of this a o r k in the Anthologie G~arnrnalbale,pogo 476.)

AN-NAMI.
Abi 'l-Abbis Ahmad Ibn Muhammad ad-Dirimi al-Misdsi, surnamed an-
35 NBmi, was one of the ablest and most talented poets of his time. As an encomiast
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 111
of Saif ad-Dawlat Ibn Hamdhn, he enjoyed the special favour of that prince, who
considered him as second in talent and rank to al-Mutanabbi only. He was a
man of great merit and instruction ; possessing superior abilities and well in-
formed in philology and literature. There exists a collection of observations
dictated by him ( l o his p~~pil.s)
at Alcppo, and in which he cites as authorities
(his mnsters) Abh 'l-Hasan Ali al-Akfash, Ibn Durustuya, Abii Abd Allah al-
Kermini (I), Abh Bakr as-Siili, Ibrahim Ibn Abd ar-Rahmin al-Oriidi and
his own father Muhammad al-Misissi. He himself is cited as authority by (his
disc+les) Abii 'l-Kasim al-Husain 1bn Ali Ibn Abi Odma al-Iialabi, Abii
'l-Husain Alimad brother to the preceeding, Abb 'l-Faraj al-Babbaghb, Abii
'l-Khattib Ibn AQn al-Hariri, Abii Bakr sl-Khilidi, and the khdi Abb Tahir
Silih Ibn Jaafar al-Hishimi. The following verses, taken from' one of his
Kasfdas, addressed to Saif ad-Dawlat, are among the finest which he composed :

Illustrious prince l thy lances gain thee glory in this world and in Paradise hereafter.
Every year which passes finds thee with thy sword in the necks of enemies, and thy
steed harnessed with bit and saddle. Time rolleth on, and still thy deeds are all for
glory; thy words for piety, and thy hands for bestowing gifts.

By the same :
Is it then true that (the cruel) Zurdd is the author of my death? The promises which
she made me, are they then come to this? I stopped (near her former abode), unable
to restrain my grieF, and fixed to the spot, I seemed like one bereFt of life. Seeing me
thus, my censorious foes were perplexed with doubt, and they said to the ruined
mansion : Which of these two is the pillar (thut sustained the rustic hut) ?

An-Nimi had some encounters with al-Mutanabbi and sustained contests with
him in reciting extemporary verses. It is related by Ab$ 'l-KhatGb Ibn Adn al-
Hariri, the poet and grammarian, that he went one day to vislt an-NPmi, and '

found him seated; his head was white like the TllagA6rna (2) when in flower,
but one single black hair still remained. " Sir!" said Ibn AQn, there is a 6 L

'' black hair in your head."--l' Yes," replied an-Nhmi, it is the sole remnant
*'of my youth, and I am pleased with it; I have even written verses on it."
Then, at the request of Ibn AQn, he recited these lines :

In that head a single hair still appeared preserving its blackness ;'twas a sight which
rejoiced the eyes (of my friends). I said to my white hairs, whicb: had put it in fear:
" I implore you! respect it as a stranger. A dark African spouse ~ i l not
1 long remain
" in the house where the second wife is white of skin."
 He then said ; 0 Abh Khatti]~! a single while hair splsthn(1s (rri-o~. arnorlp,a
L L thousand black; what then must 6e the cnsr w i l l 1 one l)l;~ck nlnorlg :I i l a r ~ l s a n d
jvhite')"-He is also a u t h o r of the following versos, \ v l i i c h l l ; l \ r ~1 ~ ( : 1 1 or-
I-oneously attributed to the vizir Abh Muhammad al-Mull;~ll;ll)i :

An enemy lvhom 1 called my beloved hastened t o w a n l s m(!, a r m y ~ di l l :I rcll silnimer

dress. The wine s p o r t e d in h e r eyes a n d mac10 h e r cbrrks liko a i)xvillin~llflame.
How," said I, L < hast thou obtained such b e a u t y ? 'l'hon e(snes1 11vnx in ;l strange
&'attire. Is i t with t h e r e d n e s s of y o u r cheeks that thou a r l clothct(1, or is yotir ear-
!it3 " merit d y e d with the hearts'-blood (of iovcrs)?"-" It i s th(! a,ina," s:!i(l sl~b,"\vhich
'(( b y ils refiexion) m a k e s my tunic seem like t h e sky at suserl; it cornaLl~nc:lr th(4 colour
of the wine, which itself approaches to t h a t of my checks (3).

An-Wmi diedat Aleppo, A.H. 309 (A.D. 1008-9); otllers say 370 or 371; aged
90 years.-Dnrtnzi means descendedfrom Ddrirn ihn fll(/rilik,a gt*e;ltl~rancllof
t h e tribe of Tamim.-Missisi signifies native of nl-ilfi.r.rl,m(the nr,(*i(:ril hf(y7-
suestic~),a city on the coast of he sea of Riim (the I,cvanl), near Ti~r~sirs, Sis and
other places in the same region. It was built in the ycnr I h0 (A.1). 75i), 1)y Silih
Ibn Ali in pursuance of orders givcn by his nephew, the khalif al-hl:rrlsr"lr.

(i)Abh Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Ibn MOsn nl-Kcrmfini (natiucr of Kermdn)
had a profound knowledge of philology and gmmmor; he wrota, o. beautiful l~anclanti was a corrccl copier,
which caused his writings to be in great rcquest. He was a profassional copyist, worlcing for 11ira: he com-
posed also some books, the titles of which are given in the Fihrest, from which this notice is tclltcn; iho yeare
of his birth and death are not mentioned, but we may conclude from what Ibn Hhollikhn says, illat ho wnk still
living at the beginning of the fourth century.
(2) The tliagdma is in all probability n species of Artcmisia: it must not bo confounded with toogama,
mentioned by Rauwolf, after Kremfer, as the Arabic name of tlw palrnn Chrisll.
(3) Literally: And thus my dress, the wine, and the colour of my chooks nru n neighbour to n neighbour of
a neighbour.

BAD1 AZ-ZAMAN AL-HAMADANI.

The hdfiz Abfi '1-Fad1 Ahmad Ibn al-Husain Ibn Yahya Ibn Sald al-Harna-
dlni, surnamed BB& az-Zamin (prodigy of the rige), is author of some beau-
tiful epistles and excellent Mak6mas (I), which al-Hariri took as a model in the
composition of his; framing them on the same plan, and imitating the manner
 BIOGRAPIllCAL DICTIONARY. 113

of their author, in whose footsteps he walked. In his preface, al-Hariri ac-

knowledges the merit of his predecessor, and admits that he was guided by
his example in the path he followed. Al-Iiamadiini was eminent for his know-
ledge of pure and correct Arabic, in which he cited ss his masters ibn FBris,
;lothor of the iPlrij~i,lril,and others : his epistles are admirable and his poetrv
fill]of beauty. He dwelt at Heri t, a city in the province of Khorasin. The
lhllowing is a specimen of his epistolary style : "When water has long remained
6 b at rest, its noxious qualities appear; and when its surface has continued tran-

quil, its foulness gets into motion : thus it is with a guest; his presence is dis-
pleasing when his stay has been protracted ; and his shadow is oppressive
'' when the time for which he should sojourn is at an end. Adieu." Another.
of his letters runs thus : '' ( T o Aim wlzose honourable) presence is a point
of union for the needy, not to say the Knaba of pilgrims; the station or
(' honour, not to say the station of sanctity (at Mekka); the desire of guests,
a not to say (111~valley - of)
. Mina near (the / 2 i l l of')Khaif; the source of gifts,
not to say the Kihla of prayer (2):-to him let this be a consolation : death
is awful till (it cornes, nncl [hen) it is found light ; its touch seems grating till
(.felt, and then) it is smooth ; the world is so hostile and its injustice so great
that death is the lightest of its inflictions, the least of its wrongs. Look then
to the right; do you see ought but amiction? Look to the left; do you see
ought but woe?'-The verses which follow are taken from a long poem of
his composition :
The gush of the (fertilizing)shower were like thee (in thy liberality), did it, in smil-
ing, pour forth gold. Fortune were like thee,did it not deceive ; the sun, did he speak;
the lion, were he not hunted; the sea, were its waters fresh.

The following satirical verses on the city of Hamadtn are also attributed to
him, but I have since found that they were composed by Abb 'l-All Muhammad
Ibn Husiil, a native of' that place :
Hamadan is my native place ; I must allow it that honour ;but it is the vilest of cities.
Its children are, for ugliness, like old men ; and its old men, for reason, like children.

His prose and verse abound in beauties of every kind. He died of poison at
Hecat, A. H. 398 (A. D. 1008). I have since found, however, the following
note written at the end of his epistles which have been collected by the hhkim
15
 Zlh IJ]B J{1~AIAId1I~
AN'S
6 Abd ar.Rahmin Ibn Muharn~n:i(l I I ) I ~ 1)Osf : 1;11(1 01'
~ b Said (' 1Cpist
111(1

5.1c l The author died at Herat on Friday, il tlr of t I ~ S(YOII(I l J l l ~ l l h ( l i l , :]!)H1'(I?P])-

ruary, A,D. 100R). On lhis [he ikiliiln O ~ I % ~ J ' \ ~ ( '''1 S : li;lrtl l ) ( ~ ' l ;l I S S I ~ I ' ( ~ ( ~

( t sons of good aut,hority that he fell in10 a I ( * t J ~ i i ~ . / ::111t1

y \\:IS i ) t r ~ ~ i ( *r (r li t l i i~nlci-

pitation. He recovered when shut, I I ~in tht* t o l d ) , i t t l ( I l i i ~( . I . ~ ( *l \si \ ~ i l l ~ ;

been heard t h a ~night, his grave was opcnol, arkrl I1tb \\.:Hf i ) l l l i t l il(~a(l
" fright, with his hand grasping his beard (:1)."

1)f. de Sacg-bas given six of these Makdmas in hi8 C~irestonialtiir,~ l l dill OIP IIoLPI )I(' l l ~ l iI I I H I ' T ~ OD~ Y C r J

full notice on al-Hemadhi and his writings.

(2) A11 this, in the original Arabic, is a mere ploy upon wortlr, nntl l l i ~nli~ lillltar v n l I ~ I ~ ~ ~n 8I I1116
~ I tr11116-
I ~

lation here given. The valley of Mina is in tho ncigllbourhootl of Mekkn.

(3) The bodies of Moslinls are not put into coffins ; tl~cyarc rnerc!ly mvcrc*d n it11 n rhro~lct,nrrtl ~~lncrcl irr n
vault, or in a hollow excavated in one of the sides of lhc grave, slrflicien~npnrc l)csl~~c[ Irft for 111r 11otiy Irt rit
up, as it must do, when questioned by the angels Rlunkfr orrd Naklr.

ABU 'L-KASIM II3N TAIIATIZIIA.

Abii 'l-Kisim Ahmad Ibn Muhammad ILn Isrnail 11~11 Il)t*nI~frri T i d ) & t a b i
Ibn Ismail Ibn Ibrahim Ibn I-Iasan Ibn Ilusain Ibrl Ali l A i l ; this
sharif, who descended from Muhammad d~rouc$l Ilusain, b(*loni;(rl t o ilk(: ll~nlily
of ar-Rass and was a native of Egypt. Tllc d(~sccndantsOS rl~: k11:lliS Ali who
inhabited that country were placed under his jurisdiclion as tlu:ilb t~nhil,or. cllief;
he was also one of the principal. heads of that body. Ih: romposed aj~r~e fin(:
poetry on ascetic and other subjects, fragments of wllicll are(!aivorr 1)y :i~-T}laii-
libi in his Yatima; among the number, he quotes the followine v(*1acbs:
My Friends (l) l the Pleiades excite my envy, and the instability of Fortnnr gricvos
me to the heart. They are six (stars), yet their union subsists unbrokon, wllilo I now
miss the sole person whom I love (2).

At-Thailibi quotes also as his these lines, which he altribuics I~owever,at the
commencement of his Yatfrna,to Zh 'l-Karnain Ibn Hamdin :

She said to the fleeting image (3) which visited me (in a dream) and thcn returned :
' I prajl thee! tell me how he is; do not extenuate nor aggravate.' The vision replied :
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 115
LI saw him nearly dead with thirst, and I said : Stop I avoid a source of which the
waters are never drunk Pc). ' She answered : ' Thou snyest true ; to love fully and
sincerely is his custom.'-01 what refreshing coolness her words shod on my
heart (5).

Besides tllc above, 11c has composcd othcr fine passages. Among the verses
attributed to him are the following on a long night, and which contain q u i ~ en
novel thought :

The Pleiades seem, this night, to have been travelling all the day, and to have arrived
at their evening station, fatigued with their journey. They have pitched their tents
that their caravan may repose ; for not a planet rolleth in its orbit, not a star speeds
i n its nightly way.

I have since met, however, with these two verses, in a long kasida inserted
among the poetical works of' Ahh 'l-Hasan Ibn Tabitabi ; and I extracted from
a piece contained in that work, the lines which here follow:
Thcg are gone, and, by their departure, they have left for evcr in my heart thc
anguish which first arose when their caravan went forth upon its way. 0 , the days of
joy now fled! thcy seem like a dream, so quick they passed away. If God, in his pity,
granted to the truc lover a lengthened life, those joys would have long endured for me.
0 my life gone by ! take a year from my existence, and give me back some days of love.

1 do not know who this Abir 'I-llasan was, nor what degree of relationship
existed between him and Abrj 'I-Kasim.-The emir al-Muklitir, surnamed al-
Musabbihi (6), makes mention of Ibn Tabhtab; in his history of Egypt, and says
$hat he died A. H. 345 (A. D. 956); another writer adds that his death took place
on the eve of Tuesday, 24th Shabin : he was interred in the burying-ground
reserved for the descendants of Ali, and which lies behind the New Musalla (7)
at OId Cairo : he was aged 64 years.--His great-grandfather was surnamed
Tabitab& from the circumstance of his pronouncing the gutteral 7c like t : 58
desiring one day his clothes to be brought to him, he was asked by his slave if
it was a durrk, or coat, which he wanted? "No," said he, ','a waistcoat, a
" waistcoat (tabd, tnbii);" wishing to say kabcr", knba; and these words be-

came a nickname by which he was afterwards known.-Ardass is, according

to as-Samgni, the name borne by one of the branches of Ali's family.

(ir Literally : -Mytwo friends ! in the dual; a very common form of expression among poets, and the origin
of ~ h i c his thus explained by az-Zawzani in his commentary on the Moallakaof Amm 'l-Kais, verse first :
"The Arabs of the desert did so (that is, they employed the dual in addressing each other), because n man
'6 could not haveless than two persons tohelp him in tending his fl0~1ii; One (0 inht' cilrr o f 1111: mnlda,tile
'6
of deep; so their tongues becarno nccuston~cd10 Lllc dun1 f~lrsl,n l d t l l v illn(ln il*Ib01 it rtlell
speaking even to a single individual."
(2) The sole person whom I love; that is, God.
(3, ~h~ ~ ~&gh(d( t f is often by Arnbic poclr: il is ltle i l l l l l ~ i ?01 I ~ I I ' (Inralli i ~ ( ~ l o u*bidl
al
appears to the lover in his drcama. It is suppusc(1 nol to visit l110 lovrr ll~llrrssrl11 1111110 111i!+tr1:~~ tlurilly
her slesp. The lover also sends his image to visit thC couch of his U l i l t r ~ ~ ('u:.-lll
r, [h(! ~ O t 4 r r l ~ fA$ioligua
rl

for April, 1838,will be found an article in which 1 have aeatcd nnd cqlluinod tlliii 11ill11*rlsolrscuru sul)ject.
(4) The waters which are never drunk arc t,ears.
(5) hamt, in Arnbic S+$ my liver. Arabic poets sopposc! 1110 livrr 11, hn lilt! son1 of lovo, and the
heart to be that of Toason; this observation will bc bornc Out by Illl1llrrcllIfl l'%llrll~)l~s.111 IrIlrOllcnn poetry,
love resides in the heart, not in the liver; and rcason ~ I L 111~
hantl, 1\01ill L!,(' h~*orl.
(6) This is the historian wllom some of our orientalisls crrorlcously ('11lI JlariAi.
(7) The New Muralla was built in the Sahra . = I ~ ) orI Litrlr Ksrnl'n, lly A~llliirn XU;
governor of
Egypt. The Old Musalla, founded by Amr Ibn al-Absi, not baing suMiricr~klyInr~c., ~ i o l \ . c / L l ~ . r l r nddi-
~~~~lin~
tions made to it, the New Musalla was constructed during tho rcign of AI-Mutnw nkkil, A . i l . 2hO ( A . I). #BB).
-(Malirizi's 3hitat.)-The use of the Musalla is explained in I)(! Sncy's ntrfiat~~.triuttila,L. I, 1,. 1Y1 ,--The
Anbasa here mentioned was the last Egyptian governor of Arabic dcsc:c~~I.:I I ~ Hst~rc.c~.rsors
wvre I'urku, c*l~oscn
among the slavesof the khalifs. Anbasn was appointed to thnt 8iLuntion, A . 11. 238 ( A . I). RII'L), r~rltllillrd il
till A. H. 242 (A. D. 856). His names were Ahu Jaafar Aabnsa Ibn lvl~rllc11r1Amr. (Rlakrtzi'a h'hi1ar.j

ABU 'R-Rl4KAMAK.

Abb Himid Ahmad Ibn Muhammad al-Antiki, sui~uanlcclAbd '1,-liakieak,

was a poet of repute; at-ThaPlibi, in his Ylcdu~a,spcnks of llim i t 1 tllcs~L C ~ O I S :
He was the pearl of his age, the union of excellcnck:~; orlc of tllose who
" managed poetry in its gay and its serious moods, and who gnirwd tbo prizc of
excellence; he was a skilful eulogist, an able poet; and was for Syriir what
" Ibn IIajjlj (4) was for Irak." Among the most brilliant OS his pmductions
are the following verses, in which he extols Yakdb Ibn Killis, virir to tlrc Fati-
mite khalif al-Aziz Ibn al-Moizz al-Obaidi, prince of Egypt (ille lives of both
shall be given) :
We have heard the excuse (of our beloved), and we have pardoncd her hult and h ~ r
error .-The thoughts (which I here express) are (intended)$r the person whom I moan
(to praise) ; but I make allusion to thee, fair maid, that dwellest near; so hcarkon to my
words. Him whom thy smiles seduce thou shalt always see (absorbed in thought and)
unmindful of his attire (2): he knows that such (love as his) is the punishment which God
 BIOGKBPEllCAL DICTIONARY. 117
has destined for those whose eyes contemplate (beauty). God had rent the veil (which
concealed thy lover's feelings); it is Lhine to tear off the veil from every dissembler.-
The looks of her (I speak o f ) have fascinated my heart ; 'tis so with every beauty, their
looks have a magic power. Would it harm the (cruel [air) who has chosen to show
aversion and dislike, did she at length consent to be pleased and to receive (my)
visits? But I must avow my submission to her will, though she has inflicted tor-
ment when she avoided (my sight). I have never ceased to hope for her love, and
suffer from her dislike; yet may I never be deprived OF such a mistress!

The verses which follow are taken from that portion of the same poem \vhich
mtains the panegyric :
This vizir hath not left on earth an enemy to al-Azfz, whose ardour he hath not
quelled. He wages daily war against the vicissitudes of Fortune and the attacks of
adversity, by bestowing abundant gifts. His hand would be covered with dishonour
did avarice force it to withdraw; it is a hand accustomed to renew the charge in the
combat of I~berality. By its munificence, the nunib.er of foes to al-Aziz has been dimi-
nished, and of friends, increased. It is thus that the hand of the superior man
worketh, day and night, good (to friends) and evil (to foes) (3). Choose then him for
patron; none are safe who seek not his benignant shade-his generous protection.
When you see him reflect with downcast eyes, and thoughts directed towards some
(lofty) purpose; (know that) his quick and discerning judgment will leave nought i r l
the bosom of futurity unscanned (G) ! not a single place upon the earth, of which his
mind will not embrace the confines. May God increase the extent of his (power); may 5'3
he preserve him from even the apprehension of misfortune, and exempt him from the
necessity of all precaution.

His poetry is in general good, ancl of the same cast as that composed by Sari
ad-Dili. ITe was a long time resident in Egypt, and much of his poetry con-
sists in panegyrics on the princes and great men of that country. He composed
poems in praise of the Fatimile khalif al-Moizx AbG Tammim Maadd, of his sou
al-Aziz, and his grandson al-I-Iikim; he celebrated also the praises of al-Kaid
Jawhar, the vizir Ibn Killis, and other men of rank. (The lives of the persons
here named will be found in this work.) The emir al-Mu.khtir al-Mnsabbihi
makes mention of this poet in his history of Egypt, and assigns the year 399
(A. D. 1008-9) as that of his death; another writer adds that he expired on
Friday, 22nd RamadHn of that year; while a third says that it was on the second
Rabi. I suppose that he died at Misr (Old Cairo).--AntrZki means native
(!f Antaikiya (Antioch), a city near A1eppo.-Rakdmnk is a nickname (5).

(1)The life of Ibn Bajjiij will be found in this work: his name was &l-Eusaih.
(2) Such I believe to be the meaning of the verse, would be altered by rendering more closely the
 118
- - IBN 1CRhLLIKAN'S
liil'liil irfitbrlfibl)ll o f l i l ~ ltrdfi 10
final words; Shakspe~pe,re ~rprasredthe $firnoidcn, and ~ i v r l lno(lrl?l
which I allude, where he says : "Lord Hamlot, will1 his doubr~tall unh(1rfd."
(3) such is cbaracterislic of a pnfccL man in the oginias n l tho Arnln. I1.1Il b(~f()rr
nt111h 1 t 1 ~11i ~1 ~(.~l.-

blishment of Islamism.
( I ) Literally : Will leaye nought untumcd in thc intcrior of Iir~urily.
(D) Rokdmd is not ao Arabic word, neither is it, I belic~a,Far6inr1o r Turkikll; a n d I r111tbrrrfurr 111 iurlo-
rance of its meaning.

Abb 'l-Hasan Ahmad Ibn Jaafar Ibn Mdsa Ibn Y;~hy;lI l l n Klki lid I l b r ~ Ila~.n\aL,
surnamed Jahza the cup-companion, was n man of calr~ila11d ~ I ~ : I S ~ Iof *I- v:~riol~s

accomplishments; he possess'ed a knowledge of' 1lis101-yarirl r i n ~ ~ * o l o f ;;y h(*

abounded in repartees, and was an amusing Gu(bsr at so(*iid1)ill.t ivs. A l i i N:w
Ibn al-Marzobin has composed the life and collect(~1[l)(! ~ ) o t + t ~of'$ stliis r ~ i ( ~ ~ ~ i l )
of the Barmakide family, who was also one of' tflc wiltichst rllclrl o f t1i.u t i r l l t * . 'I'tl(1
following are specimens of his poetry, which is very : Li1rc5

I am son to those men whose bencficcrlcc enrichrcl mnnhiritl, nntl who h a w I)c.c:on~c
the talk (of the world) for their signal lihcralily. Thora wall no historinn t ~ l ~t p o k oof
their generous actions ; no book but contained Ll~cirpraisi?.
I said to her (I loued) : 'Thou art sparing (of thy favoura) towiirds m(?wlic*o ( I nm)
' awake; be then kind to thy afflicted lover, (and let him sec! t h ~ ill
) (hi#) (Ir(?nrn~1'
She answered : ' Thou also canst sleep, and yet wi~llcst mu to viait thot: in thy
dreams l' (1)
I amamong a race who fly from (committing an act of) lil)ornliLy, ns0 wllo hnvc (lkarcin)
inherited the character of their fathers. Fellows who would Fool in(li(l11nntp2) if I trioll
to obtain from them a present.-Come, my girl, fill mo u p an nrnplc (cup) and wing
(this air): The protectors are gone under whose shelter one could live.
0 thou troop (3), whose departure is an affliction I the lover loft bohinri confitios 10
thee the surest pledge-his heart.
When she said to me: 'How wert thou durine my absonco? 1)itlst tlwu wonr Lho
60 ' raiment of the rich or of the poor ?' I ansvered : Ask mo not l I liv~clnlorni~igand
' evening in the destitute state of one deprived of all,' (no4 having thee).

The poetical works of Jahza have been collected and form a Ditr~in,of' which
the greater part is good: his adventures are well known.
One of his vcrscs
currently quoted is the following :
 The sky was so clear that people said: There is a coi~tcstbetween Jaliza and the
weather (S).

Jahza was an ugly man, and Ibn ar-Rdmi (nlleclrilg lo rhr c i ~ ~ c u r n n n , ~ ~

said :
1 am told that Jahza borrowed his goggle eyes (Juhziz) from the elephant on the
chess-board ( S ) , or from the crab. 0, how his audience are to be pitied I To please
their ears, they must afflict their eyes.

He died at Whit, A. 11. 326 (A. D. 937-8); or 324, according to some: and
i t is said that his bier (6) uras borne to Baghdad. - Jnhzn was a nicknamc
:eiren
J
to him by Abd Allah Ibn al-Motazz ; the Kbatib (7) says that he was born
in the month of Shabin, A. II. 224, (A. D. 839). The history of Baghdad and
the KC& nl-AgI~rir?imake mention of him (S).

(l) That is: Since thou canst sleep, why not send thy image to visit me, rather than require mine to visit
thee ?-(Sec note (3), pagc 116).
(2) Literally: I t wcrc as if I wantcd to pluck a hair from their noscs.
(3) This is supposed to be addrcsscd by a lover to the tribe of his mistress, on their setting out from their
last habitation to some new station in tlic desert.
(4) Such is the literal translation of tlie Arabic verse; b u t i t mush be observed that the verb dJ, which
signifies to be clear, means also to be of a good humour. By a similar analogy, they say in German : heitcres
Wetter (clear weather), and eim heiteres Gemuth ( a sercnc or gay mind).
(5) I n the Chinese, HindO, and Pcrsian game of chess, that piece bears the name of the elephant, which
i n the English game is called the bishop.
(6) W h e n the bodies of the dead arc transported to tha cemctcry, they are placed on a bier, off of which
they are removed on reaching the grave.-See Lane's Modern Egyplians, vol. 11, page 302.
(7) See his life, page 75.
(8) The manuscript of the AgA&ni,belonging to the Bib. du Roi, makes only incidental mention of Jahza,
b u t there is reason to believe that this MS. is incomplete. The author of the Fihrest (Col. 196), informs us
that Jahza h a d studied under many learned men and rdwis, or narrators of historicnl traditions, and that he
played on the guitar; he was a man of dissolute life and of little or no religious principle. H e composed a
book on cookery, a history of celebrated players on the guitaru+, Jr$j); a treatise on the excellence of the
ragout called SikbAj ; Recollections of the khalif al-Motasim; Recollections of his o v n time; on
L '
Astrologers whose predictions were accomplished. I t appears from the same work that he acquired great
reputation by his wit and prompt repartees; in the abridgement of the Khattb's History of Baghdad (MS. of
the Bib. du Roi, No. 634, fol. 42, verso), it is stated that he was the first singer of his time. Both authors
abstain from speaking of his adventures, on account, it would seem, of their notoriety.
 IBN DARRAJ AL-ANl)Al,liSI.

Abil Olllar Ahrnad Ihn Prluhammad Ibn al-Aisi llrrr Allnlad 11111 Slliaimhn
Isa llln Darr$j al-Kastalli al-Andalusi (tlative of!j'Spni/?),
kalil) and poet to al-Man-
sllr Ibn Abi Airnir ( l ) , is counted in Spain among thr good poets and the men
eminent for their learning. At-Thaalibi makes rncntion of him in thc Y ~ ~ t j , ~ , ~
and of him in these terms : Llc was for thc countcryof Andalus, that
which al-Mutanabbi was for Syria, a poet or the higlmst order, and equally
elegant in what he said and wrote." He then gives some iinc passages from
his compositions. Ibn Bassam also, in his Dakhiru, speaks of I brr Uarr5.j and
gives specimens of his epistles and poems. I learn from his colleeled poetical
works, which form two volumes, that al-Mansdr Ihn Al~iMnlir ordered him
to compose a poem in imitation of the karin'n made by Abii Nnwls al-Hakami
in praise of al-Khasib Ibn Abd al-HarnPd, chief of the land-tax ofice in Egypt (2);
the poem by Abli Nawbs begins thus :
0 maid that dwellest near our double tent (3)1 thou hast a jealous hthcr; and the
least (favour) one can hope, can hardly be obtained from thee.

In consequence of this order, Ibn Darrij recited to him an elegant kusidu,

which contains, among others, the following passage :
Woman! knowest thou not to remain (here) is to die; and that the dwellings of the
indigent are tombs? Thou strivest to appal me with the terrors of a lengthened 'jour-
ney, but (know !) that (journey) will be the means of (my) kissing Ibn ASmir's hand.
Let me then drink of the desert's waters, though stagnant; so that I arrive where the
waters of Generosity are pure. Though the perils of the desert waste be rcserved for
him who rides therein, the reward (of his toil will be) great.

In the same poem is this description of his parting from his wife and child :
When she approached to say adieu-and already her sighs and lamentations had
F( shaken my fortitude-she conjured me to remember our mutual love; and there, in
the cradle, lay an infant lisping a feeble cry: it was unable to reply when spoken to,
but its looks knew well how to touch the tendersoul (4): lodged in the safe dwelling of
our hearts, soft arms and bosoms were its bed. She that gave it the breast was one
for whose neck and bosom a man would sacrifice his life; its nurse was one for the
preservation of whose charms prayers would be offered to God : I disobeyed (the smile
which was) its intercessor with my soul, and evening and morning led me on, till
accustomed to my nightly journeys. The wing of separation bore me away ; and her
 fluttering heart is:, dismayed at my departure, bore aaay her (senses t t t Q smoon . if
she bade adieu to a jealous husband, he was only jealous of his fortitudr (which nearly
!liel&d' to I ~ c rgrief.-Had she then seen me when the ardours of noon were shecl
upon me, and ttlc trembling mirage waved around; when I bared my face to the
mpridian fires, and submitted to their force; (the evenings too wcre warm) ; when I
inhaled tlrt. lifr-pi\ i I I C breeze m-hich flex- across my path as I trod r n rr the burning
santis : jnncl 1)catll H-cars many shapes in the coward's eye, but 1)anger is a vain sound
tc, tlrt- cars of the bravt.!)-(Had she seen m e t h e n ) she had clearly learned that 1 yield
,lot to tile irljustice [of' Fortune), and that I can bear with firmness the biting of adver-
sit!. Ilc that is emir (master) over the terrors of the desert needs only his sword for
\izir, nlien threatened with danger. Had she seen me with my soul intent on speed-
Int; the nightly journey, when my sounding steps held converse with the demons of
the waste-when E wandered over the desert during the shades of night, while the
roar o f the lion was heard from his haunt among the reeds-when the brilliant Pleiades
circled (through the henaens), like darli-eyecl maids (dancing)in the green woods; and
the polar stars were borne round like the wine cups filled by a fair gazelle and circu-
lated by an assiduous attendant ;-when the milky way seemed like the gray hairs of
age upon the head of the gloomy night-when the ardour of my resolution and the
piercrr of the darkness (6) wcre equally terrible-when languor closed the eyelids of
the stars;-ah ! then she had linovn that Fate itself obeyed my will, and that I was
morth! the favour of Ibn Aamir.
This poem is of considerable Icngth, but he estract we tnve given is sufficient;
Since we have spoken of this knsifla, we must cite also a portion of the one com-
posed by Abli Saxis, and imitated, in its rhyme and measure, by Abh Omar.
Abii Nan-is, having set out from Baghdad for Egypt, with the intention of eulo-
gizing Abii Nasr al-Khasib, recited to him the poem we are now speaking of,
and in which he named the different places n-here he slopped on the way : one
verse of it has already been given *in the life of A b i Ishali al-Ghazzi (?), and
there is no necessity for inserting the whole of it here; it is besides of consider-
able leni;th ; shall merely quote some select passages :
When my active camel bore me from her tent, she said: 'It is grievous for us to see
' thee going away ! Is there not some place nearer than Egypt where riches may be
' found? There are surely many means of gaining riches.' I answered, whilst her fair
companions were hastening after, and complaining of her speed; and, as they ran,
perfumes dropped (from their hair) : ' Let me go, so that the number of those who 69
'envy thee may be increased by (the success of) my journey to the city in which aI-
' Khasb is emir. If our camels visit not the country of al-Khasib, to what 0 t h ge-
' nerous man can they go? Beneficence went not beyond him, neither did it stop before
' it reached him ; no I wherever be is, Beneficence is there. (He is) the man of noble
' soul! be buyeth with his wealth a glorious reputation, for he knoweth bow the vicis-
' situdes of Fortune revolve .'
Though others may remain in ignorance of my words, the Commander of the Faith-
Fa1 (81knuweth them well.T h (O!Khastb) hast not @ to Seme him with god
16
 122 IBN Kl~ALLIKAN'S
counsel, from ill0 time of (thy) youth till [h(. (:rry Iliiirs al)l~cnrrfl OII (t/17/) (-}lpck9.
When an unforeseen event occurred, your p t ~ ~ d t l l ~r ((h~l o( :~ h o (th($
l h11:lliI' fro111 an-
xiety (g), or your advice guided him ia ihr rla)icc of a n ~ i ~ l i s l t ~ ~ . .

The poet then enters into the descript,ion of lI1(. ~ d i \ ( : ( ' \v11(~1*($
~ 1111 S I ( ) ~ ) ~ ) ((()
~(]

rest, and he finishes thus :

In the tumult of battle, al-Iihasfb shod glory on 1110 sword : ~ r l t l 111(*Inn(:(? ; in pnficp,
he gave lustre to the pulpit and the Lhrone (10). PTORIH(~ ilk 11is l ) o t s ~ ~ tWyJ I I I I ~ [}lr
hands of others are contracted (by avurz'ce); jcaloosly rtbsl~cb(.tl'~ll of ftmnlcl honour!

and thou, that I place my hopes in thy bounly . If' 1ho11{;r:~t~!t*st

.
0,Khasfb! if my (description)attain tl~cIloigllt of 111s (!l/or!l I NII:III t ~ ~ ( ~ wr .~i nl l t h ,
IIMI thy f:~vo~ir, (let it
be because) I deserve it; if you withholtl ( l l f y crpprohclrion), I ~ h i l l lash ( ( / t ! y ) taxcuec
(for my presumption) and be graterul .

Abil Nawis then celebrated the praiscs of ;~l--Kllasil)i t 1 ir t l r t t ~ ~ l ) coI'

~ r ot.hcl.
poems, and on his return to Baghdad hc mndr :m eolol;i~~nl 0 1 1 111(1 ~ l ~ ~ ~ l i l

wllo said 10 hini : What can you say of us, arter llaairii; siiitl OS 0111. l i t x i tcanant :
. of. nl-lilrrisil,."" (111ckl1;llif II(*I.~:
" If O U I - cnrneis visit not ille coiur~ty ~.(a~)~ill(!d

this and ~ h enext verse.) Abd Nawis renlairx(1 so111c: li111(: nit11 his oyes
cast towards the ground, and then held up lris llcatl ant1 roc.i[(rtl tllc*sc: linr*s:

%'hen we praise you with sincerity, you are what wo tlor;c:ril)c! iind cvo~lnlorc; if
our words seem to convey the praises of any other, it is lh011 r11or10 townr(18 whom
our thoughts are turned.

From another piece of AbB Omar's, \rrcclxlr.acl t l k e 1;)11o\vir1(;Y(:I.SO :

If the valley where thou dxellest he inaccessible (to thy lover), lot tlla placo of our
meeting be the valley of sleep; there 1 may chance to find thao (12).

In this verse, lle comes near the following thougllt. ol' a trotllrr l)o(:i't~:
Is there means of meeting thee in the lonely valloy, for tllo erounds msarvcd by thy
tribe are full of spies (13)?

Ab4 Omar was born in the month of Muharram, A. 11. 34.7 (.A. I). !Is%), and
died on the eve of Sunday, 15th of the second Jumida, f121 (A. D. 1030.)-
-
D a r r q is the name of one of his ancestors. Kns/nlli mcans nnlius of' Km-
1

65 t d a (1h), a city in Spain, called also Kastalla Darrij (Kastolln ojml)at,t*(q);

but
I know not if it be after the ancestor of AbS Omar or some otll(.r pzrson that it
was so called,
 BIOGRAPHICA'L DICTION Ally. 123
(i) Abh Aamir Dluhammad Ibn Abi ASmir surnamed al-Manshr (thc victorious), was created hajib or
prinle minister of the kingdom of Cordova, A. 11. 366 (A. D. 97G), on the accession of Hishim al-Muwaiyad
Billah. After achieving successfully more than fifty campaigns against the Christians, he was defeated by
Sancho, king of Navarre, it1 the year 392 (A. D. loo$), and died of grief soon after. Though he made
regularly t a o expeditions cvery year against the enemy, he found sufficient leisure to patronize men of
learning. (Bughint.- CondB-Abh 'l-Fad&.)
(2) Al-Khasib \\as appointed to this place by the khalif Haran al-Rashld, A. H. 190 (A. D. 805-6), and
removed A. H. i9l.-(Al-Mukin, page 119.)
(3) The dual is here employed for probably the same reason as in the case already noticed, page 115, note (l).
(4) Literally : The spot where affection touches, or lights on souls.
(5)Literally : ribs.
(F) I'he piercer of the darkness; the planet Saturn.
(7) See page 43.
(8) The poet means the khalif Hardn ar-Rashid.
(9) Literally: You spared him the trouble of it.
(10) As governor, he had the right of pronouncing the khotba from the pulpit, and of giving public audi-
ence from the throne as representative of the khalif. It would appear from al-blakln, page 114, and AbQ
'I-Mal~hsin,31s. of the Bib. dzs Roi, No. 659, that in the time of ar-Rashfd the governor of Egypt was sorne-
times authorised to collect the revenue. I t is necessary to observe, however, that al-Khaslb could not have
presided a t public prayers in Egypt, as he never acted as governor of that province.
(il) Probably the khalif ar-Rashld.
(12) That is: let 11s dream of each other.
($3)Among the ancient Arabs, the shaikhs reserved for their own use a certain portion of ground near the
camp; this was called the Himu, or forbidden spot. and no other dare feed his flocks or hunt in it. Later poets
designate by this word the spot where the beloved is supposed to reside; and mystic writers call Heaven the
E i m a , because God, the object of love, dwells there.-(See Chrestomathie, tom. 111, page 153.)
(14) Al-Idrisi places Kastalla on the sea-coast, fourteen miles east of Tavira: Condd says that it is non
called Castellar.

IBN ZAIDUN AL-=ANDALUSI.

Abb 'l-Walid Ahmad Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Ahmad Ibn Ghilib Ibn Zaidlin al-
Makhziimi al-Andalusi al-Kortobi (descendedfronz t?ze tribe of M a k h z h and
native o f Cordovn in Spain): this celebrated poet is spoken of in the following
terms by Ibn Basstm in the Daklzfra: Abii 'l-Walid attained the height of
'' perfection in prose and poetry, and closed the series of poets sprung from
" MakhzOm; he had received from Fortune the best of her favours; be sur-

" passed (in abiliries) every person (of his time), and wielded his authority (as

" vizir) to h e welfare (of fiends) and the detriment (offoes): he was endowed
 IRE IICHALLIli AN'S
" with a great talent for aptly expressing his lhougllls i l l i)I'OS(' atk(l v(blsScb,joined
to such information in literature as sl~rpnss(~l ilk(: (a.rsth l)y ils {)v(.l.llow,and
the moon by its lustre; his pocl~%y had ;I I)o\\.(~I. h \ l i ( : l l 110 ~lr:i/;i(. ( 1 ~ ~ ~ *

sessed, and (an eZeunlion) which the slam r o ~ l l d not 17iv:11; : I I H ~ \ I ( : \I:I~]re-
.. ceived in portion ( l ) a prosc style 01 ;I ~ ~ ~ori{;i11;11( : O I ~ S I I - , ~ C ~ ~ ~ ~ ,
s i n g ~ l l :a11d
quite poetic in its terms and ideas. ITc was 1 1 1 h011
~ OS 0 1 1 t ~ 01' 111th [~I-s[
consults in Cordova, and when his itamin(: llad a l f ; ~ i ~ l nits \-vllon his
l it(~i~;ht,
' L poetic talent had acquired its excellcncc, wherl liis positinrl ( I I / / , ) ~)orhl)
became eminent and when his tongue W ~ I'SI*BI: ( I o f i i i~
f.1 ~
I)~(o)(/uIo.s
(IIICO~-

" .trolled), he left his native place and wcnt, in the year 4.4 l (A. I). l Oh.!)-SO), to
al-Motadid AbbBd, prince of Seville, who arloplnl 11i1nas 0110 01' Ilis 1)rivil~ged
friends, admitted him into his in tima tc socict y , llcurkctrtbtl to l l i s c:ounsels,
and treated him o n the footing of a vizir." This ;nl(.!ro~.(he11 !;iv(:s a grtcai
number of epistles and pieces of poetry composed by i l ~ nZaidiit~,B I I ~ O I ) ~others,
;

the following :

Between me and thee subsists a feeling which, il: plcasi~lgto tlloct, sllall rlcvcr cxpirr;
-a secret which has remained undivulged, whilst other sccrcts \vcro rovcnletl. IIe
who would buy the share I hold in thy affections might oEor mc lifo itsolf; I ~vould
not sell my share in thy affections. Let it suffice thca that, nlthongh tllou hast placed
on my heart a burden which the hearts of men could no[, sustain, m;y hoart sustains
it. Be scornful, I shall suffer patiently; be proud, 1 shall crltlr~rcit; bo haughty, I
shall be humble; return, I shall approach; speak, I shall hoar.; ordcr, I shall obey.

By the same :
He has bid adieu to fortitude, the lover who bade adieu to thee: it is [low l)etr.ayeti,
the secret (of his love which he had) confided to thee (alone). IIe (;nasItcs his teeth
(with regret) that he went not onward some steps morc, wlrcn 110 Sollowetl ttlce to say
farewell. Sister to the moon in exaltation and in lustrcl may (iocl roscrve a time
when I shall see thee reappear! IF my nights arc long during thy :\l)sortce, 'tis thou
who art the cause; I pass them in lamenting the short~~oss of the n i ~ h t sI spcnt with
thee.

He is author also of some high-sounding poems, a p o r t i o ~ ot'

l wllicll L should
give, were I not afraid of being prolix. One of his most. h i l l i a u t gcms (2) is
the kasidu which contains these verses:

Whilst our inmost thoughts conversed with thee (when memory recalled thy image),
grief had nearly killed us, did we not assume fortitude. Since thou art gone, our
days are become dark, though with thee our nights were bright. Yesterday our sepa-
ration was not apprehended; to-day, our meeting again cannot be hoped for.
 BIOCRAPITICAL DICTIONARY. 125

The poem Cfrom which this passage is taken) is of considerable length, arid
each of its verses might be selected ( f o r ils beauty), but it would divert us from
O U ~plan were we to enter into long details. Ibn Zaiddn died and was buried
a t Seville on the I st Rajab, A. 11. 463 (A. D. I O T I ) : mention is made of his father
by lbn Basllhdwil, who speaks highly of him in his Silnt, and says : <'He was 64
surnamed AlA Bakr ; he died in the year 405 (A. D. 1014-S), at al-Bira
(Eloircr) (3), whence his body was taken to Cordova, where it was inter-
&' red on Monday, 7th of the second Rabi of that year: his birth was in A. H. 334
(2.U. 965) : he used to dye his hair black (b)." Ibn Zaidbn had a son named
.4bS Balir, who acted as vizir to al-Motamid Ibn Abbhd, and was slain on the day
in which Yllsuf Ibn Tishifin took Cordova from Ibn Abbid and deprived him of
his kingdom ; the particulars of which event we shall give in the lives of these
princes. Cordova was taken on Wednesday, 2nd Safar, 484 (March, A.D. 1091),
and Abii Bakr was killed there. We have already given the true pronunciation
of Kot.l(tba (Corclova); it is therefore unnecessary to repeat it here : it will be
found in the life of Ibn Abd Rabbih, author of the Ikcl(5); the Franks took this
city from the hIoslims in the no nth of Shawwil, G33 (about the 1st of Julv,
1236) (C)

In the Arabic text, the word here translated by he had received i t &portion, is printed h conformably
to the BISS., but it is evident that the true reading is L,
and as such i t is here adopted.
,2) Literally : One of his admirable necklaces.
(3) See Casiri's Bibliolheca Arabica, t. 11, page247 et seq., and Biographie ur~iwerselle,ZAIDOUN.
5 ) I t was more usual to dye it red ; see note (3),page 46.
(5)See page 92.
(6) For further information respecting Ibn Zaidhn, see M. de Sacy's article in the Biographie Universelie,
ZAIDOUN ; the date of the taking of Cordova, A. H. 434 (1042), as there given, is incorrect: consult also the
s o r k of M. Weyers, entitled Specimen eriticum, etc. This gentleman informs me that he still intends to
publish the celebrated epistle of Ibn ZaidOn, with the commentary of Ibn Nubata.

LBN AL-ABBAR THE POET.

b h Jaafar Ahmad Ibn Muhammad al-Khaul&ni, native of Seville in Spain,

and surnamed Ibn al-Abblr, was a poet of reputation, and, in the different
 4 26 IBN KIT A'ILIILAN'S

branches his art, onc of the ablest anlong 1 1 ~ 1~ ) O O ~l S) n l ~ ~ o l ~ i1s ()~IIIV

~( l lllninee
of Seville &Mota&d Ahbid Ibn Mullarno~ad:1l-l~:11~1111ti. N ~ S ~ I I S O I I M ~of
. .
learning, having madc compilations a i d corrll,os(~(l( r o ~ ~oc~ . ~ j i ~/ ~/ ~t n ( ~/ ~ /;h r r )
hut he an acknowledged talent, nr~dsllo\v(~(I~ I I I I ) O I I I K I V ill)ili~i(&s
~ in lliS
poetical worlis, from which we extract tlrc followinl; I)v;\II t i l i r l lrassitgc :

She knew not the lasting passion \vilh which Iiclr nyrs insy)ircbtlrny ~0111,nor Lht,
borne by my heart (l).-l sho~l(1 (!Own lifti for that (fuir)
*isitor who sought, but could not approach thc ( l o a u l j cjl.o\vr~c~(i
i f 1 tt+i~~.s
:lrltl c.orlsumed
love). Apprehensive of spies, she camc 10 nlr silt1 horrinl blrl)r, llclr neck
adorned no other jewels but its grace end tjcauty. 1 h:r~rtlrd her* tho cup, and
the wine which it contained blushed (with jetdoets?~)n l Lhc! frn(;rnacbc5of hc?r lips and
the radiance of her teeth (2). (We drank) till hm cycblitlu yic*ltlvtl 111 Iho blarrtlish~nant~
of slumber, and the strength of the purple (liquor) sul,tluc:tl her 10 111y \\ill. 1 wiyhcd
to give her my cheek for a pillow (3), but it was too s ~ i ~ n lant1
l , sho s;~iil: Your arms
are for me the best of pillows. She passed the ~ ~ i c t io i t n sal'() rctlrca;~t\vt~c~ro no Fear
assailed her; and 1 passed the night thirsting (to tnstc hcr lips), t 1 ~ 1l absli\inc(1 (L),
When this (maid, beauteous as the) moon, approacherl, lho 1'1111moon was cbfFacod (h?/her
heaufy), and all the horizon became dark with jcalousy : tho ni(;ht was pcrplcxcd to
know where the moon would rise, but tho night Itnew not Lhnt 1 trcl(j the moon in my
arms.

He has composed a number of pretty little pia:cs i r ~111a silrr~(:st ylc, a n d his
Dhr!an, o r collected poetical works a r c spokctl of J)y 11111 I I ; i s s ~ ~in n ~ llrc Da-
khira. Ibn al-Abbir died A .H. 433 (A.D. 1 04 1-2). -l i l ~ ~ u l ~l ii~rct~ ins
; r ,/(~sr.ended
from Khauldn, son of Amr, father of a great tribc wliich scttl(~1in Syria.-
Ishbiliya (Seville) is one of the largest cities of Spain.

(1) See note (S), page 116.

(2) Literally: The honeyed row of teeth and the hailstones, 10 which white tcetll arc often comparod by
Arabic poets.
(3) The softness of the cheeks, their tenderness and delicacy, nro common topics with ihc poets.
(4) Literally: Without either returning from the source or going to i t . This cxpressiotl was originally used
by the nomadic Arabs in speaking of the power which tbcir camels posscsscdof enduring thirst.

AL-MANAZI.
65 Abil Nasr Ahmad Ihn Yhuf as-Sulaiki al-Manizi, a man of superior talent
and distinguished as a poet, was vizir to Abd Nasr Ahmad Ibn Msrwsn al-Kurdi,
 BIOCRAPIIIC AIA DICTIONARY. 1-34

prince of Maiyafirikin and Uiir Bakr, whose life shall be give11 later. To llis
erninelit learning and his abilities as a poet, was joined great skill in the manage-
~nentof affairs, and be went a nu~nberof times as ambassador to Coristantinople.
He had collected a great quantity of books, which he made over as a w a y ( I )
10 rhc mosque of Maiyaflrikin and the mosque of Amid, in the libraries of

\vhic.h they are still to be found, and where they are known by the designation
~ ~ z ~ ~He
t r f ( ~ Z - i ~ f ~Books. i )had
~ one time an interview, at Maarrat an-Nomin,
with the poet Abil 'l-AU, who complained to him of his position, isolated as he
,\as- from mankind and badly treated by them; to which al-Manhzi replied :
IVhat can they have to say to you, since you have resigned to them both this
world and the next (2) ?" '' Ah !" replied Abb 'l-Alh, '<and the next also ?"
repeating the words several times and nl~lchoffended; lle then hung down his
head and did not utter another word till (his visilolj went away. In one of his
journeys, sl-Man5zi passed through the valley of BuzBa (3), and, charmed by
the beauty of the spot and the feelings it inspired, he made on it these verses :

.A valley sheltered us from the heat of the burning sands, and a dense foliage gave to
it a double shelter. W e took repose under a tree which soothed us with its sound, as
a nurse soothes her child just weaned. Fired with thirst, we drank of a pure spring
whose waters were sweeter (to us) than wine to a boon companion. This valley wards off
the sun on every point from which he can look towards it; him it excludes, but allows
the zephyr to enter. Its (brillianti pebbles cause the maids adorned with jewels to
tremble, and they feel if the knot of their necklaces (be unbroken).

'I'hvse verses are, quite unique in their class, and have been cited, with others
bv he same author, in the Ziunt ad-DnAr, a work composed by Abii 'l-Macili
al-Haziri ; among those given by him are the follow in^ :
The boy I have is tall and slender; he is Iike Euclid's line: without breadth! the
sense he possesses is extremely little: it is like the point-having no parts.

X number of his lesser pieces are to be found in the hands of the public, but
the collection of his poetical works is yery rare : I have been told that the kidi
sl-Fidil commissioned a man of learning, who was on his travels, to procure him
a copy ; this person, in consequence, made inquiries in every country to which he
went, but could gain no information about the book, and he then wrote a letter to
the kidi, informing him of his want of success; this letter contained some verses,
one of which had for second hemistich these words: And the drvellings QW not
 1% IRN IiHAE,I,IICAN'S
inlrnbitedby the poems oJaZ-lllanri;i(h). Dicd A. I J . 4;17 (11.I ) . I O ! i ! b - ( ; ) . -
Man&i means nalioe of k l a n l z , r d , a city no:lr* I(hnrfi~l)i~*l
:)j ; i l 11111111 1101
collfounded with Man&hird, a castlc: in llie dc~1)or1rIon(.i~~s 01' 1il1aI:~1 ((i),of'
lIlhich mention will be made in the lire of 'hlii id-diti O ~ n i l ~I.) I,, ~ I I [ * ( I of' I I i ~ n l i l ~
Kllartabirt is the well-known Hisn Zliid ('l).J I U I ~ ' is( ~iI ( - ~ I I S ~ ( I ~ l)lc ~ I * ; IOIVH
I
half way between Aleppo and Manhi,;.

ti) Wakf, a concession in perpetuity for pious purposes.

(2) This is a sarcastic allusion to Abtk 'l-All's hclcrodox princilllrs : sol* hlh lifv. 1)IlKt. {)d.
(3) See Abb 'I-FadS's Geography, pagc 267 of thc Aral~ictext.
(4) This hemistich is remarkable only for having l l ~ cword (11-filundzi prvredvtl 11) c~rloll~csro f ~ ~ c v ~the
rly
same sound, al-Manhi1 (the dwellings).
(5)In Lapie's map of the Othoman Empire, the narrlc of this plncc! i a \rritl~-nt'hatprcrl; it lic.9 nl1o11t16
miles east of the Euphrates in 380 25' latitudc north -Sec St. M n r t i n ' ~Mdmoirca sur I'Atmclrrin, 1. I , p. 08.
c~xtrcrnilyol' lake Van. - Itlant, L. I, 1,. 103.
(6) Xhalat, a city of Armenia, is situated towards t l ~ cr~ortlierr~
(7) See Abtk 'l-Fadh's Geography ; Arabic lext, page 82.

IBN AL-KHAIYAT TIIE POET.

A M Abd Allah Ahmad Ibn Muhammad I l n Ali 11111 Y 11)11 Si~drlha,

66 at-Taglibi (member oftbe tribeof Toglib), surnamal l l ~ ill-l{
r lli~ i yh t ( s o n o/' llrr
lailor), native of Damasci~s,was a kitib (I) ancl poet of c o ~ ~ s i c l ~ ~r ~n vs~l -,t il. ~ !Ili~v-
ing gone to travel, he composed poems in praise of thc ( o ~ t i t / r ~ r rnen
r ~ ) (tr4rom h p
saw) in different countries; and went to Persia, whcre ba also l~ladctver.s(lsin 110-
nour (of its princes). At Aleppo he met w i ~ ht110 cela1)ratnl peel A l i 'I-Fityii~~ ~
I bn Haiyds, and presented him with his poetical works, on wlli(1ll l bn IlaySs said :
L'This boy has announced to me my death, for it seldom in any pro-l l n p ~ n b n s

'' fession, that a person of superior skill springs up, ~rrithoutits beirlg an in&-
" cation that the death of the oldest master in that profession is at Imod."
On coming to Aleppo in very low circumstances and utterly imable to support
himself, he appealed to the generosity of Ibn Haiyes in the following lines :
What remains in my possession would not sell for a nut, and my aspact may d i e
pense thee from inquiring into my real state. But.1 have still some honour left ('L); that
I have kept unsold ;and where, where would a purchaser be found?
 RIOGRBPHICA.1, DICTIONARY. 129
On reading these verses, Ihn tlaiyhs exclaimed : 'L Had he said : And thou art
surely the purchaser! it would have been better."-The collectiorl of lbrl
al-Khaiyjt's poems is so common, that it is useless to quote any of them: most
of his kasiclrrs are of remarkable heau~y,and had he composed no other than the
one wllich rhymes in 6, that poem alone had sufficed for his reputation ; it
begins thus :
Obtain from the zephyrs of Najd (3), that they grant respite to his heart; for their
perfume has nearly borne his senses away. Beware of that zephyr, when it breathes;
the lightest evil it produces is the pains of love. 0, my friends (4) ! if you have ever
loved, you must know what hold that passion takes of him whose heart is smitten and
enamoured: he reflects, and reflection augments desire; the lover longs, and love de-
prives of reason the victim to whom it clings. An anxious pain with passionate despair
aud hope-intense desire, though far the place of rendezvous, or near. In our caravan
there is one who encloses in his breast a wasting fire ; and who says to the challenge of
love: "Here (is thy victitn) !" When a breath (of the zephyr) comes tremblingly from
the desert (where his mistress dwells), it bears with it pain to (affiict) him, but (does)
not (bear) its cure (5). (In the caravan) is one whom protecting spears surround;
whose heart is turned away (fromme), while in mine (Ifeel), from her aversion, (pains)
like those which her guardian (spears) would cause. If I hear in our encampment a
plaintive sigh, I am jealous from apprehension, fearing that it may proceed from love
of her.
The poem from which these lines are taken is of considerable length, but we
shall limit our extract to the foregoing citation. Another of his pieces is the
following :
Ask the drawn sword of her glances if there still remains in my heart a drop of
blood to supply the sources of my tears. Ah l there is no protector, none to excuse or
sooth (the lover) on the day desire torments (him).She has drawn against us the
sharp (sword) of her looks, that nymph with the slender waist. She is a Turk by
nation (G), and the arrow she shoots 08commits less ravage than the glances of her
eyes. And (let me not forget) the night in which I went to meet her; when I held con-
verse with sleeplessness, and care was the companion of my couch. The dread of her
cruelty drove me for protection to her, yet how often do the most forward retreat (be-
fore serious danger). The wine-cup had then subdued her native rigour, and ebriety
borne down her capriciousness; an embrace was lawfully due, and I then kissed a 07
charming mouth and neck! Throughout the night my thoughts were at work; was
it a false image which I had met,-the phantom of a nocturnaI dream? How then
had her aversion ceased? how did we meet in love? My (soul so) proud and (so) hum-
ble is the slave of love; her (body so) full and (so) slight is (the throne)of beauty.
In the following, he reproaches' his family and friends :
0, you (who dwell) at the junction of the two streams, if I have treated you with
rigour (7),my excuse has been already given; mistake not my (reasonfor) quitting the
place which you inhabit ; the man of noble mind is impatient under injustice.
17
i 30 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
By the same :
Didst thou suppose that I could ever turn my love away from lhoo? ( I l c it /inown to
him)who thinks it should be donc, that a thousand rrl:lr)ns arc a(;ainsl it (8).

they are extremely sentimental :

When I call to recollection the tribe which dwclls in the valloy, love kills that
heart of mine and gives it life. When I was at llakmalain (g), I lon(:cd aflcr them,
but their tents were i n the valley of Ghadhya (10); 0, how distarll wcrc tho objects of
my desire I (11)
Ibn al-Klraiylt was born a t Damascus, A . 11. h50 (A. D. 1058); Irc died there
o n the l l th Ramadin, 51 7 (A. D. 1123) : anoll~crstatenlerll., n f l ~ i chowever
l~ is
not exact, places his death on the 1 7 t h Rainadin.

(1) See note (7), page 26; and note (4),

page 33.
(2) Literally: Some water of the face which Z have kept from scliing. Thai is: I Ilavr: slill n feeling or
honour which prevents me from prostituting my talents for nloncy, ~ , r i ~ i s i run\vorll~y
~t; persons irr hopes of
being rewarded.-See note (IS), page 108.
(3) The highland of Najd in Arabia is frequenlly cclcbrated for its flowers and ll~cir ycrfume; it is
the Arcadia of the Arabic poets.
(4) Literally: 0 my two friends. See note (l),page 115.
(5) Literally: Its companion; the companion of pain or sickness .\3, is tllc cure . 5 3 .
(6) Compare this with the verses a t page 102.
(7) Literally: If my storm has borne you away.
(S) In the Arabic, the relative pronoun in can he referred to two antecedents; lho word & signilies
flight, and joined to the negative particle, necessity; thc sense of the vcrsc i s conscqnently very difficult to
determine, and the studied obscurity of ils construction induces mo 10 apprehend that I 11avc missed the ou-
thor's real meaning.
(9) Ar-Rakmatain, a valley near Mcdina, mentioned by ancient poets; a numbcr of other places in Ara-
bia bear this name.
(10) The valley of al-Ghadhya is not noticed in the biographical dictionaries of as-Soyhli, az-Znmnkhshari
and YakQt.
(ii) The meaning of the expression \a .m is given b y az-Zawzani in llis commentary on the 70th verse of
-4mro 'l-Kais's Moallaka.

Abh 'l-Fad1 Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ahrnad 1bn Ibrahim al-Maid&
native of hisipfir, was an eminent literary man and a learned philologer-
 BIOGRAPEIICAL DICTIONARY. 131

He was the favourite pupil of AbG 'I-Hasan al-Wibidi, author of the cornmen-
ary on the Koran; he then studied under other masters and acquired a solid
knowledge of the Arabic language, particlilarly philology and (the histoy of) the
proverbs current among the Arabs of the desert. He composed on the subject
a number of instructive works, amongst otfiers the Book of Proverbs (4) which
bears his narut, and to which no other similar work can be compared. He wrote
also the h7itdb as-Sdmi j 'I-Asiinli (Book of him w12o aspires ofter the signi-
lfcation of proper Names), a good treatise of its kind. He had learned by heart
and taught (a portiort of) the Traditions ; and the following verses, which I
believe are his own, were often recited by him:
A hoary dawn broke upon the night of my cheeks, and I said : "It may perhaps be
satisfied with (turning white) my beard." But as it still spread, I reproached it and
it answered: "Hast thou ever seen a dawn which was not followed by day?"

He died at Naishpdr, on Wednesday, 25th Ramadin, A. H. 51 8 (A. D. 1124),

and was buried at the Gate of Maidin Zi$d (HQpodrome of Zictd). This
Maidbrt was named after Ziid Ibn Abd ar-Rahmin, and is one of the quarters
of Naisipfir: from it is derived the surname Maiddni.-Al-Maidini had a son 68
called Abii Saad Said, who was distinguished for his talents and piety; he wrote
a work, entitled aZ-Isnzn' j 'I-Asmn' (Attainment of the signzjication of proper
Names), and died A. H. 539 (A. D. 1144-5.)

(i)Professor Freytag, of Bonn, has just published a Latin translation of this useful work.

LBN AL-KHAZIN.

A.bG '&Fad1 Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn al-Fad1 Ibn Abd al-KGlik, SUP
named Ibn al-Khizin (son of the treasurer), came of a family whichinhabited
Dainaur, but he himself was born and died at Baghdad. This Utib (l) and
poet w3s a man of merit, and wrote the fairest hand of any in his time; he was
father (2) to the celebrated kit& Abfi 'l-Fath Nasr AM, who transcribed re-
peatedly the Mak61nas (of Harin'), which copies are still cant, and who col-
lected his fatha's pwms into a D i w h :h s e poems a& g& the verses be'-
 IBN ICIIALLIKAN'S
lvell turned and the thoughts fine ; as, for ins18ancr, IIW 1'0~10\vi[l!;, whiclr contain
;I very original idea :
He who acts uprightly is disappointed ill his wishes, arid 110 who ncls c:r(wkedlyis
successful (3)and attains his end. See the lellcr {rlif ( I ) , il hdd ilsoIF 111) slraiight, and
missed gaining the diacritical point, which the noun ( J )oblaincd by ils r ~ . o o k c d o c ~ ~ .

By the same
Who will bring me that brunette whom (her jeelous relations) I~nvc, sllrrounded
with (lances) like to her in colour (Id, slenderness, and flexibility. llcr lovrr should put
on a double breastplate of patience, so as to face thc point of Lho spcar :~ntlwatch when
the eyes (of her guardians) yield to slumber. The wine of yool,l~cnl1si.s 1101. 10 faultor
(in her gait) ; it is not the breath of the zephyr (uhich lrends Ihtct /lrjrrrer.) ; s l ~ cis drunk
(with youth), and I am doubly drunk with love. My rgcs are as a Iioadsl.ronfi,spirited
courser; when I slack their bridle, they bear me i11l.otroul)Ie.

By the same :
O fthou who knowest all secrets; thou knowcst what fccbla resistance 1 can offer to
the deceitful blandishment of her beauty l Let then my lovo For her (lose its [orcc and)
languish as her eyes! Let my consolation for hcr (loss) be as porfc:cc:l as hor beauty.
The weight of mountains is less than what I bear on my hsarl al'fliclcd by 1110 pains of
love.

The fohotving verses were written by him to h b b 'l-Kasirn nl-Allwdri, a pby-

sician who had hurt him in letting blood:
God pity the overthrown! Those whom your hands wound are nlanglcd by a lan-
cet (5). You come upon your bands (of patients) with bandages, vhich you spread out
and fold on one arm and another (G). You bleed them? by Allah ! you mangle them;
stabbing with the point of your well-aimed weapons. Is that a lanccl-case or a quivor
of arrows? or is it (the sword) ZG '1-FakAr borne by the corpulent bald-head ( A l i ) (7)?
Woe be to me ! if I meet thee after this, thou stern-faccd Antar, unless T wear a cui-
rass (8).

Another day, this physician, having Abd 'l-Fad1 For guest, treated him with
great attention and had him conducted to the garden and bath belonging to the
house; on this occasion, the poet composed these verses :

69 I visited a dwelling where I met no door-keeper but received mo with smiles.

The pleasure which appeared in the countenance of the servant was a harbinger of
the kindest reception from the master (9). 1entered his garden and I visited his bath ;
and gave grateful thanks to the kindness of their owner (10).

1 have since found that the kitib ImPd ad-din, in his Kharfda, at tributes the
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 133
peceding verses to a physician of Ispahan, named Abii 'l-Kasim tlitat Allah
Ibn al-Husain Ibn Ali al-Ahwizi, who, he says, died some years later than A. H.
550 (A. D. 115 5 ) : he gives the same lines also in the life of Ibn al-Khhzin, so it
is diacult to decide whicll is the author.-We extract also the following passage
from the poetry of I b i ~al-Khlzin:
( I loced) a slender-waisted (nymph), whose language showed that she was an Arab,
but whose seducing looks were Indian (11). I sipped the cap of patience till I stole
from her guardians an hour of interview, sweeter than honey. I softened her paternal
and maternal uncles, a jealous one excepted, that was on her cheek (12), and resem-
bled a drop of (black)musk deposed on the (red)flower of the pomegranate ; i t seemed
to me as if a violet were growing in a rose.

By the same :
Thy image came to visit me, and my eyes stole an instant of hurried slumber unper-
ceived by the spies who watched me (11). My lips had not as yet finished kissing the
yielding (beauty);my hands had scarcely pressed the (clrarms)confided (to them), when
I fancied that ( m y enemies) perceived (me), and that they all said: Be had not slept were
he not visited by her image (14).-Then (the pleasing phantom) fled away and va-
nished ; and (when present, the light of its beauty) made me think the morning risen,
though it had not yet appeared.

The greater portion of his poetry contains fine thoughts (1 5). He died in
the month of Safar, A. H. 51 8 (A. D. 1124), at the age of 47 years ; the hifiz
Ibn al-Jawzi says, however, in his filuntazim, that his death took place in 512.
His son Abi 'l-Fath Nasr Allah was still alive in the year 575 (A. D. 1179),
but I have not been able to learn the date of his death.

(1)See page 26, note (7).

(2) In the printed Arabic text, the conjunction is misplaced; it should precede the 9,
not follow it.
(3) Read >!X..in the
& printed text.
(4)The spears of the ancient Arabs were made of a sort of yellow cane with knots at intervals (bamboo?\,
and are frequently named the yellow or brown (mmr) in the metaphorical language of the poets.
(8) This verse and the following contain some double meanings and puns whieb no translation eau preserve-
(6) This verse has also the following meaning: You come upon the bands with bands whhh v d a d out
and s n r o m d (the enemy, attacking him) hand to h a d .
(7) See the description of the lihalif Ali's personal appearance in Abh 'l-Fada's Annals, t. I, p. 339. Mu-
bammad gave him the celebrated sword Zu 'l-Fakh.
(8) This physician, i t would appear, shed as much blood as the famous warrior h t a r a of the tribe of Abs
f d b s i ; which word seems also to mean here stern-looking). In these burlesque verses is found the vulgar
pronunciation Antar for k t a r a .
 134 IBN KRALLIKAN'S
(9) Literally: Tha advances of politeness o n tlhc face of lhc maslcr.
(10) This verse is designed to bear a double rncanii~g,and nlny b i ~ 1 l i r . Y : I c ~ ~ c l~l iI ~1)lfrndiSc,
~II and I visited
his hell; and thanked Ridwin ((he angel who kcaven) illld lllc irilldlll'ss or Mdlilc (lho a ? i ~ e ~l / i ~ g
hell.)
(11) That is: They wounded like swords made of Indian slcol.
(12) The same word which in Arabic mcons malcrnal uncle sigllifics ills0 mole, bc(lul?/-spot; this offered
loo fair an opportunity for quibbling to bc ncglcclcd by t l ~ cIi~lcrArohic [)arts.
I S , OT course jcnlous $pics
(13) See note (3), page 116; it has been said that the lovcrs mcl in Il~cir~ ~ C : I N and
would endeavour to prevent the lover from sleeping, when thcy had t~inlill their power.---Whnb is tiere lmns-
lated by hurried slumber, signifies literally the slumber of tlie fearful.
(14) A true lover should never sleep but to dream of his beloved.
(15) We may judge from the verses just translated whal wcre considered as fine thouglits by Ibn Khal]fign
md his contemporaries.

NASIH AD-DIN AL-ARRAJANI.

AbB Bakr Ahmad Ibn Muhammrd Ibn al-IIusain al-Arr~jini,surnarncd Nisih

ad-din (friend of religion), was kadi of Tustar and Askar Multram, and com-
posed some extremely beautiful and charming poet*ry. Menlion is made of him
by the kitib Imid ad-din in his Kharida: In ~ l l cprime OS life," says he,
al-Arragini was in the Nizimiya Collcge at Ispalran ; (the Jow ?f) his poetry
commenced some years later than A. B. 4.50 (A. D. 1087), al~outthe period
" of NizBm al-Molk's death, and continued till the end of his life, in the year
544 (A. D. 1 14.9): he did not cease acting as dcpuiy to the kidi or Askar Muk-
" ram, and was highly honoured and respected. Ilis poetry is ercat in quan-
" tity, and the collected portion is not the tenth part of what hc composed.
a Having gone to Askar Mukram in the year 540 (A. D. 11!S.), I met there his
son Wuhammad Rais ad-din, who read over with me several tinics a large
" q~iire full of his Father's verses. Arrajin was the native soil of his family tree,
'' and Askar ~ u k r a min Khdzestan the dwelling place of his kindred : though a
70 Persian by birth, he drew his origin from the Arabs; the allcient stock from
which he sprung were the Ansrirl (l ), ( a noble extraction) the like of
was never offered by past ages; and he was descended from the tribe of Aus
" and the branch of Khazraj ; in speech he was a Koss (2) and an Iy$d (3) j in

" writing, a Persian and ( j r s d ) horseman in its hippodrome; in judgment, he

 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 135
was a Solomon, and one of those sons of Persia who reached the highest
p i n t of knowledge (4); he united beauty, in external form, to sweetness ill thtb
" pprfklme (d character)." 1 learn from his collected poetical norts
that he was kjdi's deputy in Khuzestdn; acting sometimes at Tustar, other times
at Askat. nlilftranl, the kadi of which, Nasr addirk Abh Muhammad Abd al-Kifiir
Ibn PlIuliarnn-rad, he replaced a t one period, and at another later, Imid addiri
-4bA 'I-Ali fiaji; upon this he composed these lines:
That l should act as deputy in such a profession is one of the turns of Fortune. It
is a wonder that I can have patience to endure such wondrous changes.

Being both jurisconsult and poet, he alluded to this in the following verses :
1 am without contradiction the most poetic doctor of the age, or (at least) the most
learned doctor among poets. When I utter verses, people inscribe them (in their me-
mory) with natural facility, without the trouble of repetition (5). Like a voice in the
shade of mountains, when (my poetry) strikes the ear, it awakens the answer of the echo.

By the same :
Though you be a man of good counsel, ask advice from others on the day in which
evil fortune befals you. With the eye, you can distinguish far and near, but it you
cannot see without a mirror.

By the same :
I never roamed through distant regions wilhout making you (my generous putron!)
the special object of my search. hly efforts to meet you were earnest'? but the only
favour you procured me was the persecutions of misfortune. I still draw towards you,
though I turn my hce away, and my motions are as those of the stars (6). I go to-
wards the far East that I may find you, though my apparent direction is towards the
West.
The following versrs were written by him to a man in authority, reproaching
him for not asking for him after a period of separation :
0 my friend, I offer my life in ransom for thine! 0 thon whom it is my duty to love I
why hast thou not reproached me for my neglect? To-day I complain of thy neglect
and reproach thee. A proof that thon art tired of me is that I have been &sent for
some days and none came to inquire for me. When thou seest the slave run away un-
pursued, (kaozoj that it is the master who runs away from h i .

By the same, containing a singularly original thought:

When none had pity on my snfirings, my fleeting image which Pisited the slumbers
of my mistress p), arid vhi& I in my thinness rwmbled, had compassion on me. It
7% yielded me secretly its place, and 1 vcnt that night to visit my brlovod, ultho though!
she saw me in a dream (not in rralilg). So we passod n nigllt lo[;olllor arhp(4rceivod;
I being awake under her eyelids, and she, aslecp.

h one of his knsiilas is found thc following vcLrpsc

:

Look at that (chorning)mole (8) hclow her nock, and lrnrn how 1rc:rssre~are hid
in secret corners.
By the same :
Canesco et amicus pubescit; reliqui illum et ille ma rclic~nil;q t ~ ~int l mc! nigcr erat
(scil. barba) album facturn est, et quod in ill0 album (scil. yen(&)oral, rii(;rum.

By the same :
(The lover) asked the groves where was his bolovod; ho honrkonod to obtain an
answer from the echo, but it only repeated his words, " \.lrlra~*o,"
said he, does she
now sojourn?" It answered: Where does she now sojourn (9)?11

By the same :
IF I knew not what I now know, my ignorance woultl eivo ma as much t~iippinossas
my knowledge gives mc grief. Thus the sparrow rangcs unconiinctl and foods in the
gardens, whilst the nightingale is imprisoned for ils talent of song.

Another poet has thus expressed thc samc idea :

The woes and evils of the world visit mcn of talent alone; so lho only birds deprived
of freedom are those which possess a tuneful voice.

The idea is similar to that which is contained irl the following verse, taken
from a long poem of Abb Ishak al-Ghazzi, whose life has beer1 already given (see
page 35) :
My talents, no doubt, have done me harm; the aloes-wood is burnod for its sweet
perfume.
W e shall confine ourselves to the foregoing extracts, as the fear of being
prolix hinders us from givingpne of his long kasfdadas.-ll; tlle samc (10) :
I love the man whose face is fair towards his friend and rhose hoart is froe from
guile: despite all dangers, his friendship will endurc; and tell WO, does every man's
friendship endure ?

As this second verse, which can be read backwards (in the original Arabic),
is to be found in the poetical works of al-Ghazzi, we are unable decide which
 BIOGRAPHICAI, DICTIONARY. 137

of these two poets composed it.-AI-Arraj h i ' s verses abound in pretty thoughts,
and have been collected in a separate volume. He was born A. H. 460 (A. D.
4 067-8); died in the month of the first Ribi, A. H. 54.4 (A. D. 1149), at the city
of Tostar, or at Askar hlukram according to another relation .-ln~zjrini means 79
belo,,ging to Armajdrl, which is one of the district,^ of al-AhwBz in Khozestan;
most pt3rsons say that the name of this place is written with a single r , and it is
thus that al-blutanabbi gives it in the following verse :
To Arjan, my rapid steeds I Such is my firm resolution, which leaves the hostile
spears broken behind it.

Al-Jawhari, however, in his dictionary the Sahiih, and al-IiLzimi in his Syno-
nymes, state that this name takes a double r.- Tostar, called vulgarly Shushter,
is a well-known city in Khuzestan.-Askar Mukram (the camp of M u k r m ) ;
people d i L r respecting this Mukram, but most of the well-informed say that
he was brother to Mutraf Ibn Sfdhn Ibn Akila Ibn Zikwin Ibn Habbin Ibn
al-Kharzak Ihn Ghailhn Ibn fIhwa Ibn RiIaan Ibn Malik Ibn Aasar Ibn Saad Ibn
Kais lbn Gtlailhn Ibn Mudar Ibn Niz%rIbn Maad Ibn AdnBn: such is the genea-
logy which I have extracted from Ibn al-Kalhi's Janrharat; the name of HBhila is
not, however, in this list (l l),
though the Mukram above-mentioned is said to be
descended from Bihila and from l-Iiwa; God knows best the truth ! Others say
that this Mukram was descended from Joiina al-Airniri ; and some again state
that he was freedman to 81-Hajjij Ibn Yfisuf ai-Thakafi, who posted himin that
place for the purpose of waging war against Khurzid Ibn Biris (1 2), and for this
reason it was called after him. -Kkuzestan is an extensive region between Basra
and (~lzeprovince of) Firis.

(1) AnsArs (aiders); name given to the people of Medlna, who lent assistance to Uuhammad when expelIed
from Melilia.
(2) Koss was a bishop of Najrhn in Arabia Felix ; he lived some years before the introduction of Islamism,
and was celebrated for his eloquence.-See De Sacy's H a r i r i , page 276.
(3) Iyad was the third in descent from AdnAn, whose eloquence was proverbial; his talent was inherited
by his descendants, of whom Koss was one.
,B) Literally : Who attained the knowledge su&ended to ths PIeiades.
(5) Such appears to be the meaning of the word rkl! in this verse. The expression d 2! (to
lecture) has been already noticed, page 92, note (1).
(6) He alludes to the retrograde motion of the planets.
48
138 IBN KHALCIJC AN'S
may u n d a s t a n d this liltle piece, i t i s Tlcecrsary l0 rcl)Cnt ll('rc ollc tllc
(7) ~h the~ t
idea held b y Amhic poels rcsprcli~t$dnarnr. ( S l I ) I 1 l . l'lley
made on the
fancy that the lover sees the image of his mistrrss it1 11 clrci~rll. 11(1t:illl~~ 111% is i l u : l l l J \ilill'd 111 11 [)ltilnbm

which she herself sends to him. The lover Loo serlds Itis illlng1! I0 glitlt~1 l l l t l ~ ' l ' fllr fb)c-lillsof 1li.i l~Clovc.(l,wh(l
then dreams of him. Here the lover was SO ~ ~ l t ! l t u ; l ll.ll111
~ ( ~ ,IIC10111((.tl13 [)Ill('(' Or l l i ~OH11 ill~llg(~, \ \ l t i ~ Iv~f i q

complacently gave it u p to him.

(8)See note (g), page 33.
(Q) Literally: where is Ihe place i n whiclr site has token the bn$qnqe r l / T her ~O??lfl~.--'l'h~! ~V'!IO alrowa, by

its answer, that it was as equally desirous as the lover of kr~owing\~itt!l.c: I l ~ aIlc*ll~vrti1llc.11 rc:sidctl, n ~ t dconp0-
quently could give him no information.
(10) It is evident that this has been inserted later, and in the wrong plnre 111~0. hlarty c+rnrr~l)lc:~ of sinlilar
inattention will be pointed out in the course of the work.
(41) In the life of Kutaiba I b r ~Muslim, the author slrlcs f i ~ rwhal rrosolr Iltt* 11ntttc of' IlAl~ilit is S I I ~ ~ I T C ~ S C ~
in the genealogical list remounting from Maan to Adniln.
(12) Such also is the account given by AbCl 'l-Fadh ia his (ieogri~l)l~y, Irrtp: 310 t r l 1.111:Arnl,ic. t c l i ; ibc
adversary with whom Mukram had to contend is thcre cnllctl Jfhurddtl, h111Il~rtlil~itllilrfi~~ writvs ~ I I ( : rjnrrl~in
the same manner as thc excellent historian, at-Thabari. This cnrnpuiur~war; ~t)ntIc!A. 1 I . 03, ant1 iln eccoulli
of it is given in Major Price's Retrospect of Multamrnadun Kfirlo~y,vol. I , ItnKo 47'2.

IBN MUNIR AT-TARABOLUSJ .

Abh 'l-Husain Ahmad Ibn Munir Ibn Ahmad Ibn Muflih at-'I';irll)olosi (nnrive
of Ttipoli in Syria), surnamed Muhaddib ad-d in (E117 brlCher (f Iirligion),
Ain aaZamin (Eye of Time), was a poet of considcr;lbIe i*rlel,rmi[ y, and his
collected poetical works are still extant : his failler n:ci[cxl 1)octry :)ncl sung
in the market-places of Tripoli. The son, as lrc gnw lip, I C ~ I R ~ Nthe ~
Koran by heart, and, after studying philology and l i(wa([m!, rnir~mcnced
reciting verses of his own; he then went to Damascus ;nld s c i ~ l ~ill(8re;
~ l (in
religion) he was a RHGdi ( l ) . The number of his salirm ;md tllc! callsricily
of his language were so excessive, that BBri, son to the atillck Toglrtikin and
prince of Damascus, imprisoned him for some time and intended to havt: his
tongue cut out, but being interceded with, he conscntcd to l~anishllim.
T'vlunir held a correspondence with Ibn al-Kaisarlni, in whic]l these two poeb
attacked each other; for they were both residents of Baghdad, and eacll jealous
of *he other, as generally bappens with persons who follow the same kssion .
In one of Ibn Munir's kasidas, are found tllese yeyes :
I
 DIOGRAPEIICAL DICTIONARY. 139

, When a man of noble mind perceives that he is neglected(2), his resolution should
be, to depart for another land* Thus the moon, byhen waned away, strives to attain to
its full, and succeeds by changing its place. Shame on your wisdom (3)1 if you
consent to drink of a troubled source (S) when the bounty of God fills the very de-
serts. 1)uring the course of your life, you sat (in iistless idleness) and rivalled your
camels in indolence; why not take them, and pry into the secrets of the desert (S)?
llepart and you shall gain lustre, like the sword which, when drawn, shows on each
side of its blade the ornaments which were hidden by the scabbard. When life for-
sakes the body, count it not death; the only death is to live in humiliation. Devote your
life to the deserts, not to poverty! As long as God permits you to live, let it suffice
you to deserve his favour. Despise the vileness of fortune's gifts, when they draw near 75
to you ; (remainnot in inglorious ease,) but be as the phantom of a vision which ap-
pears and departs. Fly, even during the noontide fires (G), from those on whom you
rained honey, and who reaped for you colocyn th. Fly the deceitful wretch ih whose
(heart)the plantations of friendship are badly rooted, and who, if you show him sin-
cerity, will misinterpret (yourconduct). Ah, how well I know the world and its peo-
ple l with them it is a crime for merit to be perfect. They are formed in Nature's basest
mould ; the best of them, if I say a word, will repeat it; and if I keep silence, will re-
port to others what I never said. When Fortune thinks to cast me down, my haughty
spirit bears me up even to the stars. I impress upon my mind the discourse of g a v e
events, though it be darkly uttered; I tend my camels, but I fatigue them also on the
failure OF herbage (7). (The) declaration (which I malce G plain and clear) as the
light of morning; then follows a firm resolution which executes (my will),as the edge
of the s\vord slays the victim which it encounters.

One of his best pieces is the kasl"dn which begins with lhese verses:

Who has placed the moon on the point of that spear? Who has imbued with subtle
magic the edge of that (sword)of Yemen (S)? Who has sent down the highest luminary
to a sphere circumscribed by the folds of a tunic from Khosrowan ( g ) ? Is that a
glancing eye or a scabbard from which a sharp sword comes forth? 1s that a young
beauty whose waist, as she walks, bends gracefully from side to side? or is it rather the
elastic motion of a pliant lance? She has subdued me, I who before was so proud;
love makes the lion slave of the covert-seeking gazelle.

From the same poem :

Is it not liquid musk which drops from her locks upon the summit of that pliant reed
(her body)? What intoxicating draughts of love, what pearl-like teeth are in the covert
hrmed by those lips of coral ! Were the moon, when shining in full lustre, asked whom
she envied, she would reply: Such a one's daughter (10). She has vanquished me by
the variety of her perfections ; (charms)which consist in the sound of her voice and
the aspect of her form, the haughty port of the Persian (111, the voluptuousness of
Syria, glances like those of the maids of Irak, and language (sweet as that).spoken in
HijAz Wine is not more dangerous for the reason than is the pure eloquence of the
desert, uttered with a Turkish pronunciation.

By the same:
 %It5 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
Her eyes denied having shed my (I~mrt's)blood; bt~tshe ilcl(l 11p hsr hcnd (12), and
then they aeknowledgcd their guilt. Do no1 S I I ~ ~ O SL~I:IL
C Lllr rll()](:llp(lll her check is
a tear of blood, shed by my eyes; it was n bur~lin(;ari1101' Lhv [if'('r l l i ( . t l consumed
my heart; and on being plunged into (the gzrldiap s u b s l ( ~ n ~O c[ ) lll'r i:ln:ek, i t was ex-
tinguished, and then rose to the surlaec.

In one of his kasidas are found these lines :

Speak not harshly to me, for the marks of your displcasnrc, aro alrondy s~~fficiently
manifest. 0, my mistress! where are those smiles which arc? now rcplaccd by frowns?

I found the anecdote which follows in the hantlwritinc of t.llc shaikh Abd
74 al-Azim al-Mundiri (l 3): ' c I was told by Ab<i 'l-Mnjd, hi(1iof S ~ ~ n n i d(lPh), that
there were in Syria two poets, Ibn Munir and ibn nl-l(nisnr31li, tllc former of
'' whom used to taunt the latter (~vithbeing so unlucky) that hc: Ilcav(!r nccom-
'' panied any one without that person's meeting with ill fortonc ; it lmppcned,
" however, that a musician sung these verses to tile atjlrck Imid ad-tlin Zinki,

" prince of Syria, who was then besieging the castlc of .labar (kakzl JllLm-)(15):
'What woe I suffer from that coy and lroward nymph, when vilc informcru repeat to
' her tales completely false. I salute hcr, and she turns away; curvini: har arched
' eyebrows (into a frown), as if I werc a wine-cup, and shc slill suficring from its
' effects .'
'<Zinkiapplauded the verses and asked who was the author; and on learning
" that they were composed by ibn Munir, who was then at, Alepoo, he wrote
a to the governor of that place with orders to send him the poet with all speed.

The very night ibn Munir arrived (at the camp), the ntibek Z i ~ l k iwas mur-
'' dered"-(we shall give the details of this event in his life). "On his death,
'' Asad ad-din Shirkiih, prince of Emessa, took NBr ad-din Mabmbd, son to
'L Zinki, and, putting himself at the head of the Syrian troops, returned to
" Aleppo, while Zain ad-din Ali, father (l 6) to MuzaNar ad-din, prince of Arbela,

" took the command of the troops belonging to the provinces cast (of Syria),
" and went back with them to Mosul, where he joined Saif ad-din Ghiri,
'' (another) son to Zinki, and made him master of Mosul. Ibn Munir went
'' hack to Aleppo along with the army, and was accosted in these terms by
" al-Kaisarhni: 'Take that for all with which you flouted me.' "-This same
Ibn al-Kaisariui composed the following lines on Ibn Mu&, who had reviled
him in a satire :
 Ibn Munir! in reviling me, you have insulted a man of learning, who, by thc recti-
tude of his judgment, was beneficial to mankind. Rut my heart is not oppressed for
that; I have before me the model offered to the companions of Muhammad (IT).

Ibn Munir's poetry is eminently refined; he was born at Tripoli, A. H. 473

(1. D. I 0 0 - 1 ) ; and died in the month of the latter Jumida, 548 (September,
A. D. 1153), and was buried near the chapel at Mount Jaushan (18). I visited
his tomb and found these verses inscribed on it :

Let him who visits my tomb be assured that he shall meet with what I have met
with. May God have mercy on him who visits me (here) and says to me : 'May God
have mercy on thee 1'

His life is given by the hiXz Ibn Aslkir in his History of Damascus, who there
says : Al-Khadb as-Sndid (the nGle preacher) Abii Muhammad Abd al-KChir
Ibn AM al-Aziz, preacher at ITarnPh, relates as follows : '' A fier the death of
" Ibn Munir the poet, I saw him in a dream(I 9); I was on a lofty hill in a garden,
" and I asked him how lie was and told him to come up to me,' and he replied:
s6 I cannot, by reason of my breath ;' on which I said : 'Hast thou drunk wine 2'
'' 'Something worse than wine, 0 khatib!' he replied. 'What is it?' said I.
'' 'Dost thou know?' said he, ' what befel me on account of those poems in which
" I reviled people?' ' What befel thee?' 'My tongue,' he replied, 'swelled and
" lengthened out as far as sigtrt could reach, and each poem recited with it be-

" came a dog which clung to it.' I saw that he was barefooted and that his
'' clothes were completely worn out, and I heard a voice over him repeat. these
words : Over them shall be coverings of $re, and under then2 s?tall be floors
'' of $re (20). I then awoke in terror."-I have since found in the Diwn"n of
AbG 'l-Hakam Obaid Allah (whose life I intend to give), that Ibn Munir died
at Damascus, A. H. 547 (A. D. 1152); AbB '1-Hakam having composed some 75
elegiac verses on his death, which show that he died in that city. From
among those verses we shall quote the following, which are written in the usual
ludicrous style of the author :

They bore him along upon the bier, and washed his corpse on the bank of the river
fiallht; they warmed the water in a well-tinned cauldron, under wlrichtheg lit sticks of
oak.

In admitting the exactness of the fact (mentioned in these verses), we shall be

i E2 IBN ICH ALLIICAN'S
obliged to combine it with the statement already given, : i d sllpposr. that, he
died at Damascus and was then carried to Aloppo for 1)liri;ll ('11 ) . - 7'ri/,oii is a
city of Syria, situated on the sea-coast and l y i ~ l ( ; IN:W R;\Il)l1k. 1 1 1 1 1 1 yfb;lr
~ 503
(A.D. 1l o g ) , it was takcn by the Franks Rorri ils poss(*sx)~., Al)it Ali Arrl~nir
Muhammad Ibn Ammir, after a siege or seven yci~rs: tllc 11isWr.yof' ihis event is
too long to relate.

(1) The word Rdfldi (heretic) is generally made use of by tllc Sunnilfis to tiewi~natoa follownr or Shiitem
doctrines. The kitib ImAd ad-din says, in his Illrarlda, (ills.of thc: Jlil). (Lqr Iloi, No. i d l h , fol. l),lhnl Ibn
Munir professed the most exaggerated Shiite prineiplcs, wl~ilsl.his rival, Ibn 111-Kt~isnrnrli,wns 11 tlrvoirt Srrn-
nite.-For the origin of the Rbfidis, sec De Sacy's Expos6 dc la Ncligior~des 1)ru:tia. ~ Q I I I ,I . 11. 48, introd.
1
(2) Literally: Perceives that obscureness is become tlte guest of his durollin~l.
(3) Literally: Folly to your wisdom!
(4) To drink o f a troubled source; that is, to live dependent or1 n monn pntrorr, who troubles tho plansure
his gifts might create, by saying how ill they arc dcscrvcd.
(8) These verses contain a number of vcrbal quibhlcs, to which thc author in fiornc! c a m 1108 ~ocrifircdgood
taste; here, for instance, he has adopted a gross and ridiculous mctnpiior, pudiculos cienari (fula) i n j.ubc~
deserti (fala).
(6) Literally: Join to the ardent noon /light from those, etc.
(7) The meaning of the poet appears to be, that whcn his camel8 son no longer lind nourishment, hc ro-
moves mith them to some distant and more fcrtilc spol. This, howcver, 8cer11e i o be only n rnctaphor, by
which he wishes to imply that if his talents are ncglcctcd in one country, ho trnvcltl to artothcr.
(8) This verse signifies in plainer language: Who has united tlirt hnnutco~~s courrlorranco to n grnceful
body pliant as a Iance? Who has imbued with subtle magic tho glances o r thnl na~ivfio f Y c n ~ o r ~ ?
(9) The poet is so dazzled by the beauty of his mistress, that he takes llor for tho ~ u n .
(10) Daughter ; the reason for so translating Lhc Arabic word may bo learnad froru ills obacrvnLion8
made i n the introduction.
(11) The ancient poets sometimes allude to thc proud and stately gait of the I'arsians; soo Viwbvr d'dmro
'l-Kais, page 46, line 5 of the Arabic text.
(12) Literally: Her cheeks.
(13) See note (7), page 46.
(14) Suwaida is situated at the mouth of the Orontes.
(18) See the life of Imhd ad-d!n Zinki.
(16) In the Arabic text, the word db is incorrectly printed d.,
(17) This alludes to the following passage of the Koran: "You hove in tho Apostle of God an c i c ~ l l ~ n t
" example, unto him who hopeth in God and the last day, and rememberath God froquontly." Bee aural 33.
verse 21.
(LW According to the author of the Marhid al-Zttila, Jaushln is a hill ocar Alepyo.
(19) See note (7),page 46.
120) See Koran, surat 39, verse 18.
(21) The author has already stated that Ibn Munir was buried a t Jaushm, a hill near Alcppa, b u t he con-
 BIOGRAPHICAL DlCTIONARY. 9h3
~ludesfrom the verses just cited that lie died at Damascus, since the funeral ablutions were performed on the
body near the river Kallht: This rivcr must then be close to Damascus, yet none of thc Arahie geographers
have mentioned it, nor is it noticed by any of the European travellers whose works I have consulted.

AL-KADI AR-RASMID ABU 'L-HUSAIN.

Al-KBdi ar-Rashid (the well-guided h&&) AbG 'l-Husain Ahmad, son of

al-Kidi ar-Rashid Abfi 'l-Hasan Ali, son of al-K&diar-Rashid AbA Ishak Ibrahim
Ihn Muhammad Ibn al-l-Iusain Ibn az-Zubair al-Ghassini (of the tribe of Ghns-
srin) al-0sw5ni (native of Sy&ne): this kidi belonged to an honourable and
influential fdmily; he is author of a work called Kildb nl-Jindn, etc., containing
notices on a number of eminent men of talent (I ) ; his poetical works form a vo-
lume, and those of his brother the ltidi al-Muhaddib Abil Mullammad al-Hasan
have also been collected into a volume : they were both good writers in prose
and verse. The following lines, from a beautiful kasfdn: by al-Muhaddib, con-
tain an elegant and original idea:
See the milky way among the stars; it resembles a swollen stream watering mea-
dows. Were it not a river, the coristellations of the Fish and the Crab had never swum
in it.

From another kasida hy the same author:

I have no thirst for any other water but the Rile's,-not even-God pardon me!-for
that of Zamzam (2).

The writings of this poet abound in fine thoughts; he commenced making

verses A. H. 526, and mention is made of him by the k%tibImid ad-din in his
Sail w a 't-Zail. He possessed a greater talent for poetry than his brother
ar-Rashid, but was his inferior in all other sciences. He died at Cairo in the -nth
of Rajlb, 561 (May, A. D. 1166). As for the kPdi ar-Rashid, he is spoken of in
these terms by Abh 't-TBhir as-Silafi in one of his talikas (3): '' In the year
" 559 (A. D. 1163-4) he was named, against his will, inspector OF the govern-
'. ment offices at Alexandria ; and in the month of Muharram, 563 (October,
" 11671, he was put to death unjustly thr0ug.b: the 'malice -of his enemies."
 IBN ICHALLIKhN'S

The E t i b imid speaks of him also in lhc S(til trim ' z - % l ~ i l , or ~ l ~ p ~ l ~ -

merit to his KILarfda: "This over~flowingo r o : ~ ~ ~S,i l"v S Il(', ' l lllis suOl!rn spa
18 ( 1 has been by m e in the ](/~(~,ib, \ \ ~ I I ( ~ w I Iink'v ;iIsl) 1n:lrlfb 111(~1ktiorl
hiS brother al-i\luhaddib; in the year 56:I I l l b Wits 1 1 1 1 1 to ( i ( *(11 ~ I~II,~IISII~
SGnir for leaningtowards the parly of Asiid i~d-dill S l i i ~ , l \ i l l ~ . I I(' \ v ; ~ Ibi;ick s
in &in, and lord o f t o ~ n ( 4 . ) ;he was 1\11> l)('albI(IT IIU* :I/;(' 1ii.; I\ r l ~ w l a ] ~ ~
of geometry, of the exact sciences, and ol' illrls(: \~lli(*llill.(:(.OIIIII*I.I(*II \vitll tile
study of the law a n d of poetry. T h c emir Adnd : ~ d - d i ~AllA l 'I-l';i\riris
" haf Ibn Osima Ibn hlunkid (5) recited to rrmc sollic: i)o(:l~ls] b y t liis i ~ ~ ~ l l iand (lr,

" among others, the following, which he says IIV Iit~srclf'u)111liis orv11 I I I O I ~ :I ~ ~

1' 'The woes which afflict meare great, but m y courngc! also itc (;rc*at; :1ntl whitt harm
' can polishing cause to the cutting steel? (ujhrrt harm con tlte rubs of rltltlcrxil!y c10 me?)
The vicissitudes of fortune, the changcs it bsin~snbou t run y i\Il(tr tllc* I I rl~lo
~ (sl~ilra~lor
of others, but cannot alter minc. Did firo cunsarno thu rul~y,t h c b rrtl~yIlrcn wrtro ns
' a common stone. Let not the worlhlcss rags which cover ai(?cl~*c.c+~vcr y o u ; t h y aro
the shell which encloses a pearl. Think not, wl~clritllc h1ar.s :IIT Ilitlti~*rr,Ihill lllcir
smallness prevents them from being secn; the fa~rltmust l)o lilicl 111)otl(tlic tn~(ilcneu
o f ) your sight.'

The idea in this last verse is taken from a lorrg and wc:ll-knowr~ X.~rsi(I<~,
corn-
posed by Abb 'l-Ala 'W a a r r i , in which that poc t says :

The eye sees the stars and thinks them small, but that nrnnllnene itr t11a fault of the
eye, not of the star.

The kitib Imid a b d i n gives as this poet's ( G ) the followirlg vrraes, cornpoaed
on al-KLmil, son of (the uizit-) ShPwir :

If a man of honourable feelings does not quit iho bolovcd spot in which iln ia no
longer welcome (7)' that man has no resolution. Even did 110 lova it to ereans, hf
should know that death will tear him from it in spito of hi8 ro1ucliln~:c.

lmid ad-din relates also that he learned the following v(.rsps a t nnglldad, in
the year 554, from Muhsmmad Ibn Isa al-Yamani (81, who said that tlley had
been recited to him by al-KBdi ar-Rashid, and that they were co~llposedby him
m a person (who had deceived his expectalions) :
hough the hopes which I placed in theorere disappointed, whan I thought to have
found in thee a just man; thou hast, however, conforrrd on mo a servico, which de-
senes my gratitude wherever I may dwell; for thou hast put mo on my euard against
all my coolpanions, and taught me that no sincere hiend oris$e on crpth.
 BIOGRAPHICAL L)IC'k'HONAKY. I165

The lines which follow were written to al-K8di RI-Rlshid by alJalis ihn
al-Hab3b (I)):

By gorlr absence, our rich store of noblc decds has been impoverished, and the dwell-
ine-placc of glory is abarldoned. When you sojourrlctl with us, the dark clouds (o[
sorrow) wcre dispelled, and prosperity fi~llowcd wherever you passed. In your de-
partllre, fortune has committed n crime, which cannot be pardoned but by your
return.
Al-Kldi ar-Rashid was black in colour, and 10 this, allusion is made by
p e t and kitib Abii 'l-Fath Mahmbd Ibn KBdiis in these satirical verses:
0 thou who resembled Lokman, but not in wisdom (10); thou who hast lost thy
learning, not preserved it; thou hast stolen evcry one's verses, and mayest be called
the black thief (11).

I am induced to think that the following lines were composed on al-Kidi V7

ar-Rashid also :
If thou saycst: I was formed out of fire, and therefore surpass all mcn in intelligence,
we answer: Thou speakest truth ; but what has wasted thee away to a cinder?

Ar-Rashid, having travelled to Yemen on an embassy, pronounced verses in

honour of some of the princes in that country, and amongst others, Ali Ibn
Hjtim al-Hamdini, of whom he said :

Though Upper Egypt be sterile and its people suffer dearth, I shall not feel dearth
in the country of Kahtgn. Since thc land of MArib supplies my wants, I have no
regret for Syene. If the vile sons of Khindif know not my worth, my merit is appre-
ciated by the princes sprung from HarndAn.

These verses excited the hatred of the missionary residing a t Aden, by whom
they were transmitted in writing to the prince of Egypt, who was so highly irri-
tated by then], that he caused the author to be arrested and delivered over to
them bound and naked, after. seizing all his property (12). Ar-Rashid remained
some time in Yemen, and then returned to Egypt, where he was put to death
by ShPwir as we have already mentioned. -Ghmsdni means belonging to @has-
scin, a great branch of the tribe of al-Azd, whose watering-place was at a foun-
tain in Yemen called Ghasshn, and from which they took their name. Oscvcini
means nnlive of Oswrin (Syene), a town in Upper Egypt: as-Samini pronounces
this name AswLn, but the former is the correct pronunciation, according to .
what I have been told by the hifiz of Egypt Abd al-Azim al-lVundiri.
19
l46 IBN I C ~ I A L I ~ ~ K A N ' ~
full litle of work is rindn al-J~ndn rind (11-Adbdn: lllfll ~ ; [ ~ ~ l l ~(1111
f lbowl
~ and
of fb it contains notices poclr ~l
011 111~ l\l, li1.1 i+ i ~ f ~ l ~n l ~ . ~ ~ 10 thr
I.'attma of at-Thalilibi.
Zamiom,, in
fie precincts of tllc t ~ m ~ )of
I c Lblil~n; i tr U nkr* Ilw ~ l ~ i ) l ~ ( l *l)!~ ' l1111'
l . Mffilirnn.
to possess extraordinary virtues.
(3) See note ('3, page 55.
(4,lt is difficult to at jnlad ad-din's mcorliilg li.0111 tllrsc. uol'tlh: ill 111s r11~tllrnil'fll[Isoh(' LIP tlo6
brought in the vord balada (toron)to rhyme wilh jalolln (skirt), I'rtirrl whirl1 1 nftl ~ I I ~ ! I J ~ ' I ' ~(1)I 111111hthnt hrrc,
as in many other passages, he has sacriliced sense to SOUBII.I)(brh~~])fil~~?
hih11(%~ I SIIY
I 11111tt h 11ihIi ~ t~r-linflhid
was governor or proprietor of his native town Syene.
(8) This emir was probably son to the Oslma whosc llfc is gi\fcr~in tllix work: tile kAril) IsAtl otl-dill Nays,
in his Ehar%da (MS. NO. ,1414, fol. 117 , that he mct hirn ill Drrrr~asras,h. 11. 1571 c A. I ) . 117WI). Iin in
t h m called Adad ad-Dawlat, not Adad ad-din, as in lhe MSS. of l h a HhnllikLr~
(6)In the Arabic text, a letter has been misploccd; the true rrndlllg i8 J >),b.
(7) Literally: Which repels him.
(8) The khlib Imld ad-din states, in his Kharfda (MS. No. 1414, fol. 2l/0 wrficl). t l ~ n l .111(* 11oc~1
hl~tlinrrrrnul
Ibn Isa al-Yamani (or al-Yam-Ani as there written), come to Baghtlnd, A. H. MKO, nrltl iilri~rd111t l ~ c . Ilolixc of
a Christian physician belonging to the family called I h n b Tbrnn (lha sons o r 'l'lrontas) ; 111- 14 nu n trliin of groat
talent and an able mathematician, and profcsscd to undcnlond the A l n t c ~ ~ ~~ir~rl r l LIIP rici~*llr(*hof nef,rorlomy
nod logic. ImAd ad-dln was at that time studyii~gEuclid, and hc ltrolit~dIry tlrc* ol)p1)rl1111ity 10 l~ovnthe
difficulties of that author explained to him by al-Yamaai, bul wns soon ~ J i n ~ i ~lby ~ t~oI~I h~~lf-~~lflici~lnry
Pi and
arrogance of his master. In the ycar 880, al-Yarnhi returned 10 Iiughdnd, nflcv I r r ~ s i I,c.cw~ r ~ A ~ ) H L ~ for
I I ~ aomc
time; Irnhd ad-din had then some scientific discljssions will1 him, clficr wltit-l1 lia lost h l ~ l i of
i 11irli rind nIbver

qaw him more.

(9) The khdi AbO 'l-Maili Abd al-Aztz Ibn ol-Husain Ibn aCHnhAh nl-Aghlalri cfcfsccndnnl of tho A ~ l r l a -
bites) as-~aadi, was surnamed abJalOs (the companion) because he was admittat1 irlto ~lhoirliirriata ~ot*icty of
the prince of Egypt: hc was a man of talent and a poct. Died A. 11. tYBl (A. 1). llob-(I). (Am-RoyQli'~Ilua~i
nl-Muhddira, M S . No. 652, foE.lb0.).
(10)Lokman, so celebrated by the Arabs for his wisdom, was black.
(11) The black thief (in Arabic, al-Aswad as-Sdlikh) is the nanio of a xpocilra of vtnc,mn,ls Hcrpcnt.
(12) hi adventure is not very intelligibly related, and indcod i~, canno1 1)o pcrft!ctly ~ a ~ l o r t i t o owithout
d
laking consideration the following circumstances : Ist, Thc sultan Ali Ibrr jihtirn, pritlcc! of Snnnh (sfic
~ohaonsen'sHisto7ia Iemefice, p. 1481, was dcsccndcd from UInrndAn, orlc of tha ~)l,ntc!rityof KILJIIAII,brother
t o HimyBr; he was therefore of the purest Arabic race; adly, Khindif wul; &sca)dnol from Ifimril, rind
ronsewenbl~of habit blood ;his sons were TSbikha, XamLa, nIld Mudrikfi, from whir]l Rpruog
KOtaisb and Muhammad, from whom were desoended (according to tllcir u:cO1lnt) kilfi Fatimilp princes of
sQpt; were cOnsequeotl~sons of Ehindif, and i t is against them lllo poor 1 , c r ~ ])is sotire.
The henmentioned was the secret agent of the Fatimitc govonlmC+r15(sea noto (Q), 26).
The parsons to ar-~ashid given up wwe probably same enemiss lIC it, yemcll.
 AN-NAFIS AL-LAKMI.

A t d 'I-Abbhs Ahmad Ibn Abi 'l-Kasim Abd al-Ghani Ibn Ahmad Ibn Abd
a,--Rahrnin Ibn Khalf Ibn Muslim al-Lakhmi al-Maliki (jbZZoi.r*erof the sect c,f
,)dn'ZiX-, al-Kotrusi, surnamed an-Nafis, was a man of considerable literary at-
tainments. He is author of some good poetical pieces, which have been col-
lected into a separate volume, from which I extract the poem composed by him
in praise of the emir Shuj%ad-din (hero of religion) Jildak at-Takawi (client of
Taki ad-din), and known by the title of Wili of Damietta; the commence-
ment of this kasfda is as follows :

Say to my beloved: Thou hast prolonged thy aversion for me, and in that thou hadst
in view my death. If thou desirest that I cease to love, restore me my heart which is
in thy possession. Thou hast broken thy promises, and hast not even kept that of
sending thy image to visit me in my dreams (1). Yet I still act towards thee according
to my compact, though thou hast transgressed that which thou madest to me. 0 mouth
of the beloved! thou didst consume my heart when I tasted of thy cool source: thou
didst declare me a transgressor when I wished to obtain from thee thy honey. Dost
thou think that I can admire the (pliant)branch of the willow after having seen thy
(slender) waist? or that apples can charm my eyes after the sight of thy cheeks? Dost
thou think that thy fragrant locks can protect thee from the kisses of thy lover (2). It 78
shall not be l I swear it by Him who has made love my master, so that I have become
thy slave! 0, heart of her whose movements are full of (grace and) softness, how
hard thou art towards me! Dost thou think me insensible to love, or that I possess
such inflexible sternness as thou?

It is a beautiful poem from which this is taken, but we shall confine ourselves
to the foregoing quotation, lest this article should become too iong.-An-Nafis
travelled to many countries, visiting remarkable men and employing his poetic
talent as a means of obtaining donations from their liberality. The kitib Imid
ad-din mentions him in the Kharidu, and says that he was a doctor of the sect
of Mhlik, and had some acquaintance with the sciences of the ancients (3) and
eeneral literature : he is author of these verses :

The wealthy may rejoice on a day of festival, but the poor cannot. Can a festival
rejoice me whose garments are (as) the people of Saba? Can it give pleasure to me
while (the covering) of my head is that of Ibn Jala's.
 i48 IBN KIThT,l',IKAN'S
He means the people of Saba tiv!~ornrrr /,,,,C rr.sirrtf/Pr(1 t O t ( t l!)(.6 r o , i / ~ d
(KORkN,~ u r a 34,
t verse 18) ; Iljn Jala had no I I I I ~ ) : ~ I Iilll(l
, il ii 1 0 (lkii I\I(.

Sohain (4.) alludes i n the following V(!I*SV :

1 am Ibn Jala ; 1 am fhc surmountcr of ; W ~ I ( ? ~I I t:lk(:
o))sli~(;l(\~ OR 1 1 1 ~t111~l)fi11,you
may know me (5).

The G t i b IlnQd od-din of an-Nafi~ is his Sni/ : I I ~ ( \ S i \ v S : l ' I I t * \ Y i a orrc

of tile juriscoosulls at Misr, and I heard his e ~ i l o e i t ~ i~~ tl: t~ ( l { b Ijy :~l-lilidi 'I-l'hdil,
a to he wrote n kasida horn Mis~:"- l ostrncll irlso I hc* Ii)llowiri~;~~c~rsps
from the volume conlaining his poetical WO lbks:
0, fair traveller who scttest out, bearing awns with thov all I ~ I Y forCitt~clc!l is thoro
any means of meeting thee again? My cycs, 1hoo~;h ti~~(;c?ciwillr t(*nrtc of I)lootl, have
not done justice to thy merits ; and my heart, ihouglr c:c;rtsrlrnocl ( b y ilu ~ ) c ~ s $ i o ? c11nlf1
), not
borne thee sufficient love,
His grandfather was (also) called Kotrus ,-An-Natls ( l i d ;II, liils (in, f/pper
Egypt) on the 24th of the first Rabi, A. 11. FO:t (A. 1). {'L()(;); ho mils ;I( that
time upwards of seventy years of age.-lu/ihmi sicnifi(.s (lcsc~ertrler(/r~r,n, ~~uhllrn,
son of Adi ; the real name of Lakhm was Mblik, and Anrr was tliat 01' I t is I)rol.l~cr,
who was surnamed JudLm: thesc two lwving i.~uarrellul,AIIII*gilvcnMilik a box
on the ear (lakham),and MLlik struck Amr wit11 a k n i h ar~dcut oil' (jfrrlum)his
hand, whence the origin of their surnames.-I made li*crlu(?nl. rc.r(:a~*chcs to find
the origin of the word kotrusi, hut could discover not bin^ errlsin,orct~l)trllat
was a native of Misr ; but L have been since inhrmed by ilalk$ 'd-(1111 XuLir lhe
poet (whose lib we shall give), that this word was derived fro,rl Kotl~ts,tile name
of an-Nafis' grandfather : Bahi ad-din had becn his pupil and cx)ukl ntpcat some of
his poetry.--Abfi 'l-Muzaffar Jildok was freedmm 1.0 Taki ad-din Onlnr, prince
of' Hamlh (whose life shall be given later) : he was a man of 1)icty alld talent.
Died at Cairo the 28th Shahin, 628 (A. D. 1231), apul upwln~~dr of ai(;ll ty. Ne
had composed me poetry, and related traditions on the ao t1lorit.y of as-Silali
the hiGz and others. Among the verses quoted as his by DallB ad-die Zullair
were the following on a boy who studied geometry and astrorlomy :
79 Ille puer mathematicus, facie venusth prreditus, mihi vitam quotidio rapil at roddit.
Facies ejus genera varia pulchritudinis comprehendit, et diearcs Euclidom do eo disse-
ruisse; nam in maxilll ejus est equator (6), naevus ejus punctum rebrt, ct gcna trian-
plum.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. P S9
These lines have also been attributed to Abd Jaafar al-Alawi (7), a native of

(I) See note (7),page 138.

(2) Or more literally: Dost thou think that the myrtle of thy fragrant iz&r can protect thec against the
approach of liim who comes to quench his thirst. See Introduction.
(3) The sciences of the ancier~ts:the sciences of logic, philosophy, mathematics, etc., borrowed from tlie
tlncierlt Greeks.
(4) The poet Sohaim Ibn Wathtl ar-Ritihhi was born forly years before the introduction of Islamism ; hc died
A. H. 60 (A. D . 680).-(Ibn Duraid; quoted b y as-Soyoti in his Sharlc Shawdhid al-Mughni, MS. of the
Bib. du Roi, No. 1238, fol. 105 verso.) This is perhaps the poet who was surnamed the slave of the Bans
'l-Hashds; see note (7),pagc 20.
(5) This verse is quoted by Maidani in his Proverbs; see Freytag's edition, t. I. p. 46.
(6) The Arabs call the equinoctial line the line of equality; it here means the dark line which the beard, on
its first appearance, forms round the face.
(7) This is probably the same person who is called Abh Jaafar Muslim al-Husaini in the life of Ihn HinzAba.

ABU 'L- ABBAS AS-SABTI;

Abil 'l-Ahbiis Ahmad Ibn Hariin ar-Rashid Ibn al-Mahdi Ibn al-Manshr al-
HBshimi, generally known by the name of as-Sabti, was a devout and holy ascetic.
Though he had the means of attaining a high rank in the world, he renounced
it while his father was yet alive; he detached his mind from all worldly affairs
and made choice of solitude and retirement, though his father was then a power-
ful khalif. He was surnamed as-Sabti because he gained every Sunday (Sabt),
by the labour of his hands, a sum sufficient for his weekly expenses, and during
the rest of the time he was exclusively occupied with the practice of devotion:
he persevered in this mode of life till he expired, A. H. 154 (A. D. W O ) , some
time before the death of his father. His history is so well known, that it is
needless to say more on the subject; besides, 'he is spoken of by Ibn al-Jawzi
in the Shuzlir aZ-Oklid and the Safwat asSafwat; his name is mentioned
also in the Kit& at-Tawwdbin (History of tlzose who renounced de world),
and &e Muntazim (I ).
(1) The Muntazim is the title of a great historical work by Ibn al-Jawzi; the ShuxUr aGOkOd and the
Safwat a s S a f w a t are by the same; the Eitab at-Tawwdbin was composed by the shailih ~ u w a f f i kad-dtn
Abli bIuhammad Abd All& the Hanbalite, native of Jerusalem. This author died A. H. 620 ( A . D. 1223.)-
( H a j j i Ehalzfa.)
 IBN ICHALLIKAN'S

InN AL-A 1\11:.

Abh 'l-Abb$s Allmad Ihn Muhammad 1bn Miisn lllrl i\tb Allah as-Sunlriji (be-
longing to the iribe of Sunhkj) al-Mari (native (,/'ALtt~ill) io Spain, and sur-
named Ibn al-Arlf, was a SBB eminent for his sanctity ilnd piety, and illustrious
by his spiritual gifts. He is author of the work cnritlcd al-Maj(iIis (confer-
ences), and other treaties connected with SrZCte doctriues; he composed also
some good verses on the same subject, among thcm 1.11t: bllowinp; :
They saddled their camels after accomplishin(: lhcir wishcs a t Mina (l), arld they all
disclosed the tormenting passion ( o f their souls wl~iclblanged c ~ f t c r Rlul~n~n~nnJ,
the object
of their loue). Their caravan journeyed forth, shcddir~ga ~~crl'rrn~o a~aountl;for in that
band were holy men (who dirused an odour oJ' sanctity). 'I'hn zepllyr which fanned
the grave of the selected prophet (Muhanlmud)broughl joy to tt~cirhcarts, as often as
they drank intoxication from the recital of his vir-tucs -0, you wllo :~rrivc?a t (the tomb
o f ) the Chosen from (the tribe o r ) Modar ! you visit (him)in body, t)ol wa visit (him) in
soul. We remained (where we were), but we had an excuse, for force obliged us; and
he who rernazns from a good excuse is as he who malccs the journey (C),).

His correspondence with the kldi Iytd Ibn Mdsn is c1cg;lntly writtcn. I-le had
a general knowledge of the sciences, and lrad studicd the d i ffcrcn 1 systcms of read-
ing the Koran (3); he formed also a collection of those traditions wllich are re-
lated differently, and made a particular study of thc channels through which
each of them was handed down, and of the points in which they agree. The
society of Ihn al-Arif was much liked by men of holy life and persons who had
renounced the vorld; and an eminent shaikh relatcs that he saw in his hand-
writing a notice on Ibn Hazm az-Zihirl, in which he said: "Thc tongue of Ibn
'' Hazm and the sword of H a jAj Ibn YBsuf were brothers." His reason for
making that remark was; that Ibn Hazm frequently attacked the ancient and
modern imams, scarcely sparing a single one (4.). ILn al-Arif was born A. H.
451 (A. D. 1OSS), on Sunday morning the 2nd of the first Jumida, somc timc after
daybreak, and he died at Morocco in 536 (A. D.1141), on the evening of Thurs-
80 day, 22nd Safar; he was buried the next day. He had been summoned to that
city by the reigning prince, in order to answer some accusation, and it was on his
arrival there that he died; crowds flocked to his funeral, and some miraculous signs
appeared, indicative of his great holiness ; this caused the ruler of Morocco to
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 151

repent of having cited so respectable a man before him. The name of this
prince was Ali, and he shall be again spoken of in the lift: of his father Ydsai'
Ibn Tishifin.--A1-Jfu~~.a(Alnzeriu) is a great city in Spain.

1) i s in the \alley of Rlina, near Mekka, that the Moslims terminate the rites of their pilgrimage.
$1 By the Muhammadan l a ~ ,the pilgrimage is of general obligation; but i t is dispensed with in some
particular cases, of which this is one.
page 152.
(31 Set* note (l),
(41 A great number of Moslim doctors were put to death by al-HajjAj.

ERN AL-HUTAYA AL-LAKHMI.

Abh 'l-Abbis Al-]mad Ibn Abd Allall Ibn Ahmad Ibn Hishim Ibn al-Hvtaya
al-Lahhmi (belonging to the tribe o f l a k l m ~ al-FQsi
) (native of Fez), a great
and famous saint; and not only full of holiness, but gifted with eminent ta-
lents and acquainted with general literature. He was a consummate master of
the seven different systems followed in reading the KO& (I), and copied with
his own hand numerous works on literary and other subjects : his writing was
elegant, and his orthography good ; and copies written by him are in high request,
for the blessings which they draw down on their owner and for their correctness.
He was born at Fez on the eighth hour (after .~u~zrise)of Friday, 17th of the latter
Jumida, 478 (A. H. 1085). Having made the pilgrimage to Mecca and visited
Syria, he went to Egypt, where he obtained great credit among the people by
the holiness of his life. He dwelt outside the city of Old Cairo, at the Mosque
of RBshida (2),and would neither receive presenls, nor take payment for the les-
sons he gave in the art of reading the Koran. A great famine happening in
wt. the principal inhabitants of Old Cairo went to him on foot, and asked
him to accept some relief, but he refused; they then decided unanimously that
one of h e i r number, al-Fad1Ibn Yahya at-Tawil (the tall), who was a notary (3)
and draper of Cairo, should ask his daughter in marriage; the marriage having
taken place, the husband asked permission for the mother of his wife to come and
live with her, which was p t e d : their object in this was to lighten ibo al-Hu-
taya's family e x p e w . After &is, be dwelt alone and g h i d hia3 I.ive1ihood by
copying books. He died at Old Cairo bwrds tbe end ;elf Mdrmm, 560 (W
,ymber, A. D. 1464), and was buried irl (ili:nlrnc~trI'y('.lll(*l [t'rsfir. k f f r ~ i(h), fi~
where his tomb is still visited by the pious ; OIOtli/;ht I ~ ~ ( 11)' i lt , ~1 f;)1111d ~ lllle
a great number of persons. lie ustd 10 s i l y 111;1i. 111(' i:()()(j I ; ~ I ' ( I ~ I ) ( ' (11' isl:mliSm
had been shrouded in the grave-clolhrs nl' ( ) ~ \ : iIil)II ' ;11-1( 11i11161) ; I I I ~ * ; ~ I I ~ I Ilklat
C

during thelifetime that hha1il;islprnism h a d 110t ( Y ~ ; I S ( *1( ~0 !h)l11.is11 :IIII~

but that it beganl on his death, to fall irkto i ilotr))h* :111(1 ( - ~ t ~ f i i ~ i o t1 1l 1. I !W ?[itfib
ad-Duaj ab/W~~nkati~r (S), in the life of (nZ-fTrijiz lirlirl ,*lllo/l) A l*i hliliir 1i1sAbd
al-Majid, prince of Egypt, it is stated that, in 1lltb YI*;II. 5:I:I, 1114* ~~(r)l)lc* r1t.rnained
three months without a kidi ; then Ibn al-1111t;1yi1 \S;IS ~ ~ I ~ I ( iI 11X I1 ~1 1 ~tn~nthof
Zu 'l-Kaada, but he would only accept on condi(,io~i01' IIOI j ~ l ( l { ; i l t ( ; :~t.cortlirl~ to
the religious law df the Fatimite dynasty (G) ; and ile t h i s (r~1ll0 I I O ~ I)e p n t e d ,

another person was appointed.-.F6#~i means I L O ~ ~ C01' J ( !I v i r - ( o r :l great

F ( p r ) ,

city in Maghrih near Ceuta, which bas producecl a rlrirnb(bl* oI' Imr11(~ri nlro.
(1) As the Koran was originally written wilhout poinls to mnrk thcl vowels or tlintin~uixl~ rc'rlnirl condonanrr
one from the other, i t happened that a considcroblcr ni~rnbcrof words rol~ltlbc gronc)tlareti in t l i f h r r l ~ nmnera;
l
the absence of punctuation and the different manners of scpurr~tingthe vrrncn ron~rihotctlcrlno to rcndcr Lhc
meaning of the text uncertain. From thesc causes, combined wit11 L11u uru of paculiur i11lonnlior1eand ao
cents founded on tradition, arose seven distinct systerris of rcntlii~glhr t n x ~of tho i(ora11, 1111 of which orc
considered as legitimate. Those seven readings, as thc Arobs cull therrr, rrrny bu lookrvt on i t 1 tile light of
seven different editions. The best commentators, such as nl-DuidAwi nntl rz-Zan~nkhshnri tiro ~ ~ I W I I Yatlon- R
tive to point out the words of doubtful pronunciation and mark how they nro rontl in ctarl~Hy~tem.
(2) M. de Sacy gives an account of this rnosquo in his lifo of al+Hhkinh Iiiamr Illoll ; 800 Expotd do l a
Religion des Druzes, t. I, p. 301.
(3) See Chrestomathie, t. I, p. 40.
(4) See page 83, note (12).
(5) he work called ad-Dual al-Munkatia (History of Ind8pendtjnt I)unartias) form# four volumes,
according to ~ a j j Walifa,
i and possesses great merit. It was writtan by tho vizjr Jnmhl ad-tllrr Abh 'I-Hoean
Ali Ibn Abi Mansur Tahir al-Azdi, who died A. R. 623 ( & p . 1120).
(61 he Fatimites were Shtites, and Ibn al-Hutayn appears, from what Qo soy8 ')P ()mar, to have been a
Suonite.

IBN AR-RIFAI.
Abh 'l-Abbb Ahmad Ibn Abi 'l-Hasan Ali Ibn Abi 'l-Abbjs Ahmad,
known by the name of ibn ar-Rifii, was a' holy man and a doctor of the sect of
as-SGfi. He descended from an Arabian farnily and inhabited heBat$ih, in a 141-
lage called Omm Abida : he was there joined by an immense number of faki~*s,
who
placed the greatest faith in Iris words and becaine Iris disciples. The order
dervishes called the Z?zjm"i, or the BatcZilzi, had him for rounder; his follojjleys
perform extraordirrary actions, such as eating living serpents and going in1.o
burning hlrnaces, of which they extinguislr the fire (I). It is said that in their. t l 4
own co11ntr.y(the Bntriih), they will ride on lions and do other similar fears;
h e y haw lixed periods of general meeting, when innumerable fakirs flock to
them, and are then all sustained at their expense. Ar-RiGi died without issue,
hut his brother left posterity who have continued to inherit, till this day,
the of the order and the government of that country: but it is
needless to expatiate on their history, as it is universally known. The shaililt
Ahnrad Ibn ar-Rifai, though taken up with his devotional exercises, composed
some poetry, from which the following verses are said to be taken :
When my night is dark, my heart is troubled by the recollection of you ; I utter a
plaintive cry like that of the ring-dove. Over me are clouds which rain down care and
gricf, and urrder me are seas which that grief swells to overflowing. Ask O m m Amr
how her captive (lover) has passed the night; she frees other captives, but him she
leaves in bonds ! He does not meet with death, yet in death he would find repose ; nor
does he meet with pardon, and so obtain his freedom.

Ibn ar-RiGi persevered till the last in his holy mode of life : he died on Thurs-
day, 12nd of the first Jumlda, 578 (September, A. D. 1182), at O m m Abida,
aged upwards of seventy years.-I found in the handwriting of a member of his
family that Rgrii means descended front Ryaa, who was an Arab by nation.-
AGBatriih is the name given to a collection of villages situated in the midst of
the waters between W h i t and Basra : this region is well known in Irak (2).

(1) For an account of the extraordinary performances of these dervishes, see Lane's Modem Egyptiam.
(2) AI-Bathih (the low grounds or marshes) is the name of an extensive country at the junction of the
Euphrates and Tigris.

AHMAD IBN TULUN.

The emir AbB 'l-Abbis Ahmad Ibn Trlldn, lord of Egypt, Syria, and the
frontier provinces of Asia Minor, was appointed governor of Egypt by the khalif
20
the road Leading to the lesser KarPfa, a t the foot of Mount Mukattam.+-Tiilh
is a Turkish name (G).--Scimdni means descendedfrom ScinzcL~,ancestor of th~:
Samanite kings who ruled Transoxiana ar ld Kl~orasan.-The city of Sama,.ru
was built by al-Rlotasim in the year 220 (A. D. 835); it is situated in the pro-
vince of Irak above Baghdad. In the lexicon called thc Salrdll, under the word
rai, al-Jauhnri indicates six different manners of prono~mcing(a72d writing) the
name of this place, and the above is one of them; but this is not the place for
giving all these names; and besides, we have already mentioned them in the life
of Ihrahim Ibn al-Mahdi (7).

(l) AbQ '1-Mahlsin says, ten thousand.

(2) Literally: Wearing a veil ( i z d r ) . See Lane's translation of the Arabian Nights, vol. I, page 52.
(3) AbB Muhammad Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad al-Fargbni is author of a supplement to tbe Chronicle of
At-Tabari.-(Hajji Hhalifa.)
(4) Ahmad Ibrl YOsuf Ibn ad-Dlia $,!dt)J, author of the History of Ahmad lbn Thlbn, died,according to
Aajji Kbalifa, in 334 (A. D. 985-6).
(5j Literally: of looseness in the bowels.
(6) This name is sometimes written Tailtin dJ@.
7, See page 19.

MOIZZ AD-DAWLAT IBN BUWAlH

Abil 'l-Husain Ahmad Ibn Abi ShujA BQwaih Ibn Fannlkhosrfi Ibn Tamim
Ibn Kdhi Ibn Shirzil al-Asghar (the less) Ibn Shirkith Ibn Shirzil al-Akbar (the
greater) Ibn Shirin Shih Ibn Shirfannah Ibn Shisthn Shah Ibn Sasan Farh Ibn
Shariizil Ibn SisnPd Ibn Bahrirn GGr al-Malik (the king)Ibn Yazdegird Ibn Hor-
muz Kermsn Shah Ibn Sipiir al-Malik Ibn Sipfir Zi '1-Aktaf (I); the rest of this
genealogical series is known, as it ascends through the Sasanite kings; so there is
no necessity for farther details.-Ab8 'l-Husain, surnamed Moizz ad-Dawlat (the
exalter of the empire), was lord of Irak and al-Ahdz ; he had two brothers,
whose lives shall be given later, and an uncle called Adad ad-Dawlat, sovereign
of Dailam. The name of al-Akta (the maimed) was also given to him From his
having lost his left band and some of the fingers of 'his -right under the follow-
 ing eiralmstances while hc was in t l l ( 8 i)r*irno01' li!il, 111' li)ll(l~(*l I):,I~~,Y
: of
~ K('I.I)I~IIB
had f ; ~ l l ( to I)?'Ibis ( l i l * ( . ( . f i o ~: lI I I ~that
his bmther ImPd ad-l)aw]al,
of Rukn ad-Dawlat, his brot,llcr. rlll~(n pf8i1i(Y!1~110{;()k1('1'~~('(l \i:tl (sO\lntry,

on learning the approach of Moizr nrl-l);twli~t,1.111 iit(b(!I t ) S1.1isl \\.it l~oirl olklring
any resistance, alld left llim master or th(; i)rorqiri(-(. A f I ~ ~ 01% I Ii I I I*(Is IVilS then
in possession of some districts in Her~t~ari, illl(l l)iii(l ill1 ii1111ili1I 1 I . ~ I ) I J I ( * 10 the

rula. of that country, on condition that \II(-Y sl1011l(l iitr! I)($ ol)lil;tt(l to do
homage (2). When Moizz ad-Dswlat nl*~*iv(vl, 1111:s(t 11(.01)1(* s ( ~ I I ~l1i111
. tJiciP
chief, who obtained from hitn the prornia(: itrld fi131r1ilSSIIIBiill(b(bI11;1 t. 1 1 ( ~~ o l l l d
allow them to act according to thcir a r c ~ ~ s t o1b:~l)its
~ ~ ~ t; ~I ln ~ fhloizz
. a(l-l)awlat
having been advised by his secretary t,o arrpris(! t I ~ ( h l n i 11 ;L I I O O ~ Ir11:1
I I rxl)vdilion
and seize on their flocks and their ircasurcis, acf(s(l ;~c~cor*dirrl; fo r 11is cbounsel,
and marched towards them during the rriglkl I,y ii rll(;t;cbtl ~rlourlt;lin-path;
hut the Kurds, being aware or his approach, lay in wail. RII* hirn et ;l 1l(4ilr,and
when he came up with his tronps, they nttackcd 1li11l 011 all sid(*s, killing
and making prisoners ; a few only escapcd, and Moizz ari-l)awla r. I r i l d liis Jcft
hand and some fingers of the right stri~clcoff, arltl ~.rcrivrdSO 111ii11yW O U I ~ in S
the head and body, that he fell stu~rrieclamong tllc: s l a i ~ l :IN: p)~. oIT however
with his life, but this adventure is too long to l)(: r(tli~t,(ad il(*~.e.111 I 1 ~ :year 334,
83 of the Mijm, during the khalifat of al-Muslakfi, Moizz acl-1)il.rvlitt. SOL out from
al-Ahwaz and entered Baghdad on Saturday, 4 l 111 ol' tlub li~sst,.Ill1ll8(lil, (Uecem-
her, A. D. 945), taking possession of that city without resistnrr(:(*.-Al)? 'l-Faraj
Ibn al-Jawzi states in his S h u d ~ ral-Okzid, that Moirz ad-Tluwlilt l)c*gi~nhis life
by selling firewood, which he carried about upon lliv hrad; tlle11 Ire and his hro-
then became masters of extensive provinces and tllrir prospt!rit,y attained its
height. Moizz ad-Dawlai was the youngest oltllc illrec; be govc~*ncd I w k twenty-
one years and eleven months, and died at Baglldad on Monclay, 17t1r of the
latter Rabi, A. H- 356 (April, A . D. 967) ; he was intcrrcd in his ~,alncc, but
his body was afterwards transported to a mausoleum 1)uilt for its n:ception in
the cemetery of the Koraish (near Baghdad) : he was born in I he year 303 (A. D.
915-6). When on the point of death, he granted liberty io his rnarnlii ks, gave the
P a t e r part of his property in alms, and corrected many ahusrs. Ahil 'l-Ilusain
Ahmad al-Alawi (a descendant of ihe k h a l f d l t ) relates as hllows : 4 I was one
Lt
night in my house, situated on the bank of the Tigris, at the passage called
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. % 57

lMashraat aZ-Kasab, which leads down to the river ; the sky was cloudy, and
there was thunder and lightning, and I heard a voice pronounce these words :
L W h e n thou, 0 Ab6 Husain l hadst a t t a i n e d the height of thy d e s i r e s ; when t h o u
wast in s a f e t y from the s t r o k e s of f o r t u n e and hadst warded off its vicissitudes-then
the hand of death w a s stretched forth t o w a r d s thee, and thou d i d s t take gold from thy
treasury(to fill t h a t hand which seemed to thee to solicit thy generosity.)

.And it was on that very night that Moizz ad-Dawlat died." He was suc-
ct~eded hy his soil Izz ad-Dawlat Baklltyir, whose life we shall give. The
orthography of the names Biiwaih, Fnnn~khosrdand TamHm is that which we
have here indicated, and were we not unwilling t o leugthen this notice, we should
mark the manner in which the names of his other ancestors should be pro-
rlounced; but, as they are here written correctly, those who quote me have only
to follow my orthography (3).-We shall notice his brothers Imld ad-Dawlat
Ali and Rokn ad-Dawlat al-Hasan.

(1) The autograph MS. of AbQ '1-Fadl's Annals, the Tdrikh Guztda, and the MSS. of Ibn Khallikln have
furnished me with seventeen copies of this genealogy; but they all disagree, either omitting some links of
the chain or writing the names differently: the list as here drawn u p is probably erroneous, and it may not
correspond with that really given by l b n Khallililn; but this is a matter of trilling importance, as the descent
of the Bhwaih family from the Sasanides appears very contestable.
(2) Literally : T o tread his carpet.
(3) See note (81,page 46.-Jbn Khallilibn could never have suspected the strange alterations made in this
very genealogy by the copyists of his work.

NASR AD-DAWLAT IBN MARWAN AL-KURDI.

Abfi Nasr Ahmad Ibn Marwin Ibn Dfistak al-Kurdi (the Kurd) al-Humaidi
(of the tribe ofElurnaid), surnamed Nasr-ad-Dawlat (aid of the empire), became
possessor of MaiglGrikin and Diir Bakr on the death of his brother Abii Said
Mansfir Ibn Marwin, who was assassinated in the fortress of al-Hatttkh (l), on
the night of Wednesday, 5th of the first Jumida, A. H. 401 (December, A. D.
10 10). Nasr ad-Dawlat was a man highly favoured by fortune, and gifted with
a lofty spirit; his government was just and his character resolute; the prosperity
 to which he attained, and the pleasures in whicll liv indrllgr(1all: yoricl t llv Iboweps
of description. Ibn al-Azrak al-Firiki (nufio(~ . .
o/' fi!(zilri/lir*ilchr) Y 1 1 1 h i s His-
S ; ~s,

tory (of that civ),

[hat there is no iristancc OIN i i ~ :it]-I
l ) i ~ l \ . l i i l 'S iiii V i 11(; (bs:teted

money from any penon excepting one ; 11e 111(~11 {;iv(.sill1 : I C C O I I I ~01'~ l\\(& (*~I.CU~.

stance, but there is no necessity b r rcpeatir~f;i l I~(.I*(*. 1 r(d:rt (IS ;I lso tlliit this
prince never missed the hour of rnorriing prayer, ~~otwitl~starl(li~i~; llis i~(lclirtionto
sensual enjoyments ; that Ile had three irundnd ancl s i xi v co~i(:nl)i I ivs, wi tll each

of whom he passed a night every ycar, and tliat it was ordy on 11io s:urn: night
of the following year it fell to the turn OS dlc: sanlr Iwrsorl 10 IJI(V! hirn again.
This writer relates also that Nasr ad-Dawlnt, allottctl a liscbtl lirnc cbvcB~.y (lily to the
examination of state affairs, to pleasure, and to lllc soc:icat.v o f ' his I'amily arid
friends : he left a numerous posterity. The lrous of Illilt (irnc*wCrll. 10 see him
and celebrate his praises, and they imrnortalist~lhis ~;loryiri I heir. pocrns. It
may be remarked, as an cxamplc of the good Ihrtunn \vllicl~at~a:ntl(:dl ~ i m ,that
he had for vizirs two persons who had served 1~h;lliSs i l l t I i ( a sarnr c;ipacity; the
84 one was Abb 'l-KQsimal-Husain, surnamed Ibri id-Magr-i bi , all tllor 01' (.h()Diwdn
containing poetical writings and prose episdos (2), l o o r celebrated
works; he had acted as vizir to tllc khalif ol Egypl, ntld, on lmvirlfi lrim, went
to the emir Nasr ad-Dawlat, and was vizir to hirn twiccb: 1Jlo ohcr was Abli Nasr
Ibn Jahir, who, on quitting his service, became vizir at ilagbdacl. (The lives of
these two persons shall be given.) Nasr ad-Dawlat, continued in thc enjoyment
of good fortune and every pleasure till his cleaih, which occurred on the 29th
ShawwU, 453 (November, A. D. 1061): he was interred in thr Mosque of al-
Muhdatha ; or, according to another account, in ihc: castle of as-Sidilli, whence
his body was afterwards removed to the vault of ~ h llanb c Marwin a?joining the
Mosqueof al-Muhdatha. He had lived 77 years, fifty-two of which (or J)y another
statement, forty-two) he passed as sovereign. Mnzjyviirikfn is so well known
that it is unnecessary to fix the orthography of its name : al-Mulzdatha is a
rib& (3) outside the city of MaiyifArikin; as-SidiZIi is the name of a dome
situated in the castle (of the same city), and built upon three pillars; Sidiiii is'
a Persian word signif9;ng three props (4).-Nasr ad-Dawlat was sucmeded by
his son Abb 'I-Kasim Nasr, surnamed Nizlm ad&$.
 ItjIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 1%
(1, According to A b b 'l-FadA, in his Geography, this place is situated in the province of DiAr Bakr.-The
rise of the Banb Marwan and the death of Mansfir, surnamed Mumahhid ad-Dawlat (regulator of the empire)
are related in the Annals of Aba 'l-Fadh, vol. 2, page 569.
(2) Such is the meaning of the expression , .d ,d! 1.
(31 T h c r i b d t s were fortified barracks situated along the frontiers of the Moslim empire. At an early p"-
riod, there were not less than ten thousand in the province of Transoxiana alone. Travellers, on arriviog at
a ribat, found every accommodation gratis. These establishments were supported by government, and their
revenues nere increased by the gifts of private individuals, and by wakfs (see page49, note 7)) eslablished in
their favour by pious Moslims. Military service in a ribat was considered as an act of religion.-(For further
particulars o n the subject, see the extracts from Ibn Haukal, in the Geography of AbQ '1-Fad& pages 235 and
487 of the Arabic text.)
(4) In Persian d!.> ,.A., .

A L-MUSTALI.

Abii 'l-Kasim Ahmad, surnanled a]-Mustali (the aspiring.), was son of al-
Mustansir Ibn az-Zihir Ibn al-Hikim Ibn al-Aziz lbn al-Moizz Ibn al-Manshr
Ibn al-Kbim Ibn al-Mahdi Obaid Allah: we shall give the rest of his genealogy
and state the nature of the disagreement respecting it when we relate the life of
al-Mahdi, in the letter ain. Al-Mustali succeeded his father al-Mustansir in
the government of Egypt and Syria : during his reign, the power of that
dynasty (l) was impaired and its authority weakened, their political influence (2)
havinp ceased in most of the Syrian cities, and the provinces of that country
havinp fallen into the possession of the Turkomans on one hand, and the Franks
on the other; (may God frustrate their projects!) This people engered Syria
and encamped before Antioch in the month of Zu'I-Kaada, A.H.490 (November,
A.D. 1097) ; they obtained possession of it the 16th Rajab, 491 (20th of June,
A. D. 4098); in the following year they took Maarrat an-Nomin, and in the
month of Shabln of the same year (July, A. D. 1099), they became masters of
Jerusalem, after a siege of more than forty days. This city was taken on a Fri-
day morning; during the ensuing week, a great multitude of Moslims perished,
and upwards of seventy thousand were slain in the Masjid a&-* {or Mospe of
Omar). An immense quantity of gold and silver vases were taken from the
Sakhra (3) (by she invaders). The fall of this city caused an extreme commotion
throughout all the land of Islamism. W e shall again touch on this circumstance
 160 IBN KIIALI.,'IKAN'S
in the life of al-Afda] Shjhhnslrlh (see i r i f11t. i(!t.l~l'
sfti~l.)
'rllis itl-Ar(l~~I,
SU~-

named (like his father (4.) ) Amir al-b~y<isll (ro~)znrn~r(h~r- (!/' t~*o(y),s)
taken Jerusalem from Sokmill Ibn Ortuli ( 5 ) oll Il'i(I:ly, 2,5111 lI:l~1lii(lB11~ A. 11.
j191, or (as it is by some.) in t h ~i11011tllof S\lilI)i111, 'IH!); ) l ( ' tI1~1liip
pointed a governor to rule it in his nanrrx, hilt tliis I)tll'S(bn, \)(*ill{; 1111:ll)lr10 resist
the Franks, yielded the up to 1\1ea\: had il h8vn i l l l ~)oss(!ssiot~ of tbc
Ortuk family, it would have been betlcr [or 111~Mosli111 p 1 ~ ) ~ d! t 1 During drc
~ 11!i 01) the
administmtion of al- Afdal, the Franks became I I I : ~ S ~ ( T Sof i t l : y~ ~101\'
Syrian coast; they took Caik (G) in thc morlth OI Sll;t~\\~il, A . 11. /I.!I:I, and Kai-
s$riya (Crcsnria)in 494. Al-Mustali did riot lrosscss t l ~ rit~:lsl;il~tlrlrity(luring
the vizirat of al-Afdal. It was in his reign lllnt Nira~s,his t h 1 ( 1 ( : 1 * I)rotll(.r, fled to
Alexandria: this Nizir was the ancestor OS h e Isninilitcw, ~)o..;st~sso~.h (,l'al-Alaa~lit
and other castles : his adventures are well known, I)III too l o ~ i j ; to l)(! r~cblalcd
85 here (7). Al-Mustali was born at Cairo on [h(: 20rh ol' R ~ I I ~ ~ ~ ~ IA. * I *11.; I I469
II,
(August, A. D. 1076); he was proclaimed khalif irl tlhca yritr h87 (A. l), 1004),
on the festival of Ghadir Khumm (8), which is cclc1)rattvl OII ~hc:I H111 of Zb
'l-Hijja; and he died a t Misr on the 16th Sahr, 495 (I)ccc.ml~cr,A. D. 14 01 ).

(1) Xbn Khallikan means here the Fatirnite dynasty; but ue ho does not atirnit their tloscent from Fblima,
daughter of Muhammad, be refuses them that title.
(2) Their political influence, or mote exactly, their mission. $06 noto (V), pogo 20, and M. do Saq's
Ezpost! de la Religion des Druzes, tom. I .
(3) As-Sakhra (the stone); the chapel situated near tl~emosqucfoundad a1 Jurusnlorn by Omnr on Iho 8iLe
, bc iho identical aton@
of the ancient temple, is so called from its being built over what lho Mo~limsH U I ) ~ O Y P to
which served the patriarch Jacob as a pillow, when hc had the vision of 1110 LncltJor,
(4) '6He bore the same titles as his father:" hi;+\ & . (An-Nuwairi, MS. of the Bib. du
Roi, No. 702 A.)
(3) Jerusalem then belonged to Taj ad-Dowlat ~ " t u s has-Saljhki, who had grar~tudit in foa &l to
emir Sokman. U f d a l empowered IftZkhAr ad-Dawlat to govcrn tho city, ae lictltcnant to ol-Mueloli.
- (An-Nuwaira'.)j
:B) Caifa is the European pronunciation of the name ; in Arabic it is writmn and pronounced Hatfa.
(7) An-Nuwairi gives the history of Nizlr in these terms :
"81-Mustali was proclaimedkhalif onThursday morning, 18th of Zu'l-Bijjo, A.B. 481: i t was nl-AMal Amlr
il-Juydlh who brought this about; for, on the death of RI-Mustansir Billoh, hc antorad the Onstls (of Cairo)
in all baste and seated him (al-Mustali) on the throne of t l a empire, and so.t to his broWor8 Nirhr. AM
AUah, and Ismall, to inform them of their father's death and desiring them to conla quickly. On a r r i h &
tbey saw their youngest brother seated on the throne of the khalifrt, at which ihoy were Bllal w i l indigna-
tion, when al-Udal said to them: &'Goforward and kiss the earth in the progmce of God nod of our lord
 BIOGRAPHICAL 1)ICTIONARY.
al-Mustali Billah ! Do him homage, for it is he whom the imhm al-Mustansir Billah hath positively declared
as his successor to the khalifat." T o this Nizlr answered : '<
I wouId rather he cut to pieces than do homage
to one younger than myself, and moreover I possess a document in the handwriting of my father, hq which
he names me his successor, and I shall go and bring it." H e then nithdrew in hasic to get the paper, and
went to Al~xandria:al-Afdal scnt after. him to bring him bacli, but no one knew ltl~itherhe was gone or
how he went So al-Afdsl was in great trouble. Some relate however, that when al-Mustansir Billah died,
his son Nizir, who was the Wali 'l-Ahd (or khalif elect), took his seat on the throne and desired homage to
be dorip to himself; hut al-Afdal refused (to permit this), through dislike to Nizilr, and he had r meeting
mith a nurnbcr of emirs and men of rank, to whom he said, h a t Nizar was come to the age of manhood, and
they could not hope to escape his severity; so the best thing to bc done was to do homage to his youngest
brother AbQ 'l-liasim Ahmad. This plan was approked of by all except Rlahmud (Muhammad?) 1h11
Massiil al.RIalilii, who had received from KizAr the promise of being named vizir and general-in-
chief in place of al-Afdal; i n consequence, he informed Nizlr of what was doing; but al-Afdal hastened to
proclaim Ahmad khalif under the name of al-Mustali Billah, and having placed him on the throne of the em-
pire, he himself sat down in the vizir's seat, and having introduced the imhm Ali Ibn al-KahhAl, chief liAdi
oCMisr, with the shuhild (legal witnesses), he caused all the leading men of the empire to take the oath
of allegiance to al-Mustali: h e then went to ismatl and Abd Allah, who were under arrest in the mosque
a t the Castle, and informed them that the oath of allegiance had been taken to the lord al-Mustali, ancl
that he had sent his salutations to them, and given them the choice of swearing allegiance to him or not; to
which they replied that they acknowledged his authority, since God had preferred him to themselves. They
therefore took the oath, i ~ n da certificate to that e5ect having been drawn up, was read in the presence of
the emirs by the sharif San& al-Mulk Muhammad Ibn Muhammad al-Husaini, who was a writer in the
Chancery Office (see note (4), page 33). N i z h and his brother Abd Allah then fled to Alexandria with
XtlhrnQd Ibn MassAl; the governor of that city was KBsir ad-Dawlat lftiktn at-Turki (the Turk), one of the
the Marnluks of Arnir al-Juyfish (whose life will be found i n Ibn Khallikdn's work): having been informed
by them of the circumstances, and obtaining the promise of the vizirat for himself, h e took the oath of alle-
siance to him (NizBr), and the people of the city did the same; Irr'izlr then received the surname of al-Mustafa
li-din illah (the chosen for God's religion'. Then, in the month of Muharram, A. H. 188, al-Afdal went
forth with troops to attack Nizhr, Iftikin, and I b n Massill, who 'met him as he approached Alexandria.
and after a smart contest, put him and his men to flight. He then returned to Misr, and NizBr, assisted
by a party of (Bedwin) Arabs, laid waste most of the country to the north of Misr. Al-Afdalmarched
again to Alexandria, and continued to besiege i t till the month of ZQ 'I-Kaada. W h e n this unfavour-
able state of affairs was a t its height, Ibn al-Masshl had a dream, on which he consulted a foreign
(astrologer) the next morning: "Methought," said he, "I was on horseback, and al-Afdal walking in ,my
train;" on which the foreigner remarked, that he who walked on the earth was to possess it. On hearing this,
I b n MassA1.collected his wealth and fled to Lokk JJ, a village near Barka, a n d from that time the pbwer
of Nizar and Iftikin declined, and they were obliged to ask al-Afdal to spare their lives. On his making a
promise to that effect, the gates of Alexandria were opened to al-Afdal, who entered it, and having seized on
N i z h and Iftikfn, he sent them to Misr, and NizAr was never seen aftex : i t is even said that al-Afdal had him
shut u p between two walls till h e died. NizAr was born on the 10th of the first Rabt, A. H. 437. AS for
Iftiktn, it was afterwards declared to the public that he had been p u t to death. Ibn al-Massil received a
letter from al-hfdal, inviting him to return to Misr, which he did, and was honou+ly received by him.!'
( ~ N - N U W A IMS.
R ~ , of the Bib. d~ Roi, No. 7a2 A.)
Compare this passage with the extract of =khond @ven by M. de Sacy in his Mdmoire sur les Assassins.
Ibn Khallik%nsays that Nizhr was t h e ancestor or grandfather of the Ismallites, or masters o f the mission;
21
162 IBN KHA l,l,lIi A N'S
thisis also accounted for by nfikhond (see the samc Mdrnoirs), who slfllvs I.hfik 11 ('llief Of t l l ~Ifirr~atlit~
dynasty,
rnUed Hasan, so" of Muhammad Ibn Buzurk-lJmid ~)rclrrltictlt o b0 ~l~srl!lld('tlr!'(~mN I ~ ~so11 I .of fil.Mudmnsir,
M. de s ~Mdm~iq-a ~ rut ~ las 'Assassins
~ and Exppnrd do l ' l l i ~ f o h ndnx 1)rurr.r kr111hll CV(.TY informluon
respecting the 1smailitcr. These two works clnllnt b~ (00 l l i ~ l l l li)roihp(l-
(8) The only Noslim sect which celebrates the f~slivalof (;l~ntilr K l ~ u r ~ l (lira
r ~ l pond of XhMnm), is that of
the Shjites. They relate that Ali and Muhnrnmad b ~ i l 111l ~11 plll(.p of ( l l l n Ili1111(~,l y l ~ l gl l ~ ~ wily
l f betwedn
Mekka andMedtna, the prophet, by a solemn dcclnmtiorr, nl)poilllc!tl Ali Iris r;nrt.cbhsor. I Srv I)(! Sacy*scher.
I, p. 293.-Abb 'l-Fad&, in his Ccogrul~hy, Arubir t(!xl, p. 85, liwlbs 1110 I)rorlur1ciati0n of the
tomathie, t.
word Kl~omrn.)

IBN A1,-MASllrrl JR.

Abb 'l-AbbAs Ahmad, son of the emir Sail' ad-di11 'I-lIfisiill Ali ibn
Ahmad Ibn Abi 'l-Haiji Ibn Abd Allah lhn Abi 'l-llalil 1l)n Mnrrirl)Le al-1Iak- a

kiri, surnamed Imid ad-din (support qf ~~eligiorl), was c t * ~ l ( b r i ll yl k ~rowrrby the

appellation of Ibn al-Mashtiib ( S O I L4' the scarred) ; his Tallier 1)cirlt; c;llled al-
Mashthb from having a scar on Iris Bee. ' Ihn nl-Maslll.i~l) war ;I prmerful
emir, greatly respected by (conrr~~yorrcry) princes, and consirlc:rc:d as their
equal (l);he was a high-minded man, extremely gera:loas and noI)le in his
conduct, brave, and possessing a lofty spiril, so that thosa princes stood in awe
of him. His enterprises against them are so well known (.hatit is not necessary
to give a relation of them here (2). Hc was an cmir of tho crnpinh founded 117
Sallh ad-din, who had conceded to him the revenue of Naplds, after allotting
one third of it to the support of Jerusalem; his happencd on the death of
Mashthb, who held Naplfis in fief. Ahd 'l-Haij5, his grandfa tber, was lord of
al-Imldiya (Amadin) and a number of (other) castles in the country of the
HakkPrs (3). Ibn al-Mashtbb continued in high power and honour till the
year in which the Franks arrived at Damietta (4.) ;when he acted in the manner
which is publicly known, and which 1 shall give an account of in the life of al-
Malik al-Klmil (5). He then quitted Egypt, and was reduced to such a strait,
that in the month of the second Rabi, he was besieged in the castle of Tall
Yaffir (6), situated between Mush1 and SinjBr : the history of this circurnstan*
is well known (7). Then the emir Badr ad-dEn Lblh, Atabek and lord of
Musfil, entered into correspondence with him, and having succeeded in allaying
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 163

his apprehensions by deceitful promises, prevailed on him to surrender, and

swore to observe the conditions which he had offered. I n consequence of this,
Ibn al-Mashtilb went to Rloslil, but was not there long when Badr ad-din alarested
him; this was in the year 617 (A. D. 1220); he then sent him to al-Malik
al-Ashraf hluzaffar ad-din, hoping to gain his favour by this action, as, in the
last case, it was against him that Ibn al-Mashtfib had revolted. Al-Malik
al-Ashraf sent his prisoner to the castle of Harrin, where he was put into close
confinement in a narrow dungeon, and chained with heavy fetters and hand-
cuffs : it is reported that (in this wretched state) his beard and clothes swarmed
with vermin; so I was told when a boy, and he yet alive. I have been informed
that a person who had been in the service of Ibn Mashtiib, wrote in his behalf
the following distich and sent it to al-Malik al-Ashraf:
0 thou. whom the revolving spheres favour with continued happiness I thou art not
a king (malik),but an angel (malalc). Thy marnlhk Ibn al-Masht0b is dying in prison;
set him free, for thou alone canst do it, or God.

Ibn al-Mashthb continued in bondage till his death, which took place in the
month of the second Rabi, A. H. 61 9 (April, A. D. 1222). His daughter built
him a mausoleum at the gate of Ris Ain, to which city his corpse was transported
from HarAn, and there buried : this tomb I have myself seen.-During his con-
finement, the following distich was addressed to him by a literary man :

0 Ahmad! thou hast never ceased to be Im&d ad-din (the support of religion). 0
bravest of those who ever wielded lance! Despair not I though thou liest in their pri-
son ; (the patriarch) Joseph remained in prison for years.

This thought is taken from the following verses, which form part of a poem 86
composed by al-Bohtori :
Is not the example of God's prophet, Joseph, a sufficient consolation Eor him who,
like thee, is imprisoned on an unjust and false accusation? He long remained in bon-
dage with patient resignation, and patient resignation made him master of an empire.

The emir lmid ad-din was borp about the year 575 (A. D. 1179) ; and I read
in a letter mitten by al-Ksdi 'l-Fidil, that al-Mashthb wrote t o Salih ad-din,
informing him of the birth of this son, and that another of his wives was preg-
nant. The answer to this letter was drawn up by al-K&di 'l-Fidil, who wrote as
follows: '' The Emir' S letter, announcing two children, has b&n received ; up to
i61c IBN KEIA IJX,lK AN'S
L the present moment circumstanc(y, il:\va 1 lC'tb~18 i(l('(l 11)' (1 i v i f ~ ~ ~ ( :\Xl 1 1d as1 ~ ,
L( for ihe (child) whicll cometh, may (;or/ a ~ ~ i tl r ~ i tif ilk i l l s:i(Pty!

1 1 we are rejoiced by he star whidl !lilt11 l i s v l l f'l1oln la'li l i !S b r v i \ ; arid we

'6 hope for joy from the fruit still rnlniki~lini; t i l t ' Ifll(l (S).'' A s f t ) r Sail
ad-din al-MashtAb, father of Irnid nd-tlili, Ill. ;\lid lla118 ;l(l-( l i r l 1i:ll.h ~ I ' I S(w)1o9~ ~I

life be given later) were statio~alllin '('K:(\/ IlJ'SilIBI1 : i ( l - ( l i l l , all('11f Ile (!D&'-

prises of the Franks llis apprcherisiolks f01' 1111' s:lfi'l?'01' f11;tf t'iry. AI-
f i b there till the Franks i;li(l r i v a l to ic i ~ r l ( l io(llt i ~ . Ilsving
~ ~ ~ h tremained
escaped (g), he joined Sal& ad-din :\L Jei~rlsiil~~r~i,
on 'I'Il~ll'stl;~~, l 01' fhr latter
JumHda, A, H, 588. Ibn Shaddid snss ( i / /h h /IL'.s!o~;?'( l ( ) ) : "'~'III:sultan
Withhis'brother al-Aatlil, wlrc8ri n\-h'l;rxIilill) ( ' I ~ I V I ' ~ ' ( I~I I ~ ~ ' X I ) C C ~ -
1 1 edly; he rose ilp and embraced him willl c s l . ~ ( ~ ljoy,
t * i ) l l ( J , I l i l ~ i ~ l (C; ~ ~ I I S C ~
the to withdraw, hc continncd in (:orlr(lrsnlion ~ r ~ i l ll l i ~ t l o I lollc
1' period."Al-Mashthb died at N:\pli~son T11111.~dil~, W i t 1 1 S l l i l ~ * \ \ iI. l , 11. ,588

(November, A. D. 1192); such is lire d a l c b givnh i)y l~nbrliid-{lill ill-1s j j i i I l h ~ l iill his
work entitled al-Ba~hkas-Shdrni; IJUL Ibr~Sllatltlitl say S, irl Itis llistor,y of Sdbh
addin, that h 6 death took place at .Irrusnl(a~n,OII Sund;ly, 'L:l~rl Slii~w~viil oS that
year (I I). He was interred in (the cuurt o/') Itis l~oltst~, i i f t ( b 1 . ( . t ~ l i ~ ~ +I)I.BYCI~S
ill

had been said over him in the Great Mosquc: (udiM(isjirl (46-/lk.ro). None of
Salih ad-din's emirs were on an equali(y will1 him, nor r v t s i l :ip~~r~o;rcllc(l him, in
rank and influence. They used to call him the g~~nrlciemir, t l l i ~i,c:i~q{ thc title
by which he was known, and which was borne 1)y 110 odkcr. I li)llrld tllc fol-
lowing note in the handwriting of al-KMi 'l-Fkdil: ' c News ]lau ra:eivc.d of
" the death of Saif ad-din al-Mashtfib, emir and p r i ~ l c OS : ~ tile Kunla ; h e die([
" on Sunday, 22nd ShawwPl of this year, at Jerusa1t:ln. IIis 1,ay (4 'L), which
' L was furnished out of the revenues of Naplbs and otlle~~~,laces,unlollrrkd to
'' three hundred thousand diners (13) at the epoch of his dcarll : less tilan one
h~*dreddays elapsed between his escape from captivity allJ
' l kprm his
'lexistence. Glory to Him who liveth and diet11 no[; who ovort]lraweththe
" edifices of man! Time is a judge exempt froml blame !'' I nlay hat.
ex~ression,who overdhrowed the ed$ces ofman, is analoeouvto one whic}l
occurs in a verse given in the Hamha (14) :
The death of Kais is not the death of a single man; it ia thc! edifice of a people
which has been overthrown.
 BIOGKAPHICAL DII.CTIONARY. PG5

This verse forms part of an elegy composrd by Abda Ibn at-Tabib the death 011

of Kais Ibn Aisim at-Tamirni ; the same who came from the desert to the b1esst.d
prophet with the embassy of the Ban6 Tarhim, in the ninth y t w Uof the tIijrr,
when he became a Moslim. Thc prophet then said of him : " This is the chief of
those who dwell in tents (1 5)." He was a man of intelligence, and celebrated
for his prudence and anthority (among the tribes). The manner of parsing the 67
preceding verse is a subject of discussion for the learned in the Arabic language,
but this is not t h e proper place for entering into that subject (1 6). Abd Tam-
mim gives this verse along with two others in his (Hamcisa,) chapter of elegies ;
they run thus :

On thee be the blessing of God, 0 Iiais, son of Adsim I On thee may his mercy alight,
as long as he may deign fo show mercy! Such is the salutation of one who is the target
of adversity; of one who, conling from afar to visit thy country, salutes thee still.
The death of Kais is not the death of a single man ; it is the cdifice of a people which
has been overthrown.

Kais Ibn Aisim was the first person who, anterior to the introduction of isla-
mism, buried alive his female children ; (he was induced to do so) through jea-
lousy (for their honour ), and because pride would not allow him to give them in
marriage (1 7 ) . This (inhuman practice) was followed by the rest of the nation,
till abolished by the Moslim religion. The emir Badr ad-din Lillii died on Friday,
3rd Shhbhn, A. H. 657 (July, A. D. 1259), in the citadel of Musul, and was
buried there in a chapel; he was then about eighty years of age.

(1) Syria was at that time in the hands of many feudalory and nearly independent princes.
(2) For the indication of the principal events of his life, I shall refer the' reader to M. Hamaker's work,
entitled: Expeditionurn U G ~ e e i sFrancisque adversus Dirnyatharn narratio, pp. 95 and 99, in the notes.
1
(3) The Turkzuian tribe of Hakklr possessed the country to the north-east of Mosul.
(4) Literally: The year of Damietta, which was the 6lfith of the Hijra (A. D. 1218).
(5) Ibn al-Mashtbb wished to depose al-Malik al-~Bmil,' sultan of Egypt, and place a brother of that
prince, al-Malik al-F&, on the throne. - (See the Annals of Abh 'l-Fadil.)
.
(6) The name of this castle is also written Tall Yafa~,
,
h,, r ( , at-Tall al-Adfar.
~ a l l d d f a r , ~ p and
It lies between Mosul and Sinjar; is built on an isolated hill, and possesses a spring of unwholesome water.
( ~ u r i s i dat-1ttild.1
(7) See Aba 'l-Fad%'sAnnals, year 617.
(8) Literally: I n tts spathe ;a metaphor taken from the date-tree.
(9) 81-MashtQb and the troops which defended Acre had been made prisoners of war; Richard Ceur-de-
Lion caused the garrison to be put'to death, but spared some of the chiefs i n expectation of obtaining from
then1 a rich ransom.
 IBN KHALCIK AN'S
( ~ 0 This
) is the h l o r y of Salbl~ad-dh publist\cd by S v l ~ u l l c ~in
~ a .Amllicb lt~lli lJllill, under L ~ Q till. 01
SaEcldini pita et res Gesta: the passage cited hero if! l0 l)(' fol~rll)['"U''
(.L11 See Saladini Vita et ros G e s t ~ page
, 208.
literally: bread. The meaning of this word is ptbrli.rt\y I'lTlnill. M . (11. 5 8 ~ )h.s r sotirrd it ill lhp
.Mdrnoires de l'lnsfitut; tom. 7, pp. 79,104.
(13, The Aiyuhite dinar iosr an inlrillsie v;l!lll: Of 110111 1:) 111 1 9 4 !+lllliilll(* S t ~ t I i ~ l g .

(14) See Frcytag's Harnisa, pagc 367.

(15) Literally: Of the earnek'-b&r people. The D~dw!rI?ialill m v l r lllPlr lt'fl ta Will1 n W)rt of hlllrk ~10th
made of camels' hair.
; il
(161 At-Tabrizj, in his commentary on the Hamas*, n0li~O8tlliq pllillt Of ~11~l.llhhitlll IY 8iilljlly lhili: the
word (death),is it i n the nominativa or accusntivc CIIS(!?
(17) "Cars filsd'Acem issu de Mancar issu de Sa'd 8 1 de ~ %cit~rnel~nLlib (11' ' l ' ~ l l l l 1 l l . [loblf3[.l ~ t l r r r i e rillu8tre,
vecut du temps de l'idolatrie et de I'islnmisrne. 11 dtnit un do cetlx (111ict!~trlrri~ic*tll ll+lirrtillvr ~ i v n ~ ~ l11r aeft s.
musul~nnn,et survicut B Mahomet. Sonpr6nomBloit Abou Ali. R l o l ~ ~ ~ l ~ n ;~rr,~d
m.d$
j \ , ( I ( * In tril,u tlu Yochkor,
C
dans une incursion contre les banou L ' d , enlova uns Bmmr ~ O I ~ I I I 1111111i111
I~I~ i,ys \ ;y ~ r yquj
~ dtnit
,
niice, par sa mhre, de Gals ben Accm. Celui-ci alln In rodo~l~nrltltrri h l o l i t ~ l ~ r ~ ~ l ($11
~ r i 1111
~ ( I j ~ ~ r o ~ ~ ouric
nant
rancon. Mouchamradj d i t i Ramim de choisir si ellc vouluit rcsler ntIl)rt!!4do illi 011 rt*Lolrrn~~r tlnnb S* ffirnills.
Elle prdftra rester. Cals, indigne contre Ics i'emmcs, revir~l Nn tribli, rt (*II st'rivi1111il rntrrrn vivnnlee aea
filles, et s'imposa la loi de traiter dc rnbme toute fillc qu'il rrurail i~ I'nvosir. 1.r~Arnl~cr~ i r n i t t ~ r t ccrt
~ ~ ~example;
t
les principaux et les plus nobles centre eux enterraient ~ C I I ~ii1108,
H (10 [)cur t~il'dl~on
TIP ~ I I R R O I I Lfail(!$ 1)rison-
nikres et que leurs familles ne furent deshonordcs 1causo d'c?lle~."-Aflkanf, 1. 111, pp. 'L3K-fi.-[Jno outre
version de ce fait se trouvc dans MesdAni, au pmverbo 1 ~ ~ 9&l.
"Cars fils d'Acem a pu propnger par son exemple et rendre plus corrlmrla pnrrr~~l los Arabcvi l ' e n n ~ ad'ontor-
rer les filIes vivantes, mais cet usage cxistait d6jn avnnt lui, ou tlu rnoir~liorr turzif i1'1ino 111n1rlhra quelconque
des filles au moment de leur naissance. Cnr on lit dans 10 vie d u podto Amrou l i l ~du (:nllhourn (Aghbni,
11. 361), que Mohalhil, frkre de ColnSb, ordonnu h sa fernme IIiad, lorequ'alle ncroec.1111tln LcYfn, dc tlwr
cette fille. Hind, au lieu d'executer cet ordre, cachn L&ila, qui dopuis Li~i~ n h t .cilAmrau hen Colthourn.
Mohalhil est antdrieur de 40 ou B0 ans h CaYs bcn Accm. Aprds nvoir cmbrnsnn I'ielarnidrnc~,CnYs c?nlrant un
jour chez Mahomet l e trouva tenant entre ses bras une petite nllc clu'il bnisnii. 11 lui (lit: Qu'ost-cc! quc cclle
petite brebis que tu flakes?-C'est ma fillc, repondit Mahornet.--Par Diou I puurruivit Ca'l~,j'ctn ni ou beau-
coup comme cela, et je les ai toules enterrdes, sans en flaircr nucuac.-I1 fnat rlun Iliea, rdpliqnn Mahomct,
ait privi ton caur de tout sentiment d'humanitd." (AghAni, 111. 236.)
"Cars renia l'islamisme aprds la mort de Mahomct, e t crut B In prophCLesao Mcdjhh ct a Mo~nPYlarnn.Rhalid
61s de WAlid, dans son expddition du YemAmn, oh Mossallama I'ut tu6, fit priaonalor CnYs ben Acorn, qui n'6-
chappa a l a mort qu'en jurant qu'il n'6tait venu auprbs do MossnYlnrno quo pultr lui radcrnandcr un du sea fils
qu'il lui avait enlevb." (Aghhni, 111. 230.)
"Abda, ou Obdr 61s GAttablb, dont le vdritable nom dtiit Yerid fils dpAmrauiglu dlA bd TaVm (d68ipatio~
qui s'appliquait aua banou TBmim parce qu'ils adoraiont une idolc nomrnd Tu$m 2). pohte d u lomps do
I'ignonnce et del'islamisme. I1 Ltnit dans l'armde de Noman ben Poucrin I;)p P. 1 ' ' - (, qui combattit dkd "

les Persans a Medatn. Asmai disait qua ie plus beauvers BOgiaque qupilconndt, ftnit cclul qui
faisait partie de l'dl8gie d70bda sur la mort de Cnls ben Acorn."
.. .
For this note, I am indebted to the kindness of M. Caussir~do Porceva l.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.

SALAH AD-DIN AL-IRBILI.

Abfi 'l-Abbis Ahmad Ibn Abd as-Sayid Ibn ShLbin Ibn Muhammad Ibn Jibir
Ibn Kahtin al-Irbili (native of Arbela), surnamed Salih ad-din (wel/are of
religion), belonged to a great family of Arbela, and was hkjz'b (l) to Muraffar
ad-din lbn Zain ad-din, lord of that city. Having incurred the displeasure of'
his master, he was imprisoned for some time ; and on his liberation, in the year
603 (A, D. 1206-7), he left Arbela and proce~dedto Syria in company with
al-Malik al-K8hir Bahh ad-din Aiyiib, son of al-Malik al-ABdil. He then entered
into the service of al-Mat ik al-Mughith, (another) son of al-Malik al-Aadil, who
had known him a t Arbela, and now treated him with great kindness. On the
death of hlughith, SalLh ad-din passed into Egypt and was attached to the
service of al-Malik al-Ktrnil; the esteem in which he was held by this prince
became so great, that he entered into higher favour with him than any other
had hitherto been able to effect; he was specially chosen as the companion of
his private moments, and raised to the rank of emir. Salill ad-din was a
inan of superior m erit and possessed considerable information in differen~
sciences ; I have been informed that he knew by heart (A& Hdmid) al-Ghaz-
zili's treatise on jurisprudence, entitled AI-KholCJsn; he wrote also some good
poetry and composed elegant distichs, by which talent he gained the favour of'
these princes. In the month of Muharram, 618 (March, A. D. 1221), when
al-Malik al-Kamil was at al-Mansiixa to oppose the progress of the Franks, his
favourable dispositions towards Salih ad-din were altered, and having caused
him to be arrested, he sent him to the castle of Cairo, where he remained in
close confmement till the month of the second Rabi, 623 ; having then composed
distich and ~ u g h itt to a musician, by whom it was sung in the presence of
al-Malik al-Kimil, the prince found it so beantiful, that he asked wbo.was the
author ; and on learning that it was written by Salah ad-din, he ordered him to
be set at liberty. The distich is as follows :

Thy wanton cruelty towards him who loves thee cannot remain bidden; thou hast
caused my Iife to pass away in soriow and in suffering. Thganger'is not proportioned
to my fault ;thou hasl been too severe, and thy sole intention was to cause my death.
 f G8 IBN KITkLLlKhN'S
Some state however that the disticl~wbicl~was the taus(: of his liberation ran
thus :
DO as thou wilt; thou, thou art my k)clovrtll I havn r101 c.ornrrlillctl ;r fnnlt, but, a,q
thog hast said, many faults. Wilt thou cvcr (;rar,l l\r:ll \V(! I);lss orlr ni(;I l l s tt)gcther, so
shall my heart be freed from its rusl; thou shalt partloll :ltl(l 1 rc1ur11(CO 111y 1 0 ~ ~ ) .

On out of confinement, he got into 1 l i g l ~ : l~ ~ I V O UtYl i a ~ l 1r:lirrc.-Al-

88 Ma\ilc &KLmil, having been displeased at onc ol' ]his botllrrs, wlrosc. name was
al-Malik al-Fiiz Sibik ad-din Ibmhim, lbc 1altc.r wcrlt. to Salilr ad-tliri itnd asked
him to effect a reconciliation; Sal& in conscvlllcnr:c wror.ct thr:sc lines to
al-Kimil :
It is an essential rule for him who is lord of E G ~ I that
) ~ , IIC imilnto .losoph in kindness
towards his brethren. They acted wrongly, and Iic nl(:1 Ll~c!mwilll ~)nrtlon; when they
departed, he was bounteous towards them, and rculorotl thorn his aflcclion.

When the emperor (Frederic the Second,) lortl ol' Sicily, larldcd in Syria,
A. H. 626 (A. D. 1229) (2), al-Malik al-Kimil sent him Salih ad-din as his
ambassador; and the articles of' a treaty having bccn adopted aud conlirmed by
the oath of the emperor, Salih wrotc thc following lines to ;)l-KSmil :

The emperor has taken an engagement and given his wortl that WC hall have a Iast-
ing peace. He was obliged to confirm it by oath, and if he attempt to broak it, may he
devour the flesh of his left hand (3).

The following verses are by the same :

When you look on your children, know that when they camc to you, they were
merely forerunners of death (4). Children arrive to the stations of their fathers, and the
fathers make preparations for departure.

One of my friends recited me these verses, and attributed them to the same
author :
.The day of resurrection shall be full of terrors, as you have beon told; be therefore
in dread of it. Let it suffice you lo know that you cannot conceive its terrors, .till
you taste of death in your (earthlij)journey.

The poet Ibn Onain.wrote a letter from Damascus to Sal& ad-din in Egypt; (1
have been informed by my master Aflf ad-din Abd 'l-Hasan Ali Ibn Adlan the
grammarian and interpreter, native of Mosul, that this letter was i n the hand-
writing of' Ibn Onain himself and contained his dying injunctions) ; it beean
thus:
I reveal to you the treatment which I received from Fortune, whose vicissitudes have
already cut my wings ; how can a sick man, who is oppressed by afflictions, recover, as
long ns he does not see the face of health (or the face of Saldh ad-din)?

The poetical pieces of Salih ad-din and his distichs have been collected illto
S ~ P ~ I B ~oIurnes.--He
~ C continlieci in the rnjoynre~itof high dignity and honour
llndcr al-Malik al-Kimil and the other princes (of the fanzity); but having
accompanied al-Kimil in an official capacity on his expedition to Asia Minor, he
fell sick at the army, near the town of Suwaidi (j), and was therefore transported
to ar-Roha (Edessa),but died before his arrival ; this took place on Saturday the
2Oth, or on the 25th of Zii '1-Hijja, 634 (September, A . D. 1234); he was
buried without the walls of Edessa, in the cemetery at the HarrAn Gate. His
son had his body removed later to Egypt and interred in a mausoleum at the
lesser Karifa; this was towards the end of the month of Shibin, A. H. G37
(March, A. D. 12-'c0) ; I was then at Cairo. -Salth ad-din was about sixty veaIhs
old when he died. Since (writing tlze above), I discovered the date of his
birth; it took place in the month of the second Rabi, 572 (October, A. D. I 1 T6),
at Arbe1a.-lrbil (Arbelaj is a large citv near Mosul, and lying to the east of it. 89

ll See Bibliothique orientale, HAGEB.

(21 See Gibbon's Decline and Fall, chap. LIX, and M. Reinaud's Extraits des Historiens arabes relatifs
atcc Croisades, page 428; a very correct and useful work.
(3) This silly stuff couId only be tolerated in the original language, as its quibbles and double meanings are
lost i n the translation. The first verse may signify: The vaunting emperor has pretended, etc., or, The em-
~ r has said. The second verse signifies literally: He has drunk the oath (or drunk his right hand),
o prince
md if he attempt to break i t , m a y he eat the Pesh of his left (through disappointment and rage). The ex-
pression to drink an oath has its equivalent in English, and might be rendered by to swallow an outh, that
is, to take it by compulsion. A verse of the Koran, the 87th of the second Surat, has given rise to this en-
pression; it is there said that they (the children of Israel) were made t o drink down the calf into tAn'r hearts:
an allusion to EXODUS, xxxii. 20. See also aEHarOri, page 99.
(4)That is: Children and death come to man, but children arrive first, having outrun, or a t trCG way of
death; as the original expresses it.
\5) Suwaida is situated a t the mouth of the Orontes.
 IBN RRALEPKAN'S

AZIZ AD-DIN A I,- MASrl'A LI1V1

Abh Nasr Ahmad Ibn Ajmi(1 Il)n M I I I ~ : ~ I ~ ~1 I1 \ 1I1: \ A1\(1~ I l i l l l 1 l ~ 1Ali lbn

Mahmfid Lbll Hibat Allah Ibn Aluh a\-lsp;\h81li,su~*rka~~lc(l 12xil. ii(l-(lirh (great in

religion), al-Mastawfi (I), was uncle to indd ; i d - d i l r a\-Is))all8tti, W ~ I O S ( : life shall

be given in this work. Aziz ad-din lilled ac.ver:ll i : l c b ~ ; ~ ! ~ * ( L allcl i111111(.11tii11 &U-
scions at the court of the Sel#ji~k princes, arrd was ;il\vnys ill I1i1;It favour: the
needy flocked to him for assistance, and po[:rs t:s~s(*to I l and wore
richly recompensed. The celebrated pottt A l ~ i l M 1111:l ~lt~l~iitl :kl-Ila~n ibn
to Ililil i l l one of
Ahmad Ibn Jakina of Baghdad, makes the followi~r(;i~llusior~
his kasfdas (2):

Let us then rein our camels tolvartls lrak, ancl a rich ntcc!tl shall 1)c ntcessurcd to a s
from the wealth of al-AzPz.

His praises were celebra~edalso by the lddi A14 &Ikr ;r l-Ar,rajii ni, who^ life has
been already given; among other eulogiunrs on tliru, lit! corq)o~cI111tt 1orlg k a s f h
from khich are extracted the verses there mt!nGoned, allcl which rllyrric in B (3).
His nephew Imid ad-din often expressed his pridr: in 1)osscssirlg surll an uncle,
and he makes frequent mention of hirrl in his wor*ks. Towartls tflc cnd of his
life, Aziz ad-din was treasurer to Mahmljd I L I ~Mulla~i,nnd ILrk Mnlekst~ahIbn
Alp ArslPn as-Saljhki ; this Sultan had married tire duughicr of his uncle, the
sultan Sinjir Ibn Malakshah ; on her death, his uncle rcc1uirr:d him to rlcliver up
the marriage gift which she had received froor her bnlily , cunsistirlg 01' a variety
of precious and rare articles, such as were not I o be follrld c8verl in 1.h~tr.easu~ies
of kings : Mahmiid refused acceding to this demand, and being apprehrrlsive that
Aziz ad-din would give his testimony respecting the property sllc hacl brought
with her (and which was well known to him in his capacity of treasurer), he
caused him to be arrested and sent him to be confined in tlle castle of Takrit,
which was at that time one of his possessions (4.). Hc afterwards put him to
death, towards the beginning of the year 525 (A. D. {,l30-1). llis rlephew
ad-din states in the K~mrida,that he was born at ispallan, A. H. 472 (A. 1).
1079-801, and was put to death at Takrit in 526 (A. D. 1131); it was at Ba@-
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. I71

dad that he was arrested. The same writer says that when his uncle was slain,
b e emirs Najm ad-din Aiybb, father of the sultan SalBh addin, and his bra-
t&r Asad ad-din Shirkhh were 60th in the castle, of which they were then
govenlurs; and that they endeavoured to save Asiz ad-din, but without success.
-AZ& is a Persian word, the Arabic equivalent of which is Okdb (eagle).--
Ispahri,zi has been already explained (5).

i t ) -4t the court of Arbela, under the government of Zairi ad-d9o and his son AbB 'l-Muzaffar KhkubQrl

;he Mastawfi, or secretary of state, took rank immediately after the vizir.
2 ) I t appears from this, and from a passage in the life of al-Hariri, that Ibn Jaktna was living a t the close
,,f the fifth century of the Hijra. Imad ad-din al-Ispahhni gives some specimens of his poetry in the Eh*
rida, and praises the author most highly, but does not furnish the least information respecting him. (See
Hhartda, MS. of the Bib. du Roi, ancien fonds, No 1447,fol. 30 verso).
(3) See page 135. The extract commences thus: I never roamed through distant regions, etc.
(4) The principal cities of Syria, Mesopotamia and the neighbouring states, were a t that time held as fief3
by a great number of nearly independent emirs, who were almost always embroiled in war with each other;
so that many of these cities, and Takrtt among the resl,,were frequently changing masters.
(5) See page 74.

ORTUK IBN AKSAB.

Ortuk Ibn Aksab, ancestor of the Ortukide princes, was a Turkomin who had
,got possession of Hulwiin and al-Jabal (Persian Irak); he afterwards went to
Syria, having left the service of Fakhr ad-Dawlat Abb Nasr Muhamrnad Ibn
Jahir, through fear of the sultan Malakshah (l ) ; this was in the year 478 or
479 (2). He then governed Jerusalem in the name of Tutush (31, a prime
of the Seljirk family, whose life shall be. given. Ortuk having died there in
the year which we shall mention further on, his two sons, Sokmhn and rl-Ghhi,
became governors of the city, and continued in the exercise of power tin the
month of Shawwil, 491 (September, A. D. 1098) ; when al-Afdal Shihan- 90
shih Amir al-Juydsh marched from Egypt with an army and took Jerusalem
from these two princes. They then retired to Mesopotamia and obtained the go-
rernment of Diir Bakr, and &e pr-t bpd ,of the cash d is otle of
their CEescendanrs. In the year 501, *;Q* mm h m e +lordofMari-
1'72 IBN KEEALLIKAN'S
din; the sultan Mubarnmad had before that appointed him as his resident
agent (4) at Baghdad. Ortuk's other son, Sokmin,dicd of a qllinzy in the yeay
498 (towards the end of A. D. 1104), at a place betwecn Tripoli and Jcrusa-
lern ( 5 ) . Ortuk possessed a penetrating mind; he was a inan of resol~ltionand
activity, and was highly fortunate in all his cnterpriscs : diod A . H . 484
(A. D. I Ol)l).-The word Aksab is sometimes written Akssk.

(1) The printed tent, in corlformity with the MSS., names this sultan ~ u h a r n m a dson of Malakshah. his
extraordinary mistake I have suffered to remain, the duty of an editor bcing to respect even llle errors of his
author.
(2, Such is the correct date; it is singular that Ibn Khallik8n should assign tllis event to the year 488 or
449, which incredible error I have allowed to subsist in the Arabic text through respect for t l ~ cur~animity01'
my manuscripts. Ibn al-Athtr places this event in the year 479. I t was in A.11. 477, that Fulihr ad-Uawlat.
general of Malabhah, having under his orders Ortuk Ibn Aksab, marched against Sharai' atl-Dawlat
Muslim Ibn Eoraish, and besieged him in amid. Sharaf ad-Davvlat escaped however from thc city, h a v i n ~
bribed Ortuk to let him pass. I t was therefore for a good reason that Ortuk apprehended the anger of
Malakshah, and fled to Syria.
(3) In the Annals of AbIl 'I-Fad& Reiske writes this name Tanush, but Ibn I(ha1likln g ~ v c sits true pronun-
ciation.
(4)Redident agent G, which is a Persian word; the charge itsclf was called $&A. When the SeljIlh
dynasty flourished, the khalifs of Baghdad exercised only a spiritual authority over the provinces of the Mos-
lim empire; even in that city, which was under their immediate government, they were frcquenlly obliged to
submit to the influence of the sultan. who usually reslded at Ispahan or Hamadan. Thosc prii~ccskept a
resident agent at the court of Baghdad, and were thus enabled to controul the khalifs in the vcry sent of their
dominion. When the Moguls overrun Persia, Mesopotamia, and Syria, they abslaincd from placing garri-
soos in the cities which had surrendered, being averse to enfeebling the active force of their army: they
merely left resident agents in the places which had acknowledged their authority, after making; all the inha-
bitants responsible for their safety. (See Abh 'l-Fada's Anuals, year 638; see also M. Reinaud's Eztraits
d ' d u t e u ~ sarabes relatives a m Croisades, page 126.)
!S) AbQ 'l-Fad& says, after Ibn al-Ath'lr, that he died at Kariutain on his way to Damascus, to which city he
was travelling in all haste, that he might defend it against the Franks. This induces me to think that thr
word sp! in the printed Arabic text is a fault, though it is so written in the manuscripts; Ule lrue read-
, the passage will then signify that he died between Tripoli and lerusalem a s ha was
ing is p r o b a b l y i p ~ and
jnurneyang to war against the infidels.

AL-BAS ASIRI .
Abii '1-HPrith Anlln Ibn Abd Allah al-Basisiri at-Turki (the Turk), general
of the Turkish troops at Baghdad (I), is said to have been a mamluk belonging to
 BIOGRAPHICAL^ DICTION AHU . 173
Rahi ad-Dawlat lbn Adad ad-Dawlat Ibn Buwaih. It was hc who revolted at
Baghdad against the khalif al-Klim biamr illah, who had placed him at the head
of all the Turkish troops, invested him with sovereign authority, and ordered
his name to be mentioned in the khotba (3) from all the pulpits of Irak and Khii-
zistan. His power had thus become very great, and all the ( n e i g h b o ~ r i r , ~ )
princes stood in awe of him; but he then revolted against the imim al-KBim,
and having expelled him from Baghdad, caused the klzotba to be said in the
name of the (Pcilinzite khalif) al-Mustansir al-Obaidi, lord of Egypt. Al-K$im
the11 fled for refuge to the emir of the Arabs (3)) Muhi ad-din (reviver of reli-
gion) Abli 'l-Hirith Muhirish Ibn al-Mujalli al-Okaili, lord of al-Haditha and
A b a (h), from whom he obtained every thing necessary for his maintenanct.
during an entire year, when Togrulbek the Seljllkide came ro his assistance,
and having attacked arld slain al-Basisiri, reinstated al-Klim in Baghdad. The
khalif made his entry to that city precisely one year after leaving it, and, bp a
remarkable coincidence, 011 the anniversary of the day in which he had quitted
it: the history of this circumstance is well known (5). Al-Basisiri was killed
at Baghdad by the soldiers of the sultan Togrulbek, on Thursday, 15th of Zfi
'I-Hijja, or, according to Ibn al-Azimi ( G ) in his history, on Tuesday, I l ~hZA
'I-Hijja, 451 (January, A. D. 1060). His head was borne in parade through
the city, and his body attached to a gibbet opposite to the gate of Nbba.-Bask-
sfri means native of Basa, a town in the province of Fars; this name is pro-
nounced in Arabic Fasa, and, in that case, the relative adjective derived from
it is Fasawi. The grammarian Abb Ali 'l-Fhrisi, author of the Id&, was a
native of this place ; he was also surnamed al-Fasawi ; but the Persians employ
BascZsfri,a word of irregular formation. Arslin's master was a native of Basa,
for which reason it was that he himself was named al-Basgsiri. The preceding
observation is made by as-Samlni, on the authority of the learned Abfi 'l-Abbhs
Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibn Biba al-KLbisi. This word contains additional letters to
those which form the root from which it is derived.-The emir MuhBrish died
in the month of Safar, A.D. 499 (October, A. D. 1105), aged upwards of eighty.
His genealogy is as follows: Muhhrish Ibn al-Mujalli Ibn Akith Ibn Kabbln Ibn
Shaab Ibn al-Mukallad Ibn Jaafar Ibn Amr Ibn al-Muhanna; the rest of the
series will be found in the life of al-Mukallad Ibn al-Musaiyab.
 17b IBN KHALLIUN'S
(1) 11 appears (mm al-Masildi's MwrGj &Dohob, that al-lotasim was the first khalif who bad a body
of Turks in his service; their number v-as at first four thousand, and they were distinguisl~edfrom the other
troops bg their rich dress and accoutrements, which were of silk and gold.
(2) Khotba is the name given to the sermon pronounced on Friaays from ,the pulpits of the great mosques
i o all M o s l b countries; ~t begins by a declaration of God's attributes and unity,, and a n invocation of his
benedictions upon the prophet, his family, and successors; then follows a prayer for the reigning khalif and
for he prince who exercises civil power in the state, The right of beill8 named in the Iihotba and that
of coining money are two of the principal privileges possessed by the temporal sovereign, and the special
marks of his legitimacy. (See D'Ohsson's Empire Othomn, tom. 11, pag. 204 et seq.; and d'Herbelotls
Biblbthkque orientule).
(3) The emir of the Arabs under the khalifs appears to have filled the same functions as the Ghassanide
princes did uuder the Greeks of the Lower Empire, and the princes of H'lra under the Persians : they were
phylarchs, or controllers of the nomadic tribes.
(4)These are the names of two cities in Mesopotamia.
(5) See AbO 'l-Fad$'$ Annals, year $50.
(6) Abh Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Ali al-Azlmi is author of a chronicle and a history of Aleppo, his
r~ativeplace. (Bajji Ehalifa, Nos. 2?3, 2208.)

NUR AD-DIN ARSLAN SHAH.

Ab4 'l-Hirith Arslin Sh%hIbn Izz ad-din Mashd Ibn Ktltb ad-din Maudhd
94 ibn imid ad-din Zinki Ibn Ak Sunkur, lord of Mosul, and generally known by
the appellation of Atibek (l), bore the title of al-Malik al-Aiidil Niir ad-din
(the just prince, light of religion): (the lives of a number of persons belonging
to the same family shall be given under their respective letters.) Niir ad-din
obtained the government of Mosul on the death of his father, in whose life is
mentioned the date of that event(2). This prince was a man of acute mind and
skilled in the management of state affairs : he passed over to the sect of as-ShlA,
and was the first of his family who professed the doctrines of that imam (3):
a college of extraorslip-ry beauty was founded by him at Mosul for the ShaGtes.
He died on Saturday evening, 28th Rajab, 607 (January, A. D. 121 l ) , (ashe was
making nn ercursiorr) on the Tigris (4) in a sl~abbdraor barge (5) outside of
Mosul. (The species of boat which the people of that country call &/mbbdra
bears in Egypt the name of harrrika (6). ) His death was kept secret till he was
borne to the palace a t Mosul; he was bwied in a mausoieum erected in the col-
lege just mentioned. He left two sons, al-Malik al-KAhir Izz ad-din Masfid and
 BIOCRAPI-PECAL DICTIONARY. 135

al-Malik al-Mansdr ImHd ad-din Zinki; for information respecting these princes,
the reader is referred to the life of their grandfather Masiid. As we have there
statcct, it was his son al-Malik al-Kihir by whom he was succeeded. A.1-Malik
al-Kihir was master of (tire rnandlik) Radr ad-din AbB 'I-Fadiil Lbli~,who gained
possession of Mosul towards the end of Ramadin, A. H. 630 (July, A . D. I 233).
He had been lieutenant-governor of that city and then declared himself inde-
pendent. Mention has bee11already made of him in the life of Ibn al-Mash-
tiib (7).

(1) See d'Herbelot's Bib. Orient. ATABRK.

(2) Izz ad-din Mashd died A. H. 589 (A.D. 1193.)
( 3 ) I believe that his family were Hanefites. I t is certain that the celebrated Nfir ad-din Mahmhd, bis
grandfather's brother, was of that sect. See M. Reinaud's Extraits, etc., page 456.
(4) I n the neighbourhood of Mosul, the Tigris bears the name of as-Shatt (the river); it is a word of fre-
quent occurrence with this signification.
(5)M. de Sacy, in his translation of Abdallatif, page 309, hesitates respecting the right orthography o f
tt~isword; but al-Yhfi, in his AnnaIs, year 607, fixes it as i t is here given.
(6) The word hamdka signifies a boat or barge. See M. Reinaud's Extraits, etc., page 416, note.
(7)See page 162.

AZHAR IBN A S S A M M A N .

Abli B a k ~Azhar Ibn Saad as-Sammln was a native of Basra (al-Basri) and
adopted member of the tribe of Bihila; he taught the Traditions on the a u c b
rity of Hamid at-Tawil (I), and the people of Irak, who had received them from
him, transmitted them on his authority. He was a companion of Abii Jaafar
al-Mansiir before that prince obtained the khalifat, but having gone aftw-
wards to congratulate him on his accession, was refused adhittame by al-Man-
s h ' s orders; he therefore waited for a day of public audience, and then made
him his salutation , on which the khalif said to him, "What has brought
" you here?' He replied : I come to congratulate you on your acces-
' ' sion to the si~premeauthority." On this, al-Mansir said : '' Give him one
" thousand dinars and say to him : ' You have now ful6lled the duty of congra-
L ' tulation, so come not to me any more.' " Azhar then retired, but returned
176 IBN HHALLIICAN'S
the ensuing p a r , and admittance having been denied to llim, flc entered on a
day of audience as before, and saloted the khalif, ~ h saido : "What brings
6. pou here:'" The other : "1 was told that YOU were sick, and there-

" fore fame to you." Give him a thousand dinars," said al-Mansiir,
and tell him that ile has fulfilled the duty of visiting the sick, so he must not
( 4 return here again, for I am seldom sick." On this Azhar went away, but re-
turned the following year at a similar audience. "What brings ?" said
the khalif. "1 heard you utter an invocation," replied Axhar, and am
come to know what !.ou desire." "Know, fello~v!"retorted al-Mansiir, "that
my invocation has not been heard; every year I pray Cod to keep you away
from me, and yet you still come." The adventures of Aahar and the sto-
ries told of him are well known (3): he was born A. H. I I I ( A . D. 720), and
died in 203 ( A . D. 81 8-91, or, some say, 20'7.-Azlzar is (here) a proper name
(not cr surnnme.)-Samrndn means one who sells or carries butter (Sarnn).-
Al-Bask or at-Bisrz' signifies native of Basrrr, which is one of the most
famous cities of Irak; it was founded after the promulgation of Islamism; (the
AhaZf) Omar Ibn al-Khattlb having caused i t to be l~uillin the fourteenth year
of the Iiijra by Otba Ibn Ghazwin (3). Ibn Kutaiba says, in that chapter of'
the Secretary's Grtide, where he treats of the alterations which have taken
place in the names of countries, that basmt (as the name o f this city is written
in Arabic) means one sqflr stone, and on suppressing the final letter, it must be
pronounced bisra, and for this sole reason it is that the word Bisri is allowed to
be employed (with the signijfmtion of native of Basra). Tlle word hisr also
means n sof2 stone according to (al-Jauhnri) in his lexicon, the Sahdh.

(I) Abh Obaida Hamld Ibn Abd ar-Rahmiln al-Basri, a TClbd of the highest authority, was a client of the
celebrated Talbat at-Talhht al-Khuzai. He was surnamed ar-Taw21 (the long or the tall), because one of his
neighbours. who also bore the name of Hamtd, was of a low stature and was called Ilamtd the short (al-Ha-
sir). Some say that he reeeived the appellation of the long, on account of Lhe length of bis arms; as with
one hand he could reach to the edge of the pulpit, whilst he touched the grourld with the other. He expired
suddenly as he was saying his prayers. His death took place towards A. H. l 4 3 (A. D. 760). (AI-Y&p
Tab. al-Fukalrd )
(2) None of the historians whom I have consulted relate any anecdotes respecting Azhar except the one just
given. Al-Yifi, n bo places his death in the year 203, says that al-MdmQn's liberality i n this case was very
singular and his patience the more extraordinary, as he was of a violent character ; and that if the same thing
had happened to al-Hajjij, he would have put the author of it to death or inflicted on him a severe punish-
ment.
i3) See 1bnKutaiba's account of the founding of Basra in Abh'l-Fadgs Annals, vol. I, note 91.
 OSAMA I[BN MURSI-IID.

Ab6 'l-R'luzaffar Osama Ibn Murshid Ibn Ali Ibn al-Mukallad Ibn Nasr Ibn 92
Munkid (I ) al-Ki115ni al-Kalbi as-Shaizwi (rnenzber of the tribe of Kinbna
descencls ,from that of Kalb, ttntive o f Sltnizar), and su~~named
(q)/zicJ~ Muwai-
yad ad-Dawlat Majd ad-din (slr.rngtliened ilz empire, glory o j religz'ur,), was one
of he most powerful, learned, and intrepid members of the Munkid family, lords
of the castle of Shaizar. He composed a number of works on different branches
of general literntlire, and is highly spoken of by Ibn al-Mastawfi in his history of
ilrbela, who mentions his name in the list of the remarkable men who visited
that city ; he gives also some extracts from his poetry. The kitib Imid ad-din
mentions l l i ~ nin the RlzctrlcZu, and, aftor making his eulogium, says: "He dwelt at
Baghdad, but that city became repulsive to him, as the house (in tvhiclz merit is
not acknocvleclged) becomes repulsive to a man of a generous mind; he there-
" fore passed into Egypt and remained there witli the rank of emir and honoured

" with public respect, till the period of Ibn Ruzzik's administration, when he

returned to Syria and sojourned at Damascus. Then fortune cast him into
'' Hisn Jiaifa, where he remained till Salih ad-din, on gaining possession of
" Damascus (in A. 11. 570), called him (to lzis coure): he was then upwards of

c ' eighty years of age." Another writer says that Osima went to Egypt in the
18eign of az-%fir, who had then for vizir al-Agdil Ibn as-Salliir : this visir treated
him generously, but he was assassinated through his machinations, as shall be
related in the history of his life. Since (transcribing the foregoing pns-
sages) I found a note in the handwriting of Osirna addressed to ar-Rashid Ibn
az-Zubair, that he might insert it in his Kit& al-Jindn; that note is dated,
Misr, irz the year 54.1. This is a proof that he came to Egypt during the
administration of lbn as-Sall5r (2); and he remained there till the assassination
of that vizir, for no one contests that he wTssin Egypt when the murder was
committed. IIis collected poetical works form two volumes and are in every
person's hands; 1 have seen a copy of them in his own handwriting and ex-
tracted from it the following passages :

Assume not a borrowed insensibility when abandoned by those you love ; for your
force will fail under their protracted aversion. Know that thy heart will return to
them either OF its own accord or despite its reluctance.
23
 178 IBN KHAI,LIKANIS
On Ibn Talib of iUisr, whose house was burnt down :

See how the progress of time constrains us to acknowledge that there is a destiny;
Ibn Tallb never lit a fire in his house (thro~.~gh
aoarice), yet by fire it was dcstroycd.
A similar circumstance to this befel nl-Wajih Ihn SllrA, a b~okscller(R) at
Cairo : he had in that city a house noted for its elep~ncc,and which W ~ brlrned
S

down ; this gave rise to the following lines, composed by Nasllw al-Mulk (rise (f
the e,npire) Abii 'l Hasan Ali Ibn Mufrij, surnamed I l ~ nal-Muna,jji~n(son of
the aslrologer), who was a native of Maarrat an-Nomin, but lived and died in

On looking at Ibn Sdra's house, in which the fire burned with a clear and ardent
flame, I said : Thus it is with wealth gained by iniquity ; in a little time it is hurled
to ruin. This man was in fact a long-lived infidel; but Gchcnna came upon him
" whilst he imagined that it would yet be tardy in its progress towards him."

The second of these verses is taken from an expressiorl of the blcsseti pro-
phet's, who said: "If a man gain wealtll by iniquity (nza/rawish),God will send
it to ruin (ndtubir)." The word mal~ciwishmeans whatever is forbidden, and
nahabir signiGes precipices. As for al-Wajih (JVajilL arl-dhz, respectable for
religion), generally known by the name of Ibn Suri, the following was his real
name: Abi 'l-Futd11 Nisir Ibn Abi 'l-I-Iasan Ali Ibn Khalf al-Ansir-i ; he was a
book-ageilt of extensive business in Misr, and used to sit in the vestibule of his
house for the purpose of exercising his profession, and offering books for sale to
95 men of rank and learning; as they were accustomed to assemble there every Sun-
day and VITednesdrtv, and remain till the hours of sale were over. On the death
of as-Silafi, he travelled down to Alexandria for the purpose of buying his books.
He died at Misr on the 16th of the latter Rabi, 607 (October, A. D. 1210). and
was h i e d in the Karifa (4) near that city. A piece of Ibn Munkid's contains
the following verse, in which he describes his enfeebled state :
Strange, that my hand should be too weak to hold a pen 1 that hand which used to
break lances in the breasts of lions.
1 extract also from his collected poetical works the folloring lines, which he
wrote in answer to some verses addressed to him by his father :
I complain not of the faithlessnessof those whom I loved ;yet, had complaints availed,
1 should have given them utterance. I was fatigued with reproaching them, and, in
 BlOGfZAPIlICAL DICTIONARY. 179
despair, 1 left them; never shall they be of those in whom I will place my hopes.
When their sarcasms cut me to the heart, I stifled my anguish and concealed the pain
they caused; arid I went to meet them with smiles, as if I had nothing heard nor seen,
They accused me of crimes which my hands did not commit; which I had neither corn-
manded nor forbidden. No, by Allah ! I have never harboured nor meant suchperfidy
as they openly manifest On the day of judgment we shall meet again; and the volume
(in which are insrribed the actions of mankind) shall then reveal what crimes are theirs;
\\hat, mine.

The two verses which follow are in the same rhyme and measure as the pre-
ceding, and were inserted by him in a letter to one of his relations; they are the
height of tenderness :
Men before me have complained of the pains of separation ; the living and the dead
(when in this world) have felt the affliction caused by the absence of friends; but (grief)
such as fills my bosom, I never heard of nor witnessed.

One thing brings on another ( 5 ): Abfi 'l-Hasan Yahya Ibn Abd al-Azim al-
Misri, surnnnied al-Jazzir (6), recited to me the following verses, which he had
composed on another literary man at Cairo, far advanced in age, who being at-
tacked by a cutaneoils eruption, anointed himself with sulphur:
0 , learned master, (hearken to ) the demand of a friend devoid of sarcasm : Thou
art old, and of course art near to thc firc (of hell); why then anoint yourself with
sulphur ?

1 found the following verses in the handwriting of Osirna Ibn Munkid; they
were composed by himself on having a tooth drawn, being then, as he relates,
under the walls of Khalit (7); the idea of the verses is original, and they might
pass as a riddle on the word tooth:
I had a companion of whom I was never tired, who suffered in my service and laboured
with assiduity; whilst we were together I never saw him ; and when he appeared be-
fore my eyes, we had parted For ever.

The kitib Imid ad-din said: I was always longing to meet him, and Iwatched
'' from afar the ligh~ningwhich foreboded the rain(of his liberality);at last I saw
him in the month of Safar, A. l?.571, when I asked him the date of his birth;
'-to which he replied : Sunday, 27th of the latter Jumida, 458 (July, A. D.
" 1095)." He was born at the castle of Shaizar, and died at Damascus on Mori- 94
day night, the 23rd of Rarnadin, 584 (November, A . D. 1188), and was ioterred
the next day at the east side of Mount Kasidn; 1 entered his mausoleum, which
 180 IRN KHALLIKAl\ilS
lies on the northern bank of the river Yazid, and read a portion of tllc Korarl
orer his grave, and prayed God to have mercy on him.-His father, Abli Os%ma
Alurshid, died A. H. 531 (A. D. I I36).--S/~oiznt. is the name of a castlv nealL
HarnPh (EPiyhamir~) ; it is also called the cnsrle of the Mzit~kid.f2lmilJ.:,
rni*ntioll
shall be again made of it in the life nf' his grandfather Ali Ilm al-Mukalla(1.

'1, This name is generally written in MSS. thus, ,!,L, but the correcl orthograglly 1s -\ab with 21

poirrt on the letter dal.

2) 1' is rather a proof that he came before the appointment of that vizir, aflosr nomillnlio~~ olllg took
-4. IT. 543 or 544. The Arabic text says: In the days of Ibn as-Salldr.
,3) Or rather a book-broker; his employment being 10 find purcl~ascrsli)r o t l ~ c rpcol)le's hodis.
(4,See page 53, note (12).
,5, This anecdote is not in its place; i t should follow that which rclalcs to tflc bul.nirlg ot' l b r ~Sbra's
house, page 178; the author must have written it in the margin of his own c q y , ;~ndtlic t.ra~~sc*ribrl. of that
topy inserted it in the text, but i n a nrong place.
6) AI-JazzAr was in great reputation at that time as a poet and a man of socicty. Ihn Khallikdn was one
of his protectors. Born A. H . 601 (A. D. 1205-5); died A. H. G79 (h. D. 1280).--(From lhc Supplement to
1bn Ehollikdir Biographical Dictiotlnry by as-Sakdi dbj1 MS. of the Bih. du Roi, No.732.)
7) This was probably during Salbh ad-din's expedition there, A. H. 581. (See Schultcn's Vita et res
p. 61. r
Best@ Saladini,

IBN R AHlVAIltI.

Abh Yakdb Ishak , native oFMarw as-Shiihjin, and surnamed Ibn RB hwailr, was
descended from Hanzala by the following line: his father AhA 'l-1Iasan Ibrahim
was son of Makhlad Ibn Ibrahim Ihn Abd Allah Ibn Matar Ibn Obaid Allah Ih~i
ClG~lihIhn al-MTirith Ibn Obaid Allah Ibn Atiya Ibn Murra Ibn Kanb Ibn Ham-
m8m Ibn Asad Ibn blurra Ibn Amr Ibn HanzalaIhn Milik Ibn Zaid Manit Ibn Ta-
mim Ibn hlorra.-Ihn Rihwaih was one of the great doctors of Islamism ; he was
equally as learned in the Traditions and the law as distinguished for his piety:
ad-Dirakutni mentions him among those who related traditions on the authority
of as-Shifi, and al-Baihaki counts him among as-Shifi's disciples. He had once
an argument with as-Shlfi concerning the legality of the sale of such houses as
are situated in Meklia (I), and this discussion has been fully stated by Fakhr ad-
 BIOGRAPI-IICAL DICTIONARY c 181

din ar-R&zi, in his work entitled Merits ofthe imam as-Shaf;. When the supe-
rior talent of Ibn Rhhwaih became generally known in Egypt, his works u.elyb
(,frequently) transcribed and his treatises collected (ivzth cur-c): the iman~lbll
Hanhal said of him : '' W e consider lshak as an imarn among the Moslims ; art
abler Jurisconsult than Ishak never passed the bridge (2)." 1 know hv
heart," said Isbak, "seventy thousand traditions; I have read one hundred
thousand, and can recollect in what work each is to he found (3). 1 ne.rtbrb
" heard any thing once without learning it by heart, nor learned anything bv
heart which I afterwards forgot." He composed a well-known Musnnd (4)
after travelling to Hijiz, Irik, Yemen, and Syria, and learning Traditions from
Sufyln Ibn Oyaina and others of the same period; Al-Bolihhri, Muslim, and at-
Tirmidi were among his disciples. Ibn RRjhwaih was born A . H. 161 (A. D.
777-8); some say 1G3 or I G6 : in his latter days he inhabited Naisiph, where be
died on the eve of the 15th of Shabin (which was a Thursday, or, according to
others, a Sunday or. a Saturday), A. H. 238 (January, A. D. 853), or 237.-
-R&wai/2 was a surname given to his father Ab& 'l-1Iasan Ibrahim because he,
was born on the r-oad to Mekka (rdh in Persian means road, and cvailz, fi)wrd;
as it might be said that he was found on the road). This word is also pro-
nounced RihCya. Ishak himself relates that Abd Allah Ibn Tihir, emir of Kllo-
rasan, asked him why he was called Ibn RQhwaih, what was the meaning of the
word, and if he did not dislike such an appellation? To which he answerctl:
" Know, 0 emir ! that my father was horn on the road, and the people of Marw
" named him RQhwaih for that reason ; my father disliked being so called, but
" I do not."-fXar1ar2aalo, son of MQlik, gave his name to a great branch of thy
tribe of Tamim.

(1) Ibrahim al-Halcbi's Multaku 'l-Abhur, a celebrated treatise on Moslim law, c o ~ ~ t a i nthe
s follo\vi~~g
article in the chapter on sale: "The sale or lease of ground situated in the Sacred Territory of Mekka is
blamable." On which the commentator makes the following observations: "Unless in a case of absolute
necessity. As for the buildings, they may be alienated without scruple, as is done with buildings on lands
conceded in perpetuity to pious uses (wakf)." (See D'Ohsson's Tab. g6n. de 1'Empire Othonaan, t. VI. p. 82:.
A precisely similar doctrine is held by K u t b ad-dtn in his history of Mekka.
(2) Probably the bridge which united the suburb of Karkh to Baghdad.
(3) Such is the signification of the verb
J'
3 joined to the preposition .-, Ad-Dahabi, in his I'ubrrkrif
al-Hufldz, life of Ibn RYwaih, relates the same saying in clearer terms, as in place of I 4 b $!:l
+,hh e h a s 4^11$\ I;Y+,~ +,L d L &I.
 lR2 IBN KH ALLIICAN'S
18) Musnad means a collection of authenticated Traditions, each of them preceded by the names of those
Traditionists who had transmitted it successively one to another, and the last of whom taught i t to the author
the work.
1)f

ABU AMR AS-SHAIBANI .

9 Abfi Amr Ishak Ibn Mirir as-Shaibini, the grarnmariarl and philologer, was
a native of Ramidat al-iilfa (I), but inhabited Baglrclad. He was a mawlu (2),
and llad lived under the protection of the ttihe of Shaibln, for the purpose of
a correct knowledge of the Arabic language, and it was for this reason
that he was as-Shaibini. Philology and ( k c b i c ) poetry were thr
special objects of his studies, and in these two branches of scirnce, his autllo-
,-itv is of the highest order. He learned and transmitted a great number
of traditions ; the utmost confidence was placed in his veracity; and his merit
is extolled by the higher class of learned men and narrators o f traditional
information, though it is depreciated by the generality of t h a n becausr he used
to drink mine (nabid) openly. A number of eminent men got from him (a por-
tion of their knotvledge) ; among them were the imam Ibn IIanbal, al-Kasim Ibn
Sailim, and Ibn as-Sikkit, the author of the lrslrih nl-Mnntilr, who states
that A b i Amr lived one hundred and eighteen years, and wrote with his own
hand up to his death. L'Somelimes," says this anther, "he would borrow my
a book from me when I was a boy studying under him and copying his works."
I bn Kimil(3) relates that Ishak Ibn Mirir died at Baghdad, A. H. 21 3 (A.D. 828),
and on the same day as Abd 'l-Atihiya and Ibrahim ad-Nadim al-Mausili ; but
he is contradicted by another writer, who says that he died A. H. 206 (A. D.
521-9, aged one hundred arld ten years; and the latter is certainly correct.
4bS Amr composed a number of works, amongst others, a treatise on the Hone;
one on {he Dialects, generally known by the title of Kit& al-Jinz or K i t b nl-
Hurtv; the Great Collection of Anecdotes, a work of which he made three edi-
tions; Explanation of obscure words occurring in the Traditions ; a treatise on
Bees; another on Camels; and a work on the Nature OF Man. Ile read the
dicva'i~,or collected works of the (ancient)poets, im&r the direction of a1-g~-
faddal ; but the principal object of his studies were the anecdotes, rare expres
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 183

sions, and extemporary poetry of the nomadic Arabs. His son Amr relates of
him, that he collected alld classed the poems of more than eighty Arabic tribes,
and on finishing with each tribe, he published ihe result, and made a copy ,yf it,
which he deposited in the rnosque of Khfa: he thus wrote with his own hand up-
wards of eighty volumcs. -The meaning of the word Shaibini has been already
explained.-Some say that he died on I'alm-Sunday (4), A. H. 210 (rhe beginning
of cv/zichyear co/%responds to the 24.if8Ai~ril,A. D. 825).

(1) I n the Mardsid al-lttild and the Mushtarik, a number of places are noticed which bear the name of
Ram&&, but the Ramdda of RzZfa is not mentioned by them; it is manifest, however, that his place w a s
near the city of Khfa.
(2) The word MawIa has different significations; among others, those of enfranchised slace and client;
the latter is probably the mcaning it bears here.
(3) Abh Bakr Ahmad I h n K h i l learned Traditions from at-Tabari, the celebrated historian (Hamaker's
Specimen catal. etc. page 26, line 3); he wrote a history of those kkdis who were also poets, and died .4. H.
3M (A. D. 961). (Flagel's Hajji Hhalifa, No. 216.)
(4) Palm Sunday, (as-Shadnln). Sec M Reinaud's Excraits. etc. p. 102.

ISHA K IBN IBRAHIM AL-MAUSILI.

Abii Muharnmad Ishak Ibn Ibrahfm Ibn M i h b Ibn Bahmin lbn Nusli, a
member, by adoption, of the tribe of Tamim, and born at Arrajiin, is generallv
know11 by the name of Ibn an-Nadim akMausi/i (son oftlze social cornpnnior~
.from Masul). As his father's life has been already given (seepage 20), with an
account of his family and the origin of his surname Tarnhi, it is unneces~ar\~
to repeat what has been there said. Ibrahim was a constant companion of the
khalifs in their parties of pleasure, and bore a high reputation for refioed'taste ;
his festive humour and talent as a singer were peculiarly his own. He was well
acquainted with pure Arabic, (ancient) poetry, the history of the poets, and tht~
adventures of the desert tribes. As a traditionist, his authority is cited by
Musah Ibn Abd Allah az-Zubairi (q), Ibn Bakkh, and others; he was (irideed)
deeply learned in the Traditions, the law, and dogmatical theology. (Relative to
 18'c IBN KBALLIKAB'S
~ h l ; , ) the followilrg is narraled by the poet Mullammad Ibrl Aliya a]-
.\trvi (2) : " I y,-asprespnl at one of the hidi Yahyn Ibn Aktllam's assrmblirs (3),
u.hen Isllak Ibn Ibrallim al-l\lausili entered and commenced, with the theolo-
$ians ,\ho were presrllt, a discussion in which he was completcblyS ~ ( ~ C C S ShRtb I ~ ;

,hen treated witlr a p i n t ofjurispr~ldencc,maintailline it bp direct proofs

iind analogical cascs ; after which, he discoursed on poetry and rhc: Arabic lan-
;;*age 311d excelled all t t ~ ecompany ; he then turned to the kldi Yallya and said :
firay God the L jdi ! have I committed any Faults in the discussion which
I lrare maintained 3 r d tllc passages which I have quoted, or can any objection
I,e made to them?" "No," replied Yahya. "I-IOWthen," said he, "does i~
happen that I, who 11.rat all those sciences with as inuch ability as h e persons
\rho profess them, should be only known as a master of one single art!" meanins
m nu sic. On this the kidi turned towards me and said: "It is fbr you to answer
that."-(Al-Atwi was an able dialectician.)-('Yes, kidi, I replied, may God
"

exalt you! it is for me to answer." I then addressed lsllsk and said : 0, Abfi
:,c; Wulrammad, as a grammarian are you equal to RI-Far& and al-Akhrash !"-
'' No."-" In philology and acquaintance with poetry arc you cqunl to al-
- k m % and Ahli Ohaiday-"1C'o."-"In dogmatical thcoloIFy are y o ~ to
-\lril 'l-lludail al-!!llhf and an-NazzBm al-Balkhi (4) 1"- No."-'l In jurispru-
dence are you equal to this kidil" (pointing to Yahya.)--~No."-t~ In poevr
are YOU equal to Abii 'l-Atihiya and AbG Num.$s?"- No."-l' ~t is for these
reasons, therefore, that you are known as a master of an art in which you stand
without n rival, for in (he other sciences you are inferior to those who hold the
iirst rank in them." Isllak laughed on hearing this, and risitlg from his place,
witlldrew. The kidi then said to al-Atwi : You have proved your point per-
fectly well, and yet done little wrong to Ishak, who is a man almost without a
1-iva1."-hlg master, Ibn Bitish (S), says, in his work entitled a[-Tanzyiz {vo
'l-Fasl (g), that Ishak al-iI!ausili1s conversation was elegant and full of ori-
ginality, his taste refined, and his talents of a superior order. Ile wrote the
Traditions under the dictation of Sufyan Ibn Oyaina, MPlik Ibn Ans, Hushaim
Ibn Bushair (7), and AbB Moawia ad-Darir (8); he studied philology under
al-AsmBi and A b i Obaida, and attained the highest eminence as a musician. It
was to this art that he devoted his principal attention, and by i t he acquired his
reputation. The khalifs treated him with honour and admitted him into their
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 185
intimacy, and al-lllhm0n used to say : " Were Ishak not so publicly known
l as a singer, 1 should have appointet-l him to the place of kidi;
and s ~ o k e r of
" he is more deserving of it than the kidis we now have, and he surpasses
them all in virtuous conduct, veracity, piety, and honesty; but people know
him only as a singer, and that taleut, though the least of those whielr he pos-
sesses, has eclipsed the rest." As a singer he was without a rival, and as a
poet he possessed considerable abilities ; his poems have been collected, and
form a diwn't2, from which we extract the following verses addressed to Hardn
ar-Rashid :

When she told me to be thrifty, I replied: Cease your counsels, thy con~mandis im-
possible; I see that all are friends to the generous man, but the miser has not a friend
in the world; I see that avarice is discrrditablc, and I respect ~nysell:too much to de-
serve the name of miser. Know, that the greatest pleasure a noble mind can feel, is
to give with liberality. From hnrlourable pride, the presents which I make are such as
the rich bestow, thoueh my means, as thou knowest, are but small. Yet why should
1 apprehend poverty or remain deprived of wealth, when the Commander of the
Faitllful loohs on me with favour?

Ishak wrote a great deal ; Thalab relates that he saw upwards of one thousand
quires in his handwriting, and containing expressions, all of which he had heard
from the Arabs of the desert. ' l I never saw," said he, in the house of any
" person more philological works than i n the house OF Ishak and, after his, in

" Ibn al-Aaribi's." From among the anecdotes wllich lshak used to relate,
I shall select the following: "We had a neighbonr called Abii IIafs and nick-
#

" named al-Lfiti; one of his neighbours having fallen sick, he went to see him

" and said : ' lIo\v are you ? do you not know me?' To which the sick man
'' answercd with a feeble voice : Yes, I do; you are AbG Hafs al-LGti !' '0,'
" said t h e other, 'you pass the bounds of civility; may God never raise you
" from your bed !' " (!))-(The klral!f) al-Motasim said of him : Ishak never
'' yet sung to mc wirhou t my feeling as if my poss~ssionswere increased."-The
anecdotes related of him are numerous; he lost his sight two years before his
death. Born A . H . 150 (A. D. 767), the same year as the imim asSh%fi;died
of diarrhea in the nronth of Ramadin, 2335 (beginning of April, A. D. 850) ; but
some say in the month of ShawwQ1, 236 ; the first is, however, the more general 9 7
opinion. According to another s t atemen l, his death took place on the afternoon
24
186 IBN KHAL1,IIIAN'S
of Thursday, 5th Zu 'I-llijja, 236. One of his friends composed t llc bliowing
elegy on that event :
It is covered with the dust of the earth, that pleasure n hich had laka~iits resi-
dence in the dwelling of our (departed) friends!-(it is in mourninq) since n\-illausili
is gone; sillcc social joy is ruined and the meetings o l gairty s a p l ) ~ . ( ~ s ( ~Tlrr
( l . instru-
ments of nrusic wccp in sorrow for his loss; love also weeps and t l ~ cclcar l i q u o r ( o f t h e
wine-cup). 1 1 the apparatus (10) of our pleasant parties i s in g r i e f , ;in(] lllc lutr s p -
pathises with the tlulcimer.

that this rlcgy was compos(r1 on thc death

I t has been stated, but e~~roneonsly,
of his father Ibrahim.

, lI Abh Abd Allah J1usal.l lbn Bbd -4llal1 Ibn nfusab lbrr Thhbit Ibn Abd Allah J b n az-Xtrbair Ib11 al-
sin1 al-Asadi az-Zubairi (descended from the celebrated Abtl Allalt Ibn az-Zzcbair) ill111uncle to ~IZ-ZU-
..l-
bair Ibn Bakkir, \\as the genealogist of the tribe of Iiorcish; he \\as also (I hhUz, jurisc:orrsult, it~tdit Iristo-
rian; these talents,\nith his noble birth and manly character, obtained for him tllc higl~estcstc!om and respect;
his only fault was hatred to the memory of the khalif Ali. Uorr~at Mcdina, A. H. 336 (A. 1). 773) ; died
h. H. 236 (A. D. 850-l).-(See Ibnal--4thir and al-I'd/?, in the year last nrentioncd.)
,Z)Abd Abd ar-Rahmiia 3Iuhammad Ibn Abd ar-Rallrnho Ibn Atiya, an cnfrirncaltiscd slavt! 01' t h ~tribe of
Laith Ibn Bakr Ibn Abd Blanit, grew into emirrencc as a k8tib ant1 ~boetur~dcrthe Ah1)asitles. 1Ir \\as born
;lull brought u p at Basra, ant1 had for protector tlre hldi Ibn Abi l)uwild isrc his lifc, Ibilg(b(ill,wllose death
he lamented in a number of elegies. - (Aghini, torn. IV. Tol. 3i9-321.)-(Con1mu11ic:i~tc.tl1)y RI. Cnussin (l(%
Percevai.)
131 See page 73, note (16).
I) Abh Isbak Ibrahtnl Ihn Saiylir,l_. 'not Buschur, as U'Hcrbslot 11as it in i,trc [Jib. O r i e n t . , arti-
4.l~NADDE.\M.rtor yet E'esar, as BI. dc Sacy writcs it it1 thc Ifistoire des Ururcs, irrtrodr~ctior~,page 42; 1
Ibn Hani, native or Basra and sister's son to Abil 'l-lludail, was a ~ l c h r a t c dscholastic thcologiit~l,and autl~or
(,l' a number of norlis and pieces ol' poetry on hat subject. He receivcd the surname o f U N - N u z z d m ( f l i p
stringer o f pew-1s1 Bccause he strung and sold pearls in the bazar at Basril, or, as some say, I)ccausc hc slr1111.g
brilliant ideas on the thread of his diacours~. In his youth, he was suspected of 1lartialil.y towards LIIC doc-
trine of dualism, and at a later period hc was known to have adopted the principles of ihc (;reel( philosophy;
His speculations on religious subjects were pushed so far, that pious nfoslirns lookad on I~inras l111 iutitlel.
An offset of the Motazelite sect, was narne,d N a ~ z d m i y aafter its founder an-NazzAm. Many Icarrtctl men of
that time asserted that this doctor denied the divinc mission of the prophets, and that drcad of' the sttord was
the orrly motive which prevented him from openly professing his subversive o~~iniorls.T11c great rncljority of
the Xlotazelites accused him of infidelity, and as a proof of his corrupt morals, they mention his passion for
wine. He died A. H. 23i (A. D. S4b-6). (Ibn Shlliir's Oliyiln at-Tatodr3kh. As-ShahrastiZ~ri. AI-Maltrizi's
Khflat. The liltdtib's History of Baghdad, fol. 648.) --It may he observed that Ibn Iihallik$n has mentioned
the name an-Kazzdm al-Balkbi (native of Balkh), who might therefore bc thought a diRcrent person from h i n ~
who is here spoke11of; but in another part of his work (see page 640 of tllc Arabic text) may be found the fol-
lowing passage, which decides the question:-"Abh IshAk IbrahEm Ibn Saiyir al-Balkhi, surnamed an-NazzAm,
the celebrated theologian." His family was probably from Ballth, and he himself borrr a t Rnsra, \llhich may
atcuul~tfor the t#o palrorrjrnics.-The lift of Abfi 'l-1hdail is given by ltrn lihallikhu. As-Shatlrastini
states the principal poi~rtsof a n - P i a ~ ~ i hdoccriric.
's
(5) '1-Majd Isrnail Ihn Ilibat Allah Ibr: Sdid Ibn Bhtisli, sur~lanlcdIrnid ad-dill (columv~of rcliyion;,
\\as a natiwe of nfosul, ant1 onc of the most lcntr~cdShaCtcs of that city. He W ~ I Sborii in thc monthof b ~ u -
Ilarranr, A. B. 575 (A. D. 1170) ; and in his you111 travelled to Syria, that he might acquireinformation in the
'I'rdditiotls and jurlsl,rudencr from thc celebrated professors wl~otaught dt Baghdad, 1)amascus. and Aleppo.
li[e l l ~ ~ became
ll professor a r ~ dm u f l ~in his Lurn, n i ~ dtaon~poscda number of \\orks, tbe rnoat Inlportant ut'
r\hlch arc silid to be the following: Tabakdt, etc. or list ofshofile doctors, Mushtabik an-Nisba, \doldblfwI Pa-
tronymics), ul-Moyhni, etc., or Explanation of tile tlifficulties found in the Mulladdab (of Abil Jshuk as-Sh;-
r&;i). It is stated that in t b ~ slast v o r k he is frcqucnlly mistaken it1 his explanations. H e died a t Aleppo.
.i. If 655 (A. D. 1257), aged eighty.-(Tab. as-Si~af.-Tab. al-Fu1cahU.-Bughdat at-Talab.) -This a a s one
of I h r ~Khallilibn's prufcssors.
(6) Tllc l b m l ~ i sw a 'l-Fasl, or al-Faisal (Distit~ctiona n d Discrimination), is cited as a geographical work
by 4 b t l 'I F:ltlii in his Geography, page hf Lhc Arabic text. The same author mentions another work of AbG
'I-31ajd, el~titlccl!tIu;ll al-frtigdlr a n Musktabilr u1-1)~tiskb(The dispeller of the incertitudes concerning
rloubtful pcttro~cymics). This 1s lrrobably the same as thc dfusfitabih an-Nisba (see note (5) ). Those two
works treated probably of Traditiooists, their patrongmics, and the countries to n hich they belonged.
(7) Abrl nfoa\\ ia Hushaim Ibn Abi Kbhzim Bushair, native of Wdslt, but clcscended from a farnlly of Balkh,
\%asa member, by adoption, of the tribe of Sulrna He had studied thc Traditions under many cruinent rnas-
ters, arrd aoquirrd a high rcputatiorr a t Baghtlld by liis knonledge of that subject. Ife k n e ~b j~ heart tacnt?
thousand of them. Diet1 A. 11. 183 (A. D. ?W), aged '79 years. (Tab. al-3Zuhadditlrin, 31s. No, 736 AI-
Yhfi '
(8) Abb Muurvia lullanlmnd lbn Bhiizirna I ,(, , 1 ad-Darir (the blind). adopted rneo~le:. of' the tribe of

l r n h a r (y)5IL d+J\),
n h i c l ~drscelicls horn tbat of Tamrnirn tl~roughtile tribe of Sand. nos born at Jiufi~,
A . H. 113 (A. D. 731); hc studied tlie Traditions ullcler Illshhm lhrl Orwa and al-Aamasb Dicd A. H. 195
. D. 1 ) (Tab. al-Muhaddilhin.) - He a a s probably nephew to the HOshaim mentioned in the preceding
note.
(9) Literally : Thou has6 passed the limit of acquaintance, may God never r u i ~ eyour side. The point
in this anccdote dependa on n ccrlaill double meaning cor~tainedin the last nord, but nbich it is impossible
to explain. I t can be only observed that the expression Abb Hafs made use of, proved sufficiently that he
deserted the r~ickrinrneof al-L~ltz'(pathicus'.
(10) The apparatus of social parties: cushions, perfumes, flowers, musical instruments, and wine. .

lSHAK IBN HUNAIN.

AbA Yak& Ishak Ibn Ilunain Ibn lshak ai-Ibidi, a celebrated physician, was
the most eminent man of his tirne in the science of medicine. As a translator,
he attained the same superiority as his father, and equalled him in the knowledge
of different languages, and the faculty of expressing his thoughts in them with
 188 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
Ilrecision, He tnnslatal into Arabic (U nun2ber d') the philosophical works
written in tile language of tllr Greeks ; his btlrer also had d o l ~ * same, hut
there more trarlsIntio~lsby him ( I ) or philosophical \\-ritil~gs(suclr as the
treatises of Aristotle and others(?) ), than of medical works. IIc was ptronised
Ilvthe same lihalit and great men w11o had his fathcr i l l llirir service, but he
afterwards attached llinlself exclusively to 31-Kasim Ibn Obaid Allah (:{l, vizir to
the khalif al-blotadid Billah, and became so intimate with }rim that this vizir
lnade hirn his confident and communicated to him the secrets wllicll he con-
cealed from all o t l ~ ~ r s .Ibn Rutljn ('I)~*clstcsin his Datvnt nl-dlibbk (laqui-
site qlralirzes for n plv-sician (l)), that the vizis nl-Iiasim, Iraving hcard that
Ishak had taken a laxative medicine, wrote him the following vctrsc:s to rally him
on the sul,ject :

Tell me how you passed the night, and in what state yell wcrc, and how oftcn your
camel bore you towards the solitary mansion (5).

On which Ishali vrote him in answer :

I passed a good and pleasant night, m y body and my mind at ease ; hut 3 s for jour-
neys, camels, and solitary ~nansions,my respect for you, who arc the object of my
hopes, has caused me to forget them all.

I met with the same anecdote in the Kiln"b aZ-Kirzdyn't ( G ) , but according to
that work, Ishak's answer was as follo\~s:

I write you this to avoid wearing out my shoes by a fatiguing walk. If you intend
to answer me, direct your letter to the closet.

Ishak and his father Ilnnain (whose life shall be given later) composrd a num-
ber of useful treatises on medicine(?); towards the end of his liTc: hc lost the use
se of his side from palsy: he died in the month of the second Rabi, A. 11.298 (1)ecem-
her, A. D. 91 0) or 299.-lbridi means, related to the 16ci'd ((S) of IIirii, who
were a ril~lnberof Christian families from difyerent (Atubic) tribes which had
settled [here; the surname of Ibldi was borne by many persons, amongst others
Adi I bn Zaid al-Ibldi, the celebrated poet (9). At-Thalabi (l 0) says in his com-
mentary on the Koran, when explaining the following passage in tlre S h z t a 6
Mcn~inin( I I ): Slzn1.l w e believe irk two men like to ourselves, and whose people
are sewants (aibidfin) to u s ? lcThe word adbidzln signifies obedient, s116-
 BIOGRAPHICAL n1CTTONARY. 189
(6 jecled; and the Arabs of the desert call him who serves a king adbid

" j e c t ) ; for this reason it was that the people of Ilira were called ibrid, because
6ithey were obedielzt to the king of Persia."-Hira is the name of an ancient
city which belonged to tire Mundir family, and the olher Arab princes, their.
predecessors; Amr Ihn Adi al-Laklrmi for instance, the ancestor of the &Iundirs,
who was succeeded by his sons (l 2); before him, Hira was possessed by his mater-
nal uncle Jadimat al-Abrash al-Azdi, him who had the adventure with az-Zab-
bA ( l 3). I'fira having gone to ruin, the city of Kufa was founded outside of it aftel.
he promulgation of Islamism ; it was Saad Ibn Abi IVakkAs who built it in the
seventeenth year of the Hijra (A. 1).638), by order of Omar Ibn al-Khattib.

(1) By him; that is, I believe, by tlie son. The same equivocalr~essexists in the original.
(2) Consult o n this subject Casiri's Bibliotheca Arabica, tom. I. pag. 304 et seq.
(3) Ibu KhalliLAn mentions a number of particulars respecting this vizir in the life of Ibn ar-Rami.
(4) AI-MukhtSr Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Abdhn, surnamed Ibn Butlin, was a celebrated Christian physician
Baghdad. H e died in a convent a t Antioch in A. H. 444 (A. D. 10352.) Some information ail1 be found re-
specting him in the Historia Dynastarum. His life is given also in the Tarik,Z al-Hukamd.
(5) The vizir's meaning is sufficiently o b ~ i o u s ,but it may be observed that in tile last line he has given ;r
burlesque application to a very common poetical ide,~.-In the beginning of most I~asZdas,the poet is repre-
sented as arriving, aftcr a long journcy, at the mansloll of his mistress, which he finds desolate and solitary.
(6) This is apparer~tlya treatise on metonymical exprcssioris.
(7) Among the vorlis composed by Ishak may be reckoned a treatise on Simples, a Kunndsh, or Pandects,
and a History of Physicians. (Tarikh al-Hukamd, RIS. or the Bib. du Roi, Supplement, No. 105.)
(8) The primitive signification of the word Ibdd is sercunts; but in some cases this word is employed 10
denote the Nestorian Christians.
(9) Adi Ibn Zaid lived before the promulgation of Islamism. His life, translated from the Arabic of the
kitdb al-Aghdni, has been given in the Journal dsiatique for November, 1538.
(10) See his life, page 60.
(11) Eoran, surat 23, verse 49.
(13) See Pocock's Specimen Hist. AT.2nd edn. page 68.
(13) The details of this adventure are to be found in Schulten's dleidanii Proverb. Arab. Pars page $3;
and Freytag's edition of the same work, t. 1, p. 424.

ASAAD AL-MIHANI.
Abfi 'l-Fath Asaad Ibn Abi Nasr Ibn Abi 'l-Fad1 al-Mihani, surnamed Majd
ad-din (glory of religion),was a follower of the sect of as-Shifi, and a doctor of
high eminence in the sciences of jurisprudence and controversy, on which sulk
190 IBN KIIALL1KAN7S
ject he composed a mell-knom Talika ( l ) . After studying law in the c i t y
of hlarrv, he s e n t to Ghaina, where he acquired an c x t e ~ l s i v rreputation by ]]is
superior talents, obtained the praises of' al-Gharzi (.see his l@, p g e 38).
From tllat he lrsrelled to Baghdad, and vas twice appoin tcd pr~f(~ssor. a1 the
ZizirlripCollegp ia ihat city : he was nomirlated, d ~ first e time, in the yeal. 507
A . D. 1 13-!+), and n-as renloved from his place on the 11 8111 SlliLBn, R 1 3 ; he
was afterwards reinsfated in SbibPn, 51 7, and in llle rnonlll of' %h'l-Kaada in
the salne year he set out to join the army (2), icavir~ghis place to another.
:\ great 11111lrberof' p~lpilsstudied under hi111 and PI-olitedby l ~ i lcssorls
s and the
Lnt~~vllulge s.liich tlrry acquired of his system ol cori~rovc~~sial r(taso~~iag.The
Ililir Abli Saad as-SanGi~~i speaks of him in the Znil and says : "W IICII WC were
et \Iarrv, ite came there as ambassador liom the SeljdL Sull;ill, MalrmGd; Ire
afterwanls \vent in the same capacity from Baghdad to llarna(l?i~i(31, and died
there A. H, 537 (A. I). 1132-3).-I was told l ~ A y b i ~llakt. M~ilirrrnmadIbn
Ali Ibn Onlar al-Iihatib that a jurisconsl~ltof Cazwin (who took care of Asaad
* - at Hamadin, when he was drawing towaids the end of' his lifcl) rolarctl to him

L the follo~~ing circurnstar~cc: ' V J ewere togelher in a roonr ;thou( tlw time in
which his ecstalic fit (4) usually took him, and he ordered us to rctirac, on
" which we withdrew; but I stopped a t the door to listen, ant1 I hcard him

L ' strike his face with his hand and say: 0, cvhnt grief is nzitze ,fir* n-~ynegli-

" gence h2 the ser*vice of' G o d ! ( 5 ) - H e then wept and struck his face again,
" and continued repeating these words rill he expired.'-AbG Ilalir told me the
" above, or the substance of it; as 1 have written i t down from memory (nrcd not
li from his dictnthn)."-~Vi/~cztzimeans belonging to fiIi/zcma, a villitge in the

dependencies of Khibario, which place is near the towns of Saraklrs and Abi-
ward in Khorasan.

(1) See note 13, page 55.

(2) This -as probably the army sent by the khalif al-Mustarshid against Dubais 1h11Sadaka.
(3) The first embassy was probably in A. H. 513 (A. D. 1119-20), when the Sultan Silljar was on if1
terms aith his nephew, the Sultan Mahmbd. At the epoch of the second, Masdd was Sultan a t Baghdad,
and his brother Togrul at Barnadan.
(4) m Arabic Jk state; which word is employed by the SOGs. in their technical langurge, to signify a
periodical 1of acjlalion or of meotal abstraBon, to d lh tbejr devotees are subjec~,2nd yhch isproduced
c
by a long continuance of their religious exercises. During its continuance, their souls are supposed to be
absorbed in the Divinity.- (See M. de Sacy's Hemoir on Sbfism in the Notices et Ertraib, etc.. tom. 12.)
%S)Koran ; surat 39, verse 57.
 ABU 'L-FUTUH AL-IJLI.

'l-Futhh Asand Ibn Abi 'l-Fadiil Rlahmbd Ibn Khalf Ibn Ahnlad Ibrl
IIuhammad al-Ijli, surnamed Muntalihib ad-din (selecled fbr religiolr), was a
~lativcof Ispahan and a follower of' the sect of as-Sh5fi. This preacher and emi-
nent ju~~isconsolt was in high reputation for his learning, self-denial, piety, 9:)
devotion, and frugality; eating of nothing but what he had gained by the laboull
of his hands, and supporting himself 1)y copying and selling (books). He learned
the Traditions in his native city from Ulnm Ibrahim Fitima al-.litztfiniya ( l ) ,
d n q h t e r of Abd Allah, the hifiz Ahii 'l-Kasim Ismail Ibn Muhammad lbn
al-F;tdl(",!, A h i ~'1-1\':1 fA Glhninl Ibn 11hmadlbil nl-IIasan al-.lalddi, A bd 'I-Fad1
Abd ar-Rahinl Jbn Ahmad Ibn Muhanlmad al-Baglldadi, A ~ < 'l-hlutahhir L al-
Kasim Ibn al-Fad1 Ilm Abd al-IVihid as-Saidalini, and ot1lc.r~. IIe then went
to Baghdad in the year 557 ( A . D. I IGf),), and learned also 'I'r~atlitions fronl
AbA '1-Fat11 Rluhammad Ibn Alld al-I% ki, surnamed Il)r) ;\l-Bat ti, and or hers ; be
received also ccrtificn~cs from Zhllir as-~hnhirii(3), Abi 'I-Fath Ismail 1hr1
iZhd al-Aziz Ibn Rluhammad al-Azdi,
ill-Fad\ al-Ikhshicli (h), Al)il 'l-'PIft~l~i~.:~k
and others, aulhorisii~ghim to icacll in thcir llallle the Traditions wkictl ht.
had learned from ~ I l o r n . IIc tllell ~bc~ul-~led10 his native city, a ~ l d ,after. stn-
dying deeply, Ile acquiretl surpnssir~i,rinforn~ationand nr tained celchrity . .\
number of n.orbks\.vc1r-econlposed by him, among otlrers, an espla~larionof the
obscurities net with in thc rt7[~sir and FVapz of (Abli Hri/,tirl) al-Ghazzili,
containing, besides, c1r;tr~actsfrom the books iti which the doctrines staled in
these two ~vorksarc. more fully sta[ed. Me wrote also a supplement to the Sup-
plement ( 5 ) conlposccl by Abh Saad al-hIu~nwalli, IIis legal decisions as ii
mufti were considered of the first authority at Is[)ahan. I-Ie \\-as born in that
city in one of the months of Rabi, A. H. 514 or 515 (A. D. 1121); he died i r ~
tbe same city on Wednesday night, 22nd Safar, A . H. 600 (October, A. D.
I 203). --Ijli means belonging to i j l i h n Lujaim, a famous branch of thp tri btl
of Rabiat al-Faras. Ijl was son of Li;jaim Ibn Saal) Ihn Ali Ibrl Bakr Ibn TViil.
Abb Obaida (G) says that this Ijl was counted by the Arabs among their cele-
brated idiots; he had an excellent horse, and some one said to him: "Every
'' courser has a name; what is the name of yours?" "I have no1 named him
192 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
' L yet," replied Ijl. You should give him a name," observed the other; on
which Ijl put out one of his horse's eyes, and said : "I namc him al-Alwar (7)."
On this a poet of the Desert composed tlre followir~gverses:
The sons of Ijl reproached me with a defect which is, howcvcs, the very dcrcct of
their father. Does thcre exist anlong men a person more loolish tharl Ijl? ])id not
their father put out the exr of hie courser, and becomc thus proverbi:ll h)r his stupidity?

(1i Jd:ddn. according to the author of the Mardsid, is a large village rlenr Ispahan ; the pcok~leof' that city
call i t Lbzdan.
, 2 ) Ahfi 'I-Kasim Ismall lbrl Muhammad Ibn al-Fadl, one of the first trnditiorrists of his lime, was born
at Ispahan, A. H. 457 (A. D.1065);died A. H. 535 (A. U. 1141j. fie composed, arrrorlg othcr works, a corn-
Inerrtary on the Koran, and an explanation of the Traditions of Bokhiri and those nf hloslirn. The pcople of
Baghdad said of him that since the time of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, he was the most talt:rlted nran and the most
learr~edtraditionist that ever entered their city.-His life (in Arabic) is given in Mcursi~~jic's
SoyOti Liber de
It~terpretibusKorani, Lugd. Bat. 1839.
13) According to Ibn al-Athfr, in his Hdmil, Zdhir as-Shahimi was born A. H. 146 (A.D. 1054), and died
533 (A. D. 1238-9).
(4; lkhshldi I believe to be the true reading, not IkshEd, as is printed in the Arabic text. I t is singular
that not one of the above-named traditionists should be noticed in the Tnbalcdt nl-Mul~addithtn; but Ibn
Khallilidn here supplies the n~ostrequisite information respecting them, nanrcly, the time and the place in
hich they lived.
.61 Tutirnmat al-Taldmmat (Completion of the Completion) : see Fiiigel's flajji Khillifd, An.k~.h.r,No. 3.
( 6 ) The life of the celebrated grammarian and philologer, AbQ Obaida Mamar Ibn al-Muthanna, is giver1
by Ibn Khalliliin.
17) AI-ddu.ur (blind of an eye); among the Arabs, surnames such as this, derived from it corporeal defect,
are still common.

AL-ASAAD IBN MAMMATI.

Al-Kidi 'l-Asaad (the most fortunate Bddi) Abii 'l-Maklrim Asaad Ibn
al-Khatir Abi Said hluhaddib Ibn Mina Ihn Zakariya Ibn Abi Kudimn Ibn Abi
Malih Rlammiti al-hlisri (nntive of Egypt) : this poet, who was also a kiitib (I)
and inspector of the government offices in Egypt, was a man of merit and
author of a number of works. He versified the History of the sultan Salah
ad-din and the hook called Kalila and Dimna. His poetical cornpositions have
been collected and form a diwdn, a copy of which 1 have seen in the handwriting
of his son, a n d from which I extracted a number of pieces; the following,
a m o n g others :

You reproach me, (my /i-iendl?y monitor!) and you tell me to avoid the very objects
\fhich people cautioil you to fly; do you know that these objects are as (dear to me a s )
m y ejes? Nay, I assure you, my eyes have been more fatal to me than they (2).

He composed t h e following verses o n a heavy fellow whom he saw at Damas-

cus :
Ire is likc two rivers which none on earth ever resembled; in body he is like Thaura, 100
and in mind like Barada (3).

Ibn Blanlmhti h a s ~ . a k e nt h e idea expressed in the foregoing verses from these

lines composed by another poet:

Ibn HishrAn resembles the city of Jillik (4);when their qualities are set forth, both are
without a rival. His words are ( f o u l like) Barada, his body (slow lilie) Thaura, and
his feeble intelligence (languid like) Yazid ( 5 ) .

In one o f Ibn Mammiti's long hasidas a r e found the following verses:

How brightly his fires burn at night to attract the tardy guest (6) I He who draneth
near to the light of his fire will not have reason to complain, provided he never re-
ceived hospitality from the family of RIuhallab (7).

Rv the same, on a young g r a n ~ m s r i a n:

The gait of that slender youth raises my admiration and announces the elegance of
his mind. His pronunciation is soft as a female's, and his eyes are Full of languor (S).

T h r e e other verses of his will be found in the life of Yahya I b n NizAr al-Man-
biji : there are some good thoughts in his poetry. T h e k d i b Imid ad-din makes
mention of h i m in t h e Khnrfda, a n d quotes a number of passages composed by
liim ; h e t h e n gives t h e life of al-Khatir, 11x1 MammHti's father, with abundant
extracts f r o m his poems; t h e following excellent lines, among others, o n keeping
a secret:

I conceal the secret with which I am entrusted, and do not repeat it even to him who
confided it to me ; but yet I forget it not. For my ear never teaches my tongue the
secret of him who has conversed with me in private.

I met him at Cairo," says t h e kitib; "he was chief of al-Malik an-Nasir's
" army-office ; he and his people (9) had been Christians, b u t they embraced

25
 10b IBN KHALLIICAN'S
L Islamism towards the beginning of Salill ad-din's reign. " Muhaddib ad-din
c

Ibn a]-Lakhrni tile follor~ingsatirical verses on Ibn al-Mamrniti:

The new converted hloslim is but a weak prosclytc; his smiles bctroy his Scll intent.
Hod he Sibawaih seen somc of liis verses, he would have cl)ontc(l llinl
among the signs of the Femitlinc gcrider (10).

Wllen tlle hafir 1bn Dihya Zu 'l-Nisbain (I I ) arrived at Arl~ela,and saw hou-
sedulously the sultan of that city, Muzaffar ad-din, was occupied in celebrating,
with great pomp, the anniversary of the Prophet's birth (as shall 1)e rcla~edin
this life under the letter R (1 2) ) ; he composed a work entitled at-Tanwir, etc.
(IlZu~,ir~ntion, in praise cf the bright FZonz6eaz~),and finishing with a long
kasir(a in praise of illuzaffar ad-din, which commenced t l ~ u s :

M'ere i t not for our enemies, those base informers, (our friends) would ncvcr have
suspected us (of ill).

7his book and poem were read to the prince, and 1 myself (@erierrvards) heard
the work read in his presence in the month of Shibb, A. 13. G2G (A. D. 1229),
101 and (lrernarhed that) the kasida was in it; some time after, however, I found
this very poem in a collection of pieces, and there attributed to lbrl Mammlti,
on which I said to myself that the editor was probably mistaken. Then, still
later, I saw the entire poem in the Diwdn of Ibiz Mammiti's poctical works, and
found there stated that it had been composed by him in honour of the sultan
al-Malik al-Kimil. This confirmed my suspicions, and I then met with the
folloiving passage in Ibn al-Mastawfi's History of Arbela, where hc speaks of
Ibn Dihya: ' l 1 asked hirn the meaning which he wished to convcy by the fol-
" lowing verse (of his poem) :
+ ' We should give our lives for a present offered by one whosc hand is Jumada

" and Muharrarn ."

'' 14s he gave me no reply (13), 1 said : ' It is perhaps like the idea which a poet
" has thus expressed :
" EIc is called by the names of the months; thus his hand is Jumikda and its con-

'' tents Muharram (Ilc)."

" On this, ibn Dihya smiled and said: 'That is what I meant.' " On reading
this passage, I became strongly inclined to think that al-Asaad was tlle author of
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 195

the poem; for if Ibn Dihya had composed it, he ~ o u l dnot have hesitated in re-
turning an answer (to i b n al-Mastncvfs question); it most, however, be ol,-
served that this liasida was recited (fir the f i - s t lime) to the prince of Arbela,
A. H . 606, and that al-Asaad died in that year; and moreover, he was therl
dwelling a t Aleppo, and had no cor~nexionwhatever with the APdilite dynastl((15),
So, on the whole, God alone knows with certainty which of the two is the real
author. Al-Asaad had fled from Egypt secretly through fear of the vizir Ibn
Shukr ( l G ) , and retired to Aleppo, where he took refuge under the protection of
the sultan al-Malik az-Zihir; he remained in that city till he died, on Sunday
the 30th of the first JumQda, A. H. G06 (November, A. D. 1209), aged 63 years.
I ie was interred in the cemetery named al-Makam (I 7), by the road-side, near
the mausoleum of the shaikh Ali al-I-Iarawi (1 8). His father al-Khatir died on
Wednesday, 6th Ramadin, 577 (A. D. 1182).-His ancestor, Abii Malih, who
was a Christian, received the surname of Man2mn'ti from the follo~vingcircum-
stance : during a great dearth which happened in Egypt, hc distributed alms and
provisions in abundance, and especially to the Moslim children; and they, on
seeing him, used to cry out Mizmnan'ti (l S), so that he came to be known by this
appellation. Such is the explanation which I received from Abd al-Azim al-
alundari (20), (may God preserve hirn for our advantage!) who then recited to
me the following elegiac verses on AbS Malih's death, with the remark that
they were composed, as Le believed, by Ihn Miknasa al-Maghtibi (21) :
The sky of g e n e r o u s actions and t h e sun o f praise h a v e b o t h d i s a p p e a r e d . . W h e r e
shallmy hopes and expectations be placed, after the death o f A b b ' l - M a l i h ?

I then looked out for these verses, and found that they were really his, and
that other elegies by the same poet on Ibn Malih were still extant (22).

(l) See note (7,page 26.

(2) Such I suppose to be the meaning of these very obscure verses; the objects which he is cautioned to
avoid are the cruel beauties who inflanle his heart with love; and yet, says he, my eyes, in contemplating their
charms, ha\e been more fatal to me than their cruelty.
(3) See note (5).
(4) The Mardsid says: "Jillik, with a double 1 and t ~ i's, o is a name given to the Ghats (oroaller~of Da-
" mascus], or else to a village therein ; some say it is Damascus itself, and others that it is a statue of a female

" spouting water from its mouth in one of the villages near Damascus!'
( 5 ) Or else : The feebleness of his intellect is on the increase.--In translatingthrse verses, I have supposed
 196 IRN KHALLIKAN'S
that Bar&, Thaura, and Yazid (three of the streams by which Damascus is watcrcd), possesscdcertaill qua-
lities to which allusion ir; made. I t may be, honever, that the poet only meant purl upor' Lllc words, as
Bard signifies cold; Thaut, a bull; and Yazid, increases.
16) See page 100, note (4).
(7) the ",embers of the MuhaIlab family were celebrated for their gcnerosit~and hospitality.
rs) Such is the real meaning of these verses; but persons conversant ~ ~ iArabic
t h granlmar will ~ ~ c r c e i vthat
e
the author has expressed his thougtlts in words which the grammarians cmploy as tccll~ricallerms. They are
all to be found in B1. de Sacy's Grammuire Ambe.
(9) Or : Bis band.
(10) This is perhaps intended as an attack on Ihn Mamrn4ti's moral r h a ~ ~ l c ~ eb u r :t (h(! Verses them-
selves are so full of quibbling, that it is not easy to guess the author's real mcnnioi.;. T ~ I first
C hcmistich sig-
nifies literally: a new (or a tradition) of Islam i s a new (or a tradition) weak (in autllaritg).
(11) His life will be found among the Omars.
(12) The real name of RfuzafTar ad-din was KOkobOri.
ii3; It is some consolation to a European student, to find Arabic poets unable to underslant1 verses in their
O H n language

(14) ,Wuhnrram, that is, sacred, none being allowed to touch tlicm. Jumdda means d r y month, \\hich
name was given to it when the Arabs used the solar year. It is well known t h i ~ tin thc rnctajlhorical lan-
guage of the Arabs, a moist h a d means generosity, and of course a d r ? ~onc must denotc avarice.
(15) 81-Nalik al-Kimil was son to al-Malik al-Addil, the Aiybbite, brothcr of S;lli111ad-dill.
(t6) Safi ad-din Ibn Shukr ad-Damltri
iSI"
dlacted as vizir to al-Malik nl-Afitlil till A. H. 609; he
was again appointed vizir by al-Nalik al-KBmil. (As-Soyhti's Hwsn al-Muhddira, MS. of the B i b . du Roi,
No. 652. folio 225, verso.)
tli) This rvmetery Iies probably outside the Damascus gate, callcd by ttic natives B i b i~l-Mi~ltil~~l.
(181 Ibn KhalIikdn gives an account of this mausoleum in the life of Ahh 'I-Hasan Ali nl-llnrawi
(19) Jfammdti was probably the children's word for mother.
($0) Abd al-Azim was one of Ibn KhalIililn's professors. See his life, page 89, rlotc (4).
($1) At-KLid Ablf TAbir Ismall Ibn Muhammad, surnamed Ibn Milinasa, bore in Egypt t l ~ rcl)utation
c of an
rminent p o e t Imid ad-din has inserted in his Kharida (MS. of the Bib. du Roi, No. 1374, fol. 186 et seq.)
a number of pieces composed by Ibo Rliknasa, but does not furnish much information respecting thc author.
It only appears that his attachment to Abh Malib, and the elegies which he composed on his death, subjected
him to thedispleasure of the vizir of Egypt, Badr al-Jam8li.-Now tllis vizir was nomir~ntedA. 1-1. 467; con-
sequently Ibn Maknasa must have lived till sorne time Iatcr.
12) They are to be found in the Kharida (see the preceding note); and this was probably tlle work which
Ibn Khallikln consulted.

BAHA AD-DIN AS-SINJARI.

Abii 'S-SaiidBt Asaad Ibn Yahya Ibn Miisa Ihn Mansdr Ibn Abd al-Aztz Ibn
109 Wahb Ibn Habbln Ihn Sawir Ihn Abd Allah Ibn Rafi Ibn Rabia Ibn Habbin
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTION A K Y . 197

as-Sulami as-Sinjiri (of the tribe of Szdaim and native of Sinjrir), surnanlcd
Bahh ad-din (splendour qf religion), was a port and n doctor of tlre secr of
as-ShiX'i. As a jurisconsult, he had treated controverted points; but poetry JJW
Iiis ruling passion, and he was indebted for his celebrity to the ability which he
displayed in that art. He dev0te.d his poetical talent to the service of princes and
obtained recompenses from them ; he (therefore) travelled over- many countries
for the purpose of celebrating the praises of the great. His poetical productions,
both kasi'das and short pieces, are in the hands of the public ; but I have never.
met with a complete collection of his works, nor do I know if his poems haw
been gathered into a diwlin or not. Since (writing the above), I have found a
large volume containing his complete works in the library nt the mausoleum of
al-Malik al-Ashraf (I) in Damascus, and I extracted from it the followirlg verses
of a long knsialn in praise of the khdi Karnll ad-din Ibn as-Shahruziiri ( 2 ) :

I swear by the love I bear thee that indifference has never entered the heart of thy
lover, and well thou knowest the state of love in which he is. If a delator tell thee that
thy lover has forgot thee, know that this delator is the very person who blamed him
for loving thee. The slate of thy afflicted lover, does i t not bear witness for itself :p
Does it not suffice to dispense with thy asking how he feels? Thou hast renewed the
garment of his malady ; thou hast rent the veil which concealed his passion, and thou
hast broken the tie which bound thee to him. Has a Fault escaped him by inadver-
tence ? or (hast thou rejected him fbr) the levity and presumption (3) to nhich thou hadst
accustomed him? It is strange that a prisoner should lay down life and fortune for
one who is free (horn love). I should give my parents in ransom for that archer I T ~ O
shoots with his eyes, and the point of whose arrows no armour can withstand! He is
filled with the sap of youth; his cheeks are saturated from the same pure source.
(Admiring) eyes embark in (the conten~plationo f ) his charms, and risk being drowned
in the ocean of his beauty. Nothing is wanting to his perfection, and that extreme
perfcction screens KamBl ad-din from the evil eye (4). The izdr traces the letter nzin
i d ) upon his face, and the mole on his chedk forms the diacritical point. The dark-
ness of his tresses is like the (gloomy) night of his aversion; and the brightness of his
Forehead resembles the (clear) day of his friendship.

Were it not my desire to avoid prolixity, I should give the entire poem, but
what is here inserted is the portion more generally remarked. Two verses
more are sometimes joined to the preceding, but I have omitted them from my
inability to establish their authenticity. The following extract is taken from
one of his kasidas :
And that nymph with the slender waist, so sweet in character and whose glances are
so tempting; who sometimes consents, sometimes refuses ! Wine mantles on her lips (S),
 198 IBN KHALLIIiAN'S
and is transuded by her (rosy) cheeks. Her charms have closed on lovers the path of
consolation; for them to consolation there is 110 approach.

From another knsida by the same :

The zephyrs awoke at dawn and perfumes (6) spread around them ; and 1 said, whci,
they passed through the valley of Ghada: Whose sweet breath is that?"

Wllen I was at my native place in the year 623 (A. D. 122G), w e were visited
ilv Jam$] ad-din Abb 'I-Muzaffar Abd ar-Rahmin Ibn Muhammad, a native of
\Visit, and known by the name of Ibn as-bunainira; 11c took up his
loa abode at the Mu:affariya college (7) with us. This shaikh, who was one
of the first poets of the age, had travelled over many countries, reciting co
Isinccs his eulogistic poems, and receiving from them gifts of great value.
\\'ben ire received company (g), he was visited by all those who were occu-
pied in literary pursuits, and an agreeable conversation and discussion took place.
He was then advanced in years, and he related one day the follo.wing anecdote :
L' I once had Bahi ad-din as-SinjAri for companion in a journey which I made
L' from Sinjar to RLs Ain," (or else "from Ris Ain to Sinjir,") and )v(: halted at
a spot on the way ; BahP ad-din had with him a boy named Iljrahim, whom
he treated with affection, and who then happened to be at a distance from
S ; so his master rose up to look for &m, 'and called out repeatedly, 'Ibra-

him! Ibrahirn I' but the boy was too far off to hear him. Now there was an
'' echo in that place, and as often as he shouted out ' Ibrahim,' it answered by
repeating the word; on which he sat down for a moment, and then recited to
G ' me these verses :
' My life for a friend nho is cruel, although attached to me I who is far from my sight,
' thoush near (to my heart! ! The very rock which Forms the echo of thc valley answers
' when I call him, but he answers not (althougl~my friend).'

Bahi ad-din as-Sinjiri had an acquaintance to whom he was greatly attached,

and whom he met frequently; but a dispute having one day occurred between
them, his friend discontinued seeing:him. On this Bahi ad-din sent to complain
uf his absence, and the other wrote him in reply the two following lines of al-
Hariri's, \\-llich he has inserted in his fifteenth Mnk6n1u (9) :
Visit him whom you love but once each month, not oftener. I t is only for one day
in the month that the moon is looked at (IO), and then eyes are no more turned to-
wards her.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 199

To this BaKa ad-din answered by these verses i n the same measure as the fore-
going :

When thou art sure of thy friend's affection, visit him and fear not to be tiresome.
Act as the sun which appears daily; not as the new moon which visits us only once each
month.

The following verses of his a r e frequentlv quoted :

How happy the days I spent at Rama! how sweet the hours I passed at HAjir (11).
They fled so quickly, that the first moments secmed to touch the last.

I n o n e of his kasi'&s, containing the descriplion of wine, is found the follow-

i n g pretty thought :

FVc nearlyflew with gaiety, and the wine also had flown, were it not detained by the
net which the bubbles formed on its surface.

T h e k d i b tmad ad-din makes mention of h i m in the kita"b as-Sail w n 'z-Znil,

and says, c' He recited me these verses of h i s own :
"Tis wonderful that I should sail on the ocean of wealth, and yet die of thirst; but
L the ways of the ocean are wonderful.' "

H e composed many fine pieces. His birth was i n t h e year 533 (A. D. 1138-9) ;
his dealh occurred a t Sinjlr about the beginning of the gear 622 (A. D. 1225).

(I) Al-Malik al-Ashraf died at Damascus, A.H. 635. His life will be found in this work.
(2) I t was at first my intention to modify the ideas contained in the singular extract which follows, but on
further consideration, I preferred giving the real sense of the verses, and referring the reader to what I have
said on the subject in my Introduction.
(3) Presumption 333 : ~hois,although the ordinary signification of the word, is not given in the lexicons.
-See the Diadn d'Amro 'E-kads, p. 11, note.
( I ) Jldi)\ ; Oculus cujusdam Arabia Kernal dicti, qui homines aspeetu necabat. (Meninski's Le=.).
This efpression is generally employed to denote the influence of the evil eye, which affects more particularly
those favoured by fortune or beauty.-The verse itself is a specimen oE the taste for quibblingwhich has
pervaded Arabic poetry from the third century of the Hijra.
(5) See note (2), page 18.
(6) Perfumes ;literally, grey ambergris.
(3This college was founded by the prince of Arbela, Muzaffar ad-dfn KdkobOri. His life is given in this
work.
(8) I n Arabic &.means to sit, to hold a sitting, and to receive company.
(9) See M . de Sacy's edition of al-HarPri, page 154.
 300 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
,io) This happens at the beginning of Ramaddo, as the Moslim fast COmmences when the new rnoorl of
that month make its appearance.
i i \ Rdma is situated, according to the Mardsid, on the road from Mekka to Ilasra, and ndjir is a village
in Hijiz f a p Ibo Khallihbn, Arabic text, page 557); these two spots have been celebrated by samr of the An-
t i. BahP ad-din, in choosing these names. wished to show that lle had rnscle goad clarsicol stu(ies.

AL-MUZANI.

404 - \ b i lbrahjm Isnlail lbrl Yahya Ibn Ismail Ibn Amr Ishak al-Muzani, dis-
,-iple of the imam as-Shifi and a native of Egypt, was a man of austere life and
iil-eat loarnjng, a ,nlqfnhid (l),an able reasoner, and a proround thinker (2).
IIe \vns tlie irnanl of the ShaGtes, and the first among them IJV his acquaintance
\\-itIl the legal system and juridical decisions of their founder, and by lris know-
ledge of the Traditions, which he transmitted on the alithorily of his master.
He composed a great number of works, among others, a ercat and a small col-
lection (al-Ja"mi) of Traditions, the Abridgment abridged (3), 01-Manlllzir,
or loose Notes, ar-Rnscri'l rrl-Motnbira (the esteemed Trcntises), the Incita-
tion to Learnin~,ant1 the Kircib al-Wathliik (4). As-Sh<hfi said, in speaking of
;I\-hluzani, '' He is the champion of my doctrine." As of'tcn as al-Muzani de-
cided a question and inserted the result in his Abridgment (5), he would rise,
and, turning towards the Mihmiib (6), say a p a y e r composed of two rnkas (7)
in thanksgiving to the Divinity. It was said by Ibn Suraij that the Abridgment
\i-ould go out of the world unblemished (8). This work is the basis of all the
treatises composed on as-Shbf'i's system of legal doctrine, the authors either imi-
tatirig its arrangement, or explaining and developing its text. W h e n Bakkir
Ihn Kutaiba, the WaneGte doctor (whose life shall be given later) went from Bagh-
(led to Egypt, where he had been appointed liidi, he hoped to meet al-Muzani
i d conrinued for some time in fruitless expectation; one day, however, they

\rere both present at a hlneral service, and Bakkir said to one of his disciples:
" Ask al-Muzani some question, that I may hear him speak." This person said
in consequence to al-Muzani : '' 0, AbB Ibrahim ! some of the Traditions con-
" tain a prohibition of the liquor nabid (g), and others permit its use; why
" therefore have you (doctors) preferred the prohibition to the permission?"
To this al-hlilzani replied : "None of the learned have ever that
 nabid was forbidden before the promulgation of Islamism, and authorised
after; and the unanimous opinion is, that it was lnwfi~l(bz the former time);
this therefore confirn~sthe authel~ticityof the Tradition which forbids its
use (I 0) ." Il)n BaLkbr approved his reasoning, and il is, certainly, a decisive
argument. AI-Rluza~li was rxtren~cly careful in aroidi~lg the least infringe-
ment of the law, a i d llis precaution went so far that, in every season of the
year, be drirnk out of a brass ~ e s s e(Il I ) , and hc replied when spoken to on the
subject: "I am told that thcs make use of dung in the fabrication of pitchers,
and lire does not purify it (1 511." It is rclatcd that vhen he missed being pre-
sent at public service in the mosque, he repeated his prayers alone twenty-five
times, in order to regain the merits attachcd to those which are said with the
congregation: in this, he f o ~ n d c dhis opinion on the authority of the following
declaration made by Muhammad : "Prayers made with the congregation are
five and twentv times better than prayers said by one of you when alone (l 3)."
He lived in the practice of severe and rigid self-mortification, (his sanctity
was so greal, that) he obtained the fulfilment of his prayers, and not one of
as-Shifi's disciples ever hoped to surpass him in any point. It was he who
washed the corpse of as-Shifi (previous to its interr~tent);some say, however,
that he was aided in that ofice by ar-Rhbi (ul-!lful.a"d~'). Ibn Ylinus makes men-
tion of' him in his History (of Bg3-pt), and gives his names in full, b u t his
ancestor lshak is there called Muslim; he then says, "the disciple of as-Shifi,"
and rnentio~ls the date of his death, which accords with what is stated
above (4 4j; he says also : I-Ie had the talent of explaining the Traditions;
and he was eminently t r ~ ~ s t w o r t hiny their transmission, as the most acute
" doctors unanimously allow; he led an austere life, and was one of the best of

" God's creation: his merits were abundant." He died at Misr on the 24th
Ramadhn, 266 (May, A. D. 878), and was buried near the n~alisoleumof
the imam as-ShAfi, in the lesser Karafa (1 S ) , at the foot of Mount Mukattam,
where I visited his tomb. Ibn Z319k says, in his Lesser History, that he was
aged 89 years, and that funeral prayers were said over him by ar-R8bi al-Mu-
ridi.-Muzani means belonging to Muzaina, a great and well known tribe,
which was so named after Muzaina, daughter of Kalb.

(4) The term mujtahid is employed in Moslim divinity to denote a doctor who exerts all his capacity for the
Purpose of forming a right opinion upon a legal question. This title was very frequent in the first ages of
26
 102 IBN ICHhLLIli AN'S
~ilamism; but the principal points of ina having been Grcd by 1h0 doctors, and morc particularly b y lilr
founders of the four orthodox sects, the exercise of privalc judgment in legal qucstiorls ccnscd soon after to
be recognized. Some ]ater doctors, as-Soyfiti for instance, claimed the litlc 111~riglkl, But both
refused to them by public opinion.-For further information, sce M . dc Sacy's Ch~cstornull~ie, tom. 1, p. 169,
and the ~ o r k sthere mentioned.
~ l LilcraIly
i : A diver for subtle ideas.
r3) This is onc of the most c~lcbratedtreatises on the lcgal doctrines of the Shafilc! sccl; flajji Khalifa
jays that al-31uzaoi par the first r h o wmte on thesubject, in whicl cvsc it is diflicult Ln cxldoin tlic title or
his work.
(4)This is perhaps a treatise on bonds.
(3) in the Arabic text, for ir"sj read .+a
(6) See note (3). page 37.
(7)The n-ord r d a , arilten incorrc~tlyrilia by European authors, designates a certain nlimhcr oF proster-
ilations and prayers; the saldt, or legal prayer, is composed of two, four, six, or morc rukus. Scc D'Ohsson's
Empire Othom., t. 11, p. 52. Hamilton's Hedaya, prelimioary discourse, p. 53.
(S) Literally: An unblemished Firgin.
(9) IYabid, a sweet and slightly fermented liquor made nith dates or raisins.-See the aull~oritirscited by
M. de Sacy in his Chrestomathie, tom. I, p. 403; and Jllshkdt ad-Mashbih, vol. 2, p. 339.
(10) The point of al-Nuzani's argument is this: it is unanimously allowed that NubZd was Ia~vTulbcfore Isla-
rnisrn, so an order of Muhammad to authorise its use would have becrl unncccssary and nnmolived: the
tradition vhich c o n t a i ~ ~such
s an order is therefore to be rejected, more cspeciallg as it is in contradiction
~ i t hanother to which a similar objection cannot be made.
(11) Water contained in a brass vessel does not cool in summer, for which reason they prcfer putt^^^^ it
into a porous earthen decanter, in which it speedily acquires a lowcr tcmperature h y evaporation.
(121 In the Moslim l a x , there is a section mhich treats specially of purificotiot~.-See 1)'Ohssort's Emp.
Othom., tom. I, and Hamilton's Hedaya, preliminary discourse, p. 53.
h , I. p. 224, wherc the meaning of lhis tradition is, however,
(13) See Matthew's Blishkdt a l - l ) f ~ ~ & b ivol.
totally misunderstood.
(14) It may easily be perceived that this passage has been added in the margin later, and afterwards inserted
in the wrong place; it should have been placed lower down.
( $ 5 ) See page 53, note (19).

ABU 'L-ATAHIYA.
1

Abd lshak lsmail 1bn al-Kasim Ibn Suwaid Ibn KaisPn al-Aini, member by
adoption of the tribe of Anaza, and surnamed Abfi 'l-Atihiya, a celebrated
poet, was born at Ain at-Tamr, a village situated in the province of HijBz, near
Medina, or, according to some, in the regions which an: irrigated by the Eu-
106 phrates; YQkdt al-llamawi says, however, in his dlwhtarik, that it lies near
Anbar; but God knows best. Ne was brought up at Kdfa, and then settled at
 BTOGRAPI-IICAI, DICTIONARY. 203
Baghdad; the surname of aZ-Jar& was given to him because he sold earthen
jars (I). His passion for Otba, a s l a ~ ebelonging to the khalif al-hlahdi, is well
known, and it was to cclchrate her cl~armsthat he composed the greater part of
his amatory pieces, such as thc follo\ving :
I informed Otba that for hcr sake I was on the brink of perdition: bathed in tears,
I complained of the woes I underwent (from my afrection) towards her. Fatigued at
length b y my lamentations, doleful as those of a wretch reduced to penury, she saitl: IS
any one aware OF \$hat you tell me?" And I answered: "Every person knows it (g)."

He wrote also to al-Mahdi these lines, in which he intimated his wish to

obtain her from him :
'There is one thing on earth to which my soul is attached, and the fulfilment of my
wishes depends upon God, and al-illahdi the maintaincr (of his orders). 1 despair of
success, and thcn your contempt for the world and worldly goods revives my hopes.

It is related by al-Mubarrad, in his Kdrnil, that Abh 'l-Atihiga, having ob-

tained permission to offer a present to the khalif on the festivals of the new year
and the autumnal equinox, brought him, on one of these anniversaries, an ample
porcelain vase, containing a perfumed garment of delicate texture, on the
border of which he had inscribed the verses just given. On this, the khalif
had some intention of bestowing Otba upon him, but she recoiled with dis-
like, and exclaimed : Commander of the Faithful ! treat me as becomes a
female and a member of your household (R). Will you give me up to a nasty
man who sells jars and gains his iivelihood by verses?" By this appeal, the
khalif was induced to spare her such an affliction, and he ordered the vase to be
filled with money and given to the poet. Abii 'l-Atihiya then said to the ac-
countants charged topay him : "It was gold pieces which he ordered me;" but
they replied : 'L So much we shall not give you; but if you choose, you may have
" it filled with silver pieces." They then waited till he declared his choice,
and he balanced (between the rwo conditions) during a year (before coming to
a decision). Otba, on learning this, said: c' Were he in love, as he pre-
" tends, he mould not have spent his time in balancing the difference between

pieces of gold and pieces of silver; he has totally ceased to think of me."-
The following is one of his eulogistic passages:
0, emir ! I am sheltered horn the vicissitudes of Fortune, when moored under thy
protection (h). Were it possible for men to pay thee fitting honour, they had given the
 %L IBN KHALLIKAN'S
tender skin of their checks to make thee sandals. Our camels cornplain of thy cruelty :
they cross desert wastes and sands to reach tliec; and when ll~eybear us to thee, they
are lightly laden ;-but v h c n they depart with us, their burdcn is hcavy (5).

Tllcse verses were addressed by llinl to Ornar Ibn al-Alb (9, wlro rewarded
him %ith 70,000 (dir/u'n2.i),and clotlled lrim with so many robes of llonour, that
he was unable to rise. This liberality having excited llrc jcalousy of thc other
poets, Ornar assembled them and said: "It is stmnge that you poets should be
so jealous at' each other. When one of you comes to us uri th n kasicla corn.
posed in our praise, be employs fifty verses to celebrate tlkc charms of his
mistress, and he does no! begin to mention us till the sweelncss of his praises
is exhausted, and the brilliancy of his verses faded: but Abil 'I-Atbllip cele-
brates his beloved in a few verses and then says : 0, enrir! I ant .sJ~elrel-~d
b'fronz the vicissiiudes oJ' For'ortune."-(Omar here repeated tbc lines which
have been just given .)- " Why, then, are you jealous ?"-This emir having
waited for a short time before giving to Abii '1-Atihiya a mark of his gcncrosity
in recompense for this culogiurn, tlre poet ;rote to him these lines complaining
of the delay:
106 An evil eye has disappointed our hopes, 0 Omarl by shedding its influencc on thy
generosit? ; and we require amulets and charms to annul its cflects. IVc shall exorcise
thee with verses till they scary out (and expel]thy illness; and if thou dost not recover,
we shall exorcise thee with surats (of the Koran) (7).
The celebrated poet AshjA as-Sulami (S) relates the following anecdote: "The
khalif al-Mahdi having given permission to the public to entor into his pre-
sence, we w n t in, and he told us to sit down, and it happened that Bashsh%r
' 7

Ibn Burd sat down beside me. The khalif then kept silence, and the public
'Lalso kept silence. Then BashshAr heard the sound of a voice, and he said to
" me : 'Who is that?' I replied : ' AbB 'l-Atihiya.' 'Do you tllink,' said he,
' he will dare to recite in this assembly?' 'I think he will,' said I. Then
al-Mahdi ordered him to recite, and he commenced thus:
' What is the matter with my mistress? what is the matter l she is haughty, and I
support her disdain .'
'' Here Bashshir pushed
me with his elbow and said: 'Did you ever see a
more audacious fellow, to dare to pronounce such a verse in such a place?'
" The poet then came to these lines:
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 205
The khalifat advanced to him in pomp (9) and submitted to his \\ill. It alone was
fitted for him, and hc alone for it. If any other aspired afcr it, the earth had shook
(with horror). If our inmost thoughts disobey him, our good deeds will not be ac-
' cepted by God (10).'

Here Bashshir said : ' Look, Ash$ ! and see if the khalif do not spring (wirh
delight) from his clrshion l' The fact was that AblZ 'l-AtBhiya was the only
LL man who retired from the assembly mitli a recompense."--Abri 'l-Atihipa
composed many verses on ascetic sul)jects; he was one of the principal among
those poets who flourished in the first ages of islamism (I I), and he ranked in the
same class with Bashsl~ir,AbB Nuwis, and that party. He composed a great
deal of poetry; he was born A. H. 130 (A. D. 747-S), and died at Baghdad on
Monday, 3rd or 8th of the latter Jumlda, 21 l (September, A. D. 826), or 213
according to some. His tomb is on the bank of he river lsa (1 2), opposite the
bridge of the Oilmen (Kantarat az-2alj.citin). When on the point of death,
he expressed the desire that Mukhirik (13) the singer should come and sing,
close by him, the following verses, which belong to a poem composed by hirn-
self:
When the term OF my existence expires, the grief of the females who mourn me will
be short. My frierld will cease to think of me; he tvill forget my love, and find a new
friend after losing me.

By his last will, he ordered this verse to he inscribed on his tomb :

Life which ends in death is a life soon embittered.

It is related that he once met Abh Nuwls, and asked him how many verses
h e composed in a day, to which the other answered, One or two. '<ButI," said
Abh 'l-AGhiya, "can make one or two hundred in a day." "Yes," replied Abd
*
Nuwis, " because you make verses such as t,his :
0,Otbal what is the matter with thee and me? 0,that I had never seen thee!'

Now if I chose, I could make one or two thousand such. But I compose 107
verses like this:
L A manu mulieris in vestimento hominis, cui duo sunt amatores, p d i c o et scorta-
' tor (14.).'
If you tried to make a verse such as that, time would fail you. "-The fol-
L

lowing verses of his are elegantly expressed :

 206 IBN KHALLI1CAPI"S
1 loved thee, and my passion was so excessive, that my companions, when they ap-.
proached, smelled off m y clothes the fire which consumed me.
Among the verses which he composed o n Otha, the slave of al-Malrdi, are tile
following :
Brothers! love is causing my death: announce to the tomb (15) the approach of
hastening traveller. Blame me not for submitting to love; know that my occupation is
most serious (16).

This piece also was written by him on Otba :

For Otba my ejes shed floods of tears ; who has ever seen, before, a victim weep
like me from excessive love for his assassin. T have held forth my hand to implore
your favour, what give you then to him who solicits? If you refuse him, grant him
a hind \lord instead. If you this gear withhold from him (your loue), encourage him
to expect it the next.

The Siid relates, i n his Kitkb ibZ-A~sris,that Abb 'I-A tilripa visited
one day Bashshir Ibn Burd, and said to him : "1 admire these verses of yours, in
which you give a n excuse for shedding tears:

How often has shame induced mc to conceal my tears' from a friend, who would
L perceive them, however, and blame my weakness, and then my answer was : I am
not weeping, but I strucli my eye with my cloak as I was going to put i t on." '

To which Bashs hG replied: I t was from your sea, 0 shaikh ! t h a t I drew

that idea, and from your quarry (47) that I shaped it out; did you not antici-
pate me when you composed these lines:

They said, Thou weepest," and I answered, "No ; the man of firm mind never
G'

weeps under affliction; but a sharp splinter of wood has struck the pupil of my eye !"
G < ' Why then do both eyes shed tears? did a splinter wound them bothb!" '

On this, Siid observes that they had been anticipated in this idea by al-Hu-
taiya (I 81, who says :
When a tear flows from my eye, I say: "It is a mote which makes it weep." '

Abil 'I-AtAhiya once renounced poetry (10), and he related the following cir-
cumstance (resultingfrom that determination) : "As 1 persisted in my refusal
to compose verses, the khalif al-Mahdi ordered me to be put into prison (20).
i08 a On entering, I shuddered at the sight of an object which appalled me, and 1
looked about for a place of refuge, when I found the cause of my t e r r o r to be
 BIOGRAPHICAL R1CTIONARI'. 207

an elderly man of respectable appearance, with goodness marked on his coun-

tenance. I therefore went over to him and sat down vithout saluting, for I
66 was troubled in mind, and contiised and absorbed in tlrougl~t. I remained
thus for some time, when the man pronounced these verses :
1 accustomed myself to the touch of:midortune till it became familiar to me, and my
L resignation under grief conducted me to patience. My despair in mankind has made
me confident that the bounty of God will come from some quarter which I know not.'

LI admired these verses, and was consoled by them; my reason also returned
to me, and I said: c May God exalt you! have the kindness to repeat them.'
To this he answered : Unfortunate Ismail hov little politeness you possess !
4 . how weak your mind ! how faint your courage ! On entering, you did not
salute me as one Moslim should do to another, neither did you ask me the
question which one just arrived addresses to him ~vhohas sojour*nedfor some
time; but when you heard two verses of poetry, (which is thc sole good, and
L accomplishment, and means of livelihood granted thee by God,) you begin by

asking me to recite, as if we were acquaintances, and united by friendship

sufliciently old to render reserve unnecessary; neither did you mention what
has happened to yourself, nor make an excuse for your unpoliteness at first.'
" To this I replied: ' Have the kindness to excuse me, for less than what I un-
dergo mould sufice to disorder the senses.' ' And for what reason,' said he,
L & 'have you renounced poetry, which was the cause of the high honour in which

those people (", ) held you, and the means by which you acquired their favour 1)
" You must continue to make verses, if you wish to obtain your liberty. As
" forme, I shall be soon called forth and questioned respecting Isa Ibn Zaid, son

' I of the blessed Prophet (22);and if 1 discover to them where he is, I shall have
" to answer for his blood before God, and the Prophet will be my accuser; and

" if 1 refuse, I shall be put to death ; so it is I, rather than yw, who should be

" dejected, and yet you see my firmness, resignation, and self-command.' These

" reproaches put me to shame, and I said to him : 'May God deliver you l' He

" replied : 'I shall not join a refusal to my reprimand; listen to the verses.'
" He then recited them to me several times, till I got them by heart, and he

" and I having been then called forth, I said to him: 'May God exalt you! who

" are you? He answered : L I a m HBdir, the friend of lsa Ibn Zaid.' We mere
" then conducted into the presence of al-hlahdi, and as we stood before him,
208 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
he said to the man : <Where is Isa Ibn Zaid?' The o they answered : How
should I know where is Isa Ibn Zaid? You pursued him, and he fled from
you into some country, and you put me in prison ; how then could I hear
i d of him l' 'Where,' said al-l\.lahdi, 'was he concealed 1 where did you last
see him? in wlrose house did you meet him?' ' I did not meet him,' an-
d. swered Hidir, since his concealment, and I know nothing of him.' '1 swear
(

a by Allah,' said al-'\lalldi, if you do not direct us where to find him, I shall
a strike off your head on the spot.' 'Do as you please,' replied the prisoner;
6 6 L I shall not direct you where to discover the son of the Apostle of God; as I

should then have to anslyer for his blood in the presence of God and his apos-
tle: were he eren Between my clothes and my skin, I should not discover him
to you.' L Strike off his head!' said al-Mahdi ; and it was done (23). He
then called me forward and said : Choose either to maltc verses or to be sent
L after him.' L I shall make ~erses,' I replied. ' Lct lrim go,' said he; and I
went forth free."-The kadi Abh Ali at-Tandlthi mcntions a third verse,
hesides the two given in the preceding narration; it is as follows:
Were I not resigned to bear with the afflictions which Fortune forces me to undergo,
my complaints against Fortune had long continued.

The anecdotes related of Abd 'l-Adhiya are very numerous. - Anazi

means descended fionz Annzn, who was son of Asad lbn RaLia.--Aini means
belonging to Ain ut-Tarn?., the village before mentioned.

(1) Earthenjurs, in Arabic jirar, sing. j a r r a ; the French jarre is manifestly derived from thc same source.
(ei The poet thus confesses hjs indiscretion in divulging the name of his mistress.
3) Or more literally: Respect my rights as a member of your harem and a person in your service. In this
,~hrase,the aord \,imperative of the rerb J ~ ,t o hove consideration f o r , to respect, is understood.
(4: Literally: When I have attached cords to the emir.
5) By the presents you have made us.
Ibn al-AI& was governor of Taberistan in A. H. 167 (A. D. 783-4).-(Ibn al-Alhlr.)
ti) Omar
7 1 See Lane's Modern Egyptians.
(8)Abu 'I-Walid Ashji Ibn Amr as-Sulami was born at Rakka in Mesopotamia. Having termi-
nated his studies in belles-lettres, he went to Baghdad and gained admittance into the society of the Barma-
hides, one of whom, Jaafar Ibn Yahya, favoured him with his peculiar patronage and introduced him to
Hanln ar-daschid. The year of his death is not given in the Khatib's abridged H i s t o q of Baghdad, from
which the above particulars are taken. (See MS. No. 6'14, fol. 71.) Some verses of Ashjl's are to be found
in the Hamlsa, and his life, with copious extracts from his poetry, is given in the Bughiat at-Tulab; MS-
No. 726, fol. 143.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
(9) Or more literally : Sweeping the ground $1ith its train.
(10) Allusiorl to lhe maxim, that the act is to be judged after the intention.
(11) Arabia;) critics divide poets into several classes: the Jdhili was one who lived before the promulgat~on
of Islamism ; the Mukhadram lived both before and after that epoch, and the M u ~ o l l a d Ay
came next i r ~order, his birth having taken place after Muhammad had annot~rrcedhis mission.
(12) The r i ~ c or
r canal of Isa branched off the Euphrates, and flowed into the Tigris at Baghdad.
(13)This Mukhhrik, whose name has been ;ilready given, hut incorrectly, In the lifc of IbrahPm Ibn
il[-Mahdi (see page 18), was one of the first singers of his time. He once sung irl the presence of the khalif
ar-Rashid, who \\as so delighted, that he caused the curtains usually placed betncen himself and the musicians
to be removed, a ~ l dordered him to draw near and sit on the throne by his side. Mukhlrik n a s afterwards
ilttached to the service of al-M\ilamhn and accompanied him to Damascus. He died A. H. 230 (A. D. 84&tj),
a t Sarra-man-raa. He was surnamed AbU 'l-Hinb I.- ( ~ b ' lo- ~ a h l s i n ' s.vujarn az-Zdhira, MS. No.
fol- 191.)
(14) He probably cites this abomirrable verse on account of its extreme energy, which is here purposely
softened, even in the Latin translation. Its import I judge to bc satirical.
(15) Literally : To the shrouds.
(16, That is: 1 am preparing for death, which is rendered inevitable by the c r ~ ~ e l of
t y my rrlistress
(17) Literally: Your undressed, or unfinished arrow.
(18) Le nom de Hotaya, sous lequel ce pokte est devenu celebre, est un sobriquet qui lui fut donnd h cause
de I'exiguitd de sa taille. Son .eritable nom dtait Djarxvl jJF,e t son prdnom Abou Moula~ca 1.
Sa naissance Ctait illkgitime et sa gdnealogic incertaine. 11 passait pour Ptre le 61s d'un certain Aus, de la
tribu d'Abs. A u reste, quand il dtait fiche contre les banou Abs, il se disait issu des banou Dliol ben ChaibAn,
et quand il se brouillait avec les banou Dhol, il rapportait son origine aux banou Abs.
Hotaya a vdcu dans le paganisme et I'islamisme. 11 se fit musulman, ensuite il abjura, puis il embrassa de
rlouveau la foi mahomdtane. C'est un poete du premier merite; mais il Btait avare, laid, mBchant, impie, tr6s-
hard1 a demander, et tres-ardent a satiriser ceux qui ne lui donnaient rien ; cc qui le faisait beaucoup redou-
ter. Plusieurs connaisseurs disaient :De tous les poctes, Hotaya est celui dont les vers offrent le moins de prise
LI la critique. O n cite avec estime, comme renfermant une pensee vraie et hien exprimke, cevcrs de Hotaya:

"Celui qui f a ~ le
t bien estsilr d'en trouver la recompense; entre Dieu et les hommes le bienfait n'estjamais
perd U ."
Hotaya etant devenu ennemi de ZibricBn fils de Badr, par suite d'une aventure qu'il serait trop long de
raconter, fit une satire contre ce yersonnage. Zibricdn alla se plaiodre au calife Omar, qui, pour punir
Hotaya, le fil jeter dans une basse-fosse. Hotaya y resta plusieurs jours; ensuite il adressa au calife une
piece de vers touchante qui fldchit sa colere. Omar le fit tirer de la fosse et amener en se preseuce ; puis il
lui dit: "Garde-toi ddsormais de satiriser qui que ce soit.-C'est pourtant la satire qui m'a fait vime jus-
" qu'a ce jour, dit Hotaya.-Garde-toi, ajouta O ~ n a rde, dire : Un tel vaut rnieux qu'un tel, cette famille est
.' meilleure q u e cette autre. -Cette ddfense, rdpliqua le poete, est une satire des hommes en general plus
" piquante q u e je n'en pourrais faire (car la consdquence qui en rdsulte est que tous les Bommes sent dgale-
'' ment mauvais).- Si je n e craignais d'dtablir u n usage funeste, dit Omar, irritt! d e ces dponies, je te COU-
" petais la langue. Va , tu appartiens maintenant a celui que tu as insulth. Zibri-! prends-le, et fais-en
" ce que tu voudras." ZibricBn passa son turban autour d u col de Hotaya et l'emmena. Des personaages de
la tribu de Bakr-wail le rencontrerent tratnant son captif et lui demaadhrent sa grace. Zibrican la leur ac-
cords, e t remit Hotaya entre leurs mains.
27
 a10 IBN KHALLIIS AN'S
~~l~~~vivait erlcnre so"s ra\ife I\loa\via : il a cornposr des vers i 1a louan6e d(! Sil'itl hrlr Nassi, gnu\cr-
neur de M,idine d u terns de 3Ioawia. Dans la suite. Ayiir fils dr! IJotaya r e n ~ ~ n t r a l l t jour s ha lid fils dc
Said, lui dit: .'$ion pire est mort aprBs avoir recu du lien 20 mille pidccs d'argent, c11 rCcornpense d c cing
pokmes qu'il avait faits en I'honneur de SaZd. Ce que vous IIOUS avez d o r ~ n deSt tlissipc'. aujourd'hui, et ce
clue man I+w YOU^ a donn,i reste rntier.- C'est vrai, rdl~onditKhalid, c'cst nous qlli vaus tlcvolls de
recoonaissance."-(Aghani, l. f. 94 99. IV. f. 13.)
For this curious note, I am indebted to the friendship of M. Caussill dt! Perccva1.-nciske, in his editi~)rr
of Abh 'I-Fadh's Arlnals ,tom. I, pag. 78 adnot.), gives some otllcr anecdotes respccl~llgthe 1)or.t al-Hutaiya.
((9) I n tbcAri,tlic lelt, foris121\ read &!. It would sceru, from the KhaUb's liistory of Baghdad, that
he renounced poetry from religious motives. I

(20) I n the Arabic : To be put into tile p m for e~imcr . ~ I ~ I Cof'

L ~ M This C confinement was
probably su called to distinguish it from the Matbak, or state prison of Baghdad.
121) Those people. a disrespectful manner of alluding to the AbhBsitlc f a n ~ i l y : the s l ~ c a k e rwas a partisan
e)f the descendirnts of Ali
2-21 This is certainly a mistake, no such person as Isa, sol! of Zaid sorr of Muhilmmild, is ~loticcdby histo-
rians, as having lived under the reign of al-Mahdi; and Zitid Ibn Nhritl~s.the itdopted s c of ~ $luhammad,
could not have had a son living at the timeof al-Yahdi's accession (A. H. 1%). sillcc he was slilil~at the battle
of Muta, in A. H. 8. I t is true that among the descendants of Ali and FBtima, daughter ol' Jluharnmad, therp
was a Zaid son of al-Hasan son of Ali, who had two sons, Yahya and al-Hasan, tllc latter OS whom \\as gover-
nor of Medlna for al-Manshr. and died A. H. 168. I t is not, however, l~ossibleto supposc lhat tlie author was
mistaken in the name, and meant to say al-Hasun 16n Zaid; for Abb 'I-Mahlsin stutes, ill his Uislory of
Egypt, that al-Hasaulbn Zaid, who was notrd for his piety, had bee11 deprivcd ol' his I,lacc lry al-Marrsbr,and
was then impriso~~ed by his orders and deprived of his property; but that al-Mahdi, O I I his eccr'ssiorr to the
khalifat, set him a t liberty, restored him his wealtl~,reinstated him ill his place, ;11rtj colltilluctl ilrvariahly to
treat him with the greatest favour. AI-Hasan Ibn aid died A. H. 168 (A D. 784-5). y h c author of the
Genealogy of the descendants of Ali, MS of the Bib. du Roi, No. 853, says that lhe dciltll of al-Hasan took
place a t Hkjir FL, a place situated between Mekka and Medina.
(23) The Arabic text rurrs thus: "He said: Strike off his head! a ~ he
~ gave
d orders concerning him, and
his head was struck off." This Lautology must be attributed to the i~~atierrtioa
OS t h e author.

ABU ALI 'L-KALI.

409 The philologer Ahd Ali Ismail al-KBli was son of al-Kasim Ibn Aidiin ibn
Harfin Ibn Isa Ibn Muhammad Ihn SalmBn; his ancestor Salmin was a n ee-
franchiscd slave of the Omaivide khalif Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwin. Ahii Ali sur-
passed all his conteinpomries by his extensive acquaintance with philolog.~,
poetry, and the grammatical doctrines establishrd by the learned of Basra. He
received his philological information from Abd Bakr Ibn Dsrnid, AbG Bakr Ibn
 I3lOCHAPHICAL !tICrl'1ONART'. 21 1

al-Anbiri, Niftawaih, Iblt DurustQya and othei masters, and he had for pupil ill
that science Abii Bnkr az-Zubaidi al-Andalusi, author of the Abridgment or
(ul-KhuZtZ 1,412 Ahnznd's Arabic clicticllzat-y, entitled) the ail^. Al-Kili is
autttor of a number of fine works, such as the kital nl-dniu'lr' (hook r?f' ([ic-
~atiorls),I j ; tlle kitdb nl-Bn'ri, wlricll is a tre:~tise O I I philology, arranged in alpha-
hetical order, arrd filling five thousand leaves ; a treatise on the short and the
long AZf; an01her on camels and their propagation ; a treatise on thr external
chai+actei~istics of man; one on the ltorse and his diRerent colours; a comparative
essay on tile first and fourth forms of the Arabic verh ; a history of tbe cornbats
irl which the (nzo.\t celebrated urzcient A ~ w b )cavaliers met their death; and

arr explanation of the Moallakns. In his travels through various countries, hc

visited Raghdad in the year 303 (A. D. 91 5-6), and stopped at Mos111,to learn the
Traditions delivered by Abli Yaln a1 Mausili ( 2 ) ; in 305 he returned to Bagh-
dad, and remained there till 328 ; whcn in that city he wrote down the Tradi-
t o . On leaving Baghdad, Ile went to Spain, and entered Cordova on the 26th
Shibin, 330. He contin~zcldto dwell in that capital till his death, and it was there
that he taught bv dictation his kitdbal-Anzcili, and ~nostof his other works. k'risuf
Ibn EIardn ar-Ramidi,whose life shall he given in the letter 1 , composed an elegant
X-asi'da in praise of Abli Ali 'I-KAli, a portion of which the reader will there find
inserted. AI-Kili died a1 Cordova on Friday evening, 6th o f the second Ribi
(some say the first Jumida), A. 11. 356 (klarcll, A . D. 967: ; he was buried in
the cenretery of Mata, outside Cordova, and hineral Ilrayers were said over him
bv Abil Abtl Allah al-Jubairi. He was born in the second Jumhda, A . H. 248
(June, A . D. 901), at AIanhzjird in DiAr Bakr, of which place mention has
already been made in the life of al-Manbzi (3). The reason of his being sur-
named K& was, that in going to Baghdad, he travelled with people from Khli
Kala, in consequence of which he was called Kili (or native of K& Kdla) eveis
after. As-Samhni says that this place is in the territory of Dirir Bakr, but I read
in the kitib Imhd ad-din's History of the Seljliks that Kili Kala is the same town
as Erzerhm. Al-Balbdori (4) says, in his fiitcib aZ-BuZdcin, or history of the
ITictoriesof Islamism, in treating of the conquest of Armenia: 'L At one time the
'' Greek empire was broken up, and several princes governed the provinces with
" nearly absolute authority; one of them was called Arminiacos, and was suc-

" ceeded on his death by his wife Kali ; it was she .who built this city, and gave it
 212 IBN KHALLIK AN'S
LL the namc of Wli Kilah, which means the goodness of K&li; this word has
been altered bv the Arabs to suit the gcnius of their langllagr, ancl tlley say
1 1 . The image of this princess is ellgr%avedon one of the: gates of the
city (;))."

(1: A copy of the -irnali is in the nib. du Roi, fonds Asselin, NO.4'33. I t (:olllains il uunrbcr of Tradi-
tions relative to Muhammad; an immense quantity of notes rcspccting the iI11Ciclll Arahs, their proverbs,
lanpage, and poetry; anecdotes of the poets who lived under the early klialifs; [iicccs in [)rose and verse
preserved by tradition, and ahich the author learned frorn the lips of his masccrs, ctc. H e says i n his
preface, that he hrd long ticasurcd up this precious information and concealed i t fronl thc profane; that he
had sought a person worthy of receivir~gi t and capable of apprcciatillg its valua; i ~ n t lllnvi~igheard of tllr.
reig11 of the Commander of the Faithful, Abd ar-RahmAn Ibn Muharnmad, he faccd the dangers of
land and sea, and went to Spain, where he received the gcatest encouragement from that lrhalif, and was
induced to publish his work by dictating i t from memory a t Cordova, arid irl thc grcat rnosquc of az-Zahrh. -
11 is a curious book, and furnishes much information on Arabism (Ly), or the 1tliilology of the ;lricierLl
Arabic language; it fills 338 folio pages very closely writteo.
(2) The hifiz Abh Yala Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibn al-Muthanna at-Tamtrni is the author of a well knowll M ~ S . .
*ad, or collection of authenticated Traditions, which he received from a great r~urnbcrof persons of the high-
est credibility: he composed also some works on ascetic devotion and olher subjects. JIe was remarkable for
his humility, mildness of temper, amenity of manners, and veracity. Born at Mosul, A. H. 210 ( A . I). 826);
died A. H. 307 ( A . D. 919-to).-(Ad-Dahabi's Tdrlkh al-lslbm, MS. of the Bib. du Roi, No. 046.)
\3) See page 128.
(4) The life of Ahmad Ibn Yahya al-BalAdori has been given by M. Hamakcr in his Specirnerc Catalogi
Cod., page 11.
(5)Or: '' Is over one of its gates."

THE SAHIB IBN ABBAD.

The Slihib A b i ~'l-Kasim Ismail Ibn Abi'l-Hasan Abhid Ibn al-Abbis Ibn Ahbid
Lbn Ah~nadlbn ldris at-Tilakini, was the pearl of his time, and the wonder of
his age for his talents, his virtues, and his generosity. He acquired his know-
ledge of pure Arabic from Ibn Fhris, author of the McrjmiZ, Abil 'I-Fad1 lbn
140 al-0maid and others. At-Thahlibi, in his Yalima, speaks of him in these
terms: L' I am unable to find expressions sufficiently strong to satisfy my wishes,
M so that I may declare to what a height he attained in learning and philological
knowledge; how exalted a rank he held by his liberality and generosity ; how
 On this, the Sihjb said: I have read in the life of Maan Ibn ZQida as-
' 1 Shaibini, that a man came to him and said: 'Give me wllereon to ride, 0

- L Emir !' on he ordered him a camel, a horse, a mule, ancl an ass ( S ) , and
[llen said : 'If I knew \.hat God had created any other ar~imalfit for riding, 1
tIiid gi\ cn it to voir.' Now I order you silk enough for a coat, a shirt, a tur-
ball, a waistcoat, trowsers, a handkerchief, a vrsl, a cloak, a robth, leggings,
and a purse; and if 1 knew of any other garnlenl which could be made of
a I should give it you."-The numbet of poels who [locked to him and
~*elrbl*iitrd his praises in splendid karldas, surpassed that wlrich assembled at
tlir court of any other. His repartees were very good: the coiners of' the mint
presrat~dto him a memorial in which they complaiurd of somv inj~lsticedone
them. and which was headed by the words ohDnrrdbtin; hchwrotc i ~ n d e r n e ~ t h
~n forill of decision, 011cold iron (9). A person once addressed tli~rla memo-
rial. in which he inserted some passages and expressions stolen fronl epistles
vomposed by himself, on which he wrote underneath in answer to the demand :
I'/zis our property hath been returned unto us (10). He caused one of his reve-
11ue collectors to he imprisoned in a narrow yard near his dwclling, and having
one day gone up to the ( p a t ) roof of the house, his ~~risorlersaw him and called
up011 hini with a loud voice, on which he looked down and perceiving him
I t t suffering tortures like those of hell, he said : Back to hell ! spectk not unto
I ! ( I l ) . Numerous anecdotes of the kind are related of him. -He wrote a phi-
lological work in seven volumes, entitled the Muhit (conzprehensive), which he
arranged in alphabetical order, giving (the explanation of) a p e a t number of
words, but citing very few examples; it contains a considerable portion of the
>(rfords composing the) language; he is also author of the K&$ (suflcienl),treat-
111gof epistolatory writing, the kicdb nZ-AiJrid (Book o f Festivals), a treatise
on the excellence of new-year's day; allother on the rank of i m i m , in which he
states the merits of Ali Ibn Abi Tilib, and irlaintains that the (tlzree k h a l ~who ~)
preceded him were legitimate imams (12); the Book of Vizirs ; a work entitled:
Exposui*eof the faults in al-Mutanabbi's poetry, and a treatise on the names and
attributes of God. He composed also some elegant epistles and good poetry, of
which we shall give the following extracts :
My description cannot paint that nymph who is a vcry gazelle is beauty. She wished
to kiss m y hand, allcl I said: Kiss my lips."
 RI0C;RAPIIlCAL DICTIONARY. 31'j
On clear-coloured wine :
The glass is clear, and the wine is clear; one is so ltke the other, that they call
hardly be distiuguished. One you would think wine, not glass,-the othel glass, not
wine.

He composed ~heseelrgiac verses on the death of the vizir Abli Ali Kathil. lblz
Ahmad (l 3::
They told me of Kathir's death; i t v as a heavy loss for me, and 1 said: i,ctb.

me and Glory \veep together, for the like of Kathir (abundant) is rare among mail-
" kind."

It is related by the grammarian AhlZ 'I-Husain al-E'brisi (14) that Nilh Ibn Man-
sOr, one of the Sanlanide princes, wrote privately to the SLhib, inviting him to
become his vizir and direct the administration of his kingdom; but he refused
the offer, and one of the reasons which he gave in excuse was, that it would
require four hundred camels to transport his books only ; think then of the fur--
niture which he must have possessed in the same proportion ! W e shall limit the
account of his life to the foregoing particulars, which may suffice. He was
born on the 16th of ZLI 'l-Kida, 326 (September, A . D. 938), at Istakhar., or,
according to another account, at TPlakHo, and died on Thursday evening, 24th
of Safar, 385 (March, A. D. !1!15), at Rii, from which city his l)odv was tram-
ported to Ispahan, and interred in a vaull situated in [he quarter of Bib Dazih :
his tomb is still kept in good order, atld his daughter's descendants have i t
whitewashed regr~larly. The poet Ibn Abi 'l-A1i (1 5) narrates as follows : I ' L

'' had a dream in which I heard a voice say : ' Why did not you, who possess sudl
'' a talent for poetry, compose an elegy on his death i' To which I replied :
" ' The number of' his good qualities forced me to refrain, for I did not know

'' with which to begin ; and I was apprehensive of my inability t o treat the sub-
" ject suitably, although people supposed me capable of doing it full justice!'

" The voice here said : ' Add a second hemistich to those I pronounce.'
" L Speak !' said 1; and the voice said :
' Generosity and the best of patrons repose together in the same grave.'

'' And I rejoined :

'So that each of these brothers may keep the other company!'
 216 I BN KHALLIR AN'S

The voice :

They were inseparable when alive, and now they embrace-'

1:
I

On a funeral couch near BAb ilazlh l'

The voice:

- jyhilst other inhabitants shall quit their dwellings-'

'They shall remain in theirs till the day of resurrection .'

Tllia piece is given by a\-Baivisi (1 6) in his Humds~.-I have iuead the fol-
i o ~ v i l l sobservation in the History of the Slhib Ibn Abbld : " None ever rnjoyed

the same popular favour after their death as during their life (1 7), the SPhik,
excepted ; for on his decease, the gates of the city of RQiwerc closed (in .n@n of
,,~ounringi, and the people assembled at the door of his palace, where they
I 19 lvaited till his bier was brought out ; and Fakhr ad-Uawla l, thr prince whom
Lr

hr seltved," (and whose name has been mentioned in the I)eginning of this
[lotice,) was present -4th all the oflicers of high rank in mourning clresses (1 8) :
l L m-hen the bier appeared, the people raised one simultaneous cry and pros-

'' trated themselves 011 the ground; Fakhr ad-Dawlat, and the rest marched in
procession before the corpse, and for some days after, he held public sit-
'' tings to receive visits of condolence (1g)." His dcath was lamented in these
tr1.nl.s bv A bil Said ar-Rustami :

Now, that Ibn Abbtid is departed, shall ever the expectant traveller hasten to under-
tnhe the nightly journey f shall ever liberality be solicited? God hath willed that the
hopes of the needy and the gifts of the generous should perish by the death of Ibn
..\bbdd. and that they should never meet again till the day of resurrection.

A. H. 334 or 335 (A. D. 946) ; he had

His i'atlre~.,Abil 'I-Hasan Abbid died
been vizil to Rukn ad-Dawlat, fathe; of Fakhr ad-Dawlat and Adad ad-Dawlat
Fannathosrd, whom al-Mutanabbi has celebrated in his poems .-fa khr ad-
Dawlat died in the month of SMbBn, 6 . H. 387 (August, 997); he was born in
341 (A. D. 952).- Trilakdni means native of Tdlakdn : there are two cities of
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
this name, one in Khorassn, and the other in the dependencies of Kazwin; the
latter was the native placc~of the Sihih.

(1) I have been here obliged to paraphrase the original, in order to render ils full sellbe
(2, The life of AhO Bakr Muhammad al-Khowlrezml IS given By Ibn KhallikBtr.
31 Abll Said Muhamrnad 1bo Muhammad I b r ~Rustarn ar-Rustami, a native of Ispahan. was originall) ,t
mason L,lt+x\ but he displayed such talent in the compo~itionof verses, that he came t o bt.
ranked among the first poets of the time, and gained the favour of the Slhib Ibn Abbild, who acted towards
him as a generous benefactor, and used to say, "ar-Rustarni is the ablest poet of the day." At the approactl
of old age, ar-Rustami renounced poetry from consrientious motives. The date of his death is not given in thtb
Yattma, but some of his poems are preserved 111 that nork, with a notice on their author, the sumnlary ol
which is here given.-(See the Yatima, fol. 31'2.)
\.C\ In this verse the author had a double meaning in view: it signifies also that the vizirat was successivelj
transmitted (like a tradition) from one good authority to another. The same idea is continued in the next
verse.
( 5 ) See page 31.
(fil Muhammad was Ibu al-0maid S real name.
(7)Abil 'l-Kasim Omar Ibn Ibrahtm az-ZhfarAni was a native of Irak, and one of those literary men who
Rere admitted into the society of the S l h i b ; he was also a favourite of Adad ad-Dan1at.-(Yatlma, fol. 327.)
Some of his poems are to be found in that work.
(8)One article in the list I have omitted ; decency requiring its suppression.
(9) The word ad-Uarrllbiln signifies literally the beaters, and is used to designate the money-beaters or
coiners: by the addition which the vizir made, he gave them to understand tbat it was useless for them to
complaln ; tbat they, the b e a t ~ s slruck
, o n cold iron, which is labour in vain. This is a common Arabic pro-
verb, somewbat analogous to the English one: Strike when the iron is hot.
,101 This is a passage of the Koran, taken from surat 12, verse 68.
(11) This is also a passage of the Koran: see surat 23, verse 240 -At-Thahlibi did not probably know this
tralt, when he made his pompous eulogium of the Shhib.
(12) Here the word imam means, the possessor of spiritual and te~i)poralauthority.
(13) I t would appear from Khaundemir's Tllrikh al-Wuzar&, that Kathtr was vizir to one of the Dailamite
princes. - ( h Hammer's Handschriften, No. 238.)
(14) Abb 'I-Husain MuhammadIbn al-Husain al-Flrisi, a grammarian of considerable reputation and sister's
son to the celebrated Abil Ali 'I-Fhrisi, under whom h e studied, was one of those literary men whom the
Sahib admitted into his intimacy. He possessed a talent for poetry, and some of bis pieces are preserved in
the Yat2ma; the author of a h i c h work, at-Thallibi, says that a t the time he was writing, Abh 'l-Husain was
still alive and dwelling a t Jurjln.-(Yatima, No. 1370, fol. W . )
(15, Abh 'l-Kasim Ghhnim Ibn Abi 'l-All, a native of Ispahan, was another of the Sahib's favourite poets.
Some of his pieces ate to be found in the Yatttma, fol. 319.
(16) Ahh 'l-Hajjlj Ydsuf I b n Muhammad was a native of Baeza in Spain, whence his surnameof Baiydsd.
His life is given by Ibn KhallikAn -There are seven works in Arabic which bear the title of H a m h a .
(17)Literally: No one was ever favoured after his death as he had been during life.
(18) Literally : Having changed their dress.
(19) T h e Arabic says simply, that he sat for consolation.
28
 IBN KHALLIKAN'S

lBlV KHALF AS-SARAKUSTI.

~ b 'r-Tihir
d lsmail Ibn Khalf Ibn Said Ibn Inwan al-An~iri( l ) al-Andalusi
as-Sarakust,i of Snmgossa in Spain) was a grammarian and teacher of
the reading of the Koran. He was master of the branches of grncral litera-
ture, and versed in the sciences connected with the Koran (2). He is author of
be Onwdn JI 'I-Karudt (3) (Outlines of the d~fee,.erllreadings of the K o r h ) ,
which work is considered of the very first authority by those who cultivate that
branch of kno\vledge; he composed also an Abridgment of the Kitrih a l - ~ I L [A,)
~~u:
by Abil Ali 'l-FQrisi. Ibn Bashkawil praises him highly in the S l a t , and
makes an enumeration of his merits. He continued to pursue his studies and
communicate his information to the public up to the day of his death; he expired
on Sunday, the first of Muharram, A. H. 455 (January, A. D. 1063.)-Smu-
kusti means native ofSarakusta(5), a very fine city in the eastern part of Spain,
which has produced a number of learned men. It was taken from the Moslims
by the Franks (under the orders of Alphonso, king of .Arragor/), in the vear
512 (A. H. 1115).

i i ) AI-Ansiri is the title given to descendants from the Ansdrs. Sec page 23'7, nolc (1).
151Hajji Kalifa gives a list of these sciences in the introduction to his bibliographical dictionary.--See
page 37 of Flugel's edition
3 ) In the Arabic text, this word is incorreclly printed )1 1.
(4 This work treats of the different readin~sor editions of the Koran.
15)Sarakusta is an alteration of Cesar Augusta, i l ~ eancient name of the city of Saragossa.

AL-MANSUR IBN AL-KAIM IBN AL-MAEIDI.

Abli 't-Tihir Ismail, surnamed al-fifanslir (the uictorious), was son of al-
G i m lbrr al-Mahdi, prince of Ifrikiya (Africa Propria): the remainder o f his
genealogy will be found in the life of his grandfather al-Mahdi Ohaid Allah:
the life of al-Mustali, one of his descendants, has been already given ( l ) .
AI-Mansdr received the oath of fidelity from his subjects on tile day wherein his
 BIOGRAPHICAL 1)ICTlONARY. 219
father al-Klim died ; (we shall speak of this event under the letter M.) He
possessed the talent of expressing his ideas with precision and elegance, and he
pronounced his kltotbas without previous preparation. Abil Jaafar al-Marwa-
rddi narrates the following anecdote (of his ready genius): "l went forth with
al-Mansilr on the day he defeated Abci Yazid (2), and, as I accompanied him,
he dropped from time to time one of the two lances which he bore in his hand ;
SO I (picked it up and) wiped it, and gave it to him, pronouncing it to be :i

L ( good omen, and quoting to him the following verse:

She threw away her staff, and a distant land became the place of her abode; (yet,
she felt) as the traveller on his return, when his eyes are delighted (by tb sight of
L home) (3).

LLOn which he replied : ' Why did you not quote what is better and truer 4 15
L than that : And cve spake by revelation to Moses, saying, I'lzrow down t / y
rod. And behold, it ~tvallowedcp thar rvhich they had caused falsely to
appear. W-herefore the lruth was confirnled, and that which they had
wrouglit vanished. And they tver-e oue~~come there, and were rendered con-
'' te~~zytible( 4 ) . To this I said : ' 0, my lord! you, vho are the son of God's
Apostle, utter that knowledge of which vou are the (sole) possessor.' "--One
of the best anecdotes of this kind is that which at-Taimi (5) thus relates in his
Life of al-Hajjij : " Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwln ordered the construction of a gate
a t Jerusalem, on which his name was to be inscribed, and al-EIajjij obtained
" from him permission to erect another; and it so happened that AM al-Malik's
" was struck by lightning and burned, while that of al-Hajjij remained uninjured.

" Abd al-Malik was much troubled in consequence, but al-Hajj$j wrote him this
letter: ' I am informed that fire has come down from heaven and burned the
" gate of the Commander of the Faithful, without burning that of al-Hajjij ; in
" this we resemble perfectly the two sons of Adam, when tfzyeach made an

" ojering, and it was accepted from one and not ,from the other (6).' Abd
" al-Malik's uneasiness was dispelled by the perusal of this letter."-Al-Mansfir
was charged by his father (aLKbinz) to wage war against Abd YazlPI, who had
revolted against his authority. A66 Yazid Makhlad Ibn Kaidid helonged to the
sect of IbPdites (7); he made an outward show of rigid devotion, but was in rea-
lity an enemy to God; he never rode but on an ass, nor wore any dress but
woollen. He had already fought al-mans fir's father in many engagements, and got
 2.20 1SN KHALLIKAN'S
into his possession all the towus in the dependencies of Kairawirl; a[-Mahdiga
ivas the city which remained in the hands of d-KQim. Abh Yaaid then
took up his psition against nl-Mahdiya and blockaded i t ; and al-Kiim died
during the Al-MansGr [hen assumed the direction of aflairs, and curllinued
to *,aintain the contest, but concealed the death of his f:~lher>;be 1)ersevered in
his resistance till Abii Yazid retired, and went to blockade Silsa. Then a\-
XlansDr left al-Mahdiya, and having given Abti Yazid battle at Sfisa, put hi111
to flight; he then defeated him in a number of successive combats, and at length
took him prisoner on Sunday, 25th Muharram, 336 (August, A. D. 94.7). Abii
Yazid died of his wounds after a captivity of forty days: his body was skin-
ned by al-Jlanstir's orden ; the skin was then stlifTcd with cotton, and ex-
posed on a cross. It was on the spot in which this battle was fought, that
al-Mansdr built the city which he named al-Manshriya after himself, and in
which he fixed his residence. He was couragtaous,firm- hearted, and eloquent,
pronouncing the Rhotba without previous preparation. In the month of R;lnla-
dan, 341 (A. D. 9531,he went fro111 al-Mansliriya to JalGla on a party of plea-
sure, accompanied by his concubine Kadib, of whom he was passionately fond ;
when God poured down on them heavy showers of hail and gave a storm power
over them. AI-Mansdr turned back, therefore, to al-Mansilriya, but he suf-
fered so much from cold, that he lost his strength, and most of those who ac-
colnpanied him perished. On his arrival, he fell sick, and died on Friday,
29th SharwPI, A. H. 341 (March, A. D. 953). His illness originated in the
following manner: when he arrived at al-Mansilriya, he took a bath against the
orders of his physician, Ishak lbn SulaimPn al-Israili (81, the consequence of
which was, loss of natural heat, and inability to sleep; on which Ishak came and
treated him, but (he sleeplessness continued. Al-Mansfir at last grew impatient,
and said to one of his slaves: "Is there no physician in Kairawan who can
" deliver nle from ilris." The answer was: "There is here a youtlg man just
4 4 grown up, called Ibrahim." He ordered him to be called and acquainted
with his stale, and complained to him of what he was suffering; on which
Ibrahim took some soporiferous drugs and put them in a glass phial on the fire,
prescribing to his patient to smell them. Al-Mansfir, after smelling them for
a considerable time, fell asleep ; and Ibrahirn retired, rejoicing in what he had
done. When Ishak returned, he went to enter the patient's chamber, but was
 BL0Q;RAPHICAL DICTION AHY. 221

told that he slept, on which he said: "If any thing has been done to him
i i *lake him sleep, he is now a dead man." They then entered the room, arid
having found that he was dead, they wanted to kill Ibrabim, but lsbak said :
((He is not to be blamed, as he treated him in the manlier which phvsicians
L(teach; but he was unacquainted with the cause of the disorder, and you did
not inform him. As for me, 1 treated him with the view of fortifying the
natural heat, so as to cause sleep, and on learning that he was treated in a
way to extinguish that heat, I knew he was dead." He was interred a t al- 114
Mahdiya ; born at Kairawin, 302 (A. D. 914), or 301 ; his reign lasted sevell
years and six days .-lf;.ik@a is the name of an extensive country in Magh-
reb; it was conquered in the khalifat of Othmin; Kairawin was then the capital,
as Tunis is now.

(1) See page 159.

(2) The author relates this event farlher 011.
(3) The expression '.G 4 signifies t o refresh or delight the eye, to rejoice.- This verse is frequently n ~ r t
with in Arabic writers, and Abir 'I-Fad3 says, in his Historiu A~nteislumica,page 187, that mention is made
of its author, Mokirr Ibn Himdr al-Bhriki, in the Kitdb at-Aghdni; this name is not, however, to be fbund
i n the manuscript of that work preserved a t the Bib. du Roi. -The expression to t h ~ o waway one's staff is
quite proverbial in Arabic ; i t means to give up travelling.
(4)This is a passage from the Koran, sunrt 7, verses 114, 115, and 116.
( 5 ) T h e historian at-Tatmi is better known as AhQ Obaida Ibn al-Muthar~rla.
(6) Koran, sur 5, v. 30.
\i)Abh'l-FadA, in his Annals, year 333, gives some account of AhQ Yazld's revolt, defeat, and death. The
MS, of that work in the Rib. du Roi, which has been corrected by the author himself, writes ifd kanddd.
with the vowel points, as the name of tbat rebel's father. AbQ Yaztd was surnamed the master of the ass
SMib al-Himar, because he never rode anything else.-(Ibn al-Ahbrlr.) The sect of the lbadites (Ibddiya)
had for author Abd Allah Ibn IbAd at-TamTmi, who revolted a t Tabala in Yemen during the reign of Narwbrr
Ibn Muhammad, the last of the Omaiyides who reigned in the East. It appears from an-Nuwairi, that this
sect existed inIfrikiya a t an carly period, and gave some trouble to the Aghlabite princes.-AI-JurjAni, in his
Taarifdt (Notices et extraits des man. de la Nib. du Roi, tom. 10, pag. 19),says: These sectarians considered
as infidels all those who did not believe as they ; they taught that the Moslim who commits a grievous sin is s
w i t a r i a n , but not one of the faithful, because works are a part of faith; and they declared Ali and a great
number of Muhammad's companions, to be infidels. A fuller account of their doctrines is given by as-Shah-
rastsni.
(8 The life of Ishak Ibn S u l a i m i t ~a i l 1 be round in M. de Sacy's Abd-Allatif, p. 43.
 IBN KHALLIKAWS

-jbil $I-\landr Ismail, son of al-H%fi~1b1l

az-ZiGr (the conq~rrr(~r-),
tIutlammad ItlI1 al-l\luslansir Ibn az-Zihir Ibn al-Nkim lbri al-Azfz Ibn a!-
hloizz Ibn al-hlansilr Ibn al-Kiinl Ibn al-Mahdi. In the article which precedes,
we hare given the life of his ancestor al-Mansdr. On the death of al-H&, his
youngest son az-Zblir Ivas immediately proclaimed as his successor, in conform-
itr to his father's last orders, and on he sameday he received the oath of fealty
from his This prince was addicted to pleasr~reand frivolous amusr-
m a t s , passing his time with his concubines, or listening to vocal music. He
Itas bv his favourire, Nasr, son of his vizir Abb5s (of whom we shall
again speak in the life of al-AQdil Ibn as-Sallir), who having invited him olle
,light to come secretly to his father's palace (which is now the IlaneGte College,
and is called the Su@i"a) (I j, murdered him there and concealed his death.
This well-known event took place on the 1 5th, or, according to some, on Wed-
i~esdavnight, 30th of Muharram, A. H. 54.9 (llpril, A. D. 1l 54). I-Ie was born
at Cairo, on Sunday, 15th of the second Rabi (some say the first), A. H. 527
(A. D. 1133); he was a verv handsome man. On perpetrating this murder,
%asr went, the same night, to his father Abbls, and informed him of what he
had done. It was by his father's orders that he had acted; for his extreme
beaulv had induced the public to suspect that his irltercourse with az-Zifit* was
of' an improper nature, and in consequence (ofthese rtrmour.s), his father had
said to hinr : YOU are ruining your reputation by keeping company with az-
Zdfir ; your familiarity with him is the subject of public talk; kill him then,
" for it is thus that you will vindicate your honour from these foul suspicions."
The next morning, Abbis went to ihe door of the castle, and asked admission
to az-ZAfir, saying that he had business of' importance to transact with him.
The slaves having sought their master in the places where he usually passed the
night, and not finding him, told Abbis that they did not know where he was.
On this the vizir dismounted, and entered the castle with some trusty attend-
ants; he then ordered the slaves to bring forth Jibril and Yfisuf, the two bra-
thers of his master ; them he questioned respecting him ; but they told him to
ask his own son, L)r he knew beller than thev. On this, he caused [heir heads
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 223
to be struck off, and said: 'LThese two are his murderers."-Such are tht.
main circumstances of the event, which is related more fully in the life of al-
FBiz Isa, son of az-Z&fir.-The mosque az-ZBfiri, which is inside the gate of
Zawila at Cairo, was so called after him, as he was its founder, and had settled
upon it w u & - (2) to a great amount.

(1) The SuyQfiya College a t Cairo was so called, because it was close to the Swordcutler's Bazar lSuk (IS-
Suyafin).-(81-Mukrizij.
(2) See page 49, note (7).

ASNHAB AL-KAISI.

Abii Alnr Ashhab Ibn Abd al-Aziz Ibn Diwiid Ibn lbrahim al-Kaisi al-Jaadi
(member of the tribe of Kais arld of the fanlily of Jaad), a doctor of the sect
of Malik and native of Egypt, studied jurisprudence under the imam Malik, and
afterwards under the doctors of Medirla and Misr- The inlam as-Shifi said of'
him: "I never saw an abler jurisconsult tharl Ashhab, were he ~ ~ so o precipi-
t
tate." A rivalry subsisted hetween him and Ibn al-Kisim (I j, whom he af-
terwards replaced as chief of rhe Malikites in Egypt. Ashhab was born in 115
Egypt, A. H. 150 (A. D. 767), or in A. H. 140, according to AbA Jaafar al-Jaz-
zir in his history; he died in 204 (A.D. 820), a month (or, as some say, I8 days)
after as-Shhfi, whose d e a ~ hoccurred on the 30th Rajab of that year. Ashhab
died at Old Cairo, and was interred in the lesser Karifa (2); I have visited his
tomb, which is near that of Ibn al-Kisim. Some state that his real name was
Maskin and Ashhab only a surname, but that is not exact. His veracity is un-
questionable in the Traditions, which he gives on the authority of the imanr
Mllik. Al-Kodii says, in his Klritat, that Ashhab was head of the Malikites in
the city (of old Cairo) ; [hat he possessed great weallh ; and that L: was the
ablest divine among the Maliki tes in resolving doubtful questions. As -ShBfi
said that he never saw his equal among the natives of Egypt, but that he war
rather rash; and (we know) that the only doctors of the sect of MSlik whom as-
Shlfi saw in that oountry were Ashhah and Ibn Abd al-Hukm. It is related
by the latter that he heard Ashhab pray for the death of as-& who, on
 25% IBN KHALLIKtlK'S
learning from him the circumstance, quoted the following rlerses, which he
applied to himself:
Some men desire my death, and if I die, I shall not be the sole who travelled in that
path. Tell him w h o strives to obtain constant happiness (3), that he should lay in a
store for another, and a future life; then he shall have nearly (gained his wish) (4).

lbtl Al!d al-FIulrm relates also that as-Shlfi, on his death, left, among other
property, a slave who was purchased by Ashhab, and that he himself purchas~d
that same slave when hshhab died. Ibn Yiinus speaks of Ashhab in his History,
and says: ",Ashhah was descended from Kais through the t r i h of ABmir, and
sprnug from the finlily of Jaada; his surrlame was Ahd Amr; he was one of
the first jurisconsults of Egypt, and a man of great judgment : born A. H. 140
L L

( A . D 757); died on Saturday, 21st of ShPbin, A . H. 204 (A. D. 820 .) He

ware his beard dyed (in imitation of tlte prinzitive Mos(inzs)." Muhammad
Ibn Aasim al-Maifiri relates that he had a dream (5) it1 which h(. seemed to hear
a voice say : ''0, Muhammad !" to which he gave answer, and the voice then
p~.omuncedthis verse :
They are gone, those friends on whose departure we exclaim : 0, that the earth and
thosewhich inhabit it were dissolved !
I'At that time," says he, " iishhab was sick, and I said : '0,how greatly 1
" fear that he may die!' and he died of that illness."

'l1The life of Ibn al-KAsim is given in this work: his full name is AbO Abd Allah Abd ar-RahmAn
al-Otaki.
2) See page 58, note (12).
3' Literally : The contrary of tbat which is transitory.
41 Tbe signification of the words J d F is explained in M. de Sacy's commentary o n the Makdmas
#ifal-Hartri ; see page 311 of that work.
5) See page 46, note '7).

ASBAGH AL-M A LIKI .

Abd Abd Allah Asbagh Ibn al-Faraj Ibn Said Ibn Nifi, a doctor of the sect
of MUik and a native of Egypt, studied jurisprudence under Ibn al-KPsim,
Ibn Wahb, and Ashhab ( I ) . It was said by Ahd al-Malik lbrl al-Mijishfin
that Egypt never produced [he like of Asljagh; and when asked if he did not
*ake an exception i n favour of I h r ~al-KAsirn, he replied : "Not even Ibn al-
i cKksim." Iie was krilib (2j to lbn \Vahb, and his ancestor Nifi, who was
an enfranchised slave of Atd al-Aziz lbn Mat w i n Ibn al-Hakam the Omaiyide,
was governor of Egypt (3). Asbagh died on Sunday, 25th of Shawwll, 225
( h . D. 8.40), some state, however, that his death took place in 226 or 220.

(1) For the life of Ashhab, see the precrdilig a r t ~ c l e ; the lives of Ibn al-Kisirn and Ibn Wahb will be
found in the letter aEn.
(2) Khlib, copyist or secretary.
(3) Abd al-Aziz was appointed goverrior of Egypt by his father Marwen Ibr~ al-Hakam tn the year 65
(h.D. 6851, and was aulhoriscd by him not only 10 preside at public prayers :which was the prerogative of
the governor), b u t to collect the revenue. He colitiriued in the exercise of these functions till his d e a ~ l ~ ,
which took place A. H. 85 (A. D.704 .)- (An-Nujicm ax-Zdhira.)

AK SUNKUR THE HAJIB.

,4hh Said Ak Sunkur (I) Ibn Abd Allah, surnamed Kasim ad-Dawlat (part-
ner in the empire), and generally known by the title of al-Hijib (the churn-
berlai~z),was the itncestor of the Atlbeks of Mosul, and the father of Imid 116
ad-din Zinki. He and Buzin (2), prince of Edessa, were mamliiks of the Seljiik
Sultan, Malak Shah Ibn Alp Arslln. When T l j ad-Dawlat Tutush Ibn Alp
Arslhn obtained possession of Aleppo (in the year 478) ( A . D. 1085) (3), he left
Ak Sunkur as his lieutenant in that city, thinking that he could place every
reliance on one who was his brother's mamldk. Ak Sunkur, however,
revolted, and Tutush, who was then master of Damascus, marched against
him and gave him battle, in the month of [he first Jlim$da, A. H. 487 (A. D.
1094); both sides fought with great animosity, and the conflict terminated by
the death of Ah Sunkur (4j. He was interred in the Zajjijiya College a t
Aleppo. W h e n I visited his tomb, I found it surrounded by a great number
of persons, who met there every Friday for the purpose of reading the KO-
29
 $26 1BN KBALLIKAN'S
,.an (5; ; alld 1 lvas informed that (in recornpen& fbr their servicw), a large
sum, arising from the revenue of a rvakf(6) rounded for that purpose, was
distributed among them; hut I do not know by whom that w a y was esta-
blished,--1 haye sillet. discovered that it was escnblished by Nlir ad-din Mahmiid,
;;randson of nk-sunkur; I shall give his life inter, and shall narratt5 also, in
the life of Tutush, some particulars respecting Ak Stmhur, which are in contra-
diction to the foregoing statement (7). - The Zujj.+j~?~a Colltige was built by
,\bli 'l-Rabi Sulainlin Ibn Abd al-Jabbir Ibn Orluk, prince of :Ileppo (8).
Ali S~inkurwas at first buried a t (Mount) Karnel~ia, but his son Zinki, on
obta irring possession of Aleppo, had his body transported to the Zajjiji ya , and
iritroduced i r into the city l ~ yhoisting it over the wall (9). 12k Sunkur was slain
at a village called Rtiybn, which is situated near Sabin (I 0) in tlw dependencies
of d l ~ p p o ,according to Yikiit (in lzis Mushlarik).

(1) Ak-Sunkur is a Turkish name; it mearu white falcon.

(2) This BuzAn assisted ak-Sunkur in his retolt agaiust Tutush, and was taken and bel~eaded by that
prince, A. H. 487.-(Zubdat al-Halab.) The onaljsis of this work is given by professor Frcytag in his
Selecda ex Historia Halebi.
3) It appears from a passage in the life of Tutush, that this date should have bcen inserted i n the Arabic
text. It 1s omitted in most of the manuscripts.
(4)P more full account of Ak Sunkur's revolt and death is given by Abb 'I-FadB in his Annals. Kambl
ad-dln Omar Ibn al-hdim says, in his Zubdat al-Halab, that the Lroops of Ak Surikur did not resist an
instant, and that he himself was taken after the battle and beheaded by Tutush.
(5) The merits and spiritual recompenses attached to the reading of the Koran ore transferable to the dead,
when this act of piety is performed on their account and in their name.
(6) See note (7), page 49.
(7)This is an oversightof the author; nothing of the kind is to be found in the life of Tutush.
(8) Sulaiman Ibn Abd al-Jabbar was lieutenant of 11 GhBzi in Aleppo. (Zubdat ul-Halab.)
(9) When the A m e k Zinki transported the corpse of his father to the college situated in (the quarter of
dleppo called) al-Zajjdjh (the glassbluwers), he did not bring it throwh any of the city gates, but had it
hoisted over the wall; for it would have been considered as an unlucky omen to introduce a dead body into
the city.-(Bilghiat a t T a l a b ; MS. No. m, fol. 180.) Kambl addtn, the author of this work, states thilt
~k Suokur governed Aleppo with great justice, and that, under his excellent administration, the revenues of
the city amounted to fifteen hundred dinars per diem. (Fol. 178, v.)
(10) The author of the Marasid al-lttillt says that Sabin is a village at the gate of Aleppo, but AhO 'I-
Fad& in his History, t. 111. p. 290, places the field of battle a t Tall as-Sultbn, on the river Sabfn, a1 sir
parasangs from Aleppo.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICrTIONAKY .

AK SUNKUK AL-BURSOKI.

Abh Said Ak Sunkur al-Bursoki al-Gllizi (the warrior), surnamed Kasim

ad-Dawlat Saif ad-din (partner in the empire and sword of religion), was
p i n c e of Musul, Rahaba, and the neighbouring countries. Ile got possession
of these places on the death of the Ispbsalir (I) Maudhd, who governed then1
and the Syrian provinces in the name of the Seljdk prince Muhammad Ibn
Malak Shah (whose life shall be given in this work). Maudiid was murdered
on Friday, l 2th of the second Rabi, A. B. 507 (September, A. D. 1113), by a
gang of Bitinites (2), who attacked him in the great mosque of Damascus. Ak
Sunklir was then acting as shaftnn (3) at Baghdad, to which post he had been
appointed in the year 498 ( A . D. 1004-S), by the sultan Muhammad, who had
become master of the empire by the death of his brother Barkyirfik. In the
vear 499, Ak S u n k ~ was
~ r directed by the sultan Muhammad to lay siege to Tik-
rit, which was then in the possession of Kaikobid Ibn Hazirasb the Dailamite,
who was reported to be a partisarl of the Bitinite doctrines. In pursuance of his
orders, A k Sunkur made preparations Tor the expedition, and having set out in
t.he month of Rajab of that year, he besieged Kaikobid till Muharram, A. H.
500. When on the point of taking the city, Saif ad-Dawlat Sadaka came up,
and was put in possession of it (4), and then returned to Hilla, accompanied
by Kaikobid, who took with him his treasures, but died on arriving. The
sultan Muhammad, on being informed of Maudiid's assassination, ordered Ak
Sunkur to set out for b'losul, and make preparations for attacking the Franks in
Syria. On arriving a t Mosul, he established his authority in the city, and then
made an expedition against the Franks, whom he forced to raise the siege of
Aleppo, which was closely pressed by them; he then returned 10 Mosul, and
continued to inhabit it till his death. He was one of the greatest and most cele-
h a t e d emirs under the SeljGkides. It was in the mosque of Mosul, on Friday,
9th of ZB'l-Kaada, A. H. 520 ( ~ o w m b e r ,A. D. 1126j, that he met with his
death by the hands of some BPtinites. Ibn alJawzi says, in his History, that he
was slain in the iMaksu"ra(5) of the mosqueof Mmul, A. B. 519, whilst the
kiitib Imld ad-din states that i t happened in 520 ; the.;lat&~writersays: " Theii l7
 2% IBN KHALLIKAN'S
assassir~s,who were sitting in the mosqoe, in the dress of Sbfis, sprang upon
L' him as he was retiring from prayers, and stabbed him in many places. This
was in the month of Zfi' l-Kaada. Their ennrity had heen excitcd against
him, because he had persecuted and slain them in great nunlbers, with the
intention of eradicating their power." Tlrc goverrlmt211tof Ak Sankur passed
to his son Izz addin Mastid, whose death took place on Tuesday, 22nd of the
latter Jumida, 521 (July, A. D. 1127) ; Imld ad-din Zinki (son of the Ak Sun-
kur whose life is given in the preceding article) was his successor.-The deri-
vation of Bursoki was unknown to me, and as-Samini makes no mention of the
word ; but 1 have since discovered that it comes from Bursok, the name of a
Wamlrik belonging to the sultan Mohammad Toghrulhek, whose li h we intend
to give. This Bursok held a high rank under the Seljhk dynasty, and was one
of their most remarkable and eminent emirs.

This
(I) word, which is qritteu ,%.,.,, ,L$.-!
%l, ; ~ l j ~ l signifies commandn of the troops.
3) 'Che Bdtinites are the same as the Ismailians: thcy are better known in Furopc as the Assassins
d!.
.. . - See M de Sacy's Mdrnoire sur La dynaslie des Assassins et sur l't'lymologie de leur t t o n ~ ;and

his Histoire des Druzes.

3) See page 172, note (41.
(4) This was a concerted plan between Sadaka and KaikohAd, and must have caused great disappointment
to Ak Sunkur, who had the promise of the sultan to be allowed to retain Tikr'lt as a fief after he had captured
it. (Ibn al-Athtr's Kdmil.)
(5) In the great mosques, a railed enclosure or pew, called the Makstlra is reserved for the sultan or his
lieutenant.

OMAIYA IBN AB1 'S-SALT.

Abh 'S-Salt Omaiya Ibn Abd al-Aziz Ibn Abi 'S-Salt al-Andalusi ad-Dini (a
native of Denia in Spain), possessed superior information in the different
branches of general literature, and is author of a work entitled al-Hadika (the
Grove), which is composed on the plan of at-Tha81ibi7s Yatinza ; being also
skilled in philosophy, he received the title of al-Adib al-Haklm (the learned in
6eNes-kttres and philosophy) ; he was besides deeply versed in the sciences of
 BIOQ'rKAPHICALDICTIONARY. 229

the ancients (I). Having left Spain, he took up his residence at Alexandria.
The khtib ImPd ad-din mentions him with commendation in the Klzarlda p),
and cites the following, among: other pieces of verse composed Ijy him :

Formed as I a m of earth, the earth is my country, and the human race my relations.
I must therefore impose 011 my camels a task of difficult accomplishment even for the
tallest and the strongest (3).

I have not, however, met wirh these verses in Ibn Abi 'S-Sal t's poetical works.
The kdtib gives also as his, the following piece:
She said to me: "Why art thou living in obscurity? Is thy judgment weak or thy
talent inferior?" To which I answered : " My fault in the eyes of the public is to have
obtained glory such as they never possessed. It is in fortune alone that I am deficient,
but I am rich in honourable deeds."

This piece also is not to be found in his diw&.-By the same:

She tormented and sported with my heart, and then returned unconcerned. Hob
intrepid is that gazelle whose magic charms prolong my sufferings (4); she kills with
her looks whom she pleases, and whom she pleases she revives. Where is the love
which she has not betrayed? Where are the promises which she does not break?

By the same :
The izdr crept along his cheek, but retreated from the smiling lips it did not dare 1.18
to kiss. No wonder it should fear death from such a kiss ; saliva is a deadly poison
for scorpions (S).

By the same :
I have seen a graceful maid, whose beauty partook of the qualities possessed by that
liquor which she poured from the ewer into the wine-cup; its intoxicating power was
in her looks, its colour in her cheeks, its flavour in her kiss.

The author of the Kharida gives as his the following verses in his notice on
al-Hasan Ibn Abi 'l-Shakh'ni (6) :
I. marvel how your loolis, which are so languishing, can captivate the brave and
vigorous ; your glances, though sheathed (in your eyelids), work the same effects as
the unsheathed sword.

The poetical compositions of Omaiya Ibn Abi 's-Salt are numerous and good.
Towards the end of his life he removed to al-Mahdiya (7), where he died on
 1:30 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
\lonJny, the first day of the year 529 (22nd October, A. 1). I 434) ; sorne, how-
ever, place his death on the 40th of Muharram, 528, and Irnid ad-din says in
the Kharida that he found written at the end of a COPY of the i3adika given
him br al-kldi al-FBdil, that the author died or1 Monday, 12th of Muharram,
A . H. 546; but the first is the true date, because most writers agree in giving
11, and it is mentioned also in the Jinlin of !he kPdi ar-Rashid Ibn az-Zu-

hair (S). Ibn Abi 'S-Salt died (as we have said)at al-Mahd iya, and was buried
at al-Monastir (9: (of which place we shall again speak in the life of Hibat Allah
a - s i r . The last words pronounced by him were the following verses of his
own con)position, which he ordered to be inscribed on his own tomb :

I have dwelt in thee, 0 transitory world1 in the full certainty of passing to an eter-
nal abode ; and the most awful circumstance for me in that event, is the obligation of
appearing before one whose judgments are equitable, and who acts not unjustly, 0 1
that I knew what reception shall be mine on that day ; for my stock (of merits) is small,
and my sins are many. If I be covered with confusion for my crimes (Ishall avow the
justice of my sentence', for I deserve the severest punishment inflicted on a sinner. But
if mercy ahd forgiveness be shewn me, (what happiness!) for bliss shall be there, and
joy without end.

In the height of his Last illness, he addressed his son Abd al-Aziz in these
terms :

0,Abd a l - ~ z i z ! thou who art to replace me ! Let the fear of the Lord of Heaven be
before thee when I am gone. I thus do bind thee to fulfil a duty which thou knowcst (to
be essentiull: keep therefore thy agreement. If thou actest according to my recorn-
mendation, the true direction and thou shall be inseparable; if thou breakest thy pro-
mise, thou shalt err From the right way. l have now advised thee to the best of my
power.

1 have since discovered, in a compilation written by a native of Maghreb, that

4bil 'S-Salt was born at Denia, a city in Spain, in the year 460 (A. D. 1067-8),
and that ire studied under a number of persons in that country; among others,
129 kbli 'I-MTalid al-Wakshi, kidi of Denia. He arrived at Alrxandr~iawith his
mother on the festival of Sacrifices (l 0th Zzi '1-Hyja)),489 ; in the year 505 he
was banished from Egypt by al-Afdal ShPhinshBh, but he continued some
time at Alexandria, uncertain ( t o what country he should g o ) ; he dk-
parted io ihe year 506 for al-Mahdiya, where ile was honourably received
by the sovewign of that city, Ali Ibn Yahya Ibn Tamim Ibn al-Moizz Ebn>
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 23 2
Bidis (1 0). He there had a son born to him, whom he called ALd al-Aziz, and
who became a poet of superior ability and a skilful chess-player : Abd al-Azir
died at B~igia(Lr the province o f Algiers), A. H. 546 (A. D. 1151). I may
observe that Imhd ad-din, in citing the authority of al-kidi al-E'hdil, has made a
mistake and taken the date of the son's death for that of the father's. VCThen
Omaiya was imprisoned in Egypt, he composed, by al-Afdal's orders, a treatise
on the use of the astrolabe ; a work on astronomy, entitled a l - w i z (the corn-
pen&m); a treatise on simple medicines ; a work on logic, entitled Takwim
ad-Dthn (regulation o f the n?i?zd); another, called the Intisdr (Aid), con-
taining an answer to A l i Ihn Ridwlu's (I I ) refutation of Hunain Ibn Ishak's
Medical Questions. When he had composed the WaJ'S by order of al-
Afdal, that vizir had i t examined by his astronomer Abb Abd Allah of Aleppo,
who gave ss his opinion that the work could not be made use of by beginners in
astronomy, and that those who were masters of that science had no occasion for
it. One of Omaiya's verses is as follows :

W h y should his clothes not be worn out, since he is a Full moon (an beauty), and
they are of linen.

His reason for rnouncing so singular :I thought is, that linen rots when ex-
posed to the light of tht moon. The disease of which Omaiya died was dropsy.

(1) The sciences of the a n c i e n t s ; the philosophical doctrines of the Greeks.

(2) See MS. of the Bib. du Roi, No. 1375, fol. 76. Numerous extracts from the poems of AbO 'S-Salt are
there given.
(3) That is, I must visit a generous patron who lives in a distant land.
(4) Literally: Who bloweth on the knots of patience; see Sale's Koran, note on surat 113, in which a
similar expression occurs.
(S) See Introduction.
(6) AbQ Ali al-Hasan Ibn Abd as-Samad Ibn Abi 'S-ShakhnPI, surnamed al-Mujtd, was a native of Askalou
in w i a , and the greatest poet which that city produced. He was living A. H. 470 (A. D. 1077-8). Imdd
ad-dh's Khartda furnishes little information respecting him, but i t contains nummus.fragments of his
poqry. See MS. of the Bib. du Roi, No. 1374, fol. 23 v . In this manuscript, the name pf agSMhaB. is
a-snqnd kfJ
1.
9
(7)81-Mahdiya, a sea-port city lying to the south of Tunis, was founded P. H. W, 4 - W i Obaid
Allah, the first of the Fatimite khalifs. For its description see al-Bakri's geography of lYorthern Africa ia
theNotices et Extraits, tom. la, p. i79.
&pw 1IIN KHALLIKAN'S
(8) See his life, page 143.
(9) It would appear from al-Babi's description uf Northern Africa, that Monastir, sea-port town &

miles S.E. of Tunis, was a sortof military convent, or rib&: see Notices et E x t r a i t s , tom. 12, p. 488.
(10) I n the life of Yahya lbn Tamfm .ill be found the reql~isileinformation respecli~hgAli l b n Ychya:
mention is also made, in the same article, of Omaiya Ibn Abi 'S-Salt, and of some works composed by him,
which are not ~ndicatedhere.
(11: Ali Ibn Ridwin died, A. H. 460 (A. D. 1067-8). See Aba 'l-Fara~, p. 236, in wllich work will be
found several anecdotes respecting him; see also Russell's Description of A l e p ~ o vol., 2, appendix, p. xix.
His life is given in the Tdrilih al-Eukamd, MS. of the Bib. d u Roi, supplement, No. 105, page 351.

lY AS AL-KADI .

i\bb Withila lggs was son of Moawia Ibn Kurra 1l)n Iyis Ibn Hi13 Ibn
liabbib Ibn Obaid Ibn Suit Jbn Siria Ibn Dubysn Ibn Thalatja lbn Sulaim Ibn
Ails Ibn Muzaina, for which reason he was surnamed al-Muzalli, or the descend-
ant of Muzaina. He was renowned for eloquence ( l j and penetration, and the
acuteness of his mind was proverbial; the persons of merit who spoke their lan-
guage with elegance considered him as their chief; (his judgment was .so sure,
thal) his conjectures were verified by the events, arld in thc rrranagement of
affairs he showed great dexterity. It is he to whom al-Hariri alludes in the
fbllowing passage of lris seventh makcima : I n quickness of' understanding, I
resemble l b n Ab61, and in t/tz art of physiognong 1 possess the talent of
IT& (2). He was appointed k4di of Basra by (the khalf) Omar Ibn AM al-
Aziz, and his great-grandfather Iyis was one of the companions of Muhammad.
His father Rioawia, having been asked how his son behaved towards him, re-
plied: '' An excellent boy! (his filial piety) relieves me from the cares of
" this world, so that I have leisure to think of the next." IyBs was cele-
I~rated for his talents and judgment ; he was equally remarkable for his
acuteness, instances of which are thus related : Being at a place ill which
something happened productive of alarm, and where three females whom he
did not know were present, he said : ('One of these females is pregnant,
the other is nursing, and the third is a virgin." On inquiry, it was found
that he had judged right; and on being asked how he had acquired that
 BIOGRAPHICAL 1)IC'TIONA KY . 233
information, he replied: "In time of danger, persong lay their hands on what
'6 they most prize; now I s a w that the pregnant woman, in her fright, placed

her hand on her belly, which showed that she was with child; and 1 per-
(' ceived the nurse place her hand on her bosom, by which I knew that she lvas
L L suckling ; and the movcnlen t of 111e virgin's arm (3) proved to me that she was

a n~aid."--Hearinga Jew express his astonishment at the silliness of thtk MOS-

lims i n imagining that the inhabilants of paradise are to eat food, and yet not be
subject 10 any natural er acuation, lie asked him if all that he eat passed off in that
marlrler ; aild on llle Jew's replying, that God converted a portion of it into nou-
rishment, he said : "Why then dost thou derly the possibility of God's convert-
ir~ginto nourishment the whole of the food eaten by the inhabitants of para-
I' dise?"- Being one day io the court-yard of a house at Wasit, he said that there
was an animal under one of the bricks (whichformed the phoement); and the 1 9 0
pople having pulled it up, Found a snake coiled under it. He was then asked
how he came to know it, and he answered : " I saw that, among all the bricks i r i
the pavement, there were only two between which a rky darupness appeared ; so
I kriew that there must have been something uuderneath which breathed. "-
As he was one day passing by a place, he said that he heard the howl of a strange
dog, and on being asked how he knew that, he answered: "I know it from the
lowness of his howl, and the loudness of the other dogs in barking." On
examination, it was found that a strange dog was tied up there, and that the
other dogs were harking at him.-Another day, he saw a fissure in the ground,
and said that some animal was beneath, which was found to be true: being asked
how he knrw it, he replied that a Ijssure. in the ground could ~ n l ybe produced
by an animal or by a plant (underraeath). Al-Jihiz says that, on examining a
raised spot in an even soil, if the orifice be found of a regular form, and surrounded
with loose earth, it is a sign that a truffle is below (4.); but if the opening be irregu-
larly shaped, and the earth thrown up unel,enly, it denotes the presence of an
animal. - Were I not apprehensive of being prolix, I should relate many singular
instances of his clear-sightedness, but one of our learned men has already com-
piled a large volume 'on that subject. When Omar Ibn Abd al-Azlz was khalif,
he wrote to Adi Ihn Arta, who acted as h i s lieutenant in Irak, ordering him to
effect a meeting between Iyds Ibn Moawia and al-~asirn Ibn Rabia al-Harashi,
and authorising him to appoint the most acute-minded of the two kidi of Basra.
30
 The meeting haviop ken $ace, Iy$s said to Ibn Arts : " 0 emir! ask the two
'6 great docton of ~ ~ &Hasan
~ al-Basri
~ t and Muhammad
, Ibn Sirill, their
opinion of al-Kasim and me." (Hitsobject in ihis was, to avoid the heay.
responsi~ilriy w/lic/lhe should b~cur,were he fo accept the o J ~ c r~~ artd
he tlrergOre wishedtIznl clzeclroice of the emit .rhould fhll upoll ~LKacirn,
who would ce,.lain/l. bp srrorzgb recornrnertrled ky these two doctors;) for al-
Kasim r e n t often to see there, whilst he, Iyis, did not . Al-Kasim (being eqtral$.
unujilling tofill thp of kkdi, and) aware that these two doctors would a&-
he emir to name him, said : Make no inquiries respectin~,mtbor him, for
L 1
aver by the only true God, that lyis ll)n Moawia is an abler juris--
conslllt than I, and knows better the duties of a kjdi ; if what 1 say be false, yol,
cannot legally appoint nie, because 1 am a liar; and if my declaration be true,
66 it is inculnbent on you to receive it (and net by z'l)." Or1 this Iyls said : (0
emir !) yon set a man on the brink of perdition, and he escapes the dangers
i b which he apprehends, by making a false oath, for which he will inlplore God's

forgiveness." "Since you perceive that," replied Adi Ibn Arta, you arc
lit to fill the place;" and he appoir~tedhim accordingly (5). It is related of
I y i s that he said : " I was never worsted (in penelrcltion) but by one man ; 1
had taken my seat in the court of judgment at Basra, when a person came be-
;'fore me and gave testimony that a certain garden, of which he mentioned the
LL boundaries, belonged to a man whom he named. (As I krrd some doubts of'
' L his veracity,) I asked him how many trees were in that garden; and he said

I L to me, a f ~ e ar short silence, 'Horn long is it since our lord the kidi has been
c giving judgment in this hall?' I fold him the time. G Now many beams,'
" said he, ' are there in the roof?' On which I acknowledged that he was in the
" right, and I received his testimony."--Iybs was once in the desert, and the
water had run short, when he heard the bark of a dog: That fellow," said he,
is at the mouth of a well." His companions, having gone to the place from
which tlre barking proceeded, found the fact as he had stated; on which they
asked him how he knew it, and he replied that the barkirlg which he had heard
seemed to issue from a well. Many other extraordinary instances are *elated of
his sagaciousness. It is stated by Abfi Ishak Ibn Hafs that IyAs dreamt chat he
s h ~ u alive till the next Festival of' Sacrifices (whiclr inkes place eac/z year on
the 10th 'G@@); he therefore retired to a farm which he bad at Abdasi
 BIOCRAPH JCAL I)ICTIOIPU'.\KY. 835

(a village in the dependencies of 1)osht Waidn, which place lies between Basra and
KhGzestan); and he died there in the year 122 (A. D. 739-4O), or, by another
account, in the ycar '1 21, at the age of 76. In the year of his death, he related.
that he had a dream (G), in which i t seemed to.llim that he and his father were
ridinga race, and thal one was unable to outstrip the other; he then mentioned
that his fathcr had lived seventy-six years, and that he himself was in tllat year
of his age. On the night before he died, ht; said : " Do you know that in this
night I shall have reached m y father's age?" He then went to sleep, and
was found dead in the morning. His father Moawia died A. H: 80 (A. D. 699).
-(We slznll conclude tlzis article by unother anecdote respecting A vs:)
number of persons, amongst whom was Ans lbn Milik (7), then nearly one hun- 194
dred years of age, were looking out for the new moon of the rnonth of Rama-
din (8); Ans said that he saw it, and he pointed to the place, but the others
could not discern it. On this, Iyis went up to Ans, and perceived that a hair of
his eyebrow was bent dox47n (before the pupil of /he eye, and thus produced an
optical delu.sion); he therefore drew his finger over it, and smoothed i t to his
brow, after which he said : 0 Abb Hamza ! show us the moon and the other ;l7

looked again, but could not discover. it.

(i)An Arab of the desert defined eloquence as the art of expressing one's ideas with precision and brevity.
Arabic eloquence is therefore quite different frorn European; it is lacoriicism rather than eloquence.
(2) See De Sacy's HarZri, page 72.'
(3) The Arabic is here much more explicit.
(1)Truffles are common in the Syrian Desert about the month of April. They are a favourite dish with the
Arabs. (Burckhardf's Notes on the Bedouins, vol. 1, page60.)
(8) In the early ages of Islamism, pious Moslims mere deterred from exercising the functions of, judge, by
consideration of the heavy responsibility they should incur, and the strict account they should give to God
of their administration. There were many instances of learned jurisconsulls suffering persecution and
punishment rather than consent to fill so daugerous an office. Their apprehensions were grounded on the
Sunna, or Traditions, which furnish many positive declarations on the subject; according @,one of these
traditions, Muhamrnad said: "There will come upon a judge, at the day of resurrection, such fear and hor-
" ror. that he will wish : ' WouId to God I had not judged between two persons in a triaI for the value of a
"single date!' " Muhammad said also: "He who shall be judge and awards agreeably to justice, will nei-
" ther ,gain nor loose." (See other traditions of similar. import in Matthew's Mishk@ at-Mmbbfh, vol. 2,
page 221 .)
(6) See note (7), page 46.
(7) B n s Ibn Mglik, one of the last survivors amonglthe companions of Muhammad, died at Basra, about
 236 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
the year 92, (A. P. 710-ii),aged 102 years., He had served ten years under the Prophet, to whose prayers
,say the Morlirn aritrrs,) he war indebted for his long life, his great wealth (his palm-trees bearing fruit twice
erery year), and upwards of eighty children. -(Siar as-Salaf.)
(8) The l o s l i m Lent begins on the appearance of the new moon in the month of RarnndB~~.

IBlY AL-KIRRIYA .AL-IIILALI.

h b Sulaimio
~ AiyGb al-Hildli, surnamed Ibn allKirriga, v a s son of Zaid Ibn
Kais Ibn Zur$ra Ibn Salama Ibn Jr~shamIbn MAlik lbn Amr Ibn Ahmir lbn Zaid
>fanit Ibn Aimir Ibn Saad Ibn al-Khazraj Ibn Taim Allah Ibn an-Nirnr Ibn Kbsit
Ihn Himb ( I ) Ibn Adn$n. AZ-Kirr9.a was the surname of one of his female
ancestors, whose real name was Jamia, and who descended also fro~rlthe Khaz-
raj of the above genealogy ; her father, Jusham, being son to Rabia Ihn Zaid
Manit Ibn AGf Ibn Saad Ibn al-Khazraj. Ibn 31-Kin-iya was an untutored Arab
of the Desert, but the elegance and precisiori of his language entitled him to the
reputalion of Being one of the first orators among that people. A season of severe
drought having obliged him to quit the Desert, he went to Ain at-Tamar (2), the
governor (3) of which was under the orders of al-Hajjij lbn Yi'lsuf. This go-
vernor kept open table every day, morning and evening, and Ibn al-Kirriya, who
a
had stopped at the door of the palace and saw the people cnter, asked where they
were going; being informed that they were going to dine with the emir, he went
in also, and dined along with them. He then asked if the emir did so every
day, and being answered in the afirrnative, he went to the palace every day for
tnorning and evening meals. It happened, however, that the emir received a lee
ter from al-Hajiij, written in the pure Arabic of the Desert. ant1 full of uncom-
mon expressions, which he was unable to understand, and, for that reason, he
caused dinner to be delayed. Ibn al-Kirriya, on his arrii.al, not seeing the
emir at [able, asked why he did not dine, nor have dinner served for his gllests;
and he was informed that al-Hajjij had sent him (de governor) a letter which
he could not understand, as it was in the language of the Desert Arabs;
worded in terms of rare occurrence. On this, lbn al-Kirriyp, whowas an
orator and spoke (the pure Arabic) with fluency and eloquence, said : "Let the
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 237
(6 emir have the letter read to me, and I shall explain it with the help of God."
This being told to the emir, he called him in; and Ibn a l - ~ i r r i ~ aon
, hearing
the letter read, explained to him all the contents. " Could you answer it:'"
said the emir. '' I cannot read," said Ibn al-Kirriya, " neither can I write :
but 1 may sit by a person who can write down what I dictate." The answer
was drawn np accordingly, and sent to al-Hajjij, who, on hearing it read, per-
ceived that it was in the pure lang~~age of the Arabs, and that its expressions
were of uncommon elegance; and knowing that such was not. the ordinary
style of' writers in the tax ofice, he caused the letters of the governor of Ain
at-Tamar to be brought, and found that they were not like that-which he had
just received, He therefore wrote to the governor i n these terms : ('Your letter
has come to hand ; it is widely different fiom your (usual)answers, and is in a
a language not your own: therefore, on the perusal of this, lay it not out of'
your hand before you send nie the man who, dicta>ed to yoq yol~rletter.
Adieu." The governor read this note to Ibn al-Kirriya, and told him to go
to al-Hajjij ; the other wished to be dispensed, but the governor insisted, and
having ordered him a dress, a supply of money, and a conveyance, he sent him
OK. Ibn al-Kirriya, on arriving, went to al-Hajiij, who said to him: ' L ha; is
" your name!"-LLAiyiib."-~'That," said al-Hajjij, " is the name of a pro-

('phet, and yet 1think that you are an untutored Arab of the Desert(4.), one who
" meddles with eloquence, and finds no difficulty in expressing his thoughts."

He then gave him a hospitable reception, and his admiration for him increased 10
such a height, that he intrusted him with a mission to (the k h n l f ) Abd al-MPlik
Ibn Marwin. On the rev01t of Abd ar-Rahmin Ibn Muhammad Ibn al-AshQth
Ihn Kais al-Kindi ( 5 ) in ~ejestan,al-Hajjij sent Ibn al-Kirriya on a mission to
that chieftain. When he entered, Ibn al-AshBth said to him : "You must
'' mount the pulpit, and say the khotbn (6), and you must pronounce the
" deposition of Abd al-IMBlik, and revile al-Hajjij ; if not, I shall strike off 199

" your head." Ibn al-Kirriya represented that he was an ambassador (and
ought to be respected), but the other merely replied that he should do
what he had said. He, was therefore obliged to mount the pulpit, pro-
nounce the deposition of Ahd al-Malik and rail at ,l-Hajy. He then
remained at that place. On the defeat and repulse of ibti al-Ashith (7),
al-Hajjij wrote to his agents at Rai, Ispahan, and the .neighbouring places,
 238 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
,,,.dering them to arrest allthe partisans of Ihn al-Ashith wholn they might
meet, and send them to him prisoners. Ibn al-Kirriya was among the
Ilumt,er that were taken, and on being brougllt before al-IlaJjgJ, the fd-
rowing dialogue ensued (8) :-Al-HajjBI : " A n s w ~ rivhat I ask thee."-Ibn
nl-Kirripn: "Ask what thotl wilt.'7-H. : "What snpest th0~1of tile ptople of
hirak :P"' K . : c They klrow the best of a n y the difference between true (rights)
L L

and vain (prelenJions)." - H. : " And what of thr people of IIij%z?" -K . :

b.

They a1.e {he ,nos[ prompt of any to sedition, and the feeblest whet] in it."-
H. : &'Whatof the people of Syria ?"-K. : " The most submissive of any to their
khalifs."--H. : And the people of E ~ ? ~ ; ?-"K . : " They are the slaves of
L him who conquers. "-H. : l LThose of Bahrain?"-K. : "They are Naba teans
become Arabs." - H. : a What sayest lhou of the people of Ammin?"-K. :
'.They are Arabs become Nabateans (g)."--H. : "The people of Mosul?"-K. :
The bravest of horsemen, and the most fatal to their foes."--1%. : " And those
of Yemen?"--K. : "People whohear arid obey, and cling to the strong side."
-H. : Those of Yemima?"--K. : "They are rude and Gckle, yet most firmin
" fight."-H.: L'The people of Fan?"--K.: "They are mighty in their via-
" lence, and ready to work woe; their plains are extensive, their towns few."-

11. : "Now tell me of the Arabs.''-K. : ": Ask."-- H. : '' The Koraish 1" --K. :
" The greatest in prudence, and the noblest in rank."-H.: The tribe of
' L Aimir Ibn Sas&a?"-K. : " They bear the longest spears, and are the bravest
" irt making inroads (I O:)."-A. : "The Ban& Sulaim?"--K. : ' l The most socia-
" ble, and also the most generous in their girts for God's service (l l ) ."- H. :
" The tribe of Thakif (1 2) ?"--K. : L ' The noblest by their ancestry, and the
" most frequent in their deputations."-H. : '(And the Banu Zubaid?"-Ka :
" They are the most attached to their standards, and the most successful in
' their vengeances."-H. : W hat sayest thou of the tribe of KudCa?"-K. :
The greatest in importance, the noblest in origin, and the widest in renown."
H.: "What of the Ansirs?"--K.: L L T h ebest established in rank, the most
L' sincere in their acceptance of Islamism, and the most illustrious in their
' l combats." - H. : ('The tribe of Tamirnl"-K. : The most conspicuous for
'(their fortitude, and the greatest by their numbers."-H. : "Bakr Ibn Wiil?"
K. : The firmest in their ranks, the sharpest in their swords. "-H. : " And
" Abd d-Kais?"-- K . : " The first to reach the goal, and the best swordsmen
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONAKY, 239
L{ under standard9."-B. : "What of the Banii Asad 1" -- K. : 'CApeople peal
in number and fortitude; dificult to overcome, and firm in resisting."-H. :
H. : "The tribe of Lakhm?"-K. : "Princes, but some of them fools (13,."-
H. : And Jl~dSm?'--K. : " They light up war, and fan it into a flame ; thev
make it fruitful, and they reap the profits (14.)."-H. : "The Ban& 'l-I-Iari~h:'"
-K. : They art: maintainers of their ancient glory, and protectors of female
honour."-11. : "The tribe of Akk?"--K. : "Obstinate lions, with hearts
b i working evil."-H. : "Taghlib?"-K. : " They strike home when they meet

the enemy, and they raise around him the flames of war."-H. : And Ghas-
shn ?'-K. : "They of the Arabs possess the highest reputation, and the best

LL.estahlishedgenealogy." - 11. : "Which of the Arab tribes in the time of

L( paganism was the farthest above the reach of' insult?" -- K. : "Koraish ; Ihe
people of a hill (of glory) which is inaccessible, of a mount not to he shaken;
dwelling in a town of which God declared the rights sacred, and took Tinder
his protection the clients who sought its shelter. "-B. : " Tell me now of the
character of each Arabian tribe i r i the time or paganism."-K. : "The Arabs
used to saTT:Himyar are lords of t h kiilgdom
~ ; Kitlda are the pure raee of kings ;
Madhij are spearsrnen ; Bamdln, hoisemen (1 5); and Azd, the lions of the hu-
man race."--1-1. : "Tell me now about the countries of the earth."-K.: "Ask."
-13. : "What is India?"--K. : " Its seas are pearl ; its mountains, rubies ; its trees,
L (sweet-sn2eZZing) aloes ; their leaves, perfumes ; its people, a vile multitude,

(.fea~ful) as a flock of pigeons."-H. : The people of Khorasan?"--K. :

Their waters are frozen, and the enemy they must contend with obsli-
" nate (16)."-H. : What sayest thou of Omhn ?"-K. : "Its heat is violent,
" and its game ready at hand."- H. : "And Bahrain (17)?"-K. : It is a heap
bi of refuse between the two cities (1€$)."--H. : 'L What of Yemen ?'- K . : '"t
" is the stock from which the Arabs are sprung; the people come of noble

' houses, and bear a high reputation. "-H. : And Mrkka ?"-K. : '<dts men
" are learned yet rude, and its women clothed yet naked."-H. : " Merllna?''
K. : " It was there ltiarniog .tookaroot-and sprang ap." - H. : chBasra?" K.
";Its winters are frosty,% heats violent; its~waters4*salt, and its wars peace."-
H. : "And Kiifa?"-K. : "It is so high that it feels not the hedt dfthe sea, and
" SO low thzit the cold of ~ $ r i adoes riot reach it; its nights a&-pleasant, and its
' ' good things abundant."-H. : "Wbataavest thou of Wasit ?"-K. ' l It is a 125
 9LO IBN IIHALLIKAN'S
between a mother-in-law and a sister-in-law - -11. : ' I And
I.

wife ( l 9)
L I what are its mother-in-law and
?" -K. : " Basra and Khf'a, which
c c are jealous of it; but lvhnt harm can await it, since the Tigris and the ZBb
c
as flow, p,.osperiq upon it?"--H. : "What of Syria?"-K. : "It is
a fair bride, females sratrd around her."--H. : "Woe be thee (20),
a 0 Ibn Kirriya; (it And been better j3r thee) that thou hadst not followed the
6 . people of lrak and adopted &eir hypocritical doctrines, after my telling
thee avoid ihem." He then called. forth the executioner, to whom Ibn
al-Kil-rjp lllade a s i p to wait, and then said : ' l May God prosper the emir !
( Ipt rile say ON& l, three words, which shall become proverbs after my
A. death (2 l)."-H. : Out with them ." - K.: '' The Best horse may stumble; the
-'best srvol.d may rebound ivithout cutting; and the man of prudence xnay com-
6d mit a fault."--H. : "This is not a time for jesting. Slave, inflict his (death's)
- < wound !" On these words, the executioner struck off his head. According
to another account, al-Hajjij said, as he was about to put Ibn al-Kirriya to
death: The Arabs pretend that fur each thing there is a cause of ruin ; what
then is the ruin of clemency?"--K.: "Anger."--H.: " W h a t is the ruin of a
bright ondersfanding?"- K. : Self-adiniration. " - 11. : ' ' W h a t is the ruin of
'' Lno\vledpe ? ' - K. : 6cForgetfulness." - H. : "What ruins a reputation for
" liberality ? " - K. : To bestow on those in affliction, and tell them that
('they are undeserving." - B. : " What ruins the credit of the generous?"
-K. : "To keep company .with the base." - H. : W h a t is the ruin of
" bravery?" -K. : Tyranny." -H. : What is the ruin of piety ?"- K. :
' I Lukewarmness."-11. : " And of genius 1)" - K. : Ambition ."-Ii. : '<And
4 L

" of tradition ?"--K. : "Fa1~ehood."-H. : 6 L What is the ruin of property 1''

-K. : IBad management ."-H..: "What is the r u i ~of~ he perfect man?"-
K. : "Privation (of /@)."-R. : "What is the ruin of al-Il;?jjhj Ibn yusfif?"
K . : "hlay God prosper the emir! nothing can ruin one whose reputation
" is noble, whose family is illustrious, and whose fortune is flourishing (22)."-
H. : " ~ h o nart full of schism ; thou hast shown thyself a hypocrite ! Strike
+

" off his head." When he saw him dead, he was sorry for it.---l took the
above account from the work entitled Kit& al-laff (23), and gave it in full, as
it was so connected that it was not possible to make an a t r a e t from it, TO
the demand of a k-tr-nedman, who asked him the definition of ad(lress (24,), lbn
al-Kirri ya replied : " 7'0 bear wilh vexations, and wait for oppnr(ul1ities." The
following was his definition of embarrassment: Stammering not produced by a
natural infirmity, hchsitation wiltlout motive (25), and stumbling wilhout cause.
He was put to death A . H. 84 (A. D. 703). This is the person meant by
the grammarians wlwn, in ci tine their examples, they say Ibn aZ-Kirriya ilr
. . ('2;). A116 'l-Fnmj al-Ispahini says, in his Kitcib al-
the lime of' al-NaiJ'q
Aglzli~zi,after eiving a full acconnt of Majl~fin,the lover of Laila (27): "It has
even been said that there are three persons who had never any real existence,
though iheir ( sr~pposed)adventures and names are well known ; namely,
Majniln, the lover of La ila, Ibn al-Karriya," (he of whom we are now speak-
ing,) "and Yahya Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abi 'l-Akb, the putative author of the
MaZb/2im (28)."-Ibn a/-Ki1'1'9a was so named after al-Kirriya, mother of
Jusham Ibn MAlik lbn Amr, one of his ancestors; she had been first married
to Amr, and on his death she became the wife of his son Miilik (29), by whom
she had Jusham. Kirrlya, as an appellative noun, signifies the crop of a bird,
but it was giver1 to this woman as her real name. Some learned genealogists
state, that al-Kirriya's true name was Jamta ; (as has been said towards the
commencement of this article;) and that she had two sons by Milik: Jusham,
ancestor of Ibn al-Kirriya, and Kulaib, maternal grandfather of al-Abbis Ibn
Abd al-Muttalib, uncle of Muhammad; for Nutaila, or Natla, mother of al-Ab-
b ~ s was
, daughter of Hubbh, son of Kulaib, son of Milik: from this it would
appear that al-Abbk was a descendant of al-Kirriya. Ibn Kutaiba says, in his
Kildb aZ-Maarzs that Ibn al-Kirriya was surnamed Hitn'li because he sprung
from the tribe of Hilil Ibn Rabia Ibn Zaid Mantt Ibn Aimir; but Ibn 31-Kalbi
states that he descended from Malik Ibn Amr Ibn Zaid Manlt; there is then no 124
Hilil in Ibn al-Kirriya's genealogy (as given b y Ibn al-Kalbz); and Hill1 and
Malik are only related to each other through Zaid Manit; God knows best!-
-Hila'li means descended from HiZkZ Ibn Rabia Ibn Zaid Mantt, a branch
of the tribe of Nimr Ibn Kisit : there is another Arabian tribe of the same name
descended from A h i r Ibn Sisaa. Ibn al-Kalbi has noticed these two tribes i n
his Jamharat an-Nisab, and marked the relationship by marriage which ex-
isted between them; the reader is therefore referred to that work.

(i) I have here suppressed the intervening links of this genealogy, as they have been already given in the
Iife of Ahrnad Ibn Hanbal; page 44-
31
 1b-2 IRN KHALLIKAN'S
at-Tamar is ,itualed 011 edge of the Desert to the wefit of the E u ~ h m t e s['TIurasid).
(2)
(3) The &ls :admill,
is here tmoilated governor, signifies literally an a y m t ; it was also the
name given to the rcsidenr ofieers \rho collected the re\'enue in the ~ ' ~ o " i ~ ' ~ ~ ~ .
(4) The names and prophets were 1nOre frequently borne by the Arabs r h o (lb~elt1IJ t 0 ~ 1 t r .
than by those who iqhabited the Desert.
( 5 ) See dbulfeda nnaler, tom, 1. p, 423 ; and Price's Retrospect o f ~ ~ f u l t a m m a d afnf i r t o r y . vol. 1 . P.455.
This revolt took place A. H. W ) (A. D.699)-
(6) See note [2\,page 174.
(7) A. H. 83 (b. D. 70.2 . Price's Retzospect, page 461.
(8) This singular dialogue or catechism is frequently cited by Arabic historians and pliilologcrs; and is re-
markable as an enqclopodia of the lir~owledgepossessed at that period by the inhabitants of tbe Desert; it is
frequently obscure, its style being singularly concise and ancient. But it may be doubted if such a conver-
sation as this really took place between al-Hajjij and fbn al-Kirriyu.
(9, The contempt of the Arabs for the Nabateans is well known.
(10, I have doubts respecting the real meaning of the expression L\-. !V?.'-
(ii)I may be possibly mistaken here.
(12) This is the tribe to which al-Hajjlj belonged.
(13) It was to this tribe that the Mundirs of Hira belonged.
(14) Literally: They impregnate it and milk it.
(15) Literally: Saddle cloths; that is, always on horseback.
(16)Probably the Turkish tribes.
(17) Bahrain, as it is now written and prouounced, is a noun in the accusative cnsc of tllc dual; it would
appear that in old times it %as pronounced Bahl-dn in the nominalive, which is more correct. ~l~~ province
of Bahrain is to the south-nest of the Persian Gulf.
(18) This I do not understand; but Kfifa and Basra were sometimes called the two ciliej.
(19) I have followed the authority of the MSS. in printing (a gardcpz) i n the Arabic text, but 1 am
inclined to think that (a mire) is the true reading. According to Aba 'l-Fadd, Wasit l i l y betweerr ~ f i f ~
and Basra, a t the distance of fifty parasangs from each.
(20) Literally : May thy mother be bereft of thee!
(21' I n tbe translation I have omitted rendering the expression dJuvr, as i t is irnpos-
sible to make it understood witbout a note. Ibn ai-Kirriya's viords are: ('May God prosper the rmir!
three words like a troop of travellers when halted." This is most probably an allusion to the third verse of
Arnro 'l-Kais's Moallaka, in which the poet describes his sorrow at the sight of the abandoned cottage where
his mistress dwelled, and relates that his two companions stopped their ca~nels 1393,q d endeavoured to
console him. Their troop was therefore composed of three persons, and it i s to this number of three that
Ibn al-Kirriya made allusion. He merely meant that the words which he had to say were threc in number,
like the troop of Amro 'l-Kais. AI-Hajjaj possessing, as he did, a great acquairltance with the language,
customs, and poems of the Desert Arabs, must h'ave immediately understood the expression.
( B )Literally: Wbose branches are growing.
123) This work is not noticed by H a j ~ iKhalifa.
(24) Meaning address in the management of affairs.
(2.5) Literally: Not arising from doubtfulness (or mental incertilude).
(26)I take the words Ibn al-Kiwlya in the time of al-Hajjdj to be a grammatical example cited to prove
 BIO(;RAYHICAL DICTIONARY. E 43
that a noun goverz~edi n the genitive case by a preposition may sometimes be put in the accusative, and
prayositlolt supl,ressed, thus, ji;l is for (;)Lj2.
(47,See M. d e Sacy's Antholoye'e g r a m & a t i c a l e , p. 150.
(28 The ,MalRhirn ( p r o g n o s t i c s ) is a collection of predictions and pretended prophecies. There Here a
!,urnher of narks which bore this title. ill. de Sacy has an excellent note on the subject i o ltis Chrestomcrlhie,
tonr. 11. pag. 298 et seq.
(29) These inccsluous rrlarriages were common before Islamism. See Pocock's Specimen, 1,. 32.5, 211dedit.

IVAJM AD-DIN AIYUB.

Abii 'S-Shukr Aiyilb Ibn Shhdi Ibn Marwin, surnamed al-Malik' al-Afdal
Kajm ad-din (rhe excellent prince, the star of religion), was father of the sul-
tan Salih ad-din lidsuf, to whose life the reader is referred for the rest of the
genealogy, and the nature of the uncertainty which prevails respecting it ; we
need not therefore repeat i t here. An historian says: "Shidi lbn Marmin be-
d~ longed to one of the most eminent and respectable families of Dulvin ( l ) ; he

had there a companion called Jamdl ad-Dawlat al-Mujihid Bihrdz," (the same
who i s mentioned in the life of Salih ad-din,) who was a most engaging and
I' insirluating man, and gifted with superior abilities for the rnanasement of
" affairs; they mere like two brothers for their mutual attachment, hut an
adventure which happened to Bihrriz at Duwin forced him to abandon that
" city in shame and confusion. Having been suspected of improper familiarity
with the wife of an emir, he was seized and castrated bp the husband; after
this cruel mutilation, he would remain no longer in the city, but departed
with the intention of entering the service of the suitan (of Irak), Ghiith ad-
" din Masixd, son of Muhammad Ibn Malakshah." (The lives of these princes
will be found in this work.) " He there became acquainted with the tutor of the
" sultan's sons, and gained his favour and confidence by the address and skill
" which he displayed in all the affairs entrusted to his management; the tutor

" even authorised him to ride out with the young princes, when business pre-

" vented him from accompanying them himself. The sultan having perceived
" him one day with his sons, rebuked the tutor, who informed him that the

" person whom he had seen was a eunuch possessing great talenb, and highly to
 2bl IHN KIIhLLIKAN'S
be cornmended for llis and morality. He then sent Bih~lilzoccnsio~lall~ on
'6 business to the sultan, at leng~htool, much pleasure in his co~npanv,and
L L chose llim fur his colnpanion when he played at C ~ ~ C Sor S draugllrs (2).
Billrfiz got thus into sllch favour, that on the dcntlr ol' tutor, 1~ was chosen
' L to 811 his place; and being also enlrosted by the prince wit11 evrArya h i r of

' 6 imPOr~BnCC, his spread over the ealpire. 111: tllen sent to Sllldi,
L'inviting hi& to come and witness [he prosperity wlliclr he had attai~l(:d,and pal>-
6 4 take of the good fortune vith which God had favowcl him, ' for,' said he, '1
wish you to know that I do not forget you.' On his nrsrival, S t ~ i dmet
i with ihr
L ( greatest attention and kindness from his old frirind, and he afterwards, with

his sons, accompanied Bihriiz to BaghdBd, whidlc~lllc had been serll 1)v t h ~
sultan as governor; it, being the clistom of the Scljilk sultans to lrnvc a licutr-
' c nant in that city. Bihrfiz having received the castle of' Tikril in gift from
" his sovereign, appointed Shadi to the command of t h a t place, finding that he,
above all others, was worthy of this mark of confidence. Shidi died at Tikrit,
" and was succeeded by his son Najm ad-din Aiyiib" ([lie sul~jcctof this article),
" who obtained, for his able administration, the thanks and the rewards of Bib-

" riiz. l-Ie was older [ha11 his brother Asad ad-din Stlirki~h;" (whose life we
intel~dto givr). This relation differs in some points from (hat wllidl is con-
tained in the life of Salih ad-din {g&e,zin d2is ~vortkj;h u ~the fact.s may, no
doubt, be perfectly established by combining the two accounts. IVc have also
mentioned in that article by what means it was, that Im3d ad-din Zinki, lord of
135 Rlnslil, became acquainted with Najm at!-din Aiyhb and Asad ad-din Shirkfih;
there is therefore no necessity for repenting it here(3). I1 happened some tiine after
this, that one of the females went out of the castle of Tikrit on some business,
and passed, on her return, by Najm ad-din Aiyhb and his hrotl~rrAsad ad-din
Shirkdh, who remarked that she was weeping, and asked her the cause; on
which she told them that on entering the castle gate, she had been insulted by
the Isfahsalir (4). Shirkdh, on hearing this, rose up, and seizing the hal-
berd which belonged to that officer, struck him with it and killed him. In
consequence of this, Najm addin imprisoned him and wrote to Bihrfiz, in-
forming him of the circumstance, and pu~tingShirkQh at his disposal. Bih-
riiz made ansm-er in these terms: ('1 have been under obligations to your
'' father, who was my intimate friend; i t is not ttlerefol*e possible for me to
 BIOGRAPIIICAL DICTIONARY. 245

6' treat either of you with severity; but it is my wish that you and your bra-
( 6 the1 retire from my service, that you leave the city or Tikrit, and seek youlS

livelihood where you will." This letter having put it out of their power to
remain any longer at Tikrit, they went to Mosdl, where they ~ n r twith a fa-
vourable reception from the attbek Imtd ad-din Zinki, who trclatrd them nri~h
great honour and kindness, on account of lris former acquaintance with them,
and granted them a rich fief. When this atibek obtained afterwards pus-
session of the castle of Baalbek, he appointed Najm ad-din Aiydb as his lieute-
nant in that place. All these circumstances have been already related in the
life of Salih ad-din, but in different terms. When I was at Baalbek, 1 saw there
a convent of Sdfis, founded by Najm ad-din during his stay in that city, and
called the Najrnka after him. He was a man of great holiness and piety, fond
of virtuous society and animated (in all lzis actions) by the purest motives and
the best intentions. W e have mentioned in he beginning of Salill ad-din's
life some particulars respecting his father Nqjm ad-din, and have there re-
lated his appointment to the government of Baalbek by Zinki, and his renloval
afterwards to Damascus; it is not therefore necessary to repeat the same ac-
count here. When Shirkiih went to Egypt to assist Shgwir, his brother
Aiydb remained a t Damascus in the service of Ndr ad-din Mnhm&d, son of
Zinki: we shall speak of this expedition in the life of Shirkdh and i n that
of Shiwir. In the reign of al-Aidid, the (Fatimite klzalfand) lord of Egvpt,
Salill ad-din became vizir of that country, and sent to request the presence of
his father AiySb, who was still in Syria. In pursuance of his desire, Aivbb
was authorised to set out for Egypt, and was accompanied by a guard of honoui.
furnished by Nbr ad-din, who defrayed also all the expenses of the journey (5).
He arrived at Cairo on the 24th Rajab, 565 (April, A. D. 1170); on approaching
the city, al-A5did went out to meet him, in order to testify his esteem for Saliih ad-
din, who, on his part, treated his father with all due honour and respect; he even
offered to resign the authority over to him, but Aiydb replied : "0,.my son !
God had not chosen thee to fill this place, hadst thou not been deserving of it ;
and it is not right .to change the object of Fortune's favours." Aiydbconti-
nued to remain with his son till the latter obtained the sovereignty of Egypt,
particulars of which event shall be given in his life. On the departure of Sallh
ad-din to lay siege to Karak (61, his father remained at Cairo, ancl as he was
 Zi.6 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
olle day riding out to exercise, as was customarbywith the tlaoops, his horse
stumbled after p d n g tllrouglr the Bab an-Nasr, ~vlliclris one of' thcr city gates,
rnd threw him in the middle of the road ; this happened on IMonday, 413th 01
Zo' I-Hijja, A. H. 568 (end of July, A. U. 1173). llavirlg been carried home,
hr corbtinued in great sufferbing, till death took place or1 Wednesday, 27th of tho
sarue month. Such is the statement of' the generality of historians, the kAtit,
!mid ad-din amongst the rest; this author says, however, that AiyhL died 011 a
Tuesday, and I read in the historical work of Kamil ad-din Ibn al-Adim (7),
a passage extracted from a note written by Adad ad-din Murhif Ibn Osbma (g),
stating that Aiynlr died on Monday, 18th of ZO 'I-Hijja ; but i t is manifest that
Adad ad-din fell into this mistake horn supposing that he died the same day on
is(;which he fell from his horse. A i y i ~ bwas buried by the side of' his brother Shir-
tlih in a chamber of the royal palace, and some years later, t heir bodies were
transported to Medina: I find the following passage in a diary, conkposed by the
kidi al-Fidil, and in his own handwriting, in which he meotions the occurrences
of each day : L L On Thursday, 4th Safar, 580 (May, A . D. 11SA.), a letter writ-
&' ten bv Badr ad-din, formerly mamliik of Asad ad-din Shirkdh, came from
" Medina, with the information that the two coffins, containing the bodies of the
'. emirs Najm ad din Aiyhb and Asad ad-din Shirkhh had arrived, and that
they had been deposited in the mausoleum prepared for their reception, and
which is situated near the sacred lamb of the Prophet : may God grant to
them the (spiritual)advantages of that neighbourhood !'' Salih ad-din was
on his way from Karak to Egypt, when he received the news of his father's
death, and his affliction was the more poignant from his having been absent at
the time. The following is an extract from a letter of consolation written by
the khdi al-Fidil, in thc name of Salhh ad-din, to Izz ad-din Fariikh Shah kbn
Shhhlllslrih Ibn Aiyiib, lord of Baalbek and a nephew of chat prince : L'The
L fatality which has befallen our deceased lord (may God pardon him his sins
*' and shed mercy on his tomb!) is s cause of great pain and extreme sorrow;
and our sadness was doubled by our absence from his death-bed; though
we invoke the aid of patience, it refuses to come, but tears obey our wishes.
"0,what a misfortune! to be deprived of him who has thus deprived us of
" consolation; whose death has made all other afflictions appear light, md
 BIOGRAPBICAL L)lCTIONiiIiIr. %i

sundered the bonds of ollr happiness, forrnerly so complete, and now, broken
for ever (9) !
The hand of Death snatched him away in my absence ; and had I been present, what
could I have done?' "

The doctor Omtrat al-Yamani (whose life shall be given) lamented his death
in a long X.a.cidu, the greater part of which is excellent; it begins thus:
It is the greatest shock (which could happen) I and a double reward shall be his, who
hath shown firmness in abiding its terrors.

The learned Ibn Abi 't-Tai of Aleppo (4 0) says in his greater history that Najnl
ad-din Aiyiib was born in Sejestan, or-, by another account, at Jabal Jiir (l l), and
that he was brought up in the city of Mosill; but in this he is in corltradiclion
with every other author, and my only reason for noticing his statement is to
prevent those who may read that passage, and who are unacquainted with his-
tory, from supposing that il is exact, which is by no means the case ; the true
circumstances being those which we have mentioned above.-Shlidi is a Persian
word and means joyfill (l 2).-Dzscvh is the narne of a city in the most north-
ern extremity of Aderbijan, near Georgia. Duwini and DGni are relative ad-
jectives derived from it.-The mosqrle and cistern which are outside the Gate of
Victory ( B d b an-Nasr) at Cairo, were ronstrucied by Najm ad-din Aiyiib, and
it appears from an inscription on the stone placed over the cistern, and which
I have myself seen, that it was L~uiltbp hirn, A. H. 566 (A. D. 1170-1).

(l) Duwin, or Dawin, is the Arabic name of the city of Tovin in Armenia. (St. Martin's Mdm. hist. sur
l'drmtmte, tom. I. p. 119.)
(2) Draughts, in Arabic, Nard. See Hyde's treatise de Ludis O~ieuztulibus.
(3) I suspect that what follows is a continuation of the preceding extract.
(4)See page 228, note (1).
(5) 1 have here been obliged to paraphrase, in order to render fully the ideas expressed by the original.
(6) This was in A. H. 568; see Abh 'l-FadB's Annals and 31. Reinaud's Extraits, etc., page 381-
(7) The life of this historian has been given by M.de Sacy, in the Bdographie universelle, article KEMAL-
ADDln; and by M. JheYtag, in his Sekcta ex Historid Halebi. He died A. H. 660 (b.D. 1262). . The Pas-
sage t~ which Ibn KhallikAn alludes, is not to be found in tire Zubdat al-Haluh, MS. of the Bib. clrr Roi,
NO.728. On the contrary, that work places Ayhb's death on the 25th Zti 'I-fIijja. I t must therefore be
his Bughiat at-Talab, or biographical dictiotky of the illustrious men of Aleppo, which contains the oote
spoken of, but this I have been unable to verify, as the I S . of the Bughidr belonglog to the Rib. du Roi
is incomplete; proceeds only as far as h!.
 %8 IRN I( BALLIKAN'S
(SJ bee page 146, note (5).
death the collected mass of happiness scotterrd, so t h ~ ~ tilficr
, its uniorl,
(9) Literally: By
~t became fragments.
(10) lbn Abi 't-Tat Tabya Ibn Hurnaida, a native of Alcppo, wrote a history of ~ h a city
l in the form of
Annals, which he e~ltitledMa&din ad-Dahalr fi lliZrikh Halab (GoldmP'~&es, being a treatise on the hislop?!
of A l e p p o , . He died A. H. 630 (A. I). 12332-3).-(Bajji Khalifs.)
(11, Jabal Jhr (Mount fir) is the name of a region in Armenia, on the borders of l)ilr Bakr, containing a
nllmber of caslles and villages inhabited by Armeniaris.- (a%rllso'd al-ltte'lll.)
t121 It does not meat]joyfd, but joy.

BADlS IBN AL-MANSUR.

107 Abfi hlanhd Bidis Ibn al-Mansdr Ibn Eolukkin Ibrt Ziri Ibn Manid (l) al-
Hiruyari as-SunhAji (descended .from the fi.iGe of Himyar*through that of
Sun h&j) was father of al-Moizz Ibn BBdis (whose life shall Le given later) : the
rest of his genealogy will be mentioned in the life of his grandson Tamim.
%dis governed the kingdom of Ifrikiya as lieutenant to al-HPkim al-Obaidi,
the pretended khalif of Egypt, who gave him the title of Nasr ad-Dawlat (oid
of die empire); he succeeded to the government on the death of his father al-
hlanslir, which happened on Thursday, 3rd of the first Rabi, A. H. 356
(March, A. D. 996), in the great castle which he possessed outside the city of
Sahra (21, and in which he was interred the next day. Bidis was a powerful
and resolute prince ; he possessed great bodily strength, and could hreak a
spear by merely brandishing it: his birth took place on Saturdav evening, 13th
of tlre first Rabi, A. H. 374 (August, A. D. 984), at Aashir, a place of which
rnriition has been made in the life of Ibn Kurkiil (3). He continued to govern
with prosperity till A. H. 406: on Tuesday, 29th Zii 'l-Kaada of that year, he
reviewed his army, which passed before the canopy under which he was seated
to receive its salutations. He continued sitting till the afternoon, and then
returned to his palace, highly pleased with the beauty of his troops, the splen-
dour of their equipment, and their excellent ccndition. In the evening of the
same day, he rode out with a superb escort, and caused the soldiers to exercise
in his presence; he then went hack to his palace, delighted with the prosperous
 BIOGKAY'IIICAL DICTIONARY. 249
state of his allairs, and took his place a t a feast with his favour.ites and the
o t l ~ e rpersons adrnittcd to his table; during the repast he jvas animated witll
joy to a drgrcr nerrr observed in him before; the company at length withdrelv,
and about midniglrt he expired. His death was kept secret, arid iris brother
Karimat 1b1r Mansbr was estalilishcd ostensibly as sovereign ('b) (by he
/~$cers the kingdom), till they went to al-Moizz, son of BPdis, and placed
him at the head of affairs. It is stated, in the work called ad-Dual at&lun-
k a h ( S ) , that the death of BBdis happened in the following manner: he had sel
out for Tripoli, and remained nchar it for a considerable time with the intention
of attacking it ; having sworn not to depart till he had rendered (the sod on
which) it (was buiD) as o field fit for grain. (To avoid prolix it,^, I abstain from
relating the motive' which induced him to take this determination.) In conse-
quence of this, the inhabitants of the city went to a schoolmaster called Muhi-iz,
(who (VUS iri great repulaliorr for sanctig,,) and said to him : 0 ~ h o uwho art
God's friend ! t l ~ o uhast heard the declaration of Bidis ; call [herefore on God
to deliver us from his violence." On this, Il\llullriz raised liis hands to heaven
and said : 0 Lord of Biilis! preserve us from Bidis." That very night,
BBdfs died of a quinsy. - Sun/ui;i means belonging io Sunlzdj or SinhciJ', a
great and celebrated tribc in Maghrel), descended from IIimyar. Ibn Duraid
says that SclnhciJ'a is the true pronuriciation, and he admits of no other; but
some persons allow that Si/?hctjaalso is correct. - The orthography of the
names of Bidis' ancestors shall be given hereafter.

(1) For the pronunciation of these names, I huve followed Ibn Khallikan. See the lives of Zlri and
Bolulikln.
( 2 ) The city of Maghrib, callcd al-Manshriya, after al-Mans.i~r Ibn al-Fiaim, bore prev~ouslythe name of
Sabra. - (Marasid al-lttila.) Al-Baliri has given a description of this city: see Notices et Extraits,
tom. XII. pag. 473.
( 3 ) See page 43. This city was built by Zlri Ibn Manad, A. H. 324 (A. D. 935-6). I t was a place of
, such natural strength, that ten men were sufficient to defend it, and it contained \\itbin its walls two copi-
ous springs of excellent water. ( A n - N u w a i ~ iMS.
, No. 702. fol. 28. Notices et Extraits, 1. XII. p. 819.)
(4)On the death of Bbdls, the chief officers d b of the empire met and agreed to appoint his brother
1
Earamat ostensibly as sovereign till treaquillity would be re-established, and that he should then
place aLMoizz, son of Bldls, a t the head of affairs. As their design was not gene~allyknown, the parti-
sans of al-Moizz murmured a t Karbmat's nomination, but were promptly appeased on learning for what
object he was appointet1,-(An-Nuwairi; MS. No. 702, fol. 35 verso4
(5) See note ( 5 ) , page 152.
3'2
 \lallsdl>l{akhly$r7 s~iinarnrdl z ~ad-l)awht (11zightof' /he entpit*r),was
ILn Rdwaih, \vhose life h:\s i ~ c c ral~aeady
son of i\loizr ad-Da~~r)at ~ givail, with the
aesealogy of the family (l). h z ad-Da\vlat succecdn(1 to the goverl,rnmt of
the kingdom the same day OR which his W thelb diccl ( A f ~ t ~171h d ~ ~ the
~ , 2nd
fiabf, A. fl.33:,.) In the year 364 (A. D. 97-44), thr khalil' a(-'l'ii gnu(. hirll
in nlarriage his daughter Shah Zamin (2), on nrlro~na dowry ol' o n 1 h~lndred
~llousanddinars was settled by her. husband ; the marriage-sern~oil (:3) was pro-
nounced bv the kidi Rluhammad Ibn Kuraya, whose life is ;;i~rcnin this work.
Izz ad-Dadat was a noble prince. and possessed s~rchbodily strvrrgth, that he
would seize an cnorrnous bull by the horns and throw him to ground. fie t h c b

was profuse in Iris expenses, i n his grants, and in his allowances 10 the ullirns
of his court. It was related by a wax-chandler of Baghdad namc~lJlishr, dlai
Adad ad-Dawlat (on entering that city aftcl- tlrc: death of his nept~tv lzz ad-
Dawlat,) asked h i m respecting the wax-light which was kept burning in the pre-
serice of' the prince, and was informed that il was fur.nished out of il monthly
allowance of two thousand pounds weigh1 of wax granted, Eor that ol~jcct,to
the vizir Abrl 't-Tilrir Ibn Bakiya : which allowance Adad ad-Dawlat I'uund so
excessive, that he would not suffer the usage to be continued (11.1 in its full
extent. (The life of the vizir Ibn Bakiya will be given in thc letter iM).- A
contestation which arose between Izz ad-Dawlat and his uricle Adad ad-Dawlat
relative to their respective possessions, caused a breach between them which
led to a war; and on Wednesday, 11 8th ShawwPl, 367 (May, A . D. 985), they
met and fought a battle, in which Izz ad-Dawlat was slain, at the age of
thirty-six years. His head was placed on a tray, and presented to Adad ad-
Dawlat, who, on seeing it, covered his eyes with his handkerchief and wept.-
(We shall give the life of Adad ad-Dawlat.)

( See page 155.

)l

(2) Sh#z Z a m d ~ or
, prince of the age; a singular title for a female, but we have another example in .(.hnfl

Ftrerrd, the name of the Omaiyide khalifyazld Ibn al-Wal'ld's mother.-(A+Nujizm, A. H. 126.)
(3) The marriage sermon; literally, the khotba of the bond. See the description of the ceremony in Lane's
Modern Egyptians, vol. I. p. 200.
(4) One of my nianuscripts lias +\.W*
in the singular; this reading appears
 BAKKYAKUK.

Abii 'l-Muralfar Barkyirfik, son of the sultan Malak Shih Ibn Alp Arsltl
[bn Diwh(1 Jbn Mikbyil Ibn Saljbk 11x1 Da kik, arid cntitled Rukn ad-din
of religion),SllihBb ad-Dawlat (JlrmLeall ( I ) o f t h e empir~e),and Majd al-hfuIL
(glory of the ki~rgrlon,),was a princr of the Seljilk dynasty : (we shall give all
accolint hereafter OF a number of 1)erasonssprung from the same stock.) Hc
su,cceeded to the en~pireon the tJe;lth of his father, who, atj we shall mention i l l
its proper place, possessed a morc extensive kingdom than any other (sooereigrr
cf that 'fhnzi&), having entered Samarkand and BokhSra, and carried the warn
into Transoxiana. HarkyirGk appointed his brother Sinjar (see his life in (he
letter S) as his lieutenant in Kliorasan, and in one of liis wars he slew his uncle
Tutush (as shall be related in the letter T). Hc was highly fortunate in his
enterprises, and was animated by a lol'ly spirit; the only fault he had was his
addiction to wine. He was Loxhn A . H. 4711. (A. 1). 1081-2), and died at Borii-
jird on the twelfth of ihe latter Rabi (some say of the first), A. H. 498 (A. D.
I 104.) I-Ie had governed as S111tan during twelve years and some months (21.-
BorLijird is a town at eighteen p a r a s a l p from Hamadin.

(l)The word shihdb, shich i s here translated pambeuu, mcans a shootiny star.
(2) A fuller account of this prince's life will be found in hlirkhaund's history of the Seljdkides. edited and
translated into German by professor Vullers in 1838. A still more sotisfactory notice on Barkybrilk will be
found in Von Hammer-Purgstoll's Gemcpldesaal, Mnfter Band.

ABU 'T-TAHIR AR-RAFFA AL-ANMATI.

Abii 't-Tihir Barakit was son of the shaikh Abd IshLk Ibrahim, so11 of the
shaikh Abri '1~FadlTihir Ibn Barakl t Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Ali Tbn Muhan~madIbr~
Ahmad Ibn al-Abb4s Ibn IICsbim: he was surnamed a[-Khushhi, ad-Rimishki,
al-Jirhni, al-furshi and ar-RafE at-Anmlti. He drew his knowledge of the
Traditions from the highest soulsees, and he handed down some of them on the
 252 IBN KLlA1,LIKAN'S
authority of certain Traditionists, from whom hc alone, of all tllc pcrx)ns of his
time, possessed certificatrs of licence to that eflect (l ). JIe was tlre link whicll
r>oanectedthe past and the rising g~icrationof Tradilionists (2); for in his latter
129 days, he was the sole person wlro had heard Abil Mullammad IIibat Allah Ibn
:\hmad Ibll a\-.4kfini teach, and who nras himself authorised to teach by al-Ak-
15ni. ~e was also the sole who P O S S C S S ~a~ similar ccrti ficate Rom a l-Ilariri, the
of the fikiirnas, which certificate was dated Bnsra, A. H. 51 2 (A. D.
111 8 ) (3). Abii 't-TQllil al-Anmiti belonged to a family of Traditionists, and
he, his father, and grandfather, were Traditionists themselves. IIis fafher hav-
ing been asked why they were called the Klrushzii~in(I~urnble),rrplied that one
of their ancestors, when acting as irnim to a congrcga tion, died i n the n2Araib (l!),
and was named nZ-Klzus7uZiJ which word is formed from kk~rshri(hzcmiliiy)(5).
Abd 't-Tihir was born at Damascus, in the month of Rajah, 510 (A. R. 11 16),
and died in the same city on the 27th Sabr, 598 (November, A. D. 1201) : he
was interred outside the Rub al-Farddis (gate orf' the gardens) in h e %raveof
his father: he was the last person who bore a licence from al-Ilar>ir.i, autho-
rizing him to teach what he had learned from h i m .-Furshi means a .seller of
carpets ( j u t ~ u s h;) Anmn'ti has the same signification : Kuffci is tvcll Icnown (6).
-1 met a number of Abii 't-Thhir's disciples, and learned Traditions Fr-oin t.t~em,
for which I have their certificates: I met also his son in Egypt, who used to
visit me very often; he gave a certificate authorising me to teach all ~ t l eTra-
ditions which he had learned, and granted to me the privileges contained in the
certificates which he himself had received from his fat.her.

:i)I have paraphrased the text here, so as to render intelligible the nature of the sort o f certificate called
ijdza ijl.= !.
(2)In Arabic I?IYbfcW!&l, a technical expression employed only in speaking o f Tradilionirtr.
(3) AbO 't-Tbhir was then only two years of age, if the date of his birth, as given by Ibn Khrllikh, be
correct.
(4) See page 37, note (3).
(5) I t appears from this that AbO 't-Tihir died in making one of the prostrations ordained by the Moslim
ritual as a sign of the worshipper'shumility and profound slibrnission to the Deity.
(6) Raffa signifies a darner ; Anmdti means a carpet-merchant, it is derived from Anmllt, plural of Namat
(carpet).--JirtZni means native of that quarter of Damascus which is near the gate of Jtrhn, and Dimishki
signifies native of Damascus.
 BIOGRAX'HICAL DICTION .\RY.

BARJAWAN.

The ustcid (I) Abb 'l-Futilh Barjawin, whose name is borne 1,v one of the
streets of Cairo, was a er~n~lch in the service of al-Aziz, lord of Egypt, and
with unbounded autl~orityas one of his ministers of state. 11) the
year 383 (A. D. 998), he was director of the affairs of Egypt, Ilijjz, Syria, and
Maghreb, and intendant of the royal demesnes ; this was in the reign of al-Hi-
kim. W e shall give some further information respecting him in the life of
al-Aziz Nizir. Rarjawkn was a black (2); he was slain in the castle of Kairo,
by order of al-Ilikim, on Thursday evening, 26th of the latter Rabi (or, by
another account, on Thursday, 15th of the first Jumida), A. H. 390 (A. D.
1000). He was killed by Abh 'l-Fad1 Raidin as-Saklabi, the prince's umbrella-
bearer, who stabbed him in the belly with a knife. It is related by Ihn as-Sai-
rafi, in his History of Vizirs, that Barjawin had all the affairs of the state
under his control in the month of Ramadin, A . H. 337 ; and that, on his death,
his wardrobe contained one thousand pair of Dab8 (3) trowsers, with one thou-
sand s ~ l ktikkas (4), and an immense quantity of clothes, furnitum, nlusical
instruments ( S ) , books and curiosities. The Raidin here mentioned is the
person after whom the Xaiddnzjw (6), outside the Gate of Conquests (Bnb al-
Fut~ih)at Cairo, was so called. On the death of Barjawin, al-IIikim trans-
ferred the entire direction of ai'fairs to the kriid al-Kutvcvn"d (7) al-IIusain, son
of the k&d Jawhar; (we shall make mention of him when giving the life of his
father.) AI-Hiikim then caused Raidgn to be put to death by Misud asSaklabi
the sword-bearer, in the beginning of the year 393 (A. D. 1002). Saklabi
meaps one cf ilze people called Sakkliba (Sclnvonians), a race out of which
eunuchs are procured (S).

(1) Ustdd means master; it is a title frequently borne by eunuchs who were tutors or ministers to a prince.
!2) AI-Makr9zi says, on the contrary, that he was n white eunuch.
(3) The town of Dabik, situated between the cities of Farama and Bilbais. was cdebrated for the clothes
made there. (Mardsid.)
(4) The tikka is the running string or band by which the trowsers are fastened round the waist.
(3 Al-Makrfzi says that Barjawan was very fond of music.
1
 35~. IBN KHALLIKAN'S
(6) According to al-Blakrizi, the Raidlniya was a garden.
( i j General-in-chief.
(g) 1" 31. de Sacy's life of the khalif Hlkirn will be found n full acl.olrlrt of BarjiiwBo's rise and fall.
See Expose de 1'Histoire des Druzes, tom. I .

BASHSHAR IBN BURD.

150 Abil 'l-MllbdBashshir I b ~ rBurd Ibn Yarjtkh, member by adoptiorr of the tribe
of @kail, was a blind man and a poet of celebrity. AbS 'I-Faraj al-Ispahini
gives, in his Kitd6 a[-Aglzdrri, the names of twenty-six of his ancestors, which
I do not insert here, as their number is too great; they belo~lgalso to a foreign
language, and may probably be altered in the trar1sc1-iption, this author not
haring marked the right orthography of' any of thtlm ; i t is therefolr uselrss to
pay farther attention to them. Abd 'l-Faraj gives copious ioformntio~~ respect-
ing his life and adventures: he was a native of Basra, whence he ren~ovedto
Raghaaddhe was surnamed al-M~iraath-he was descended from one of the
natives of Tokharestan, who were led into captivity by al-Muhallab Ibn Abi
Sufra ( I ) . It is said that Bashshar was born in slavery and enfranchised by a
woman of the tribe of Okail, for which reason he received the surname of
Okaili. He was blind from his birth, and his eyebalts, which were prominent,
were covered with red flesh; he was a man of great bodily frame and corpu-
lence ; his face was long and marked with the small-pox. He held the highest
rank among the eminent poets in the first period of Islamism, and the fol-
lowing verses, composed by him on good counsel, are among the best made on
the subject :

When your projects are so far advanced that counsel becomes necessary, have re-
course to the decision of a sincere counsellor, or to the counsel of a determined
man. Let not good advice be irksome to you, fcr the short feathers of a wing are close
to (and sustain) the long. Of %hat use is one hand when the other is confined in a
pillory? OF what use is the sword, if it have no handle to give it power ?

He is also author of this verse, which is so current:

I have attained the furthest bounds of love; is there, beyond that, a station which 1
must reach in order to be nearer to thee?
 BIOGRAPHICAL I)ICTIONAl\Y. 255

He composed :ilso the following verse, which is the most gallant of i n y

by the poets of that epoch (2) :

Yes, by .\11ah ! I lovc the magic of' yourbeyes, and yet I drcatl the weapons bv which
so many lovc?rs fell

Ry the same :
Yes, my friends 1 my ear is charmed by il person i r ~that lribe; for the ear is some-
times enamoured sodner than the eye. You say that I arn led by orie whom 1 never
saw: know that the ear, as well as the eye, can inform the mind of facts.

The idea rxprcssed in the first of these verses has been adopted by Abii Hafs
Omar al-LCfausili, srtrnamed Ibn as-Shahna, and inserted by him in a kasidu of'
one hundred a n d thirty verses, in praise 01' the s~rltanSalih ad-din, from which
I extract it :
9 am otle who lovtls you o r 1 the r.cporL of your virtues; for the ear can be charmed
as well as the eye.

Bashsllar composed a great quantity of poetry, which is in general circulation;

but we shall confine ourselves to the foregoing extracts. Happening one day to
celebrate the praises of al-Mnhdi, son of the khalif al-Mansur, that prince, to
whorn he had been denounced as a n a~lleist(3), ordered him to receive seventy
strokes of a whip; this punishnlent had for result the death of Bashshar, who
expired in the Batiha (or swamp), near Basra, to which city his body was
transported by one of his relations, and there buried. This occurred in the year.
167 or 168 (A. D. 783-4) ; he was aged upwards af 90. It is related that he
considered the elerr~entof fire superior to-jhat of earth, and that he justified
/'

Satan for refusing to fall prostrate before Adam ( 4 ) . The following verse, on 151
the superiority oF fire to earth, is attributed to him :

Earth is dark ar~dfirs is bright; fire has been worshipped ever since it was fire

It is related, however, that on the examination of his works, nothing was dis-
covered in them to warrant the accusation; the following passage was-found in
one of them : "1 had the intention of satirizing the family of Sulaimin ( 5 ) Ibn
" Ali Ibn Abd Allah Ibn al-AbbPs; but I abstained on recollecting their near ,

" relationship to the Prophet." God alone knows what were his real princi-
956 IBN KHSLLIU-N'S
pies. At-Tabari says, in his History: "The reason for which al-Malldi put
' c Bashsll$r to death was this : That khalif had conferred a government on Shlih

Ibn Diwhd, brother of his vizir Yakfib (6), and the poet satirized him in
LL this verse addressed to Yakib:
&Theyhove raised thy brother Sllih to the pulpit (7), and the pulpit complai~~s
of the
A indignity.'

'L YabBb, on hearing of this satire, wedt to al-Mahdi and said : 'Bashslllr has
you.'-' How so?' said al-Mahdi. -'The Commander of h e Faithful
musl dispense me from repeating the verses.'-' I must heal them.' --So he
' L recited to him these lines :

&&khalifwho commits fornication with his aunts, and plays at the game of dnbbik
and mall l May God give us another i n his stead, and thrust Mdsa back into the
c womb of al-KhaizurAn (8).

" Al-Mahdi
therefore caused him to be sought for, ancl Yitkill), fc:aring that
Bashshlr, when brought before the khalif, n l i g l ~ol~taitl
~ pardon by reciting a
panegyric on him, sent a person who threw llirn into the Batilia." - Okuili
means belonging to Ohad Ibn ICaab, which is a great (Arabic) tribe.-The
word Muraath denotes one who wears riath in his ears; rilllli is the plural of
mtha, which means ear-ring; Rashshlr received this surname from his wear-
ing ear-rings when a boy: the ruthrit of a cock are thc wattles which hang
under his beak, and rrith means to be suspended or ira12ging down; whence
the derivation of ratha for ear-ring. There are other reasons giver1 for his
receiving this surname, but the one here stated is the truest.-Tokharustcin is
a great country containing the towns situated beyond the river of Ualkh, which
river is called the Jaihtin (9). This province has produced a number of
learned men.

See his life in this work.

(l)
(2) In Arabic d3-dd! (ul-Muwallndrln). See note (li),page 209.
(3) Sea d'Herbetot's Bib. Orient. ZENDIE.
(4) God said to Iblis (or Satan) : "What hindered thee from prostrating' thyself before Adam?", He
answered: " I am more excellent than he; thou hast created me of Fre, and hast created him of clay! "-
(Kofan, surat 7, verse 21.)
 BIOGRAPHlC AL DICTION AIIY . 297
(5)sulaimcin l b r ~Ali al-hbbhsi, was uncle to tile khalif as-Saffiih, who named him goverrlor of Basra and
the provi~~ccs i l l A. B . 133 ( h .1). 750-1). He died A. H. 142 ( A . D. 739-60;. - (Abb 'I-Fadb.)

(6) Abh Abtl Allit11 Yaltfib Ibn UBuOd was sorr of an enfranchised slave. His brothers and fattrer were in
tile or Nasr Ibn Stiiyar, ernir of Bhorasan; and he himself was chosen hy the khalif al-M[ahdi for yizir.
]tiewas afterwards imprisoned irr the Matbak by that prince for having suffered a state-prisoner to cscape, whom
he had cotlfided to his custody. Yakitb was liberated on the accession of ar-Rashid, a ~ retired~ d to Mekka,
%here he died A. H. 486 ( A . D. 802). During his confinenlent, he lost his sight. (Fakhr ad-die. MS. No.
895, f o l . 171 et sequenlia.)
(7) The govcruors of provinces possessed the right of pronouncing the khotba from the pulpit.
(8) l\fusa was son, and al-liliaizurin wife, of AI-3fahdi.
19; Tile MSS. a ~ ~llled lirir~tedtext have d ~ : ? ? &,but the true reading is certainly 33e >s2.
The allolr 1)ilssa;;e is t;tlie~rfrom the Lubdb o l llbn al-'Lthlr. See the Arabic text of the Geography of AbO
'[-Fad$, page 471.

BISEIR IBN AL-H ARITH AL-HAFT.

Abil Nasr Bishr al-Marwazi (native cf Marw as-Sha"?lja"n),and surnamed

al-11% (tfle hareJooted), was son of al-Hirilh Ibn Abd ar-Rahmfn Ibn Ath Ibn
Hi151 ILn Mhhhn Ibn Abd Allall ; (this Abd Allah, whose name was originally
Bablir ( l ) , was converted to islaxnism by Ali Ibn Abi Tilib (2)). Bishr was one
of the men, of the path (3); he ranked among the greatest of the holy ascetics,
and was most eminent for his piety and devotion. He was born in the village
of Matarshm (4.), situated in the dependencies of Marw, and dwelt at Baghdad. 159
His father was a kn'rib and president. of one of the government offices. Bishr
renourlced the world from the following circumstance: Happening to find 011
the public road a leaf of paper with the name of God written on it, and which
had been trampled under foot, he bought ghdlia (5) with some dirhems which
he had about him, and having perfumed the leaf with it, he deposited it in a
hole in a wall. IIe afterwards had a dream, in which a voice seemed to say to
him : ".O Bishr ! thou hast perfumed my name, and I shall surely cause thine to
" be in sweet odour both in this world and the next." When he awoke, he gave
up the world, and turned to God.-It is related that he once knocked at the
door (6) of al-Mutfa Ibn Imrtn (7), and on being asked who was there, he an-
33
swered Bislrl a]-IIPli ; on which thv girl inside the (toor said: "Go and buy a
'I of shoes tiro dd,lnhs (g), and ~lrerr;lnlc of d-]hi (1 i f h e h n r ~ ~ f o o i e d )
6 ' Will leare you.'1 IIe was so surrlanled for 1llr1 follo\vi~~g reason : ill(: Iil tcbet of
one of Iris shoes hrYiljgbroken, he wru t for. ano~lier~ to a shoemakrr's, ~ h said o
to him : How full full are of ~vorld!v considcl atiorl !" 0 1 1 lllis ilisllr8 threw
away the shoe Ire held i s his hand and kickrd thc otllelt oil' llis hot, il~ahillgoiith
never to ,t-ear shoes -Bishr being once n p k t v l with wtra t, s i ~ ~ cht e. eat his
bread, replitbd : I tlrink on good health, arrd I take i8hatas my sa11cr."-One
of his prayers was this: " 0, my God ' deprivc 1 1 1 of ~ r l o t o ~ ~ i ( i~ f l tholl
~ , bast
( 6 it to me in this world for the pllrI>osaof lmltine nlr 10 slra~~re in the
next." oneof his sayings was: ‘‘Tile l ~ t ~ ~ i i s l ~ rofn rtlrc
~ ~ ti ( ~ i l ~ ~ r m l in tlris
l ( e~ n

* L Korld is blindness of heart." He used also to say : "IIe tha t sccks !hi-\vorldly
goods should be prepared for humiliatiorl." It is rolntnj that Jlisl~rsaid 10 the
Traditionists : "Pay the leg1 alms out of your Traditions ;" and illat on lrcine
asked what was the mode of doing so, he repiied: "Out of every t\\o ll~~ndred,
take five for. rules of conduct (91."-Sari ss-Saliati and a nlrn11)eror holy
men cited '1 raditions on his authority. He was born A . I!. I50 (A. I). 76Tj,
and died a t Baghdad (or, by another account, at PIarw\, in the month 01' the
second Rabi, A. 11. 226 (February, A. D. 841) or 227 ; some say, however, that
he died ou a Wednesday, 10th of Muharr-am, and others again stale that his
death took place in Ramadin. Bishr hat1 three sistcrs named M u d g l ~ Mukl.1- ,
Mm, and Zuhda,who spent their lives in the practice of mortilication and piety;
the eldest, Aludgha, died before her brother, who WJS deeply alllicted at her. loss
and wept bitterly; on being asked why (he wllo was so rasig~tedto the will of
God should give way to grief), he answered : ' L I have read in somc hook, that
when the creature is remiss in the Lord's service, the Lord deprives him of
" his companion, and my sister Mudgha was my companion in this world."
The follol\ing is related by Abd Allah, son of Ahrnad Ibn 1Janhal: " -4 woman
" came in to my father and said: '0 Abd Abd Allah! 1 spin a t rlieht by can-

" dle-light, and, as i t sometimes happens that my candle goes out, I spin by

'1 the light of the moon ; is it incumbent on me to sepa1.a te the portion spun by
" the light of the candle from that spun by the light of the moon ( l O)?' To this
my farher answered: 'If you think that there is a difference between them,
" i t is incumbent on you to separate them.' She then said : '0 Abfi ALld Allah!
 HIOGR APHlCAL I)ICTIONA1\Y. 259
are the groans of a sick person a rel~iningagainst Providence'!' To which h e
l ansn.cred : L 1 IIOPP not ; i t is ra tller a coml)laint addressed to God .'
l\oman 1 l 1 ~ o\vitll(li~e\\-,and J U Y fither said : ' I never h a r d such a questioll
made : follow her.' I followed htkr thei~efore, till l saw her enter into
house of Risl~t-al-nil;, and I 111c.n i*ett~rn(>d a ~ r d[old nly fi~therilrat itdkyah
Rishr.'~sister. ' You arc. ~bigllt,'said he, 'it is impos-ible that this \yotnaIl
could havc \)eori a n y other lh;in 1:isllr's sister!' - The same Abd Allah re-
"

lated this aoccrlotc: " Rh~khklla, one of Bishr's sisters, came to my father ancl
& L said : ' 0 Al)h At)d Allah! I poss~ssa capita[ of two dinaks which I lay out
in cotfon wool ; this I spin aiid sell for half a dirhem (I I ) ; and I spend one
dinal; each week: now it happcnrltf that the patrole passed one night witlt
b L their crcsset, and I l)~.oliledby t l ~ eopliortlmity to spin s double quantity
by that light : 1 know t h a ~Gocl will question me on the subject (I 3) ; free nlc
L then from illis strait, and Inay God fi-ee thee.' My father answered : L Thou r 3;
shalt spend t ~ dinaks~ o in alnls, and remain without any capiral till God
g l r ~ . . ' OLIthis I said : ' How is that? You tell her to
gives iher s o l ~ ~ r t h i o11et
ib g i ~ eberm capital in a l n ~?'s And IIIY f a ~ h e ri.ep1it.d : 0 my son ! her question
would 11ot adnlit of any modification in its solution. Who is she?' l answered:
IL is hlukhlihn, a sister ol' Bishr al-11iIi.' To which my father. said : ' ID
rnaking answer to her, l lrroceeded on that supposition.' "-Bishr al-Hili
said: 1 learned tlevotion t'rom my sister; for she was assiduous in abstinence
L ( from wllatever food llad u ~ ~ d e r g o n prneparation
e by a created being."

(1) Neophytes recrtved a II[*N rlarlle on their conversion to Islamism.

(2, Lltcrdllj : l'rofesscd Islarnism on ttie h n i ~ do l All 1b11Abi TAlib; that is, he tooh a solemtr engagenient
to t h d l e1li.c l, i111d riitificd it t)g P I ~ I C I I I P hic I~artd111 Ali's
(3) .Mun of t h e path; a title given to some o f the emirtcnt Shfis; it means one who walks in the path of
ascetisrn The \+orcl L: ( p u t h ) sigl~ifiesalso metaphoricall! doclrint! and systtm of conduct, which.
,
nith the Sbfis, c ~ r ~ r s ~ s 11, t e dtltc*c o i ~ l u ~ u apractlcr
l of mystic devotion.
('1) 111 t t 1 ~J l i ~ ~ d stih~i l~I I ~ I I I Iis~ ~,p~!led Mdbarsdm
(5)Tllc ghdlia : ! ! S was inrlubitably a sort of perfume. This a o r d occurs also i n a satirical verse gireli
in the flamlsa, \,age 668, lint 3, the meaning of which is: L Compared with Katdda. son of Mughrib, the
" odour of ;I swine's putrid carcass i s n ~ u s kand ghd1ia."-hleninski notices tlre word after Wanktlli.
(G, Literally: He koorhed the door with the rit~ij(or circular knocker).
(7) Abh \lasCld sl-Mudfa Ihn Inirhr~.a 1;ernher of he tribe of Azd and native of Mosul, learned the Tra-
ditions from a n u ~ n b e rof Iearrred meil, and studied j~misprudence under Sofyan at-Thauri; he a as remarb-
fm IBN KHALLIKAN'S
able for his learning. piety, liberality, and mortified life. Dicd A. H. 184 (h. 8001. - ( An-Nuj~rnizrzn-

hira, MS. So. 639.1

(S) Two tlhnaks made one third of il dirhem.
:$ The legal alms consist i n a yearly t;rs o f 2 4 2 p e ~refit. I I I I c.attlc,morrey, rorrr, fruits, a n d \\;lr.c:s sold.
(10, Ill spinlliIl:, by moorllight, she had ec~oaornised her ca~ldlcs,and 1)citr~tlltls in sorrrtb t l '~' r ,l.!
r c ! ric5llc!r, she

tllought hcrsdf obliged to irtcrease her legal alrrls: this anecdote is giver1 ;IS all cxaruple of hc!r scrupulous
pier!.
ill Hatf a dirhem is equal to three danaks.
(12) -4s the cressel did nut belong to bcr, she imagined that she had no right to m a k e usc of its light, and
ttrat lhe rnoney n hich she gained in so doirrg n a s badly acquired -5.

BISWR IBN GI-ILATI-I AL-MARISI .

h ar-Rahmhn Bishr Ibn Ghiith Ibn Ahi Karirr~aill-Mar'isi, n theolo-

~ b Abd
$ian and jurisconsult of the sect of Abi- Hanifa, vas descended frorn a slave
lxlonging to Zaid Ibn al-Khatthb(1). lie was instructed in tlrc In\v by the
kidi Abli Ydsuf al-Hanefi, but he was addicred to the study of dogma tic tbeo-
log!, and taught openly that the Koran was created ( 2 ); some abominable opi-
nions of his on this subject have been handed down. Me belonged to that
sect of the Murjians (3) which is called after him the Mari'sial?, and he hcld that it
was not an act of infidelity to bow down to the sun and the moon, but only a
token of it. He had frequent discussions with the imim as-Shifi. He committed
rile grossest faults in grammar, from his ignorance of that science : he transmitted
the Traditions on the authority of Hammid Ibn Salarnn ( 4 ) , Ibn Oyaina, the kidi
-4bli Yasuf and others. It is said that his father was a Jewish goldsmith of
Klifa. He died at Baghdad in the month of Zd 'l-Bijja, A . 11. 21 8 (A. D. 833-4)
or ?I 9.--iMarz'si means native of Maris, a village in Egypt, according to the
stalement of the vizir Abti Saad in his work enti~ledan-Nlataf w a 'I-Tureaf
(pickillgs Q J Zstveelmeats);
~ but the inhabitants of Misr tell me that the Maris
are a people of negroes inhabiting tlre country between Nubia and Syene ; they
appear to hc of' the Nubian race, and their country is conGguo~lsto that of
Syene. In n i n ~ e rthey (the people of Cairo) are visited by a cold south wind,
which they believe to come from that country,. and name the Marisi in conse-
quence.-I have since found in the handwriting of a person who lras studied
 BIOGRAl'UICAL DICTIONARY. 26 1

this branch (ofsciet2ce) (S), that (Bishr al-h'arisl) dwelt in the street of Bagh-
dad which is called al-rllarfsi after him, and lies between the rive~>s ad-Dajii
and al-BazzPzin.-I may add that the name of nznris is given at Baghdad to flat
cakes kneaded with ljutter and dates; the people of Egypt make a similar sort
of cake, only substituting honey for dates, and thev call it basPsn.

(I) AbQ Omar Zaid Ibn al-Khatthb, one of the companions of RIuharnmad, was an elder brother of the khalif
Omar Ibn al-Khattgb, and embraced islamisnr before hirn; he fought on Muhammad's side at the battle of
Badr I n he thirteenth year of the Hijra he was standard-bearer of the Moslims in their expedition against
the false prophet Musailama; he led them to action. and was slain after displaying great gallantry. His hro-
ther Ornar was deeply aMicted for his loss.--(AI-Ybfi. Siar as-Salaf, MS. of the Bib.du Roi, fonds St Ger-
main, No 133, fol. 72 verso,)--The details of his death will be found in professor Kosegarten's edition of the
Annals of at-Tahari.
(2) A most lieterodox doctrine (see note (2), page 16);indeed all the doctors versed in dogmatic theolog]
were suspected of heretical principles.
(3) See Pocock's Specimen, etc. ~ Z O R . I I A N I
(4)Abb Salama Hammad Ibn Salarna was descended from an enfranchised slave belonging to the Ban,)
Tamim and sister's son of Hamid at-Ta\\ll (see note (l), page l76). Ile %as noted for his lcarnir~g,piety, and
holy life, and his authority as a traditionist was of the highest order. Born a t Basra, and died A. H . 168
(4. D. 784-S).-(All-NujDmU=-Zdhira )
(S\ He means Biography.

BAKKAR IBN KUTAIBA.

The k5di Ahli Bakr Bakkir was son of Kutaiba Ibn Abi Rardia Ibn Obaid
Allah Ibn Bashir Ibn Obaid Allah Ibn Abi Bakra Nufai Ibn al-Hirith Ibn Kalda
ath-Thakefi (member of the t d e of Thakljr); Ibn Kilda was one of the
companions of Muhammad (I). Bakkir followed the doctrines of AbO Ha-
nib, and was appointed kidi of Misr in the year 248 (A. D. 862), or 249;
but it is stated in another account, that he arrived at Misr for the pur-
pose of acting as kPdi on hehalf of the khalif al-Mutamakkil, on Friday 8th of
the latter Jumida, A. H. 246. The excellent manner in which he fulfilled
the duties of that ofice is well known, and the treatment which he expe-
rienced from Ahmad Ibn Tlilfin, lord of Egypt, has been mentioned by his-
torians : Ibn Tiilin used to give Bakkh every year one thousand dinars
 262 IBN KHhLLIKhN'S
l,korc than his salary ; but the kidi made no use of' that additional sum, nei-
ther did he break the sea] on the purse which corltailled it. Ibn 7'81011

ilaring afterwards rrquirrd ol. him 10 drlios~al-hlllw:~Hbk, the son of nl-Mula-

tvatkil arid fatbt,r al-,\lotadid (who had lreen declared khalil'-elect), impri-
soIld ililll his r13fusa],alld then redenlarlded ihs solol~ntof the money whicll
154 br bad :\dvancelj tlilll PilCtt yrar in addition to Iris sn1ilr.j'. This sum, \\*hie),
,.unsisted ill r~iehtlht.llj,ulbses, was given up 1)y R a k k i ~ .will1 ihc seals un-
brokerl, to tllc glve;lt or Ibn TSliin, who illought that 1\11. nloney
had lwtbn s f ~ n (;lnd, Ilop~dto !hare had a prrtexl to persecute the kidi h r his
, t, . Ilai,tir, on icing irnprisonecl, was nbligtbd by l b n TQldn to
alJlloilll,~llr]lallllllild11111Shadill al-Jan11il1.i(2) ;ISdeputy, atrd lvb ~eeinainedin con-
lillrnlvllth,-s nt~elberof years; b u ~ as the studer~tswho wthrbtblearning the
. ~~~~~jilio~~s that they were deprived of his tuition, II(~ was f ~ ~ r q u r n t l ~
l)Ioduced to ttrr public by ibn Tillin, ar~d~ l l t : t ~ta~lgh1fro111a \vitldo~vOF t h ~
prison. Tile ki& Dakker was one of t h a ~class of pio~lslrrrn who wen: called
the weepers and chanters OF the Koran (3); (eoriy- rl(y*) on the trrtnir~ationor
his judicial duties, he rerired into a private a p a r t ~ n ( ~a~~~l td,heri recallrd to
mind the cases of all those who had come l>efi)t.cI i i r r ~ ,and the .judgments which
I I ~had given; he would then weep and say to himsell': "0, Rakhir! two per-
.< sons c a ~ n ebefore thee on such and such a case ; t \ adverse ~ 1)artic:s al~pearerl
'' brforr thrc in such and such a cause, and thou hast judged so and so ; how
w i l l thou answera for. i t to-inorrow (d.)'?'. He frrqucntly rnade pious c~xhorta-
tiorls to the defkndant w h t ~ ladministering to hi111the oat11 15j, and would recite
to h i ~ nthis erse of the Koran: They who nzake lnerchnndize of God's cove-
~lorrt,and of tAeriv uerhs, jbr cl s~nailprice, sf~allhave no portion i12 the
next I@, etc. (6). Hc Irever ceased rnaking his A n r i ~ ~(7) s render an account
of their conduct, and constantly inquired into the character of witnesses. He
was 1)orn at Basra, A. H. 182 (A. D. 7981, and died at Misr on rrllursday, 6th
23 'l-fli,i~:i,h. H. 270 (Jui~e,A. D. 884), being still in prison and invested with
the fullctio~lsof' a kidi. 011 his death, Misr remained without a kidi for three
years. Jlis 1011lb is close 10 that of the sharif Ibn Tsb$tabQ (v), and is a well-
known mooument; it lies near the lkfusalla of the Baub Maskin (I)); and is
situated between the tiaurn (the mound) and the road below ; it is famous for
the fulfilment of prayers oflered up at it. His nomination as kidi is said to
have taken place A . H. 211-5, but the correct dattl is A . M . 62!~G.
he let hin~selfd o w ~ by
(anmus, in the rootJ
i
L:'+.)
(1,) NuCai was also a companion of Muhamniad, who named him Ahh Bakra, or the pulley-man, because
ir pulley from llic caslle o f Taif when it was attaclied by Ill,: &foslin~sirl A. H. g.--

(2) Abil Bakr Muharnrnad 1b11Zaliariya Ihn SliAdhd al-Jawhari possessed great ~eputatiollas ;I tradi-
tionist. H e died h. 11.274 (A. D. 8871, or by another account, 286, aged 73 years. ( U i s l o r y of !he kadis
of E y y p t , by Ibn Hajr ai-AskalAni.)
(3) They wept for tl~eicsins a r ~ drecited the Koran assiduously thro~rghdevotion.
(4,T o - m o r ~ o wthnt
, is, thc d a y of judgment, when God should questiori hinl
(5) According to the Moslirn law, oaths are [lot r e q u i r ~ dbefore justice, except in eertaiu cases; as Tor in-
stance, when a plaintilf is ulrable to furnish cvidence in support of his claim; he has then the right of requir-
ing the defendant to confina his negation by oath In crirninal causes oaths are riot receivable,
(6) Koran; surat 3, verse 71.
(71 Amin anylice trustee or confidant. It is the name of an O ~ ~ ~ EinP the
I kldi's courr, in t h e m a ~ r
rler of n register. I t also sig~~ities an inquisitor. -.-(Hamilton's Hedaya, vol. 11. p.618.) . l'hey were entrusted
with the care of the dorurnents in thc khdi's office, and of all property confided to h~nl.
(8)Ibn TabBtabl's life is givcn page 114.
(9) This Musalla was probably iu the Lesser Kartifa.

ABU BAKR THE JURiSCONSU1,T.

Abii Ralir Ibn Ahd ar-Rahmin Ibn al-Hirith Ihn Hishim Ibn al-Mughaira
Ibn Abd al-Allah Ibn Omar Ibn Makllzllm al-Kuraslli al-Makhziimi (menzber of
//re tribe off Rorrtish arzd cl~scendedfronz rMnkhzu'm), was one of the Seven
Jririsconsult~of Rledina. The surname Abti' Bakr was his real name, and we
have placed him 1111der[lie letter. H, bccatrse it is customary with annalists, when
noticing a persoti who has no other name but a surname, to insert his life un-
der the letter which corresponds to the initial of the consequent in the geni-
tive (I ) ; some annalists, however, place names of this kind in a separate chap-
ter.-Abii Bakr was one of the chief T d b f s (2), and was called the monk of the
Koraish: his father al-I-IArith, brother of AhG Jahl, was an eminent companion ,

of Mahamnlad. Tlre birth of Alii- Bakr took place under the khalifat of Omar
lbn al-KhattAb, and his death happened in A. H. 94 (A. D. 142-3); which year
was denominated the year of the jurisconsults, because a number of them died
therein. The Seven Jurisconsults lived a t Medina in the same time, and it was
from them thnt thz science (qf taw) and iegal decisions spwad over the world :
 26 'c IBN KEIALLIKAN'S
m. shall notice then1 under their respective letters. One of the learned has
11nit.ed thtn names of them all in the lwo following vt'r.$('S :

tlr w h o taketh not an imAm for erride shall receivc: ;l portion (in-llre next life) inade-
quate to his deserts. Learrl here their names: Obaid Allah. Orwll, Jihsirn, Said, Su-
Inimdn, Ab6 Rakr, KhAr~ja.

\\ ere it not tllat it is very requisite for the jurisconsults of' our rpotbb to have
i l l formation respectin g these persons, I should not have made nrenrion of them
in a work wllich, like this, aims at concision ; for they are SO well known, that
15-i.il rnigllt have passed tllen~over in silence (3). They were designated by the
appellation of the Seven Jurisconsnlts, because the right of giving decisions on
points of law had pssed to them from the companions of Rlullan~mad,and thev
hrcanle publicly known as nzr5/lis; it is true that there were some learned TdiS
still liviljg, Silim Ibn Abd Allall Ibn Omar for instance; but these seven alonr
were acknowledged as competent to give jutwas, or legal decisions. Such is
the observation made by the h& as-Silafi.

11, I11 AbSd Bakr (Pater Rakri), B d r is governed 111 the genitlve as consequent ot' the at~tecrdcl~t
Abll.
,See ])age 5, note (2).
3 I t might be supposed that the author ir~teodcdthis passage as a sarcilsrn against the jur~,sconstlltsof h13
time; but such, I arn incllned LO thirik, H a s not his intention.

ABU OTHMAN AL-MAZINI THE GRAMMARIAN.

A bii OthmPn Bakr Ibn Muhammad Ihn O~hmPn(named also Bakia and Adil
I ~ I Habib
I al-Mbini was a native of Basra and the first man of the age in gram-
mar and general literature. He learned philology from Abb Obaida, al-Asmii,
AbQ Zaid al-Ansiri and others, and had for pupil AbB 'l-Abbis al-Muharrad,
who profited greatly by his tuition, and banded down many pieces of traditional
literature which he had learned from his master. The follow it^^ works were
composed by al-MQzini : Observations on the Faults of Language committed by
the Vulgar ; a Treatise on the Arabic Article ; one on the Conjugations ; one on
 BIOGKhPHICAL DICTIONARY. 263
Prosody; one on Rhyme; and the Kitdb nrl-Dib{;, witten in opposition to a
work of the same title conlposed by AbG Obaida (I). It is related by AbC Jaafar
a t - T a h i ~ ithat he heard Bakkir lbn Kutaiba, the kidi of Egypt, say: " 1 ne-
ver saw a n y grammarian resemble a jur*iscor~sultexcept Haivin Ibn Harma
f i and al-1\18zini ;" meaning the present i\bB Othmin. Al-MQzirli was scrupu-
lously pious, and among the anecdotes related by al-Mubarrad (on this sub-
ject) is the following : "A zimmi (2)went to AbQ OthmPn, and offered him one
hundred dinars, on condition that he would explain to him the grammar of
' L Sibawaih. He refused however to do so, and I said to him: L May I be your
ransom ! how can you reject so advantageous an offer, suffering, as you do,
from poverty and extreme distress'?' On which he replied: 'That work con-
'& tains three hundred and so many verses of the book of God (the Koran), and
I do not think it right to communicate them to a z i ~ n ~ n(ih;2 this I a m ac-
L' tuated) by zeal for the book of God, and by the desire of guarding it from

profanation.'-Some tirne after, a slave girl happening to sing, i n the pre-

sence of the khalif al-MTAthik, this verse of the poet al-Arxji 13):

& O([air) tyrant I thy evil treatment of a man who made thee his salutation, is an in-
justice I

A contestation arose among the persons who werp in the khalif's presence,
respecting the case of the word %j ((mart) ; some were of opinion that i t should
" be put in the aceiisative, as being the subject of a prmposition governed t,y c;I
" (utique); and others, would have it in the nominative as being the attribute of

" that proposition (4). The girl maintained, however, that her master, Ab4
Othmin al-MLzini had taught her to pronounce the word in the accucati\-e.
" AI-Wlthik therefore sent for him: 'When I came into his presence,' said

'' Abli Othmin, ' he asked, ' Of what family are you (5) ?' I answered : 'Of
" the ban<^ Mizin.' - L Which of the Mkzins ? Is it those of the tribe of

" Tamim, those of the tribe o f Kais, or those of the tribe of Rabia?'- 'That
" of Rabia,' I replied.- The khalif then addressed me in the dialect of my
" tribe, saying, Rn 'Smuk, in place of Mu 'Smuk (~vhatis tly name?) for

" they change the m into b and vice uersd. Not wishing to answer him in the
" same dialect, so as to avoid pronouncing before him the word Makr, I

" replied Bakr (6);' and he, having perceived m y motive, was well pleased with

34
 266 IBN KH ALLIKAN'S
that (mark ofresyect). He then repeated to me the verse of al- \r,ji, and asked
6' me if I put %l in the or in the accusativ~; to which I answered:
i6 'Commander of the Faithful! it must be put in the accusative.'--L Why SO'?'
6 -Because +!ais a noun of acrion employed here with the sensc of +L!.'

-'Then al-Yazidi makine me some ohjectior~, but I said: 'The

phrase is similar to this I+; p d j ( ~ l l j ~nrtio12dm
c tr~anzpprcr~-
liendi Zeidurn injustdin est); the word is governed by +'aand is
therefore in the accusative ; the proof is, that the sense of the phrase is ~11s-
ppnded till you pronounce p,
which completes i t (7).' Al-Willlik approvpd
of my opinion, and asked me if I had any children. 'Yes, C ~ t n r n a n d eof~
the Faithful; a little girl.'-- 'And what did sha say to you on leaving her !'
-'She recited to me these verses of the poel al-Aasha (8) :
i 3ti 'Remain with us, dearest father! we shall be happy whilst you stay. If a distant
region possess you, we foresee that harsh treatment will befal us, and that the ties of
' blood will be severed (by our unjust relations).'

" ',4nd what answer'.'' said he, 'did you return her?'-'My ;~rlswer,'I re-
'' plied, ' was in the words of the poet Jarir :
< M yconfidence is in God, whose power is shared by none; and my hopcs of success
' are fixed upon the khalif l'

On this al-Witt~iksaid : 'I answer for your success ;' and he dismissed me
id

with a prc2sent o f one tholisand dinars.' A.1-Mubarrad then relates that al-
Mhzini, on his return to Basra, said to him : " What think you of that, Abh 'l-
& ( Abbis ? I refused one hundred dinars for God's sake, and he has given me
a thousand in stead." AI-Mubarrad states also that he heard al-Mizini re-
late the following anecd ote: " There was a person who, for a long time, s t ~
" (lied under me the grammar of Sibawaih, and who said to me, when he got

" to the end of the book, 'May God requite you well! as for me, I have not
'' understood a letter of it.' " A bb Othmsn al-M8zini died a t Basra, A. H. 249
( A . D. 863) ; or, according to other accounts, in 248 or 236.

(1) Debdj means cloth made of siili. AbA Obaida's work is noticed by Hajji Khalifa, but he does no1
mention its subject.
(2) Zimmi means client; rt 1s the legal d e r ~ o t ~ ~ i l ~ a of n Christian. Jewish, alld Si~beaosubjects of a
t i othe
Moslim power,
 (3j Abd Allah I b r ~Amr ill-Arji (native of A r j near 1'02^f)was granclso11of the khalif OthmAn. ~i~ life,
al-Mughne', is given by M. de Sacy in his Anthologie Gramnra(i-
e ~ t r a c t e dfrom as-Soyilti's Slrc~rhStta~c~dhid
rule, page 453.
(4) 'This grammatical cluestion can orlly be ~inderstoodby reference to the Arabic text of the verse; i t is
occessilry, h o ~ ~ c \ ~ to
e r ,ot,ser.v~thal expressions such as the following, Ulique Lletts est justus. would stand
thr~s.Utique I)eu11#~ U S I U Sif, C O I I S ~ I .according
UC'~ to the genius of thc Aral~iclarrguage- 1 shall make a ~ ~ n t h e ~ .
rerr~arlion this anecdote; ncilher (l/ lhe tulo parties understood the mutilling o f the verse, othtarwise tlley
~ o u l dnot have giver1 grammatical explanations so totally inapplicable.
(5) Literally: Of who111 is the man? It was rlatural for the khalif to make use of the third person irl ad-
dressing a strarrger and otre rnurl, bencat11 him.
(6) The word Wakr means wile or stratagem. 111 respectable society, terms of a disagreeable import are
:!voided in corlvcrsiil.ion, as the person spokr.11 to might vonsider them as an offence to himself or as a n evil
onlel1. (See Lane's d rrlbian Niylirs. cllap. 2, note 8.)
(71 Al-Mhzil~i'sreasoning is perfectly just, but it can be irrtelligible to those only who are acquainted s i t h
tile techrlicalitics of the Arilbic system of grammar.
18) T l ~ elife of al-Aasha is give11 by Al. de Sacy in his Clireslomathie, tom. 11. p. 471.

BOLUKKIN IRN ZIKI.

Abh 'l-Futbh Bolukkin (l) lbn Ziri 1l1n Ifanid al-TIimyari as-Sunhiji (&S-
cended from the tribe 01'Ilinzycrr throug-12 that of'Sunhdj) was grandfather of
the Bidis, whose life has been given (2)). IIe was also called Ylisuf, but it is by
(he naulc of Bolukkin that he is generally known. 11 was he whotn al-Moizz
Ibn al-MansGr al-Obaidi left as his lieulenant in Ifrikiya (Africa Propricl) on
his departure for Egypt; this rlomination took place on Wednesday the 22nd
i b 'l-Hijja, A. H. 361 (October, A . D. 072), and the people were enjoined by
aCMoizz to obey Bolukkin, who was then placed in possession of the province,
and had its revenues collected in his name. Al-Moizz (in departing)gave him
pressing injunctions respecting a number of things necessary to be dune, and
linished by saying : Though you forget my couns~ls,forget not (at least) these
three : never cease levying contributions on the nomadic Arqbs, apd keeping
" the sword on (the necks o f ) the Berbers; never appoint any of your ,bro-

" thers or cousins to a place of authority, for they imagine that they bave a
" better right than you to the power with which you are invested; and treat
" with favour the dwellers in towns." He then departed, and Bolukkin, after <
 268 IBN KBALLIKAN'S
bidding him adieu, returned to his government, and having taken the country
llnder his command, he ruled with ability, and gave unr*miitting alterltion to
the welfare of his empire and subjects. He died on Sunday the 2316 OF Zh 'I-
Biba, A. H. 373 (May, A. D. 984), at a place called WBr:lklin, o r 1 ttlr con-
fines of ifrikiva. His death was the result of an inflammation in the irl~estinp~;
or, as some say, of a tumour in his hand. Ile had follr hundred concubines;
and it is even staled (hat on one single day, t h birt
~ 11s ol' seventern sons were
successivelv announced to him. - His name must l)e pronounc~dHolukkfn,
and his father's, Z l i . The remainder of his genealogy will be given in the life
of his descendant Tamim .

(11-411 European authors have written this name Bclkin, or Uolkin; but its true pror~unciatiorl is given
by Iba Iihalliliiin.
(2) See page 248.

BURAN.

Birin was daughter of al-Hasan Ibn Sahl, whose life shall be given ; it is
175 said by some that her real name was Khidija and her surname Burin; but the
first is the more general opinion. She became the wife of the khalif al-MamGn,
who was induced to marry her by the high esteem he bore her father. The
marriage was celebrated at Fam as-Silh, with festivities and rejoicings the lih of
which were never witnessed for ages before : the expenses were defrayed by her
father (the uizir), whose liberality went so far that he showered balls of rrlusk
upon the Hishimites ( l ) , the commanders of the troops, the k&tibs (2), and
the persons who held an eminent rank at court; each of these balls contained
a ticket, on which was inscribed the name of a landed property, or of a
slave girl, o r of a set of horses, etc. ; and the person in to whose hands it fell,
having opened it and read its contents, proceeded to a n agent specially ap-
~oiotedfor the purpose, from whom he received the object inscribed on
the ticket, whether i t was a farm, or other property, or a horse, or a slave
girl, or a mamliik. The vizir then scattered gold and silver coins, balls
of musk, and eggs of amber among the rest of the people. He defrayed all the
 BIOGRAPIIICAL DICTIONARY. 269

expenses of al-Miimfin, of his onicers and companions, those of the troops which
accompanied him, and of the camp-followers, who were innumerable ; he even
paid the camel-drivers, those who hired the camels out, the boatmen, and all
those who were in the camp; so that none of the latter were under the necessity
of buying any thing either for himself or his horse. At-Tabari relates, in his
History, that al-MBmQn stopped nineteen days with al-Hasan (Blirdn's father),
who furnished him and his suite, every day, with all they required; these cx-
penses amounted to fifty millions of dirhems (3). Al-MPmdn, on his departure,
having ordered him ~.enmillions of dirhems (h.), and granted him Fam as-Silk
in fief, al-IIasan gave a public audience, and distributed that sum to the khalif's
generals, companions, and domostics. The historian then says : "After this,
" on the 8th of Ramadin, al-Mimiin went forth to (visit) al-Hasan, and he set

out from Fam as-Silh on the 22nd Shawwil, A. H. 210. The death of
Hamid Ibn Abd al-Hamid (5) took place on the first of Shawwtl, the same
year.'' The following anecdote is told by another historian: (At the
marriage ceren20?7y)a mat interwoven with gold was spread out for al-ML-
miin, who stood on it whilst pearls were showered down in abundance at his
feet; on perceiving the pearls thus scattered on the ~ n a tof gold, he said:
( God be merciful to AbG Nuwis (6) ! one would thirl k that l ~ had
e seen this,
" when he described the 1)ubbles which cover the surface of wine when mixed

' L with water :

' The little bubbles and the great resemble a gravel of pearls upon a ground of gold.'

(In this verse critics have remarked a fault, the nature of which cannot be
explained here.) (7)-L6A1-MimQn then granted al-Hasan one year's revenue
of Fars and of the province of al-AhwBz. Poets and orators were profuse in
" their praises on this occasion, and the following verses on the sub,ject by
" Muhammad Ibn Hizim nl-Bihili, have been remarked for their ingenuity (8) :
' Cod grant that Bfirhn and al-Hasan may be happy with the son-in-law I Thou hast
' triumphed, son of HarGn (9); and of whose daughter hast thou made the conquest?'

"When these verses were mentioned to al-Mimdn, he said: 'By Allah ! 1 know
" not whether the author means good or ill.' " At-Tabari saps : '' Al-bIlmdn
" went in to B B r h on the third night after his arrival at Fam asSilh; and when
 IBN, BI&ALLIKAN'S
Ile sat down bv ller side, a thousand p a r l s arerc sho~yeredupon +cm, out
of a golden tray, by her grandmother ; hc ordered them to be picked up, aqd
asked her how Inany there were, and she answered, one thousaod ; on which
he deposited them in her lap, saying: 'Let this be the marriage gifi, and ask
c c l ~ h a tthou requiresc.' On this, her granhlothrr said to her: ' Sl~rtakto thy
lord, who bath col~llnandedthee.' Bl'rin the11 asked bin, to pardon Ihrahinr
a lbn al-.\lahdi ( l U).'' (His life has been a11,eadygiven in page 16.) "TO this
the hbalif a~lsaered,saying : L I grant his pardon.' On that night they lit a
I:,lr candle of ambergris ~ v e i ~ h i eeighty
g pounds. which was placed in a candle-
stick ( 1 1 ) of gold; but al-Ali~~lG~iblamed them, saying, that it was an excess
of prodigality." Another author says: "When al-Mimdll sough1 to enter
in to Bilrin, he was refused admittance, on the pretext that she was indis-
posed, but he vould not retire ; and when his bride was hrougllt forth to him,
he found her unwell, and left her. The next nlorning, when he gave puLlic
'' audience, the kcitib hhmad Ibu Ylisuf (1 2) entered arid said to him : Corn-
&' mander of the Faithful ! may God accord you happiness and good fortune in
what you have undertaken; may you he great in prowess and victorious in
L( co~l~twt!' To this al-Mirnlio replied hy reciting tlre l'ollowing versrs:
Eques impetuosus, cum hast.4 surt promptus ad conk)ssionem in tenebris, przdam
'suam sanguine inficere voluit; sed eum prohibuit illa, cum sanguille, a sanguine
suo .' "

In this, he made allusion to the nature c)f her indisposition, and the lig11r.ehe
employed is perfectly appropriate. The fortegoing anecdote is related by Abii 'I-
Abbis al-Jurjini (13) io his Kind+ or tropes ; b11t I have found the story told
in a dimerent manner; and God knows best the truth (14). All this occurred in
the month of Ramadin, A. H. 210 (A. D. 825-61, but al-MBmSn had been (ad
ready) betrothed to her in the year 202. She was wilh him in A. H. 21 8 when
he died ; his death took place on Thursday, 17th Rajab (August, A. D. 833);
and hers, on Tuesday, 27th of the first Rabi, 271 (September, A. D. 884) She
was then eighty years of age, as she was born on Sunday evening, 2nd Safar,
A. H. 192 (December, A. D. 807), at Baghdad. It is said that she was buried
in a vault opposite to the makslira (1 5) in the mosqlle of the sultan, and that
her monument exists till this day.-Accordin? to as-SamPni, fin2 as-Silh (the
n2outh of the ScM) is a town on the Tigris near Wisit; but the k d ~ i bImid ad-
G
,+
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
din says, in his Khrrrfda, that as-Silh is a large canal branching off the Tigris
above W i s i t , and that a great number of towns (l G) were on its banks; Ijut tile
\\-aters having overflowed, those places went to ruin. 1 mnst observe that I m i d
ad-din was better informed on the subject than a e S a m i n i , having made a long
residence at W i s i t as director of the government ofice (117).

(1) The persons related to the Abbaside khalifs were designated by the title of Hashimites, as heing des-
cended from one cornmoll ancestor, HBshinl Ibn A b d Mandf.
12) Scc page 26, rrolc (7).
(3) This, on a very moderate evaluation, is about one million two hundred thousand pounds sterling
[41 About two hrlndrcd and fifty thousand pounds sterling.
( 5 ) Harnid Ibn Abd al-tfam'ld died in the year 210 (A. D. 825). He was a native of Ths, and one of
al-Mlnrbn's principal gcncrals. In his et~terprizes hc displayed great vigour, courage, and promptitude.-
(dd-Nujdrn uz-Zdfrira.)
(6) Iditerally: May God slay hirn. This imprecation is frccluently cmployed to denote approbation.
(7) Tile fault eolfiists in his having employed L,-

y3 212 1 2 . L u~.-The word

(9) The khalif al-Mimrln was son of HarOn ar-Rashtd.

(10) I n the Arabic text, the word

silver."
J !y''1

which is inadmissible.
.J JP

The word9'
slid S#, thc feminines of

419 signilies bubbles,

L

1 (Ibn) has been omitted through inattention.

and
which are atljectives in thc co~nparativedegree), 11 ithout their heing preceded by the definite a! ticle, or fol-
lo\\ed by a conlplerncnt ill the genitive casc. (Sec M. d e Saey's CrammZrire Arabe, tom. 11. p. 302.) Ao
Arab, grammarian, in noticing this fault, would say, is his technical language, J.eP;;)\ &I

(11) M r . Lane, in the second volume of his excellent translation of the Thousand and One Nights (p. 381).
refers to this passage, and supposes Lhat the word
work, is an error of the press for lastern.

L .J
as giten in my Arabic edition of Ibn Khallikin's
The best manuscripts agree, however, in giving
the correctness of this reading is confirmed by the following passage from Karnal ad-din's History of Aleppo :
1 ' l

(See Freytag's Selecta ex Historid Halebi, p. 34.) Were

we should necessarily b e obliged to suppose that, in the second,

&$j

JJ
27 1

#r

but this meaning is not indicated by the

lexicons; it occurs again, however, in page 413, line 5, of thc Arabic text, with the same signification.
(8) 111 the original Arabic. these verses are so turned, that they may be taken either as a compliment or a
sarcasm.

2, and

four candles of ambergris in as many candlesticks of

14.j the true reading in the first instance,

lf'\ is a mistake of the copyist for A+L;;
is not to be found in the lexicons with the signification of candlestick,
but this or lantern is certainly its meaning here. The same word occurs again in the next page of M. Frey-
tag's work, where i t is said that the princess Katr an-Nadi (dew-drop) went forth, preceded by four hun-
dred female slaves, each of whom bore in her hand a_L& of gold and silver, containing a candle of ambergris.
(12)Ahmad Ibn Y b u f Ibn al-Kisirn was the son i f an enfrahchised slave. He filled the place of katib in
one of the government offices, and was distinguished by his talents, instruction, prudence, and skill in state
i~ffairs;he was also a poet. On the death of the visir Ahmad lbn Abi KMlid, he was chosen to succeed
 27.2 IBN MHALLIKAN'S
I ~ i mby the khalif al-MdmPn, to whom he had been recomme~idedbj' i~l-HasanIbn Sahl. Ile died during
the reign of al-318mbn. (NS. No.895, fol. 211.)
(13) A b i ~'l-Abbis Ahrnad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ahmad al-Jurjhrli was a doctor of the sect of as-shifl,
He studied jurisprudence under Abf~Ishali as-Sbtrizi, and became emirrent for his talents. He filled the
place of kDdi at Basra, and was the shaikh of the Shafites in that city. He was learned in the Traditions
composed both in verse and is prose. Among his rvorls are the following: Kirdb as-Shdfi >U\(the hral-
ing), rare, in 4 vols. The Tojrld +,AI (Iha stripped), a large volume of legal llerisioni without the
proofs. 91-:lfudyidt .dl< .upuzzler),
(the l being a coilection of enigmas, jeux d'esprit, etc. ]Be died
A. H. 48.2 ( A . D. 10S9).-(Tab. al-Fok. Tab. as-Shdf.)
(14) This story is told differently i n another part of the work. See page 2s.
(iW See note is), page 228.
(161 Literally: Places.
(17) An oflice existed in each province, for the administration of the governmen1 estatcs, recovery of
tares. and registry of all property liable to taxation.

BURI TAJ AL-MULIJK.

Abil Said Bhri, surnamed TG al-Mulhk (crow11(g' kings) a n d Majd ad-din

(glory of re/igion) was the youngest son of Aiyhb I b n Shidi (whosc life has
been already given), and brother to the sultan Salih ad-din. I-Ie was a man of
talent; and his diwrirr, o r collected poetical works, though made up of pieces,
some feebly, and some well written (I), is yet good, if compared to those of
the epoch. 1 extract h r n i t the following lines, written on o n e of his mam-
18ks, who came riding up from the west on a grey horse:
My friend approached from the west, riding on a grey horse, and I exclaimed:
Glory to the Almighty! the sun has riser1 i n the west !"

T h e following piece is given as his by the kBtib lmPd ad-din, in the Kha-
rids r
0 ,thou who, when pleased, art my life; and when angry, my death 1 how beautiful
139 are the musk-spotted roses of thy cheeks(2) I Between thy eyelids is a (magic)power
which holdeth sway over my weakness. I strived to assume fortitude, though love
tormented me, and passed all bounds. Perhaps Fortune may one day grant, through
mistake, that I obtain From thee my cure.

He also quotes the following :

 BIOGRAPB-PlCAL DICTIONARY. 273
0, thou who bearest a lance as slender as thy waist! 0, thou who wicldest a sword
which wounds like thy glances! Quit the lance a n d sheath thy w e a p o n , for sometimrs,
u n d e s i g n e d l y , thou g i v e s t mortal wounds (with thy eyes).

This prince composed somc good poetry, and other specimens, 1,esidrs rklc
foregoing, are eiven b y Imld ad-din. Bilri was born in the month of Zti 'l-
Hijja, A . H. 556 (A. D. 1 1 GI), nod died near Aleppo, on Thursday the 23rd ot.
&far, A. H. 579 (June, A . D. 1183), of a mound he received 1vl.rc.n that 1,lau~
was besieged t ~ yhis brother, the sultan Salhh ad-din. They laid sitige to i t on
the 16th of Muharram, and on the same day, Biiri received the wound in his
knee of which he died. The kdtib Irnld ad-din says, in his &Bark us-SILchni :
On the concll~sionof the peace (3), the sultan, before his entry into the
city, had a feast prepared in the camp for Imid ad-din (Zinki),the lard of
Aleppo; he was sitting a t tabk, with Zinki by his side, and ~ v cwere in tltc
1' height of joy and pleasure, whrn the chamberlain entered and whispered to

( 1 the sultan that his brother was dead. 00 receiving this inf'ormation, he he-
c c traved no emotion ; and having given orders to bury him privately, lle conti-

nued to do the Ilonours of hospitality to the last moment.'' It is related that

Salih ad-din used to say : " We did not gain Aleppo cl-reaply a t the cost of T$j
L' al-Ml~li~k'slife."--Btir.i is a Turkish word and means cvo(f:

(1) Literally: Lean and fat; a rnctaphor taken from cattle.

( 3 ) Noles on the cheek are compared by the poets to spots of musk, which is of a black colour.
(3) Zinki otrered some rnsistance at first, but he then made a secret treaty with Salfih ad-din, and gale
Aleppo u p to him.

TUTUSH.

AbB Said Tutus11 ( l ) Ibn Alb Arslkn Ibn D5wild Ibn Mikail Ibn Saljdk Ibn
Dakik asSa1,jbki was lord of the countries to the east of Syria. When Badr al-
Jamlli held Damascus besieged by order of the lord of Egypt (the F a t i d e khalg'
d-Mustansir), the Turk Atsiz (2) Ibn ABk Ibn al-Khowlrezmi, who was then
in possrssion of the city, sent to implore the aid of Tutush,.whomarched to his
35
 S7G IBN HHALLIKAN'S
On af*r*iving near Damascus, Tutush was met by Atsiz, llrholl~he
caused to be arreslrJ, and havine put him to death, took possession of his
kinedolll : ,ids \\.as in (lle year ! r i l , on tlie l l [h of the second llabi (October,
A . I). 1078). Atsiz had become master of the city in [he month of Zir 'I-Kaada,
J 4 . D, 1076); I have read, hnlvever, in some llistotbica\work, [hat it
in 472. has been already stated in the life of Ak-Sunkur (R), that Tu-
140 tush took Aleppo in A. 11. 478 ; he then conquered the provinces of Syria,
but the dissensions which aftrmlards arose betwecn him and his nephc~vBark-
( led to a rvar, and a battle was fought between them, nrar the city of
Rai, on Sunday the 17th of Safir, A. H. 488 (February, A. D. 109.51, iri which
the troops of Tutush vere defeated, and he himself was slain : his birth was in
the motlth of Ramadin, !+58 (August, A. D. 1066). We lcft two sons, Fakhl.
al-Muli~kRidwin and Shams al-Mullik Abii Nasr Dakik, the former of whont
took possession of the principality of Aleppo, and the latter of that of Damascus,
Ridwhn died on the last day of the first Jumjda, A. 11. 507 (Noveml~er,A . D.
I I 13); it was from (one of) his lieu~enantsthat the Fllanks took Antioch in
the year 4.92 (4). Dakik died on the 18rh of Ramadin, A. I?. 497 (June, A. D.
1104), and was interred in the mosque situated in the I-Iakr ill-Fahtlhdin ( S ) ,
on the bank of the river Baradn outside Damasclis. Ile died 01' n liticering
illness, but it has been said that he was poisoned by his lnothcr wirll a bunch
of grapes. On his death, he was succeeded by his atibck, o r guardinn, Zahir
ad-din Abi~Rlansfir Toghtikin, to a-horn his mother had been given in lnnrriage
by his father Tutush. This Toghtikin was an enfranchised slave of Tutush.
Ridnin is [he ancestor of the family called Aulld al-Malik Ridwin (prince
Ridwhz's child re^^), which resides outside of Aleppo. Toghtikin continued in
possession of !he principality of Damascus till his death, which took place on
Saturday, 8th Safar, 522 (F(~ebrua~*y, G . D. 1,128.) Ile was succeeded 1,y his son
. Tij al-hlulik Abii Said BBri (G), who died on Monday, 21st Rajah, A. 11. 526

(June, A. D. 1132), of a wound he received from the Bitinites (7). 1Ie had for
successor IS son Shams al-Mulbk Ismail, who reigned till Thursday, 14th of
the second Rabi, 529 (February, A. D. 1 135), on which day he was put to
death by his mother KhBtiin Zumurrud (princess Emerald),daughter of JB
wili, and his brother Shihib ad-clin Abii 'l.Ki3im Mahm&j was placed by her on
the throne. hlahn~ildgoverned Damascus till be was murdered by his page
 BIOGRAPIIICAL I)ICTIONII\Y. 27s
at-Tug~sh,the euil~ichYilsuf, and the , f i ~ ~ - r r i(S)
s l ~;II-Klrarliiwi on the llight of
Thursday, 23rd Sllawwil, 533 (June, A . D. 11 39). ' h e nest morning, his
brother Jamll ad-din Muhammad Ibn BGri arrived from his principality of Baal-
l ~ e kand took possession of Damascos, where l ~ eremained till his dealh, \rlkich
happened or] the night of Thorsday, 8th SbHhln, 534. (March, A. D. 11!~0).
tie was succeeded ljy his son Mujir itd-din Abek, mho contir~uedto govern Da-
mascus till besiesed by Nbr ad-din Rlallrndd 1l)n Ziclki (A. H. 549, A. D. I 454).
when he delivered u p the city and received Emessa in exchange. He had no^
been long in Emcssa, when N i r ad-din sent him to Bilis, a town on the Eu-
phrates where he remained for some time, and then went to Baghdad, where
he was honourably received by the khalif al-M11kta8 (liamr illoh); but I do
not know the epoch of his death (9). When he was at Damascus, he confided
the government to Muin ad-din Anez Ibn Abd Allah, a mamlfik of his grand-
father Toghtikin. The castle of Muin ad-din, in the canton of al-Ghaur, which
is in the dependencies of Damascus, was so named after him; he died on the
night of the 23rd of the latter Rabi, 544 (August, A. D. 1149). It was his
daughter whom Niir ad-din MahmGd married, and who became wife of the
sultan Sallh ad-din on the death of her first husband. There is a college at
Damascus which was founded by Muin ad-din. -I have since discovered the date
of Mujir ad-din Abek's death ; it was (irr d.H. 564, A. D. 1168-9) as me
shall mention in the life of Nbr ad-din Mahrnild.

(1) In Reiske's Annals of Abh 'l-Fad& this name is incorrectly written Tanash.
(2) Reiske erroneously writes this name Ansuz.
(3) See page 225.
(4) This is a mistake; Antioch was taken by the crusadcrs A. D. 1098 (A. H . 4 9 t ) .
( 5 ) Rhkr al-Fuhhddln (ihe enclosure of the panther or ounce-keepers) ; the word hakr signifies an enclosed
ground; see Chrestomalhie, t. 1. 239. I t is well known that in he East, panthers and ounces were trained
for hunting. I n the Arabic text I have printed ,C11
in conformity with all my MSS. except one, which has
,$:d ; the lattcr reading seems preferable.
(6) These were also [he names and titles of a brother of SalAh ad-din; his life has been given in the preced-
ing article.
(?l See note (2), page 228.
(8) The duty of the farrhh is to pitch his master's tent, spread his carpets) and keep his furniture in
order.
(9) See honever the last lines of this article.
 TAKIYA BINT GHAITfl.

A]i Tahiya Bint Abi 'J-Faraj Ghaith (Ilhkj'll, inother oJ AZi and
r/lrlLg/llerof A Q g 'l-Faraj Gaith) lbn Ali Ibn Abd as-Salim 1bn Mullammad
1 4 1 lbrl Jaafar as-Sulami al-Armanizi as-Sdri was the mother of Abfi 'I-llasan Ali
Itln Fidil Ibn Samtliln as-Sbri. She was a woman bf talent, and cornposed
sonle good drrsrhbs and short pieces of poetry. The hrifZz as-Silafi, in whose
scr-vicp she had been for a time when at Alesandria, speaks of her farour-

:iljlv in some of his works, and the follo~vingpassage is found in his hand-
I\ riting : " I stumhled in the place of my abode, and my foot was \vounded

; which a girl in the house tore a piece off her veil and bound it
i l l r ~ ~ e b yon
1 ( l . Takiya herself pronounced the following verses on the occasion :
Had I found means, I should have given my cheek (2) rather than a maiden's veil.
How happy should I be to kiss a foot which has always trod i n the laudable path
(the path of righteousness).

In espressing this idea, she had in view the following lines, which are by
Ilari~rlIbn (Ali Ibn) Yahya al-Munajjim:
tfow should he stumble \\h0 hath always been upright under the gravest circum-
stances? How could a hurt happen to a foot which hath never swerved From the road
OF honour (31.

I have been informed by the hdJiz Abd al-Azim al-Mundiri, that Takiya
composed a kasidn in praise of Taki ad-din Omar, nephew of Salhh ad-din ;
i t s subject 1vas wine, and in it she described all the apparatus of a convivial
party (G), and every thing respecting wine. When the prince read the poem,
1le said, The old ladv knows all those things from her youth." Takiya having
been informed of what he said, composed another kasidn on war, in which she
desuriljed i t to perfection, and all its accompanying circumstances; she then sent it
to hinr, saying: "My acquaintance with that is like my acquaintance with this."
In so doing, it was her intention to justify herself ( 5 ) from the imputation which
he cast upon her character. Takiya was born at Damascus in the month of
Safar, A. H. 505 (August, A. D. I I I I ) ; I have seen, however, a note in the
handwriting of as-Silaf;, stating that she was born in the month of Muharram of
that year : she died in the beginning of Shawwil, 570 (January, A . D. I i S!,).
Her father Abb 'l-Faraj died towards the end of A . H. 509, and, as some say,
h the month of Safar of that year: he was an authority as a tradilionist (6).
Her .grandfather Ali Ibn Abd as-SalSm died at SBr (Tyre) on Sunday morning,
9th of the second Rabi, 478 (August, A. D. 1085). Her son Abb 'l-IIasan Ali,
who was a native of S i r , but a denizen of Egypt, died at an advanced age in
the city of Alexandria, on the 15th Safar, A. H. 603 (September, A. D. 1206).
He was an able grammarian and master of the different readings of the Ko-
ran (7); his handwriting was elegant and his orthography correct: his father
Fgdil was born at Damascus in the month of Shawwll, 4.90 (Septemher, 1097).
(This I have taken from a note written by the Iz&jz as-Silafi.) I find in the
handwriting of Abd 'l-Hasan that his father Fhdil, who was surnamed Abil
Muhammad, died at Alexandria in the hepinning of the first Rahi, 568
(October, A. D. 11 172). -Amza12cizi means hebngilzg to Armandz, which is
a village in the dependencies of Damascus; some say, however, that it is situ-
ated in the dependencies of Antioch, but the former statement is more correct;
As-Samlni says that i t is in the dependencies OF Aleppo, and I have been in- 243
formed by a person who saw Armanlz, that it is in the dependencies of Aleppo,
and lies at less than a mile's distance to the west of AzCz (a).--Sriri means be-
longing to Srir (Tyre),a city on the coast of Syria, and now in the hands of the
Franks, may God frustrate their projects! it was taken by them in the year 51 8
(A. D. 1124). God render its conqrlest easy to the Moslims ! (9)

(1) So slight a mention as this itas yct highly honourable, coming, as it did, from so great and learned o
man. Sec his life. page 86.
(2, See page 126, note (3).
(3) Literally : Which hath not ceased to tread towards an honourable station.
(4) See note ( I O ) , page 187.
( 5 ) Literally: T h e justification of the court of her dwelling.
(61 Literally: he was o thikat L;. See note (S), page 10%.
(7) See note (1'1,page 152. l

(8) This is one of the additions, made by the author, and as it frequently happens with him in such
rases, he has neglected to modify what was previously said, and has thus fallen into a contradiction.
A282 j !y, written also J1.P1, lies to the north of Aleppo. The country was celebrated for its beauty
a

and fertility.
(9) Tyre was not.retaken by the filoslirns till A. D. 1289, seven years,after Ibn Khallikdn's death.
 ZBN KHALLIKAN'S

ABU GHALIB AT-TAIYANI

~ b , Ghhlib
j Tamlllhm Ibn Ghilib 1b1i Omar the philologer, surnamed at-
Taiyini, was a native of Cordova, but had scttlcd at Murcia. He held the first
in the science of' philology, and was considered ;is a sure authority in his
doctrines on tl~atsubject (l). IIe was cited also for his knowledge of jurispru-
dence, his observance of [he precepts of religion, and his piety. His celebrated
compilation of pllilological remarks is uneq~ialledby any work of the kind both
fol- concision and cstensive information. The following anecdote, related of
the author Ly Ibn a.1-~aradi,is a proof not only of his learning, but of his strict
religious principles: L c W h e ~Abb
l 'l-Jaish Mujillid (2) took Murcia, he sent to
.IbC Ghilib, who was then residing in that city, a present of one thousand
dinars, with the condition that he should add these words to the title of his
('work: Composed Ly Abri Ghdlibfbr Abri'GJnish Yuj6llid. On this, he
l ' returned the money, saying : Were the world onered to me on that con-
dition, I should refuse it, to avoid having a falsehood LO answer for; it was
not for you that I composed the ~vor~k,but for the public at large.' -- How
admirable was the noble and lofty spirit of that a l ~ l ernaster (3)! what an
" honest pride, what integrity in that profound scholar !" Ibn IIaiyln says
that Abd GMlib was pre-eminent in his knowledge of the (Arabic) tongue,
and that all yielded to him in philology. He composed a most instructive
collection of philological observations, which he entitled Talkih nZ-Ain (4).
He died at Almeria, A . H. 436 (A. D. 104rc-5), in one of the months of Ju-
mida. Among his masters in philology were his father and Abil Bakr az-
Zubaidi.--I suppose that Taiybni is derived from Tin (jg), and means a
seller of that fruit.

(1) Those yhilolo,~ical doctriues consisted in the explanation of the terms and expressiorrs proper to the
language of the ancient Arabs These explanations could only be learned from tradition, and it is for this
reason that Ibn lihallihhn, in speaking of at-Taiylni, .hakes use of the word (thikat), which means a
sure authority i n the transmission of traditional information.
(2) Abil 'l-Jaish MujBhid Ibn Abd Allah al-ABmiri, surnamed al-Muwaffak, was an erlfranchised slave of
Abd ar-Rabmln Ibn al-Mansbr, Lhe hdjib or prime minister of the Spanish khalif Hishlm Ibn al-Hakam.
 BIOGRAPBICAL DICTIONARY. 279
In A. H. 406 (-4. D. 1015) he made an expedition to the Balearic Islcs and Sardinia, an accLouuLof ,,hickl is
given by Conde. On his return to Spain, he succeeded, after many adventures, in obtairrillg possession ot
Denia, Murcia, and the ncighbouring towns. He died a t Dcnia, of vhicli he was m d l i , or ;goyernor, in A. H.
436 (A. D. 4044-S), and left beliir~dtllc reputation of a just and ablc ruler, and a generous patron of men o f
learning, He \\as brought up a t Cordova.-(Bughiut ul-Multnmis.)
(3) A b l e muster; the Arabic word is Rals ( c h i e n ; which was perhaps the title given him as chief philolo,oer
of the agc.
(4)Tliis title signifies literally : Fructification of the Eye; it is perhaps a commentary on Kballl lbll
-4hmad's celcbrated Arabic dictionary the Bin, or a supplement to it.

TAMIM IBN AL-MOIZZ IBN AL-MANSUR.

Abii Ali Tarnim was son of al-Moizz Ibn nl-MansAr Ihn al-Kiim Ibn al-
Mahdi. His father was lord of Egypt and Maghrib, and the founder of the
citv of Cairo (cvhiclr is f i r that recrson entitled) nl-Moizziya. (We shall give
his life in the letter M , and have already made mention of a number of his
family; of the others we shall speak hereafter.) Tamim was a man of supe-
rior talent and a poet, gifted with a subtle wit and a refined taste; he did not,
llo~vever,obtain the supreme authority, as the throne devolved to his brother
al-Aziz in virtue of the solemn covenant by which this prince had been recog-
nised, during his father's lifetime, as the legitimate successor to the empire.
Al-Aziz also composed some good poetry, a n d a great number of pieces by him
and by his brother are given in at-Thailibi's Yatinza. The followirlg verses
are by Tamim :
The love I borc her did not appear excusable Lill her hair spread a dark shade on
her cheek, and her beauty had attained its perfection (1). The locks which en~ircled
her cheeks (21 aspired to kiss her lips, but she repelled them with the drawn sword of
her glances. By Allah I were I not apprehensive that people should say of me : "His
" head is deranged by love ;" (and yet I am justified in loving I)-on kissing those rosy
cheeks, I should think them a bunch of violets, and her shoulders of camphor (white-
ness) I shohld mistake for aabcrgris (3): I

By the same :
I swear by Him who alone possesses sovereign poper, and who knows the most hid- 1/15
den secrets I that painful though it be to conceal one's sufferings, it would be, for me,
more grievous and painful to reveal them (k). I undergo tortures the least of which
would force the eyes to shed tears (from pain), and*yet, for her sake, I always wear
a smiling face.
 280 IBN KBALLIKAN'S
The author of the Yntfina gives the following lines as being romp(,sed by
Tamirn :
No ! the mother of the tender fawn vho passed days and nights in the desert
fering from thirst,-who roamed unconscious and wandered i n amaze through the
\~ilderness,-whom the noontide heat oppressed, and who found not a rlroj~of cool
water to quench her thirst,-who drew near to her fawn, and, hanging h ) ~ ~ r(lvela ll~
it, foundits flanks parched and shrunk,-that mother felt not greater pain tlliirl I on thr
day of my friends' departure), when they girthed their camels, and a voice exclaimed
from the tribe : Adieu for ever !" (5)
l'

The followiag (well-Anorvn) line is attributed LO him also :

Evil Fortune was mortified (and frustrated) by (the abundance o f ) his gifts ; such mar-
tification he also felt when forced to refuse (a solicifation,).

AI1 Tamirn's poetry is good. The author of thc Dual NZ-Mz~nkrrtin(6) says
that he died in the month of 215'l-Kaada, A. H. 374, (April, A . D. i)81,),in Misr;
and al-Otaki (7) states in his History, that his death took place on thc afler'ntron of
'J'uesdav, 13th of the month, and that his brother al-Aziz Niziir was prrbsentat
t h e funeral prayers, which were said over. him in his garden : the kldi Muham-
~ n n d Ibn an-Nomin (S) washed the corpse, and having wrappcd it u p in sixty
rohes, he brought it out of the garden towards sunset, and prayed o ~ e ri t at the
Kariifn ('3); he then bore it to the castle of Cairo, and placed it in the vault
wherein the body of his father al-bloizz was deposited. Muhammad Ibn A bd al-
Jlalik al-Ifamadhni (l 0) says, in bis work entitled al-flfacirjf czl-ML~tadk?zir~
(Sciences of (ater Til~zes),that Tamim died in the year 375 ; God knows best!
-i third writer says that he was born in A. H. 337 (A. D. 948-9).

(1 The 5erb &

. in the second form signifies to have the face encircled with the i z d r , whir11 vtord is
1
prplained in the Introduction. I have modified the idea for an obvious reason.
( 2 L i t e r a l l l : The scorpions of bcr face. See Introduction.
(R' What I have here translated rosy cheeks, means literally, the apple o f her cheeks; the similitude be-
[aecrl ltlc violet and the iacir t~asbeen explained in the Introduction; camphor wilh Arabic poets 1s the
rmblem of nhilerless, us musk is of blackness, and ambergris is prized for its whiteness and perfume.
(4) His nfllir~ionwas love; but respect for his mistress obliged him 10 conceal it.
(5) Literally: "Xo meeting again!"
16) See page 152, note ( 5 ) .
-
.(7)Abh Ahd ar-Rahrnin Muhammad Ibn Abd Allah al-Otaki is the author of the work entitled Tariklt
nl-.Tfflghdriba (History o f t!fe nnfioes o f ~Naghrib).- (Ad-Dahabi's Mushrabih al-Asmd, M S No. 862.)
 IIIOC;RAI'TI.ICAL DICTIONARY. 28 1
81-Cltaki died A. H. 385 ( A . 1). !)!IS). His life is given by Casiri in the Bibliotheca Arabica, torn, 1. p. 431,
after the Tarikh a l - l l u k t l n ~ d ,or Ifistory of the Pl~ilosophers,hy az-%ozcni. SecIlib. Arab. No. 1773. 1 havr
given an i~coountofaz-Zozeni's v o r k in a Iloteoll the life o f T h l b i t lhrl Kurra; see page 290. C;lsiri does
seem to have known this author's name, alllrough he cites his authority frequently.
( 5 ) aluhammad I b n an-Non18rr was borrr at KairawBn, A. $1. 345 ( A . D. 956). l i e accompa~liedhis falher
to ~ g y p t and
, was appointed kbdi hy al-Aziz ill the year 374 ( A . D . 988-51.Before him, this place was
filled by his brother Ali I1)n an-Norn511, who dicd in that year. The death of the kildi .\lutlnnrnrnd took place
A. 11. 389 (A. D. 999). T h e ceremony of his irlstnllation is thus related: "After receiving from al-Aziz a
pelisse of honour and a sword, Ile proceeded on the same day (from the castle) to the city; as he was suffering
from illness, he was seated in a covered chair which was placed on the back of a mule. On et~teringthe
great mosque, hc found himself unable to preside a t the mcetirlg (held for his installation), and he there-
Sore went honro i111dleCt his son Abd 01-Aztz and his nephews with the notaries; it was in their presence that
the diplnma was read after Friday prayers. By i t he was appointed kldi of Egypt, Alexandria, Mekka,
kledilra, i111d the f~rovir~ces of Syria; he was autliorised also to preside at public prayers (which was oite o f
the privileges { j ~ a n l e ttlo governors o f provinces and r,i:irsj, and was empowered to act as controller of the
mint, and inspector of weights and. rneasures (these were duties usually filled by the chief magistrate of po-
lice or filulttasib, d " ,docurncr~t
111this . the rlanrcs of his rather aud brothers were me~~tioned in terms
of higtl ~)r,~isr."-(lbnIIojr's Ri'story o f the liddis of E g y p t , M S . KO. 691.)
(91 See note (12), page 53.
(10) According to lIajji Kllalifa, Illis wriler died A. B. 521 ( A . D. 1127.:

TAMIM IBN AL-MOIZZ IBN BADIS.

Abii Yahya T a m i m was son of al-Rloizz (and a descerzdant of Kalztdn; l t i ~

genealogy is iliu.r giver2 :) (I) 'ra ali m Ibn al-Moizz Ibn Bidis Ibn al-Mansi'ir Ihn
Bolukkin Ibn Ziri Ibn Manid Ibn hlarlki'ish Ibn Zanik (2) Ibn Zaid al-Asghar
(the Zes.c) Ibn Wrrshril Ibn Wazghali I l ~ nSari Ibn Watloki Ibn SulaimAn Ibn
al-MQrith Ibn Adi 'I-Asgbar al-Mathna (the Iesdor the second) Ibn Miswar Ibn
Yahsub Ibn Milik Ilm Zaid Itln al-Ghnuth al-Asghar Ibn Saad; Saad, named
also -4bd Allah, was son of Anf Ihn Adi Ibn filhlik Ibn Zaid Ibn Sadad Ibn Zuri;
Zori, who was Himyar the less, was son of Saba the less, son of Kaab Ibn Zaid
Ibn Sahl Ibn Amr Ibn Kais Ibn Moiwia Ibn Jusham Ibn Abd Shams Ibn Wgil(3)
Ibn al-Ghauth lbn Haidln (4) Ibn Rit1*.(5) Ihn Auf Ibn Arib Ihn Zuhair Ibn
Aiman Ibn al-Hamaisa Ibn Amr Ibn Himyar; Himyar, named also al-Aranjaj,
was son of Saba the elder, son of Yashhob (6) Ibn Yarub Ibn Kaht3n Ibn Aibir
36
 282 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
(Ileber); AQbir is tbc same person as tlre prophet IIiid, who was son of' Shililr
(Salelt) son of Arfakhshnd son of Sem son of Noall. Such is thc slale~llc~lt madt)
by imhd in the K/larida.-This T;lnlim, W ~ W:~SO s i ~ r n a ~ n eal-llinlyari
d
144 as-Sun&ji jCyrurlg/inn, Sunhdj arzd ilir1y+ut2,t~ccarnesovcrcien of 1frikiya
allJ the neighbouring countries on the dent11 of his f:~thrrd-Moizz. Ilis go-
vernment \\as just, and his conduct pr;tise\vor~hy; he liked mcn of learning, and
honoured persons of inlent; for this reason, poets came from the most distant
regions to celebrate lris praise, and, amongst the rest, Ibn as-Sarri,j as-SCri.
Tamirn's ancestor, al-Malhna i l n al-l\lis\17ar, was the first of thc rarnily wllo
entered Ifrikiya (7). Ibn Rasl~ikal-Keiraahi coi~~posud a nuorber of pieces in
honour of Tan~im,and in one of them is this passage :

The truest and most authentic history of librrality which has hecn transmiltod from
ancient times, is that narrative made by the torrents, whicl~learned it from the rain,
which received it from the sea, which held it from thc hand of l'amim (8).

The emir Tamim himself composed sorne good poetry, of which the Following
are specimens :
If my eyes looked at hers, she would know with whom I should wish a secret inter-
view. Her glances seem to reach the heart and discover its hiddcn contcrlts.

By the same:
Ask of the abundant rains n hich have watered all thy country, if they fell as copiously
as my tears! IF i t be thy character to show aversion and rigour (to thy (over), patience
should be mine; but \f here shall I find it?

The ka'tib lmld ad-din speaks of him in the Sail, and gives the following pas-
sages of his poetry :
I thought of hell and its fires (and when the wicked sh'all exctaim :) "Alas for us !
There is no time for escape (9)." I then invoked the Lord, for my best rccommenda-
tion to his mercy is to declare the sincerity of my faith.

By the same :
How often have I drunk intoxication off faces which in beauty far surpassed descrip-
tion. The cheeks were like roses, the teeth like pearls, and the ringlets like myrtle [10).

The merits of Tamim were abundant like his poetry, and his gifts were be-
stowed with liberality. It was in his reign that the Mahdi, Muhammad 1bn
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 253
Tilmort, passed tlrrbough Ilrikiya on his return from rile Easi, and manifested his
disapproval or those whom h e saw traospess the rules of' the divine law; frorn
tl~encellc went to RIorocco, where he o c q ~ ~ i r celebrity
rd bv his proceedings. I IIe r 7

emir Tamiln was boro a t al-Mansbriya (called also Sabra (I I ) , a town i n thp
I)rovinc~of Ifrikiya), on Monday, /I 3 t lr ilajab, A. 11. 4.22(Ju1yy,A . D. I031 j :
Ile was entrrrstrd by his father with the goverinment of al-Mahdiya, in the month
of Safar, 11.11. 4!15, and he remained in command or that city till his falher's
death, which took place in the month of' S h i b l n , A. H. 454 (August, A. D. 1063),
when he l~ecnmesole master of the kingdom. He continued in the exercise of
suprcrlrc a~~tlrority till-he died in A. 11. 50.1, on Friday night, 15th Rajab (Fcb-
ruary, A . D. 1 1 08). IIe was buried in his palace, but his corpse was afterwards
removed to Kasr as-Sida at hlonastir ( 3 2 ) . He left after him upwards of one
hundrbetl sons and sixty daughters, accordin{; to the account given byhis grandson ra :$
Ibn Shaddid in his Ilistoryof Kairawhn (1 3).-I have already marked the manner
, in which the names of some of his ancestors are to be pronounced, but it ~ ~ o u l d
occupy too much room, were 1 to fix lhe orthography. of the remainder. I have
11-rit ten I hem hcrc, however, with the vowel points (I !I), so that any person who
nrislres to clnote the genealogy has only to follow what I have here given after a
~ ~ oi l le I hc hand\vritiu(: of a man of informa lion.-flfonastir shall be noticed in
the life of al-Iifisiri.

(1) This grnealogical list has been drawn up after the MSS. o f Ibn Rhallikin, and confronted with the
~ Imlld ad-din in his Et~ar2da (MS. No. 1375, fol. 591, and an-Nuwairi in his History of
copies of it g ~ v c rby
the Zirite dynasty (MS. No. 702, fol. 201- The latter writer says that he extracted it from the &I
L
5 or History of Maghrib and Kairarbn,
dhJ composed by a grandson of Tamlm Ibn a l - l o i n Ibn Bldis,
nhose name nas Izz ad-dill AbQ Muhammad Abd al-Aziz Ibn Shadddd. I am inclined to suspect this genea-
logy to be a forgery, and that it \+as fabricated to flatter the Zirite princes, who naturally desired to prove
their descent from a n Arabian stock. A number of names in it appear to be Berber, and might be adduced
as a proof that the Arabic language was not then in general use in the tribe of Sunhilj. Other lists besides
the present are extant, sho\\ing the descent of the Ilimyacites from Kahtln, but none of them is in perfect
accordance n ith tllc others. This is however a curious document, tracing, as it does, the tribe of Sunhlj up
to that of Himyir; which point, if proved, would be important for the history of Northern Africa: the fact is
indeed assertcd by many Arabian historians, b u t I should not admit i t were it founded merely on thk au-
thority of suspicious senealogies.
(2) There are diperences between the MSS. iil the manner of pointing some names in this list. Thc
following various r e a d i n g may not be undeserving of notice: Zaiydk d y k 4 j for ZanM; lTfashfdk
Gfl&b for TVushfUl, IVarghnfi and Wardfi for Hhzghdfi, Wailki for Watloki.
 IBN KH.4I,l,TI<AN'S
(3) Or Wathtl
(4) Perhaps Hudddn.
(5) Eotn & according to t l ~ cXhortda.
(6) 'Fashjub according to the IClrrlbs.
(7) The historian (1bn Shoddad, see note (i)) says that al-Mathna I h n RI-Miswm w a s t h e lirst o f llir
family l\ho entered l\laghrib. FVhcn the Abjssians took Yemen from the ffirnyarit(ls, IIP ~ n ~ i g r ; ~ l10c d&fa@-
rib, in consequence of a prediction made to h ~ mby a sonthsayer, 111~lnlllolt of slkich \\;Is, t h i ~ tsome of his
posterity in that country a e r c to obt;~inan empire.-(An-Nuwairi, MS. NO. 702, fol. 27.)
(8) The 4rabs compare liberalit) to a torrent or to the ocean, a n d f ~ ~ q u e n t desigoalc
iy it h y tlre rnlh[em
of humidity. This poet therefore represents the waters of ttle torrent as proceeding from lhc hanti of the
prince, and then transmitted by the sea to tho rain, and hy the rain to the torrent. T h i s hlrraidity o r liberality
resembles therefore an anclent tradition, \\hich is handed down frorn one gencratiorl to an~)tIlcr. Sucll 1s the
Idea expressed ~n these berses.
(9)Koran, surat 38, v. 2.
(10) Arabic poets frequently compare the hair to myrtle, on account of its darlc rolonr. Tile word
[myrtle) is often used metaphorically to designate the hair.
(ii)See note 12), page 249.
(12) See note (g), page 232.
(13) See note (1).
(141 These rowel poi~itshave been omitted by the copjists.

SHAMS AD-DATVLAT TURAN SIIAII.

Al-Malik al-Muazzam Shams ad-Dawlat (the exalted prince, sun o,f'thc em-
pire) T h i n Shih Ibn Aiyiih Ibn Sllidi Ibn Marwln was surnamcd F a l h ad-din
(glory $religion). Mention has been already made of his fathcr and iris hro-
ther Tij al-Mulhk (I). He was an eldrr brother of the sultan Salhtr ad-din,
who often expressed his high esteem of him, and treated hirn wirll tlcference.
In the month OF Rajah, 569, the sultan having eslablishecl his autlroiaity on a
solid hsis and strengthened his army, sent Iris brother Tiirin Shhlr, ~vithn
clrosen body of troops, from Egypt to Yemen against A bd an-Nahi Ibn Mahdi.
This man pretended that his authority was to extend over all the land, and hav-
ing become master of the greater part of the cities and fortresses in that pro-
vince, he caused the kllotba (2) to be said in his own name. Tdr51l Shah, on
his arrival in Yelnen, obtained the victory by God's permission, and slew the
rebel. 1Ie then took possession of nearly all the country, and enriched great
numbers by his donations, for he was of a noble and gensrorls disposition. He
 BlOCR.4PXIlCAL DICTIONARY. 283
Yemen wllcn the sultan was besirping Alrppo, and arrived at Damascus in il1rk
lnonth of Zil'l-Ifijja, A. 11. 571 ( J u I I ~A, . D. I 176). Salih ad-din, on raising d,,~
siege, went hack to Egypt, after appointing Tbrin Shih as his liculenant in
Dar-i-iascus, where he remained for some time and then returned to hlisr. Ibrl
Shaddhd says, in his IIistory oS Salih ad-din, that al-Malik al-hluazzarrr Tlirirl
Sldh died at Alexandria on Thursday, 1st of Safar, A. H. 571; (June, A . D.
1180) ( 3 ) , hut in anotller part of the work he states that his death took phce or,
the 9th of Safar. His body was transported to Damascus by Sitt :is-Sham,
who was his sister by dre father's side, and was interred by her in the col-
lege which she had founded outside the city. That edifice contains also her
tomb, that of her son IIusim ad-din Omar son of Lijin, and that OS hcr secorid
husband, N b i r ad-din Abb Abd Allah Muhammad I l ~ nAsad ad-din Shirklih,
whon~she had espoused on the death of Lijin. -1Insh1n ad-din (the s ~ l o r dof
religio~r)(lied on the night of Thursday, 19th Ramadin, 587 (October, A . I).
1191); he was master of the eunuch Sllil~lad-Dawlat (a*hel/, of the er~~pireJe) lii-
fiir Ibn Abd Allah, who was therefore entitled al-Hzisa"mi, and who fo~lndedthe
SItibl+n college and the S1~iblzj.aconvent outside of Damascus, on the road
leading to Mount KLsiiln; these two establishments have a certain celebri~ya t
Damascus. Shibl ad-Dawlat founded a great number of wakfs (?C) and charita-
ble insiilurions useful (to o f h e r s ) in this life and (to hinzsey) in thc next. IIv
died in Rajah, G23 (.luly, A . I). 12261, and 11as interred near the Shiblg-a Col-
lege, in the mausoleum .\vllich bears his name.--Mention shall he made of Nisir
ad-din Muhammad, son of Shii.killl, in the life of his father. -Sitt as-Sham (the
lady cf Syria) died on the 16th ZA '1-Kaada, 61 6 (January, A. D. 1220).-On
finishing this article, I found some further information i n the handwriting of a
person of merit, who had cullivated the science of biography; this additional
note I shall give here, and let what I have already said stand as it is. His nar-
ration is as follows: - Urhen Shams ad-Dawlat had reduced the province of
Yemen to tranquillitv, and submitted it to his authority, he felt a dislike to IBG
residing in that country, having been brought up in Syria, a land of abundance,
whilst Yemen was a sterile region, deprived of every advantage. He therefor-c
wrote to his brother, offering his resignation and demanding his authorisation to
return to Syria. (ht l ~ i sletter) he complained of his unpleasant situation, and
of the sufferings which he underwent in being deprived of the necessary con-
veniencies of life. Salill ad-din sent a letter in reply, cncouray;ing liirrh to con-
tinue in a country possessed of so much rvvraalth and forming SO exterlsive an cm-
i r e Slrams ad-Da\ylal, on hearing ihe contents of the Icttclh, ordered lris tma-
.;urtlr to 1,riog 11im a thousand gold pieces, and, ~ i v i n gda.~rlto lris major-domo
irl presence of llrr messenger rrho hrougllt the lettor, he or~drrcdtrim to sent]
In the ilrartet alld buy a lump of ice with that sum. T o [his tlre majordomo
ans1yered: ~6 hly j ~ r d , this is Yemen, and how can ice be found in it?"--(~T~ll
tllem illen," said tlie p i n c r , " to buy with it a tray o r apt*icots(S)."--6' llow
could such a fruit be found here?" was the reply. TIC then rra~nedall the
t s fruit peculiar to Damascus, and the major-domo manirested his
different s o ~ ~of
;rstonishment, arrd said, as each species was named: "IIow, my lord, could
L;
a tllirrg be found here?" Shams ad-Dawlat, 1l;rving a t length fillishecl,
to ttlr messenger: ''1 should like to know what is to be done with these
riches, since they cannot procure me the pleasures of' life, nor ruroish m e with
what I desire :' ZCIoney cannot be eaten, and its sole use is, that I't onables
man to attain the object of his wishes." The messenger, on Iris rclurn, re-
lated the circumstance to Saliih ad-din, who, in consequence, allo\vetl his 1)rolher
to come hack. Al-Kidi al-Fidil used to write to Shams ad-Dnwlat, and in his
letters, \vhich were elegantly drawn lip, he expressed the ardent dcsirc hc had
(,of seeing hin2 ~ g n i n;) one of these letters contained this well-known piece of
verse :
Re riot offended at my conduct; for my bosom is (alas!) inclincd to betray the secrets
of love. By thy deparbure 1 die, and by thy return I receive new l i b . Time swore to
separate us; when will it relent and break its oath? Thy letters a r e strewcd around my
couch, and I seem t o be a victim stung by thee, whilst they art! the magicians which
strive to effect my cure [ G ) . How long can thc body exist deprivcd of life? How long,
whcn deprived of respiration ?

Shams ad-Dawlat returned to Damascus in the year above-mentioned, and

Salih ad -din, on his departore for Egypt, A . H . 574 ( A . U. 1178), appointed
him as his lieutenant. He had already sent him to subdue h b i a in [.he year
568 (A. D. 1172-3); this was before his expedition to Yemen. W h e n he arrived
in Nubia, Ire found that its conquest would not repay the trouble, and he there-
fore left it and returned with a rich booty, consisting of slaves. IIe held from his
brother a number of fiefs for his support, and the taxes of Yemen mere collected
in his name by his lieutenants, yet he died indebted to the treasury-office for a
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 287
sum of two hundred thoilsand dinars (T), which were paid in by Saljh ad-din.
master, the learned and talented shaikh Ibn al-Khaimi al-llilli (tlatiuc g,
Ijy;&), who had settled in Egypt (S), relates that he had a tlrcam, in which htl
saw Shams ad-Dawlat T h i n Shih dead in his tomb; and that he recited to t\le
prince some verses in his praise, on which he rolled up Iris shroud and tt~rewi t
to him (Jb12 al-fi'llni~ni),saying:

Think it not slight, the gift which I make when dead, for, in bestowing it, my body
remains naked. Imagine not that avarice could ever blemish the generosity of one 247
who lavished the weallh of Syria and of ITemen. I left the world, and, of all which
my hands possessed, a winding-sheet alone remained with me.

When Shams ad-Dawlat was in Yemen, he appointed a1-MubBrak Ibn Mun-

kid (whose life sball be given in the letter M,) as his lieutenant in the city of
Zabid .- l i i r * c i l l is a Persian word ; ShciJt is also Persian and means king; Tu"rdn
Shdh signifies king of ~lreEast. The East was named TLi'rdn, because it is
the country of the Turl<s, who are called Turkkn by the Persians, which word
has been altered into Tu"ra"7z.

(1) See pages 243 and 272.

(2) See note (2), page 174.
(3) See Saladini vita e t res gestcz, p. 4'5.
(4) See note (IT), page 49.
(6) Apricots, & literally, almond apricots : d . a beautiful ell-flavoured fruit with n sweet
.' kernel."--(Russell's Aleppo, vol. I. p. 87.)-See also De Sacy's Abdallatif, p. 132.
(6) Literally: Thesc are the magicians, the blowers. This is a learned allusion of the kldi's to a super-
stitious practice prevalent among the ancient Arabs. W h e n a person was stung by a scorpion, enchanters
were called in, who blew upon the wound and performed other ceremonies to effect a cure. Another ap-
proved receipt was, to prevent the patient from sleeping, and fur this purpose a number of metal bracelets
and collars, such as are worn by females, were shaken a t his ears all night; or else he performed this opera-
tion himself. It is thus that the poet an-NAbigha ad-DubyAni says:

~ L - " d ? - ? ! ~ ' ~ ~ s l , ~ * ~ ( W ~ J j ~ ~
" H e that is wounded by its sting remains awake the entire night, and a rattling sound proceeds from the
" women's ornaments which he holds in his hands."
(7) About 120,000 pounds sterling.
(8) See in the life of Thj ad-din al-Kindi Zaid I b n al-Hasan.
 ass IBN KHJ~LLTBAN'S

TIIABIT IIZN KURRA.

Al,il 'leljasan Thibit Illn Kurra Ibn IInrdn (or Znhriln) lk)n T h i b i t 11111 Ha-
riy a ILn Jlerirlds lbn Jigerifis ( A l ~ i i n ~ al-Ilar1r.5ni
~o~) was 3 {;reat arithmetician
;Ind pllilosopllPr. lie commenced his carcer as a n l o n ~ ~ y - r h a n g ta~tr ilnrrin,
to Baghdad, where ire sfudied with sliccess the scieria*sof the
ancienh { l ) . He a superior kno\vledgr of nrcdicinc, b u ~lrc deroced
himsell pril,cipnlly to philosopl~y. About twenty t~*eatiseswere composed by
on difEereilt branches of science, and the work of E:uc:lid, \vhich Iracl been
lmnslatpd illto Arabic hv Iiunnin Ibn Ishak al-Ihttli, received from trirn a better
ordel,, its dillicul(ies \rere removed, and its obs(:erities rlea~>ed up. IIc ;,trained
hr. his talents an eminent rank among his contcrnporarics; IN[ lravine, in his
intercourse with the persons of his sect (Z),advanced principles which ther con-
sidered heterodox, he was cited by the111before tllc chief 01' ttlcir religion, who
coridernned his doctrines and forbid him to enter tlre church. On this, he re-
r1ounccd his opinions and returned to his sect ; but relapsing, some tirrlo after, ir~to
his formrr doctrines, Ire was excluded from the congl6c.gat.iorr. In consequence of .
this, he retired from Ilarrfn and settled at Kafr.atil!ha, wkrero h e continued to
reside, and where he met wit11 Rfuhammad Ibn Mlisa (3), who was on his return
to Baghdad from the country of the Greeks. Muhammad, s ~ r u c l with i his talent
and the elegance of his language, took him to Baghdad ant1 lotlged hirn in his
own house; tie then presented him to the khalif (h), who placed him among
his astronomers. Thibit then settled at naghdad, and his chi1drc.n and their
posterily lrave continued to inhabit it to tlle present day.-finfratit/za is a
town situated in RIesopotnrnia near Drira. - T h i l i t Ibn K ~ r r r awas born A . H.
221 (A. D. 83G), and died on Thursday, 26th Safar, 238 (I?(hhrl~ary,A. D. 901).
He belonged to the sect of tlrc Sabeans, and had a son named I l ~ l r h i m ,who
equalled him in nlerit, atid was onc of tlre greatest physicians of lris tinle. The
poet Sari ar-RafE having been cured of at, illness by lbrahim, composed in his
honour the following lines, which are the Lest ever made on the subject of
medicine :
Who is there, after God, to heal the sick-who suffices, if not ibn liurra? Philoso-
phy was dead, and he revived it among us ; the traces of medicine were effaced, and
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 289
he restored them to light. IIe is like Jesus, the son of Mary, w h o by a simple word
bestowed life. I presented him a phial (3), and he saw therein that which was con- 148
cealed between my ribs and my heart. The hidden malady appeared to him as plainly
as pebbles at the bottom of a clear pond.
By the same on the same :
Ibrahfm, by his surpassing knowledge, obtained the title of the heir of science. He
brought to light the path of medicine, the traces of which had long been effaced among
mankind. From the penetration of his mind, you would think that he passed betweerr
the blood and the flesh (to discover diseuses so well). When the soul quarrels with the
body, he effects a reconciliation.
-Abi~ 'l-Hasan Thibit Ibn San$n was grandson of Thibit Ibn Kurra. He also
was a Sabean, and inhabited Baghdad during the government of Moizz ad-Daw-
lat Ibn Buwaih. This learned and skilful physician taught the works of Hippo-
crates and Galen ; he shewed great penetration in discovering the sense of ob-
scure passages, and he trod in the footsteps of his grandfather, cultivating, like
him, medicine, philosophy, geometry, and the erracl sciences(G) or the ancieots.
He wrote a very good work on hislory (7). Some sav that the first piece of verse
given above was composed hy as-Sari on him.-3Yar.r.cini means belongkg ro
Harrrln, a well-known city in Mesopotamia : at-Tabari says in his History that
it was built by Hiran, uncle of the patriarch Abraham, whose name it bore ;
and that this name was in Arabic converted into I-Iarrin (S). HLrhn was the
father of Shra, wife of Abraham ; one of Abraham's brothers was also called IIirin;
this was the father of Lot. -Al-Jauhari says in his Lexicon, tllc Sahcih, that from
HOT-r&, the name of a town, is derived the relative adjective Harnrini, which
is a word of irregular formation, and that the vulgar form Narrkni is regular.
(1) See page 149, note (3).
t2) H e belonged to the sect of the Sabeans.
t3) The life of Muharnmad I b n Mhsa is given in this work. See also Abzclfedm Annales, tom. 11. p. 241.
(4) According to az-Zozeni, it was the khalif al-Motadid to whom Thhbit Ibn Kurra was presented by
Muharnmad lbri MOsa.
(5) Literally : My urinal.-Notwithstanding Ibn Khall~kBn's admiration of these strange verses, I must
say that even in the original language they are very poor, and offer no excuse for a profane comparison and
1
a gross idea.
(6)T h e exact sciences (which were comprehended under the term of Quadrivium by the schoolmen of the
middle ages,) are, according to Hajji Khalifa, geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music.
(7) "ThBbit Ibn Sanhn Ibn Thhbit Ibn Kurra lived in the days of (the khal.ff&al-Mgtf Lillah, and under
the government of al-Aka Ahmad l b n Bilwaih (see his life, page 165). Before that, he was attached to the
serf ice of (the khalif) ar-Rldi, and held a great eminence by his knowledge of medicine; he was learned in its
37
 IBN IiIIhLLIKhN'S
fundamental principles, Irigbtg skilful in resolving the difficulties {met toit/)) in the books (of the Greeks
treat on that science), and Ivas charged uith the direction of the hospital a t Baghdad. The eloyupnt
k&t;b ~ i l Ibn~ lal-B1uhassan Ibn Ibralllm as-slbi was his sistrr's son. This ThBbit c o ~ l l ~ o sthe~ dcelebrated
surpasses in exterir all other works of the kind. I t begins shortly after the Scar of the Bijrn 290,
history
and proceeds to A. H, 363, in nhic]r year the autltor died. His nephew Hilhl (lbn) d - h l ~ h a s s a nIbn Ibrahtm
,-olltinued it, and were it [rot for tht.rn, much of the history of that period liad remained uok11owl1. I f you
want a gnod series of historical ~ o r k s ,take that of at-Tabari, which extends from the creation 10 the yeat
309 the HGra); and you would (10 well to join with it thc woric of Ahmad Ibn Abi T l h i r and that of his
son Obaid Allah (seethe end of this note), for they have given a perfect. account of the Abbaside dynasty, and
have furnished details not to be found in at-Tabari; the works of these three finish nearly at the same epoch,
but at-Tabari's goes oil a little farther than the others. After these, comes the mork of Thhbit, for it corn.
mences some years before the period to which at-Tabdri's history rcaclles, and it proceeds to the year 363. ~f
join to that, al-Farghhni's continuation of at-Tabari, you will do well, for it is fuller, i n some places, than
the work of Thibit. Therl comes thc work of Hill1 Ibn al Muhnssan Ibn Ibrahtm as-Sllbi, which commences
%herehis uncle Thlhit's history ends, and proceeds to the gcar 447: nonc of his contcn~porarieshavc under-
taken, lilie him, to judge events and discover the secrets of dynasties; this h p lcartled from his grandfather,
who, being secretary of the chancery-oftice (see note (4),page 33), was acquainted with what occurred: he
also was in the chancery-office, and the facts which came to his knowledgc llicre, served to form his historical
compilation. Then follows the aork of bis son Ghars an-Nima Muhammad Ihn HilAl, which is very good till
it approaches the year &7O,but is of inferior merit 9 from that period to thc cnd; the reason of which ~ o d
only knows. This history is then taken up by (flluharnnad) 1br1 (Abd at-nfalik) al-Harnadbni, who brings it
down to the year 512; it is also continued by Ibn ar-RbghOlli &+>)\ (see at the end of this note,) to the
year 327; he gives, however, but an unsatisfactory account of that period, as history was not his profession.
Afier him, Afif ad-din Sadaka al-HaddAd continues the history beyond the year 570; Ibn al-Jawzi brings it
down to 550,and it is continued by Ibn a l - ~ d d i s i ~ > ? e to
) ! the year 616.-Hill1 Ibn al-Muhassan says: On
the eve of-Wednesday, l l t h Zu 'l-Kaada, 365 (July, A. D. 976), died A b b 'l-Hasan Th%bitIbn Sanln Ibn
Thftbit Ibn Kurra, the historian."-(Tawdrikh al-Huhamd, MS. of the Bib, du Roi, Supplement, No. 105,p. 94.)
The aork from which this extract is taken was con)poscd by Muhammad Ibn Ali al-Khatlbi nz-
Zozeni &j9,,! 1 &\
. .. in the year of the Hijra, 647 (A. D . 1249). I t conta~ns,in alphabetical order,
the lives of those Grecks, Syrians, Arabs, Indians, and Ilebrews, who were eminent for their knowledge in
medicine, astronomy, and mathematics. A copy of it is in the library a t lhc Escurial, and is noticed by
Casiri in his Bibliotheca drabica, under the number 1773. He has also published some extracts from it in
his first volunle, page 402 et meq. This work has furt~ishedAbh 'l-Faraj, in his History of Dynasties, with
most of the literary information there given, and though some glaring faults occur in it, its utility to the
student cannot be contested. I t contains some long passages translated from Plato and Aristotle. The
Nauuscript uf the BibliolIrQue du Roi was copied, as it appears by a note at the end, in A. D. 1770, after
a MS. belongilig to Doctor Russell, the author of the description of Aleppo. This circumstnr~ce is men-
tio~ied iu the appendix to the second volume of Dr. Russell's work, where he says: "Having accidentally
'' heard, at Aleppo, of a manuscript of this work, I with some difficulty obtained permission to have a
" copy taken; but I was not aware of its value till two years after, when the French consul, in cons&
" quence of letters from Paris, requested the favour that I would allow a copy to be made from my manu-

"script for the king's library." It did not, however, reach the Bib. dzc Roi till A. D. 1784, when it nas left
to it as a legacy, nith five other manuscripts, by M. Legrand, secrttaire-interprete d u Roi. I t has there
remained unnoticed, till lately, when it attracted my attention.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIOIVART . 29 1
Abh 'l-Fad1 Ahmad Ibn Abi TAhir Taifitr was son of a Hhorasanitc slnvc in the s e r ~ i c eof the Abbaside
khalifs ~b?rJ\ C.'> d'.u\p
='A!U*. l i e was born at Baghdad, h H. 204 (A. U. 819-20). and
. his carerr as a low schoolmaster and k d t i b . He then rose to considerable en,ineaeo +,

and opened a shop in the book-bazar on the west

...
side of the Tigris &\>)\2 J
AI&!. Ifc compiled upwards of finy a o r k s on difirent subjects, the titles of which are
given in the Fihrest. Died A. H. 280 (A. D. 893). His son Abh 'l-Husain Obaid Allah trod iu his footsteps
as a compiler, author, and transmitter of ancient narrations. He wrote a conti~ruatiortof his father's lIistory
of Baghdad; taking it up a t lhe end of the khalifat of al-Muhtadi, and adding to i t the livcs of a\-%lotnnlid,
ol-Motadid, al-Bfuktafi, and al-!Muktadir.-(Xitab al-Fihrest, MS. of the Bib.du Roi, No. 874, fol. 197.)
Abfi 'l-Hasaa Abd Allah Ibn ar-RAgbbni, a native of .Baghdad and chief doctor (shaikh)of the Hanbalites,
died A. H. 527 (A. U. 1132-3). He taught the Traditions and the seven readings ol the Koran, s a s versed iri
theolog) altd the doctrtr~csof his sect, and composed some works by which he gairhed reputation. -(at-Ydfl.j
(g, Iiarrd.11, in Arabic. is \ ~ r i t t e nwith a hard h, and H a r d n with a soft.

ZU 'N-NUN AL-MISRI.

AhB 'l-Faid Thanbin Ibn Ibrahlm (or nl-Faid) Ihn Ibrahim al-Misri (native of
Egypt), and surnamed Zil 'n-Nim (l) , was a celr brated saint and one of the men
of the path (2). He was the first person of the age for his learning (3), devotion,
communion with the divinity (h), and acquaintance with literature, and is men-
tioned as one of those who taught from memory the Muwatta OF the imkm
M (5). lbn Ydnils says in his History, that he was acquainted with philoso-
phv and spoke with elegance. His father, who was a native of Nubia, or of
.
Ikhmim (in Upper Egypt), was a slave enfranchised and adopted by the tribe of
Koraish. ZB n7-NLn said, on being asked why he had renounced the world:
" I went forth from Misr, journeying to a c~rtainvillage, and I fell asleep in

" one of the deserts on the way. And my eye was opened, and 10 ! a little
bird (6), still blind, fell from its nest to the ground. Then the ground split
" open and two trays came forth, one of gold and the other of silver; in one was

" sesame, and in the other water; and the bird eat of that and drank of this.
" ' That,' said I, 'is a sufficient warning for me; I renounce the world!' And I
" then did not quit the door (of divine mercy) until I was let in."--Ha~~inp been
denounced by his enemies to al-Mutawakkil, he was cited from Egypt to appear
before him; on entering into his presence, he addressed a pious exhortation to
the khalif, who shed tears and dismissed him honourabky. (@er this inter-
 292 IBN KBALLIKAN'S
whenever men of piety mere spoken of before al-Mutawahkil, hc rvould
49 weep and say: "Speaking of pious men, let me have Zfi 'n-Nib."-Zb 'n-Ndn
was lean-bodied, of a sanguine complexion (7), and had not a gray hair in his
beard. His master in the path of devotion was Shukrkn al-Akbid (the de-
v o L ~ (8).
t) One of his sayings was : " Ilihen hearts hold converse, the members
( 6 of tile body are in repose (g)." It \r7asJ-elatedby Ishak Ibn Ibrahim as-Sarakh-
slli at Mekka, that he saw Z ~ I'n-Niin dragged, handcrlnhd and fcttered, to
the Motbak (do), whilst the people werc weeping around him, and that he
beard him say: "This is one of the gifts and favours of God; all he does is
sweet, right, good." HP then recited these lines:
For thee, (my beloved !) is a reserved place in my heart : I dcspisc all blame cast on
me for loving thee. For thy sake, I strive to fall thy victim ; to supporbtthy absence is
( a task) not possible (11).

111 a compilation containing some particulars concerning Z i l 'n-Rdn, I found

the following passage: "A dervish, who was one of his disciples, c~uittedhim in
(6 Egypt and went to Baghdad. He there attended a religious concert (l 2), and
fi when the brethren were excited and fell into ecstacy, be stood u p and whirled

about and hearkened (to the music) ; he then uttered a loud cry and fell, and
' L on being shaken by those present, he was found dead. Ncws of this having
reached Zh 'n-Niln, he said to his disciples : ' Get ready, that we may walk to
Baghdad.' So when they had finished their preparations, they set out for
Baghdad, and the shaikh said, the moment he arrived : 'Bring me that musi-
cian.' When the musician was brought before him, and questioned about
the dervish, he related the event. On this the shaikh said: 'Blessed (is he)!'
Then he and his band of disciples commenced singing, and as they began, the
' L shaikh uttered a loud cry at that musician, who fell dead. 'A slain for a
slain,' said the shaikh; 'we have taken vengeance for our companior~'~ death.'
" He then prepared to depart and go back to Egypt; and he stol)ped not at
" Baghdad, but returned immediately." A circumstance (similar to this) oc-
curred in my time, and may be fitly related in this place. There was with us at
Arbela a musician renowned for his skill and talent, whose name was Shuji ad-
din Jibril lbn al-AwPni. Some time before the year 620 (A. D. 1223) he went
10 a religious concert, (1 was then a boy, but I remember the circumstance well(4 3);
my family and other persons having spoken of it at the time ;) and he there
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 293

sung the high-sounding and beautiful kasida composed 1,y the grandson of ILn
at-TaQwizi (whose life will be found in the letter M), and which begins thus:

May a spring-tide shower descend upon thee by night, and may no evil eyes charm
the clouds which come to shed their rain upon thee in the mornings.

He then came to these verses :

The willow of the sands, in the tribe's reserved grounds, (was once) my heart's de-
sire (i4) ; but now the sands move me not, neither does the willow. And how can the
lover obtain his heart's desire when the cottage weeps (in its desolqtion) and friends are
departed (15). It was they who animated the dwellings (16), but the mansions are dead
when deprived of inhabitants. 0, how many maids (17) were in thee, sweet region!
by whom my heart was dazzled! how many riymphs whose blandishments awoke my
love (18)1 0, what a night! when the wine received (new) lustre from the (bright)
hand of the cupbearer, who sung in joy and lightness of heart. She was Free fiom
cares (19), but the ring OF metal which adorned her ankles was tight; her heart was
void (of love) and mine was full. The cool source OF her lips inflames with love, and 150
her languishing glances awake desire. If she be filled with the sap of youth, my heart
thirsts after the nectar of her lips. IIer eyes and swords bear a relation to each
other, and for this reason scabbards are called djfdn (eyelids).

When Shujl ad-din came to this verse, one of the audience rose up and re-
quested him to repeat it, which he did twice or thrice, during which that per-
son was ravi,shed in ecstacy, and then uttered a loud cry and fell on the ground.
The people thought him in a swoon, but finding that his senses continued
suspended, they examined him and perceived that he was dead. Shujl relates
that the same thing occurred once before at one of his concerts. The poem
from which these verses are taken is splendid and of considerable length; it was
recited in honour of the khalif an-Nisir li-din Allah on the Festival of the
Breaking of the Fast (I s t ShnrvwdZ), A. H. 581. -The merits of ZB 'n-NBn were
great in number; he died in the month of Zii '1-Kaada, A. H. 245 (February,
A. D. 860), or according to others, A. H. 246 01% 248, in Misr; and was inter-
red in the lesser Karifa (20): A chapel has been built over his tomb, and in
this chapel arc the graves of a number of other holy men; I have visited it more
than once.

(l).ZiL 'n-Niln, or he of the fish, is a surname given by the Moslims to the prophet Jonas.
(2) See note (31,page 259.
(3) Jurisprudence is probably meant here.
8% IBN KHALLIKAN'S
(4) See the note on the signification of the word lldl JL,page 190.
(3) In the early ages of Islan~ism,many authors composetl aorks, but did not put them in writing; those
works they taught from memory 10 their disciples, who either vrote them down or transmitted them orally. -
The Sfuruatta, or beaten path, is a celebrated treatise on jurisprudcnce.
, 6 ) A little Bird; '2 kunbura, which, according to Dr. Russell i n his History of Aleppo, is the Arabic
r'
name of the crested lark. Larks, however, build on the ground, not 011 trees, $0 some other species must be
meant here.
(7)Literallj: Redness prevailed i n him, which may also mean that his body was reddish or oopper-
coloured.
(S, Shukrhn al-Allbid was Zb 'n-NOn's master, but I do not know the year of his denth ; his tomb 1s near
id

that of his disciple."--(Kkhir Shib, in his Universal History; MS. No. 615,fol. 152.)
(9) This means that the service of the longue is not required to express the thoughts of the mind, neither
are signs necessary for the purpose, when two hearts are in sympathetic communion.
(1101 See page 31.
(if)The mystic import of these lines is manifest; the beloved is here the Diuinity.
(12) Literally: a hearing; which is something similar to the zikrs so well described by Mr. Lane in his
Modern Egyptians. Consult also D'Ohsson's Tab. G6n. t. 1%'.p. 656. M. de Sacy says, in the Notices et
Eztraits, t. XII. p. 369, that the I& or hearing, which he translates by concert, menns the dances of the
turning dervishes.
L
(13) Ibn Khallikln was not then twelve years of age.
(18) The willow means the maid with a slender and pliant waist.
(15) See note (g), page 38.
(16) Literally: They were the thoughts (or minds) of the dwellings.
(17) Literally : Moons.
(18) This verse runs literally thus: How often have moons in thy sky (or region) dazzled my heart, and
bow many gazelles in thee have blandished me!
(19) Literally: Loose from care, but in her anklets tightness. See Mr. Lane's Modern Eqvptians, vol. 11.
p. 364.
(20) See note (12), page 53.

JARIR THE, POET.

Abti Hazra Jarir Ibn Atiya Ibn Khudaifa (surnamed al-Khatafa) Ibn Badr Ibn
Salarna Ibn Alif Ibn Kulaib Ibn Yarbil Ibn Hanzala Ibn MBlik Ibn Zaid ManQt
Ibn Tamim Ibn Murr at-Tamimi (descendedfrom Tamim) was one of the great-
est and most celebrated Moslim poets. He was in the habit of making satires on
al-larazdak, who retorted in the same manner, and they composed parodies on
each other's poems. Most critics consider him as an abler poet than al-Farazdak,
and learned men agree unanimously that, among the poets of Islamic times,
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 295
there were none equal to these three : Jarir, al-Farazdak, and al-Akhtal (1 1.
~t is said that verses are of four kinds; boasting, laudatory, satirical, and ama-
tory (2), and that Jarir excelled in them all, since he was author of these pas-
sages, which are specimens of each style :
When the tribe of Tamim are wroth against you, it seems to you as if all mankind
were in anger.

Are you not the best of those who ever rode on camels, and the most liberal of
men (3)?

Cast down thy eyes (with shame), for thou belongest to the tribe of Numair l You have
not even attained the rank of Kaab or of KilAb !

Eyes, of which the glances were full of languor (h), slew us but revived not our 164
slain. These maids strikethe man of courage prostrate and motionless, and yet they
are the feeblest of God's creation.

Abh Obaida PIilamar relates this anecdote : " Jarir and al-Farazdak rode forth
on the same camel to visit (the khalg) Hishhm Ibn Abd al-Malik, who was
'(then a t Rusifa (5). Jarir having got down on a certain occasion, the camel
turned its head r o u n d , on which al-Farazdak struck it and said:
Why dost thou turn when I am 011 thee, and am going towards the noblest of men?
On thy arrival at RusAfa, thou shalt repose from the toils of the journey and the bleed-
ing wounds (caused by the friction of the saddle).

He then said to himself : 'When Jarir comes up and hears me recite these
lines, he will say :
She bears a blacksmith's son, and therefore turns to look after the bellows and the
' dull-edged hatchet. But on arriving at RusAfa, she will meet with the (rough) treat-
' ment which her rider has experienced every year, at the assemblies of Arabs (6).'
" Jarir,on coming up, saw al-Farazdak laugh, and said to him : L What
" makes you laugh, Abd Faris (7)?' Al-Farazdak then recited to him the
" first lines, and Jarir answered with the last. On this, al-Farazdak said: 'By
Allah ! I have just pronounced the same lines;' and Jarir replied : 'Do you
" not know that it is the same demon which inspires us both (8) ?' "-Al-

Mubarrad relates, in his ~cirnil,that the following verse of Jarir's was re-
cited to al-Parazdak :
You will see the leprosy on her body (shine)like the hoary beard of al-Farazdak (9);
 1%; IBN KRALLIKAN'S
And that the latter, on hearing the beginning of the verse clapped his hand
to his chin, in expectation of what was to come after, in the second hernistich.
-AbG Obaida relates also this anecdote : " Jarir's mother, when in her preg-
' 6 I ~ I B C Y , dreamt that she was delivered of a rope made of black hair, and that il

began to spring about and seize a great number of people s~~ccessively by thp
( 4 neck, and strangle them. On this she awoke in aflright, and having asked
'6 the interpretation of her dream, was told that she ~ o u l dbring forth a male

c ' child and a poet, full of acrimony and violence, who would be an aflliction to

men. It was for this reason that, on his birth, she named him J'lri'r (halter)."
-I\bfi 'l-Faraj al-Ispahini gives the life of Jarir in the Kitdb al-Aghdr2i7and
relates there the following anecdote: "A man said to Jarir: ' Who is the first
4 1 p e t of the age?' c Rise up,' said Jarir, and you shall learn. ' I3e then lead
" him by the hand to his father Atiya, who had just seized and bound a she--
goat and was sucking its teat. On being called forth by Jarir, he appeared in
a squalid dress, with drops of the goat's milk trickling down his beard. (Do
a you see that man 1' said Jarir .-' Yes.'-' Do you know him ?'-' No .'-L That
" is my father ; and do you know why he was sucking the goat's teat 6-'? No.'
4 i -It was because he was afraid, that (fIze nzillced her) some one might hear
the noise of the milk (falling into the pail), and ask him for some. Now,
the ablest poet is he who, in contests with eighty others, vaunted his descent
ii59 '' from such a father and vanquished them all.' "-It is related, in the work en-
titled, at-Jnli's wa 'l-Ani's (the companion andfriend) (1 O), that one of Jbr.irVs
descendants, named Muharnmad Ibn I-Iabib Ibn Omira Ibn Okail Ibn Bilil Ibn
Jarir, was asked what deed his ancestor intended to commit when he pronounced
this verse :

Had I known that the day of their departure was the last day in which we were to
meet, I had done what I did not do.

To this question Muhammad answered : E-Ie meant that he would have

plucked out his eyes, to avoid witnessing L e departure of his friends !"-It is
related in the Aglcdni that Masfid Ibn Bishr asked Ibn Manidir (l l ) when in
Mekka, who was the first poet of the time, and received from him this answer:
" He who is playful and serious at will; who in his playful style gives you
hopes to attain his level, but rises beyond your reach when you essay; and
 BIOGRAPIIICAL DICTIONARY. 297
in his serious mood aims at th0~5111~
SO lofty, that you must desl,air to rival
c c him."-" Who is it?" said Mashd. - "Jarir," replied Ibn hlunldir; "ht.
' l who in his sportive humour said :

'The maidens, who in their morning departure bore my heart away, left me (I$),
however, an abundant source, ohich ceases not yet to flow from my eyes! They
dried up their tcars and said to m e : "Think not that we resemble you ia feeling the
L effects of love (13) !" '

( L And who, in a graver style, pronounced words like these :

He who has refused every honourable quality to the tribe of Taghlib, has placed
L the khalifat and the gift of prophecy in ours! Modar is my father and the father of
L princes ! Say, Taghlib, purblind tribe l where have you a father like ours? Behold
L my cousin a khalif in Damascus; if 1 chose, he would drive you to me as slaves.' "

The narrator says that Abd al-Malik Ihn Marwln, on hearing

( m e Mn2if)
these verses, said: ''What could induce lbn al-hfarhgha (Ja,?i) to go so far as to
take me for his constable (l !I)? Ilad he said : ' If he c/lose, he wol~lddrive
" y o u to 712e as. P ~ ~ V P . F1, 'should have donc so."-These verses are an attack on
the celebrated poet al-Akhtal, who was of the tribe of Taglllib (1 5 ) ; Jarir says in
them, that the khalifat and the gift of prophecy were in his own family; for
the reason that the tribe of Tanlim, to which he belonged, was sprung from
Modar, son of Nizir, son of Maadd, son of Adnin, and Adnin was an ancestor
of Muhanllnad's ; so that the lchalifat and the gifl of prophecy might be consi-
dered as belonging to Modir, from whom also the tribe of Tamim was des-
cended. -The word klluzr (here tran~luteclhy purblind) is the plural of akhzar,
and is rt~gularlyformed like the other plural adjectives of the same class. Akh-
zar ineans narrow-eyed, and is an epithet given to the Persians; it is for this
reason that Jarfr employs it here, excluding thus the Taghlibites from the
Arabic nation, and pretending that they were Persians ; a most grievous insult
to an Arab.-In saying, Behold n y cousin a X-halffinDamascus, he means
Abd al-33alik Ihn Marwin the Omaiyide, who was then living. Abd al-Malik
calls Jarir 16n al-dlnrdgha (son of the Mariigha), because al-Akhtal had made
a satire on him, and said that his mother was a marrigha (l 6) for m m ; God for-
give us for saying such a thing ! but the explanation of [he anecdote required it.
-Jarir once vent into the presence of Abd al-Malik Ibn M a r d n , and recited
him a kasida, brginning thus :
3s
 298 IBN KHALLIIiANIS
(Mycompanions said to me)have you recovered, or is your heart still troubled
143 the evening that your friends resolved to depart? Censoriolls females toll me that
gray hairs cover my head; must gray heirs then prrvent mc from being gay? (&fY
On,* Khazra was :or length)consoled (ond consented t o my 1eauin.y her: < c G ~ , ~ * )
sajij 1 foresee that your servants will have a flock of she-camds (lbe /ibalirs gip)
to drive to the watering place." bly confidence is in Cod who has no partner in his
' L

paner, and my hopes for success are placed in the khalif. Thee (0prznc,) sllall I
thank, if thou restore to me my plumage, and causf: the pinions of my w i n e to grow:
are you not the best of those who ever rode on camels, and thc most liberal of men ?
a r i r said : ~ \ V I I a , 1 recited this poem to Abd alJlalili and came 10 this verse,
' L he sac up
on his throne and exclaimed : ' Tlrose who praise us must
pronounce verses like that, or else be silent.' IIc then cnrncd towards me and
said: :0 Jarir, dost thou think that one hundred camels from the flocks of the
tribe Kalb would suffice to quench tllc thirst of Omrn I l a z m ? ' T o this 1
replied: Commander of the Faithful! i f they sunice not, rnay Got1 never
assuagre her thirst!' HC tlren ordered them 10 bc i;iven to m(>, all of them
black-eyed (l7 ) ; and L said : L Commander of the Faithful ! W(: arc all old men
in our family, unable to go on h o t (lg), and camels are apt to stray; suppose
that you made me a present of some slaves to l e e r rl~enr?' On this, he
ordered me eight, and as he had some dislres of gold bcforc him and a rod in
his hand, I said, in pointing to one of them: 'Commander or the Faithful!
L' and the milkpail?' On which he pushed it towards mc with the rod, saying:
" Talie it, and m1;ch good may it do thee (19) !"'
( Z t is to illis circumstance
that Jarir alludes in the following verse :
They gave a hunaida, which was tended by eight; their gifts are not granted with
ill-will, neither are they excessive.
The word hunnida, which has the form of a diminutive noun, is a proper
t1;inie serving to designate one hundred (20), and most of the learned in philo-
logy do not allow it to take the definite article; some, howcver, permit it, and
tire celebrated poet of Aleppo, Abd 'l-Fath 1b11 Abi lIusaina as-Sulami has said
in one of his kasfdas :
0,my heart! the half of al-Hunaida (i. e. fifty years) has left you no excuse for
love (22).

When Jarir learned the death of al-Farazdak, he wept and said : By Allah !
L'I well know that I shall survive him but for a short time; we were born ~lnder
" thr. same const.ellation, and each of us was take11 up with the other; and it
 irappens that a rival or n Diend dies without \)ring follo\ved hy him
61whose rival or friend hc was!" And this v;ts ii.1 fact 11ic case, as he arid al-ya-
razdak died in tllc year I I0 (A.D. 728-9); see the lili of iHunsn~dznl h n Ghdlib)
al-Farazdnl<, wtrerc some pn~.ticolarsol' Jarir's draih arc rela~ed. Abb 'l-Faraj
Ibn al-J;~~vziplaces the dent h of Jarir in A . 11. I I I ; and Ibrl Kutaiha slates, in
his KitciA crl-Jlucirr~that Jarir's ntother. bore him i n her. \vomb sthverlmonths.
IIe died in RI-Ynm5ma (22),aged upwar-(1.;o f eightv yibars.

(1) The lives of these three poets, trar~slatcd from the Kitdb al-dghdni, hate been given by M. Caussln dr
l'erccval i r r tllr J n 7 ~ r i ~ uAsiutique
l for tlle year 1634
(2) I t a o u l d secrn that drscriptitr alrd didactic poctry \\ere ~ i acLt~o\\lcdged
o ~ as forinin;; palticulilr classei,
j e t many examples are to 1)c found, c.s[lccially of the former killd.
(3) Litcrallj : The rnost liberal of creatures as to t l ~ epnlrns of the hand.
( 4 ) See page 25, rrotc (3).
(5)The town of ;ir-lX11s2fa lay o p ~ ~ o s i ttor ar-Rahl\n, a t one Jag's joulurg weat uf llrc F.uplrratt>s Abt"l
'I-Fads placcs i t i r ~lilt. :$fie N. It \\as c~rllctla130 the Rr~siihof' IIisll~rrr~,
trftez its founder 1Iishhn1 1b11Abti
al-Malik, \\l10 rnatlc it his silmmer residcrrcc itud rctired tlierr to avoill tlrc i~laguc,atrich tlesolated Syria.-
(,Wurbsid.)
16) Thrrc \\ere fivr plares irr Arabia at \\lrtch annual fairs \\ere hcld, and to \\\iicll the poets rcsorted prp-
\lously to thc ir~troductionof' Jalamism. Ser I I I Y Dilodn d'ilmro 'I-Kais, preface, 1);r~c8.
(7)AbG FnrAs was al-Farazdali's srlrnarne.
[Sj Litcr,rll) : I hat our dernorr is one and thc sanle.
(9) Litcrallj : Vidcbis leprarn in imis pudendis hujus (rnulieris) similem esse bnrble canescrnti ,.G: Farazdah.
(10) This aorlr is not 11otic.etl by Hajji Khallfa.
(11) Mol~iimmadIbn MounBdhir, (quelques-uns disent Ibn Manhdhir, Ic fils des Flloundhir, alltpuant que
sou pert, "11 aicul et soil brsaieul sc rlonr~naientMouljdhir, voy. le Carnous,) poctc dc Basra, a composden di-
lers gcnrcs, mail; hurtout dans Ic genre snlyrique. Lcs ressentimens e x t i t b par scs satyres le forchrent nlerne [I
quitter Basra. I1 se rctirn alors h la Meklie. 11 a fait des vers a la louange du calife Flrnahdi, dcs Barrnecides
ct de Haroun Arracliid. flarou~i,apres avoir fait perir les Rarmecides, partit pour le pblerinage de la Melike,
acconrpagnc' d e $011 I I O U I ~ ; I U bc'zir Fadhl lils de Rabic. A L'arrivCe du cal~l'ea la Rlekke, Ibn Moun&dhiralla se
~lrCs.wtcrclc\a~rtlui r t dcmanda In permission d e 1111~ e c i t e rUII pe~rCgyriqueqn'il avait prc'pare. Fadhl dit a
Haroun: "Crt homme a cdlPbrC les Barmeciiles, ordonnea-lui de vous rCciter Irs rers qu'il a composes er1
leur honneur." Harourr l'ordonlra en effet, ct apres avoir entendu cet tlloge des Barmkcides, if fit donner
des soufnets a u poirc et le cltassa de sa prcseacc. lbn 3lour1hdhir mourut a Id hlekke, sous Ie califat d'Al-
rnamoun, cn I'annce 198. 11 titait d o r s deverru aueuglc. (Aghini, \ol. IV. foi. 76. 83. 85.)-Quant a Massoud
hen Ucchr, il est ritC quelqucfois dans I'article d'Sbn RIoun&tlhir comme aaant lapport@quelques anecdote5
relatives a ce pok~c,m;ns je ne trouve point dans cet article la conversation dans laquelle il lui demande quel
cst le rneilleur des poetcs, etc. Je ne sais pas non plus quelle etail sa qualitd-(A. Caussin de Perceval.)
(12) The ilranourl is here in llte second person; but as tl:e poet addresses himself, it is necessary to trans-
late by the first in order to express the thought e!early. Arabic poetry abounds with that species of irregularit]
which European granlrnarians call enallage of person.
 300 IBN KEIA LLIKAN'S
(13) Literally: What have you felt from love which we feel.--l1 is needless to observe that they :)Is0 felt its
effect, but dissembled their afeakness.
29
( I & The word s i i ~ r o l i is here translated constable, to avoid a periphrasc. I t means a soldier of
the police cavalry.
(13) AI-Bkthal Ivas a Christian; his tribe also professed the same raith, and it is for this reason that the
Taghlibitcs, although an Arah tribe, are specially cxcepted, by law, from paying the Znlcdt, or lithe, of their
rattle, But this was merely a nominal advantagc, as t11ey were bound to pay tribute like tllc Christiarl sub-
jects in conquered countries.
(16)Mar%gha is thus explained in Freytag's Lexicon: Locus ubi se volutat jumenlum. Asina qua. admittit
admissarios.
(17, This was a proof of their good breed.
(18) More literally: And none of us can do without his riding-camel.
(19) Literally: May it do thee no good. I t very frequently happens in Arabic that good wishes are ex-
pressed under the form of imprecations, as in this case.
(20) I t is thus that an Arabic grammarian would say of the English wrords a dozen and a score, that tiley
are ttle proper names of tmelve and twenty.
(21) More literally: For attachment to the person whosc face is shaded by the izdr.-See Introductio~l.
(22) Al-Yamdma; a country and town lying to the east of Mekka, at four days' journey from al-Katif on
Lhe Persian Gulf. - (AbO 'l-Fadh .)

THE IMAM JAAFAR AS-SADIK.

Ab(i Abd Allah Jaafar as-Sidik Ibn Muhammad al-Bikir Ibn Ali Zain
154 al-Aibidin Ibn al-Husain Ibn Ali Ibn Abi TAlib was one of the twelve persons
who, according to tlle religious doctrines of the Shiites, are considered as irnams.
This illustrious descendant of Muhammad was surnamed as-Sddik ( I ) for his
veracity, and his merits are too well known to be mentioned here. lie composed
a discourse (or treatise) on alchemy, augury, and omens, and the sJfi Abh Mhsa
Jibir Ibn Haiyln of Tarsus (2) compiled a work of two thousand pages, in
which he inserted the problems of his master Jaafar as-Slidik, which formed five
hundred irea~ises. Jaafar was born A. H. 80 (A. D. 699), (which year is deno-
minated the ?-ear of the Torrent) (3): but according to another statement, his
birth happened before the daybreak of Tuesday 8th Ramadin, A. H. 53. He
died in the month of Shawwil, A. H. 148 (A. D. 765), and was buried in the
cemetery of al-Baki at Medina. The same tomb contains the bodies of his father
Mullammad al-Bikir, his grandfather Ali Zain al-Aftbidin, and his grandfaiher's
uncle, al-Hasan son of Ali: how rich a tomb in generosity and nobility ! His
 BIOGRAPIEICAL DICTIONARY. 30 1
mother, Omm Farma, was daughter of al-Kisim, son of Muhammad, son of
(the khahy) Abd Bakr as-Siddik. - The lives of the twelve intnms shall be
~ i v e nin their respective places. - I t is related by Koshijim (h) in his Kit&
0

al-Mnsdid wwa 'I-MatLrid that Jaafar once asked Abi Hanifa his opinion
respecting a pilgrim wearing the ilrrkrn who broke the canine teeth of a ga-
zelle (5); to which A b i Ilanifa answered: "Son of the Prophet of God! I
know not what to say on the silbject." On this, Jaafar said: "You, who
are a man of quick mind, do not know that gazelles have no canine teeth,
but only incisors (G).''

(1) A s S d d i k ; the veracious.

(2) Jdbir Ibn Haiyan is the name of the celebrated alchemist whom Europeans call Geber. Casiri gives
some account of him, after the Tdrikh al-Hukamd, in the Bibliotheca Arnbica; vide tom. I . p. 123.
(3) I n the eightieth yearof the Hijra a torrent overwhelmeda numbcrof persons a t Meklia. I t was for this
reason that the above year was called the year of the impetuous torrent (as-San1 al-3uhdfl.-(Ibn ShiZkir's
OyiOn at Tawdrikh.)
(4) Ab& 'l-Fath Blshmhd I b n al-Husain, surnamed Koshbjirn, was a celebrated poet and philologer, con-
temporary with ill-Mutanabhi. H e is author of the following works: Adab an-Nadim (the necessary qualities
for a boon-companion); 81-Masa2d wa 'l-.Mathid (snares and game), whlch appears to be a collection of
sporting anecdotes; a Collection of Epistles, and a Dizvdn of poems. He died some time after A. H. 350
(A. D. 961).-(Fihrest; ad-Dahabi's Tdr'lkh al-Islam, MS. No. 646, fol. 296, v.)
(5) The person who is making the pilgrimage to Mekka is not allowed to hunt, fowl, or fish as long as he
wears the ihrdm, o r pilgrim's dress. The laws on this subject may be seen in D'Ohssoo's Empire Othoman,
tom. 111.
(6) Camels have incisors, canine teeth, and molars, but most of the other ruminating quadrupeds have
incisors and molars only. This peculiarity did not escape the notice of the nomadic Arabs, but was not
generally known to towns-people.

JAAFAR THE BARMEKIDE.

Abli '1-Fad1 Jaafar Ibn Yahya Ibn Khilid Ibn Barmek 1bn Jgmds Ibn Yash-
&sf al-Barmaki was vizir to Harljn ar-Rashid. In the high rank which he
attained and the great power which he wielded, in loftiness of spirit and in the
esteem and favour shown him by the khalif, he stood without a rival... I His dis-
position was generous, his looks encouraging, his demeanour kind; but his libe-
rality and munificence, the richness and the prodigality of his donations, are too
 302 IBN I(HALL1ICAN'S
well known to He expl.essed his flloughts wilh great ele-
gance, and was for his eloquence and command of lsn&uagc: it is
that one night, he wl.ote, under the irlsprction of ilal'drl al.-Hashid, up-
wards of one thollsilnd decisions on as many mcmolhials which had been pre-
senlecl to the khalif, and that not one of these decisions dcvialcd in the least
from n.har was \rrarranted by the law. He had Been illstructed in jurisprudence
bl- the kadi Ablj Fdsuf [be Banefile, under whose tuilion he had beerr placed
by his falher Xallva. Ibn at-KLdisi relates, in his 1lislolhyol' Vjzirs, that Jaafar
10 a person 1vho asked his excuse for somc h u l l : "By the pardon which
we llavr already to you, God lras dispensed y o from
~ the r~(hccbssit~or
4~ olahing any escusrs to us; and our friendship lbr. Y O ~ I is loo great to permit

that we should cntertain an unfavourable opinion of your cbal.acter.'' - A

written complaint having been presented to hini against one of the public men
under his orders, he wrote the following note on tlic ]lack of the document and
sent it to him :-LLThose who complain of you are rrurnerous, ant1 those who
' l praise you are few ; be just, or resign."-Tlie follotving example is related of
h i s penetration : Ilaving learned that ar-Rashid was muc11 dcprcssed in conse-
quence of a Jewisb astrologer having predictcd to him th:lt. he sllould die
within 3 year, he rode on' to the khalif and round lrirn dceply nfflictcd : the Jew
had been detained as a prisoner by the khalif's ortlcrs, ant1 Jaafar addressed him
in these t n m s : You pretend that the hl~alifis to die irr tlre spacc of so many
days?"'" Yes," said the Je~.--'~And how long arc you yourself to live?"
said Jaaf:ir.--" So many years," replied the other, rrlenlioning a great number.
Jaafar t h e n said to the khalif: "Put hirn to d c a t l ~ nntl
, you will hc tllus assured
" that he is ec~uallvm i s t a k e n respecling ihe lcne~hof your a11d ttrat of his
l i f ( b

" own." This advice was follo~vedby the khalif, w l ~ otlwn tt~nnkt~rl Jaafar. for
I r a r i n ~dispelled his sadness. The Jew's body was cxpose(1 011 a t;il,l)ct, and on
this occasion the poet Ash*jn as-Sulami pnwounced tllr followillg linrs :

Ask the horseman who is perched on the trunk of that palm-tree, if a favourable
constellation ever appeared for such a rider? Were it possible that the stars 'could
teach the hour of death, he had known the fate which awaited his own silly head.
He anrlounced to us the imhm's (l)death ; such a prediction he must have learned from
the sons of Kl~osrocsand Ctesar (the enemies 01' Islainism). Ah, worst of diviners!
you foretell the ill fortl!ne of others, while your owrl constellation plainly foreboded
evil l
 BIOGRAPHlCAL DICTIONARY. 303
The astrologer tllus lost his life through his own folly.-The generous
racter of Jaafrlr and the abundance of his donations are well known : it is related
h a t when he made the pilgrimage to Mekka, he passed through al-Akik p),
which had greatly suffered that year from drought, and was met by a woman
belonging to the tribe of Killh, who recited to him these lines:

I passed through al-Akik, and found its inhabitants complaining that the sllowers of
spring had fallen but scantily. But now, that Jaafar is their neighbour, a spring with-
out rain cannot injure them (3).

On hearing this, Jaafar made her a rich present.--The idea expressed in the
last verse is taken from a piece of poetry by ad-Dahhik Ibn Okail al-Khafiiji,
in which he says :
Had we Samr%this year for neighbour, we should not (though drought afflicts us)
mind the absence of spring tide rains.

How well the poet has turned that verse, and how sweet the parenthesis
thouglr drought aglrc~su s ! This parenthesis is an example of what the rhe-
toricians call Hasha) al-Lncvzinj (h).-(Hilalj Ibn as-Sihi gives the following
anecdote, in his Ki~n"bnl-Arniithil w a 'l-A+&, on the authority of Ishak
(h) an-Nadim al-Mausili, who had learned it from lbrahinl Ibll al-Mahdi:
" Jaafar lbn Yahya was one day in a private aparlment of his house with

" his boon companions, and I was one of the number; he had put on a silk

dress and anointed himself with perfumes, and he made us do the same; he
"gave also orders not to admit any person except the intendant of his
" dernesnes, Abd al-Malik Ibn Bahrhn, but the chanlberlain heard the
" words d t d aZ-MaliX- only. Now it happened that Abd al-Malik Ibn Silih
' l the Hashimite (S) rode to Jaarar's house, knowing that he was at home,

" and the chamberlain sent in to say that Abd al-Malik was come, an which

" Jaafar said, 'Let him enter;' thinking that it was Ibn BahrBn. Judge then
" of our consternation at the sight of Abd al-Malik Ibn Salih in his black
" dress(6) and a rusiijya (7) on his head! Jaafar himself changed colour. Ibn
S l i h never drank nabid ( g ) , and had even refused to do so, though invited
" by the khalif; but on seeing Jaafar's perplexity, he called Gs page, to whom

" he gave his black rbbe and kalansrin, and then advanced to the door of the
" apartment where we were, and after saluting us, said: (Allow me to be a par-
 SOi IBN KRALLIKAN'S
taker in your pleasljrrs, and treat mc as one of yours(:lves.' Havirlg then
66
a dress from a servant, he asked for something to eat, and when
he had done, he called for nabid and drank off a pint of it (9). He then said
to Jaafar: By Allah! I never drank it till to-day, SO I request your iodul-
L L gpllce.' on this JaaQr ordered a +tcher of nnhfd to be set hef01.chim, SO that
4 6 Ill, lake rntlat qllantitv he Ahrl d-Malik then anointcc1 him-
" self \yit\r irrfilmes, joining in our convivinliry, be proved hin~selfa most
aGNealllr companion. The further he went on, the more Jaafar's mind was
at case, and he said to tlis guest when about to retire: 'Infor~n me of
L' bIlSi,le~s,for I canriot make a suflicient ackeowledgment for your cour-
i d lcsr .' - L 1-011 nlust know then,' said Abd al-Malik, ' that t l ~ cComnlander
of tllc Faitllful is ill-disposed towards me, and I wish you to rcmove that un-
bvourable feeling from his mind, and aid me to regain iris good opinion.'
To this Jaafar answered: 'The Commander of h e Faitllful sllail take you
into favour, and his prepossessions against you sllnll cease.'-' And L am also
in debt,' said Abd al-Malik, to the arnount OF four millions of dirhcrns ($1 0).'-
c Your debts shall be paid,' said Jaafar; ' the money is ready, but i t will be

more honourable for you to receive i t from the khalif llimself, and it will serve
as a public token of his good feeling towards yo11.'-L I should like also,' said
the other, to raise my son Ibrahirn to an elevated rank, by obtaining for him
a princess of the khalif's family in marriage.'--/ The Corrlmander of the
'' Faithful,' answered Jaafar, 'shall give his d a u g h t ~ al-Ailia
r to him as a wife.'
'' And I should wish,' said Abd al-Malik, as a public mark of my son's eleva-
366 '' tion, that a standard be borne over his head (I l).'--' The Commander of the
Faithful,' replied Jaafar, 'shall give him the government of Egypt (42j.'
'' Abd a1-filalik then withdrew, and me were in great astonishment at J a a f a i ~
" answers, and his boldness in taking engagements of such a nature without the

' L autl~orisationof the khalif. The next morning we rode to ttle colrrt of
" ar-Rashid, where we awaited the return of Jaafar, who went in to the kba-

" lirs apartment. Almost immediately on his entrance, the kjdi Ab& Jdsuf
" was called in along with Mullammad Ibn al-Hasan (1 3) and lhrahim Ibn Abd

al-Malik ; and a moment had scarcely elapsed when Ibrahim came forth
'' decked in a robe of honour, with a standard borne before him : he had also
'' been brtrotl~cd to al-Aglia, who was then brought to him in state, and
 BIOGRAPHICAL DlGTlONARY. 305
~arried,with the money (whic/z h a f a r had promised), to Abd al-bla\iliqs
house. Jaafar then came out and ordered us to follow him home, where he said
to us: '1 suppose that your minds are so taken up with Abd al-Malik's affair,
that you would like to know the result?'-Our reply was : ' That is precisely
L' what we desire;' and Jaafar made us the following narration: g I stood in the

presence of the Commander of the faithful, and informed him of Abd al-Ma-
lik's conduct from the beginning to the end, and the khalif exclaimed, Ex-
cellent! excellent ! And what did you (10 for him ?" I here informed him of
the promise which I had made him; and the khalif approved of it and con-
'' firmed it. You saw the result.' (In relating this anecdote,) lbrabim Ibn
*' al-Mahdi said : 'By Allah ! I know not which (of the three) to admire most ;
Abd al-Malik's drinking nabi'd and putting on attire different from what he
usually wore; he who was a serious man, scrupulously devout, full of gra-
vity and sedateness ; or the liberty which Jaafar took with ar-Rashid ; or the
confirmation given by ar-Rashid to the pronlises made by Jaafar.' " - It is
related that one day, at Jaafar's, a beetle flew towards Abh Obaid the Thake-
fite, and that Jaafar ordered it to be driven away, when Abii Obaid said :
Let it alone; it may perhaps bring me good luck; such is a t least the vulgar
" opinion." Jaafar on this ordered one thousand dinars to be given him, saying :
" The vulgar opinion is confirmed." The beetle was then set at liberty, but it
" flew towards Abh Obaid a secorid time, and Jaafar ordered him another

present to the same amount. - The following anecdote is given by ihn al-
KAdisi (14) in his History of Vizirs: "A slave girl, who was just sold to Jaafar
" for forty thousand dinars, said to her former owner : L Remember the pro-

" mise which you made me, never to sell me even from necessity (15);' she

" then wept, and he exclaimed, c Bear witness that 1 set her free and take her
" for my wife.' Jaafar (on hearing this) gave the money to her owner, with-
" out accepting any thing in return." -Many are the examples related of his ge-
nerosity ; he was also the most eloquent person of his family. The first of the
Barmekides who acted as vizir was Khilid Ibn Barmak, who was raised to the
vizira t by (the k h a l f ) as-Saffih after the assassinatiou of Hafs al-Khallil ; (this
circumstance is related in the life of Hafs). Khilid continued ih the vizirat till
the death of as-Saffhh, which event took place on Monday, 13th of Zd 'l-Hijja,
A .H. 1 36 (June, A . D. 754) ; and was confirmed in his post, the same day, by the
39
 306 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
new khalif, al-hjansir, brother to as-Sa[rah. One year and some months aft.er
this, he \\.as through the intrigues of AbB Ajyfib al-Mfiriyini, who
had $ained great illfluence over the mind of a]-Mansfir, and represmted to him
that he Kurds had taken possession of Fhrs, and that KhBlid was the most pro-
per person to arrest their progress. Khllid was thcrcfore sent on' to that
country, and, in his absence, AbB Aiydb got all the autl~orityinto his hands,
lbn &Kidisi says that Khilid died A . H. 4 63 (A- D- 779-SO), but Ibn Asikir
states, in his History of Damascus, that he was horn A . 11. 00 (A. D. 70'3), and
died A. H. 165 (A. D. 781-2): God knows best!--Jaahr had taken a solid hold
on the of ar-Rashid, who yielded to his influence and granted him
his friendship; the degree of favour which he attained was iinexarnpled, so much
so that the khalif caused a robe to be made with two scprtraate collars, which he
and Jaafar wore at the same time. Ar-Rashid could not suffer being deprived
of Jaafar's company, neither could he.bear being separated from his own sister
al-Abbisa, daughter of al-Mahdi, whom he loved with an extreme afl'ection ; his
pleasure was never complete in the absence of one or the other*; hc tllerefore
said to Jaafar : "My pleasure is never complete except when you and al-Abbblsa
are mith me; I shall therefore marry you together., in order h a t you may
'' legally kee[~company with her; but beware thal you meet hcr and I not pre-
157 " sent !" Jaafar accepted this condition and nzarried her ;but at last the favour-
able feelirlgs of ar-Rashid towards him and the Barmekides underwent a total
change; he reduced that family to ruin, put Jaafar to dcnth, threw his brother
al-Fadl and his father Yahya into prison, and there left them to die (as will be
mentioned in their respective articles). Historians disagree respecting the mo-
tives which turned ar-Rashid against them; some go so far as to say that when
Jaafar and al-Abbba were married on the condition above-mentioned, and had
continued for a time to observe it, she conceived a passion for her husband,
who refused however, through fear, to accede to her desires: she then had
recourse to a stratagem, and sent to AttPba, Jaafar's mother, requesting to be
offered to hini as a slave, (for Jaafar's mother made him a present every Friday
of a young virgin, with whom he passed the night, having previously taken
some nabid.) Tl~isproposal having been rejected, al-Abbisa said to Attiba :
If you do not consent to what I desire, 1 shall tell my brother that you asked
"me to act so and so; whereas, if I bear a son to Jaafar, it will be a source of
 l~onoul.to your family ; and what could my brother do, were he to discovel.
the circu~nstance?" Jaafar's mother was induced by this to accede to a 1 - h -
bisa's request, and she began by promising to her son that she would give him it
fair slave whom she then had in her possession, and whom she descri1)ed as pas-
sessing great beauty. Jaafar asked her, time after time, to fulfil her promise,
and she, on perceiving that his desires were at length excited to possess thc
slave, told al-Abbisa to hold herself in readiness, and that night she intro-
duced her into Jaafar's chamber. Her countenance was not known to Jaafar,
as 11e had never met her but in the khalif's presence, and did not then dare to
cast his eyes on her. When they had been some time together, she said to him:
" IVhat think you of the stratagems practised by princesses?"-"What princess
are you ?" said Jaafar.--"I am thy sovereign mistress," she replied ; ' l I am
' l al-Abbisa l " I~nmediatelythe fumes of the nabill! were dispelled from his
head, and he sought his mother, to whom he said : "Mother, you have brought
me to ruin (1 6 j !" The pregnancy of al-ALbAsa was the result of this inter-
view, and she gave birth to a son, whom, to avoid discovery, she sent off to
Mekka under the care of a slave called Raiyish, and a nurse whose name was
Barra. At that tinie Yahya, the son of Khilid, was inspector of ar-Rashid's palace
and harem, the doors of which he used to lock and then retire with the keys.
The strict confinement in which he kept the females of the harem induced a[
length Zobaida to make complaints of lrim to (her husband) ar-Rashid, wtio
said to him: "Father,"-for so he used to call him-" Father, why does Zo-
baida complain of you?"--11 Commander of the faithful," said Yahya, "can
" you suspect me of dishonouring your harem?"-" No;" answered the khalif.
-"Then," replied Yahya, "hearken not to what she says of me." After
this, Yahya acted towards her with such increased rudeness and severity, that
she complained again to ar-Rashid, who said to her: "I canriot harbour any
" suspicion against Yahya relative to my harem."-" Why then," replied she,
" did he not prevent his son from acting as he has done?"-"What has he'done?"
said he. She then informed him of al-Abbisa's adventure. "Is there any
" proof of this?" said ar-Rashid. -" What stronger proof t b the child?"-
" UThereis it?"-"It was here, but fearing a discovery, she sent it to Mekka."
-" Does any other but yourself know this?"--"There is not a slave-girl in
" the palace but knows it." Ar-Rashid then spoke no more to her on the
 308 IBN KIJALLIKAN'S
subject, but manifested later his intention of making the pilgrimage to Mekka.
When he set out with Jaafar for that place, al-Abbka wrote to the slave and
the nurse, directing them to retire into Yemen with the child. Ar-Rashid, on
arriving at Mekka, commissioned a person of confidence to investigate the cir-
cumstance, and it was discovered that the child really existed (17). From that
time, the khalif nourished irk his bosom evil intentions against the Barmekides.-
Ibn BadrGn speaks of Jaafar in his commentary on the elegiac poem composed by
Ibn Abdlin on the fall of the Banli 'l-Aftas (1 8) ; this knsr"dn commences thus :
After (inflicling) the reality (of misfortune), time torments (us) still with the traces
(of itj ;why then weep for shadows and (unreal) images?

And the mention of Jaafar occurs in the commentary on the following

of the poeni :
(Fortune) made Jaafar to taste of death by the sword (19),whilst Fad1 and the vene-
rable Y ahya looked on.
168 -In the following verses, AbA Nuwls alludes to the circumstance mentioned
by Ibn Badrdn:
Say to the trusty servant of God, t h e offspring of princes and able rulers : "When
4i you wish to make a traitor lose his head, slay him not with the sword, but marry him
" to AbbAsa."
According to another statement, (a descendant of A&,)Yahya Ibn Ahd Allah (20),
who had revolted against ar-Rashid, was given by him in charge to Jaafar,
who kept him prisoner in his house. This Yahya, having asked to see Jaafar,
said to him : "Fear God, 0 Jaafar! in your conduct towards mc, and avoid the
" risk of having my ancestor, the prophet Muhammad, for an adversary (on the
'' day. of .judgment); for I solemnly aver that I never excited a revolt." Jaafar
was touched with this appeal, and replied : Go to what country you list." L' 1
" fear," said Yahya, '' lest I be arrested and brought back." Jaafar therefore
sent with h i m a person who conducted him to a place OF safety. W h e n the news
of this reached ar-Rashid, he called Jaafar into his presence, and after a long
conversation, addressed him thus : 'L 0 Jaafar ! what is Yahya doing?" T o which
Jaafar answered: "He is still as he was."-L6 Swear by my life that it is SO,"
said the khalif; but Jaafar, after some moments of silence and hesitation, said:
'(No! I swear by your life that I have set him free; for 1 knew that no evil was
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 309
.c in him." -"Itwas well done," said the khalif; "you have not acted contrary
(6 my intentions." W h e n faafar withdrew, ar-Raslrid followed him with his
eyes and said : <'May God slay me if I slay thee not !"-It is said that Said Ibn
Silirn was asked what was the crime of the Barmekides which had merited tkle
wrath of ar-Rashid, and that he answered: "Of a verity! they committed no-
thing to warrant ar-Rashid's conduct towards them; but the day (of their
iiprosperity undpotver) had been long, and that which continues long hecomrs~
irksome. There were persons, and those among the best of men, who were
6' fatigued with the length of the khalif Omar's reign, although the like of it was

never seen for justice, security, wealth, and victories; they also bore with
6 6 impatience the sway of Othrniin; and both were murdered. Besides, ar-Rashid
& L saw that generosity had become their habilude; that the public were loud in

their praise, and that men's hopes were fixed on them and not on him.
c c Less than this suffices to excite the jealousy of princes; so ar-Rashid con-
( L ceived ill-will against them, wreaked his vengeance on them, and tried to find

out faults (with which he might reproach them). Besides this, a certain de-
gree of presumption was sometimes visible in the conduct of Jaafar and al-
Fadl, (although Yahya was exempt from it; for he had more solid experience
than the others and better skill in affairs.) This induced some of their ene-
mies, as al-Fad1 Ibn ar-Rabi and others, to have recourse to ar-Kashid, from
whom they concealed the good done by the Barmekides, and only told him
of their faults; (they persevered in this) .till they brought about what took
Lplace. After this, when any persons spoke ill of the Barmekides in ar-Ra-
shid's presence, he would say :

Perdition to your fathers (21)! blame them less, or fill the void which they have
left .' "
It is also stated that the ruin of the Barmekides was caused by a memorial
which was presented to a r d a s h i d by an unknown individual, and which con-
tained the following lines :

Say to God's trusty servant upon earth, him who has power to loose and to bind:
"Behold, the son of Yahya has become a sovereign like yourself; .there is no differ-
" ence between you ! Your orders must yield to his, and his orders dare not be re-
" sisted. He has built a palace, of which the like was never erected by the Persian or
the Indian (king). Pearls and rubies form its pavement, and the floor is of amber
 310 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
and aloes-wood. We fear that he will inherit the empirc, when you are hidden in
the tomb. It is only the insolent slave who rivals his master i n splendour."

I ~ ( J On reading this paper, ar-Rashid conceived a secret hatred for Jaafar.-lbn

Badrhn relates that Olai~a,daughter of al-ilfahdi (22), said to ar-Rashid, after
[lle fall of the Barrnckides: "My lord, I have not seen you enjoy a day of per-
' L fect happiness since you put Jaafar to death.
W h y did you do SO'.)" To
this ar-Rashid replied : f i My dear life ! if I thought that even my inmost gar-
6' *lent kneFVthe reason, I should tear it in pieces."-Jaafar was executed by
al*-flashidls orders at a place called al-Omr, in the province of al-Anbir, on
Sunday 30th of iIIullarranl (or on the first of Safar), A . H. 187 (end of January,
A. D. 803 .)-At-Tabari says in his History: " In the year 186, ar-Rnsllid made
( 6 the pilgrimage with the Barmekides, and arrived a t Itira from Mckka in the

I ( nlonth of Mubarram, 157; he stopped at the palace of Abn al-lbidi for

some days, and having then embarked, he descended the river to al-Omr
near al-AnKar. On the eve of Sunday, last of Muharram, h e sent the eunuch
Abli Hishim Masriir with Abd Isma Hammid Ibn Sblim and a troop ot'
soldiers to guard the issues of Jaafar's house, and Masrlir went in and found
him engaged in a party of pleasure with Ihn Bakhtyashh the phy-
sician (23) and Abh Zakkir al-Kalwidbi (24) the blind musician. Masrdr
dragged him out violently and led him to ar-Rashid's mansion, where he impri-
c c soned him and shackled him with an ass's fetters. We then informed ar-Ra-
shid of his arrival, and was ordered by him to behead him."-At-Tabari then
gives in full the history of Jaafar.-AI-WQkidi says : " Ar-Rashid stopped at
al-Omr, near al-Anhlr, on his return from Mekka in the year 187; he then
" wreaked his vengeance on the Rarmekides and slew Jaafar on the first of Safar;
c c his body he ordered to l ~ e gibbeted on one side of the bridge of Baghdad, and
the head he caused to be stuck up on the other."--Anothcr historian states
that Jaafar's body was ~ibbetedon the bridge opposite to as-Sarit (25).-As-
Sindi Ibn Sldhik (26) relates as follows : '' I was one night asleep in the upper
" room of the guard-house, which is on the western side (of the Tigns),and
I saw in a dream Jaafar, who stood before me in a robe dyed with samron, and
recited these verses (27):
' ('Tis now) as if not a soul had ever lived between al-Rajfin and as-Safa (28)I As
' if there had never been one friend in Mekka to hold evening converse with another I
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONAKI'. 311
For se were its inhabitants, but we perished by the vicissitudes of time and the pre-
L cariousness of fortune (29).'
On this I awoke in terror, and related my vision to one of m y friends,
who answered: ' They are confused dreams (30), and it is not all a
man sees (in sleep) that will bear interpretation.' 1 then returned to my
i b couch, but bad scarcely closed my eyes when I heard the challenge of thf.

sentries and the guard, and the ringing of the bridles of post-horses (31),
and a knocking at the door of my chamber. 1 ordered it to be opened, and
the eunuch Sallim al-Abrash (whom ar-Rashid never sent out but on impor-
tant business,) came up stairs. I shuddered at his sight, and my joints trem-
" bled, for I imagined that he had got some orders concerning me ; but he sat
down by my side and handed me a letter, the seal of which I broke open, and
10 ! it contained these words : 0 SindL! this letter is written with our own hand,
and sealed with the seal-ring wl~ic/twe wear on our jnger; it cuill be pre-
" sented to you by Salldrn al-dbrash; and as soon as you read it, even before

you lay it out aJ

your hand, go with Salliinz to the house of Yu/g.a Ibn
" Khrilid, (moy God not protect him!) and having seized on him, put hljn in

heavy irons and bear 7iim to the prison in the city of aZ-Manszir (321, whiclz
" is called IIabs az-Zanhdika (33). Order also your lieutenant Bddam fin
'' A6d Allah to go to nl-F'ad's, at the same time that you ride o f to t h ~
" house of his father Yahy-a, before the news spreud abroad: tell hinz to do

" with at-Fad1 wluzt you are ordered to do with Y a l y a , and bt him take him

" to the same prison. On jnisliirzg with these two, send some of your 7nelt
' ' to seize on the clrildren, brothers, and relations of Yalyn (34)." - I bn
Badrdn also relates the fall of the Barmekides wilh some additional circum- 160
stances which I am induced to give here in an abridged manner. After the
passage relative to Jaafar which has been cited above (35), he says: "Then
" (ar-Rashid) called as-Sindi Ibn Shihik and ordered him to proceed to Bagh-
" dad and arrest secretly the Barmekides, their clerks and their relations, which
" was done. Ar-Rashid was then with Jaafar at al-Omr, near al-Anblr. Jaafar
" was in his lodgings at the time, and had called in A.bh Zakkir and his slave

" girls ; the curtains (of the apartment) were closed, and Abh Zakklr bad sung
" to him this song:
318 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
What want they with us? They never cease to watch us (3611 Their only thought
is to detect (the joys) which we conceal .'
And ar-Rashid called his page Yisir and said to him: ' I have chosen you
" for a business which 1 do not think fit to confide to any other (37); justify
the11 the opinion which 1 have of you, and beware resisting me, or you die,'
L -TO this Yjsir answered: Were you to order me to kill myself, I would do
L< it.'-< Go then,' said ar-Rashid, 'and bring me immediately the head of
Jaafar Ibn Yahya.' YLsir was confounded, ancl gave no answer. IWretch !'
ar-Rashid, do you hesitate?'--' It is a serious business;' replied
tile other; would that 1 had died before this hour l'--' Execute my orders !'
said the khalif. Yisir then went to Jaafar's, and found him in company with
Abli Zakkir, who was singing these verses:
Leave us not, for every man must mect death either in the night or in the day.
Treasures, though well preserved, must one day be exhausted. Could you be pre-
c served from the attacks of misfortune, I should give my own wealth and that of my

fathers to secure your safety.'

(Ybsir then entered) and Jaafar said to him: 'I am happy to receive your
visit, 0 Yisir; hut am displeased at your entering without permission.'-
" bfy business,' said Kisir, ' does not admit of ceremony (38).' Ire then in-
&

'( formed him of the orders which he had received from the khalif. Jaafar, on
6' this, kissed Yisir's feet and said : ' Let me go in and make my will.'--'As for
going in,' answered Yisir, ' it is impossible for me to grant it; but make your
1' will if you please.'-' You are under obligations to me,' said Jaafar, 'and you
can repay them at the present moment only.'-'You will find me prompt to
" do any thing,' said Yisir, ' except to disobey the Commander of the faithful.'
L -' Return then,' said Jaafar, ' and tell him that you have put me to death ; if

he express his regret, 1shall owe you my life; and if not, you can fulfil your
L l orden.'-'Impossible !' said Yisir. -'Let me then go with you to his tent,
'' that 1 may hear the answer which he makes you, and if he persist in will-
" ing my death, you can execute his commands.'-' T o that I consent,' replied
the other. He then entered the tent of ar-Rashid, who, on hearing the
'' noise of his approach, said to him : 'Have you done it (39)"' Yjsir told him
what Jaafar had said. 'Vile wretch (40)!" exclaimed the khalif, ' if you an-
" swer me another word, 1 shall send yo11 before him (to the n e s t world).'
 BIOC KAPHICAI, 1)ICTIONARY. 313
Yisir thcn rctiretl, and having put .faafar to death, he carI.ied in llis head
~6 and ~laecrli t before the khalif. 1Te looked at it for some time, and t.llen or-
' ( dered &sir to bring in two persons whom he named. W l ~ e nthey came, h p
L said to thcln : ' St r i l ~ eoff YBsir's hrad, for 1 cannot bear the si,yht of Jaafa1l7s
mlirderer.' "--ln anotller part of the book, Ibn Hadrhn relates this anccdote :
During tlle pilgrimage, .Jaafar had remarked ar-Rashid's estrangement, and
on arrivinz a t Ilira, he rode out on l~usinessto a church, in which he found a
stone wit11 something written on it, which he did not understand. He sent
1 4 for interpreters to have it explained, with the intention of drawing from it

an omen r ~ l a t i v r to what he bad to fear or hope from ar-Rashid. The

inscription was read, and it ran thus :
& I nthe year that the family of Munclir (41) perished, by the spot where the monk
built the church, the hopes of the needy were fixed on them no longer, and the cri- 161
L mina1 ceased to fkar them. Their hair breathed the odour of musk and the perfume
of ambergris, which caused the rose to frown (withjealousy). They became food for
the worms of the earth ; the patron had ceased to exist, and those also who sought
his favour .'

" Jaafar, on hearing this, was dejected and said : ' Our fortune has passed
away !' " --Al-Asmii related this anecdote : " Ar-Rashid sent for me after he
had put Jaafar to death, and on my arrival, he said: 'It is for some verses
which I wish you to hear.' I answered : 'If i t pleases the Commander of the
" faithful.' He then repeated to me these lines :
GHad Jaafar apprehended death, a bridled courser had saved him ; and precaution
' against (the stroke
o f ) fate had placed him in an asylum which even the eagle would
despair to reach. But when his day was come, no horoscope could repel misfortune
' from him .'
I perceived that the verses were his own, and said : 'They are the best verses
" on the subject;' and h e said to me: 'Rejoin now your family, 0 Ibn Koraib!
'( if you like.' "--It is stated that Jaafar, some days before his death, intended
to ride to ar-Rashid's, and called for an astrolnbe that h e might choose a (dncly)
hour for the purpose: he was then in his house situated on the Tigris, when a
boat passed by with a man in it, who, although he did not see Jaafar or know-
what he was doing, recited this verse:
In his ignorance he takes counsel of the stars, but the Lord of the stars does what He
wills.
-50
 3 11. IBN litI.4LLIl<AN'S

tllat o n the rnornine :lft(:r the n i ~ h in

t n llicll Jaafar was [jut t o ( ~ Y 111,
I n hill was
d tl1(>( ] o ~ Pof Ali lb11 Isa (43)11)n bliillin'~p a l a c ~a 1 K I I o P ~ s ~ I ~ ,
follIld P O S ~ On
containing tllr follo\ving lines written in a 1;11sg hand :
s,,,js of Ijarnlcl; have been ovcrwl~clmcdby niisl'ortuno. Their fate
The unfc,r*tullntc
is an eramplt. for m, aild let him who inhabits this palace take warnirig.

nrhcIl
~ ~ Ilcarda the ~news of
Oyair,ii
~
f ~ J a n h r ' s dcatll i l ~ l dtllc r n i s f ~ r ~ ~ l ~
of tile l]al,nleki(lcs, Ile turned ton-ards the kibZi~(4 3) aud said : '' 0 rrly God ! hc
Li re)ieTed rile h i ~ uf1'01kl tllib pains of (hr
from ~ l l ewants of h i s world; ~~elicvc
id
I"- the drat11 of Jaafar, a great number of clcgics WCPC c o n ~ p o s e don
llinl by tile poets, in \vllich they deplored h i s loss allcl the misliwtuncs of his
hrni lv ; the following verses on t h e subject were conlposcd 11y ar-Rn kHslli (h!,) :

Those whose hearts were free from anguisti such as rrrirrc, ctljoyctl quiet and repose;
but sleep is not suited for m y eyes. The passionato lovcr is wakcft~l,but it is not love
whiclr prevents my eyes from closing. l'hose sad events have awohcn ine; and when
others yield to slumber, slceplessness is mine. It was a heavy blow for mc to lose
those prince11 stars by whose gcncrous slio\\:ers we wcre watered wl~ctn the skies
withhcld their rain. Let beneficence and the worltl now say adieu to tlie glory of the
Barnlekides ! Before thy fall, 0 son of Yahya ! I ncver saw one w o r d cut by all-
olher (55). S y Allah! were it not through fear of informers, and of the khalif's eye
which sleepelh not, we should \\alk around thy gibbel (as rou~zdthe Kanbn), and kiss it
as men kiss the sacred stone (M).

1c;e The same poet said, i n a lament o n the death of JaaErr and of his brother
al-Fad1 :
Behold how the cutting sword of the Barmekidcs has bcen broken by that of the
IIashimites. Now that Fad1 i s dead, tell the camels that they may repose (k7),and tell
niisfortunes to come renewed each day.

DiLil Ibn Ali al-KhuzHi said, on t h e same subject:

On secing the sword fall upon Jaafar, and on hearing the khalif's herald cry ven-
geance on l-ahya, I wept for the world (of which they were the ornament), and I felt
how true it was that the goal of human life is the qiiitting of tile world.

And Sjllill Ibn Tarif said of hem :

0 for the sons of Barmek and the happy days (of their power) ! with you the world
was (brilliant as) a bride ; but now it is widowed and bereft of its children.
 T h e apprcllensioll of prolixity prevents me b * o ~ givingr~ numerous \lassages
fro111 i l l c b eulogistic 1):)erns and ~hhc elegies con~posetlon ~ l l eIhnnekidcs; ,llc
present article llas nlrcady attained a considerable length ; but tlris, it is true,
\\.as ~bc~~dcretl unavoicial~leby the nccessity of stating, i l l a co~~ilcctchd
manner, the
l'articulars of t h ( i r rise and fall.--One of the most singular examples which his-
tory offt11.s of tlrc ~icissitudcsof forlr~neis thils relatad by hlrihammatl lbn nib-
Rallrnin al-Illishinli, chief of the prayer at Kids (48) : '' On a cer.tain day, \vhicl~
was the Vcstival of Sacrifices ( I I ~ I) went
, i n to Iny mother's, and found wit11
L L her a ur\.ornan of respectable mien, but dressed in shabby clothes. ' Do you
know wllo this is?' said my mother.--( No,' I replied.-'This,' said she, 'is
the nlother ot' JaaTar the Ilarmekide.' On this I turned towards her and sa-
t [ luted her with respect; we then conversed togelher. for some time after-
I' wl~ichI said: 'Madam ( S O ) , what is the strangest thing that you have seen?'
To \vliich shc answered : 'There was a time when this rttiniversary fourld me
'L nit11 four hundred female slaves standing behind me to await my orders, and
vet I thought [bat m y son did not provide for me in a manner adequate to
my rank; but now my only wish is to have t ~ v osheep-skins, one to serve me
for a bed and the other for a covering.' l gave her," said the narrator, '' five
hundred dirhems, and she nearly died from excess of joy. She afterwards
continued to visit us till death placed a separation between us."-I found the
word Omr, as here written, in a manuscript which had been read over and care-
fully corrected; Abii Ohaid al-Bakri (51) says, in his Mojnn2 (01. dictionury qf'
proper names), that i n the expression killriyat a[-O~nr(cell of an omr), the
word ornr means convent.

(1) The khalif was the spiritual chief or irnam of the Noslims.
.
(2) This place lies near Medina.
(3) For he will shower down on them the rain of his generositj.
(4) These words mean, the pulp or stuffing of almotld comfits. - 1 have n o t bee11 ahle to find this term in
the Calcutta edition of the Mukhtasir, or abridged treatise on rhetoric, by at-'~aftdzarli.
( 5 ) The Hashimites were all members of the khalif's family, being descended, like him, from Hdshim Ibn
Abd Manlf.
161 All the members of the Abbaside family and the chief ofticers of their empire wore black.
(7)T h e rus&/iyawas a sort of cap the precise form of *hich is not now known. A little farther on, this
Species of cap is called a kalanszta, which name is now given to the coif worn by Christian priests in that
country.
316 IBN liII,$II,LIKAN'S
(8: [Ynbld is a fermented liquor made of dates, hut 111 many cases, tllis is ern[)loycd to denote hirle
of grapes.-lbn Khaldoun is of opillion that in tile presclll Casc ~ h tlate-liquor
e i s n t e a r ~ t . - ( S ~&I.
~ (je
Sacy's Chrestornalhie, tom. I. p. 380.1
(g: A pint, in Arabic JL, (ratl); rllich a a r d our principal orientalists, ail11 tljc cxreption of I.de
Hammer, pronounce incorrectly roll.
(101 About ninety thousand ~ u u n d ssterling.
( j i ! Goyernors of pro\Irlccs Hcrp fr~titIcdto have a s t ; ~ r ~ d a rborne
d bcforc theill.
(1.2) This is certairllga nllst;lhr; it was Ibrabirn, brotlter tlf this lil)d al-Millik \\.llo was named governor
of EgYIlt 1he.e t ~ persons
o filled places of the 11igLcst imporlar~ccunder lltc Abbaside khalifs, I shall
bere g i ~ esornr itrcor~~lt of Lh~ill
~ b ;il-31allh
d ~ b l lSBlih n a s drscended from Hiishim, grandfalhcr of Muhammad, and was consequently
to ar-Rajhid, The followi11g genealogy will r.endcr the dcgrec of their r e l n t i o ~ ~ s l i nlorc
i p al)prcciahle:
UASlill
i
ABD A L - M U T T A L I B
I
I
A B D ALLALl
l
ALI
-C--- 1

SALIA NUUAHIA~
1 I
ABD A L - I A L I K

The mother of Abd al-Malik was a concubine of T\Iarv;:ln Ibn Muhammad, tllc last Orrliriyitlc khalif, and
on the death of her master, she was bought by Sdlitt, to shorn she bore a son n a a ~ c dAI)(! ill-Blalili, the sub-
jectof this notice. Some even say that Abd al-3lalik was son to Rfarwdn, for a c c o r t l i ~ ~tog tllcnl his mother
was pregnant when she came into the possession of Shlill. I n A. I I . 173 (A. I). 789-90), A1111 al-Malili com-
manded the Saifiya, or annual summer incursion made into the territory of the Grccks: in 175 (A. D. 741-2)
he defeated the Greeks a n d returned wit11 seven thousand heads of eacrnics s l a i r ~i n battlc. I n 177 (A. D.
793-41 he n a s appointed governor of Damascus by ar-Rashfd, and in 178 h e was namcd governor o f Egyl~t,
hut did not proceed to that country. Iil 187 (A. D. 803), he was accused b y his o w n son, Abd ar-Rahmdn,
of aspiring to the khalifat, a n d was arrested by order of nr-Rashld, who only sl)arctl his life from the
reluctance he felt to shed the blood of a Hashimite. Abd al-Malik wils then k e p i in c o ~ ~ f i ~ ~ e m bye his
nt
clrders; it n a s only on the accession of the khalif Amtn that he was restored t o liberty. I-lc receivctl the
go\crnment of Syria from lhis prince, a n d died in 193 (A. D. 808-g), a short time before his ~lrotcctorlost his
life.-\lbn al-Alhir's Kdmil. Abii 'I-Rlahssin's an-Nujam az-Zahira. AI-Makrizi's Kitilut.)
His brother Ibrahim Ibn SAlih a a s appointed governor of Egypt by the khalif al-Ma11di in A . H. 165
(A. D. 7SI-21. Under his administration, a member of the Omaiyidc family. Dihya I b n al-Muassab
d\4-3 lbrl Abd 11-Aziz I b n Marwln. revolted in Upper Egypt a n d had l~irnrolfproclaimed
khalif. Ibrahlm was extremely remiss in taking measures to suppress this insurrection, a n d h e even seemed
to take no notice of it. AI-itllahdi was so highly displeased a t this conduct, t h a t hc dcprivctl him of his place
in A. H. 167, a n d fined him in a sum o l fifty thousand dinars (twenty-Live thousand pounds sterling): bul
he afterwards took him into favour a n d gave him another government. T h e khalif ar-Rashid re-appointed
 RIOGRAPHICAI, DICTIONAKT.
him to the province of Egypt in -4.H. 1% [A. D. 792r, and hc died there in less than t h e e monlhs after his
nomil~ati~li.-(Abil 'I-PIahAsiir's f i j t i m . )
(23) Muhammad Ibn al-llasar~\\as a jurisconslllt of the sect of Abb liIai~ifa. His lifc will be ~ O I I I ill
I ~ thiS

work.
(14) This is probably the sarrie Iristorian mcrrtioncd in Lhe note, page 190.
(15) Literally: Not to cat the price obtaincd for me.
(16) Literally: You l ~ a v esold me for a vile price.
(17) T h e n a n h ilfuban~ra,an hrahian lrihe settled in North Africa, pretended that they drew their d,1sccllt
from this boy, whom they called Sami C+ --(lbn KlialdPn's Hist. of the Plustajamite Arabs.)
(18) The dynasty of the Banb 'l-Aftas reigned for sornc time at Badajos in Spain, but was o ~ c r t h r o \ \ r ~
the al-Blurabits under the command of Fbsuf Ibn TAshifin in A. H. 486 (A. D. 10931.-Thc poem of 1b11
Abdbn with thc commentary of Ibn Badriln will be published under the direction of professor Weyers of
Leyden.
(19 Literally: It choked Jaafar in making him s\\.allow the saliva of the cutting steel.
(20) See Abulfede A,nnaIes, t. I[. pp. 60. SO; and 31. de Sacy's Chreslornathie, t. I. p. 4 of the Arabic text.
(21) Literally: No fathers to your fathers.
(22) Olaiya, daughter of he lilialif al-Mahdi, was born A. H. 160 (h.D . 756-7). Her mother M a k n i ~ n a
bi& was a slave girl 110ssessil1gevery g)erfection oP mind and person, a ho liad been bought by a[-Malidi for
one llurrdrcd thousand dinars (upwards of fifty t1ioos;ind pour~ds stcrlirrg). By her charms s11c gaiilc>d
;11-Mahdi's affections to such a degree, that his wife nl-lihaizurln could rot repress her jealousy. Olaiia also
was extremely beautiful, b u t hcr forehead was ratlrcr high ; to collceal this defect, shc wore a fillet or diudern
set with precious stoncs. She had an cxtluisite taste for music, ant1 in lhat art slle surpassed lrer half-brother
ibrahtm, whose talent \\as so eniincnt. The airs and verses of licr composition excited the utmost admiration,
and are merrtioned with high eulogium by Abh 'l-Fnrnj al-Ispahfini, who has inserted a portion of them in Ilir;
Kildb al-Aglidni. I t was only during those periods of delicate lreallll in whir11 females are not alloned hy
~ fulfil the duty of praycr (see D'Olisson's Empire Olhomun, t. 11. p. 39), that shc irrdulgetl
the lloslim 1 i 1 to
her passion for music and conviviality; but on her convalescence, poetry arrd song \vere discontiaued,
and she abstnincd from nubld (see note (S), page 316) : her occupation was the11 to read the Koran ;~ntio t l ~ r r
books. She used to write poetical epistles to hcr friends and to a slave of ar-Rashid's, named Tall ( & &U>),
Some of these pieces were set by her to music and are still preserved; they are short, but respire an arde~lt
passion. Her brother ar-Rasliid disapproved of her faniiliarity with Tall, but afterwards gave him to her atid
authorised her to do with him as she pleased. Another slave called Raslia c,
was also honoured by her
affection and celebrated in her verses. Her death took place A. H. 210(A. D. 825-6) : she was then wife to
Mdsa s , ~ us Ibn Isa Ibn Muharnrnad i b n Ali Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abbhs, a member of the
imperial family.--(From the Kildb al-dghdrti, which contains a long notice onolaiya, interspersed mith many
curious anecdotes.)
(23) This was Gabriel Ibn Balihtyasha. See also the Chrestomathie, tom. I. pag. 53, and Russell's
Aleppo, vol. XI. appendix, p. v. A long account of his life may be found in the Tddkh al-Hukamd.
(24) Abou Zakkar l'aveugle Btait u n chanteur de Bagdhd attache a la famille des Barmekides, qui faisaient
grand cas de lui et le comblaieat de biens. II Btait aupris de Djafar et lui chantait des vers exprimant La
pensde que l a menace de la rnort est incessamment suspendue sur l'hornrne, lorsque Mesrour entra charge des
ordres d u calife Haroun, et fit trancher la t6te a Djahr. Abou Zakkhr demanda avec instance qu'on lui donnit
la rrlorl ;1 lui-mfime; I)jaf;lr, dil;;lil.-il, a moll l)ienfiiilcur, il me scrnil trol) tlur d? lui survivre. Mcsrour
r,il,ofldit qu'il allait c,,risulter i i.et Cgartl I:I volo11t6 tle 1icirok111.11 ports cillife !a t?tc t l ~Ujafar ct lui
,.elN;ta ,.c r l u ~ ~ b zi,kkar
ou avail dil. a\-c3klglc, Jit flarnu~l, rneritc. t l u ' o ~ ~
SO L ' i ~ t t i ~ ~ hinforme-toi
c; tlu traite-
llienl qll'il rttct*vait d c n j a f a r ; je \.(busr j u ' o ~lui
~ allour. un s~~thablc.--(Ag/lflni. tom. IV. h!. !)X. i-Commu-
Ili,.ate(l by Jl*Caussin Yrrcevol. Kailtfdd,ii rrrcillis riutiue of li(t!~l.'ddd, a ~ O W I I21t IwO paras;lllgs' dislancc.
trrr,ll fi;lphdad. - ;Abh 'I-Fadi's Gtrograplly, p. 303.)
55, -ds.sUrtll is: the aaule uctltc cdllill~ I which
I ; ~ d built by a!-Afansilr.-(Se~ M. cle Silcy's llolp
B i ~ ~ h d *;is
t r l l l ~ cfirst bol.
of thc Chrestomathir, 1). 68.1
;.(;.,
apFcsrs rrum the sequel, t h a ~as-Siudi Ibn Shallik was :~r-l\asliitl's Sdhib as-Skorta, or chief of the
t,rmed lbrl sllihik \+asa rl:iti\e OS lutlia and all crrt.ancl~iscdslate o r a l - h l a ~ ~ s b r . I l e lillcll i1 aumber
,,f ele\.ated posts uIlder the Abl~asidcklialifs: iu the year LT6 (A. 1). i'J2), h c t1.a~govcl.nor of J)an~ascus; in

1%. al,pears by ~ l ) Kha(likPn's

~l citiltion, hc 513s Sdltib as-Skortu, a ~ i dilt i1110ther pcriod !W acted as
h;ilii iit Baghdad, M l ~ e rhec dic.0 A. 11. 304 (A. D. Si'J-20).--[nfird&a:-Zaffldn, hlS. XO. (;h(), fol. d l \erso.)
:%) Theje yerjcs arc taken fi.orn a ~ ~ e l l - k ~ ~poem
o w n in which Alrnir I b n ;ll-tIi~rith dcplor~cslhc rtlisfortunc
,,f hi3 tribe, tile Jorhamitos, nlio llatl been guardians of the Ka(tbu a t h l ~ l i k ; ~but
, were llo longer ill possessioll
,)f tllot Ironourable oSficc.-(Sec the Etcerpta ex dbulfedd in lhe seconcl c:Jitioll (IS I'oc~cli's Specimerb
. l r . ~)itg.361; Fleischcr's dnnales Anteislamicte, p. 192, ant1 Sehullen's lWonumer~rn/'e&zutir~ra Ar., p. 1.1
(18) B a j d n and Safo are hills rlear Sleklia. For Safu see nurclihardt's Travels in Arabia, vol. L . 1) 174.
(29) Literally: B u t we were destroyed by the vicissitutles of nights and stumbling fortu~trs.
(30) Koran, sur. 12, ver. 84.
131) I t would appear from this that a number of small bells vrcrc fastened to 1 . 1 1 ~lliroat-barrrl of the bridles,
as with the post-horses on the contineot.
33 The city of al-lfansllr; Bi~ghdad,foundell by that khiiliL
!33; Habs az-Zanddiku, the prison for Z e n d i b , or atheists.--See 1)'flerbelot; % E N U I K .
(31 T h e rnanurcripts and the priatcd test hare dY3\ b u l I read J?,~!.
(35j See page 308.
(36) Literally: They sleep not o/r 14s; that is, their vigilance is never lullcd so lllat their altc~rtionis drawn
off us.
(37) Literally: For which I judge not fit either Muhammat1 o r Abd Allah o r at-Kbsinr.
(38) Literally: I s too grave for that.
(391Literally: W h a t is behind you? An expression frequently used in the: sense of " W h a t have you
done ?"
(40) Literally: 0 sageas pudenda matris rue! a foul imprecation, a n d very common i n the mouths of the
i~ncieotArabs. See another example in my Diwdn dlAmro'l-Blats, page 20, note.
(41) A sketch of the history of this family will be found in Pocock's specimen HiSt. AT.
(42) This Bli I h n Isa is spoken of in the lives of Tlihir I b n al-Husain a n d al-Fadl I b n ar-Rsbi.
(43) See page 37, note (3).
(44) The poet A b h 'I-Abbas al-Fadl Ibn A b d as-Samad ar-Rak3shi was born a t Basra, b u t settled at Bagh-
dad, where he celebraled in his Verses the praises of Harhn ar-Rashid, al-.4mim a n d the Barmckides. H e and
Abh NuwAs were constantly a t enmity with each other, and his pretensions a n d pride exposed him to the at-
tacks of all the other poets of the day.-(The khatfb's Tdrtkh Baghdad, No. 638, fol. 248.) T h e date of his
death is not given.
(45) There is here a play upon words; L means a sword a n d metaphorically a prince.
r
(46)This i s an allusion to the ceremony o f the Tuwaf, which consists in walking a certain number of times
round the kuaba, a t Mekka, ntld liissing the black stone.--SCC Salc's introduction to the Koran, and Burek-
hardt's Travels in Arabia. vol. I . p. 1'72.
(47, He means t h a t therc eristcd no longer a gerlcrous patron in the world ; ant1 that t l ~ ecamcls \\Ilictl llilti
borrle him across the descrts to solicit Fadl's bounty, might now enjoy r e p o x , as he st~ouldrot r c q ~ ~ i theil
rr
services again.
(48)O n e of tllc privileges possessed by the governors of provinces was to preside a t Friday Ilrayrrs thl-
l e y r e s c n t a t i ~ eof the khalif, b u t this officc was often filled by the kadi.
(49) T h e Festival of Sacrifices is held on the! ZOllr of ZO 'I-Kaada.
(50)T o avoid confusion, the Arabic words Ya Ommu \O mother!) arc hcrc rcndered by mudant.
(5i)Abil Obaid Abd Allall I b n Abd al-Aztz al-Bi~kriwas a ~ l a t i v cof Cordova. Died A. H.487. This i s
the author of the geographici~lwork, a portion of w l ~ i c lhas ~ been translated and published in the .Yotic.es I,!
Extraits, torn. X I I . F o r his lifc, see Cosiri's nibliolliecn Arabica, tom. 11. p. 46; a n d for spccirnens of' his
poetry a n d the llistory of his anccstors a n d himself, see Ibn al-Abbhr's al-BTullat as-Siyarcl, fol. 82 et C P I ~ .
$,cc also the translation of al-3Sabkari by M r . Gayangos, vol. I. 1). 312.

JAAFAR IBN AL-FURAT, CAI,I,ED ALSO 1RN IIINZABA.

A b i ~'l-Fad1 Jaafar Ibn al-Fad1 Ibrr Jaafar* Ibn Mlllrammad Ib11 llfrisa Ilm
al-Hasan Ibn al-Furit, and generally knoivn by the surname of Itrn Hin-
ziba, was vizir to the Ikhshid family in Egypt during the protectorship of
KifGr. When Kifbr tooli the sovereign authority into his own hands, h(.
served him in the same capacity, and hc continued to act as vizir aud direct ihe
administration of the Egyptian and Syrian provinces for Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibrr
al-Ikshid, on the death of KCMr. Hc then seized on a number of the grrat
officers of the empire, and extorted sums of money from them; he arrested also
Yakdb Ibn Killis, who was (afterwards) vizir to al-Aziz al-Obaidi, and forced
from him a sum of four thousand five hundred dinars. Ibn Killis was delivered
out of his hands by the sharif bluslim al-Husaini (l), in whose house he lay con-
cealed for a time, and then fled secretly to Maghrib. Ibn al-Furit was not, 165
however, able to satisfy tire exorbitant demands of the KBfhrites, the Ikhshi-
dites (2), the Turkish mercenaries, and the other troops, as the persons who
had farmed out the different branches of the public revenue paid him nothing.
His authority was shaken to such a degree, that he was twice obliged to conceal
himself, whilst (a seditious multitude) pillaged his palace and the houses of'
some of his partisans. About this time AbQ Muhammad al-Husain Ibn Aid
3 20 IBN KHAL1,IIIIAN'S
Allall Ibn Togl1j, prince of Ram13 (:l), ;i~Ti\~Ptl at Hisl.9 and, ilavine a r r e ~ l ~ d
lbrl al-Furit, tlim to 1 , ~,jut to f o ~ ~ l i l rand
r inllictc(1 on hi111 a heavy
liilc. \I-llusaio ,hcn nplmi,rtpd his own secretary al-Hasan h n JBLir ar-
liialli , t~ llle p\ace of ixir, but t1!1~)11g11the iriterc~~ssior~
I of t ] ~ (shnrif
~ XItls-
link, he set al-Ful-lt at liberty, nnrl retinbd to Syria a k e r vtltrusting him
again tvith the governrnvnt of Egypt This happClled at llre l)cginning [llr
nloiltlr of the latler Rabi, A . 11. 358 (Fel~runry,A . D. g@)). ( 1 6 , ~ol-~um't)
jvas learned hislself, and loved learning in othtlrs ; be taught the Traditions on
aurhor.i[vof ~ l l l l l ~ m ~ nIbn
a d IIirliri al-IIatlrami ( n n t b e c$HacEl.at/,aut) and
tllcb Traditionists of Baglldn(l Ilia contemporaries; he rllansmitted them also as
thcv had come down l o him from Muhammad Ibn Said al-nur,jumi, a native of
Enjcbssn, JIuhnnlmad Ibn Jaafar al-Khariiti ( S ) , al-1Iasan Ibn Ahmad Ibn
Ijasci'~~rl,al-Hasan Ibu Ahmad ad-Dimki and Muhamrnad 1l)n On13ra Ibn flamza
ill-Ispaliisi. Ile related having heard read n MajZis, or cor~ft:rt.nce,composed
I)!. Ahd Allah Ibn Mnhammad al-Baglrami (G), and that llc did not possess a
copy of it; "If any one brings i t to m(.," said he, " I will nlakr him a ilich
i man."
L Wlleil vizir of Egypt, he uset1 to tench tlie Traditiorls hy dictation,
it nd for that reason was visited by eminent persons iron1 tlistarlt countries.

The same motive induced the lrryz Abil 'l-Hasan ad-Ddraliutni ro make tile
jolirnev from Irak to Egypt; and as the vizir had the intention of composing a
~lfzlsnad(T), he continued with hirn till the work was finished. Ibn al-Furit
wrote also a treatise on the proper and patronymic names of mcn (g), and some
other works. The kltatfb Abh Zakariyi at-Tahrizi mentions, in his cornmen-.
t a - y on the poems of al-MuranabLi, that this poet, when he visited Egypt, cele-
Grated the praises of Khfhr and the vizill Ibn al-Furit in the ]tnsj'da of which
rhe verses rhyme in R, and which begins thus:
Your love will appear whether you resist it or not.

Hc named it the JaafariJa (afier Jaafnr Ibn adFurdt), having terminated

one of the verses with the word Juafar, and inserted the words Ibn al-Furn"t in
the following line:
I should have made a bracelet for the arm of him who announced the news of Ibn
al-Furat's approach, and have rewarded the servant who shouted with joy. '

As the vizir did not satisfy his expectations, he abstained from reciting this
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 3'21
poem to him; and on setting out for Arrajin with the intention of visiting Adad
ad-Dawla~,at whose court Abil 'l-Fad1 Ibn al-Amid, the vizir of Rokn atl-Dalv-
lat, was then residing, he changed the address of the kasfda, and converted it
into a panegyric on Ibn al-Amid, whose name he inserted in place of Ibn al-
Furit's. He composed some other pieces in praise of Ibn &Amid, bul this is
a splendid production. W e shall insert here another obserrration made by the
same klzarib, where he explains al-Mutanabbi's kasida rhyming in A, which
contains the account of his journey to Kdfa and the description of the places
at which he stopped successively on the way; in this piece the poet attacks KiWr
in these terms :
What are the objects which raise the laughter of Egypt, laughter which nearly re-
sembles weeping? Therc is a Nabatean from as-SawAd (g), who gives lessons on the
genealogies of the desert tribes (10); and a negro whose lip is half as large as himself,
and whom they style the moon U/' darkness. When I praised that hippopotamus, my
pieces were half poem, half incantation (to charm the brute) ; and it was not so much to
praise him as to satirize the human race (11).

On this the khatfb observes, that by the Nabatean he meant Ibn al-Furht, and
by the negro Kifhr; but, after all, such an attack does not detract from their
merit, for the nobbst characters h ~ v always
e been subject both to blame and
y raise. --The vizir Abh 'l-KrZsim al-Maghribi says in his Adab al- K h u w h s :
"In a conversation with the vizir Ibn al-Furtt, I quoted to him passages from
the poems of al-Mutanabbi, and he betrayed, by the very excess of his appro-
'' bation, his concealed (hatred) for the poet; he was afraid of appearing like
one who was prevented by a feeling of private animosity from concurring
" with the public opinion (respecting aZ-Mutanabbi's eminent talent). He
'' had been satirized by the poet, and that was the motive of his'enmity towards
" him."-The birth of Ibn al-Furit took place on the 3rd of Zd 'l-Hijja, A. H.
308 (April, A. D. 921) ; he died in Egypt on Sunday, 13th of Safar (or of the
firstRabi), A. N. 394 (January, A. D. 1001). Prayerswere saidover him by
the ktdi Husain lbn Muhammad Ibn an-Nomin (I 2); and he was interred in the
lesser Karlfa, where his tomb is still conspicuous.-Thibit Ibn Kurra says in
his History (1 3) that Hinzcfbn was the name of his father's mother. This word,
when used as an appellative noun, means a short and corpulent fernale.-The
hiiJis Ibn AsQkirspeaks of this vizir in his History of Damascus, and mentions
the following verses as composed by him :
3.1
 382 IBN RHhLLIKtlN'S
He who humbleth his soul, preserveth il in rcpose, and pas~ethhis nights Free fronl
anguish. The storm, in its riolence, throseth down only the lorticst trees.

Tile same \vriter says: IIe was very beneficeat lolvnlrls the inhabitants of
" fife& and Medioa; Le purchased a llousc in he latter city, close to tllr
L L IIIOS~I~Pand
, seprratccl by a wall only fi1om the tomh of lhe Blessed Prophet.
Re directed, by llis \\-ill, that he should be buried in this house, and he en-
4 6 joined the S/t(N.$i( 1 3 ) to carry that into effect. Wlleri he died, his bier was
6' borne from Egypt to those two cities, 311d ( o n its nppmac/8 LO Mechhn), [hr

(4shaI,ifs\vent forth to meet i t in acknowledgment of thc henclits they had

G They bore tlre body to Mekka and madr the pilgrimage with it,
visitirrg the temple, walking round it, and stationing at Mount Araf'a. They
tlren hrollgtlt the corpse to Medina and interred it in d ~ elrouse of which we
have spoken." This is in contradiction with what I said aljove, and God best
knows the truth .! I shall only observe that the torn]) of which I have spoken, I
rnyself have seen in the Karifa, bearing llle followinp, inscription: This is the
tornb of Abli 'l-Fad1 Jaafar Ibn al-Furht." I Elavc sincc found a note in the
handwriting of' Abh 'l-lihsim lb11 as-Sisfi, ill which i t is stated that the vizir was
buried in thc audience-hall of his great palace, and that the body was afterwards
removed to RIedina.

(1)The sharif AbB Jaafitr Muslim Ihn Obaid Allah Ibn T h h i ~ al-llusaini (descended from al-Husuin
grandson of Mullammad), surnaroed also Muslim al-Alawi (dcscenda~~t of Alii a n d Abd Jaafar al-Alawi, was
a n emir of eminent talenls and merit; he acted a conspicuous part at the captrjrc of Misr by the troops of
the Fatimite khalif al-Moizz (see the life of the kdid Jawhar), and was treated willr great respect and fa-
vour by that prince. Al-Moizz having one day found in his palace, or 011 the pulpit of the mosque, a piece of'
verse inv~tinshim to prove the genuineness of his descent from tllc lihalif Ali hy obtaining tlie consent of the
Banil Tlhir, Muslim's family, to a matrimonial alliance will] his sun, 11c asked Muslinr to g i ~ cone of his
daughters in rnarriage to his son al-Azfz. Muslim refused on the plea B a t thcg wcrc already betrothed to
relatives of his own family. Al-Moizz v a s so highly displeased at the rejection of his on'cr, that he im-
prisoned &iuslirn and seized on his property. From that period Muslim was never seen again; some say
that he was put to death by the orders of the khalif, and others state that he escaped from confinement, but
perished in one of the deserts of Hijdz. His grandson al-Hasan became sultan of Melilia. (See Umdat at-
Tdlib, MS. No. 636, fol.206.)
(2) The Kdfdtites were mamlfiks of KLfilr, raised by hinr 10 places oC high authority. The Ikhshtdiles
were the mamlhks and partisans of the lkhshide family.
(3) Al-Husain Ibn Toghj had been elected regent by the troops, during the minority of his relation AbO
'I-FawAris Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibn 81-lkhshtd. The poet al-Mutanabbi composed some poems in his honour.-See
page 110.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 323
(4)I n two nianuscripls of A.bO 'l-Yalldsin's History of Egy1)t. this name is urittrn (al-Zinjdnf!.
0
( 5 ) Ahil Bakr Muhammad Ihn Jaafar al-Khariiti, author of the ~ ~ ~ l c d r e ' r n a l - Aand
k l ~ other
l ~ k works, died
at Jaffa or Askalon i11 A. H. 328 !A. D. 039-40).-(Ad-Daliabi's Tdrikh al-Isldm; al-ygfi.)
(6) ~ b 'l-Iiasim
h Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad al-Baghawi \\as born at Baghdad, A. H. 214 (A. 1) g29,.
He was a hhfiz of the highest reputa[ion. Died A. JI. 317 ( A . D. 920). He cornposed a Mojam, or calalogur
of tile companions of Mullammad.- (l'drikh al-[slam. Hajji Khalifa.)
(7) illusnad; a collection of Traditions, each of them accompanied with the llarnes of Tradilionists by \\horn
i t had been handed down.
(8) A branch of the science of the Traditions treats of the Traditionists, their names, country, credibility,
etc.
(9j As-Sawad; Babylonian Irak.
(10) That is; he taught the history and genealogy of the ancient Tradilionists.
(11) I n praising Kdfhr he satirized all mankind, for so despicable a being as Khfhr was among the best of
tlrem.
(12) Husain Ibn Bluhamrnad lb11 a n - N o m h was grand khdi of Egypt under the Fatimite khalif al-H&
kim, who put him to death A. H. 3'3.5 ( A . D. 1 0 0 5 ) . - ( E ~ p o s t de l'ni'stoire des Druzes, tom. I. pages
398, 308, 314, 316.)
(13) See page 290.
(14) A family of shurlfs, or descendants of Muhammad, were then governors of hlekha and &fedina.

IBN AS-SARRA J AL-KARI AL-BAGHDAD1 .

Abh hluhammad Jaafar Ibn Ahnlad Ibn al.-Husain Ibn Ahmad Ibn Jaifar as-
Sarrij (the saddler), surnamed al-Kiri al-Baghdadi (the Koran-reader c!fS
Baghdad), was the chief h d j z and the most learned man of the age. He
composed some admirable works, such as the MasLrf al-Osshkk (Death-
places of Lovers). He taught the Traditions on the authority of AbO Ali Ibn (I)
Shhdin, Abh 'l-Kdsim Ibn Shthin (2), al-Khallbl (3), al-Barmaki, al-Kazwini,
Ibn Ghailtn (h), and others. His disciples were numerous, and among them was
the H&jz as-Silafi, who was proud of citing the authority of such a master,
although he himself had met and studied under the principal Tradilionists of
the time. Ibn as-Sarrij has composed some good poetry, of which we may
give the following specimen :
The caravan departed, and, horn affection towards them, my tears gushed forth.
The voice of separation incited them to abandon the place of their dwelling, and they
loaded their camels. Say to those travellers who have journeyed out OF my sight,
 3% IBN KIIALLIKAN'S
although they are lodged in my heart, that they spilt my blood on the morning of (le-
parbre, although I committed no crime. myhat harm would it have done them, had
they suffered me to qllench n,y thirst for tbcir society with repeated draughts?

14;;; By the same (to his nzistres~):

you promised to lrisit me every month ; visit me now I the month is finished, visit me!
The space spparates us extends from the river al-Moalla to thr town of Shah-
rozlr. The months of yorlr forced absence arc a reality, but the month of our rpnnion
is an illusion (S).

Tile i(.dtib Imid a d d i n gives the following lines, by the same author, in his

The hoary-hraded pretender to youth dyes his beard with woad, to prcvent i t from
giving him the lie.

Ibn as-Sarrij was born towards the end of the year 817, or the beginning of
$ 1 S (February, A . D. 1027); the s h n r f Abb '1-MLmar nl-Mubirali Ibn Ahmad
lbn Abd al-Aziz al-Ansiri says, in his Wafaydt as-s?rrryGkh (OLituag. oj" the
Shaikhs), that his birth took place at Baghdad, A. H. 4.1 6. IIe died at Baghdad
on the eve of Sunday, 21st of Safar, A. H. 500 (October, A. D. 11 O G ) , ant1 was
buried at the gate of Abrez.

(l) h the Arabic text the word 3\ ibn has been unintentionally omitted.
(2) The hi62 Abh Hafs Ornar Ibn Ahmad al-Baghdldi, surnamed Ibn Shihtn, cornposcd a great number of
works; al-Husain, son of the khalif al-Muhtadi Billa, states that they amourite~lto thrcc hundred and thirty;
among the number was a commentary on the Koran in one thousand parts, or quires; a collection of aulhenti-
cated Traditions still more voluminous; and a historical work in one hundred and fifty quires: this last is
mentioned by Elajji Khalifa under the title of Kashf al-MamdliL (Fliigel's edition, t. 11. p. 148). Died A. H.
385 (A. D 995-61.- (AI-Yifi.)
(3) The hlfiz AbQ Muhammad al-Hasan Ibn Muhammad al-Khallhl was a preacher and lraditionist of Bagh-
dad. He wrotc some works and taught the Traditions on lhe authority of the Sahths of Bolihari and Musl~m.
Died A. B. 439 (A. D. 1047.)-(AI-YAfi.)
(4)The hA6z Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ihn Ghailan died A. H. 440 (A. D. 1048-g).-(AbQ 'I-Fadd.)
(B) The original is remarkable for an ingenious play upon words, by which the poct is enabled to terminate
each of the three verses with the syllables shahrozGri. In the second line, however, hc has committed a
fault; for ShahrosUr, the name of the town, is in the accusative case, and should be pronounced Shahroztlrn.
-(AI-YAfi.)
 BIOGRAPIIIChL DICTIONARY.

AB1IJ 'L-MAASE-IAR AL-BALKI-II.

Abir 'l-Maashar ( I ) Jaafar Ihn Muhnmmad Ibn Omar al-Balkhi (natior

Ralkh), the celebrated astrologer, was the great master of his age in that art.
He composed a number of instructive works on the science of the stars, sucll as the
Mudkhil (introduction), the Zazj' (astror2omical tables), the Okif(ihousonds)(21,
etc. He was singular~lyfortunate in his divinations. I have read in a collection
of anecdotes, that he was in the service of a prince who wished to arrest one of'
the ercat officers of his kingdom, who had committed some crime and then con-
cealed himself through fear of punishment. As this officer was aware that Abfi
'l-Maashar would discover him bp means of the operations which lle employed
for finding out treasures and things hidden, he thought of doing something to
bewilder the astrologer and baffle his penetration; and he remained therefore
some days seated on a golden mortar which he had placed in a vessel containing
blood. The prince, being unable to discover him, notwithstanding the strictest
perquisitions, sent for Abd 'l-Maashar and ordered him to employ his usual pro-
cesses and find out i n what place the officer was; the astrologer, after erecting
a scheme by which he might makc the discovery, remained for a time in silent
amazement; and on the prince's asking him the cause, replied that what he saw
was most extraordinary; the man whorn they wished to discover was on a moun-
tain of gold, which mountain was in a sea of blood. " And I know no t,'' said
the astrologer, " of any place in the world such as that." On this, the prince
ordered him to observe anew the aspect of the heavens, and examine again by
means of another scheme. The result was the same, and Ab?i 'l-Maashar de-
clared that he had never met with the like before. The prince, having lost all
hopes of discovering the offender by this means, declared by proclamation that
he would pardon the man and the person who harboured him ; and he gave
public proofs of the sincerity of his intentions. The officer's apprehensions
being thus allayed, he left his hiding-place and presented himself before the
prince, who, on learning from him where and in what manner he had been
concealed, was struck with admiration at the artifice he had employed and the
skill of Abb 'l-Maashar in making the discovery.-Other anecdotes are related
 3% IBN KHALLIKAN'S
of his successful disinations. He died A. H. 272 (A. D. 885-6). - Balkhi
I(;@ n m n s native of BaZkh, a large city in Khorasan, wlrich was laken by al-Ahnaf
Ibn Kais at-Tanlimi in the khalifat of OthmBn. AI-Ahnaf' was proverbial for
his prodeuce: his life sllall be given in the letter D[i[Z.--(See ad-Unhhrik.)

(1, Thisastrologer is better known in Europe by the corrupted name of Albumaser. Casiri has given the
list of his works in the Bibliotheca Arabica, tom. I . p. 351, after the Tdrfkh ~ 1 - I h k a m d . A number of his
astrological works are to he found in the Bib. du R o i .
(2) See Casiri, page 851.

JAAFAR IBN HAMDAN AL-ANDALUSI.

Abli Ali Jaafar Ibn Ali lbn Ahmad Ibn Harndjn al-Andalusi, prince of
al-hlasila and emir of the province of az-ZHb in Ifrikiya, was a generous patron
and friend to men of learning; a number of admirable poems, beautiful beyond
description, were composed in his honour by AbB 'l-Kasim Ibn HBni. It was
this poet who made the following verses in his praise:
There are two things of which the languor is unequalled in the world; my body
(consumed with love) and the dark enchanting (1) eyes (of my mistress). There are three
brilliant luminaries-the sun, the bright moon, and Jaafar .

As for the long kasidns (wlziclz Ibn Hrini made on him, they are so
known that) it is useless to give extracts. Al-Masila was founded by Ali father
of Jaafar, and it is known to this day by the name of Maslla bani HanzdGn (the
Masila of the Ham& family). The hatred which subsisted between him and
Ziri Ibn Manid, ancestor to al-Moizz Ibn Bidis, and their mutual contestations
led to a war, and a terrible battle ensued i n which Ziri was slain. Bolnkkin,
whose life has been already given (page 267), succeeded his father Ziri, and
acquired such superiority that Jaafar, finding it impossible to resist him, aban-
doned his kingdom and fled to Spain, where he was killed A. H. 3G4 (A. D.
9 7 b 5 ) . Such is the summary of his adventures, which are too long to be re-
lated in detail.--iMasila is a city in the province of' az-ZBb, a region in Ifrikiya.

(1) Enchantfng: literally Babylonian. An allusion to the angels HArDt and Mlrht, who taught men
sorcery at Babe].- (See Koran, surat 2.)
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.

JAAFAR IBN FALAI-I.

AbB Ali Jaafar Ibn FaiAh al-Kutlmi (belonging lo ihe Berber tribe K u t h l a )
was one of al-Moizz al-Obaidi's generals, and was sent by him with al-KQid Ja~vha~,
(whose life will be given later,) to make the conquest of Egypt. He \\-ss rht111
directed by Jawhar to proceed to Syria, and he took the town of Rarnla in the
month of Zii 'l-Kaada, 358 (September, A . D. 969), and the city of Damascus
in Muharram, 359, after some resistance from the inhabitants. He then \Tent
to ad-Dakka (I ) on the river Yazid, outside of' Damascus, and from that place he
marched, though unwell, to meet al-Hasan Ibn A hmacl al-Kirmiti (21, surnamed
al-Aisam, who was advancing to attack him. (In d e combat whiclz ensued)
r slain by al-Kirmiti ; a great number of his fol-
Jaafar was taken p r i s o ~ i ~and
lowers fell in the action. This happened on Thursday, Gth Zil 'l-Kaada, 360
(September, A. D. 971). After his death, the follox~inglines (it is said) were
found ~vriltenon the door of Jaafar's palace :
Thy inhabitants, 0 mansion ! have become the sport of Fortune; Fortune hath de-
stroyed them, and they are dispersed never to meet again. Where are those whom we 167
once saw residing in thee, and by the hands OF whom Fortune inflicted evil and poured
forth benefits?

Jaafar was a chief of high authority, and his praises were often s m g bp the
poets ; the lines ~vhichfollow were composed on him I)y Illn Hhni :

In questioning the (returning)caravans, I learned excellent news of Jaafar Ibn Fallh; ,

and, by Allah ! \I hen we met, my ears had not heard any thing superior to what I wit-
nessed with my eyes.

Those two verses are generally said to have been made by Abb Tammim on
the kQdiAhmad Ibn Abi DuwBd, and accor&ng to them the first verse ends thus :
I learned excellent news o f Ahmad 1611 Duwtid; but this is a mistake, for the
name is not Ahmad Ibn Duwn"d, but Ahmad Ihrr Abi Duwcid, and the mea-
sure of the verse does admit of the latter reading.

(1) According to the M a d s i d , ad-Dakka is a village near Damascus.

(2) Al-Kirmiti (the Karmat or Karmalian); Ibn Khallikin, in another part of his work, says that this
name is pro~iouncedal-Kirmite'.
 IBN KHALLII<AN'S

JArlFAR IBN SIIAMS AL-KHILAFAT

hbh ']-Fad] Jaafar Ihn Shams al-Khiliibt (sun cf h e kh(d$ut) Abi Abd Allall
fiIuhamnlnd ibn Shams al-Bhilifat al-nlukhtir al-Afdali, surnamed Majd
al-&lull, of the kingdonz), was a poet of talent and celebrity. He wrote
a great deal, and books transcribed by him are in hi$ request for the elegance
of the handn.riting and their correctness. Some of his works are compilations,
and contain pieces, the clrgance of which proves the goodness of the (taste which
at their) selection. His collected poetical works are of considerable
merit; the following passage, conlposed by him, I found in his own hand-
writing :
Distress is followed by happiness, and soon perhaps may be heard thc harbinger of
speedy bliss. Consider also that the evil which ceaseth is preferable to joy just passing
away.

The following lines were made by him on Ibn Shukr Abh Muharnmad Abd
Allah Ibn Ali (I), vizir of al-Malik al-Akdil and of his son al-Malik al-Khmil :
Fear induces people to praise thee with their tongues, and they pronounce in your
presence the highest eulogiums. 1 may yet live, however, to sec the time in which
those tongues shall be loosened (2) (and speak the truth).

One of our literary men at Cairo told me, in reciting these verses, lhat they
were by Ibn Shams al-Khilifat ; but I met with them afterwards in an old book
containing a collection of different pieces, and there, the author is not named.
The peculiar cast of Ibn Slla~nsal-Khilifat's poetry merits approbation. He
was born in the month of Muharrarn, A. H. 543 (A. D. 1148), and died on the
12th Muharram, 622 (January, A. D. 1 125), at a place called al-Kdm al-Ahmar
(the red mound) outside Cairo.-Rfdaali is a title given to the persons who were
in the service of al-Afdal Amir al-Juyfish, (the vizir) of Egypt. Shams al-Khi-
I f a t , this poet's father, was born A. H. 520 (A. D. 112G), and died in Zii '1-
Hijja, 569 (A. D. 1174).

(1) See page 196, note (IG).

(2) Literally : Thinkest thou that time may delay the term of my life, so that I may l i v e till the loosening
of the tongues ?
 BIOGRAPHICAI, DICTIONARY

THE EMIR JAABAR.

The emir Jaabar Ibn Slbik at-Koshairi, surnamed SBbik ad-din (the surpasser
in religion),is the person after wt~omthe castle of Jaabar obtained its name; but
the sole information that I have been able to procure respecting him amounts
ouly to this : he was advanced in age and blind; he had two sons who robbed on
the highway and rendered the roads dangerous; the castle continued in his iGl:
possession till taken from him b~ the sultan hfalak ~ h j hson of Alp Arslan
(whose life shall be given). Jaabar was killed afterwards in the beginning of
the year 464 (A. D. 4 071-2). These particulars I found in a historical work,
but some doubts remain on m y mind as to their exactness; for the sultan
Malak Shhh did not come to the throne till the death of his father Alp Arslin,
who was slain A. H. 465 (A. D. 1072); unless, indeed we suppose that he took
the castle in his father's lifetime, and was then acting as his lieutenant. The
date of Jaabar's death may however be erroneous. - My object in noticing
this dificulty was to prevent the reader from supposing that the fault origi-
nated with me, or that I passed over it without perceiving it; but l have been
since enabled to verify the circumstance, and I find that Malak Shah, in his ex-
pedition to Aleppo, A. H. 4.79, took this castle, and put Jaabar to death on
being informed of his evil conduct. It was also ndmed ad-Dansariya after its
founder Dawsar, a page of an-Nomin Ihn al-Mundir, king of Hira, who had
placed him there to guard the Syrian frontier (I).-The word Jaabar signifies
in Arabic silor-t and thick.
(1) See, however, Freytag's proverbs of al-Maidhi, p. 198.

NASIR AD-DIN JAKAR.

Abh Said Jakar Ibn Yikdb al-Hamadhni (native of Hamaddn), and sur-
named Nasir ad-din ( w e n d e r of religion), was governor of Mosul, having been
appointed by Imbd ad-din Zinki, lord of Mosul, Mesopotamia, and Syria, as
his lieutenant in that city. He was tyrannic, unjust, a shedder of blood, and a
violator of property. Having strengthened the walls of Mosul, he was admiring
42
 330 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
the solidity of their construction, when a madman cried out to him in these
sensible terms : "Are you able to build a mall which may arrest the course of
approachirlg fate?"--During his government, MOSU~ was closely brsireed for
a time by the khalif al-Mustarshid; but Jakar, \\.l10 had already for tiGcd and
the city, resisted the attacks of the khalif, frustrated his efforts, and
forced him to retire. This was in the month of Ramadin, A. H. 527 (July,
A . D, 1133). Farrllkh ShBh ( I ) al-KbafAji, a son of the Seljhk Sultan Mahmiid,
was then at l\losuI; but it is stated by Ibn al-Athir, in his History of the ABbeks,
h a t the Khafhji who was at Mosul during these events, was Alp Arslan (anolher)
son of (the sukarr) ICfal~mCld. This young prince had been confided to the care
of Zinki, who received, for that reason, the title of Atcihek: this words means ,g
bringer rip qfprinces; at6 in Turkish signifying father, and bek, emir. As Jakar
was frequently in opposition to al-KhaEiji and thwarted him in his projects, the
latter took the opportunity of Zinki's departure for the siege of al-Bira, to
arrange, with some of his partisans, a plot for the death of Jakar. On the 8th,
or (according to some) on Thursday, 9th of Zii '1-Kaada, A. 11. 539 (May, A. D.
114.51, Jakar proceeded to the palace, that he might pay his salurations to the
prince; and was there attacked and slain by the conspirators. Zinki then ap-
pointed a uew governor named Zain ad-din Ali Ibn Baktikin, who was father to
Muzaffar ad-din, lord of Arbela : Zain ad-din was an upright man, and governed
t
his subjects svirh justice. Zinki, on his return to Mosul, confiscated Jakar's
property, seized on his treasures, and extorted large sums from his relations and
the persons in his service. Jakar had nominated to a place of authority in
Mosul one al-Kazwini, a wicked wretch, whose tyrannical conduct excited
general complaint; he was therefore obliged to appoint another, named Omar
469 lbn Shikla, whose administration was also very bad : on this, the following
lines g7erecomposed by a native of Mosul, AbB Abd Allah al-Husain Ibn Ahmad
d Shakika, who died A. H. 533 (A. D. 1138-9).
Ibn ~ ~ u h a m r n aIbn
0,Nasir ad-din 1 0,Jakarl a thousand Kazwir~israther than one Omar l If God
flung Omar down to hell, hell would complain of his wickedness.

-War is a foreign name, and I believe {hat he himself was a mamllk.

This name is also written

(l) at^, t3> Farilkh Sb16.
 BIOGRAPI-IICAL DICTIONARY.

JAMIL THE POET.

Abir Amr Jamil, the celebrated poet and the lover of Buthaina, was son 01'
Abd Allah Ibn MQmor Ihn SubHh Ibn Zabyin Ibn Hnnu lbn Rabia Ibn Ilarinl
Ibn Dubba Ibn Abd Ibn Iiathir Ibn Ozra Ibn Saad Ibn IIudaim Ibn Zaid Ibrl
Laith Ibn Shd Ibn Aslim Ibn Alhaf Ibn Kudia. Jamil was one of the famous
Arabian lovers : his passion for Buthaina commenced when he was a boy; on
attaining manhood he asked her in marriage, hut met with a refusal, and he
then composed verses in her honour and visited her secretly at WSdi 'l-Kura (I),
where she resided. His poeiical compositions are so well known, that it is
needless to quote any of them. Ibn Asikir relates, in his history of Damascus,
that a person said to Jamil: "If you read the Koran, it would be more profit-
" able for you than composing poetry;" to which Jamil replied : There is
Ans Ibn Milik (2) who tells me that the Blessed Prophet said : Wisdom is
certainly (to be extructed) from some poetry.' " Jamil and Buthaina, who
was surnamed Omm Abd al-Malik, both belonged to the tribe of Ozra; beauty
and true love abounded in that tribe: it was said to an Arab of the Desert,
a member of the tribe of Ozra : What is the matter wit11 your hearts'? They
"are as the hearls OF birds, and dissolve away like gilt in water. Why ha\-e
you not more firmness?" To this the other replied: "MTe see eyes of which
you do not see the like." - Another Arab being asked to what family he
belonged, made this answer: 'L I am of a people who, when they are in love,
" die." A girl, who heard him say this, exclaimed : "By the Lord of the
" Kaaba! This man belongs to the tribe of 0zra."-The author of the Kit&
al-Agltcini says: " Kuthaiyr, the lover of Azza, handed down by tradition the
" poems of Jamil; Jamil handed down those of Hudba Ibn Khashram (3);
" Hudba, those of Hutaiya ; Hutaiya (4), those of Zuhair Ibn Abi Salma (5), and

" of his son Kaab Ibn Zuhair." The following verses are by Jamil:
You told me, my two friends (6), that Taima (7) was, the abode of (my mistress) Laila
when sgmmer once set in (8). But now the months of summer have passed away from
us ; why then does absence cast Laila into (distant)~egions?

Some persons insert these verses in a kac6daby Majnih, the lover of Laila (g),
 332 IBN RHALLIBAN'S

but they are not by him.-Tairnl was a station frequented solely by the tribe of
0zra.-In the same poem from which these verses are taken, Jamll says:
You have continued, 0 Buthainal (to torment me,) so that the turtle-dove would
sympathize with me, were I, in the ardour of my passion, to awaken its complaints with
mine. The jealousy of spies only increased my love, and the prohibitions of my friends
only made me persevere. The distance which separates us has not rendered me indif
ferent, and weary nights have not forced me to renounce you. 0 thou whose lips are
a sweet source, knowest thou not that I languish with thirst on the day in which I sec
not thy face. I often feared that death might surprize me whilst my soul needed thee,
as still it does.

170 Kuthaiyr, the lover of Azza, used to say: "By Allah! Jamil was the best poet
among the Arabs when he said : You told me, my two friends, etc. - The
following lines are by Jamil :

I conceal the secret of my love ( I O ) , and should feel happy were you to know that you
are (ever) remembered with sincere (affection), and that the day in which I meet you
not, nor see your messenger, seems to me like months. Were it impossible for us to
meet again one day, 0 then, may 1 meet a speedy death!

From the same poem :

Whilst I live, my heart shall love thee; and if I die, my ghost (11)shall flit after thine
among the tombs. I look towards thee for the fulfilment of thy promise, as the poor
looketh (imploringly) towards the rich. Other debts are paid, but there is a debtor
who keeps no engagement with us, and who yet is not pressed (by us). Thou and thy
promise are as the liehtning of a cloud which withholds its genial rains.

From another of Jamil's kasidas:

When I said : "0 Buthaina! what is this passion which causeth my death?'she
replied: It is deeply rooted and will augment. " When 1 said : " Buthaina! restore
" to me a portion of my reason, so that I may livel" she replied: That (which thou
desirest) is far beyond thy reach 1"

By t,he same :
Did the jealous spy who observes my conduct know with how slight a favour Bu-
thaina could make me happy, his envious passions would repose. (A word Irom her,) a
no or an unless suBces to content me; vain desires, hopes long deferred and at last
deluding my expectations, the sight of her for an instant, the year which begins and
ends without my meeting her; (such are the enjoyments for which I am enaied.)

By the same :
1 should blush with shame were I seen to love one whom anotber had already loved,
 BIOGRAPHICAL DlCTIONARY. 333
or were another to be loved (by my mistress) after me. (Ishould recoil) horn sipping
at thy lips, if love existed no longer; I should reject thy attachment, were it fee9bie.
I avoid a troubled source at ahich many have drunk before.

By the same :
(Misgivingsare) far from him who desireth nothing, and near to him who has some-
thing to desire. " 0 Jamil," said Buthaina, "thou makest me doubt of thy fidelity;"
and I replied : "0 Buthaina 1 each of us giveth the other cause of doubt ; but of us two 171
the most to be doubted is the person who betrayeth confidence and keepeth not se-
crets when Far from the beloved."

Kuthaiyr, the lover of Azza, related the following anecdote : I was once met
" by Jamil, the lover of Buthaina, who said to me: Where dost thou come
from ?' and I answered : ',From the tent of the father of the 'beloved ;' "-mean-
ing But haina, -" 'And whither,' said he, ' art thou going?' I answered : l To
a the beloved ;' " - meaning Azza. ' Thou must go back again,' said Jamil ,
'and obtain from Buthaina that she appoint a place where I may meet her.'
I answered: '1 have just seen her this moment, and I should be ashamed to go
back.'--' Thou must surely do it !' said Jamil. When,' said I, <didst thou
last see Buthaina ?'--'At the beginning of summer,' he replied ; the lower
part of Wadi 'd-Daum (palm-tree valley) was watered by a shower, and she
went out with a servant-girl to wash clothes: she did not at first know me,
and seized a cloak out of the water to cover herself; but the girl recognized
me, and Buthaina replaced the cloak in the water. W e conversed for an
" hour, till the sun had set, and I then asked her to appoint 3 place of meeting,

but she answered that her family was remnying, and I have not met her
since; nor found a trusty person whom I might send to her.' - ' Wouldst
1 L thou that I go,' said 1, g to the camp of her tribe, and recite, as if undesign-

" edly, some verses in which I may hint at this circumstance, in case I find
" it impossible to speak to her in private ?' - ' Yes,' replied Jamil; (,$hat is a
" good plap.' I then set out and made my c'amel kneel down in their camp,
" and her father said to me : Son of my brother ! what bringeth thee back 1'-

" 'There are some verses,' I replied, which I have just happenea to compose,
" and I wish to submit them to thee.'-'Let us have them,' said he. I then
" recited these verses in Buthaina's hearing:
1 said to her : * 0 Azza 1 1rend my companion to tbea,(and $e is a trusty ipas~enger,)
 335 IBN KBALLIK.4K'S
so that thou mayest fix a place where we may meet, and that thou maycst tell me what
I am to do. The last time I met thee was in WAdi 'd-Daum, whcn clothes wcre mashingi

6
'Then Buthaina struck the curtail1 bcllind which she was, and said: 4 Go
! go away What is the matter, Buthaina:" said lrer fktlicr.--L It is
'6 a dog,' replied she, 4 which has come to me from behind the bill, now that
6. he people are asleep.' She then said to her girl : 'Let US 60 to the palm-
L' trees (Daunuil) and .gather wood to cook a sheep for Kuthaiyr.'--'No,' said 1,
(6 LI in too haste to wait.' I then returned to Jamil and told him
'L what had passed, and he said : ' The place of meeting is at the palm-trees.'
Then Buthaina went forth with her female cornparrions to the palm-trees, and
I went to them with Jamil: the lovers did not separate till morning dawned,
'L and I never saw a more virtuous meeting, nor two persons who knew so well
what passed in each other's hearts; 1 know not which of the two was the more
discerning."-The h d j z Abb 'I-KBsim Ihn Asikir says in his great Ilistory:
Abd Bakr Ibn al-Anbiri states that the following verses mere recited to him
by his father as having been composed by Jamil Ibn Mamar, but they are also
'' attributed to other poets :
' I ceased not my search to find the tribe (of my beloved), and I ibllowed their scat-
tered bands till I rode (my camel) up to the inmate of the palanquin (12). I approached
her tent by stealth and entered by the secret passage ; her smooth finger-tips, stained
with hinna, were passed over my head that she might recognize me, and she said:
L "By the life of my brother, and the kindness of my father 1 I shall awake the family

' unless thou withdrawest." Struck with fear a t her words, I was retiring, when she
' smiled, and I knew that her oath would not be kept. I then took her by the ringlets
' and kissed her lips, with the pleasure that the man whose throat is parched with in-
toxication, drinks the cool water of a spring (13).'

479 The khdi Harho Ibn Abd Allah (14) says: " Janlil came to Egypt with the
'4 intention of reciting to Abd al-Aziz Ibn Marwin (I 5 ) a pocm composed by him

in his honour: this governor admitted him into his presence, and, after hear-
ing Jamil's eulogistic verses and rewarding him generously, asked him con-
" cerning his love for Buthaina, and was told of his ardent and painful passion.
He, on this, promised to unite him to her, and bid him stop in Misr, where
he assigned him a habitation and furnished him with all he required. But Jamil
" died there very shortly after, in A. H. 82 (A. D. 7OI)."-Az-Zubair Ibn al-Bak-
liar says that the following anecdote was related to him by Abbis 1b1l Sahl as-
 BIOGRAPHICAL DLCTIONARY . 335
S$idi : When in Syria, 1 met one of my friends, who said to me : twould
4 ' you like to see Jamil? be is sick ; let us go and visit lrim.' On entering, we
4 4 follnd him near his last, and on seeing me he said : ' 0 Ibn Sahl ! what sayest

4 4 thou of a man who never drank wine, nor committed fornication nor murder;

( 6 who never stole, and who beareth witness that there is no god but the only

r r ~ o d . ' My answer was : ' I think that he has attained salvation, and hope that
he will enter paradise; who is that man?'--( It is I;' replied Jami1.-& By
6 4 Allah!' said I, '1 do not think that thou wilt gain salvation after having cele-
brated, for the last twenly years, the charms of Buthaina.-' May I be de-
prived of the intercession of Muhammad (on the d n ~oj'judgment),'
. said he ;
- I that am now entering into the first day of the life to come, and am in the
4 4 last day of my life in this world; -if I ever placed my hand on her with an
improper intention !' We did not quit him till he expired." It is stated,
however, by Muhammad Ibn Atmad Ibn Jaafar al-Ah~vizi,that he fell sick and
died in Egypt; and that during his illness he was visited by Ibn Sahl as-Shidi;
he then relates the anecdote just given : God knows vhich statement is correct.
The follolving relation is given in the Kiln"b al-Agkcinz' on the anthority of
al-Asmhi : '' A person who was present at the dca t h of. Jamil in Egypt relates
that the poet called hirn and said: 'If I give you all 1 leave after me, will
you perform one thing which I shall enjoin you ?'-'Bv Allah ! yes,' said the
other.-'vtThen I am dead,' said Jamil, 'take this cloak of mine and put it
' l aside, but kecp every thing else for yourself; then go to Buthaina's tribe, and

when you are near them, saddle this camel of mine and mount her; then put
on my cloak and rend it, and, mounting on a hill, shorlt out these verses:
' A messenger hath openly (16)proclaimed the death of Jamil ! He has now a dwell-
' ing in Egypt from which he will never return. There was a time when, intoxicated
' with love, he trained his mantle proudly in the fields and palm-groves of Wbdi 'l-
' Kura ! Arise, Buthaina l and lament aloud ; weep for the best of all thy lovers!'

"I did what Jamil ordered, and had scarcely finished the verses, when Bu-
" thaina came forth, beautiful as the moon when it appears from behind a cloud :

" she was m~ffledin a cloak, and, on coming up to me, she said': (Man! it
" what thou sayest be true, thou hast killed me; if false, thou hast dishonoured

" me !' I replied : 'By Allah! I only tell the truth ;' and I showed her the cloak
" which Jamil had given me. On seeing it, she uttered a loud cry and beat
 336 IBN KHALLIRAN'S
her face, and the women of the tribe gathered around, lveeping with her and
lamenting his death. Her force at length failed her, and she swooned away,
" After some time she revived and said :
.Never for a single instant shall I feel consolation for the loss of' Jamil; that time
shall never come. Since thou art dead, 0 Jamil, son of Mamar I the pains of ]ife and
its pleasures are the same to me.'

(These verses have been already given (rce page 87) in the life of the h 6 ~ h
as-
Sila6.)-L61 never saw man nor woman weep more than those I saw that day."

(1) W$di 'l-Kora is the name of a delicious valley near Medlina, much celebrated by the poets.
(2) A celebrated companion of the Prophet. See page 235, note (7)-
13) Budba Ibn Khashram belonged to the tribe ofAtlmir Ibn Abd Allah I b n Dubyhn. H e lived in the
first century of Islamisnt, aod was celebrated as one of the greatest poets among the Arabs. In a pilgrimage
made by him to Mekka with some of his family, he had a dispute with Zillda Ibn Zaid, ono of his relations,
and killed him. Said Ibn al-AAsi, the governor of ~ d d ~ n caused
a, him to be arrested and sent before the
khalif Moawia. His poetical reputation was so great that Moawia did all he could to save him, but the family
of ZiQda would consent to no arrangement, and refused with disdain the legal ransom, though augmented to
ten times its amount: they insisted that Hudba should bc kept in prison till the majority of ZiSda's son,
al-liswir, to whom, as the nearest heir, pertained the right of avenging Zihda's blood, IIrdba remained in
prison for some years, and excited general sympathy by his conduct, but the family of his victim was impla-
cable, and al-Jliswilr, on coming of age, heheaded him in the prcscnce of the inhabitants of McdPna.-A very
full and curious narrattve of this event is given in the Hamtlsa, p. 233 et seq.
(4)See page 209, note (18).
(5) This is one of the authors of the seven Moallakas; his son Kaab was outlawed by Muhammad, but re-
ceived his pardon in the ninth year of the Hijra, after reciting to the Prophet the celebrated poem called the
Borda. An account of his lifeis given by professor Freytag in his edition of lhat poem.
(6) See page 115, note (1).
(7) Taiml is situated on the frontier between Arabia and Syria.
(6) Literally: When summer had cast anchor.-The nomadic tribes removed towards the north in summer,
and Laila's family, which probably frequented Hijdz in the cool seasons, went to the neighbourhood of TaimA,
that they might feed ~ h d rflocks jn a more temperate region, when the heat had dried u p the herbage in the
station where they had passed the winter,
(9) See M. de Sacy's Anthologie grammaticale, p. 150.
(10) Literally: I keep uour secret; that is, the secret of my love for you.
(11)Literally: My owl. See Le Diwdn d'Amro 'l-Xais, p. 8 ; and M. de Sacy's Anlhologie, p. 213.
112) Literally: To the female brought up in the palanquin (haudoj). This may mean that she was accus-
tomed, from her childhood, to travel in a haudaj, and that her parents were too careful of her to let her
walk or expose her to the sun. The haudaj is a sort of covered chair, closed in front by a curtain and borne
on a camel.
(13) 81-Yhfi speaks of Jarnil in 4is anpals and gives these verses, b u t h e suppresses the last for its inde-
cency, as he sags.
 BlOCRAPIIIC.41, DICTIONARY. 337
(11) IIarhn lbn Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad, a descendant from the tribc of Koraish, a n d a native of
was a jtirisconsult o f the sect of Mdlik. H e entered Egypt, A. H. 217 (A. 1). 832), where he filled the func-
lions of LAdi till he was deposed, A. H. 22'1 (A. D. 841-2), after having administered for eight years and six
H e then retired to Irak, and settled at Sarr-man-raa, where he died i n the month of Shibsn, A.H.
232 (A. D. W).-(Al-Askalini's History of the kddis of Egypt, 31s. No. 691.)
(16)AbO 'I-Asbi Abd at-Aziz Ibrl M a r ~ i nIbn al-Hakam succeeded Abd ar-Rahmi2n Ibn Okbi as governor
of Egypt, A. H. 65 (A. D. 684-5.) IJe died in office, A. X. 86 (A. D. 705). and had for successor Abd Allah
Ibn Abd al-Ma1ik.-(AI-Makrfzi's Khitat; Abh 'l-Mahisin's N u j h . )
(16)Openly, the Arabic says; without numirlg him by his surname. The same surname was often borne
by many persons. and of course it would be difficult to know whichof them was meant by it.

ABU OSAMA JUNADA.

Abd Osima Junida Ibn Muhammad al-Azdi al-Harawi (belonging to d e

tribe of Aad and a native of Herdt) : this philologer possessed a most extensive
acquaintance with pure Arabic, and transmitted much of that knowledge (to his
disciples); he knew what terms of the language had become obsolete and those
which were still in general use, and during his lifetime he was without an equal
in that science. A close intimacy and friendship subsisted between him, the
h 6 j z Abd al-Ghani al-Misri, and Abh 'l-Hasan (l) Ali Ibn Sulaimin al-Antiki
(naliue nfdntioch), who was a grammarian and a teacher of the reading of the
Koran. They used to meet in the college (Dar aLPlm) (2) and hold literary
discussions, till two of them, Abb Os%ma Junida and Abii 'l-Hasan al-Antiki
were put to death by al-Hikim, lord of Egypt. They were executed in the
month of Zi'i 'l-Kaada, A. H. 399 (July, A. D. 1log), and on the same day.
The hd$z Abd al-Ghani concealed himself to avoid a similar fate. This is the
account given by the emir al-MukhtAr al-Musabbihi in his history (0fEg.r-t.) "

-Her& is a large city in Khorasan.

L

I n another part of this work he is called Abh

(l) Ali, and in the N y ' h of AbO 'l-Mahhsin his name is
written Abh l3akr al-Antski.
(2) A n d be (al-Hdkim)founded a college (Dar at-Zlm), which he furnished, and to which he sent books
" of great value. In this college he placed two sunnite shaikhs, one of whom was named AbO Bakr al-An-
" tBki. B e gave them pelisses of honour, treated them with favour, and ordered &ern to come to his court.
'' He afterwards put them to death."-(An-Nujfim a z - ~ d h i b year
, r dla religion des Druzss,
400. ~ s ~ o &
t - 1- p. 346.)
43
 IBN KBALLIBAN'S

AL-JUNAID.

A ~ 'l-Kisim
G &Junaid Ihn Muhammad ibn aL-Junaid al-Khazzie d-Kaivi-
rizi, (he celebnted ascetic (l), was born and bred in Irak, his family was
from NahBwrend. He was llle shaikh (2) of his time, the pearl of his age, and
],is doenine on tfretrutlr (3)is well known and carefully preserved (4). He sta-
died jurisprudence under Abd Thaur, the disciple of the imam as-Shin, but it is
said bv some that, as a doctor of the law, he followed the system of Sofyin
at-Thauri. He had for masters his maternal uncle as-Sari as-sakali, al-Harith
al-Muhlsibi and other great shuikhs. The shafite doctor, Abi'i 'l-Abbis ibn
Soraij, had been his disciple, and used to say to his auditors, when they were
in admiration at his discourses on the dogmatical and secondary poirrts of the
]aw : "Do you know from whom I had that? That is one of the blessed results
a of mg intercourse with Abb 'l-KQsim al-Junaid."-Al-Jurraid being asked
\rho was he who knoweth, answered: " He who can tell what thy secret is,
L L although thou keepest silence." He used to say: '' Our system of doctrine is
6 6 firmly bound with the dogmas of faith, and the Koran and the sr~12t2a." He

was seen one day with a rosary (5) in his hand, and a person said to him:
' c How 1 you who have reached such an exalted degree of sanctity, you carry a
rosary?" To which he replied : " I quit not the way which led me to my
" Lord." The following anecdote is related by al-Junaid : '' My uncle, Sari
" as-Sakati said to me: 'Give lectures (6);' but a feeling of difiidence prevented
me, fop I had doubts whether I was wortlly thereto ; but one Friday eve, 1
$
saw in a dream (7) the blessed Prophet, who said to me: ' Give lectures.' 1
" awoke immediately, and went to as-Sari's door before he had risen, and

having knocked, (Iralated so him what had passed). He answered : You

" ~vooldnot believe me till you were told to do so.' That morning I sat. in the
mosque to teach, and the news spread among the people that sl-Junaid was
" lecturing, and a young Christian in disguise stood up before me and said : ' 0
slraikli! what did the holy Prophet mean by these words: Dread the plysi-
'4 ognonzic talent of tlte true believer, Jor Re seetlz by means of Gods light?

" 1 reflected with downcast eyes, and, raising then my head, I said : LBecomea

" btoslim; the time of your conversion has arrived!' and the youth made pro-
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 339
fession of Islamism (8)."-The shnikh al-Junaid said: "There is nothing
from which I drew so much profit as from some verses which I once heard."
On being asked what they were, he answered: '' As 1 passed through the Derh
'L aZ-Kariilis (g), 1 listened to a slave-girl who was singing in a house, and I
i' heard her say :
'When I say to thee : "Departure hath given me the raiment of decay;" thou repliest :
46Were it not for departure, love had not been proved sincere." If I say : This 17.4
heart is burned by passion ;" thou sagest : The fires of passion ennoble the heart ;"
and if I say : "I am not in fault;" thou answerest: "Thy existence is a fault to which
' no fault can be compared l" '
On this I uttered a loud cry and swooned away (10). When I was in that
state, the master of the house came out and said: 'What is this, sir?' and 1
L L replied : The effect of what I heard;' on which he said : ' I take you to wit-

ness that I now make her a present to you ;' and 1 answered : '1 accept her,
and declare her free before God.' I afterwards gave her to one of our com-
L L panion~in the convent (11), and she had by him a fine boy, who grew up

c' rr.ell."-AI-Junaid made the pilgrimage (to Mekka) alone and on foot thirty
times : his ( ~ n e r i l s are
) numerous and celebrated (l 2). He died at Baghdad,
A. H. 297 (A. D. 91 O), on a Sunday, which was the khalif's Nemiiz (43);
but some say that his death took place on a Friday, in the last hour of the day
in A. H. 298 : he was buried, on the Sunday following, in the ShQniziya ceme-
tery, near the grave of his maternal uncle Sari as-Sakati. Before his death he
had just read over the entire Koran, and recommenced the surat of the Cot+],of
which he had read the first seventy verses when he died.-He was surnamed
al-Khaazdz because he spun silk (khazzs); and they gave him the name of al-
Knwn"risi, because his father was a glass-blower (knwn"rr"zi).-Nnlzricvend, or,
according to as-Samini, Nixh&u~end,is a city in Persian Irak, said to have been
built by NBh (Noa/z),and named for that reason Nzih awend, h a t is, Naah has
built (I 4) ; these words have been altered in to Nahiwend to suit theqmhas of the
Arabic language.--The Shlinizi is a well-known (burying) place at i g h d a d ,
on the west side of the river; it contains the tambs of a numhr of e h d h s .

h the Nutices et &straits, tom. XLI., M . de Sacy lfa'ils$iven maccount of~tbe80fktlotod6nesand a trans-
(l)
lation of the life of al-Junaid by J8mi.
(2) The kord shaikh bears throughout this article the signiI?cntion of S@ Boc~o~.
 truth denotes that knowledge which can only be acquired by spiritual exercises, and
(3) The word
which is tllc objectbf ~ufisrn. I n following that way *>, the creature obtains, a t last. a true knonlcdse
of the Creator; and this knowledge, in the technology of n~ysticdivines, is styled emphatically the tncth.
(4)carefully ; this word may also signify-Put in writing and collected into a book.
(5) The Muslim rosary is of ninety-nine beads, which is the number of the names, or attributes
of God mentioned in the Koran.
(6) Literally: Speak in teaching the people.
(7) See note c), page 46.
(8) According to al-YBfi, this answer contained two proofs of al-Junaid's miraculous gifts; the first, that
he discovered the religion of the youth notwithstanding his disguise; and the second, that he foretold his im-
mediate conversion.
(g) a l - K ~ ~ d t Othe
~ , paper street or bazar.
(10) AlJunaid perceived a mystic meaning in these verses; for him, the beloved was God, and his own
pristence in this world was the fault or obstacle which prevented his union with the Divinity.
(11) The fraternities of Shfis, or dervishes, lived in convents. Abh Hafs Omar as-sahraurdi, in his Awd-
rifa[-,vIa&rif, or treatise on SQfism, has three chapters on the monastic lifc. - (SCCMS. of the Bib. du Roi,
No. 375.)
(1%) An eye-witness said that the kdtibs of Baghdad went to hear at-Sunaid for his choice of words; the
philosophers for the subtilty of his discourse; the poets for the elegance of his language, and he dogmatic
theologians for his profound ideas. When be was a hoy a t play, his uncle as-Sakati asked liim what was
thankfulness (to God), aod received this answer: " T o act 60 that his favour may not conduce to disobedience
, towards him."-(AI-Ylfi, A. H. 298.)
(13) The khalirs NewnZz; this is another name for the Newrilz Khassa (new year's d a y pT~peT),in which
it was customary to visit the sovereign and offer him presents. This festival was held on the sixth day of the
month of Ferwardin (end of March). The old Persian custoni of celebrating the IYewrzZz existed a t Baghdad
under the Abbasidekha1ifs.- (See page 203 of this work. See also, in one of the following volumes, an anec-
dote of Ahmad Ibn YQsuf the k d f i b , in the life of ai-Mubarrad.)
(14) It is scarcely necessary to say that this derivation is absurd in elery point.

THE KAID JAWHAR.

Al-KPid (I) AbQ'1-Hasan (2) Jawhar Ibn Abd Allah, known also by the name
of al-Kitib ar-Riimi (deGreek scribe) (3), was a client by enfranchisement of al-
Moizz lbn al-Mansdr ibn al-Kiim Ibn al-Mahdi, lord of Ifrikiya, who sent him,
at the head of an army, to take possession of Egypt on the death of KBMr al-
Ikhshidi. He set out from Ifrikiya on Sunday, 14.th of' the first Rabi, A. H. 358 .
(February, A. D. 969), and got Misr into his power on Tuesday, 16th Shibin
(July) of the same year. On Friday 19 th Sheban he mounted the pulpit and
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTlONARY . 341
the Ahotba with a prayer for his lord al-Aloirz. In the middle of.
the month of Ramadan (beginning of August), the news of this conquest reached
al-fiIoizz in ifrikiya. Jawhar continued to govern Egypt with absolute p o ~ ~ till
er
the arrival of his master; he preserved his high rank, dignity, and autl~orit,~till
A. H. 364, when al-Moizz, on Friday 17th illul~arrarn(October, 074), removed
him from the presidency of the government oaces, the collectorship of the reve-
nue, and the contlsol of affairs. The beneficence of Jawhar ceased only on his
death; he expired at Misr on Thursday, 20 th Zh 'l-Kaada, A. H. 381 (January,
A. D. 9921, and there vas not a poet of the lime but composed verses to deplore
his loss and celebrate his liberality .-The motive which induced al-Moizz to send
him to Egypt was this : On the death of the eunuch KBfiir al-Ikhsbidi (whose liftb
shall be giren), the officers of the empire agreed to confer the supreme authority
on Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibn al-lkhshid, who \vas still a boy, and that he should have for-
lieutenant the son of his father's uncle, Abil R'Zuhammad al-IIusain Ibn Abd are;
Allah Ibn Toghj (4.); the great oCficers and the trmps were to be under the orders
of S h a m 3 al-Ilthshidi, and {he administra~iouof the public revenue was to bc
confided to the vizir Jaafar Ibn al-Furit. This arrangement took place on Tues-
day, ihe 20th of the first Jumida, A . H. 357 (April, A. D. 968). Prayers werr
offered up for Ahmad Ibn Ali, and then for al-Husain Ibn Abd Allah, from the
pulpits of Misr, of the Egyptian a r ~ dSyrian provinces, and of the two holy
cities (ilfekka and ikledina). Then, as we have already related in the life of
Jaafar Ibn al-Furit, the troops became turbulent horn the diminution of their
pay and the cessation of the ordinary gratuities; this induced a number of per-
sons who held a high rank (in Misr), to write to .al-Moizz, who was then in Ifri-
kiya, inviting him to send a body of troops to Egypt and take possession of the
capital. In consequence of athis communication, he ordered the k6id Jawhar to
hold the army in readiness to march, but this general fell so dangerously ill,
that no hopes were entertained of his recovery. In this state, he was visited by
his master al-Moizz, who declared that he would not only escape from death, but
make the conquest of Misr. During this convalescence, the necessary supplies
of money, arms, and men were furnished to him, and he advanced with lip-
wards of one hundred thousand horse and more than twelve hundred chests of
money, to a place named nr-Rakkdrln (5). He was visit+ every day by al-
Moizz, wh6-conversed with him in private and ' p v e him directions ; he then
 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
I*cccired orders to set out, and the prince came to bid him adieu. During this
aleeting, Jaafar stood before al-Moirz, who leant down on his horse's neck and
to him in secret for some time. The prince then ordered his sons to dis-
nlount and give Javhar the salutation of departure; this obliged the great officers
,,f tile kingdom to dismollnt also ; then Jawvhar kissed the ]land of al-Moizz and
the hoof of his hake ; a n d having mounted on his own by order of his master,
he pot the army in march. When al-Moizz returned to his palace, he sent
Ja\yhar as a present all the clothes which he had on, retaining only his drawers
and seal-ring, alrd he wrote orders to his slave Aflah, governor of Barka, that he
should set out to meet Jawhar and kiss his hand. Aflah ol'fered one hundred
thollsartd dinars to avoid performing that ceremony, but he was obliged to submit.
\\.hen the approach of Jawhar's troops was known at Misr, great agitation was
causecl by the news, and it was agreed on that the vizir Ibn al-Furit should writr
to obtain peace, and security for the lives and property of the inhabitants; they
~.eqilestedalso Abb Jaafar Muslim Ibn Obaid Allah (6) al-Husaini to be their am-
bissador, and obtained his consent provided hat a number of the citizens shollld
:Iccompany him. The vizir furnished them his conditions in writing, and on
Nonday, ISrh Rajab, A . H. 358 (June, A. H. 969),they set out to meet Jawhar,
who had halted at a village called Tarbja, near Alexandria. When the sAarf
hluslirn and his companions arrived, they delivered their message to Jawhar,
who ranted every demand, and confirmed his promise by a written instrument;
I ~ u t[he city of Misr (7) fell into the utmost agitation; the adherents of the Ikh-
shid family, the oficers who had been in the service of Kifiir, and a portion of
the army prepared for battle ; and after concealing the valuables which were in
their houses, they encamped outside the city and rejected the peace which had
been offered. When Jawhar was informed of their intentions, he marched
against them, but the sharf had already arrived there on the 7th Shibin with
the written promise of protection (umrin), and the vizir with the inhabitants had
ridden to his house to meet him; the troops also had assembled around him. He
then read the document, and handed to every person who had written to Jawhar
for fiefs, money, or governments, a favorable answer to their demands; he deli-
vered also to the vizir a letter in reply to his, and addressed to him.as vizir. A
considerable time elapsed in discussions and opposition, and the meeting sepa-
rated without acceding to the proposab. Nahrir as-ShoizBni (8) was chosen
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. :3L3
by them as general, and llle troops, having prepared for battle, marclled to JiZii
(Gizch), where they took 1111 their position and placed guards on the bridges (9).
The bdid Jawhar arrived at Jiza and attacked them on the 1l th of SLlBbjn ; i r k
this coinbat he made some prisoners and took from them a number of horses,
after which he proceeded to Muniat as-Saigidin (Fz'$I2er11zen'svillage) and seized
on the ford of Muniat Sbalkln. A portion of the (Egyptian) tmol~stllen
passed over to him in hoats and surrendered, but the people of Misr placed a ~ i c ;
p a r d at the ford. Jawhar, on seeing this, said to Jaafar Ibn Falill: This is
the day for which sl-Moizz required your services!" He then stripped 10
his trowsers and passed over in a boat (1 O), whilst his men forded (the river)
and arrived at the other side, where they attacked and killed a great number oi'
he ikklshidites and their partisans. The rest fled during the night and entered
Misr*,which they evacuated in disorder after carrying off from their houses what-
ever they could. Their wives then went on foot to the s h a r f Abd Jaafar and
(Lnplorerl him) to write to Jawllar, requesting him to ratify his former promise
of protect,ion. The s l r a r ~ w r o t ein consequence, and after congratulating him
on his victory, solicited the renewal of the nnz6n. The people remained with
the sharyuntil an answer was returned, confirming the promise of pardon and
protection. An envoy arrived also from Jawhar, bearing a white flag and, duxs-
ing two days, he circulated through the people, proclaiming an amnisty ancl for-
bidding pillage. This re-established tranquillity in the city, so that the bazars
were opened and all became as quiet as if no disturbance had taken place. To-
wards the latter part of the day, a messenger arrived with a letter from Jawhar
to Abd Jaafar, ordering him to be ready to receive him on Tuesday the 17th of
Shibin, with a body of the sharvs, learned men, and. chief inhabitants of the
city. ( T h e persons tvlzo had assembled at the sharif Muslim's house) then
retired, and having made preparations for their visit to Jawhar, they set out
from the city with the vizir Jaafar and a number of men eminent for their rank,
and proceeded to Jiza, where they met the (Fatirnite) general. Then by order
of a herald, every person, except the sharg'and the vizir, dismounted and saluted
successively &whar, who had placed the vizir on his lift hand and tbebesharff'on
his right. When this ceremony was concluded, they set out for the city, and
the troops commenced making their entry, with arms and: baggage, as the sun
was declining towards the westk About four o'clock ( { I ) , Jawhar entered the
345 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
,.ity, preceded by his drums and flags; he wore a silk dress heavily embroidered
with gold, and rode a crea~n-eolooredhorse. He passed through Misr to the
place in \vhich he designed to halt (G!), and which is now the spot on which
Cairo is situated. He [hen rnarked out the circumference of the new city, and
,vhen the people of Blisr came the next morning to congratulate him on his sue-
s , found lhat the foundations of the citadel had been d u g during the
~ ~ e s they
Ilight. He was at fint displeased wiih some irregularities in the outline of the
future ,-itv, but tile-, declared that as the trenches had been excavated in a for-
lunale hour, he wo~lIdallow no alterations 10 be made. On the Tuesday above
lllentioned and the six following days, his troops coniinued entering into Misr*
Jawhar hastened to write a despatch to his master al-Moizz, informing him o f
[hr conquest, and he sent 10 him also the heads of the Egyptians slain in the
action. He then ordered that the prayer for the Abbasides should cease to be
offered up from the pulpits throughout Egypt, and that their name should be
replaced on the coinage by these wo~ds: Bismimrildi 'l-Moizz (in the rzan2e of
ny master al-Jloizz.) He forbid also the black livery of the Abbasides to be worn
any longer (1 3),and directed the kJ2atibs (preachers) to wear white vestments. He
hen every Sunday held a court for the hearing of grievances (I 4); at which the
vizir, the kidi, and a number of the great doctors were present, whilst he him-
self gave judgment. On Friday, the 8th of Zii 'l-Kaada, he caused these words
to be added at the end of the khotba (1 5) : 0 my God ! bless Mluharnmsd the
clzosen, Ali the accepted, Fcitirna the pure, and al-Hasnila ar~dul-Husain,
/lie two grandsons of tlze Apostle; then2 wJzom thou hast fieed front stain and
thoroc~ghh pur$ed. 0 niy God! bless il2e pure h a m s , ancestors of the Com-
rrralzcler of the belie~ers. On Friday, !I Slh of the second Rabi, A. H. 359, the
kkid presided at public prayers in the mosque of Ibn TBldn; a great number of
the military were present, and the preacher, Abd as-Sami Ibn Ornar al-Abbbsi,
made mention in the khotba of the people of d e house (4 G ) and their excellent
merits; he prayed also for the and pronounced aloud the Bismillnh (1 1).
He then, during the prayer, read the surats of the Assembly (4 S) and the H@o-
criles (19), and in the izdn, or call to prayer, he introduced these words : Come
do the excellent work (20)! He was the first who did so in Egypt. This form
was then adopted in the other mosques, and on Fridays the preacher pro-
nounced the konzit (21). In the month of the Gnt Jumida, the words Come to
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 345
tile excdlent work were inserted in the izdn at the Old Mosque, and all this
gave t11e kdid Jawhar great satisfaction, and he wrote to a\-Moizz with that
$easing intelligence. Jawhar disapproved however of prayers being made for
himself, and said that such was not in the directions given him by his master.
He then commenced the construction of the mosque at Cairo, and finished it on
the 7th of Ramadan, A . B. 361 (June, A. D. 972) ; on the following Friday he
celebrated in it pnblic prayers.--I l~elievcthat this is [he mosque which is called
a l - h l ~ n r(the splendid) (22) ; and lies between the gate of al-Barkiya and that 177
fan-Nasr; for the other mosque of Cairo near the gate of an-Nasr is well known
to hare been hunded by al-Hikim (whose life we shall give).-Jawbar continued
in the government of Egypt. for four years and twenty days ; al-Moizz then ar-
rived at Cairo (as shall be related in his life), and Jawhar left the citadel to receive
him, taking nothing with him of all he possessed except the clothes he had onl
He did not afterwards return to the citadel, but took up his residence in his own
house: we shall give other particulars of his history in the life of his master
al-Moizz.-Jawhar had a son named al-Husain, who was kci'id 02-Kuwwkd, or
general in chief lo al-Ililiin~, lord of Egypt: the conduct of this prince having
inspired him with apprehensions for his personal safety, he fled with his son and
his sister's husband, Abd al-Aziz Ibn an-Nomhn; but a\-Hikim sent after them
and brought them back ; be then quieted their fears, and treated them with kind-
ness for some time; but one day, when they went to the citadel to pay him their
respects, he gave orders to Rishid al-llakiki, the executioner (23), who took
with him ten of the Turkish pages and put al-Husain to death along with his
brother-in-law the kidi: their heads were then brought to al-H%kim. This
took place in A. H. 40 1 ( A . D. 101 0-1). -Mention has been made of al-Husain
in the life of Barjawin (24).

(1) The word kdid signifies leader or chief.

(2) The circumstance of Jnwhar's having had a son named al-Hhsain, of whom mention is made at the end
of this article, induced me to suppose that, in place of Abd 'l-Hasan(father of al-Hasan), it \would be more
correct to read A bo2 'l-Husatn. The best MSS. of Ibn KhallikBn, end three MSS. of AbO 'l-Mahhsin's Nu-
jam confirm, however, the reading which I had adopted in the Arabic text.
(3) He was called the Greek scribe, because his father was a native of the Greek empire, and he himself was
scribe, or secretary, to his master al-Moizz.
, (4)Their relationship will be better uaderstood from the inspection of the following table:
44
 I

1l;hshid (Muhammad)
1
IBN KHALLIKAN'S
Toghj
A - Abd Allah
1
Ali ~l-~bsain
I
Ahmad.
(5 Ar-Rakk$da lay at a short distance from Kairaaan; it was the residence or t h e Aghlabite prirlccs, ar)J
tal\ell bg Abh Abd Allah the Shiite in the month of Rajab. A. H I 20G.-(Scc Ill. d c Sacy's Expusi dc
I'histoire des Druzes, 1. I . p. 271.)
(6)I n the Arabic text, Abd Allah; but it is a f a u l t Mention has been made of Abil Jaafar, p. 32-2,
(7) In the Arabic text, for )\W 1 read 1. 4
($1 As-Sboiadni; in t t ~ o of Abb 'l-Mahdsin's NujOm, this name is written 4k3-J~
d17
w i t b u t p O i ~ t sthe
; third has L)) \ ; its true pronunciation is there~oreuncertain.
LS? I'
(9) The account of the conquest of Egypt given by Abfi'I-MallAsin in his Nujilrn, on Ihc authority of more
than one author (h!$g),
, is nearly ideritical wilh Ibn Phallikiin's. This sole passage, however, offers a
renla&able ditrerence, as it stands in the three MSS. of the Nujjzlm. WC there read : "The troops marched
tu\\ards lhe isle" (9.21,and not Jtza i !1) '' to combat Jurhar. They placed guards OIL the bridges
-, and Jaahar, on arriving a t tlie isle, attacked them; the combat c o n t i ~ ~ u efor
d sontc timc, and Jawhar
> .
then went to Muniat as-Saiyldtn."-If this be correct, the isle is the ible of Rauda, in tlle Eilc, between Fost$l
and Jiza. I t was only in later times that it came to be known by the name of at-Rauda; before that, it was
called simply the isle. (See Chreslomathie, t. I. p. 229.) A bridge of thirty boats united it to Fostlt, and
h by means of another bridge of thirty boats also. (Malirlzi's ILhilat, MS. fond$ St.
it communicated ~ i l Jiza
Germain, No. 106, fol. 245 v.) The wordlp? bridges, bears also in Egypt the signilicaliorl of dykes or
mounds; those dykes were raised to protect the edifices of the inhabitants against tlie inundations of the Nile,
and during that period they served as roads; but h e y could have been of trifll~rgimportance as a means of
communication at the period of Jaabar's combat with the Egyptians, as tllc Nile was only beginning to rise

,-
and did not overflow the country till six or seven weeks after. I am tlicrcf~reinclined to believe that the word
here means bridges (probably the two above-mentioned), and that 11311 KhallikAn's accoulrt is to be
preferred. For it is evident that the intention of Jawhar in marching to Jlza, was to gain possession of the
bridge of boats between JZza and Nisr (or Fastit); the resistance of the Egyptian troops frustrated this pro-
of July, mufir
jcct, and he then took the bold determination of fording the Nile, which at that mornent, the 5 ~ h
have been very low.
(10) The MSS. of the Nujam have j (at rhe head of a troop). in place o f dYj ( i n a ves-
SPI); il is probably the right reading.
(11) Literally: After the asr. "The 'asr, or afternoon; i. e., about mid-time between noon and night-
'' fall."(Lane's Modern Egyptians, vol. I . p. 82.)
(12) Literally: To his halting-place. In the Nujzln we read: "He stopped a t f al-Manhkh (the hak-
L
" ing-place)." I am inclined, however, to give the preference throughout to Ibn KhallikBn'e account; AbO
'l-Mahhsin seems to have done nothing more than copy it; and in some cases, he appears to have misunder-
stood it.
(13) The black dress was worn not only by members of the Abbaside family, but by the public officers in
their service.
(14)I n the court of Inspeclion o f G-rievances >$r, it war the sovereisn or one of his great
olficers who presided as judge. The establishment of this court a a s rendered necessary by the difficulty of
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 3C7
the decrees of the kadi n h e n the defendant was of high rank or emplayed in the service ofgovrrn-
rnent. None dared to disobey a citation before this court, and none were powerful enough to escape its
severity.
(15) See page 174, note (2)-
(16) The People of the House: Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Hosain.-(See dfisf,kdt,vol. I[. p . 7-19.)
(17) The first surat of the Koran, entitled tlie FalIAa, forms a portion of the Moslim canor~ic~l prayer: it
begins with the Bksmillah ( i n the name of God the merciful, ihe clement), which the HaniGtes and Hanbalites
prollounce in a low voice, becousc they do not consider it as a part of the Korall; but the Shafites, Malikites,
and Shiites hold the contrary opinion, and pronounce it aloud. (See Zamalihshari's commentary on the Fa-
tiha in his Kashshdf, and M. d~ Sacy's Chrestomatttie, t. 1. p. 161.)
(18) Iioran, surat 62.
(19) Zbid, sur. 63.
(20) Those words are peculiar to the Shtite form of the izdn.
(21) m e kontlt consists in these words Inna laka kanitdno d+b ,&L\. (See Chrestom~thie, 1. 1.
p. 162, and AbO. 'l-Fadl's Anl~als,t. 111. p. 151 )
(22) AI-Makrtzi says it positively.
, (23) 111 Arabic Saiydf an-Nikma (the swordsman of the (sovereign's) vengeance). Thisseems to have bee"
a peculiar title a t the Fatimite court.
(24) See page 2b3.

JIHARKAS AS-SALAHI.

Abli 'l-Manshr JihArkas lbn Abd Allah an-Nlsiri as-Salkhi (attached to the
service of al-~lf~tlz'kan-Nn'sir SnZn'I1 ad-&h), and surnamed Fakhr ad-din ( pride
of religion), held a high rank as an emir in the empire founded by Salhh ad-din.
He was a man of noble character, high influence, and a lofty spirit. It was he
who built the great Kaisiir3.u ( I ) oJ' Jiltarkas at Cairo, which, as I am told by a
number of merchants who visited different countries, is without an equal for
beauty, size, and solidity. On the summit of this edifice he erected a large
mosque and (near it) a rnbd (2) supported by arcades. He died at Damascus in
the year 608 (A. D. 1211 -2), and was buried at Mount Silihiya, where his tomb
still attracts attention.-fi/zdrkos rneansfour persons; it is a Persian word of
which the Arabic equivalent is Istdr ( l o u r in number). The word i s t h
means also four ounces : he was also known by this appellation.

Kaisariya, a bazar.-(See
(l) De Sacy's Abdallatif, p. 303.)
(2) The raba is a large house o r hotel, capable of lodging ten or Gfteen families, and constructed over shops
or stores. (De Sacy's Abd-Allatif. pp. 303, 402; T,?nc's Moqern Egyptians, vol. 1: p. 23.)
 IBN KHAL1,IK A N'S

AEU TAMMAM AT-TAI.

i\b& TammimHabib, tlle celebrated poet, was son of Afis Il)n al-IIirith 1],,1
Kais ]hll al-Asbajj ibn Yahya Ibn Marw:ln Ibn MOWIbn Saad lbn Killil ibn
Amr Ibn Adi Ibn Amr 1bn al-Ghauth Ibn Tai (the real name of Ta1 was Jul-
hums) Ibn Odad Ihn Zaid Ibn Kablin Ibn Yashhob (I) Ibn Yarob Ibn Kahtin.
~~t Ab,'j 'l-Kisim al-Hasan Ibn Bishr Ibn Yahya al-dnridi ( 2 ) says in his Mu-
wdzi;ina, or Comparison between the two Taiites : '' T h c gcncral opinion res-
4 1 pecting Ab& Tammirn's descent is, that his father was a Christian named

(( d sttir (Tliaddm~silze druggisl) and native of a village near Damas-

~ ~ d al-A
178 4 k cus called Jisim. This name of TadC~sthey cllanged itito Ails, ancl fabricated
L' a genealogy for Abb Tammfim, tracing up his descent to Tal. There is also
no Masiid to be found in the list of ancestors which [hey give him, and this
was an oversight in the person who forged it ; besides, wcrc it true that he des-
cended from Tai, it would be impossible to admit that therc were only ten
L general ions between them (3)." Al-Amidi makes these remarks when speak-
ing of the following verse of A bil Tammim's :
Did MasGd water their ruined dwellings with the torrents of his eyes, I should re-
nounce Mashd (L.).

But it must be observed that six generations have been omitted between Kais
and Dafika ( S ) , and that Abd Tammim's' words, 1 shonld renounce M a s ~ d ,
are not a proof that Masild was one of his ancestors; this expression is analogous
to the following : I have nothing to do with ithsuch a o~ze, suclt a one has nothing
to say to me, by which is expressed the idea of renunciation o r contempt. Simi-
lar to this is the sentence uttered by the holy Prophet: The child of
fornica-
tion is not one of us, and Ali is one of us (6). In the IIistory of Baghdad by
the Khatib, Abii Tammlm's genealogy is given in full with some slight differ-
ences from that inserted here ; and as-Suli relates that some say of AbB Tam-
miin Ilabib, that his father Tadhs was a Christian, and that this name was
changed into ASS.-Abit TammPm surpassed all his contemporaries in the pu-
rity of his style, the ruerit of his poetry, and his excellent manner of treating a
subject (7). 1Ie is author of the Hm~zlisn,a compilation which is a standing
 BIOCRAPIIICAIA DICTIONARY. 359
I of his great talents, solid information, and good taste i l l making a srlec6011.
Another of his works is cn ti (led Fuhzil as-S/~uar&(first-rate and con-
tains ( i l ~history
e of') a great number of poets, some of wham flourished in the
times of paganism, and others when Islamism was introduced or a t a later period.
The Ikhtiardt, a third work of his, contains (as its title implies) selections from
h e poets. The number of pieces which he knew by heart was so p e a t , illat
,lone ever attained his rank in that branch of knowledge : it is stated that, with-
ant counting kasi'dns and fragments of poems, he knew by heart fourteen thou-
sand verses of that class of compositions called Rajaz (8). Be used to compose
verses in honour of the khalifs, and was generously rewarded by them. In his
travels, he visited different countries and proceeded to Basra, where the poet
Abd as-Samad Ibn al-Muaddal (9) happened to be at the time. The lattel.
was surrounded by his scholars (1 0) and followers when he received intelligence
of Abb Tamrnim's approach, and being apprehensive that the public would fa-
vour the new corner and neglect himself, he wrote these lines to Abb Tam-
mim, who had not yet entered the city :

You appear before the public in two characters, each of which requires a flatterer's
face (11). You are always soliciting the favour of a mistress or the gifts (of a patron).
Can a blush of generous shame ever marltle on your cheeks (12), after submitting to the
degraded state of a lover arid a beggar?

When Abfi Tammim read rhese verses, he changed his mind and turned
back, saying : "This man has drawn to himself the attention of all about him, so
d d they do not stand in need of me." (I have already mentioned some verses
similar to these in the life of al-Rlutanabbi (l 3) ). Abri Tammim and Ibn al-
Muaddal not being personally acquainted, the latter, on composing these lines,
gave them to a copyist who was intimate with them both, and told him to deliver
them to Abii Tammim ; the latter, having read them, wrote on the back of the
paper :
Is it on me that you make verses filled with falsehood and calumny? you wh'o are
less than zero I In your anger you have packed your heart full of hatred, (plainly to
be seen) as the palpitation of the soul is seen in the body. Wretched man! you have ex-
posed ypurselF to the danger of my satires, like the ass which from fear rushes towards
the lion.

Abd as-Samad having read the first verse, said: What an excellent logi-
 350 IBN . KHALLIKAN'S
cian, to assert that a non-existence is capable of increase and diminution 1''
Of ihe second verse he said, illat pcliing was tllc business of Farrris~zes(14),
and that such an idea could not be admitted in poetry; but 011 reading the third
verse, lie Lit his lips. According to as-Silli, this anecdote is related hy Kushl-
j3 jim in his lvirs&d 'G,Jlatli,?iZ,after making the fi)llowingobservation : Al-
" Jilliz, in speaking of certain anirnals wllicll deliver thenlsclres up to certain
laasts of prey, has forgotten to mention the ass which rushes on the lion when
it perceives his scent."--Abb Tanlmim recited to Ab3 Dolaf al-Ijli the km~&'
vhich contains r his verse :

At the sight of dwellings (abandoned) like these, and places of joyous meetings (now
deserted), our tears, lone treasured up, were shed in torrents!

EIe admired the piece and gave the poet Cfty thousand dirlzerns (1 5), saying :
By Allah ! it is less than your poem is worth; and that idea is only surpassed
in beauty by your elegy on the death of Muhammad Ibn IIamid at-Tiisi (1 6)."
-LL Which," said Abh Tammim, does the emir mean ?"-'C Mrhy," said Abfi
Dolaf, your poem commencing thus :

'Now let misfortune do its worst, and time inflict its evils1 There is no excuse for
' eyes which have not shed their tears .'

I wish, by Allah! that this elegy had been composed by you on me."
6b Nay!" said the poet, "may I and my family die to save the emir, and may I
leave the world before you!" To this Abh Dolaf replied: "1Ie whose death
is deplored in verses like those, is immortal."-The learned say that the tribe
of Tai produced three men, each of whom attained excellence i n their speciality,
namely : Hltim al-Tal (l71, famous for his liberality ; Diwiid Ibn Nusair (1 8),
for his self-mortification ; and Abd Tammiim, for poetry.-The number of anec-
dotes related of AbC TammPrn is very great, and 1 find this one generally ac-
credited: He was reciting to the khalif a kasida composed in his praise and
rhyming in s; when he came to these words:

(Inyou I see) the prowess of Amr (IS), the liberality of Hitim, and the prudence of
Ahnaf, joined with the keenness of IyAs (20)1

The vizir said to him : "How! do you compare the C o m m a ~ ~ d eofr the faith-
 IIIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 351
ful with vile Arabs of the desert?" On wllieh the poct kept silence a nla-
6 4

merit, and then looked up and said (in the same rlynze nnd ~ r r e n s u ~: , ~ )

Take not ofie~encea t my comparing him with inferiors, persons whose names havs
gono abroad and arc proverbial for liberality and bravery; for God has compared his
light to a mean object, a candle in a niche (21).

The vizir then told the khalif to grant to Abi'i Tarnrnim whatever he should
ask, as he foresaw that the 1)oetcould not live rnore thau forty days; 6 b for," said
he, "1 perccive that his eyes are suffused wit11 blood from excessive thought,
and the person in whom such symptoms appear cannot survive longer tharl
that time." On this, the khalif aslted AbG Tammhm what he would like to
hare, and being answered that he desired the governn~entof Mosul, he appointed
him to that place ; Abtl Tammim proceeded thither and remained there till his
death.-This anecdote is however totally devoid of truth, and is related differ-
endy by Abc~Bakr as-Sdli in his IIistory of Abh Tammim. "This poet," says
he, when r c c i t i n ~the above knsfda to Ahmad, son of the khalif al-Rlotasim,
came to these words : The prowess of Amr, etc.; on \vhidl the philosopher
Abh Ylisuf Yalibb Ibn as-SabbAh al-Iiirldi (221, who happened to be present,
L' observed that the emir was much above the persons to whom the poet comparued

him; and A1)A T a m m h , after a short silence, added the two other verses ;
but, when hc gave ( t o he prince) the copy of the k a s i d ~ ,it was discovered
" that these lines were not in it, and the audience were in admiration at he

" promptitude of his genius a n d his presence of mind. When he withdrew,

" al-Kindi, who was the philosopher of t l ~ eArabs, said : ' This youth will
" soon die.' " Farther on, as-SAli says: '' This circumstance is related in a
" difyerent manner, but that account is totally ungrounded, a n d ours alone is

" correct." I have examined into the reality of the fact that AbA TammAm was
governor of Mosul, and all I havk found is, that al-IIasan Ibn Wahb (23) had
appointed him master of the post-horse establishment (24) at Mosul, in which
city he died. The exactness of the anecdote is also disproved by the fact that this
kasida was not composed in honour of any of the khalifs, but that it was ad-
dressed to Ahmad son of al-Motasim, o r Ahmad son of al-Mhmbn, neither of
whom became khalif. In one of the seven memorials in. which ( f i e poet) Hais i 8 O
Bais solicitcd the government of Blkliba (25) from the khalif al-Mustarshid, he
35-2 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
states that the government of hlosul had been granted to a poet of the tribe of
Tai. A s ibr this assertion, Hnis Bais must have either grounded it on hearsay,
into its truth, or advanced it in the idea that it would serve
him as 3 Incans for obtaining the government of Bikhba. Ibn Dihya has fol-
lolved ljais B3is in t h ~same error, and itiserted it in Iris work called the Nib-
1t is by as-Silli that Abii Tammlm recited to ihe vizir Ibn az-
Zaiyet a poem which he had conrposed in his honour, and containing these two
verses :
inisisgcncrosityis) a constant rain, rushing with slackened bridle. and of which tile
succour is implored by the afflicted earth. Could a tract of co~lntryproceed towards
to pay it honour, each barren spot had gone towards the (land which he inha-
bits).

( p j q e n ) Ibn az-ZaiyPt (heard these verses, he) said : " 0 Abb TamnlPm ! your
L( poetry is adorned with the jewels of your words and the originalit! of your
ideas; with beauty, moreover, which surpasses the splendour of jewels on tile
( 6 necks of handsome females. The most abundant remuneration which could
L 1 be treasured up for you is unequal to ihc merit of your poetry." A philoso-
pher who was present then observed that the poet would die young, and being
asked what induced him to believe so, he answered: '' 1 saw in him sharpness of
wit, and penetration and intelligence, united to a refined taste and prompt
16 nius; horn this I knew that the mind would consume the Ijody, as a sword of

Indian steel eats through its scabbard. And such was the fact, for he died at
'6 somewhat more than thirty years of age (26)." This, however, does not accord

with what we shall state lower down respecting the lime of his birth and his
death. The poetry of Abd Tammim was put in ordel., for the first time, by
Abd Bakr as-Shli? who arranged it alphabetically (according to the rhymes),
then Ali Ibn Hamza &l-lspahini classed it according to the subjects. Ab6 Tarn-
mim m-as born at JBsim, A. H. 190 (A. D. 805-6) ; other accounts say in A. H.
188, I 72, or 192. Jisim is a village situated in al-JaidJr (27), a canton in the
dependencies of Damascus, between that city and Tabari ya (Tiberias) He .
passed his youth in Misr, where, it is said, he used to distribute water to the pub-
lic out of a pitcher in the mosque (28); but some say that he worked in the ser-
vice of a tailor at Damascus, where his father sold wine (29). Abli Talnmim was
a tall mm of a tawny colour, he spoke his language with elegance and sweet-
 BIOGRAPHICAL 1)ICTIONARY. 35.3
ness, but stammered in a slight degree. Aftrr studying and passing tbroui;h
different situations of lih, he attained that eminence by which hc is illustriolrs.
IIis death' took place at Mosul, as has heen already said, in A. 11. 231 (A. D.
845-6); brit other dates are assigned to that event, such as the m o n d ~of %h'l-
Kaada or that of the first Jutnida, 228 or 329, and some say that he died i l l
month of Muharram, A . II. 232. It is stated by al-llolltori that a canopy \\:is
built. over his grave by AbQ Nahshal lbn llamid at-Tiisi (30), and I n~yselt'sail
the tomb at Mosul, outside the Maidin Gate, on the edge of the ditch wl~icllsur-
rounds the cily ; the comrnon people call it the tomb of Tammim the poet. IIL
was related to me by A fif ad-din Rh6 'l -IJ(asan Ali Ibn Adlhn al-Mtrusili, thr
and interpreter, that he asked ibn Onain (whose life shall be given
later) what he meant by this verse :
May Cod shcd genial showers on the groves of Ghbtatain ;3lj, but of barren RTosu!,
may he refresh the tombs alone!

'' For what reason," said Ibn Adlin, "when you exclude Mosul fro111 the
benediction, do you except its tombs?" To which he replied, that. it was in
consideratio11 of A M Tammhm's. This v t m e belongs to a kasicln composed t ~ y
Ibn Onair1 in praise of the sultan al-Malik al-Moazzam Sharaf ad-din Isa (whose 381
lit. shall be ~ i v e nlater). It is a vrry fine poem and hcgins thus :
You long to see the palaces of Alia (32) at Damascus, and the youths and dark-
oyecl maids in Nairabain (33).

The lollowitrg lines were co~nposedon the death of Abir Tammim by al-Hasan
Ibn W a h b :
Poetry was in aMiction at the death of the last of the poets; him who was the lake
in the meadow of poetry-Habib at-Tai. He and it are now dead and sojourn to@-
ther in one tomb; it was thos also that they were (inseparable)when alive.

Some persons say, however, that these verses were composed on his death by
Dik al-Jinn.-The following lines are taken from a kasida in vhich his-death
was lamented by al-Hasan Ihn Wahb :
That precious tomb at Mosul has been watered by clouds which deplored his loss.
When they shed their dew upon it, that dew fell in copious showers (34). The light-
nines beat (the) cheeks (of the clouds in griel), and the thunders tore open (their) bo-
soms. For the earth of that tomb contains Habib (a friend), who was called my friend.
45
 35rC IBN KIIALLIICAN'S
The verses which follow were made on his dcalh b y 11~1a ~ % o i y i t who , was
d to lllc k i t 5 Abli 'z-zillri-
then vizir to al-Rlotasim ; ],at they are attri b ~ l also
tin Abd Allah, son of nz-%il)ri6h~~, an mrranclriscd slave of the Omaiyidc
family :
It is most dreadful news which has rcnchcd our agitatcd hcarls. IIabih, they say
is dead ;0,1 implore you I let it not bc him of Tat.

The names of llle persons mentioned in Abh Tammku's p;c:nealogy are so ~rell
known, that it is needless to mark ~lrciro r t h o ~ r a ~ ~ l ~ y . - ~ l - J c ~isd cn lcnlrlou
~ i r in
the of Wmascus, near al-llaulin (35).- Al-Tui' means la.lo~rgin~ to
Trri,~ ~ - h iisr ha fanrous tribe. This r e l a t i v ~ndjectivc is of i r ~ q p l n formation
r ;
analogy would lrnve rcqtrircil i t to be T a i i (36); but i h c ro~~ll~niion of rclalive ad-
jectives admits some variations; thus from d a / i r u(/NW) is d(l1ived dul~ti( L C ) ) ~ ~ -
t-ul), and from snhl (a ploin), szchli ( plnriz, level), etc.

(1) The h-dn~ilssags, Yuslrjob.

(2) Ilajji Khalifs places the death of Abh 'I-I<dsirn a!-dmitli in A. H. 371 (h.D . 5181-2). His work, enti-
tled Comparison between the tu.0 Taiites, is a treatise on the ~)ariillelpassages in lhc poerrls of Abli Tammjnl
and al-Rohtori, who were both of the tribe of Tai.
(3) I t is clear from this, that al-Amidi had before him a geaealogical 11st diKcrcnt from t h a t given by Ib:]
Khallikhn.
(4) Literally : I am not of Blashd.
(5) I t would appear therefore that the name of DafZllia was in Lhc list given b y Ibn Khallikhn, yet nothing
like it is to be found in the MSS.
(6) The mistake committed by al-Amidi is singular enough; hc does not understand a very common Arabic
expression, and he takes Masdd, nho was a brother of the poet Zh 'r-Rumrni~,for a n a~:cestorto AbO Tan!-
mAm. Ibn Khallikin repeals his obser~ationson this subject in his life of %~l"r-Rurnma.
(7) The original of this, if literally tr~nslatcd,would run thus: " H e was the u ~ ~ i q uofe his time in thc
" silk stuff of his word, and the wares of his poetry, and the goodncss of his manner." In Arabic this IS i n
very good style and perfectly intelligible.
(8) Short poems, the verses of which consist of but a few feet, are termed Rajuz. Each verse contai:~?;
generally six &.SLO or e p d b i t i te~lii.
(9) Abdessamad fils de Mosdhdhel 61s de Gha~lanavait Ie prinorn d'Aboulcacem; sa mire 6tait une femnlc
esclrve nornrnCe Zerca !.C1est un
:l$ polls de rndrite qui florissait sous les Abbasides; son pire Moadhdhel
et son grand-pire Ghailan (taient poltes aussi. Moadhdhel et Abban-elli)tlelii \ d L I avaient fait
des satyres l'un contre I'autre. Abdessamad etait nb et avait Btd BIcv4 ii Basra. Son frkre Ahmad avait aussr
du talent pour la poCsie et g joignait un beau caractire, benucoup d e piet6 et diverscs qualittrs qui lui doll-
tlaient un rang distingue parrni ies motazdle' et dans Ie monde. Abdessamad, qui etait mCchant, satyrique et
trks-rnddisant, portait envie B son frhre et faisait contrc lui dcs Cpigrammes. II fut amoureux d'une fernme
nommde r, esclave d'un seigneur do Basrr. Abdessnmad re trouva un jour dans une soci(t6 nvec ~b~~
T;]mmBm; ils s'dcrivircllt I'instnnt l'un a l'aulrc des vers piquans. Abdessamad, qui composait ayec plus
jc et i~vilitla ri[)osle 111~svive ~ u ' A ~ oTammlm,
u eut sur lui quelquc avantage en eette occa-
. i o n . - ( ~ g h A ~i,~ vol. 111. f. 194 vo.- 200.) Note communicated by M. Caussin de l'erceval.
(10) ~ c i t o ~ o r s ; I~OUS).

(11) In place of j\i~ , in most M!%., i t appears more natural to read, with the Oiydn a t - T a d -
as giver1
ri1.h (rear 231, nhcre these verses are cited,) J!-LAor else J !-b.
(12) Literally: W h a t water rcmairrs for your face. See note (Is),page 108.
(13) Sce page 106; t11ey begin nillr these words: W h a t merit,etc.
(i4) Sce notc (8\, page 275.
(i.5)About twelve hundred pounds sterling.
(16) Muhammad I b n Harnid at-Tfisi, a son of one of al-Mbmbn's principal generals, was sent by that khalif
;:Lthe head of an army against BSbek a1-Khurrami, who was desolating the province of Aderbijan. In the
:~ctionnhich ensued, the BIoslim troops Mere totally defeated, and Ibn Hamfd, abandoned by a11 except one
f,;ithful officer, thuglit till he fcll. This occurred in A. H. 214 [A. D. 829-30). H e was renowned for his
liberality, and his deal11 gave great pain to al-RlimQn.-(lbn al-Athtr's Kdmil.)
(17) Sec D'lIerbclot and Rasmusseo's Addilamertta a d I l i s t . AY. p. 19.
(18) D h a d ibn h.usair,+ at-Tat, a doctor eminent for his knonledgc of' the law W!, his piety and
r
self-mortification, was one of Abb Flanifa's principal disciples: he was deeply learned io tli'e Traditions. Died
A. H. 165 (A. D. 781-2).-(An-Nujdm uz-Zdliiru.)
(19) The poet meant eilher Anir Ibn Rlhdikarib, or Amr Ibn al-Mundir, surnamed Ihn Hind; his prowess
\yas proverbial. (See Pococli's Specimert Hisl. AT. p. 73, and Rasmussen's Adtlitamenta ad Rist. Ar.
p. 50, 53.)
(20) See his life, page 233.
(21) See l i o r u n , surat 24, verse 35.
(22) Abll Ytlsuf Yalibb Ibn Jshnli lbrr as-Sabbhh al-Kindi, the yhZlasopher of the Arabs, was descended
rcom the royal family of Kinds.-(See Llicir gerrcnlogy and history in my Diwdn d'Amro 'l-kais.)-His father
lshak was emir of Rhfa under al-Rllahdi and ar-Rilshld; his great grandfather al-Ashhth was one of
ItIuharnmad's companions; Kais, the father of al-Ashiith and sovereign of all the tribe of Kinda, was celebrated
1:) four kasidas by the poct al-Asha.-(See M. de Sacy's Chrestomathie, tom. 11.)-Midi Karib, father of
Kais, reignccl in the province of Hadramnut over the Banll 'l-Harith al-Asghar, a branch of the tribe of Kinda.
3Ioariu and his ouier ancestors ruled the tribe of Maad h o~ & g a t 81-Nushakkar (a fortress in
Bahrain according to Ab& 'l-Fadi in l ~ i sGeography), al-Yemhma and Bahrain.-I give this extract from the
Tdrtkh ul-HakarnU, because i t serves to co~rfirrn,C i necessary, M. de Sacy's opinion that the philosopher a d
t J e t ~ i s h ,b u t of Arabian extraction.-(See Abd-Allatif, page 487.)-Casiri, in his Biblfothsca
Kindi was r ~ o of
-?rubica, t. I. p. 333, has given s short notice on al-Kindi and a list of his works, allof which h e t m k from h*
I'dr5kh al-flukamll, but he supprcssetl thc passage cited above.
(23) See in the life of Sulaimin Ibn Wahb.
(24)The postmaster kept horses for the special use of government officers and messengers; he acted also
as a spy on the conduct of the provincial governor, and he then corresponded directly vith the khalif or the
sultan.
(25) BdkBba, a large town a t two parasangs from Baghdad.-(AbQ 'I-Fadi's Ge0sra~hy.l
(26) I t is not easy to explain llolv as-sclj, iu relating this anecdote, did'not pcreeive that it was orrly another
as foliows: - "AI-Farigha, the inothrr of nl-MajjQ and datlghter to Hnolnlitn
Ibn Oltwa 1br1Masild or the tribe of Tllakif, was wife to al-Hnritll Ibn &Ida, :,
of tlre same tribe and native of the to\t7n of Tbil: this IInrith was jlldPt.
1J

of the Arahs (3). Having gone into her apartment early one morning, lI(b
foulld l ~ e rpicking her teeth, on which hc sent her a serltence of divor.ce. r-\ud
c she said to him : ' W h y have you sent me my divorce? has my conduct i;ivrll

you ally cause for suspicion.' - ' Yes,' said he, ' when 1 went in to y o~ ill
the morning, you were picking your teeth: if you had breakfasted before [hr:
n g u l a r time, you are a glutton ; and if you hare passed the night with parli-
cles of meat sticking between your teeth, you are sluttish.' To this she rc-
'-plied : 'It was neither one nor the other; but I \vas taking out a fragment of
tllc toothpick.' She then married Y h f ' Ibn Abi Oliail ath-Thakel;, to whom
she bore al-Hajjij, who came into the world i~lcompletely formed, as he had an
imperlbrate anus. This defect was removed by an operation; and the child
refused the breast of' its nlollrer and every other person, so tllat they were at ;l
h L loss \vhat. to do, till, as i t is said, Satan appeared to them in the form of al-

Haritlr Ibn Kalda ant1 askcd then1 what was the m a t ~ e ;r they told him the cir-
cumstance, and lrc said : ' Kill a black kid and give its blood to the child to
drink ; the next d a y do t l ~ esame thing ; t lle third day slay a black he-goat and
give the blood to be drunk by the child, then kill a srlake and make the child
swallow the blood, and daub llis lace will] some of it ; i f you do thus, the
cllild will take the breast on the fourth day .' They followed these directions,
L6 and the ef'fect of this first nourishment which he received was such, that he
" could not rebain from shedding blood. He even said of himself, that his
greatest en,joyment was to shed blood and commit actions which no other
could (h)." Ibn Abd Rabbi11 says, in his fid, that al-Firigha was wife to al-
Moghaira Ibn Shdba, and that it was he who divorced her on account of the
circumstance of tlre toothpick. He adds that al-1Iajjlj and his father kept
scllool a t TAif; and that the former attached himself to RCh ibn Zinb? al-Judi-
mi (5), vizir of Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan, and entered into the Sltorta (police
gurrrds) (6), of which Ruh was commander. Abd al-Malik, hd*iniog re-
marked the indiscipline of his army, and that the soldiers never s e t out nor
halted at the same time *with himself, complained of it to Rdh Ibn Zinbi,
who told him that there was a man i n the police guards, named al-Hajjij
 358 IBN KH.4LLIliAN7S
Ibn Ylisuf, \\ho, if the Cornrnander of the hithful g v e llim tllc command
of the troops, rvol~ldoblige thrm to march and to halt in coufonnity to his (/he
~ h ~ l + )movements. Abd nl-Malik adopted this counsel and nominated
al-llajjij commander of tlke army. The guards under 1bn Zinl)ils orders were
the only troops dispensed ~vitbllle ohligalion of marclling and llnlting at the
same time a s tllc tllnlif, and one day, after the departure or t,lw rest of the
army, al-tlajjij came upotr il~cnland found them at dinner: IIC asked them
rvhat had lllrrellid them f11om settirrg out with the Commander of the faith-
ful, and ibis answer: " Dismount, YOU sorr of a s l ~ t(7)! and dine
sitll us." To tllis be Gave n refusal, telling thern that those times were gone
by; and he onlered them to bc flogged and paraded herore the army; by his di-
rt>ctionsnlsu, the tents belonging to Rlih 1b11Zinbi were set on lire. R4h corn-
plaiilai bi~tcrlyof this to the khalif, who sent immediately for al-FIajjjj and said
to him : 44Wllatinduced 7011 to do as you have dorlc?" -" I have done nothing,"
~ ~ ~ p lal-Hajjij.-''l?7ho
icd did i t then?" said the khalif.-&' You;" answered al-
TIajjij; " my l~antlis your hand ; m y whip is your whip; and what prevents the
"Commander of the faithful from presenting R i ~ hwith a d o ~ ~ bquantity
le of tents
" and meil (S), rather tllarl break my commission after havirlg given i t your-

'' self?" The kbnlif, 011 dris, indemnified Rdll for his loss and trealed al-Hajjij
with increased favour. This was the Grst known proof whicll al-Hajjij gave of
his abilities. It was unheard of, what slaughter he committed, Ilow much blood
he shed, and what tortures he inflicted. It is said that Ziid Ibn Abih (9) wished
to resemble the khalif Omar in firm authority, resolution, decision, and severity
of administration, but that ile carried this to an excess and passed bounds;
I85 and al-Itajjlj, say they, took Ziid for his model, and killed and destroyed.
One day, he said in the course of a kholbu (10) which he was pronouncing :
'' 0 lnen ! God's prohi bitions are easier to he borne with than his punish-
" ments !" On ~ ~ h i ca hman rose u p and said : '' Woe be to thee, 0 Hajjjij!
" what a n impi~dcntface thou hast, and how little modesty !" AI-Hajjij.or-
dered hi111to sit down, and when he descended from the pulpit h e called him
forth : "Thou hast been presumptuous towards me!" said he. "How?" -
replied the man, " thou art presumptlious towards God and dost not disapprove
"of thine own conduct, and if we are presumptuolls towards thee, thou disap
" provest of it!" Al-llajjij, on receiving this answer, let tbe man go.-Ibn
nl-Jawsi says, in his Talki'h, that al-FPrigha, motlrer of al-lln j jij, Ivas the ,Els-

son who was surnamed a)-Mutanta~znia(the tvislz-maker); nhen skle i\rt~

lVish, she was wife to al-Mughaira Ibn Shbba, and we shall here present an
abridgme~ilof the anecdote as related by this writer. Omar ibn al-Khattil,
happening to make his rounds one night in the city of Mwlina, heard a woman
sing, from behind the curtain of her apartment, the following verse :

Whcre shall I find wine that I may drink i t ? or else where shall I find Nasr It;n
Iiajj%j?

On this, Omar said : "I shall not allow in the same city with myself, a man
whose beauty is celebrated by young females in t l ~ eprivacy of their apart-
'4 ments ; bring me Nasr Ibn Hajj$j !" When he was brought he was found 1 0
be the most beautiful of men in countenance and the handsomest in hair.; and
Ornar said to him : " The Commander of the faithfull's determination is, that
you shorten your hair." Whcn this was done, his cheeks appeared ( fuir) as
half-moons. "Now, put on a turban," said Omar. The turban was p u ~on,
and the youth still charmed the Spectalors wit11 his eyes. Then Omar said:
Dwell not in any town where I may be."--"What is my crime, U Com-
ic mander of the faitllful?" said Nasr. '"h must Le done as I told you," re-
plied Omar; and he then sent h i m off to Basra. Such are the main points of
the narration, and 1 suppress the sequel. This Hasr was son of Hajjij Ibn Elit
al-Sularni, one of Muhammad's companions. Some say, however, that the fWu-
lanzannin belonged to the tribe of Kinhna, and that she was al-I-Tajjij's paternal
grandmother.-It i s related by Abii Ahmad al-Askari, in his Kit& at-Tas/$
that the people passed upwards of forty years reading the Koran from Othman's
copy (I I ) , but, in the days of Abd al-Malik lbn Marwin, the erroneous readings
had become numerous and had spread through I d k ; this obliged al-Hajjij 1bn
YhuE to have recourse to his kritibs (1 2 ) for the purpose of putting distinctive
marks on the words of uncertain pronunciation (1 3); and it is said that Nasr Ibn
APsim undertook that duty and imagined single and double points (nukai), which
he placed in different manners (14). The people then passed some time with-
out making any copies of the Koran but with points, the usage'of which did not,
however, prevent some false readings from taking place, and for this reason
they invented the Ydrn (points serving to dislingnish the letiers oj a similar
 360 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
forrll onef,*onlnitother), and they (the yerykj) tlllls the Ybn2 posteriorlY
to the nukat ; but yet when, by neglect, a ~ ~ ~ ({!t!/'the
o r d Kora/2) was not ~ ~ r i t t ~
\yith its full accompanirnent (of d~~stitzctive nzmks), and was thus deprived of
its erroneous readings occurred ; f01* this tlley entlesvo~iredin vain to
firld a remedv, and tlley ~vrl-eobliged to recur to oral tradilion and learn trvur
ruodirrg,s)fronl ttre eout!rs of men (I 5 ) . 011the wlrole, the a~lecdotesconcern-
ing a\-kIajiij are numerous and a o ~ l l dtake long to I-elate (16). It was he who
founded the citv of IC'isit ; hc commenced it A . H . 84 ( A . D. 70.3) and finished
i t in $6. IIe named it iF/ci,sit(Wlt~t'nzedi(lte,)~ > ~ : c ~it
u slay
c belwccn Dasra and
~ ; ~ f .aild
,. thus Le said to lie between (trru~nssnt)tlresr two capitals. Ibn
al-Ja\\.zi srates, I~omever,in his historical a~lnalc,entitled S/luzrir a/-Okcd,
al-Hajj:~j began to build Wisit in the year 7 5 , and terminated it in 7s.-
\\'hell al-IIajjij felt his death approach, he callcd in an astro1ot;rer and asked him
i f he knew of any prince who was to die (al tlmt tintej, and thc astrologer re-
plird: "Yes, 1 do; but you are not the person."--"I-IOW know you that!" said
21-Hajj;j.-" Because the name of him who is to die is K~laib."--~~It is I, by
Allah !" exclaimed al-Ilajjij ; for such was the name by which my mother
called me." He then made his will.- One thing put S ill mind of another (1 7).
This is like the words of the nrissionary (18) Ali Ibn Muharnmacl Ibn Ali as-
Sulaihi (of whom mention will be made hereafter). A simple missionary in
Yemen (4 g), he became sovereign of all that country, and held its princes in sub-
jection till the period wlrich God had assigned to his life lrad expired, -when he
i n c left Sania tc, make the pilgrimage to hlekka in A . 11. 473 (A. D. 1081). On
arriving at al-Rlahjam (20), he encamped without the town, at a farm called
Umm ad-Duhaim (21 ), or Bir Omm Mibad (the tvell q j ' &Icibcrtl's nzother), and
was there attacked unawares by Said al-Ahwal, son of Najih. This Najili
was lord of the province of Tahima, and had been deprived of his life and king-
don1 by as-Sulaitri, but Said and his other sons had escaped. Said arrived with
R few prtisnns and entered the camp of as-Sulaihi, where they were mistaken
for followers of the army ; none discovered their real character ,but Abd Allah
the brother of as-Sulaihi, who immediately got on horseback and said to
his brother : " To horse ! for, by Allah ! here is al-Ahwal with his men, of whose
" coming we were warned yesterday by the letter which Asaad Ibn ShitlHb wrote

" us from Zebid ."-" Calm your mind," replied as-Sulaihi ; " i 1 is only at
 BIOGR APHICAI, DIC'I'ION XRY. 3Gi
fi ad-Dubaim and the well of Omm Mhbad that I am to die;" thinking that i t
was of that Omm Mlbad the Kh~~ztiiite, at whose dwelling the blessed Prophet
and Abii Bakr stopped on their retreat from Mekka (22) : this place lies near
Mekka, on the road from it to Medina, and is in the neighbourhood of al-
~ ~ h(23)f a ). On this, some of as-Sulaihi's companions called to him, saying:
ii Defend your life! for, by Allah! this is the well of ad-Uuhaim Ibn Isa, and

this mosque is built on the spot where the tent of Onlm Mibad Ibn al-Harith
al-Absi was situated." On hearing these words, he was seized with terror,
and, despairing of his life, he remained fixed to the spot, where he was immedi-
ately slain with his brother and his family. Said al-Ahwal then brought the
army of as-Sulaihi under his own command and took possession of his king-
dom. Said was brother of the illustrious and eminent prince Jaiyish ; his fa-
ther, the prince Bajhh, had been a slave 10 the prince Marjin, who himself had
been a slave to Husain Ibn Salhma; ITusain had been enfranchised by Rushd
al-Ustid (24,) the Abyssinian. These two, Musain, and Rush! before him,
ruled the kingdom wit11 absolute authority , although they mere only ostensibly
vizirs in the scrvice of the last prince of the Ziidite family, the sovereigns of
Yemen. Their pupil was son to Ahii 'l-Jaisll Ishak Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Muham-
mad Ibn Ziid, and his name was Abd Allah ; some say Ibrahim or Ziid. It was
in his reign that the Zildite dynasty was overthrown by Kais, who had been a
slave to the R'larjin above-mentioned. On the death of Abil 'l-Jaish, his child
was confided to the care of its aunt and of Marjin, the enfranchised slave of
Abii 'l-Jaish : nlarjin had two slaves, Abh Said Najhh and Kais, both of whom
became independent of their master; Kais was governor of the capital (25),
and Najlh ruled the provinces of al-Kadri, the town of at-Mahjam, and other
places. A jealousy sprung up between these two, for they both aspired to the
vizirat ; Kais was a perverse and wicked man, Najlh was mild and just. The
former, having snspected the aunt of the boy to be more favourably inclined to
Najih than to him, made complaints against her and her nephew to his master
Marj%n, who, in consequence, seized on then1 both and delivered them up to
their enemy Kais, and he, heedless of their supplications, immlired them alive
and in an upright position. They thus perished in A. H. 407 (A. D. 1016-7).
Najth, on learning the circumstance, hastened to avenge their death. He waged
war against Kais, who was defeated, lost his capital Zabid, and subsequently his
46
 363 EBN KHALLIKAN'S
life in a at the gate of that city; this was in 8 . 11. h1 2. (A. D. 1021-2).
Najih, having thus obtained possession of the metropolis, said to Marjbn :
'(\Vhat lwve you done with your and my master arid mistress ?"--44 Tlley are
6' in that wall," he replied. Najlll then had their bodies taken out, and praved
orer them, and buried then1 in a chapel ~vliich1 1 ercctcd
~ to reccivc tlre~n: as for
i\Iarjbn, he immured llim in illei~place till died. Najih W ~ poisoned
S at
in A . 11. 4.52 (A. L). 1OGO), by the treacllery ol' a female slave whom
he had received as a present from as-Sulaihi. After the death of Najill, as-
Sulailli wrote, in tile year 453, to al-Mustansir, ~ l l elord of Eeyl~t,demanding
485 autllorisalion to preach openly in favour of the Fa timitc dynasty, and having
tllnt permission, he proceeded (lo usser*l nl-ilfustansir's rruthoniy).
llis subsequent adverit~lres we may omit (26). Lrr 11s n.lu1.n to ill-llajjij :
during his last illness he used to repeat the following verses, which were corn-
posed t)y Obaid lbn Sofyian >!-Okli :
9 Lorcil my enemies have sworn, nay sworn positively, that I am one of thosc who
shall dwell in the fire ( o r hell). Is it (not)from blindness (of heart) Ehct t.hcy swear?
Unfortunate wretches! what opinion must they have of Him who has always shown
mercy a n d forgive.ness ?

1Je wrote also a letter to al-IT'alid lbn Abd al-Jialik, i ~ ~ f o r m i nhim

g of his ill-
ness, and concluded it with these lines :
When I meet God and find favour with Him, therein shall be the joy of my soul.
The eternity of God sufficeth me, and I therefore place not my hopes on mortals.
Those who were before us have tasted of death, and after lhcm we also shall taste it.

His malady was a cancer in the stomacll, for which he called in a physician,
who, having examined into his case, tied a bit of meat to a string and it
down his throat; after a lapse of some time he drew it out, and found a swarm
of worms adhering to it :God gave also a cold ague power over him, and allhough
vases filled with lighted coals were placed around him so close as to scorch his
skin, he felt them not. He complained of his sufferings to al-1Iasan al-Basri,
who rnade answer : I forbade you to attack men of holiness, but you persisted!"
0 IIasan," replied al-Hajjiij, " I ask you not to pray to God that h e may deli-
ver me from my pains; beg of him only that he hasten to take my soul from
my body and terminate my tortures." Al-Hasan on this wept bitterly, and
al-Hajjij continued to suffer under his malady for fifteen days; tle then expired,
 BlOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 363
in the month of R:imadin, A. B. 96 (May or June, A. D. 714.), (some say in Shaw-
&,l,) at the age of fifty-thrre, or (which is more correct) fifty-four years. AI-
Tabari says, in his great historical work, that al-Hajj8j died on Friday, ?lst
ama ad in, A. H. 95; and another historian relates that al-Hasan al-Basri, on
learning his death, made a prostration in thanksgiving to God, saying: 6'0 my
t r God ! tllo~l hast caused him to die ; let also his example die from among us."
Al-Hajikj was buried at IVksit, in which city he died; but his tomb was after-
wards levelled to tllc ground and a current of water turned over it. May God
p r d o n him!-1Ie once dreamt that his eyes had been plucked out, and he there-
fore divorced his wives, Hind the daughter of al-Muhallab Ibn Abi Sufra, and
Hind the daughter of Asm%Ihn Khirija; he hoped by that to fulfil his dream;
in a short time, however, he received news that his brother Muhammad had
died in Yemen, and that, on the same day, his own son Muhammad had died
also, on which he said : " Tbis, by Allah ! is the fulfilment of my dream; Mu-
g& hammad and Muhammad ! in the same day ! W e belong to God and to him
we must return !" He then asked if there was any person who would recite
him verses to console him, and al-Farazdak pronounced the following :

This misfortune has no misfortune equal to it! to lose such persons as Muhammad
and Muhammad! princes who have left the pulpits (27) vacant (and desolate)! Death
has seized upon them unawares.

His brother Mul~nmrnaddied some days after the bcginning of thc month of
Rajab, A. H. 91 (May, A. D. 710) ; he was then governor of the province of
Yemen. Al-Walid Ibn Abd al-Malik sent a letter to al-Hajjhj, consoling him on
the loss of his brother, and al-HajjAj wrote to him in reply : "Commander of the
" faithful! I and Muhammad never met together during a long period but for 4 88
one year; and in that absence I never had such hopes of seeing him soon, as I
" now have of meeting him again in a mansion where two sincere Moslirns shall
" never be disunited."-Thnkej means belongiizg to T / t a k s a great and well-
known tribe dwelling at Tiif (28).

( 9 ) From this we must suppose that the descent of Munabbih fram [yid was well estqblis5e3 and generally
known.
(2) See the seventh genealogical list, drawn up Eichhorn after Ibn Krrtaibo. i n the Montrrnenta anti-
quissima Historice A rabum.
 IBN KHALLIKAK'S
(3) Harith Ihn Kalda was oneof Muhammad's companions.-(~dmfis.)
(4)some
of the MSS. have J&, in place of +,
dare t o do.
r ; if this reading be adopted, the sense is: which no other
J
(5) AbQ Zarl (i*lj)Rub Ibn ZinbA al-Juddmi, the Syrian, was one of the I'dbis (see note (21, page 41,
and highly respected bg the people. Moa*ia was so apprehensive of his influence, that he rcsolvcd to put him
to death, and had him arrested, but he afterwards set him at liberty. RQh was the grandce <,+As)of the
empire of Abd al-&falik Ibn Blarwin. Iie was husband to (the celebrated poetess) Hind, daughter of an-
Nom&n, and he died A. H. 73 (A. D. 692-3).-(dn.Nu,fim UZ-Zdhira.j-Al-Makln (page 67) calls him Abd
al-Malili's kdtib, or secretary of state.
(6) It may be observed that Ibn Khaldhn, as cited by M. de fIanlmer in his Laenderverwaltung unt8.r dem
Khalifate (page 154), says that the post of commander of the police guards was first established under the
Abbasides: this seems in contradiction with Ibn Khallikiin's statement.
(7)This form of compellation was very frequently used by the Arabs ; it indicated either anger or
familiarity.
(8) #fen: the Arabic word ghilmdn signifies boys, pages, mamllks, etc.
(9) Ziid Ibn Abih; Zidd son of his father, that is, the bastard. H e was son of Abll Sofyian. His history
may be collected from D'Herbelot and Abh 'l-Fadil ; Annals, years 44 and 63.
(10) See page 174, note (2).
W
(11) See Abh 'l-FadYs Annals, year 30.
(12) See page 26, note (7).
(13) The word SF, in the plural is employed by the Koranists to designate a group of letters
(or word) which may be read in different manners. See, for instance, the marginal notes of the Koran printed
at Casan.
(14) It is necessary for me to observe that the vowel-signs and diacritical points now in use, were invented,
as is generally stated, by Hhalil Ibn Ahmad, who died in the sccond century of the Hijra; and that they are
totally different from those imagined by Zalim ad-Duali (see his life), and by the secretaries of nl-HajjAj. The
points introduced by the latter were similar to those of the specimens given by M.de Sacy in his Arabic gram-
mar, plate 111. tom. I , and Dr. Pusey in the Catal. Bib. Bod., tom. 11. tab. I.
(15)M. de Sacy has given a transIation of this passage in his Ridmoire s u r l a littdrature des Arabes; it may
be observed that I differ totally with him respecting the meaning of the words h u d f , nukat, and ij&m.
(16) Consult D'Herbelot, AbO'l-FadzZ, al-Maktn, and Price's tietrospect of Muhammadan History, vol. I.
(17) Ibn Khalliliilo gives a second time the anecdote which follows; it will be found, with some slight
difference, in the life of Ali as-Sulaihi; and this induces me to think that the author intended to suppress it
here, where itis totally misplaced.
(18) Missionary; see page 26, note (9).
(19)Consult, on the events which follow, AbO 'l-Fad%'s Annals, years 203 and 412; Johannsen's IIistorio
Pemance, pp. 121, 128 et seq. In the three relations, a number of differences will be observed, which it L
needless to notice here.
(20) he town of al-Mahjam lay at the distance of three days' journey to the north-east of Zabid, and sir
days' journey from SanAa. -lAbQ 'l-Fa& 3 Geography.)
(21) This name is sometimes written simply ad-1)uhaim.
(B) ~ u h a m m a dand Abil Bakr, on their hijra (departure, emigration) from Mekka to Medtna, stopped at
the tent of Omm Mabad Aatilir &L, and asked for food, but she had none to give them. On this, Mu-
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 365
hammad went to a sheep which was in the tent, and drew from it a great quantity of milk; this the more
as that sheep was very old and had ceased to give any for same time before.-(~n-~uwairi,
MS.of the Leyden library.)
(23) AI-Juhfa, a place situated to thenorth of Mecca, near the sea-coast, is the spot where the Syrian
pilgrims put on the ihrdm, or pilgrim's dress.-(Abh 'l-Fada's Geography; Mishkdt al-Masdbih, "01. I. page
601.
(21) Al-Usldd (the master); a title given to eunuchs and tutors of young princes.
(B)The capitul, or roynl court 3 ; literally: The presence.
1
(26) Literally: Et fuir ex eo quod fukt, he became what he became.
(S)They were governors of provinces, and had therefore the right of saying the khotba from the pulpit.
(28) Tdif; a well-known town lying to the south-east of Mekka.

A L-MUHASIBI.

Abd Abd Allah al-Hirith Ibn Asad al-Muhisabi, the famous ascetic and one
of the men of the tl-utlt ( I ) , drew his origin from a family which inhabited
Basra. He was one of those who possessed both the science of the ezterior and
the science cf tile interior ( 2 ) ; he composed some ascetic and dogmatic trea-
tises, and is author of the work (on Su'psnz) entitled ar-Ricija (contenzplation).
Having inherited seventy thousand dirhems from his father, he refused, through
religious scruples, to accept them; it is reported that his reason for this was,
that his father professed the doctrine of man's free will, and that he made this
observation : "The Tradition is authentic which informs us that Muhammad de-
clared : Persons of dzferent religions cannot inherit, one from the other;"
and he died in want, not possessing a single dirhem. It is related that when he
stretched forth his hand to partake of food the purity of which was doubtful, he
would be warned from touching it by a pulsation in his finger. Being asked
what was intelligence, he answered : ' The light of the natural sentiment (ac-
" companied) with experience, and which is increased and fortified by science
" and prudence." He used to say : There are three things which we find
" not; beauty with continence, fair words with honesty, and friendship with

" sincerity." He died A. H. 243 (A. D. 857-8).-As-SarnHoi says that he was

named Muhdsibi, because he frequently called himself to an account for his
actions (yzdzbib). He says also that Ahmad .lbn Hanbal disliked him, and
 366 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
banished him, on account of his speculations in scholastic theology and his
works on that subject, he was therefore obliged to seek concealmrnt from pub-
lic (indignation), and on his death, b u r persons only attended his funeeral s e p
vice. The anecdotes related of what took place between him and al-Junaid are
well known (3).

(1) The m e n of the trgth, the Sllfis ; see note (3). page 340.
(2) Reiske, in his Annal$ of Abh 'I-Fadb, tom. 11. p. 698, has translated the same passage; he renders it
thus : "Qui simul conjurrit et externi (civilis) et interni (Spiritualis) scientiam." The science of the interior
means SGfism, arid that of the exterior, the ordinary branches of learning.
(3) I have not been able to find any of lhese anecdotes in the manuscripts which I have consulted. They
may probably be given in the Eiilyat al-Awlia, but the copy of that work in the Bib. du Roi is incomplele.

ABU FARAS AL-HAMDANI.

Abri Faris al-Hirith Ibn Abi 'l-Alh Said Ibn Hamdhn Ihn I-Iamdhn al-Ham-
dini was an uncle's son to Nisir ad-Dawlat and Saif ad-Dawlat, the sons of Ham-
din: in the lives of these two princes, we shall give the rest of the genealogy.
At-Thailibi, in speaking of Abd Faris, says ( I ) : The pearl of his time, the
'' sun of his age in learning, talent, generosity, glory, eloquence, horsemanship,
'' and bravery; his poetry is celebrated and current (tltroughout t/2e world) ;
" it combines beauty, merit, ease, depth, softness, sublimity, and sweetness ;

" with him were the brightness of genius, the impress of elegant taste, and the

'' lustre of a princely race ; qualities such as were never found before in any
'' poet except Abd Allah Ibn al-Motazz, but Abb Faris is considered supe-
'' rior to him by persons of the profession and by critics. The Srihib 1b11
'' Abbid used to say: 'Poetry began with a prince and ended with one;'
" meaning Amro '1-Kais and Ab6 FarL. Al-Mutanabbi bore testimony to
" his superiority and pre-eminence; he avoided his contact (2), neither did be

" proceed to cope with him nor dare to rival him; and his motive for omit-

ting his praises when he celebrated those of all the rest of the Hamdin family
" was,to testify his respect for him and to honour him ; his silence did not pro-
g wed from forgetfulness or contempt. Saif ad-Dawlat highly admired the ex-
(4 cellent qualities of ilb6 Faris, and distinguished him above the rest of the
cc family by the honours he conferred on him, as he took hinl with him on
6
expeditions, or left him as his lieutenant over Iris provinces." - In
il one OF his engagements wit11 the Greeks, Abd Faris was wounded by an

d Larrow, thc lread of which ~emainedin his thigh, and he was made prisoner.
4' They conducted him to Kharshana, and from that to Constantinople; this 187

occurred in A. 11. 348 (A. D. 939-GO), and in the year 355 he was redeemed
6r from captivity by Saif ad-Daw1at."-Such are the words of AbA 'l-Hasan Ali
Ibn az-Zarrid ad-Dailami ; but in this, it is said, he is mistaken, for A b i
Faris was made a prisoner twice ; the first time at Maghirat al-Kohl in the year
%,S, but he was then not taken farther than Kharshana, which is a fortress in
the country of the Greeh (Asia Minor3 and situated on the Eupl~rates(3) : it is
said that, when in that fortress, he mounted his horse and spurred him from the
top of the wall into the river ; but God knows best: the second time that he was
made a prisoner. by the Greeks was at Manbqj in the month of ShawwPI, 351
(November, A. D. 062); they then took him to Constantinople, where he re-
mained in caplivity for four years. During his confinement, he composed a great
deal of poetry, which is still exlant i n the collection of his poems; l ~ eheld the
town of Manbej in fief (.frol~zI ~ i sC O I L S ~ Sa!jrad-L)a(vZal).
~Z The following verses
a re o fhis composition :

It was from your supply that I drew my force; you were to me a helping hand and
an arm in the days of distress ! But I since received from you the reverse of my hopes,
and a man may be surfeited with fair promises ([c).

By the same :
She was cruel (5); yet cruelty only increased my affection for that beloved object, Who,
despite her conduct, shall always be beloved. Her calumniators summed up to me
her faults, but can a fair face ever be in fault?

By the same :
I am inebriated with her looks, not with wine; the grace of her motions has removed
sleep from my eyes. I am not overcome by the pure liquor of the grape, but by the
charms of her neck; it is her perfections which subdued me, not wine. When she
turns her cheeks away, she makes my resolution yield, and that which her robes cover
has ravished away my heart (6).
 , 368 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
His poetry abounds with beauties. He lvas slain in a combat will1 some slaves
belonging to his own family, in the year 357 (A. D. 967-8). 1 read in his
the following piece which he addressed to his daughter when he was on the
point of death :
Grieve not, my dear girl l all mankind must depart (this life) ; lament me with sighs
(only), and remain behind thy veil and the curtain of the (harem). Say to me, when I
am too aeak to answer: "The ornament OF the youth, Abh FarAs, has not enjoyed
youth to the last I"

From tllis it appear that he was not slain, or else that he lingered for
some time of his wounds before he expired. It is related by Ibn Khilawaih that
Abil Faris, on the death of Saif ad-Dawlat, resolved to take forcible possession of
Emessa; but Saif ad-Dawlat's son, Abd 'l-Maili, and Iris slave Karghawaih re-
ceived information of his project and sent troops to oppose him ; (in the action
wlticlt ensued) he was taken prisoner, after receiving a number of sabre wounds,
and he died on the way (wherr they were bearing hLz 08)I have read in a col-
lection of loose notes (7) that AbG Faris was slain on Wcdnesday, 8th of the latter
Rahi, A. H. 357 (March, A. D. 968), at a farm called Sadad; and Th$bit Ibn
188 Sinin as-Sibi says in his history: "On Sunday 2nd of the first Jumida, 357, a
combat took place between Abd Faris, who was then established at Emessa,
" and Abii 'l-Matli, son of Saif ad-Dawlat. The latler was victorious, and slew
Abfi FarLs in the action ; he carried away his head and left his body exposed
in the plain, till a Desert Arab came, and shrouded it and buried it." Abli
F a r k was maternal uncle to Abh Maili; when Sakhina, the mother of Abi
Faris, was informed of his death, she tore out her eyes; by another account,
it is stated that she struck her face with her hands, and then tore out her eyes.
It is said that he was slain by Karghawaih without Abii Maili's knowledge, and
that the latter was greatly shocked on learning his death. Ry one statement,
the birth of Abb Faris is placed in A. H. 320 (A. D. 932), and by another, in
321 (S). His father Said was murdered at Mosul in the month of Rajab, A. H.
323, by his nephew Nisir ad-Dawlat, who caused his testicles to be pressed till
death ensued. The history of this business would be long to relate, but the
main point of i t is this: The government of Mosul and Dilr Bakr had been farmed
out secretly to Said by the khalif ar-R&di Billah ; Said proceeded thither with
fifty mamlbks (Ghulrim), but on arriving he was arrested and put to death by
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 369
Nfsir ad-Dawlat ; and the khalif was highly displeased on learning the circum-
stance.-Kharshann is a city on the Syrian coast; belonging to the Greeks (9).
-1~ostantfi2iyn (Constantinople) is one of the greatest cities belonging to the
Greeks; it was built by Kosranlin (Constantine), the first king of that nation
who became a Chr*istian.

( I ) See the Yatima, No. 1370, fol. 8.

(2) Literally: H i s side. This seems to be analogous to the French expression: I2 n s se frotla pas d l u i .
(31 Hharshana, the Charsianu~nCaslrum of Cedrenus. A great portion of Cappadocia bore this name.-
(See St. Martin's note in Lebeau's Histoire d u B a s - E m p i ~ e ,t. XIII. p. 107.)
(4) Literally : A mar1 may be choked with cool. or refreshing water. These verses were addressed to Saif
ad-Dawlat; apparently from Constantinople, where the aulhor n a s in prison.
(5) 111 this little piece and the one which follows, Ihave substituted the feminine pronoun for he masculine.
s e e my observations on this subject in the Introduction.
(6) I n the original language this piece is full of jeux de mots; which, in Arabic poetry and prosc, are con-
sidered by rhetoricians as a great beauty.
(7) In Arabic, 1dZtka. This word signifies notes taken during the lectures of a professor.
(8) Some of the circumstances of Abb Fariis's life may be found more fully related in Freytag's Selecta
e z historid Balebi, Some of his poems are given in the Yatima; the most remarkable are his
or hrrnting pieces, and his %9Jor pieces composed in the land of the RBm, or Greeks.
>
The latter are full
of complaints (like the Tristia of Ovid), and the author implores Saif ad- awla at, in the most pathetic terms,
to pay his ransom and free him from captivity. The latter was not very prompt in acceding to the entreaties
of AbCl Fards, and for this the poet is continually upbraiding him.
(9) This is not only in contradiction with what has been said above, but is also a gross mistake.

HARMALA.

Abd Abd Allah (I) Harmala Ibn Yahya Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Harmala Ibn Irn-
rin Ibn Kurid at-Tujibi az-Zumaili, was a native of Misr. His ancestor Kudd
was a slave to Salama Ibn Makhrama, who enfranchised him. Harmala was
one of as-Shifi's disciples, and the other disciples of that imim used to fi.equent
him and profit by his knowledge. He was well informed in the Traditions and
composed (on illat subject) the works entitled the Mabszit (extensive)and the
Mukhtasir (abridgment). Muslim Ibn al-Hajjhj cites his name very often in
the Suhlh (2), and gives some Traditions on his authority. Born A. H. 166
47
 370 IBN R.BALLIKAN'S
(A. D. 78W): died at Misr on the eve of Thursday, 20th Sl~awwil,2'13
Iry, A . D. or, it is said, 244.-Tujibi is derived from 7'ujIIG, which is
the name of a woman : her children were surnamed Tujibi after Ilcr : Zunzuili
means belorlging to Z~mlail,a branch of the tribe of Tujib.-His greal-grand-
fatller Harmala Ibn Imrjn was born A. B. 80 (A. D. 630), and died in the
rnonth of Safar, A . 11. 1160 (A. D. 776).

(1)AI-Tifi surnames him -4 bh Hafs.

(.2) This is a celebrsted colleclion of Traditioas.

AL-IIASAS AL-BASRI.

Abli Said al-Hasan Ibn Abi 'l-Hasan Yasir al-Basri (bek,agi,~glo Uasra) was
one of the most eminent Tdbis ( I ) ; he possessed all the branclles of science and
was noted for self-mortification, fear of God, and devotion. IIis frtti~crwas a
slave ml~ohad been enfranchised by Zaid Ibn Thibit al-Ansari ( 2 ) , and his mo-
I her Hira was also a slave belonging to Omm Salanla, orlc of the I'ropl~el'swives.
(When lie wus a oltild) it happened occasionally that his mother was kept away
by some occupation, and Omm Salama would give him tho breast to prcvcnt h i ~ n
189 crying and to quiet hirn till her return ; to the blessed i~~fluerlee
of rllat milk are
attributed the wisdom and eloquence for which he was afterwards distinguished.
Abh Amr Ibn al-All having said that he never heard persons speak with more
purity and elegance than al-Hasan al-Basri and a1 IIajjij Ibn Yilsuf, he was asked
Ijy some person which of the two was the better spealtcr, and replied that it was

al-Hasan. Al-Hasan was brought up at Wadi 'l-Kura (3), and he was the hand-
somest person in Basra till the accident which happened to his nose b y a fall
from a horse (4). Al-Asmii relates that he heard his father say : " I never saw
a man with broader wrists than al-Hasan, their breadth was a span." One of
al-Hasan al-Basri's words was : "I never saw a certtinty of which t11e1.eis no
doubt, bear a greater resemblance to a doubtful thing of which there is no cer-
tainty, than death does." When Omar Ibn Hubaira ( 5 ) al-Faziri was ap-
pointed to the government of ltak in the reign of Yazid Ibn Abd al-Malik, A. H.
 03 (A. D. '721-2), he ca!led for al-Hasan al-Basri, Muharnrnad Ibn Sirin and as-
ShBbi, to whom h~ said : <' Y a i d is the khalif (lieutenant) of God, wllo has
chosen him as his lieutenant over his servants and has imposed on thenl the
obligation of obedience unto him; he has also received my promise that I \vilI
hear and obey him; and he has now appointed me to what you see, and 1
16 receive from him written orders : must I obey him in whatever order he lakes
L( upon himself to give l" To this ibn Sirin and as-Shibi gave a cautious
reply, but al-IIasan al-Basri, being asked his opinion, made this answer :
0 11x1 IIubaim l God outweighs Yazid and Yazid cannot outweigh God ;
God can defend thee from Yazid and Yazid cannot defend thee from
God ! IIe will soon send an angel to take thee from thy throne and send
thee from the width of thy palace into the narrowness of the tomb !
then thy deeds alone can save thee. (ReJect,j 0 I l n Hubaira ! if thou
'6 ever actest in disobedience to God, that he hath onlv established this
suDan (civil potr~er.)for the lwotection of his religion and his wol~ship-
" pers. Confound not then t,he civil power established by God with his
religion ; for no obedirncc is due to a creature which disobeys its cre-
ator." Ibn ITubaira then rewarded them, but bestowed a double recom-
pence on al-FIasan al-Basri ; upon which as-Shlbi said to Ibn Sirin': "We
gave him a poor answer, and he gave us a poor reward."-Al-Hasan saw one
day a handsome man of Gne appearance, and on asking about him, was in-
formed that he was a jester to persons in high rank, and was favoured with their
friendship ; on which he observed that he was a clever fellow (6), and that he never
saw any one hut him seek to obtain fortune by means of a thing which resem-
bled her (7) !-Ilis mother was (byprofession) a story-teller to the women ; he
went into her house one day and found her eating an onion which she had in her
hand : Throw away that nasty weed, mother !" said he. ' l 0 my son !" she
replied, l' you are old and advanced in years, and you dote sometimes." To
which he retorted : Mother, which of, us is the elder ?"-Most of his phrases
were maxims of wisdom and models of elegance. His father was one of the pri-
soners taken at Maisln (8) in Irak. The birth of al-Hasan took place at Me-
dina two years before the death of the khalif Omar lbn al-Khaua, and it is said
that he was born a slave ; he'died at Basra on the l st Rajab, I .l0 (October, A. D.
728). His funeral was most, remarkable; Hamid at-Tawil (9) gives the follow-
 372 IBN KHtlLLIICAN'S
ing account (of if) : Al-Hasan died on a Thursday evming ; the rlcrl morn-
ing, Friday, having finisllrd the requisite ceremonies with the corpse, XTe
t i

bore it off, after tlre Friday prayer, and we buried it. All the people follolved
id

the funeral and ~vweso taken up with it, that no afternoon prayer w a s said
( -

tllat day in the mosque, for none remained in i t to pray; this, 1 hclicve, was
' 6 till then une\;lmp]ed in 1slamisnl."-When a l - h s a n was on the point of
death, he had a fainting fit, and he said, on coming to himself: '' You have
" aFvaked me out of g n d e ~ ~arccl s fi~fi,r~rrtnz'ns
arzd nr2 honoura(lle place (1 D)."
Before the death of al-llasnn, a man related to lbn Sirin that he had a dream in
n.]lich Ile saw a 1,ird carry away the finest pebble of ille mosque. '' Your dream
is true," said Ilfn Sir,in, i t is al-Hasair who is to die;" end a vcry short time
nftcr~~-ards his desth did occur. Ibn Sirin was not /)resent a t his funeral, on
;:ccount of something which had passed between them; and he survived him
one hundred days only. - As-SamBni says [hat n/Iccisn'n is a village below
Hasra.

(1) See notc ['l,),[)age d .

(2) Abh Saad Zaid lhn Thibit lbri al-Dahhhk a l - A ~ ~ s (one i r i of Mulrammrld's Ansirs or allies) helonged to
tllr trihe of B t ~ a r r a jant1 nas a native of 3ledi11a. He died in that city, A. H. 54 (A. D.673-4). Muhammad
said to his followers: "The most learned among you in the laws of Iteritage is Zaid." As-ShAbi relates that
Ibn Abbhs once held the stirrup of Zaid Ibn ThAbit, n h o said to him: "How ! you, *ho are the u;~cleof' the
Blessed Prophet, hold my stirrup?"-"Yes," replied the otl~cr," it is thus we do with tlic learned." The
khalifs Ornar and OthmSn considered him nithout an equal'as a judge, a jurisconsult, a calculator in thc di-
vision of inheritances, and a reader of the Koran, Some of the chief Tabts profitcd by his lessons. IIc was
$\as one of those who wrote doan the portions of the Boran dictated by Mubarnread, and he acted afiervcards
as secrelary to the Lhalifs Abh Babr and Omar. When Oorar 111adethe pilgrirnage, IIC left %aid I b r ~Thlbit
as lieutenant, and Othmln did the some; hc was guardian of the public trcasury undcr Othm5n. Great num-
hers of the Companaons and Tdbls taught Traditions on his authority. - ( T a b . ul-Fulcaltd, f. 3.)
(3) Wadi 'I-Kura, a celebrated valley often mentioned by poets, lies at a short distance to the north of
bletilna.
(51 Literally: From his beast; so it may have been either a horse, an ass, a mule, or a camel, ahich he H a s
riding when he met with the accident. The precise nature of this accident I have not discovered.
is) Sre M. de Sacy's Chrestomathie, t . 11. p.293.
(61 Literally: His father belongs to God! A common mode of expressing admiration.
(7) He meant a fair face, which deceives expectation.
(8) "Maisdn; an extensive tract of country covered with villages and date-trees, lying between Basra and
" Wasit. Its chief town is MsisAn."-(MardsCd.saisln was taken by KhAlid I b n al-Whlid, in the khalifat
of AbhBakr, A. 8.l2.-Ad-Dahabi says,in his Annalsunder thc year 12: "On the termination of Lhe war
" with the apostate Arabs, Abh Balir sent KhAlid Ibn al-Walld into the land of Basra, which was then called

" the land of al-Hind (or India). KhSlid proceeded therefore with his troops from al-Yamlma, and having
 11 the land of Basra, he stormell al-Aika ~ 5 , W a n dthen pcnatrated into Maisdn, where he
and carried o f f prisoncrs the pcoplr: of tile villages; he then went towards as-Sawid, etc."-- (111s.
&o. 6'3(j,
fol. 12'1 verso.) --At-Tabari colis al-Hasan al-Basri's father, Habfb, and notices the circumsiance of tlis rap-
ture. See Kosegarten's Annals of at-Tabari, tom. 11. p. 21.
,g\ See note ( l ! ,pagc 176.
(10) Koran; surat 26, verses 57 and 5s.

ABU ALI AZ-ZAFARANI.

AbB Ali al-TIasan Ibn Muhatnn~adIbn as-Sa bbih az-ZAfartini, was one of l!lo
as-Shifi's disciples. IIe attained an eminent rank as a doctor of the law and
the Traditions, on which subjects he cornposed some works, and he acquired nn
extensive repulation. IInving studied ~ v i t assiduity
l~ under as-Shifi, he became
profoundly learned, and he used to say : "The Traditionists were sleeping till
as-Shifi awoke them; and not a person wears an ink-horn but is under ohli-
gations to as-Shin (1)!" His duty was ( a t t!2e scltoo2) to read aloud the
s as-Shhfi in his presence (2). EIe learned Traditions from Sofyin Ibn
~ o r k of
Oyaina and others of the same epoch, such as Waki Ibn al-Jarrih (3), Anlr
P

Ibn al-IIaitham, Yazitl Ihn Ilarhn (4.), crc. We was one of the four persons
who handed down the czncie~ztsnyirtgs (5) taught by as-Shhfi; the otllers were
Abii Thaur, Ahmad Ibn Ilanbal, and al-Karibisi. The traditionists of the
~?zodern snyings were six, namely : al-nfuzani, ar-Rabi Ibn Sulaimin al-Jizi,
ar-Rabi al-Muridi, al-Btiwaiti, TIarmala, and Yhnus Ibn Abd al-Ala; the lives of
some of these doctors have been already given, and mention shall be made of the
others herearler. Al-Bokhari, in his Sahi'll, gives some Traditions on the au-
thority of az-Zibrirri, and he is quoted also by Abd Diwfid as-Sijesthni, at-
Tirmidi, and others. He died on the last day of the month of Sh&b3n, A. H.
260 (June, A. D. 874), o r in the month of Ramadhn, according to Ibn Khni (6);
but as-Sam&ni, in his Ansiib, places his death in the month of the latter Rabi,
269.-Ziifarhni is derived from az-Zqbrdniya (the sn$on-Jeld), which is
the name of a village near Baghdad. T h e ZPfarPni street, in that city, vas so
called because this doctor had dwelt in it: Ab6 Isbak as-ShirCzi says, in his
Tabakdt al-Fuknha": 4j And there, in the Zifarini street, is the mosque of as-
" Shafi in which I formerly sludied."
 These last words Mete said not by az-Zilflrlrli, but by Ahmad lbrl flanbal.
(2) This nas very usual; the student ~ t h ohad made the most progress, read the book a l o t ~ d ,and, as he
i)roceeded, the master made his observatiorrs alld explained difficulties; tllesc remarks were i m r n e d i a t e ~rnrit-
~
IVI, ~ l o hy
~ othe rest of the class, and formed tdlibas.
13, ~ b SofyAn
~ l Ibn al-Jnrrfih Ibn Adi Ibn blalih, a descendant from the tribe of A i n ~ i r1bn S a s h , a
;hllful jurisconjult, a Tradltionist, and a man of Icarning, was born in A. H. 129 (A. 1). 746-7)at ~ h f ~ ,
wilere his father was heeller of the Ilublic treasury. Abrl Hanlfa was one of' the mastcrs undcr ]\horn hc stu-
,lied ; he profited greaily by that irnirn's tuition, a~itlfollowed his doclrines in giving fntwrrs, or opinions 01,
points of InW. Ife madr tile pilgrimage to Mekka seventy times, and on returning from the last, he (lied
Fatd, a toq\.o in Arabia, half-\\ay between RlckLa and ILfifa, in A. H . 197 (A. D. 812-3). He was remarkable
for llis mlld~lesaand 11berality.-\.plirdt a:-Zamdn, MS. No. 640, fol. 18 uerso.)
(4;~ h Kbdlid
h Pazid Ibn 1Iarh11 Ibti D i ~ b dIbn Ttiibit al-TViisiti (belonging to Il'clsit) \!as descended
from a native of Bukhara, nho had been a slave to the tribe of Sulaim and was allerwards enfranchised. Yazid
a man of lo;~rning,merit, and piety; a h&/iz,a jurisconsult, and a Traditionist. I t was a t Baghdad that
lIt. taught the Traditious, of which he knew by heart thirty thousand. The esteem in vhich he was held
fll,ly l,e judgcd from the fact, that through dread of his opposition, the khalif al-Rlaman hesitated for sonic
trme before asserting his favourite opinion, that the Koran was created; this heretical doctrine was strenu-
011s1jopposed by Yazld. He was born A. H. 118 (A. D. 7361, and died in 206 (A. I). 821-2).-(Mirdt ai-
%nm&n, fol. 54.)
(5\ Since writing thc note on tlic ancient sayings taught by as8hhfi (see page G), I have observed that
mention is made, in the TabaAQt al-Fulruli&, of some worlrs by him, apparently on the same subject. AI-
OthmBni, the author of the Tabakbt, says : " As-ShAfl composed in Irak his ancient book ) L$! U,
~ h i c hhe entitled al-Hujja (the proof). B C then went to Egypt, in A. H. 199, and composed there his new
" or mocleru boobs." (RIS. NO. 783, fol. 24.) Of the latter, Hajji Bhalifa does not speak, but from what
he says of the Hujja. it \\as probably a work of jurisprudence; it may be, thcrefore, that those ancient sayings
were decisions or sentences pronounced on points of law by the Companions of Muhammad, and the modern
ones were similar decisions given by the succeeding imhms and muflis.- See the 11fe of as-ShAn in this
H 0rk.

6) The !QF: Abll 'I-Husain Abd al-BAkf Ibn KAnE Ibn h5arzOk Ibn WAthik, a client by enfranchisement
of the Omaijide family and a native of Baghdad, was born in the year 265 (A. D. 875-9). He learned the Tra-
d~tionsfrom the most eminent masters of that age, and composed a Mojam as-Sahabat, or biographical list
of &lullammad's companions. His exactitude was not. however, generally admitted, and ad-ljilrakutni de-
r4arus that, as a h @ ; , he committed frequent mistakes. In Ihe last years of h i b life, his mental faculties were
drranged. Died in the month of Shaawdl, A. H. 351 (Novem., A. D. 9621.-(Ad-DahabiSs Annals, MS. No.
CdG.1- lhn Khallilrdn cites occasionally an historical work by Ibri K l n t , drawn up in the form of Annals.

Abfi Said al-Haaan Ibn Ahmad Ibn Yazid Ibn Isa Ibn al-Fad1 al-Istakhri, a doe-
tor of the sect of as-Shifi, was a rho1 (h2 talent) to Abb 'l-Abbb Ibn Suraij ( I ) ,
 BIOGRAPISICAL DICTLONALIP. .
,313
U..

and a contemporary (also) of Ibn Al)i Huraira. Ilc is author of sonie good
works on jurisprudence, among others, the Kitdb abAkdia ((book ofvlegnl[/ccipci-
s ) Ilc was liidi at Kumm (3), and he filled the oace of nzu/ttnsib
~ i ~ n('L).
Baghdad. His piety and abstinence were great ; having been appoi~ltedhidi of
Sijestan by (the khalif) al-Muktadir, he proceeded thither and examined into
the marriages contracted by the people of that province; and on finding that, ill
most of them, the prohibited degrees of relationship bad been neglected, ht.
annulled them all. He was born A. H. 244 (A. D. 858-g), and died on Friday,
12th or 14th of the latter Jumida, A. H. 328 (March, A. D. 940); some say
that his death took place in the month of Shlbin.-lstaklzri means native (g'
Istaklzar, a town in Persia which has produced a number of men eminent fot.
learning. I t is stated also that the relative adjective derived from Istakhar
assumes sometinles a final z and becomes Istakharzi; this is analogoils to the
Formation of Marcvcrzi and R&', derived from Marw and Rai.

(1) Abu Ishak al-Marwazi said : 'When I enlered Baghdad, there were none i n that city worth studying
under, except Ibn Suraij and al-1stakhri."-(Tab. as-Shnf. fol. 9.)
(2) Abh Ishak as-Shlrizi says, i n his Tubnlidt, that al-Istalillri wrote 3 large volunie on the duties of ;i
" k8di : a good work."- (Tab. ns-Shaf.)
(3) E u m m , a town i n Irak Ajami to the south o f Teheran.
(4) The Muhtasib was the magistrate charged with the civil police of the city; he inspected the pro\-isintr~,
weights and measures, suppressed nuisances, etc. I n M. dc Hammer's Lafldsrverwallung, page 148, will be
found an excellent chapter on the subject.

IBN AB1 HURAIRA.

Abli Ali al-llasan Ibn al-l-lusain Ibn Abi Nuraira, a doctor of the sectof as-
Shifi, learned jurisprudence from Abil 'l-Abbis Ibrl Suraij and AbS Ishak
al-Marwazi. (112 his lessons) he explained al-Muzani's Mukhiasir, and this
explanation was taken down in writing ( I ) by Abb Ali 't-Tabari. He com-
posed some treatises on the secondary points of jurisprudence, and he gave les- In1
sons in Baghdad to a great number of students. He became the i m b (or pra-
sident) of the Safites in Arabian and Persian Irak, and continued to be highly
respected, both by princes and by subjects, till he died in the month of Rajab,
A. H. 345 (A. D. 956-7).
(1) Or else: Was taken down in the form of a tdlika, etc. See page 55, note(%);and page 374, note (2).
 IBN KIIALLIKAN'S

ABU ALI 'T-TABARI.

Abi Ali al-Hasan Ibn al-Kisim at-Tahari, a doctor of the sect of as-ShPfi,
learned jurisprudence from Ibn Abi Huraira (whose life has been just given),
alld drew up, from the remarks made by that master dr~ringhis lessons, the
work is entitled Tnlikat al-TL16nri (l). Bc inhabited Baghdad, where
he became professor on the death of Ibn Abi Huraira, and wrote s number of
works, such as the ~lfu/~ar,nr 6 'rt-Nasar (the written trearise or2 disguisi,ion),
l ~ h i c hjvas the first work composed on the science of controversy in the abstract ;
the ifid12 (ez-position),a treatise on law; a voluminous work on the iddat (2)
in ten parts; a treatise on dialectics, a i d one on the main points of the law,
He died at Baghdad, A. H. 305 (A. D. 917-8). -
Trrbnri means native of f i -
berest&, an extensive province containing a great number of towns, the largest
of which is Arnol : this country has produced many learned men. As for Ta-
barn'ni, it means native of Tiberaias, a town in Syria : of this we shall speak
again in its proper place.- l have found in some works containing lists of juris-
consults and their biographies, that the real name of Abb Ali 't-Tabari was al-
Hasan, as here given, but 1 perceive that the Khatih, in his Ilistory of Bagh-
dad, places him among the Husains.

( i ) The meaning of the word lalEha is explained in note (2), page 55, and note (2),page 374.
(2) The iddot denotes a certain period of time which must elapse before a widow or a divorced woman ean
legally contract a new marriage.-(See Hamilton's Hedaya, vol. I. p. 359, and D'Ohsson's Emp. Othom.
tom. V. p. 238.)

ABU ALI 'L-FARIKI.

Abii Ali al-Hasan lbn Ibrahim Ibn Ali Ibn Barhen ( I ) al-Fgriki ( 2 ) was a
doctor of the sect of as-ShBfi. He commenced his studies at Maiyafirikin under
AbQ Abd Allah al-Kazrdni (I),. on whose death he proceeded to Baghdad, where
he took lessons from Ablj Ishak as-ShirPzi, the author of the Muhaddab, and
AbQ Nasr Ibn as-Sabbigh, the author of the Sh6rnil. He then fdled the place
 BIOGRBPMICAL DICTIONARY. 377
of ksdi in the city of Wisit, and it is related by the h&jz as-Silafi that when
he was a t W h i t , hc asked Kharnis Ibn Ali al-Hiizi (4) about a number of per.-
sons, and among the rest, Abfi Ali 'l-Firiki, and obtained this answer: " IIe is
p-e-eminent as a jurisconsult and succeeded Ahb Taglab as kidi; his intelli-
gence, justice, and excellent administration surpassed every expectation."
He learned Traditions from Ahh Bakr the khatib and others of the same
pried, and led n mortified and devout life. He is author of a work entitled
OZ-FarvdicZ, etc. (notes on tlze J4u?~addob),and Ibn Abi AsrGn was taugl~t
Traditions by him. He gave his lessons out of the Shcimil, and continued to
do so till his death, which took place at Wisit on Wednesday, 22nd Muhar-
ram, A . H . 528 (Novcmber, A.D. 1133). He was interred in the mosque where
he taught. Born at Maiyafirikin in the latter Rabi, A. H. 433 (December,
A , D. 1041).

(1) Not BurhLZn, as marlied by crror i n the Arabic test.

(2) At-Fdriki means native o f Muiyafdrikti~.
(3) The irnilrn AbQ Abd Allah Mullammad Ibn Baiyhn al-Kazrhni, r doctor of the sect of as-Shlfi, stu-
died under al-Mahhmili, and had afterwards for pupils Nasr al-Makdisi, Abfi Bakr as-Shishi, AbO Ali
'I-FAriki, Abh 'l-MahAsio ar-Ruyiani and others. IIe composed a work on jurisprudence, entitled al-Zbanat
and died A. II. 455 (A. 1). 1063).- (Tab. as-Slicifi Tab. al-Folc.) In these works, his name is spelled al-Kaz-
rani, and not al-Kazran'hnias in the MSS. of l b n Khallikdn.
(4) Abh 'l-Karam Khamis Ibn Ali Ibn Ahmad, a celebrated hfffisand Traditionist of Wisit, was a man
of learning, veracity, arid deep acquaintance with Arabic philology. Born A. H. 442 (A. D. 1050-1) ; died
A. H. 501 ( A . D . fi07-S).-(Tabdkdt a l - H u r i z . )

IBN AL-MARZUBAN AL-KADI AS-SIRAFI.

Abfi Said al-Hasan lbn Abd Allah Ibn al-Marzubfn as-Sirifi, surnamed al-
KQdi (the kddi), was a grammarian and an inhabitantof Baghdad, where he acted
as deputy to the kPdi AbB Muhammad Ibn MBri'if (I). He possessed a superior ac- 192
quaintance with the system of grammar adopted by the learned men of Basra (2),
and he made a very good commentary on the grammar of Sibiiwaih; he com-
posed also the following works : a treatise on the alifnf union and the a l f of
48
separdion (3) ; a history of tlie Basra a \\.ol.k on tile linal pause
:Ind the con~meneementof pl~rases( 4 ) ; a treatise on tllc art of poetry and clo-
queoce; and 3 commentary on Ibn Dllrtaid's ICI~zksdr.~. Ile lcnrlled tlle reading
(,I. (he Koran (.5) from Abd Bakr Ibn filujihid, philology from lljn Dullaid, and
Bmnllnar from A ~ JtjIirG Ibli as-Sarrij. Ilc hi~nself11ad many pupils aim gave
lessons on a varietv of subjects, such as [lie Koran and its readings, the sci-
ences connected will, the Koran (G), grammar, philology, jurisprudcncc,
for the sharing of inherited proprty, arithtoctic, metaphysics, poetry,
prosody, and rllyme. He was retired and b01y in his life, virtuous in his con-
(luet, and witl: the noblest qualities of mind. In his religious opinions
llc was a RIotazelite, but did not let it appear, and hc supported himself ~ v h o l l ~
!,v the labour of his hands, copying books for his livelihood. His hthcr was
:I dlrgian and lris real name was Ilehzid, bat the son cllanged il into Abd Allah.

1Ie used often to recite these lines in the presence of his asscml~ledanditors:

Seek a calm retreat where you may taste of joy; time passes away, and yor~will re-
main companionless. You place your hopes on to-morrow, but to-morrow is like an
animal in pregnancy; none know what it may bring forth.

IIc and Abil'l-Faraj al-lspahini, the author of the Aglrcil~i,were on ill terms
through jealousy, as is usually the case with men of talent; and Aljh 'l-Faraj
composed on him the following verses :
You hold not the first rank, neither did the masters under whom you studied; and
useless is lhe stinted flow of your learning. illay God curse such grammar, poetry,
and prosody as comes from SlrAF.

Ile died at Bagl~dadon Blonday, 2nd of Rajab, A . 11.369 February, A. D. %g),

at rhc age of eighty-four years, and was buried i n ~ l l c cerlirtery
, of al-Kllaizurin.
Tile following statement was made by his son Abh Muhammad YSsuf: "My fa-
" ther's fanlily inhabited Sirif; he was born in that city, and it was there he
" colnmenced his studies. He was under twenty years of age when he went to
" Omin, where he applied his mind to jurisprudence. lie then returned to
'' Sirif and afterwards proceeded to Askar Mukram, where he stopped with
" AbB Muhsmrnad Ibn Omar the (Motazelite) metaphysician, who gave him an
" honourable reception and showed him a marked preference above his other

" disciples. He then went to Baghdad and acted as deputy to the kadi AbG
 BIOCRAPHPICAL DICTIONARY. 379
~ u h a r n m a dIbn MirilT, first in that part of the city which lies on [he east
bank of the Tigris, and afterwards in both divisions."-Sir~j is derived fronl
the name of a city on the sea-coast of Persia, near Kerman ; this city has
produced a number of learned men. In the life of Yhsuf, the son of asSirifi,
we shall give some addilional information respecting Sirif.

(I) 4 b b Muhammad Obaid Allah Ibn Ahmad Ibn MBrdf was kddi 'I-kudat (grand-kddij of Baghdad.
fie died in the month of Safar, A. B. 381 (A. D. 991).-(MS. No. 634, fol. 127.)
(2) On the conquest of Syria and Persia by the Rfoslims, a number of Muhammad's companions settled at
~ ~ h fBasra,
a, RladAin, and other cities in those countries : imbued with the doctrines of Islamism and accus-
tonled to the practical application of the law under the direction of the Prophet, they were considered as the
surest guides in the interpretation of the Koran. That book, composed avowedly in the purest Arabic, of-
fered many difficulties t~ those who were not acquainted with he idiom of the Desert Arabs, a race who alone
spoke the language in ils perfection. The study of the ancient poets was therefore considered as necessary
for the intelligence of the Koran ; and their poems, often obscurc from the intricacy of their construction and
their obsolete terms, required the assistance of grammatical analysis and philology to render them com-
prehensible. It was particularly a t Basra and Rhfa that the culture of these incidental branches of isla-
rnic knowledge was pursued with success, and led to the development, in each city, of a system of Koranic
reading and inlerpretation, and grammatical analysis, differing in some points from that taught i n the other.
They varied even in their manner o f reading the ar~cientpoems, and the suppressioos, additions, and vari-
ations peculiar to each school produced two distinct editions of all the anteislsrnic poets.
(3) See N. d e Sacy's Gran~muirearabe, t. I . p. M.
(4) Sec Cruntrnaire, t. I. p. 74.
(5) See page 152, note (1).
(6) See Flugel's H a j j i Khalifcl, t. I. p. 37.

ABU AL1 'L-FARISI.

Abli Ali al-Hasan Ibn Ahmad Ibn Abd al-Ghaffir Ibn Muhammad Ibn Sulai-
min Ibn Abin al-Firisi, the first grammarian of his time, was born in the tow11
of Fasa and went, in the year 307 (A. D. 91 9-20), to Baghdad, where he made
his studies. He travelled over many countries and stopped for some time wit11
Saif ad-Dawlat Ibn Hamdin at Aleppo, to whom he had been pesented in A.H. 341
(A. D. 952-3) : he had there some conferences with al-Mutanabbi. From that,
he proceeded to Fars, where he was admitted into the society of Adad ad-
Dawlat Ibn Buwaih, and gained his favour and esteem to a high degree; so aoa
,380 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
so, &at Adad a([-Dawlat said : i n grammar I ar): the humble servant of
c - Ab;i Ali 'l-Fasawis" Ab; Ali composed for that prince his grammatical
works, tlle Id& (ilZus~r.atios)and the YhL-nzh (supplenzer2t) ; the his tory of
this circumstance is xvell known (I). It is related that lie was one day playing
PI ("1 with Adad ad-Dawlat i n the Alaidin ( / ~ ~ @ ] ~ o d rofo ~Slrir<\z,
~ z c ) and was
asked by ]rim tile p~srepilb,zis put in the accusative in this expression : Tile
people canle pzcppr Znid (vend pol~z~Z~~s si rzon Zeidur~z)? TO which he re-
plied : I t is
( 6 in thc accusative by n verb ondcr~tood.''--~~ Ilow," .said
Adad ad-Danlat, is the ellipsis to be filled up?""' Thus," replied Abil Ali:
I ez-rppt Znid."-(L W h y not put it in the nominative," observed the prince,
and fill the ellipsis thus : Zaid kept lack (absti~teitZeich~s)?" Ahil Ali was
silericed by this remark, and at last said: '' This is a game of give and take (31."
IVhen he returned home, he con~posedon this srrbject a treatise, which obtained
Adad ad-Damlat7s approbation ; and he mentions, in his JdkA, that tlre cxceptiorl
is governed in the accusative by the verb which precedes ((ly t1z.e verb camc), in
consequence of its corroboration by the word except. -It is related by Abli
'l-Khsim Ibn Ahmad al-Andalnsi (natille of Spain), that (at a s o c i e ~ where )
hc and Abii Ali were present, the convcrsation fell upon poetry, and Abfi Ali
said : "1 envy you the faculty of making verses; as for me, my eenius is not
favourable to it, although I am well acquainted with all the sciences which
" form the basis of poetry." A person then asked him if' he had never corn-
" posed verses, to which he replied : "I know of three verses only made by me ;

" they were composed on gray hairs, and r u n thus:

I dyed my gray hairs because they were a subject of reproach; but i t is rather the
dyeing of gray hairs which should deserve reproaches. I did it not through apprehen-
sion of being abandoned by my beloved, and it was not censure or reproaches which l
dreaded ; but because gray hairs are blamable, I dyed them as a punishment.

Abli Ali cites the following verse of Abii TammBm's as an example of a rule
given by him in his idrih, in the chapter which treats of the verb dv (to be) :

He, of whose resolutions and intentions the meadow of vain desire is the pasture-
ground, will ever remain poor.

On this it has been remarked that he did not cite the verse because Abi
Tarnmlm was an author whose compositions might be quoted as authorities, but
 BIOGRAPHICAL I)ICTION,\I{Y. 38l
I,ecause Adad ad-l)ar~~lntliked it and was fond of rul~catinpit. Abli r$li I-FQ-
risi is author of tllc following works: T h e Tazkirn (rernembmncer), a large
volume; a treatisc on the short and the lone R!$ ( 4 ) ; the Hlrjia ( p r o o f ) 011
the readines of thc Koran (5) ; the Aghfdl (neyligerzces),treaiing of the onlis-
sions made by az-Znjjaj in his Makni; the 1111ndredAgents (or governizgpn,-/.V
of .ypeech) ; Questio~rsdiscussed at Aleppo, Baghdad, Shiriz, and Basra, eacll
forming a separatc work; Questions discussed at Conferences, etc.-Jn the yea,.
ri48 (A. D. 1 "10-l), 1 was at Cairo, and I had a dream (6) in which, methought,
I went out to the village of Kalydb and thcre entered a funeral chapel. 1 found
i t to he an old building discoloimred with (the) dust jqf'rrge), and in it I met three
persons who wcrc stopping there from religious moti~cs(7). As I admired t h ~
beauty of the edifice and the solidity of its construction, I said to them: "By
whom was this cl-ccted (8)?" but they could not inform me, and afterwards
one of them said that the shaihlz Abti Ali 'l-Firisi had sojourned in that cha-
pel for many years; we then had a conversation about him, in the course of
which, the person with whom I was speaking said: "And with his other talents,
( l he possessed that of poetry;" to which I rcplied: '' J neyer met any of his

poetry."--" I shall recite you some of i t ;" said he, and he [lien, with a sweet
voice, three verses. W h e n he had ended, I awoke, and the
charming sound of his voice still 1.u11g in my ears, but the last rrrse alone rr-
rnained i n my recollection; it was as follows :
People in prosperity are pleased with no one; what must they be when they suffer
affliction or afflict o thcrs f

To conclude, his merits are too well known to be mentioned or enumerated,

(but) he was suspected of being a Moiazeliie (9). He was born A. H. 288 d : r t
(A. D. 901), and died at Baghdad on Sunday, the 17th of the latter Rabi
(some say of the first), A. H. 377 (August, A. D. 987) : he was interred in
the cemetery called the Shcinhi.-Fasawi is derived from Fnsa, which is the
name of a city in the province of Fars; we have already spoken of it in the
life of al-Basisiri (I D).- Kn2yriB is a little village with numerous gardens, a t
two or three parasangs' distance from Cairo.

(1)1 have not as yet found any relation of it.

(2) Literally: Racing.
 (3) Literally: That ansver is hippodromic. He meant that, as the adva11Lages o r eactl a(lversarg arc allrr-
nate in a well-plajed game of mall, so i t \\.as In this gran~rnatic;~lcontest
( 4 ) See M. de Sacy's Cramrnaire arabe, t . I . 111).60,G'r.
( 5 : See page 132, note (l).
(6) See page 46, note (7).
(7, I n Arabic, ,Trujd~airtln;the .PIujffL O ~ T U~ t~i e a ~ai s religious rctrcat or residenre at o n:osqur or. cllapel
built over the tomb of a h015 man.
(8) Literally : Vtde aut y u c ~ s o ) ,cujus const~uc&e'o(est) h ~ ? c
(9) See Poroch's Speeimen Hkst. Arab
(101 See page 173.

ABU AltIMAD AL-ASKARI.

Abti Ahmad al-Ilasan Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Said al-Askari, one of the great mas-
ctbrsin general literature and a hri/iz ( I ) of the first rank, was a narrator of his-
torical facts and anecdotes ; he taught. also from memory a great quantity of
ancient poetry. Among the instructive works composed by him, is the volu-
minous compilation entitled the Ki~ii6nt-Tashv (book <f Zngogr+hes) (2).
The S&& Ibn Abbid wished to see him, and not finding any other means of
nreeting him, he represented to Muwaiyad ad-Dawlat Ibn Buwaih, thc prince in
whose service he acted as vizir, that the affairs of Askar Mukram had got into
disorder, and that his (the oizir.'s) presence was necessary t,o set them right;
and by this statement, he obtained his sovereign's authorisation to proceed to that
city, He had hoped that (on his arrival) Abd Ahmad would wait upon him,
but, being disappointed in this expectation, he wrote him the following lines :
When you refused to visit us and said : "I am weak and cannot bear the trot of the
" camel;" we came from a distant land to visit you, and many were the nights we
halted, at stations of which some had been already frequented, and others never be-
fore. We now ask you iF there be good cheer for your guest : we mean not well-filled
dishes ;we wish only to fill our eyes (with your presence).
To those verses were joined some lines in prose, and AbB Ahmad, in his
answer, replied to the prose with prose and to the poetry with this well-know11
verse :
I resolve on doing a determined act, had I force enough ; but the wild ass is pm-
vented From making his spring (3).
 BIOGRAPHICAL DKTIONARE' . 383
When the S&ib read the answer, he was astonished at the appropriateness
of Terse to his own case (h,), and exclaimed : "By Allah ! had I known that he
i t .\t.ould have tllol~ghtof his verse, I should have written those I sent to hinl
6 6 in a different r1ryme."-The verse itself is by Sahhr lbn Amr lbn as-Sharid,
brother of (//re poetess) al-Khans$, and helongs to a celebrated piecc composed
him under the following circumstances : He was present at a combat against
llle tribe of Asad, and received a spear-wound from Rabia Ibn Thaur al-Asadi,
and some of the rines which formed his coat of mail were driven into his side
by the force of the blow ; during the space of a year lle continued most danger-
o ~ s l yill, and was attended by his mother and his wife Sulaima. Sulaimn,
however, got t.ircd of him, and said to a woman wlio asked her how her hus-
hand was : " He is not alive, so as to give hopes; neither is he dead, so as to btb
l L forsotten." Theso words were overheard by Sakhr, who said:
I see that the mother of Sakhr is not fatigued with attending me, but Sulaima dis-
likes my couch and my presence. I had never apprehended being irhsomc to thee,
(0Sulaima !) but who has (not) been deceived by fortune! Ry my life ! you haye
awakened one that slept, and caused one to hear that had two ears. Is there aman who l 3 i i
showed his wife the same affection which he showed his mother? that man must have
led a life of misery and contempt. I resolve on doing a determined act, had I force
enough ; but the wild ass is prevented from making his spring (S). Death is better
than a life of (o[ suffering), in which the couch of the chieftain is (painful) as the point
of the spear (G).

Abii Ahmad al-Askari was born on Thursday, 16th ShawwU, 293 (August,
A. D. 90G), and died on Friday, the 7th of Z;1 '1-Xlijja, 332 (February, A . D.
993). Be studied under Tbn Dnraid, and composed the following works: nl-
Muklztalif (va 'l-Mgtalf (~Jze dissimilar and similar) (7); a treatise on the
the Science of Logic; Maxims, and Proverbs; on Auguries, etc. - A s h r i is
derived from Askar; there are a number of places bearing this name, but the
hest known is Askar Mukram (Mukrarn's camp), a city in the province of Ah-
wiz : the Mukrarn wllose name it bears is Mukram al-Bihili, its founder (8).
Abli Ahmad was a native of this place.-In another part of this work we shall
notice the relative adjective Asknri with a different derivation.

(1) See page 57; note (l).

(2, Flugel's Hajji Ehalifa, t, 11. p. 301.
(3) The poem from which this verse is taken, is in he same measure and rhyme as the lines written b!
the Sdliib.
38k IBN KITALLIICAN'S
(4)'rhis verse was often cited sarcastically to persons ,v110 met wit11 a disappointment when they least ex-
pected it.
(5)He interlded to kill his wife, but n a s ur~ablrto rise. Sec Fregtag's Mcidani, vol. 11. p. 251.
(6) Literally: Than a life like the biaouac of a chieftain on the head of lance. A similar idea is erpressctl
t,y Amro 'J-Iiais in 0 ° C of Iris poems; see f i r d , ~ d'Amro 'l-Kais, p. BSI
lillc. 7.
(7)Thij aypears to be a sort of gazetteer, In nl~icllare indicated tilt? diflerent pfaces bearing the salne
t~itrne.
(8) See page 137.

IIIX RASf-IIK AL-KAIRAWANI.

AbA rili al-lIasan Ibrl Rashik, surnamed al-Kairawini (the nutive of JCoirsu-
{[trin, I ) ), a a s a writer distinguished for his talents and rloquencc, and the all-
tllor of the following fine works: The Or~zdu,or colurnl~,on 111(: art of poetry,
and poetical criticism ; tlle Anmliduj ((specirnrv~) ( 2 ) , and a coll~ctionof elegant
episdes and poetry. Ibn BassBm says of him, in clre D a k l ~ i m: " I have becn
informed that he was born at Masila, xvl~erehe studied for a short time, and
l ( then, in A. 11. 406, removed' to Kairawan."--Another historian says that he
was born in 390 (A. D. 1OOO), at Mahdiya, and that his father was a Greel;
mcrnzZ~IX.(white slave), a client of the tribe of Azd. Ibn Rashik died A . 11. 463
(A. D. 1070-1) ; his father was a goldsmith in the town of Muhammadiya (3),
and instructed him in the same art: After studying belles-lettres at Muham-
madiya, he began to compose poetry, and conceived a strong desire to aug-
ment that talent and meet wit11 literary men ; he, in consequence, proceeded
to Kairaman, where he got into reputation, and composed poems in honour of
the ruling prince (al-kfoiss Ibn Bkdi's), who attached him to his service. IIe
continued in that city till it was carried and destroyed by the Arabs, and its
inhabitants massacred (4) ; on which he passed over to Sicily and settled at
filizar (iUrrrzurn), where he died. In a note written by one of the learned, I
find his d o t l ~ laced in 456 (A. D. 1064), but the date previously given is the
correct one.-Mkar is a town in the island of Sicily ; we shall mention it again
in the life of al-M8zari.-According to another statement, he died on the eve
of Sunday, the l st of Zd 'l-Kaada, 456, at MPzar.-The following are specimens
of his poetry :
 BIOGRAPZIICAL DICTIONARY. 385
I love my brother, though I turn away from him, and though my words rarely strike
his ear. At the sight of his face 1 frown with pleasure, as you frown at the aspect of
generous wine. Frowns do not always proceed from hatred, and secret hatred is often
concealed by smiles.

0 ~ o r Id I am not able to repel this evil, and to thec do I apply for succour against
this feeble worker of evil. Why hast thou sent against me a thousand gnats, whilst 194;
thou didst send only one against Nimrod (S)?

Accorditlg to Ihn Bassbm's statement in the Dahhirn, he is the author of

this piece :

Love for your SulaimAn has delivered me up to a passion of which the slightest pains
are mortal. When the host of his charms appears, they say to us in the words of the
aut: "Entcr into your abodes, lest he crush you with (Llie magic power o f ) his large
dark eyes (6)."

\Vbrn he was advnnccd in age and faultercrl in his gait, he composed the
following lines, -\vhicll express an original thought :

\Then I wish to he light and gay as in the days of my youth, five and forty (years)
refuse their consent. M y steps faulter, not with age, but nith the years which 1 train
after me.

By the same :
She said: What means that melancholy and sickly air?" To which I returned the
answer which is made by a captivated admirer : " Love (for you) came to me ; he was a
b < guesl whom I cherished, and I gave him my flesh as nourishment and my blood as

" drink ."

Another of his productions is the Kurrirlnt ad-Dahab (grains o f g o l d ) , a

work small in compass, b u t highly instructive (7) ; h e composed also a philolo-
gical treatise, entitled as-S12udzZd, containing a list of those words which are
employed with a rare o r exceptional signification. W e r e concision not 6 U r
object, we should give an account of his altercations and adventures with
Abh Abd Allah hfuharnmad. Ibn Abi Said Ihn Ahmad, surnamed Ibn Sharaf
al-Kairawini. -Mention has been already made of Masfla (8).

(l) H e was probably so namcd to distinguish him from lbn Rashlk al-lldtib, Abh 'l-Abbhs Ahmad, ~ h o
studied at Cordova, and attained eminence by his knowledge o f general literature, jurisprudence, and Tra-
ditions. He was highly patronised by Abb 'I-Jaisb Mujabid Ibn A5d Allah al-AAmiri, who appointed birn
governor of the isle of i)lajorca, in rvhich place he acted with exemplary justice. He died at an advanced age,
!I 9
386 IBN KHALLIBAN'S
a short time posterior to 4. B. 440 (A. D. 1049) His cpistles were collected alld ~ t u b ! i s h e d . - ( d l - f r i ~ ~ ~ ~
Siyard, p. 69.)
(2) This is a philological work; see Fliigel's Hajji Khalifa, No. 1392. He composed also a history of

K a i r o ~ f i n ,often quoted by historians; this s o r k is also noticed by Hajji Khalih, see No. 2285.
13 The city of Masilr was rebuilt, A. H. 315 ( 8 .D. 927-84 by al-K6im Billah, the Fdlimitc, who the:,
named it Muhammadiya. -(Abb 'I-Fedl's Geography )
(4) This occurred in A. H. 549 (A. D. 1057-8). See Abh 'I-Fedh's Annals, year 443.
( 5 ) According to the Moslirn tradition. Nimrod was killed by a gnat which entered into his brain. see
Sale's note on the subject in the Koran, surat 21, v. 70.
(6) An allusion to the Iioran, surat 37, v. 18: "0 ants! enter into your nbodes, lest Sul;#imBI~(Solomon]
and his troops crush you, and perceive it not."
(7) This is a collection of ancient poetry.-(Hajji Iihalifu.)
(RI See page 326.

AL-MUJID AL-ASKALANI.

Abb Ali al-Hasan Ibn Abd as-Samad Ibn as-Shakhni al-Askalini (native of
Askalon) ( I ) , surnamed as-Shaiklz nl-LWujitl (the talented (2)shaikh), is author
of the khotbizs (3) which are so celebrated, and of the epistles so remarkable
for their elegance. He was a most distinguished prose-writer, and displayed
superior talents in that species of composition (4). It is related that al-Kidi
al-Fidil exerted all his efforts in acquiring a perfect knowledge of his phrase-
ology, and was able to recall nearly the whole of it to memory. The k d i b
ImPd ad-din speaks of him in the Kltarida in these terms : " AGMujid (the
talented) was really talented, as his surname implies ; and capable of com-
" posing with originality, and shaping language (to ihe .)ust expressirzg of hi+-
" thoughts) ( 5 ) ; he is the aulhor of the admirable khotbas, and of the inge-
" nious beauties (61. wlzich his compositions are adorned)." Ibn Bassam also
makes mention of him in the Dakhira, and cites the following verses of his
L

composition, which are a fragment of a long poem :

Time ceases not to choose (and essay) the princes it produces, till at lenglh it finds
the excellent, the chosen one. Bid those who governed mankind and held exalted
rank in days of old come forth and see the latest (of princes) ; they will find him no-
bler (6) in rule than they were, and more fortunate in the results of his enterprises.
If advice be needed, let them take counsel from him, they will find him an Abnaf (7);
if they meet him hand to hand, tbey will find him an Antar in bravery. He fasts, yet
 BIOGRAPnICAL DICTIONARY. 387
the book of his actions is (already) fi1Ied with pious deeds; even in the times he fasts
not, his (abstemiousness) is like fasting. (Prince!) the enemy essayed to daunt thee; 197
he thought he could compel fate to withdraw its decrees. When you sent not against
him (coursers) sleek and fleet, you sent hidden policy to meet him. When your po-
licy goeth forth, your men bear not the sword, neither are your warriors shrouded in
coats of mail. The enemies hastened to you, but they hastened to their fate; and
you ordered your sword to vibrate among them. They were amazed how your mild-
ness was changed into aggression, and how the sweetness of your nature had (for
them) become bitter. Tenderness joined to firmness should not, however, seem a sub-
ject of wonder; fire can be produced by a green reed (8).

Not to be prolix, I shall confine myself to this citation. He was put to death
in the Khasdnat al-BunCd (g)), a prison at Cairo, in the year 482 (A. D. 1089).
-The following verses are also attributed to him (10):
0 thou who art a sword to assist me when the sword (of the enemy) is red (with
blood(ll) ) 1 thou who art a springtide-shower for my country when the rain-clouds are
withheld I why doth thy clear and exalted mind entertain the vile calumnies of (nay)
traducers ? that mind which is so pure I No falsehood can lie concealed in thy thoughts,
for thou art pellucid as the crystal of the rock.

1 found also, in the collection of his poetical works, these two well-known
verses :
The curtain (of the audience-chamber which debars solicitors), the pride (of the pa-
tron), the excess of (his) haughtiness, and the (humiliation of) stretching an eager hand
towards a superior (12), (such are the pains which await him who courts the greet).
Did these obstacles debar (us) from (a man o f ) talent, we should think lightly of
them (13), but (here) they are (placed)before (a manof) incapacity.

Askalrini is derived from Askaliin (Ascalon), a well-known city on the coast

(1)A rather incomplete note on this poet has been given by inadvertence at page 231.
(2) The word Mujtd, here rendered by talented, means, more exactly, one who execute8 toell whateuer he
undertakes.
(3) See page 174,note (2).
(4) Literally: He was a cavalier in praise, and in it he had (zcas) an able hand.
(5) Literally: Capable of originality in language and of carving it out.-This is the usualstyle of Imdd ad-
din, who, in his works, seldom deigned to write a phrase of plain intelligible prose.
(6) Literally: Ampler in breast.
(7) Al-Ahnaf was famed for his prudence; his life is given in this work.
(8) An allusion to the mode of producing fire by means of two pieces of wood, one hard and the other sort,
rubbed together. The poem from which these verses were taken, was probably composed in honour of the
Fatimite khalif al-Mustansir.
 388 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
(9) The Kha:dnat al-BunLd (magazfne of standards o r Pags) was f0~11d~ld 1 ) ~the Fitti~nitehhallf az-
ZLhir. In this establishment, three thousand skilful aorlirnen were emplojcd in the fabrication of arms,
military machines, etc.-(AI-3lakrlzi's Khitat.)
(10)Tbib is e\idently a later addition.
lit) The nord G!, is i,oioted di&nntlj in eichof my manucripts, but nuno o f tile rcitdillgs is plausible,
L
Ttlrt adopted in the Arabic le\t is not ralisfaetory, and if C O I I ~ ~ C ~ Were
U ~ C Slicrlnittcd. I S ~ U U be
~ L iliclined
~

replace it by blunted, broken.

113) Literally: Tonards exalted ranh.
(13) Literally : We should excuse.

A b i hluhammad al-IIasan Ibn Ibrabim Ibn al-I-Iilsairl Ibn al-IIasaa Ibn Ali
Il,n Khuld Ibn Rishid Ibn A l ~ d Allah 123n Sulaimin Il)n Zrliik, a native o f
Egypt, was descended from a slave afiliated, by en f~~ancllisemcnt, to tl~etril)e of
Laiih. He was emincrlt for his knowledge of llistor.~,on whicll suljjcct he
composed an excellent work ( I ) ; be is also autllor of a l i h i ~ a lor
, ~opograpllical
description (of old Cairo), in whiclr he fully treated the ~lll)~jcct ; another of
his works is the history of the kidis oiF Misr, desiped hy I ~ i mas a continuatiorl
to a book of' the same title composed by A& Omar Mulrammad I l ~ nYAsuf Ibn
Yiktib al-Kindi (2), and which reaches to the year 246 of tllc Hijra. lbrl
Ziilik completed the work (of at-Kindi) by a supplement, which commences
wit11 the life of Bakkiir Ibn Kutaiba, and Gnislles ~ v i i l lthat of' Rluhnmmid Ibn
iin-Nomin. kfe gives the history of the latter down to the month of Rajab in
the year 386 (July, A. D. '396). Al-Hasan Ibn Ali, p-eat-grandfather to Abli
llluhainmad Ibn Zlilik, was eminent for his learning. IIe died (I mean Abir
Mrrt~ammsd) on Tuesday, 25th of Zli 'l-Kaada, A. 11. 357 (November, A. D.
907). 1 have read in his history of the kidis of Egypt, in the life of AbB
Obaid (Ibn lfar6awailt), that Manshr Ibn Ismail ad-Darir died in the month
of the first Jumida, A. H. 306 (October, A. D. 918), about three months,"
108 says he, " before I was born." On admitting this as exact, Ihn ZblHk's birth
took place in the month of ShibBn, 306 (January, A . D. 91 9). Be gave some
Traditions on the authority of at-Tahfwi.-Laitlz Ibn Kinhna is the name of a
 BIOGRAPHICAL 1)ICTIONhR'l'. 389
great (Alabinn) tribe. Ibn Yiinus al-Misri says that 1bn Zilhk belonged to
that tribe by enfranchisement.

(1) l o s t roba ably the second continuation of Abd ar-Rahodn as-S08's history o r Egypt mentioned by
Hajji Khalifa, t. 11. p. 448.
(2) According to as-Sciyljti ( I l u s n al-Muhddira. 1\18. NO. 652, fol. 147 verso), al-Kindi (who appetlrs to
have becn a grandson of Yakdb al-Kindi, the celebrated philosopher,) composed also a work on the
of ~ g y p t ,entitlcd Faddil Misr, and was contemporary with Kbfhr.--Hajji IUlhlifa, after ail-fifakrlzi, places
llis deal11 in A. H. 246 (h.D. 860-1). - (Flugel's edition, No. 231%)

RBU NIZAR IIlN SAFI MALIK AN-NUHAT.

Ablnl Nizir al-Hasan Ibn Abi 'l-Hasan SiG Ib11 Abd Allah Ibn Niz5r Ibn Abi
'I-Hasan, the grammarian, was surnamed Afc17ik an-Nuhdt (the prbince of'g-tnm-
mnrians); the ku'til, Imtid ad-din speaks of him, in the Kharidu, as a man of emi-
nent merit, and gives the correspondence which passed between A bii Nizir and
himself when at Damascus (I). IIe became the ablest grammarian of his time,
and was intelligent, eloquent, and acute, but vain and proud : he assumed rllr
iille of pritrce of gr~r~n~nrur*iums,and if any other name but this was give[, to
him when addressed, he would fly into a passion. At a period later than thc~
year 520 (A. D. 1126), he proceeded from Baghdad to Wisit, here he took
u p his residence for a time, and communicated his copious philological inforni-
ation to the people of that city, who prolited greatly by his talents and 1ea1-niog.
Ibn al-Mustawfi says of him in his I-Iistory of Arbela : " He visited Arbela and
" then went 10 Baghdad, where he learned the Traditions and studied the imim

" as-Shifi's sistern of jurisprudence and the science of dogmatic theology under
'' Ablnl Abd Allah al-Kairawini; in controversy he had for master Asaad al-
" Mihsni; in the fundamentals of jurisprudence, Abri 'I-Fath Ibn Barhin, the

" author of the Wnjiz and the Wasit, works which treat on that subject ; he

" studied grammar under al-Fasihi, who himself had learned it from Abd al-
" Kihir al-Jurjini @), the author of the lesser Mujnzil(3)," Abd Nizbr then

travelled to Khorasan, Kerman, and Ghazna, whence he returned to Sy-

390 IBN KEIA LLIKAN'S
ria, and settled at Damascus, where he died on Tuesday, 8th Shalvwll, '4. H.
568 (May, A. D. 1 173), aged up\vrrds of eighty years. He was interred the
neat day, Wednesday, in the cemetery at the city-gate called Odb as-Srrghfr.
He is author of many works on juris[~rudenceand its fundamentals, on the
dogmas of religion and on grammar. lie composed some poetry, aAicll has
been collected into a di{vrln; one of his kasidas, made in honour of the Prophet,
contains these lines :
Praise be to God! I am cured of my passion, and I think of her no more: love calls
me towartls her, but I answer not to its seductions; and yet I rejoice not if an afflic-
tion befal her, neither am I pleased with the traducer who defames her.

He composed many fine passages, and possessed the greatest talents (4).

, f ~Arabic epistles generally contain some passages i n verse; and il is a few extracts of this kind which
Im4d ad-din gives. See the Khar2da, No. 1447, fol. 36.
,", Q Abd al-K8hir Ibn Abd ar-Rahmhn al-Jurjini (native of Jurjdn), a celebrated grammarian
A ~ Bakr
and a doctor of the sect of as-Shift, was erninenl for his piety and talents. B e composed the following works:
tile Ji'ujmil (or collector), a philological work; a cornmeritary on it, entitled the Il'alkhls (comprehensiue
vieun; the I l i t d b al-Amd (the supporter), treating on grammatical inflexions ; the Miftdh (key), a
commentary on tpe [irst surat of the Koran; the Mdghnt (sufficient), a commentary, in thirty volumes, on
the lddh of Abli Ali 'l-Fbrisi, etc. He made his grammaticul studies at J u r j l n , under Abh'l-Husain
Muhammad nI-Farisi, sister's son to Abh Ali. I n dogmatical theology, be followed the doctrine of al-AshAri.
Died A. H. 461 (A. D. 1068-g), or 46'r.
(3) The greater Itfujmil was composed by Ibn Fhris ar-RBzi.
14) Literall) : He was a collection of talents.

THE IMAM AL-HASAN AL-ASKARI.

AbG hkhammad al-Hasan Ibn Ali Ibn Muhammad Ibn ~ l i ar-Rida ' Ibn
Mlisa Ibn Jaahr as-Sidik Ibn Muhammad al-Bikir Ibn Ali Zain al-Aibidin Ibn
al-Husain Ibn Ali Ibn Abi Tilib, was, as his father also, one of the twelve
persons who are considered as imrims by the Imimites (or Shiites). He
was the father of (Muhammad) al-Muntazir (the expected), called also Scihib
as-Sirdtib (he of the cavern), and was surnamed al-Askari, which title
was borne also by his father Ali : we shall speak hereafter of him and the
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTION.4RL-. 39 1
otI,er inzdrns. AI-Hasan was born on a Thursday in the year 231 (A. U -
845-6) ; on the sixth of the month of the first Rabi, it is said; but, accordin!;
to another account, towards the end of the year 232. 1Ie died at Sarr-rnan-
r&a, on Friday (or Thursday), 8th of the first Rahi (or of the Grst Jum8da),
A . H. 260 (January, A. D. 874.), and was interred at the side of his father's299
tomb.-As kari means belorzging to, or native of Sarr-man-rda, which place
was called al-Askar (the camp or the troops), when the khalif al-Motasim,
who built it, removed thilher his troops (Askar). Al-Hasan and his father
Ali were both denominated al-Askari, because the latter had been sent to
Sarr-man-ria, by the khalif al-Mutawakkil, and resided there for twenty years
and nine months.

ABU NUWAS I'BN HANI.

Abii Ali al-llasan Ibn HQni Ibn Abd al-Awwal Ibn as-Sabhh al-I-Iakami, sur-
named Ahli Nuwis, was a poet of great celebrity. Ilis (great)grandfather was an
enfranchised slave and client of al-Jarrkh Ibn Abd Allah al-Hakami, governor of'
Khorasan, and for this reason he bore the title of al-Hakami. Muhammad Ibrl
Diwlid Ibn al-Jarrah relates, in his Kitn'b al-Warakat, that Abii Nuwis was
born and brought up at Basra, and that he accompanied Wiliba lbn al-Hu-
bib ( I ) to Kufa, and from thence went to Baghdad. Another historian sags that
he was born at al-Ahw$z, and was removed thence at the age of two years: his
mother Julabin was of that city ; his father, who was a native of Damascus and
a soldier i n the service of Marwrin Ibn Muhammad, the last of the Omaiyide dy-
nasty, had been sent to keep garrison at al-AhwBz, and he there espoused Jula-
bin, by whom he had many children and, amongst the rest, AbB M d d and Abii
Nuwhs. The latter was confided by his mother to a drilggist, and (when in
this employment) he was seen by Abh Odma Wiliba, who was pleased with
his disposition, and said to him : I see in you presages (oJ'success) which, 1
" am sure, you will not belie ; you are to cultivate poetry; be therefore my dis-
L' ciple ; 1 will you to eminence."--" And r h o are you ? " said Abb
Nuw&s.--fi I am AbC Osiima Wiliba Ibn al-HuMb ;" replied he.-" I accept,"
 395 IBN KHALLIBAN'S
said Abd N u ~ ~ i sL ';a n d 1 had already the intention of going to Kub, that 1
might r c c e i ~ einstroctiorl f i ~ myou and learn holn Y O U your poetical \vorks."
llr then accompanied him to 13aghd;~d.-Al,il N u w k was a boy wllon ire c o n -
])OS" tthcse, his first ailcl \yell-Hno~vnverses :
He who bcars thc wciglrt of lovc is soon fatigued; he is agitated with joy, k~otweep-
ing would be fitter for h i m ; his occupation is not a trifling sport. And you (my fair
p&tress!) laugh in snntctnncss whilst your lover sighs; you nlarvel at my ilInc.ss, but
my health would bc a marvel.
.Il-Kjlasib, rile cslkief of the revenue-oflice in Egypt, once asltcd Abil Nuwis
ft.onl nllnt filnlily IN: came; " My talents," replied Abir N l ~ w i s ,"stand me
ill ste;td of ~lol,lc1)irtll." Al-Khasil~ aslied llim rlo I ~ I O I Y cllicstio~lsaftell
illat. Isn~nill l ~ nR~ilwklltsaid: " I rl(>vcrsaw a man of rnorsccxlel~sivelearning
tIlarl Abli Niiu-is, nor one who, wit11 a nlrrilol>y so richly i s , pos-
sessed so fc~t-books; after his decease we searched his house, ancl could onlv
L A find one book-cover, conrainirrg a cluire of paper (2), i n ~vllicllwas a collcc-
&' tion of rare expressions anri grammatical observatior~s." TIe was a muc;rla/-
Illcl (3) of the Grst class, and in thc ten diflcrcnt species of' poelry which hp
composed, tie displayed equal abilities. A nurnljer of eminent n l r n have nccu-
pied thcrnsclves with making a collection of his poclicnl W O I > ~;S amongst them
\yere Abfi Bakr as-Srili, Ali Ibn IIarnza, and Ibrahim Ibn Ahmatl Ibn Muham-
illad a t-Tabari, slirrlanled Tiizi~n: it is for this reason I 113t discrcpancics are
ol~servahle in the collections of his poetry. His compositions arc sufiiciently
I \ n o \ ~ nto preclude [he necessity of ciling any of them ('I). I read in some
Imok hat (tl,e khn2l)f)al-lllmhn said : '' JVere Fortunc t o dcscril~el~crself,she
c o l ~ l dnot produce a description equal to thc follo\ving I I nbli
~ Nuwis:
c Is not each living creature mortal, and sprung from a mortal? Is not (the treeof')
its descent deeply rootcd in the dead? FVhen Fortune wishes to prove the sage, it
appears to him as an enemy in the disguise of a friend.' "

T l r t ~1j1-s~
of ~heseverses is r reminiscence of an idea thus expressed by Amro
'l-Kais ( 5 ) :
300 Woman, reproach me less! my experience and the recollection of my ancestors are
for me admonitions sufficient. -The roots of my (Jitmily-tree) are interwoven with
the root of the earth (6); but here comes death to strip me of ~ h robe
c (o/ youthj.

In the life of al-Hasan al-Basri may be found a n idea analogous to this (7).-
What a favourable opinion A116 Nuwk must have entertained of his Creator+s
indulgence, may bc lcnrncd from the following verscs :

Multiply thy sins to the utmost, for thou art to meet an indulgent Lord. When thou
comest before Iliol, thou shalt behold mercy, and meet the great, the powerful Iiing.
Then thou shalt gnaw thy hands with regret, for the pleasures which you avoided
through fear of:hell.

is a very fine and original thought (8). -The anecdotes related of AbG
Nuw$s are numerous ; one of his best pieces is the kasidu rhyming in m, nirich
excited Abi TomnlBm's jealousy to such a point, that he composed one in the
same rhyme and measure ; A bG Tarn mhm's commences thus :
(The lover) approached (afler a long journey, the abode of his mistress), and greeted m

ruins (g)! How often does such an approach break the firm knot of the lover's en-
durance.
As for the poem of AbG Nuwis, it was in honour of al-Amin hf uhammad Jbn
IIariln ar-Rashid, and composed during his khalifat.-It begins with this verse:
0 (deserted) mansion I what has the lapse of days wrought upon thee? No longer
can we hope to find in thee n smiling Face.
It contains also the followiny; description of the camel moun~edby the poet:
She encountered with me the terrors of the desert,-a slender camel, ardent and
mettlesome. She outstrips her fellows, (and they follow her motion-S)as a row of wor-
shippers behind their imAm (follow his). 1fThen our camels shall have borne us to
Muhammad, let their backs be ever kept sacred from riders I

In the life of the celebrated poet Zii 'r-Rumma Ghailhn, we shall mention an
observation which has been made on this last verse. The same verse reminds
me of a circl~mstancewhich passed between me and a talented friend of mine,
Jarnil ad-din Rlahmlid Ibn ,4bd, a native of Arbela, who was also a good scho-
Iar and an excellent singer : I was at a sitting of the council; of state at Cairo, in
I forget what month of the year 645, when Ibn Abd came to look for me, and
he sat down near me for a while, there being a crowd of persons present on
account of the great quantity of business to be transacted at the time; he then
rose up and withdrew, nor was I aware of his absence, till his boy entered and
handed me a note, in which the following lines were inscribed :
0 noble patron, by whose existence Fortune manifests to us her favour! T went on a
pilgrimage to thy (place o[) station,-a pilgrimage of desire, nut of obligation; and
50
 39h IBN KHiII,l,IKANIS
I left the conveyance which bore me, w a r the noble sanctuary (of justice), but it went
astray and was carried off by the people. Whilst I looked for it, I recited this verse
of one who is a model in poetry : When our conveyancesshall have borne us to Muham-
mod, let their backs be ever 6cpl sacred froln riders.

Having read the note, I asked the boy what was the matter, and he informed
llle that his master, on learing me, perceived that some person had stolen his
201 shoes (4 0); on which 1 ad~r~ired
the aptness of the quotation, (as)the Aral~sof the
Desert conlparr shoes to beasts of burden. Examples or lhis may be found in
,he poetry both of the ancients and the modems; the same idea has also )leen
emploved hv al-Mutanabbi in different places of his poems. Some time after,
I was visited by Jarnil ad-din ibn Abd, and as we happened to speak of these
verses, I observed to him that my name was Ahmad, not Muhammad; to which
Ile answered that he knew it, hut Ahmad and Muhanunad were equivalent (I I).
Indeed, be the name what it might, the introduction of the verse was skilfullv
managed.-The khalif al-Amin hluhamrnad, having been irritated against Ab&
Nuwis on account of something which passed between them, threatened him
with death and had him put in prisorl ; the poet, in his confinement, wrote to
him ttlese verses :

I seek shelter from death under your protection; to you I fly for refuge to avoid
your vengeance. I swear by your life ((12) that I shall never commit the like again!
I swear it by your life Fe IF you kill your Abb NuwAs, where will you find another?

IJe had numerous adventures with the khalif Amin. In the life of Ibn Darrij
al-Kastalli (see page l21), we have given an extract from a knsida by Abli
Nuwis, called the Rcily.a, because it rhymes in r. The klzatib Abil Bakr makes
mention of him in the history of Baghdad, and says that he was born in A. H.
115 (A. D. 762-3', (some say 1X), and that he died A. H. 195 (A. D. 81 0-l),
or 196, or 198, at Baghdad, where he was buried in the SIiBnhi cemetery. He
was surnamed Rbli Nuwris from two locks of hair which hting down (taniis)
on his shoulders. - Hakanzi means belongir~g to Hnkam Ibn Snad al-
AshDVa, a great tribe of Yemen, from which al-Jarrih Ibn Abd Allah al-Ha-
kami was clescended. Al-Jarrih was governor of Khonsan, and it has been
already said that Abii Nuwis was one of his rnowlas (1 3), and was therefore
denominated after him.-We have spoken of Sand aZ-Ashira in the life of
al-Mutanabbi (see page 106). As for Siili, this name shall be noticed in the
life of BbA Bakr hluhamrnad as-Sbli (I 4). I have never met with a notice on
Ali Ibn Ilamza ( l 5). TtizLi'n studied belles-lettres under Abii Omar az-Zillid
(al-~futarri~), and became eminent in that branch; he resided a t Baghdad,
he died A. H. 355, ihe month of the first Jumida (May, A. D. 966).

( l ) AbB OsAma Wbliba Ibn al-HubAb, a native of Kdfa and a celebrated poet, was in greai favour a t the
court of al- hlarisfir and other Abhiside princes ; in praise and satire he displayed abilities of he highest or-
der. I t was by him that 4 b h Nuwds was presented to the Bamekides, and these generous patrons of litera-
ture bestowed arnplc rewards on the rising poet. In the enjoyment of his good fortune, Abh NuaBs disdained
to recogr~ise lhc friend to whom he had been indebted for his success in the world, and WAliba had often
reason to regret the service which h e had rendered to his ungrateful diseiple. Whlibs inhabited Baghdad,
and most of his poems are consecrated to the praises of wine and of beauty. He composed also some
satires against Uashshar l b n Burd and A M 'l-Atlrhiya, but being vanquished by them with the same wca-
pon, he withdrew from public life, and sought to conceul the confusion of his defeat by retiring to obscurity
in his native ~ O W I I . - ( M a s d lal-Absdr,
ik MS. No. 1371. Kitdb al-Aghdni, t . IV. fol. 63 verso j
(2) The word j bp is probably synonymous with
vY.
(3) See note ($l), page 209.
(4) The &IS. of the Bib. du K o i , No. 1348, is called the DiwGn of Abtl Nuwds, but this is inexact; the
compiler of the catalogue, a man of very little instruction in Arabic literature, was deceived by a false title
affixed to the work.
(5) See le Uiwdn d'Amro 'l-h'ais, page M .
(6) The root of the earth is supposed by the cor~~rnentators to mean Adam or Ismail; the poet means that
his descent could be lraced up to Adarri; as for Ismail, it is well known that Amro 'l-Kais's family, the Kin-
dites, were not descended from him, but from Kahtan.
(7) The author alludes perhaps to the passage in page 370, line 26, of this volume.
(8) It is not, however, in strict accordance with Moslim morality.
(9) The word c;~'Jsignifies the dung of camels and sheep. When a family of nomadic Arabs removed
their dwelling, the spot which they abandoned might be easily recognised afterwards by these marks. The
idea is of constant recurrence in thc kasidas of the early Arabic poets.
(10) Which had been taken off on enteriug.
(11) Ahmad means praiseworthy, and Muhammad, deserving of high praise, or highly praised.
(12) Literally: By the life of thy head.
(13) Mawla means a manumitted slave, or a person sprung from one. It might be translated client, and
the reriprocal duties of such clients and their patrons form an important chapter of Moslim law. Hawla sig-
nifies also patron.
(14) This is a n oversight of the author's: he has already given the derivation of Salt, in the lifeof lbrahtm
as-Sllli (page 23); and in the life of Muhammad asSOli he merely refers h e reader to it.
(15)H e must not of course be confounded with Ali Ibn Hamza al-Hishi, whose life is given by oar author.
 IBN IiHALLIKAN'S

IBN WAKI AT-TINNISI.

:lhG liullammad al-I-Insnn Ibn Ali Il)n Ahrnad ILn Mullammad Ib11 Kllalf Ibn
Haivjo Ibll Sadaka lbn Zijrl ad-Dnl)bi ( n ~ c n z b eof, the llsibr>of D1166) at-Tinnisi,
sllrnanled Ibn J\'al;i, o r~iel,ratedpoet, came of a Ba$dad family, b u t \vas l,onr
a t Tinnis. lie is spoken of in the follorving terms by ath-T11?ilibi in
Yalfm,g: An eminent poet and a learned compiler ; he surpassed every per-
" son of his time, and was outdone by none of his contemporaries ; his vast
h originality of thought charmed the reader's mind and captivaled his imn-

gination." He then mentions liis poems in the forrn of four-bemistich coup-

lets, allicll certainly are very good, and he quotes pnssazes from his other pro-
ductions. His dicvcin is made up of excellent poetry, and anothrr of his works,
the M U I ~ SorZ inzpartial,
~ contains an exposition of al-Mutanabbi's plagiarismx.
He had an impediment in his speech, and was (jir thrrt reason) called aZ-A&irrs
( ( / * p sneezer). The following verses are by him :

My heart, once enamoured, is now delivered from thy love, and Fcels h)r thee neither
inclination nor desire. Thy cruelty recorlciled me to thy loss; n parent can cease to
regret the death OF a Froward child.

By the same :
Though the time of our meeting may be distant, our affection sliall endure, and \\c
209 shall be true lovers despite of absence. IIow inany have broken the bonds of love,
and yet full confidence had been placed i n the sincerity of their altachment! How
many faithful lovers who have suffered from suspicion !

By the sarr~e:
I rejoiced at the snfferings of my heart;-may God never grant it relief l How
often have I blamed it for loving, and it replied : '' I cannot help it."

Another poet has come near to this idea in the following verses :

How inconsiste~ltthat resolution which inspired my heart with indifference and in-
sensibility towards my beloved. It came to me and, a moment after, it became like
my heart and said : "1 must submit.''

Similar to this are the verses of Osima Ibn Mu.nkid :

Assume not a borrowed insensibility when abandoned by those you love ; for your
 force will fail under their protracted aversion. Know Bat thy heart will return t o
them, either OF its o\vn accord or despite its reluctance.

~t is related by a certain jurisconsult, that he repeated the following verses

of Ibn Waki's to the shaililt Murtada 'd-din Abd 'I-Fath Nasr Ibn Muhammatl
lhn Mukallad al-Kudii, a native of Shaizar and professor at the ctrapel built
over the tomb of as-Shlfi in the Karsfa :

An obscure posilion satisfies my wishes, and they arc turned away From exa1tc.d
rank. And yet they are not ignorant how sweet is the taste of greatness, but to that
they prefer health .

On this, Murtada 'd-din pronounced extempore these verses :

The fall is in proportion to the ascent; avoid therefore exalted rank. Remain i n a
place whcre, if you fall, your legs will escape uninjured (1).

RV Ihn Walii :

The censor of my conduct saw my beloved for the first time and said: ':IF you
loved one like her, no person would blame your passion. Say ! towards whom is
your heart turned, that you neglect her, the sole creature worthy of love?" He con-
tinued thus, unwittingly, to incite to love, one whom he had commanded to abstain
from it.

1 once repeated the above verses to the doctor S h i h i h ad-din hluhammad,

father of Ibn al-Khaimi, and he immediately recited to me the following line of'
his composition :
Did my monitor see the face of my beloved, he would quarrel with me for that
pretty face (2).

This verse forms part of a poem ; it is well turned and the double meaning is
prettily imagined. -Every fine idea has been expressed by Ibn Waki : he died on
Tuesday, 23rd of the first Jumida, A. H. 393 (March, A. D. 1003), in the city of p0.i
Tionis, and was interred in the chapel built to receive him in the Greater Ceme-
tery. --Waki was the surname given to his great-grandfather, Abli Bakr Mu-
hammad Ibn Khalf, who was deputy to Abdln aldapi-iliki, kidi of al-Ahwiz; he
was gifted with talents, capacity, and eloquence ; learned in the reading of the
Koran, in jurisprudence, in grammar, and in history. He composed many
works, amongst others the Kitdb at-Tarik (book of the path); the Kit& as-
S h n r f (book of rhe noble) (3) ; s treatise on the number of verses contained in
398 IBN ICHALLIKAN'S
tire Koran and on the conflicting opinions held or1 the subject; a treatise on
i ~ ~ c l another
~ ~ ~ >on~weights
; a d measures, etc. Ile is aulhor of some poetry,
such as learned men generally compose. Died at Baghdad on Sunday,
tile lirst Rabi, 306 (September, A. D. 918). According to Ibn Kini, the deafh
of [Ihdin al-Ahrvizi took place in 307 (A. D. 91 9-20), at Askar Mukram (ll.).-
is derived from lYnrzis, the nnmc of a town in Egypt near Darnietla; it
T~,~/z~si
was so called after its foundcr, Tinnis, son of Ham, son of Noah.-Al-Murtada
'S-Shairari died A. A. 598 (A. D. 1201-3, and was interred in the cemetery a t
the foot of 3Iou11t Mrika t tarn (rzrrrr Cairo).

, l ) In the original Arabic, these verses rhyme with the preceding, and are terminated by the same words.
(2, This is tile real meaning of the verse, but the last hemistich seerns, a t first sight, to signify : W e should
separate in an amicable manner.
(3) Ttlcse titles are so vague, that it is impossible to say what were the subjects treated of in these two
\\orbs. Hajji Khalifa does not mention them.
(4) The hdfiz AbO Nuhammad Abd Allah Ibn Ahrnad Ibn MDsa Ibn Zidd al-Ahwazi sl-JawAl9ki, sur-
[lamed Abdln (a contraction of Abd Allah), visited various countries and learried the Traditions from a
great number of persons. As a hd@, he was noted for his exactness. Ibn RAIIP taught the Traditions on
his authority. He composed a number of works, and died A. H. 306 (A. D. 918-9). aged ninety years and
some months.-(Ad-Dahabi's T d ~ l l i hal-lsldm, NS. No. 646, fol. 28.)

ABU BAKR IBN AL-ALLAF.

A b i Bakr al-Hasan Ibn Ali Ibn Ahmad Ibn Bashslllr Ibn Ziid, surnamed Ibn
nl-Allif (son of the fidder-seller) ad-Darir (the blind), a celcl~ratedand able
poet, was a native of Nahrawin. He learned the Traditions from Abii Omar
ad-Dliri (I), the reader of the Koran, Humaid Ibn Masada al-Basri, Nasr Ibn Ali
al-Jahdami (2) and Muhammad Ibn Ismail al-Hisibi; and Traditions have been
given on his authority by Abd Allah Ibn al-Hasan an-Nahhb, the kidi Abii
'I-Hasan al-Khiriji. Hafs Ibn ShBhin (3), and others. 1Ie was pne of the khalif
al-Motadid's social companions, and he relates (of him) the following anecdote:
" I had passed a night at the palace of al-Motadid with a number of his other

" companions, when a eunuch came to u s and said: 'The Commander of the

" faithful sends to tell you that, after you withdrew, he did not feel inclined
" to sleep, and composed this verse :
 6 When the vision (U/ my mistress), fleeting through the shades of night, awoke me,

behold! my chamber was dcsorted, and far off was the place of (our) meeting.'

He says also,' continued the eunuch, ' that he cannot complete the piere,
66 will give a rich present to any one who adds to it a second couplet in hia
l L satisfaction.' Those who were present failed in accomplishir~g d1e task,
6; although they were all poets of talent, on which 1 hastened to pronounce thr*

following verse :

L On this I said to my eyes: Sleep again; perhaps the vision, in its night visits, may
' return to me l'

The eunuch then retired, and having come back, said : L The Commandel-
t c of the faithful declares that your verse is perfect, and he has ordered you a

present.' "-This Abil Bakr had a pet cat, which used to enter into the neigh-
bours' pigeon-houses and eat the young. As this occurred frequently, the
owners of the pigeons caught the cat and killed it ; and Abii Rakr lamented its
fate in the following poem. Some say, however, that the poem was composed on
the death of Abd Allah Ibn al-Motazz (of whom we shall give a biographical
notice), and that the poet's apprehension of the khalif al-Muktadir's vengeance
him from openly expressing his ideas in this kasida, and for that rea-
son, he pretended that it was made on his cat ; and he alludes to the cat in soea
passages. He and lbn al-Motazz were intimate friends. Muhammad Ibn Abd
al-Malik al-Hamad$ni, in his lesser history, entitled al-M~uirif al-Mtctan'k- 204
khira (later zhforonnation), says in the life of the vizir Abd 'l-Hasan Ali
Ibn al-Furit : " The sb'hib Abfi 'l-Kasim Ibn Abbid said : ' Abil 'l-Hasan the
son of Abii Bakr al-All; f, (surnamed al-AkCZ (the great eater), because he
was remarkable for the quantity which he ate at the parties given by princes
" and great men), recited to me the poems composed by his father on the cat,

" and told me that by the cat, he meant al-Muhassin, son of the vizir Ibn
'' al-Furit, and that he did not dare, during the disasters of that family, ro
" lament al-Muhassin's fate or pronounce his name.' "-The history of this event
.
will he found in the life of Abd 'l-Hasan Ali Ibn al-Fur$ t -The philologer Sied
says, id his a[-Fuirslis: Tt was related to me by Abb 'I-Hasan &Mar-
'' zoblni, that a slave girl belonging to Ali Ibn Isa loved a youth in the service
" of Abb Bakr Ibn al- Allif ; but having been discovered, they were both put
 .10 0 IBN ICIIALLIBA N'S
t~ death and their skills stnffed with straw; then Abb flakr, the /,zdrula
pawon of the youth, composed this poem 10 d(.plore his loss, axtd it is hp
' L \\horn ire lrleaiit 67 the cat." God krioss best lhe ilsulh! This fine and
ol.icinal poem is composai of sixty-five verses, and its lei~gtllprcvents us
Il.olri givillg the entire; ~ l u we
t sllall cite the ~ ~ r c t t i e sl)ilssa&es
t and ihe verses
containing moral ref1exiol)s (5); i t begins thus :

You have left us, Ijuss! arid -\\ill never retut-n ! You who were to me as a child 1 IIow
can we cease to love you? you, who were for us a sure defcncc. YOUdrove evil away
from us, 2nd euartled us, in our absence, from serpent and from cricket. You tlrove
the Illice from tlr~iir.Iiiding-places, and pursued then1 from tl~cli~.).kale to the hall-door.
I n meeting thew in the house, you found food, :intl without assistance you went
against them. Flocks OF them could not escape from you, riot even one of the flock.
You feared not the mid-day heat of summer, neither did you dread the frost of will-
ter. Your order was uncontrolled in our house, and they could o f f ~no r resistance.
(Thus it was) till you devised evil against our ncigl~boursand thorlght that you were
not working harm. To do them 11rong, you turned arour~ddcath; but Ihe (bird)whtch
hrbvers round a pond must drinh thcreof. My heart trembled Tor you, but you glided
Forth without fear, and entered the pigeon-house with slo\v and stealthy step, but you
were not slow in eating the young. You threw about the feathers on the path (of the
masters), and you greedily swallowed the flesh. A wrong action fed you with their
flesh, but thcir masters jrldged that slaying you was a right action. They plotted lone
against you and exerted their efforts; success crowns the stratagems of him ho exerts
his cfTorts. For a long time they used wiles against you, but you fell not (into the
sncrre) ; how often did you, without using any niles, escape horn theirs: but when,
with perfidious diligence, you went openly to steal, (and were then badly directed,)
they caught you, in their angry mood, and inflicted vengeance on you, adding: & < H e
905 that hunts is caught in his turn!" Then, with a sharp steel, they curcd their ha-
tred towards thee, and hearkened to the intercession of none.

I:rorn the same piece :

Irou ceased not lurking for the pigeons till dcath surprised you with an ambus-
cade ( 3 ) . They had no compassion on your plaintive cries, as you had nooe on
those of the pigeons. 'I'heir master made you taste of death as you made their young
ones to taste of it; it was simply retaliation ( 6 ) . The cord which his kindness placed
round 1our neck (7), to strangle you, must have bee.n made of the fibres of the palm-
tree. Methinks I see you struggling in the noose and foaming at the mouth. You
sought means to escape, but no stratagem could avail, neither could you find one.
Kow that you are no more, we never heard of such a death, or of a life so fatal to
others. You lived lilic a glutton led away by his avidity, and you died a violent
death without at1 avenger (8). 0 you whom the love OF young pigeons brought to your
fall] why were you not satisfied with a piece of camel's fat? Did you not fear that
fate would spring upon you, when you sprung like a lion into the pigeon-house? The
put~ishrnentdue to crime sleeps not, though it delay for a time. Ah I you wouId eat
young birds and feared not that misfortune, like a ravenous beast, would eat you?
 BIOCKAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 'c01
That were far from being just, and you were strangely mistaken as to the nearness ant\
the distance (of punishment). May God refuse his blessing to meat, since [he belly is
the destruction OF lives How often has a sweet bit entered a greedy stomach, and
expeilecl the soul from the body! The possession of Paradise would not have sufficed
to turn you From clambering up to the pigeon-house.
From the same kusida :
The powerful Lord, the Giver of safety, the Eternal had granted you luxurious ease;
you ate at will of the mice in our house ;-(but where are those who are grateful for the
comforts of life?)-you scattered their bands from time to time, but they met after
their dispersion and spared neither cloth nor felted stuff in the house. They emptied
it to the bottom, and left not even what our hands had suspended to the walls with
hooks; they crumbled the bread in the baskets, and how often did they annoy the
family (9)! They tore our new dresses, and all of us were undergoing fresh misfor-
tunes.
W e shall confine ourselves to these citations, which arc the cream of the
piece.-Ibn al-Allif died A. H. 318 (A. D. 930), or 319, aged one hundred
years (IO).-Nnhmtr~rini means belonging to Nuhrawdn, an ancient village 206
near Baghdad ; as-Samini pronounces it Nclhrocvsin, hut that is not exact.

(1) Abh Omar Hafs Ibn 11-Aziz Ibn Sullbln d& ad-Ddri, a native of Baghdad and a member of the
tribe of Azd, was a grammarian and a lioranic reader of the first celebrity in Irak. ]ETe inhabited Sarr-man-
rAa. I t is slated that he was the first who collected together the different readings of the Koran (seepage 152,
note (I) ). Men of the first talent flocked from all countries to his lectures, on account of his extensive
learning and the high authority of the traditionary information which he transmitted to them. He was a
good and pious man. Towards the end of his life, he lost his sight. Died in the month of ShawwB1, 246
(beginning of A. 1). 861).--LMri means belonging to ad-Dilr, a well known quarter of Baghdad on the east
bank of the Tigris.-(Abridged from the Tabakdt al-Kurrd, MS. NO. 742, fol. 51.)
(2) Nasr Ibn Ali alJahdami died A. H. 250 ( A . D.864).-(Nujilm.)
(5) Abh Hafs Omar Ibn Shhhtn, a celebrated hdfiz, preacher and commentator on the Koran, was a native
of Baghdad. Mention has been already made of him in page 324, note (2).
(4) This piece is remarkable for its verbal quibbles and far-fetched allusions; the little merit it possesses
is lost in the translation.
(6)Literally: Till you were made to drink of death by the liers in ambush.
<
(6) Literally: Hand for hand.
(7)This piece is full of puns and quibbles, impossible to be translated. TO place a cord round the neck.
signifies figuratively, to lay r person under oblfgaions. T h e word cord is often employed with the sense of
obligation or fauour.
(8) Literally: By a murderer, or victim o f an assassin.
(9) Literally: How often did they break in pieces the liver of the family.
(10) That is, one hundred lunar years, equivalent to about ninety-sir solar.
 JBN IiHALLIIiiIN'S

A ~ 'l-Julv,:liz
O a\-Hasarr Ibn Ali Ibll Muhammad Ib11 Biri al-l%isili (12nl&~
?fWCiSil) the kdfij, lras a man of cmincnt talent. He inllabited Baghdad f ~ , ~
long period, and is of by the Khntil, in h i s history of t h a t city. L ( I

wrote under Iris dictation, " says this author, " different historical relations,
6 ' anecdotes, of verse, and philological observations, which, ss he de-
l & clared, were taught to him by Ibn Sukkara al-88shimi (1) and others; but
his statements do not merit full confidence ( 2 ) , for he told me that he heary)
the lessons of Ibn Sukkara, which could n o t be, as he m u s t have been then
too young ilr was well informed i n literature and composed some good
poetry, particrllarly eulogiums and descriptions. Among t h e verses of his
I' cornposi tion which hr? recited to me, w t m the followinf; :

'12enounce all mankind and turn your friendship from them, if you cannot have
Lindulgence for human nature. The stream of time is evidently a troubled current ;
' hope not then to find pureness and sincerity in (men,) the children of time ; for their
' dispositions resist correction (3). Two things are not to be found on earth, a dir-
* hem @ined honestly, and a friend really sincere .' "

Abd '1-Jawiiz i s a u t h o r of some good -cvor.ks; his handwriting was elegant,

anrl his poetry charming; I have met w i t h many of his pieces, b u t I nevw saw a
complete collectioa of them, ncitller do I know if such a collection was ever
formed. The following verses of h i s are c r ~ r r e tly
n cited :
Love has worn me down as a piece of wood is thinned with a knife ; and your aversion
has melted meaway, so that I am become a greater nonentity than the day which is gone
by. I a m not visible till I see you, for atoms of dust do not appear but in the rays of
the sun.
I n the piece which follows he has subjected himself t o certain rules of com-
position not at all necessary i n poetry (4.) :

Oh! what sadness was mine when she said: He has been False in the promises he
" made me, and has sported (with my feelings) ." By the existence of Him who cre-
ated me to live for her alone (5)l when her image crosses my mind, I am plunged in
despair (6).
He died A. H. 460 (A. D. 1067-8). Tlre Khotih says : I h e a r d Abd 'I-Jawiiz
'' mention that he was born A. H. 382 (A. D. 992-3), and, after the year h60, I
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. $03

*erer heard more of' him." It is certain, however, that lie died, as we hare
in 4.60; the Khnii'b, it is true, does not declare it expressly; he only notict,s
tile epoch at which he ceased to hear of him.

(1) A b l 'I-Hasan Muhammad Ihn Abd Allah, surr~amedIbn Sukliara, a celebrated philologist and poet,
itas descended from Ali, son of the Abbaside khalif al-Mahdi, for which reason he was entitled al-.kbb&si.
He\tas also named al-Hhshimi, being descended, as all the Abbasides, from Hbhim,great-grandfather of MU-
ikamrnad. His collected poetical works form a mass of tifty thousand verses, the prevailing character of whiclt
is gaiety and humour. He and his contemporary Ibn HajjAj were, by their rivalry, the Jarlr and FarazdaL
of thc epoch. He died A. H. 385 (A. D 996).-(Al-YBTi's Annals. Yattma, No. 1370, fol. 206. Specimens
of his poetry may be found in both works.)
(2) Literally: He was not n f h i k a t ; see note (S),page 1D2.
(3) I have been obliged to parapl~rasethis verse, ss as to render the author's idea.
(4) Literally: In this piece is strict observance of what is not obligatory: fuzdm rna la yalzurn. See note p),
page 97
(5) Litorally: W h o madc me a wakf (settled) on her and for her (use). See note (7). page 49.
(6) 1,iterally: It clnlhcs me with despair.

ALAM AD-DIN AS-SIIATAPiI.

Abli Ali al-Hasan Ibn Said Ibn Abd Allah Ihn Bundlr Ihn Ibrahim as-Shi-
tini, surnamed Alam ad-din jrhe signal of religion), was a jurisconsult, b u ~
the cultivation of poetry became his dominant passion, and by his conlpositions,
i r k 1vhicl.1h e displayed great talent, he became known as a poet: he then had al-
ready left his native town and settled at Mosul, from whence he went occasionally
to Baghdad. The vizir Abh 'l-Muzaffar Ihn Hubaira treated him with great
deference and favour. The kktib Imid ad-din mentions him in the Kharida,
and then gives some of his poetry. He celebrated," says he, "the praises of'
" Sallh ad-din in a poem which begins thus :
' I see victory attached to your yellow standard; proceed then, and conquer the 907
' world, for you are worthy of its possession.' "

The same poem contains this verse : F

Fortune is in your right hand and wealth in your left; joy then to him who hopes
for their favours I joy be to him !
LOL IBN KHALLIKAN'S
This poet was born A. H. 51 0 (A. D. 1 116-7); he died i n the month of
bin, 599 (April, or May, A. D. 1303), at MOSU~. Ibn :~d-Dubaithi mentions
e n tthe literary hisror2. o f ' Uagl~rlnd) (I).-
him with praise in his s ~ ~ ~ p l e r n(to
Shcildt? is the name of a town (2) in Diir Bakr.

(i)Ibn ad-Dubaithi's literary history of Baghdad; MS. NO. 745, fol. 1133
(2) 1bn ad-Dubaithi says,a castle, &b.

NASIR AD-DAIVLAT IBN IIAMDAN.

Abli Bluhammad al-Hasan, surnamed Ndsir ad-Uawlnt (cl~unzplotzof' the

empire), was descended from Taghlib (the progenitor of un aticiellt ancl iIl~ts-
trious ArczGic tribe) ; his genealogy is as follows : AI-llasan son of Abil 'I-I-Iaiji
Abd Allall Ibn Hamdin Ibn IIarndr"1n lbn al-IIirilh Ibn Lokrnin Ibn Rhshid Ibn
al-Jlathna Ibn Rifi Ibn al-Hiirith Ibn Ghatif Ibn Mihraha Ibn IIiritha Ibrl
RIilik 11111 Clbaid lbn Adi Ibn Osima Ibn Mhlik Ibn Bakr Ibn EIabib lbn Amr
Ibn Ghanm Ibn Taghlib. He acted a s lieutenant to his father in the govern-
rrlent of hlosul, and after passing through many vicissitudes of fortune, he
became lord of that city and its dependencies. On this occasion he was honoured
with the title of Nrisir ad-Dawlczf, by the khalif al-Muttaki Lillah, who granted
also to his brother, on the same day, the title of SniJ ad-DarvZat (srvord cf the
enyire). This was on the first of the month of Shibin, A. 11. 330 (April, A. D.
942). Their influence then became very great. Abd Allah Ibn IIamdin, their
father, had been appointed governor of Mosul and its dependencies, A. H. 292
(A. D. 904-5), by the khalif al-Muktat Billah, and he made his entry into the
city towards the beginning of the year 293. Nisir ad-Dawlat was older than his
brother Saif ad-Dawlat and in higher favour with the khalifs. The two bro-
thers madr the greater part of their literary studies together, and a coolness
having once taken place between them, Saif ad-Dawlat addressed these versfs
to Nisir ad-Da~vlat:

Though sufferingfrom your harshness, I shall not act unkindly ; neither shall I neg-
lect my duty, in whatever state I may be. You are (to me as) a parent, and a parent's
severity is best repaid with patience and resignation.
 Another time, he wrote to him these verses, wllich are mentioned by ath-Tha-
lihi in his Y(ltri~zn:

I concede to you exalted rank, although I am worthy of it; and 1 say to (my adclsersl:
There is a difference between me and my brother." I have no aversion for rank,
'tis true; but I forego my rights, so that you (my brother!) inay enjoy the plenitude of
yours. (But yet in the race of honours) 1 must surely hold the second place, if 1 con-
sent to yield you up the first.

On the death OF Saif ad-Dawlat (arr event of which we shall give the date i l l
his life), a great change was produced in [he character and disposition of his
brother* Nisir ad-Dawlat, who loved hitn dearly; his intellectual faculties br-
came so weak, that his children and domestics no longer retained for him anv
respect, and he was at length arrested a t Mosul by his son Abii Taghlib Fadl
Allah, surnamed Oddat ad-Dawlat (strenglh of the empire), and commonly
called nl-Gl~adn~zfer ( t l ~ elion). Fadl Allah, who in this action was seconded bv
the approbation of his brolhers, sent his father to the castle of as-Salima i n the
fortress of Ardumusht 14). (My professor Ibn al-Athir says, in his History, tha [
this fortress is now called Kawishi.) This event took place on Tuesday, the
24th of the first Jumida, A. H. 356 (May, A. D. 967). Ntsir ad-Dawlat remained
in confinement till his death, which happened on the afternoon of Friday, the
second of the first Rabi, 358 (January, A, D. 969). His corpse was borne t o
Mosul, and interred at Tall Tauba (2), a hill on the east side of the city. Some
say that he died in 357. Muhammad Ibn Abd al-MAlik al-Hamadini (3) says,
in his O I Z W Cas-Sial;
~~ towards the end of the life of Nisir ad-Dawlat : "Hc
continued to govern the provinces of Mosul and other places, till the year
356, when he was arrested by his son al-Ghadanfer; he had been emir orer
those countries for thirty-two years. He died on Friday, 12th of the first
Rabi, 357 (February, A. D. 968)." His father AbB 'I-Haiji Abd Allah was
slain at Baghdad on the 17th Muharram, A. H. 317 (March, A. D. 929),whilst
protecting the khalif al-Klhir Billah. The history of this event is well
known (4).-When Adad ad-Dawlat Ibn Bhwaih slew his cousin Bakhtyar
and took possession of Baghdad, Abh Taghlib al-Ghadanfer, who had fought on
the side of the latter, was embroiled in an affair with the conqueror, the cir-
cumstances of which would be too long to relate; we shall only state in a summary
manner, that Adad ad-Dawlat went to attack him at Mosul, from which al-Gha-
danfer relrPsted and encamped outside of I~amascos,\rllich was in t110 pc,b-
session of KassAm al-i\irir ( 5 : . (Al-Ghrnr/m!l;~,)h e n wrote to [he S O V ( * I X ~ ~ ~ ~ ,
Egypt, &Aziz Ilrn a]-bloizz, soliciting the govcrnnlent of Syria, to which
:Il-Aziz gnyr ostensibly his consent, but srerct l y opposed obstarlrs to the f'tllfil-
ment of his p o m i s e . After this, al-Ghadanfer proceedetl to llarnla, in lhl.
nlontll of Blulrarmm, A. H. OG9 (August, A. D. 9 7 ( ; brit as that place
\vas irl the hands of ;tl-JIufr.ij Ihn nl-Jnrrih al-l%atlwi at-'I'Ai ( 7 ) , 1 ~ -

treated froni it, and collected fresh troops ro attack tl2c place. 1Ie then rcturne(1
i i ~ l dgave a]-Jlufri,j battle, a t the gate of the city, on Monday, l st of

hut 1,;s partisans haring been defeated, he was rnacle prisoner and put to death
011 Tuesdal;, 2nd of the month of Safar of that year (September., A. D. 979).

His birth took place on Tuesday, l l t h of Zir 'I-Kaada, A. H. 328 ( A ~ l ~ u s i ,

.l. D. ',130).-1 have given the genealogy of this family on the authority ol
the vizir Abd 'l-Kisim Ibn al-blaghribi, nho has inserted it in his work
entitled Aduh ul-KAawri~s.-The genealogist Muhammad Ibn Asact al-Asadi
says : '' Taghlih (the progenitor of the t~%irl,e so calkcl) was named Dithir, hut
he obtained the surname of Taghlib for the followir~greason : His father.
I' 'ljT6il was beset in his dwelling by ( t l l e tribes of') Yemen, who had the in-
'' tention of making his family prisoners, but he called aloud on his people a ~ ~ t l
companions, and with their assistance he defeated them of Yemen. Taghlib
" was then a child, and his father prognosticated well of him arid said: L This
" is Tagl~tib,'(thou sllnlt conquer,) and such was the name by which he was

'' called ever after ."

(1) "Ardumusht, a strong fortress nearJasirat ibn Omar, on moulit Jhdi or Ararat, to the east of theTigris
Uelon the fortress lies another fortress, Dair nz-ZdfarAn (saflron convent\, which is also calfecl Lawdshi
*. &y, I t is one of the dependencies of Mosu1."-(Marasid). In the I S . of Ibo ul-Athtr, the name of
tllir place is M ritten f~nrdshi h<; see t . 11. f. 21, verso, and f. 23, v.
(2) Tall Tauba G?' JJ' repentance) lies opposite to Mosul on the Ninevn side (of the h e r
(the M11 of
" Tigris): a chapel is there \lhich is visited by the pious. This place was so named, it is said, because the
" people of Nineva went out to it and repented when Jonas threatened them with God's \engeance."-

(-War&sid.)
(3) This nriter diedA. U. 521 (A D 1127).-(Ibn al-Athtr; Hajji Khalifs.)
(5) The khalif al-Mulitadlr had been deposed by Manis the eunuch, N8zQk C-,. chief of the pollre
J?,
guards (Sahib as-Shorta), and Abb 'l-HaijA Ibn Hamdsn, who had come from the province of al-Jahal with
a large body of troops to assist the conspirators. On .the accession of the new khhlif, al-Khhir, the imperial
 i,.3!;,) 1 d b .\ came in a r m s to demand t h e customary donation and an additional year3$
they did n o t obtain immediately w h a t they required, they reinstated al-Muktadir on tile throne, after Inas-
sacring xbzbk arid Abh 'I-Ehijb. A full relation of this cvent is givcn by Ibrl al-Athir in his AllIlals, fror:l
which AhQ 'I-Fcdd has cxtractcd his nbridgcd account of the same revolution.
( 5 ) This fiassbni h a d succeeded Iftikin a s governor o r Damascus. H e acknowledged tile authority of iliih
Fatimitc k l ~ n l i fal-Aziz, a n d had Ilraycrs said for him in the mosques of that city. - (Iblr al-Alkir, year 36s.)
c-
(6) The BSS. of Ibn K l i a l l i k i ~ lhave 367, Sot G.-';; b u t this is a fault, probably of a n early copyist
L
T h e facts nrr, fully rclatcd a n d thc truc dates given in ,ibh 'l-Fedh and Ibn al-Athir.
( 7 ) This was tlic phglorch of tlic B c d n i n Arabs. H e a n d his family resided a t Ramla, and were devsted t,r,
the Fatimite dynasty of Egypt. Ibn Khaldbn, in his nofice'bn the Arabian tribes which settled in 4fric;l.
yiycs the history of this family.

RUKN AD-DAWLAT 1BN RUIVAIH.

Abh Ali al-Hasan Ibn Buwaih Ibn Fannikhosrli ad-Dailami, surnamed Rukrl
ad-Dawlat (pillarof the state) : the rest of his genealogy has been already given
in the life of his brother, Moizz ad-Dawlat Ahmad (page 11 55). He was lord
of Ispahan, Rai, Hamadan, and all Persian Irak, and father of the three princes,
Adad ad-Dawlat Fannikhosrb, Muwaiyad ad-Dawlat Abii Mansilr Bfiwaih, and
Fakhr ad-Dawlat Abli 'l-Hasan Ali. Rukn ad-Dawlat was a powerful and aspir-
ing prince ; he had for vizir Ibn al-Amid ('l), on whose death he appointed Abil
'l-Fath Ali, the son of Ibn al-Amid, to the same situation. . The Sihib lbrl A bbid
was vizir to his son Muwaiyad ad-Dawlat, and, on that sovereign's death, to
Fakhr ad-Dawlat; this circumstance we have already mentioned in the life of
the Sihib (page 21 3). Rukn ad-Dawlat reigned prosperously, and was favoured
by fortune in possessing three such sons; it was between them that he shared
his possessions, and they governed with the greatest ability. He had two bro-
thers; Abfi 'l-Hasan Ali Imid ad-Dawlat, who was older than himself, and Abii
'I-Husain Ahmad Moizz ad-Dawlat, x h o was younger. The life of the latter has
been already given (prrge 155). Rukn ad-Dawlat died at Rai on Friday night, sO!t
18th of the month of Muharram, A. H. 366 (September, A. D. 9761, and was
buried in the mausoleum which bears his name. His birth is placed, by con-
'' jecture, in the year 284 (A. D. 897);" such are the words of Abfi Ishak as-
SPbi. He reigned forty-four years, one month, and nine days, and was suc-
ceeded by his son Muwaiyad ad-Dawlat.
 / l ) The life of Ibn al-Amid is given in this work. In the preceding pages 1 have written the name
if1 consequence of having misunderstood a grammatical observation made by Ibr~l i h a l l i k i n .

AL-IIASAN IBN SAIIL THE VIZIR.

~ 1 Aluhammad
~ 6 al-Hasan Ibn Sahl Ibn Abd Allah as-Sarakhsi succeeded llis
brottler al-Fadl Zri 'r-Riisatain as vizir to al-Mamiin, whose favour he thencefor-
ward enjoyed to a high degree. W e have already made mention (/~cg;gc 268) of
daughter Ilhrin, of her marriage wilh al-MBmiin, and of the heavy expense
to which her father al-Hasan went on that occasion ; we shall therefore abstain
lirjnb repeating the same account here. Al-Mlmdn gave him the government of
;,l1 the provinces conquered by T i h i r Ibn al-Husain, as we sliall mention in the
Iifi* of the latter. Al-Hasan was of a noble disposition and very generous in his
donations to poets and other (lilerr~~y) men : a poet once went to him and recited
in h is presence these verses :
When my wife (1) saw me saddle my camels, although I had just ungirthed them,
she said: Can a distant journey await camels, now that al-Fad1 (2) is no more?"--
Yes," I replied, " they must (bear me) to al-Hasan Ibn Sahl."
'A

For this piece the poet received a rich present.-4Ie wcrlt forth, one day, to
accompany to some distarlce nl-l!limdn, who was setting out on a journey; and
when thev mere allout separating, al-Mimlin said to hirn : Abil llfuharnmad!
do vou desire any thing?"-" Yes, Commande~-of [Ire faithful ;" replied al-
Hnsan, l ( that you preserve to\vards lrre those favourable feelings of your heart,
the possession of which I cannot eosure to myself but with your concurrence."
-One of those (rvlro knew him) relates the following anecdote: I was present
'' a t an audience given by al-Hasan lbn Sahl, and a person came to thank him
" for a letter of reco~nmendationwhich he had written in his favour; on this, the
vizir replied : 'Why thank me? I consider (rice duty r f ) interression as the
" legal alms (tvllich render the capital) of my honourable feelings (acceptublu
" to Gad) @)."-The same narrator says : L L I was present, one day, whilst he
" dictated (to his secretay) a letter of recommendation, and he himself wrote
the end of it these words : ' I have been told ihar, on the day of judprnent, a man
 \\.ill be c~ues~ioned respecting the use he made of the influence given hinl by
llis rank in the world, in the same manner as he will bc questioned respect-
ing rlle usc he made of thc superfluity of his wtdth (4:.'-11e said to his sons:
L afv soils! learn the use of language; it is by it that man holds his pse-e~ni-

nence over other animals; the higher the skill which you attain in the use 01'
'6 language, the nearer you approach to the ideal of human nat~rc.'"--~11-

Hasan continued to act as vizir to al-Mimiin till he, had an attack of blacX. Gilt.
o b - j , by excessive grief on learning the murder of his brothrr
( , , ~ e l ~ ~ t c l ~caused
a]-Fadl; (we shall narrate this event in the life of the latter.) His melanclroly
overcame him so far, that he had to be confined to his house, and w;ls unabl:.
to fulfil the duties of his ofice. " In the year 203 (A. D. $15-g)," says at-
Tabari in his Ilistory, " Al-Hasan Ibn Sahl was overcome Ily black bile, occa-
sioned by a fit of sickness ; this sickness impair~dhis reason to such a degree,
that it was necessary to chain him and confine him in a chamber. Al-Mimii11
1' then took for tris vizir Ahmad Ibn Abi KhUid." Al-llasan died at Sarakhs,
on the first of Zir 'l-Hijja, A. 11. 236 (June, A. D. S5~1), (some say 233).--Th~
following verses were made in his praise by Ydsuf al-Jawhari :
Could Zohair see Hasan and Ihe manner in which his generosity employs his wealtfl,
Zohair would say, at the sight: " It is he who is the liberal man despite of misfortunes,
and not Harim !"

Towards the end of this work, in the-life of Yahya Ibn Isa lbn Matsi4d1, n e
shall give the anecdote of Zohair and Harim Ibn SinBn (S).-In the life of Abii
Bakr Muhammad al-Khowirezmi mention is made of al-Hasan Ibn Sah1.-Sn-
,.nkhsi means be/onging to Sarnkh.~,which is a city in Khorasan. e 10

(1) Not.itllstanding tbc authority of the IISS. 1 read &, 110'

J
'&L.
(2, That is: Why undertakc a long journey to solicit favours, now that the best of patrons, the vizir al-
Fadl Ibn Sahl is no more?
(3) By the Moslim law, property is liable to a yearly tax of 2 1 2 per cent. This tax is called Z d a t (alms).
and the payment of i t is necessary to render the possession and use of the remaining capital agreeable to God.
In Hamilton's Hedaya, vol. I., \rill be found an account of this tax and its primitive object.
(4)This phrase in the original Arabic is expressed with singular concision, and is yet perfectly clear.
(5) Some time anterior to Islamism, a destructive warfare existed between the tribes of Abs and Dubyin,
but the feud was at length appeased hy Harim Ibn Sinln and al-Hirith Ibn Abf, nho generously paid tlte
price of blood to the relations of those who had fallen in the contest. For this, Zohair Ihn Abi Sulma praises
them both in his celebrated Moallaka.
?, 2
 IBN KR.4LLTICAE'S

~ b Muhammad
( ~ al-Wasan Ibn hIr~harnmndIbn IJar1tin1l)n Ibrnl~imIIm ~ b d
Allah Ibn yazid Ibn Hitirn Ibrl Kabisa lhu al-Muldlab h n Al)i Sufra al-hdi
al-Muhal]abi al-J\iazir (the oizir rlescel?de(edaf;ursU/-itIc~hnl/uborzrl nze,)rhe,
) appointed vizir by Moizz ad-Da~ltitIbn llilwaih (see his
/hr tribe Cf ~ : d , was
life, page 9 55) on Monday, 27th of the first Jumhda, A. If. 339 (Novemhel,,
A D. 950); his powerful influencr, generous disposition, lofty spirit, and firm
administratioll have rendered him cel~bratrd,whilst his acquaintance with lite-
rature and llis friendship b r men of learning reached to an extreme. Previ-
ously to the period at which he was attached to thc srrvice of Moizz ad-Dawlat,
he had suffered greatly from want and distress : in one of lris journeys, after
~lndergoingsevere fatigue, he had a longing for flesh-meat, and not being able
to procure any, he recited extempore the following verses :
Where is death sold, that I may buy it 7 for this life is devoid of good. Oh! lei
death, whose taste (to me) is sweet, come and free me from a detested life ! When I see
a tomb from afar, I wish to be its inhabitant. May the Bcing who granteth tranquillity,
have compassion on the soul of the generous man who will bestow death, a s a charity,
upon one of his brethren l

These verses were heard by a person, ~ v h owas tr.avelling (ill sto~tec.nlS(r-

va12) with him, and whose name was Abd Allah as-Siil;, or, by another account,
Abd 'I-Hasan al-Askallni; this man bought for him a dirhim's worth of meat,
and cooked it, and gave it to him to eat. They then separated, and al-Muhal-
labi having experienced a change of I'orhttlne, bccame ~ i z i rto Moizz ad-Dawlat at
Baghdad, while the person who had travelled with him and purchased the meat
for him, was reduced to poverty; Eraving then learned that al-Muhallabi was
a vizir, he set out to find him and wrote to him these lines :

Hepeat to the vizir, for wh'ose life I wouldsacrifice my own-repeat to him the words
of one who reminds him of what he has forgotten. &&Da you remember when, in a life
of misery, you said : Where is death sold, that l may buy it?"

The vizil-, on reading the note, recollected the circumstance, and, moved
with the joy of doing a generous action, ire ordered seven hundred dirhims to
be given to the writer, and iriscribed these words on the paper : The sinlilitude
 dhose who iry out their sirLstar2ce in ihe service of God, is as n grr.airlo/
corn whiclr bus plndl(ccd seven ears and in every eur a hunclred ., fro,.
c o d giuc~lt rmzr.yTb)(cZ
lo rvlrotlz Ire pleaseh ( I ) . He then praved GodYsbless-
ing 011 him and clothed him in a robe of honour, and appointed him to n place
{Indel.government, so that he might live in easy circumstances.-Al-Muhallhi,
on I~eingraised from penury to the vizirat, composed these lines:

Fortune pitied (me) for my misery, and lamented the length of the sufferings whicll
consumed me; she has granted me what I hoped for, and delivered (me) from what I
apprehended. I shall therefore pardon her former wrongs, and even the crime of
turning my hair to gray.

Bv the same :
In the haste of our separation, whilst my heart was enflamed (toith anguish), the per-
son whom I Ioved said to me : ''\Vhnt will you do on tllc way after (leaving)me?" A I I ~
I replied: " I shall weep for your (loss) the lerlgth of the way."

Among t h e verses said t o have been cornposed by hirn in the time of liis jro- 91 f
verty and nddrcsscd to a 1,rrson in high autlrority, arc the following, which some,
Ilowever-, altril)ute to t\bh Nuwis:

If I asked you to increase my afflictions, such an augmentation would be beyond

your powcr. Were a life such as I have led offered to the dead, they would refuse it.

Abd Ishak as-Sibi, the arrtllor of the epistles (2), says : "I was one day with
the vizir al-Rluhallabi, and hc took a sheet of paper to write, on which Z said
esteinpore :

He has a hand of surpassing liberality by its gifts, and a discourse of which he

' scatters the pearls upon the paper. HStim is concealed in his hand (3), and Sah-
' bAn in his fingers (C).' "

;\.Soiaz ad-llawlat had a Turkish mamliik of singular beauty, named Tikin al-
Jamdir ( 5 ) ;he was extremely fond of him and sent him as the commander of' a
rnilitary expedition against one of the Hamden family. On this, the following
lines were made by the viair al-Muhallabi, who found the youth handsome
enough to adorn a court (G), but not suited to sustain the toils of war :

(There is) a child with the waters (of youth) manlling in his face, and the wood of his
(body) yet tender; he is so like a girl, that liis bosom might be expected soon to swell ;
L12 IBN KHALLIIi AN'S
yet to his slender oaist tliey have hullg a S W O ~and , aroun(i i t a belt which hurls
C ~tied
him; they have made lrirn chicf of an army, but the troop arid thc leadcr of it will
both perish.

And so it really was, the lnalnliik heill$ U ~ S U C C C S Sin~ ~his

~ expcdilion.-~
sentimental line of his is the following :

(My) eyelids parted whca you parted with me, and they mct not again but over a
flou.ing tear.

The rmits of his generous cl~araclerabound. TIC. w a s born at Basra on ;\Ion-

day 26th Muharrarn, A. B. 291 (Deccnkf~cr,A . D. 003), and he died on
Saturday, 26th Shibin, A . H. 352 (September, A.D. !)G.?), wlrilst making a jour-
ney to \Visit. IIis hody was borne to Baghdad, wberc it arrived 011 Wcdnesdav
night, 5th Ramadin of the same year, and was iater-red iri that 1 ) : l r . t of the Nli-
bnL.l~t.!jwcemetery which is called the burial-ground of tllc Koraish.-ilfuhal.
h b i means clescended.f;.onr al-nI~~llnlZab,of wllom we shall give the life. I)],
the death of this vizir, the following elcgy was cornposed by the poet al-Ilusain
Ibn al-Hajjhj (whose life will be found farther on) : 'L< i

People of poets! (hear) the cry of one afflicted; of oiic for whom the joy of con-
solation can no more bc hoped. Give solace to poetry for the loss of the vizir:
poetry weeps blood over him after (exhnztsting) its tears. W C is ticad I the man behind
whom praise toiled ineffectually, and before whom proceetled cIemency (like) the cle-
mency of God. In his death, fortune has overthrown tho fortress to which we retired
for protection against fortune's wrongs. Let thc sons of Buwaih know, that the days
(of their prosperity) are now crossed by affliction.

(1) Koran, surat 2, verse 263.

(2) See page 31.
(3) The generosity of Hbtim is well known.
(4) Sahbin was an ancient Arab celebrated for his eloquence.-(81-Hurtri, p. 42; Rasmussen's dddita-
rnmiu, p. 78.)
(5) Jamddr; officer of the wardrobe.-(De Sacy's Chrestonacsthie, t. I. p. 135 ; t. 11. p. 186.)
(6) The Arabicscholar will perceive that a modification is hcre made in tile sense of the original text.
 TIIE VIZIR NIZAII AL-MULK.

Tllc vizir Abil Ali 31-llnssn Ibn Ali Ibn Ishak Ibn al-Abbis at-Thsi ( n n f i rof91?
~e
T~is) was surnamed NizLm al-Mulk, Kawwim ad-din (the regalator (I) o~rhc
.stale, i~pholdet.r?f' wligion). As-Samini says in his Kit66 nLAnsri6: Rho-
('K A N : a small village near Tbs ; it is said that Nizim al-1\4ulk was from its
c c neighbourhood." He was son to a di/lkrit2 (2), and, after studying the Tra-
clitions and jurisprudence, he entered as k d l 3 (3) into the service of Ali Ibn
Shldin, governor of the city of Balkh; but as heavy sums were extorted fronl
him every year by his employer, he abandoned his post and fled to Diwdd Ibn
Mikiil as-Saljiiki, the father of A l p Arslin. This prince received from him
such proofs of fidelity and attachment, that he gave him over to his son, Alp
Arslin, saying : " Consider him as a parent, and disobey not his counsels."
When Alp Arslin succeeded to the empire, Nizim nl-Mulk took the direction
of affairs, and administered with great talent; he remained in Alp Arslin's ser-
vice ten years. On the death of that prince, liis sons pressed forward to seize
on the empire, but Nizim al-Mulk secured it to Malak Shah, son of Alp Arslin.
From that period and during twenty years, all the power was concentrated in the
hands of tlle vizir, whilst the sultan had nothing more to do than show himself 011
[ h e throne and enjoy thc pleasures of the chase. The khalif al-Muktadi Billah,
having received a visit from Nizim al-RZulk, allowed him to bc seated in his pre-
sence, and addressed him in these terms: "0 Hasan! may God be pleased with
thee in as mucl1 as the Commander of the faithful is pleased with thee." The
court of the vizir Niziin al-Mulk was greatly frequented by doctors of the law and
siifis, towards the latter of whom he was very beneficent. Being asked the rea-
son of the favour which he showed them, he answered : "I was in the service of a
certain emir, whon a sSli came to me and made me a pious exhortation, and
& ' said : Serve Him whose service will be useful to you, and be not taken up with

one whom dogs will eat to-morrow.' I did not understand his meaning ;
" but the emir used to drink from morning to evening, and had some dogs

'' which were ferocious like beasts of prey, and devoured svangers at night;
" now, it happened that being once overcome with intoxication, he went

'' olit alone, and was torn to pieces by the dogs, which did not recognize
 'cl 'c Il3N JiII,\LCTBihN7S
him. I tllen knew that this si~Ghad rcr:rired a revelation on the subjeci,
and I tllrrefore treat these peoplc with rtlspect, in hopes that I may obtain ;I
6 6similar gmce." - O n Ileariag rhe call to p r a y ~ r s , 1 1 ~iinmediately &an-
llolrcd lvlratever occupation lle might be en31ged i n ; and nrlien llre I m i m al-
tiaramain Abli 'I-JZaiIi, and the author of the Epistle ( A ) , nbli 'l-K?tsim al-
Kushairi, calne to visit him, he treated them with the utmost I-espcct and jna&:
,hem sit down on the same sofa with himself. He built a number of colleges,
conypnts, and mosques in dilferent provinces. He was the first who set the
of foundin; a college (5), and ire commenced, A . 11. 4.57 (A. D. I 065),
the construction of that ofDamascus; in the year 4.1511, it was agreed on by every
class of persons that Abii Ishak as-Shirizi should trach ihcrcin; but hc did not
~ m s e n thi~nself, and Abh Nasr Ibn as-Sabbig11, the author of the S'h&rli/,
taugill for twenty days in his place, after which, Abii Ishik accepted (6).
sllall give the full details of this circumstance in the life of Ibri as-Sabbigh, which
see. At the hour of prayer, Abli Ishak used to quit the college and perform llis
tlevotions in a mosqrle ; L Because," said he, I havc been informed that the
greater part of the materials employed in the construction of the college has
been procur4 < illegally."-Nizim al-Mulli learned and taught the Traditions,
and he used to say: " I am conscious of not descrvinz that honour, but I
wish to establish myself in tllc series (7) of persons who have transmitted the
sayings of the Prophet."-The following verses are declared to be his :

After four-score, strength exists not; and thc alacrity of youth is departed. With
staff in hand I resemble Moses, but havc not the gift of prophecy.

Some persons say, however, that these verses are by R'luhammad Ihn Abi
'S-Snkr, whose life shall be given farther on.-Nizlnl al-Mulk was born oti
sis Friday, 2Ist of Zd'l-Kaada, A . H. 4.08 (April, A. D. 101S), at Nawkin, one of
the two cities of which TSs is composed (8). In A. H. h 8 5 , he set out with
Malak Shah for Ispahin, and on Friday night, 10th of Ramadin (October, A. D.
1092), he J~rokehis fast and mounted in his palanquin ; on reaching a village
called Sahna, near Nahiwend, he remarked h a t a great r~umbcrof the Compa-
nions of' the Propliet 11nd been slain at that place in the time of the khalif Omar
Ihn al-Khattib (g), "and happy," said he, '&isthe man who is with them!" He
was then accosted Ly o boy of [he province of Dailam, in the dress of a SIX,\v110
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTJONLRY . b' J. 5
to him to receive a memorial, and when the vizir reached out his hand t,,
take it, be stabbed lrim to the heart with a dagger. Nizbm al-hlulk was born? 10
his pvilion, where he expired, and the murderer tool; to flight, hilt habin!;
slumbled over a tent-rope, he fell and vvas immediately taken and put to
The sultan rode forth without delay to tranquillize the army and console thrill.
The body of the vizir was transported to Ispahan, and there interred. 11 is
said that the assassin was suborned against him by Malak Shah, who was htigllrci
to see him live so long, and coveted the numerous fiefs which he held in his
possession. The sultan survived him for thirty-five days only. This vizir. sal
the ornament of the age in which he lived; his son-in-law, Shihl ad-Daxvlac
Alukitil al-1Bak1.i~whose life will be found farther on, lamented his death in
an elegiac poem containing the following passage :

Nizhm al-Mulk was a precious pearl, formed of pure nobleness by the merciful Cod :
it \\-as so fine that the age knew not its worth, and the Maker, jealous for its honour.
restored it to its shell.

The assassination of Niziim al-Mulk has been attributed also to Tij al-Mulk
Ab6 'l-Ghaniim al-Marzubin Ibn Khosrii Firth, surnamed Ibli Direst ;he was an
enemy of the vizir and in high favour with his sovereign Malak Shah, who, on
the death of Niz%mal-Mulk, appointed him to fill the place of vizir. Ibn 1)irc.st
was himself slain on Monday night, 12th Muharram, 486 (February, X. U.
1093) ; having been attacked and cut to pieces by the young mamlbks belonging
to the household of Niziim al-Mulk. He was aged forty-seven years: the tom11
over the grave of the shaikh Abii Ishak as-Shir9zi was erected by him.

( f ) The word nizdm, here rendered by reyulator, means the thread or string of a pearl necklace. This
title indicated that the existence of the vizir was as necessary for the maintenance of order in the state, as the
string of a necklace is, to hold the pearls together.
(2) See page 77, note (4!.
(3) He appears to have been director of the revenue office, or collector of taxes.
(4)This Epistle is a treatise on shfism.
(8) This, as may be seen in the introduction, is not exact.
(6) Literally: Sat.
(7) In the Arabic text, for,\b!
I
read> h.
(S) See page 80.
(9) The battle of Nahhwend was fought A. H. 21 (A. D. 642). See Price's Retrospect, vol. I.
 AhA Ali al-I-lasan Ibll Ali Ibn Ibrahim al-Juwaini, surnamctl Fakhr al-Kult$l,
(yl*i(/e
qf the Xd[il)s), was s nativr of Juwain, but his liirnily came from Bagh-
dad. This celebrated kBir6 (.rcde) wrote a great deal, and copied books \vhie\l
are now foulld in the hands of the public, and for which a high price is asked,
on account of the beauty of the writing and the eagerness of p u r c b a s e ~ . ~ I. m i d
ad-din lrinl highly in the K/lnrid(t, and then says: “lie \\as one of the
convivial conrpanions of the ntdbek Zinki when that prince was in Syria, sod
afiersards remained undcr a shelter of honour near his son N6r ad-din Mah-
L
L miltl. Ilc then travelled to Egypt during the administration of Ihn Ruzzik,
and Ile dwells there till this day. There is not at present, in Misr, a persol1
who writes like him." Imhd ad-din then cites some passages of a poem ad-
dressed by him to al-Khdi 'I-Fidil, whicb, werc it not so long, we should givr
here. Fakhr al-Kuttib died a t Kairo, A. 11. 584 (A. D. l 1 9 8-g), or 586.-
.Iuwaini means belonging to Juwait?, which is a large region near Naisapilr: i t
great number of learned men bore this patronymic. - Tile following verses,
composed by a native of Irak, were often recited by Fakhr al-Kuttib :
Men feel regret when unable to accomplish their desires, and you see them rejoice
214 and look gay when they succeed, (although their projects are then) as if they had never
been fulfilled (1). Projects and the dreams of sleep are, i n my opinion, nearly related.

(I) He means probably that when a project is executed, it is no jonger a project. The verse is very obscure,
i~ndI may perhaps be mistaken.

AL-KARARISI .

Abir Ali al-IIusain Ibn Ali Ibn Yazid al-Karibisi was a native of Baghdad, and
one of the i m h as-Shifi's most distinguished disciples, having replaced hi111
occasionally at his coilrse of lectures, and possessing a most extensive knowledge
of his doctrines. He colnposed many works on the main principles of jurisl~ru-
&nce and its particular applications; he was skilled in doelrratie theology, and
learned iri the Traditions. He wrote works on that branch or science lVhiclr
is called nl-Jcrr li uln ' t - TikliZ ( i c l e n j s i f i (1, and oil
other srrljeets. A great number of prrsons were instructed by t ~ i min juris-
Iwudcnce. He died A. 11. 245, or, according to a statement whicl~ appears
more correct, in 248 (A. D. S62-3).-Ka1.n"bi'si is formed from Xcrrn'Gis, whicl.1
word designales clothes made of a sort of coarse cloth; the singular is X-irhtis -
i t is a Persian word, altered in its pronunciation to suit the genius of he Arabic
I;~ngt~agc (2). This doctor sold cloth of that sort, and was therefore called ([l-
I;rrt*iiblsi(tlre cZotJtier).

it) The science of al-Jarh ura 't-Tddil treats of thr? credibitity of Traditiooists.-See Bajji Khalifh, Ro.
40C9. This term serves also to designate the inquest made by the k i d i into the character of wilnesses. See
Ilarnilton's Bedova, vol. 11. p. 672.-In d e Arabic text of Ibn Khallikln, for -,d\ntad 1 was
L
led into this mistake by a note of Reiske's, in the Annals o f A b h ']-Fed& vol. 11. p 691, and b j a passage in
RI. d e Sacy's Clirestornatl~ie,t. I p. 39. They are both i n the wrong.
(2) The original Persian word is Kirpds

ABU ALI IBN KHAIRAN.

AbA Ali al-Ilusnin Ibn Silib Ibn lilbair4n was a ,jurisconsull of the sect of
as-Shjfi and most eminent for his piety ; Ile was also one of their most talented
teachers. The place of kLdi at Baghdad was offered 10 him in the khalifat of
nl-Mcktadir, and on his refusal to accept it, he was kept under arrest (l) in his
house bv order of the vizir Ali Ibn Isa, who, when remonstrated with on the
subject, answered: RIy sole intention was to have it said of our epoch, that
'L there existed in it one who was kept under arrest in his house, in order that

" he might be constrained to accept the place of Liidi." Ibn Khairin reproached
Ibn Suraij his acceptance of that oGce, and told him that such a thing was not
litled for persons of their sect, but fol* hose of Abd Hanifa's (2). According
to Abii 'l-Ali Ibil al-Askari, this doctor died on Tuesday, 16th of Zli 'l-Hijja,
'4. B. 320 (December, A . D. 932) ; but the h 6 i s AbB 'l-Hasan ad-Dirakutni
53
]'laces his death in illr year 310; this stntcm~ntis declarr(1 l)v , h e lihalil, [I,

1~ correct, nr~dhr pronollncrs Abil 'I-All's er~>or~rotls.

tn the dictionaries.
(2, T h e Silafite doctors frequently relwoached those o r 1 1 1 ~sect of A b b Manlln witil meddling in worldly
rnalters and acceptir~gplacrs under goverr~rnel~t.

' V I E KADI IIUSAIN.

Aii al-ilusain lbrl Muhammad lbn Allmad al-Marwarriltli, a jut~isconsulr

01' I he Shafite sect and known by the title of the Rcidi (l), was a doctor of hiell
iiuthority and autllor of the treatise on law, entitled at-T~ili'ha(notes). Ill
treating some points of doctrine, l ~ efollomed a system peculiar to himself, and
when the Imim al-EIaramain and al-Ghazzili say (the former in his Nil~iycrt
01-~Mcitlrrb,and the latter in his Bn.~i% itnil T a w s i t ) , " Tlte Xmcidis q - S , " i t is he
\vhom thcy mean and no other. I-Ic lenrrled jnrisprudcnce I'rom al-KaRi1 al-
Marwazi (whose life will be found among those of the Abd Allahs), and he com-
posed works on the mail) principles of jurisprudence, on its particular applica-
tions, arid on contr-overted subjects. I-Ie continued (till his dentll) to act as
judge, professor, and n z r f i , and he taught the science of thc law to a number of
c~ninentmen, amongst whom were al-Farri al-Baghawi, the author of the fib-
(lib, the commentarny on the Sunnn, and other works. The kcidi lI11sain died
.l. B. 462 (A. D. 1069-70), at Marwarriid, of which place we llarr already
s pokcn (see page 50).

,iI When the Shafites speak of the kddi, they mean the Ilusain bcre mentioned, but i n treating of the
JAM\, this denomination is given by the learned i n the Sunnu tu Abh Bakr
'' priilciples of jurisprudence
"al-Bhliilhni. W h c r ~ the ttoo kddis are spoken of, it is the latter artd A l ~ dal-Jabllcir al-3fotazili who ate
" meant; and the shaikh is either A b b 'l-Hasan al-Ashbri o r Abh Muhammad al-Juwaini; t h e word imdm
" designates either the Imhm al-Haramein or Fakhr ad-din ar-Rbzi."-(AI-Ybfi.)
 ATZlJ A1,I AS-SINJI.

AbG illi al-llusain Ibn Shoaib Ihn Muhammad as-Sinji, a doctor ol' the sect
,,fas-Sliifi and one of their most eminent imbms, studied jurisprudence in Ktro--
isasan urlder al-Kafl'hl al-Marwazi ; he had for condisciples the /in& lIusain, (sec. n l5
the I)reccditig article,) and Abli Muhammad al-Juwaini, the father of tlje inriul
slrHa~.amain (whose lives we shall give later). ZIe wrote a commentary on A b ~ i
jjakr ibn al-Haddid al-Misri's Fotsci (or c~eleue2oporentof the Sliofire doc,r.N~e.\j;
r his commentary has not been equalled, although many 0 ther-s have been com-
posed on the same work, one of which is by his own professor al-Kafil, and an-
other by the kidi A b i 't-Taiyb at-Tabari. Ile is also author of a great com-
mentary on the Tc~Zkhisof Abfi 'l-Abbis Ibn al-Kiss; this wo1.k is rare. An-
other of his productions is the ilfnjnzri or col/ectiotz (colalrrini~iga l ~expositiotr
(4'the Shafite doctrines ( I ) ). He is cited by ALli Hamid al-Ghazzili in thr
W-asit. As-Sinji m the first who possessed an equal acquaintance with t l l ~
svstem of jurisprudence followed in Ir%kand that practised in Khorasan. Thv
people of Marw, at that period, considered him as their chief ju~~isconsult.Hr
died some time after the four hundred and thirtieth year of the 'f1ijr.a (A. D
1038-g).-Sitit' means bdongi~?glo Sinj, a large village near Marw.

:l)Hajji Khalifa.

AL-FARRA AL-BAGHA WT.

Abli Muhammad al-Husaiu Ibn Masiid Ibn Muhamnlad, more generally known
by the title of al-Farri al-Baghawi, was a doctor of the sect of as-ShM, a 'ha-
ditionist and a commentator on the KorLn : in the ditrerent sciences he was a sea
of knowledge. He learned jurisprudeuce from the kddi Husain (see his Zge,
/)clge 41 S), and composed a commentary on the Word of God (die Koran), and
a11 explanation of the obscurities in the sayings of the Prophet (deSunno); he

taught the Traditions and professed (jurisprudence), in which he never gave les-
sons but in a swe of legal puriiy (I). He is author of many works, such as
 $20 IHN litL4LLII<.AN'S
he 'Ih/tdii, (arrnngemenl) treating of jurisprudence; all cvplatlalion of [lre
SIL,l,lnor Traditions; the ililndlinr a!-Tmzd ( I ? z u ~ o.f~ .~s v ~ b t i o t cwhich
), is a
commentai y on the Koio,nrl; the Masdbih (li@ts) ( 2 ) ; the J r ~ n dbuin rrs-Sa/l:-
haLz he conjonclion rf thr rmo Saltilrs) (R), etc. He died in the month of
Sha\v7vll, A . H. 510 (February, A. D. 1117), at MarwarrSd, and was interred
in the cemetery of Tilakin, close by the grave of his master [he h-rich' Husain.
His tomb is famous among the people of that coontry. I have read (/lou~e~er) in
a by the s/znik/z Ahd al-Azim al-Mundiri, and cntitled nZ-Fcrlvdid
n,y-Snfirriynitt*norllitlgnotes ?), that a l - F a d al-Uaghawi died A . H. 51 6 (A. D.
1122-3): this I foi~ndwritten in his own hand. Ife relates also : l l A wife of
'L this doctor died, and he refused to accept any portion of rhe inheritance left

6 1 by her : he used also to live on dry bread, but having been \)lamed for this

an nfpctatio~zofnlrstinence), he ate his bread with olive oil."-Farrd means

a preparer or seller of firs.-4s-Samjni says in his Kitlib al-Ansdb: ''Raghnrr~i
is the relative adjective derived from BagA or Bughslzrir, which is the name
I' of a town in Khorasan, lying between illarw and Herat; this adjec~iveis
L formed irregularly ."

(1) Sec the Tableau ge'ndrc~lde I'Empire Othoman, tom 11. p. 7.

(2) This is the work which was remodelled by the shaikh W a l i ad-din Mahmfxd, and cntliled by him Mish.
kdt al-Masllbth (the niche for the lights). Tlle ilfishkdt has bee11 translated into English by Capt. &fatthews.
(3) That is: The union of the Traditions found in Sahah of al-Bokhiri and in that of Muslim.

A b i ~Abd Allall al-Husain Ibn al-Hasan 1bn Mul~amrnadI l ~ nHalim, a doctor

of the sect of as-Shiili and known iry the name of al-Halimi, was born in Jurjjn,
A. H. 338 ( A . D. 949-SO), whence he was carried ( d e n yet n child) to Bo-
khhra. He wrote down the Traditions under the dictation of Abd Bakr Muham-
mad Ibn Ahmad lbn Habib and other masters. !\>er studying jurispr~ldence
under Abli Ratr nl-Udani and al-Kaflil as-Slrishi, he I~ecnrnea n irndm of high
consideration and aut,hority in Transoxiana. 1Ie had an excellent manner of
treating points of the SllaGte doct~nine. When at Raisapdr, he taught the Tra-
ditions, and al-%fiz al-IlAkirn (Ibn U/-Bab-i)and others gave Traditions on llis
;luthority. IIis death tooli place on the first JumBda (some say on tlle first Rabi , 2
A . H. 4.03 (end of A. D. 104 2).-Halirni is derived from Hnli~~r, whirl1 was the
rlanle of his great-grandfather.

AL-WANNI AL-FARADI.

AbS Alxl Allah al-Husain Ibn Muhammad al-Wanni al-Faradi ( I ) was a skil-
ful accountant, a doctor of the highest authority in the science of partitions, and
a composer of many excellcnt works. He learned the Traditions from the dis-
ciples of Ahh Ali as-Saffir and others, and taught them to the Khatib at-Tabrizi,
to Abd Hakim al-Khabri (2), the author of the Talk/iis ji 'l-Hisn'b (treatise err
and olhers. He was al-Khabri's master in arithmetic and the sci-
nr.ii/~n~etic),
ence of partitions. His instructions and his books were profitable to great num-
hers. He died a martyr at Baghdad in the month of Zd 'l-Hijja, A. H. 451
(January, A. D. 1060), having been slain in the troubles caused by al-Basisiri
(see page I73).-Wanni means belongir2g. to Wbnr2, a village in one of thc
cantons of Kfihestan ; I imagine that it was his native place.

( i )8 1 - F a r a d i ; learned in tlre science of Partitions (FurSdl; by which term is designated that branch of
knowledge which is requisite for the solution of questions relative to the partition of inherited property
amongst heirs. Those nearest related to the deceased are entitled to a larger share t h h the others, and the
amount of each share depends upon the degree of relationship. As it therefore frequently happened that
such questions could not be resolved b u t by the aid of the arithmetic of fractions and the first principles of
crlgebra, there were then but few doctors capable of treating them, and when they possessed that talent, the
honourable title of al-Faradi was conferred on them by their contemporaries. The science of partitions is
coeval with Islamism.
(a) AbQ Haktm Abd Allah Ibn Ibrilhim ol-'Faradi al-Khabri (native of Khabr, a plaae i n or war Nag-
saplr) studied jurisprudence under the shailih Abh Ishak as-ShtrAzi, but he became eminent as an arithme-
tician and a doctor in the science of partitions, o n which he wrote some works. He was wellacquainted with
pure Arabic and composed a commentary on the Hamdsa and another on the poems of al-Mutanabbi. He
had learned a great number of the Traditions, and was a man of holy life. His writing was beautiful and
correct. He died suddenly, A. H. 476 ( A . D . 1084).-(Tubaat as-Shdfyin.)
 -4bti ilbd Allah al-Iiusairl Ib11 Nasr 11111Rlttllanlmad lbrl al-Ilusain 1f.m al-Khsim
Ibn Khamis Ihn AQmil>nl-&aabi ;,I-Juh;illi \\-as a ~ ~ a t i v01'e M O S U ~and
, is gene-
hllown by tile name of' Ibn Klmmis. This ~ O C ~ O who I ~ , bclongcd to the sect

as-shPfi and berth the titles of 'raj al-Islhn1 (crowtt Of L ~ f ~ l ~ l ~ iand

~n,jMajij
. of"rrligWt/),
ill(-din (gl()r.l- . studied jurisprtldence at Bnglldad under Abii Ramid
ill-Gllazzili and otlrer masters ; he (thetl) 1)ecame kidi of Rahabat MAlilc Ibrl
rrauk , I , , and afterwards retnrncd to Mosul, wllel-C he settled. He composed
Inany works, such as the Mnncikib aGA61~ir(merils c$ lhe .saints), written in
~ l l rslyle of al-liushairi's Epistle ( 2 ) ; the fifar~dsiknd1'1aj; (rites of ihe ),if-
,~i.ii~togc,) ; and the Akhhar nl-Muniimiit (nccoutrts of clreans). He is men-
tioned with commendation by A b i Saad as-Samini in his History. Hc died irk
t l ~ emonth of the second Rabi, A. I-I. 552 (May, A . D. 1 1 57).-K1~nnzi.s was the
name of his great-grandfather's grandfather.-h~hn,li means belonging to h-
I,rr~,ra,a village near Mosul and in the proximity of' that other village in whiclr is
the celebrated well called A!R "nf-h-04-dra,the waters of which, when taken in
Ijaths, are salutarv in cases of palsy and scrofula (3); it lies in the flat country
of Mosul, and lower down than that city, from which it is farther off than
Juhaina. Juhani is also the relative adjective derived from J1~/2ai/tn,the namv
01' a great tribe descended from Kodiia.--liuabi means hrio~~ging t o Kalrb ;
tlrer-c are four tribes of this name, but I do not kno~vto which Ibn Klla~l-lis
Iwlonged .

1 T11i.c tour^, called also ar-Rahaha, was situated on the Eupbralcs, bcl\\eeo ar-RahLa and Aaoa- It is
r ~ ~ e n t i o ~In~tllc
c d Geography of Abh 'l-Fed&
12) TIlc Epistle (risdla)of Abd al-Kar'lm al-Kushairi trwts of sbfisnr; it is divided into three sections and
rontains tifty-four chapters. I t is considered a work of thc Iiighcst authority on the subject. A u m b e r of
doctors have composed commentaries upon it.-(Bajji Iiha1ifil.)-A list of the chap~erscontained in this cele-
brated risdla is given by M. de Hammer, i n t l ~ eCatalogue of his orie~lttrlmanuscripts, under tlii No. 291.
(3) Scr~fitlu,SO I hilye translated bp conjecture the words ur-ridh 01-btlridtc, vhich signify literally cold
winds, or perhal~scoltl htimolcrs.
 AbQ Blughith al-EIusain Ibn Manslir al-Hallij, a celebi*atedascetic, was a 113-

tive of al-naida, a town in the province of Fars, but he passed his youth in MrQ-
sit and Irak. Ile was a disciple of Abd 'I-KPsim al-Junaid, and people are still
a t variance respecting his true character; some extolling him to the utmost,
whilst others treat him as an infidel'. I read in Abii Himid al-Ghazzili's ~ t l i i h -
krit al-Al~rvcira long chapter on him, justifying the singular expressions whiclt
he uttered, such as I mn ihe Truth; there is ~zoughtin Paradise Gut God, and
assertions of a similar nature, the very mention of which is shocking to the
ears (I). Al-Ghazzbli places all these expressions in a good light, and gives
them an interpretation (by which their impiev is remoued j; he says also that
he was led into them from excessive love (tour~nrrtsGod) and extreme desire (to
enjoy /]is presence), and that these expressions may be assimilated to the fol-
lowing :
I am he whom I love, and he whom J love is I ; we are two souls dwelling in one 2P7
body. When thou seest me, thou seest him; and when thou seest him, thou seest us.

Among the verses attributed to al-Hallij, and containing allusions expressed in

the mystical style of the siifis, are tlie following (which, however, are said to
have been written by Abii 'l-KBsim Samnbn Ibn Hamza the ascetic (2) to ;I
person who wrote to inquire from him how he was):
Thou didst send to ask how I was, and what care and sadness I felt in thy ab-
sence (3). 1 had not been, did I know how I was; and there were no I had not been,
did I know how I was not (4).

Such also is this verse in the same style:

H e threw him into the ocean with his hands tied behind his back, and said to him:
" Beware 1 beware l lest thou gettest wet (5)!
"

Other verses of the same cast have also been attributed to him. Abii Bakr
Ibn Thawhba al-Kasri relates that he heard al-Husain Ibn Mansfir al-Hallij say,
when undergoing the torture of the rack (6) :
I sought through every land a place of repose, but found it not; I obeyed my de-
sires, and they made of me a slave; had I been content (&h my lot), I had been free.
 In a the llistorv of al-Hallij is long to relate, his fate is well knowil,
and ~~d holvelll all secret thiop !-The gandfather of al-IIalli~~ was a Magian ;
hc himself a disciple of a]-Junaid and others of' that class, and most of the
learned doctors of' the time g;lre their formal opinion that i t W a s lawful to put
llin1 t o death (7). It is said tllat Abd 'l-Abbis Ibn Suraij, on being asked what
Ire thought of him, this answer: "He is a illan whose true character is
hidden from ~ ~ l pand , I sl,all illerefore abstain t - o m giving any opinion R-
6 6 specling h i m . ' At an assemblv held by Himid ibn nl-Abbis, vizir to al-Muk-
itldir, a discourse was held by al-Hallij, and the kidi ibn bar, who was 1tr.e-
sent, gave a falr"rr (0,. judicilr2 opinion) that lle merited death; this hc \vrote
ciolvn ~yitllhis own hand, and the same declaration was signed by the other
Joctors who were there. On this, al-I-Jallij said to [hem : '' You cannol flog me,
nuither call you spill nly blood (8); and it is not lawful for you to take hold
. 6 of a pretest against me so that YOU may authorize the slzcdtling of m y bIood:

&' m y belief is Islamisn~,founded on the Suizllu; I admit the pre-erninc~l~e O!

the four i l ~ l c i ~ ) ?ofs , the well-directed khalifs (9j, and ol' the rest of the ten
Companions (10); may the favour of God bo upon them ! I have besides com-
'' posed works on the Su~rizcz,which are to bc fbund irt the I)oolisellers'. So
'' on God-on Cod (do I call) that he protect my blootl." I-Jc continued re-
peating these wortls whilst they were writing down their, opinions, and when
rhey had finished and mithdra\~n, al-Hallhj was taken to priso11. The vizir
r hen informed al-Muktadir, I)y letter, of the result of the mccttins, and sent
!~imthe decisions of the doctors; to this, answer was made, t11at since the kitlis
had given their opinion that he merited death, he should be handed over to [he
cel~iefof the police guards, who should inflict on him one thousand strokes of a
\\hip, and another thousand if his dear11 clid not ensue, and that he slloi~ltlthe11
te t i The vizi I-, in consequence; handed al-llollij over to the cllicf' of
the policc guards, whom he informed of the orders given by al-Muktadir ; he
said to him also : '(If al-Hallij does not expire under the Lastonnade, cut on' one
'' of his hands, then one of his feet, then the oihe~bIland, then the other foot;
then strike off his head and burn his body. And if he fry to beguile you, and
" say to you tlrat lie will make the Euphrales and Tigris run gold and silver,
do not hearken to llinl nor suspend his pi~nisl~~neot." The chief of the po-
lice received the' prisoner that night, and the next morning, which \ras Tuesday,
23rd (or, as some say, 34 th) of Zd 'l-Iiaada, A. 11. 308 (\larcll, A . D. 9223,
he brought him to the Bbb at-Tbk (the gate cf' I I I ~ where an im- 218
lnense multitude of people was assembled. The executioner inflicted one thou-
sand strokrs on al-lIallinj, who did not utter a groan, but said to the ellief of
the ~ o l i c cguards, towards the six hundredth : "Let me be brought near you,
" for I have an advice to give you which will be worth the capture of Constan-

tinople."-"1 have been already told," replied the other, that you ~ v ~ ~ l d
say this and more; and it is not in my power to suspend your punishment.'*
After the infliction of the bastinado, his four limbs were cut off; he was then
beheaded, his body was consumed by fire, the ashes were cast into the Tigris,
and the head was stuck up at Baghdad, on the bridge. His disciples flattered
themselves with the hopes of his returning (on catsth) after forty days, and as n
great inundation of tlre Tigris occurred the same year, they pretended that it was
Iu~oduccdby the ashes of al-1IalIBj which had h e n thrown into the river. Some
of his partisans asscr~cdtlrat he ltad not bee11 put to dealh, but that his likeness
had been given to one of his enemies (tvho thus sufered in his stend). It
\vould he too long to enter in10 a full account of his conduct, but what we have
]>eresaid may sunice.-He received the surname of 02-IIc1EIciibecause he used
to sit by 111e shop of a cotton-carder ( h a l l 3 whom he (orw d(y) asked to do
sorne husiness for him ;-"But I myself am bi~sycarding ;" answered the other.
- - ' d D o my business," said 81-Hallij, "and I will card for you." The mail
then vent off, leaving hirn there, and on his return he found all his cottorr
carded.--Aftrr finishing this notice, I found in a work on the principles of
religion, composed by the ImBm al-Haramain Abli 'l-MaBli al-Juvaini, and ell-
titled 0s-Shdmil, a passage which it is necessary for me to mention, and irl
which 1 am obliged to point out an error. That doctor says : " Some of our
" best and solindest authorities state that the three persons (~zanzedbelourt) a n -
' ' spired to overthrow the (Moslin,) empire, and undertook to disorganise the
state and gain over the hearts of the people 10 themselves. Each of them then
L ' poceeded to a particular region : al-Jannibi went to the province of al-
AhSi (I l ) ; Ibn al-M\lukaffa peoetrated into the country of the Turks; and
c al-Hallij ired to Baghdad, the sovereign of nlhich eity condemned him
'' to death : the failure of the project was caused by the difficulty of seducing
" the people of Irak." Now, this statement cannot be received bv. any. histo-
54
!,.SS IBN IiHALLIKAN'S
rian ; fool*these three persons were not contemporaries ; as for :\l-lJallQj and al-
JannHlli, they lived, it is true, a t the snnle period, h114I do not knojv that
they ever (42)). I n the follo\\rin$ article we shall relntc who tllis al-
Jannf bi was.

(1) The chief point of the shfi doctrine seems to he that thc human soul IS an ematlalion, or perhaps a par-
lion of the Divinity. On the death of the body, the soul is absorbed into the Creator ; anti this sonletimes hap-
pens even in life during the state of excitation called I ~ d l by the sOfis. Most of the singular expressioas
\,hi& &hockedthe orthodox Moslims, are easily explained on this princigle. Onc of the clearest accounts o f
qfifismis given by & deI.
Sacy in the Notices e t Extraics, torn. X I 1
(2) samnbn was a sbfi and contemporary with al-Junaid. JlZmi has givcn a short account of him in the
h"Vfah&tal-Uns.
(31 In the Arabic text, this verse and the foregoing parcnthcsis arc not givcn till some lines lower d0n.n.
(4)Such is the literal translation of this strange verse; its meaning is above my comprehension.
(5) This is manifestly directed against the doctrine of prcdestination.
(6) Literally: When on the mood.
(7) Some doctors of very high authority have considcred him as a great saint, a n d he \\as loolicd on as ,,
rrrirrtyr by AbO Hlmid al-Ghazzlli, Abd al-ICidir Mdhi ad-din, and Shihib ad-din as-Sahraurdi.-(,&l-
Yiri.)
(8) Literally: M y back is under protection and m y Blood is prohibited.
(9)The nell-directed khalifs, al-Ehulafd a r - R d s h i d ? ~were
, Abfi Bakr, Omar, Othman, and Ali.
(10) The others were Talha, Zubair, Saad Ibn Abi Waklcils, hbd dr-Rahmdn Ibii Auf, Abh Obaida Ibn
al-Jarrih, and Satd Ibn Zaid. Muhammad had declared to them that they should cntcr paradise.
(11)81-Ahsa, called by Europeans Lahsa, is a town in Arabia, to the south-west of the Persian Gulf.
(12) The author now proceeds to give the lives of al-Jannbbi and Ibn al-Mukaffa, neglecting, in this case,
the alphabetical arrangement of his work. I n his account of the latter, he cortcludes his refutation of t h p
Imim al-Haramain's statement.

AL-JANNABI.

Abfi Tihir Sulaimkn Ibn Abi Said al-Hasan Ibn B a h r h al-Kirmiti was the
chief of the Karmats, whose wars and revolts against the khalifs and (Moslint)
[minces are suficiently known to dispense with our lengthening this article by
giving an account of them ( I ) ;but if God enable me to compose my great his-
tory (2). I shall give a detailed narrative of their proceedings. It is incumbent
on me, h~wever,since I have spoken of them here, to state briefly what they
were; (as it is nty desire) that some mention of them should be found in this
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. !&-2'i
\~orl;.--hlp r~rofessorIZZ ad-din Ali, surnamed lbn al-i\thir, Gives in his greai
historical work, tile K~in7i2,a long account of the origin of this sect, and,
unrlp,s

each year, he relates what happened to them during that period. It is thi:.
source which supplies me with the following passages, in extracting I
was attentive to aim at concision. ITe makes the first mention of them undeln
the year 278 (A. D. 891-2), where he says : In this year, some people of the
~a\viid, or cultivated country, around Kufa, and who are called the Karmats,
L' became disorderly." He then gives the particulars of the rise of this seec,
irnd the following is a summary extract from his relation : There appeared a 219
man who made an outward show of devotion, self-mortification, and austerity
of life; he plaited (baskets and other objects) with palm-tree leaves, and sub-
('sisted on the produce of their sale. For some time he invited the people to
(join) an imim belonging to the blessed family of the Prophet, and his appeal
was answered by great numbers (3), who were induced, from different cir-
cumstances in his conduct, to place a perfect reliance on his sincerity. The
report of their proceeding.^ spread throughout the territory of Kiifa." Ite
then says under the year 286 (A. D. 899) : "In this year appeared, in (the
z c e al-Bahrain, a man of the Karmat sect, who bore the name of
' ' ~ ~ r o c ) i ~cf)
'LAbri Said al-Jannfbi, and who was joined by a number of Karmats and of
the Arabs of the Desert; his party having thus become strong, he (attacked
n12d) slew the people of the neighbouring villages (4). This AbB Said used
" to sell food, and lie persuaded his purcllasrrs h a t in buying it, they did an
" act agreeable to God (5). Their strength then became great and they ap-
proached the regions of Basra, on which the khalif al-Motadid Billah sent
'Lagainst them an army under the command of al-Abbis Ihn Amr al-Ghanani.
A vigorous action ensued, in which the troops of al-AbbHs were routed and he
himself taken prisoner. This happened towards the end of the month of
L' ShPbin, 287, between Basra and Bahrain. Abb Said put his prisoners to
death and burned their bodies, but he spared the life of al-Abbis, and dis-
" missed him after a lapse of some days; telling him to go to his master and

inform him of he had witnessed. AI-hbbls arrived at Baghdad in the

fl monih of Ramadan of that year and entered into the presence of the khalif,

' L who clothed him in a robe of honour. The Karmats then penetrated into
" Syria in A. H. 289, and a number of combats, too long to he related, en-
S.18 IBN I(KALL1KAN'S
brlween the two partirs. In the year 30' (A. D. 913-4), Abii Said
a al-Jannd]ji was slain in a I~athby one of his eunuchs, ar~clwas succeeded bv
his son Abh Thhir Sulaimbn. At the period OF his death, Abil Said was in
p O ~ S e ~ SOF
i o nHajar, 81-Kalif, at-Tiif, and the rest of the prosince of Ihh-
rain. In thc rnontll of the second Rabi, A . IT. 31 1 (comrnencerrlent
AURUS(, A - I). 0.)3), Ah6 Tihir marched his army to nasla and occupied
that city wilhout meeting any serious ~*esistanee. They scaled its \valls
drlriflS [he by means of rope-ladders made of (cat~zeh')hair, and hav-
ing been attacked on the first alarm, they slew the govcrnor of the city and
L' llllt a part of their adse~sariesto (he sword ; the rest took to flight. During
the seventeen days that Abli TBllir remained at Basra, he was occupied in
sending off ihe property taken from the inhabitants, afier which he t-etumed
io his own country. The Iiarmats continued, till thc year 317 (A. D. 929),
to fill the provinces with devastation, and lap hem waste with fire and sword,
cLcaptivityandpillage. In that year, the pilgrims arrived safely at Mekka, but
[hey were there attacked, on the day of Tarwiya ( G ) (8th Zli 'I-H+), by
Abii Tillir the Karmat, who plundered their property and slew them even in
the precincts of the Sacred Mosque and in the Kousc of God itself. They
tore the black stone out of the wall of the Kaaba and sent i t to Hajar ;
6 4 and they slew the emir of Mekka and a number of shctr$s who had sallied
a out to attack thein. They broke down the door of thc Kaabs, and orle of
them monnted up to pull away the water-spout (T),but he fell and was killed.
They threw some of the slain into the xvell Zamzam, and buried the others
( l in the Sacred Mosque, without winding sheets, or w&hing or prayers (8).
" The cloth covering of the Kaaba was taken off by tlreir cl~iefand shared
" amolrg his followers, and they plundered the llouses of the people of Mekka.

L When intelligence of this reached al-Mahdi Obaid Allah, lord of Ifisiki~a(g),

he wrote to al-Jannibi, condemning his conduct and reprehending him

" most severely (1 0). By {what y o u have committed, said he, you have jus-
" r$ed the accusation of infideliv brought against our sect, arzd the tide
" of im piol~sgiven to the missionaries acting for. our dynasty ; and $you
" restore not thor rr~hicll you have taken from the inhabitants ofikhelika, front
" the pilghnrs, and ,fram others,-yyou replace not d e black stone and
" the covering. o f the ICnnbn, cve shall rozoutrce you lotlt irr t/risxvorld and in
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 6-29
the e x On the receipt of this letter, he replaced the stone, and restor~~l
c to tllc people of Mekkn as much of their property as he could get back fronl

his followers. ' We took it,' said they, hy order, and by order \ve give it
back.' " Begkem (I l ) at-Turki, who was emir of Baghdad and Irak at that
time, had offered them fifty thousand dinars to induce them to restore the black $20
stone, but they refused ; now, however, they gave it back. Another historiNl
says : "They resrored it to its place in the Kaaba on the 5th of Zb 'I-Kaada, 01.
25 '1-Hijja, of that gear (A.H. 339), in the khalifat of al-Muti Lillah. WhclL
he (Abzi Tdhir) carried it off, three strong camels could scarcely hear i t s
weight, but when they restored it, one weak camel bore. i t back without sufl
fering (/;-077z fatigrrc) (I",."-I must (tzocr))observe that the statement of rnv
~naster(Ihn 02-Atlrir) respecting al-3Tahdi's letter to al-Kirmiti on the subject of
the black stone and its restoration in consequence, cannot be correct; for al-
Mahdi died A. H. 322 ( A . D . 934.),and the stone was sent back A. H. 330
(A. D , 950-l), seventeen years after his death.-A little farther on, my master
says : When they restored the stone, they first carried it to Kiifa and hung it
up in the mosque, for public inspection; and they then bore it to Mekka, after
its having remained wit11 them twenty-two years."-It is said, however, bp
another historian, that it was restored by Ibn Shabr, one of Abd Said (al-Jannn'-
bis) favourite partisans. My master then says, under the year 360 (A. D.
970-1 ) : The Karmats came to Damascus, took it and slew the Egyptian go-
" vernor, Jaafar Ibn Falbh." (We have already made some mention of this
( p a g e 327) in the life of Jaafar.) ' l Then the Karmat army reached Ain
Shams near the gates of Kairo and defeated the Egyptian troops, but it subse-
" quently retired, having been vanquished in its turn by the people of Misr."

-On the whole, no Moslims, either before or after them, committed such crimes
against Islamism as they: most of Irak, and of the land of the East (13). the pr*
vince of Hijlz, Syria, and the country up to the gates of Misr fell into their
power. When they took away the stone, they left it at Hajar, their head-
quarters.-Ab8 TPhir was killed A. H. 332 (A. D. 943-4).-Kirmdi is a rela-
tive adjective ; the word karnzatrr, when employed as a noun common, signifies
the ccloseness of one pnrl of a thing to another port ; thus they say of
writing and of a mode of walking that they are mukarmit, when the letters of
the writing are close to each other, and when B person takes short steps in
 420 IRN ICTIALLIKAE'S
u-alki,rg (16) : the Abd Said of \r.hom we arc speaking was a sh0r.t squat mall,
of a ta\vnv colour and ill-looking; and for this rcasolr he was called li6',7lili. A
long chapter on the proceedings of the Karmats is given 1 ) ~the kldi al-BAkilAni
in],is work, entitled Asrri, rrl-Hdtiniyn ( ~ c c t ~~t s? the f b r i l h i l e s ).-Ja,2nCib1
means helongirlg to Jiznndbn, which is a town in one of the cantons of Fars,
contiguous to Bahrain, and situated near Sir5f; the Karmats came from this place,
and were therefore called Jn/~nn"bdes. - A - A / I ~ is
F a~ tract of country in the
same region, many towns such as Jannjba, Ilajar, and al-Katif. Ahsd
is the of JIi<ri,which word denotes water absorbed b y a sandy soil till it
rraches a hard stratum by which it is retained; the Arabs dig away the sand
rill thev find the water and extract it. When a place contains much land of
tllis nature, i t is called nl--4hsn" and becomes Itnown by no other name.-R&-
live to Ral~ruin,al-Jawhari says in his Sahih: '' A2-Bnl~rtlinis a town ; the
adjective derived from it is Bahrani." (Abii Mrrnsiir Muhur12nzad)al-Azhari
says: LLACBahmin (the two seas) is in the dual number, and it was so named
for the reason that in the region where its towns are situated, and near the
i L gate of al-Ahsi and the villages of Aajar, lies n lake at tcn pamsangi distance

from the Great Green Ocean (the Persian Guy); this lake is three miles
'' long and as many broad; it does not overflow, and its waters are tranquil and
salt." All the above-men tioned places are in that part of Arabia which is
hehind Basra, and reaches to the confines of JIijiz; they lic on the coast of the
sol sea which touches Yemen and India, and are near the island of Kais Ibn Omaira,
called vulgarly Kaish: this island is situated between Om5u and Fars. In the
same neighbourhood are RCmhormuz and other towns.--We shall IIOW speak of
Ibn a l - M ~ ~ k a f f i .

(1) For the history of the Karmats; the reader may consult the Annals of Abn 'I-Fedh; Price's Retrospect
of Muhammadan History; and, above all, M. de Sacy's Exposd de I'Histoire des Driizes.
(2) This work was never completed.
(3) The Ezposd de I'Histoil-e des Druzes is the best commentary that can be given on these proceedings.
(4) This was of course n most agreeable pastime for the nomadic Arabs, who detested, and detest still the
dwellers in towns.
(B) Compare this wit11 a passage in the Bxposd, introduction, page 187.
. (6) See Reislie's Abil 'l-Fedd, tom. 11. p. 643.
(7) The celebrated water-spout, or Milzbb, was o f gold.
(S) A11 of which are essential in a Woslim interment.
 IIIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY,
(g) See Druzes, introduction, page 218.
(10)Literally : H e raised up the resurrection upon him. Sce note (l), page 11
(ii)~ e g k e m,&d ; such is the true orthography of the name, n i t Yahkom G., as i n the printed t c ~ i ,
f-
nor Bahcam, as Reisbc has it in the Annals of AbO 'I-Fedd. The autograph MS. of lhat \pork, and ,
in the Bib. d u Koi, writes this name correctly, and ad-Dahabi, in his Annals, year 391 (hlS.Pu'o.646),places
under the letter B, in his alphabetical list of the men of note who died in that year. The letter C c
ISclearly marked in both MSS. -Begkern was grand emir of the khalifat. For his history, see Abh '1-Feda ,
Annals, gcars 326, 327, 329. C 0 n ~ u l talso Price's Retrospect, vol. 11. page 179 el seq.
(12) J I this be true, they must have broken off and kept a large portion of the stone, but the fact itselt i c
by the Rloslims as miraculous.
(13) The l a n d of the East; that is. Mesopotamia; the land to the east of Syria.
(14) 1 llave here paraphrased the original, which merely sags when i t i s so.

IBN AL-MUKAFFA.

A bd Allah Ibn al-MukafG , the kdlil, so renowned for the elegance of his style, an tl
the author of the admirable Epistles (I), was a native of Fars and a Magian, but he
made his profession of Islamism to Isa Ibn Ali, the uncle of the two first Abbasidt.
khalifs, as-SafCah and al-Mansir. He then became his secretary and was admit -
ted into his intimacy. One of his sayings was : I drank of misfortunes till I
" was filled, but did not perceive any regularity in their arrival ; they disap-

" peared, then .they overflowed, and although they are not uniform as are the

" lines of poetry, it is they alone whiclr are (an) instructive discourse (2)."

Al-Haitham Ibn Adi relates of him this anecdote : Ibn al-Mukaffi came to Isa
Ibn Ali and said: 'Islarnism has entered into my heart, and I wish to make
" profession of it to you.' Isa answered : 'Let it be done in the presence of'
" the leaders, and of the chiefs of the people; come therefore to-morrow.' On
" the evening of that very day, he went to dide with isa, and having sat down,
" he began to eat and to mutter according to the custom of the Magians. ' How !'

L' said Isa, you mutter (like the Magians), although resolved to embrace Isla-
" mism?' To this Ibn al-Mukaffa replied: '1 do not wish to pass a night with-
" out being of some religion.'. The next morning he made to Isa his solemrl
" profession of Islamism." Notwithstanding the eminent merit of Ibn al-Mu-
kaKi, he was suspected of Zendikism (3), and al-Jlhiz related that he, Muti Ibn
lyjs (h) and J7al~yalbn Zijd were perFons the sincel%ilyof \\.hose lrligious spnti.
nlents was doubted; and one of the learned, on hearing this, said : "IIow is it
that al-Jghiz forgets to counl himself?" The 1halif al-l\lalrdi h n al-Mansilr
svlnetjmes said: "1 never found a book on Zendiltism wtlich did not ojye its
to Ibn a]-nfukafi." 41-Asmiii mcnlior~sthat Ibn alWukafi composed
some fine works, such as lllr ud-Durmt nl-Ycrtilltn (the i)rr>ciorts a
a rival on the subject (5) ; he says also that Ibn ;~l-Uuk~f&,
on being asked a110was his instructol*, answered : " 1 myself; whcn l saw anv
4 6 tiling good done by another, I did the same, and if I saw what was bad, I

' 4 avoided it." Hc and al-Khalil Ibn Ahmad, tile inventor of the system of pro-
sody, once met togtlrrr, and when they had separaled, al-Kbalil was asked boIv
11efound him. '(His lea~*ning,"replied al-lihalil, "is grea ter than his wit."
The same question was then addressed to Jbn al-MukaG respecting al-Iihalil,
;tnd he answered : ( ' His wit is greater than his learning." I t was Ibn al-Mu-
kaffi who composed the book entitled Knlilrz alld D i ~ ? l ~ tbuta , some state that he
isnot the author of it; this work, they say, was in Pehlevi (6), and he translated
i t into Arabic and put it in an elegant style, but the discourse a t thc beginning of
llle work is by him. He used to make free with Sofyin Ibn Mohwia al-Muhallabi,
the governor of Basra, whom he very frequently addressed by the name of I ~ I I
clGiY/lught~Zimn(son of the Zczscivious fenzale); an appellation injurious to the
honour of Sofyin's moll~er. About that time, Sulaimhn ant1 Isa, the sons of Ali,
and the uncles of the khalif al-Rlansilr, arrived at Basra, to hsve a pxrdon drawn up
for their brother Abd Allah. This Abd Allah had revolted against his nephew
al-hlansdr and aspired to the khalifat, but being defeated by A bd Muslim al-Kho -
rasini, who had beer1 sent against llim at the head of an army, he took to flight,
nntl, dreading the vengeance of al-hlansiir, lay concealed a t the llouse of his bro-
thers. Sulaimin and Isa then interceded for him with the khalif, who consented
to forgive what had passcd; and it was decided that a letter of pardon should be
granted hy al-Mansir. (This is an event noticed in his~oricalworks (7) and
generally Lnown, but I shall give here some par~icrrlarsof it, as they are neces-
sary for establishing a regular connexion in this relation.) On coming to Basra,
the two brotlvrs told Ibn al-MukaITA, who, as we have said, was secretary to Isn,
that he should draw up the letter of pardon and word it in the strongest terms, so
as to leave no pretext to al-lfansdr for making an attempt against Abd Allah's life.
 BIOGlL4PHICAL DICTIONARY. h33
Ibn nl-MukatTi obeyed their directions and drew up the letter in the most hind-
ing terms, llaving even inserted in it the following clause, amongst otllers : ~~~d
if a j g ii11ze the Co~nmnnrierqf ! f / t e j ~ i t l ? fncr his u12clr
u l perj;diousb to(r~nrd,~
Abd Allah l b n Ali, his wives shna be divorced from hil~z,his ho,-se.ps/iall bp
confiscated for rlre serrylce of Cod (in war), Iiis slaves shall becor,a free, onr/
the ilfoslr'l~wloosed fr.0712 their alleginnce tutvards him. The other corlditiOns999
of the deed were expreised in a manner equally strict. AI-MansSr, having
the paper, was highly displeased, and asked who wrote it, and on being informecl
that it was a person called Abd Allah Ibn al-MukafEt, who acted as secretary to
his uncles, he sent a letter to Sofyin, the governor of Basra (him of whom we
have spoken above), ordering him' to put Ibn al-Mukaffi to death. Sofyin na-i
already filled with rancour against Ibn al-k'lukaffii for the motive we have men-
tioned, and the latter having, some time after, asked to see him, Ile did not allon-
him to enter till every person present had withdrawn. He then took him apart
into another room and put lrim to death. Al-Madlini (8) says: "Ibn al-Mu-
kaffi, on appearing before Sofyin, was addressed hy him in these terms: L Do
you remember what you used to say of my mother?' ' Emir !' exclaimed
L L Il)n al-Mukaffi, c 1 implore you in the name of God to spare my life !' L May

lrly mother,' replied Sofyin, 'be really nzt~ghtnlirl2n(lascL'c,iou.s),if I do not

kill thee in a manner such as none were ever killed in before !' On this, he
L' ordered an oven to be heated, and the limbs of Ibn al-Nukaffa to be cut on'
joint by joint; these he cast into the oven before his eyes, and he then threw
' ' him in bodily, and closed the oven on him, saying: 'It is not a crime in me to
punish you thus, for you are a Zindik who corrupted the people.' Sulaimirl
c and Isa llaving made inquiries about their secretary, were informed that he

" had gone into the palace of Sofyin in good health, and that he had not come
out,. They therefore cited SofyPn before al-Manstr, and brought him with
them in chains ; witnesses were produced, who declared that they saw Ibn al-
'' Mukaffa enter Sofykn's palace and that he never came out after; and al-Man-
" sfir promised to examine into the matter. He then said to them: 'Suppose
" that I put Sofyin to death in retaliation for the death of Ibn al-Mukaffa, and
" that Ibn al-Mukaffi himself then come forth from that door' (pointing to one

which \\ias behind him), c and speak to you ; what should I do to YOU in that
(

' ' case? I should p11t you to death in retaliation for the death of SofyBn.' On this,
55
 'c3'c IBN ICHALLTKAN'S
" the witnesses retracted their and isa : ~ Sulaimdn
d ccased to spak
LL tlleir secretary, knowing tllat he had i~eenkillod with aI-hlansfir's appro-
1' hation. ]lJrl nl-i\lukaffi livecl (it is said) tlrirtp-six y c n r ~ . " - ~ ~ - ~ I ~ i t hIbn
a~n
,.di says: [lrll al-l\Iukaffi ~ ~ e ; l t c
Soljin
d with great contempt, and a s Sofysn
L ' had P large nose, lie used to say to llitn on ~ O i l 1 to~ Sec irinl : 'llom are yfirl
both?' meaning Ilinl and his nose. One day he s a i d to him: ' Yot11~opinion is
a requested irspeeting a person who died and left R husband and a wib (!l);'
nleanitlg to to~>n him inlo ridicule before tllc company. Sofyjn oncc said :
. L ( 1 had never reason to repent keeping silence;' a11d Ibn al-Mnkaf13 replied :

LDuml~nrss becomes you; ~vhytllen shotild 1.011 l>cp(>ntof it?'-Sofyin fie-

tIUc~ltlytlwer~enedto cut him limb Srom limb whilst llis eyes looked on (1 o),
and Jle had resolved to attack him I)y surprise, wllen he received the letter
fro111nl-Afansirr wit11 orders to put him to death, w~Elic11I l e did."-Al-llalh-
dori (,I I ) says : '' When Isa Ibn Ali came bo Basra for the a h i r of his bro-
a ther Abd Allah Ibn Ali, he said to 1l)n al-M\~kail'i: ' Go to Sofy3n on such
and such a 1~usiness.'-'Send some other person,' answered hc, for I arll
afraid of Binl !'-' Go ;' replied Isa, ' you are under my sal'cg~~ard " !' Ibtl
;~l-nlukaffi then went, and S O ~did Y with
~ him what WC havc related. Accord-
ing to another accolint, hc threw him into thc well of the privy, and replaced
the flagstone which covered it; others again say that he sent him into h e bat11
and kept the door locked till he was suilbcated. hlv master Shams ad-tlin Abil
'I-Muzaffar Yhsuf, the grandson of Ab4 'l-Faraj Ibn al-Jaw-zi and the famolls
preacher (l"-), relates the adventures and death of Ibn al-hllxkaffi in his great his-
torical work, entitled Mirdt az-Znmrhz (rl~enlirtat-oj'li,~ze),under the year 14.5
(A. D. 762-3) ; and it is his custom to mention eoclr occurrence under the year
in which i t happened; this would seem to indicate that Ibn al-Mukafi was p11t
to death in that year, but it appears fibom the expressions of Omar Ibn Slmbba,
in his History of Basra, that this event took p l i ~ eA. H. 14.2 or 143 : it is besides
unanimously admitted that the Sulaimin Ibn Ali above mentioned died A. II.
14.2; and we have already said that he joined his brother Isa in endeavouring
to avenge Ibn al-Mukaffi's murder; this is a proof that the date of tlre latter's
death must ire A . H. 142 (A. D. 759-60) ; but God knows best !-1Ln al-Mu-
kafi is author of some poetry which is given in the JIanzdsa (I 3), and an elegy
of his composition, on tlre death of the komn-reader A68 Amr Ibn al-All, is
 BIOCRAPJIICAL DICTIONARY. $33
inserted by 11s in the life of the latter, altlrough some attribute it to llis sorr
~ullarnrnadIbn Abd Allah Ibn al-Mukaffi, as shall be there noticed, ~vithother 925
contradictory statements.--Be it as i t may, his dcath could not have been poste-
rior to A. 11. 1'15 ; it imlst have been either in that year or in one of the precedillg
years; and tlris being the cast, horn can it be supposed that ire, al-Hall4 and
al-Jnnnhbi met together, as the lnlim al-Haramain has stated (14):) To this
\VC may add anotlrer observation: Ibn al-Mukaffi never left Irak ; llow then

could any person say that hc penetrated into the country of the Turks'! HP
dn.elt at Basrn and visited occasionally different provinces of IrAk (it is true,)
l)ut Baghdad was not then in existence (oQhozigh the words of the Inlrir,2 al-
Homnznfiz would denote that it tuas). This city was built by al-Manslir when
khalif; h e laid out its foundations in the year 440 (A. D. 757-g), and finished its
caonstruction A . 11.446 {A. I).17G3-4), in which year he took up his residence there.
In the year 149 all its edifices were completed. This was Old Ragllrlad, situ-
ated on tlre western bank of the Tigris, between rhat river and the Euphrates, as
it has been said Ijy the blessed Prophet, according to a tradition related by the
Klratib in the beginning of his great History of Baghdad (1 5). The city which
now exists on the east hank of the Tigris is Netv Baghdad. It contains the pa-
laces of the khalifs and contillncs, till the present time, to be the seat of govern-
ment. (7'lre lclinlf) as-Saffah and his brother al-Mansrir at first fixed their
residence a t Kfifa, but as-Saffih thcn built a town near al-Anbtr ant1 called it
;il-Hishimiya. To this place he and his brother removed, but they left it for
a[-Anbtr., in which city as-Safftlr died: his tomb is still to be seen there.
111-Mansfir remained at al-Anbhr till Bashdad was built, and then removed
tllit her.-The real name of Ibn al-MukaE's father was Didljlyeh : al-Ilajjaj lbn
Yilsuf, when governor of Irat, appointed him as receiver of the revenue of Fars,
l)ut having discovered that he embezzled the public money, he put him to the
lorture. DidAyeh's hand was shrivelled up (from the tortures he underwent),
and he was then callcd al-~1fukng;i(the slirivelled). Some say, however, that this
is not exact, but that he was appointed receiver by Khilid Ibn Abd Allah al-Kasri,
and punished by Ydsuf Ibn Omar ath-Thakefi when the latter succeeded KhBlid
3s governor of Irak: God knows best which statement is true. Ibn Makki says,

in his T a t h k f nl-Lislin (1 6 ) (rect+ccation of the tongue) : " People say i b t l

" .cibMukaf;i, but the right pronunciation is Ibn al-Muknfl; for he was s
 ' Lmaker and of baskets jkfd), and n z n k n f ~ ~ [hat signification."-
Krfd is tile plural of bafi, ~vbicllis a thing made of llaln1 leaves, like a basket,
but rvithou~a llandle.-" But the ponunciation Muk~!J/ii is that wlriclr is cur-
" rent among the leamed."-A[ter rending the words of the Imam a]-lIara-
Inain ( 1 r), and being convinced that Ibn al-l\lukaW could not l ~ a v cheen one of
the three persons of url~onlhc there speaks, I said to myself that it might he
;,l-Mukanni al-KhorasAni whom lie meant; that impostor who pretended to Lt.
the Divinity and (naused the moon to appear, as WC shall relate in his life (whicll
lVill be found under the letter 8A7, his name being Alci) ; and I tllought that
,lle nligl~thare altered the Imhm's wo1~1sand writtell unintentionally
nl-lJJLrhnf&' for. al-hluliannl ; but on reflexion, 1 found that it could not be so,
for al-l\lukanni nl-Khorasgni poisoned himself in thc ycar I G3 (A. D. 779-go),
;IS Jve shall mention i n his life, and he could not therefore 11a1.e been contempo-

rary will1 al-Hallij and al-Jannihi. E I I if~ we are to admit as true what the
Imim says of three persons having met togctlrer and made the agreement of
which he speaks, the third person can he no other than Ibn as-Sl~alma~hlni,
who lived at the same time as al-1-lallijand al-Jannibi, and whose ~vlloleconduct
was a tissue of deceptions. A number of llistorians speak of him, and our sliniX.1~
Izz ad-din Ibn al-Athir has n long chapter on him in his great history ( ~ h r
Kdmil j, under the year 322 (A. D. 934.); this chapter WC here givc with some
994 abridgements: '' In this year was put to death Abfi Jaafar Muhammad Ibn Ali
" as-Shalrnaghini, generally known by the name of Ibn Abi 'l-Aziltir (1 8) ; th(b

a reason of this was, that he introduced a doctrine in which the Slriite opinions

were corried to an excess (l g), and taught the iransn~igrationof souls and the
" residence of the Divinity in himself," (with otller opinions which are stated by
lbn al-Athir.) " AbB '1-Khsim al-1Iusain Ibn RLh (?0), who was called by the
'' Imimites al-fidb he c-loot.), manifested by his conduct that he held the same
doctrin(s. Search was therefore made a f ~ e rIbn as-Shalmaghini, ~ ~ was h o
" obliged to conceal himself; he then fled to Mosul, wherc he sojourned some

" years, after which he descended (by the river) to Baghdad, where it was dis-

" covered that he declared himself to be the Divinity. I t is said that he had
" amongst his disciples al-Husain Ibn al-Iibirn Ibn Obaid Allah Ibn Sulaimin
'' Ibn Wahb (the same who was rizir to al-Muktidir), the two sons of Bisthm,
" and Ibrallim Ihn Ahmad Ibn Abi Ahn. When Ibn Mokla was vizir to a!-Muk-
 BIOGR APIIICAL 1)ICTIONARE'.
tadir, efforts were made to discover Ibn as-Shalmaghini, bllt witIrout success;
however, in the month of SharvwBl, A. H. 322, he appeared in and
was seized on and imprisoned by Ibn Mokla. On making perquisitions in his
~ ~ O U S Cpapers
, and letters were discovered, written by persons who stated tha,
they were believers in his doctrine, and in which they addressed hinl wiltl
titles such as are not given by one mortal to another. Those letters mere
produced to Ibn as-ShalrnaglGini, who admitted that thev were in the h a d -
writing of the persons, but denied that he held the doctrines of which he was
accused, and he professed his belief in the Moslim faith. Ibn Abi Ahn and
Ibn Abdlis were then brought with him before the khalif, and these two per-
'' sons were ordered to strike Ibn as-Shalmaghini on the cheek, hut they re-
d ' fused; being forced however to do so, Ibn Abdis stretched forth his hand

and struck him, but Ibn Abi A h ' s hand trembled violently as he reached it
forth towards Ibn asShalmaghlni's head and beard, on which he kissed them
L c and called him n?7' God ! n y Lord! thou tvlzo givest me sustennnce! The
khalif ar-Rhdi Billah then said: 'You pretend that you did not pass yourself
for the Divinity ; what then does this mean?' Ibn as-Shalrnaghini replied:
C L 4 I am not responsible for the words of Ibn Abi Adn; God knows that I never

told him I was a god!' Here Ibn Abdils said: ' He did not pass himself for.
the Divinity; he only said that he was ihe &or which led to aGInzcin2 nl-
~Wuntazir(tlte expected irniinz).' They were afterwards brought forth n
number of times, and examined in the presence of the doctors of the law and
the kidis : the result was that the doctors declared Ibn as-Shalmaghini worthy
of death, and he was burned by fire in the month of Zh 'l-Kaada, A . H. 322
" (October, A. D. 934)." Ibn an-Najjir makes mention of him in the I-1istor.y
of Baghdad, i n the life. of Ibn Abi A6n; he says : Ibn Abi Adn was severely
scourged, and then beheaded for being a follower of Ibn asShalma+ni; his
body was exposed on a cross and afterwards burned : this was on Tuesday,
" I s t of Z i 'I-Kaada" (of the al~ove-mentioned year). This lbn Abi Abn is
author of some Gne works, such as the Tashbihat (comparisons), al-Ajwibat
nl-MuJkitat ($ilencing answersj, and some others: he was a kktib of emi-
nence.-Shelmaglldni means belonging to Shnlmaghdn, which is a town near
Wisit; the same remark is made also by asSarnini in his Kirdb d-dnsdb-
 (1) These Epistles ilre not noticed by Hajji Khalifa, but tlic aull~orof t f l Pihrcst ~ nlentions a Kitt:(, (,l-
T'atZmcl fi 'r-Rasdil by Ibn al-NuliafTii.
(2) Such seems to bc the idea which Ibri al-MuliafTA vrisl~csto c ~ p r r s s - i nan Arabic phrase of singulllr oh.-
. The khufob rigr~ificsnrislortants a111pulpit c l i s ~ o u r ~; e sruu1il)an ,L: w liich I llarr
pfla"lmsed by reyutnrity in tlreir arrival, JllC'rlllS also rltyme: bj' wl1ir:h seems to be d c l ~ ~ t clllat
d they
110t like l-hymes in poetry ond c l r g i t ~ ~prose
t compositio~ls,but without rh!/me o r reason. The same
with sermons, and j'ct 11avc11otbeen ; ~ b l cto seize oa
scrltence Inay, hol\crcr., JiJllifJ : ' ' 1 1ia\cllcerl drc~~cllcll
t\leirrhynte; they,.nrac and they \\cnl, all,! if not regular in thcir cornpositioll, yet tllcy, a11t1no otlier, acre
really discourses."
(3) See D'Herbelot's Bib. Orient. ZENDIK, and Price's Retrospect, vol. 11. page 43.
(L) Abll Salma Mutt Ibri Iytls, a rncmhcr of the tribe of Kil~ilnnand a native of Khfa. llis nlotl~er\ras the
c.clcbralrd ()nlni fitlririja, \\hose hasty marriages bccariic proverl)ial (We Ir'rcjtag's Provcrbs of a\-bSaidiini,
tom 1. p 636). Accustorncd to the favour of the last Omaiyitie iihalif~,Ilc ~olnp~ilil~C!d of thc neglect ~ i t h
\,llich he ass treilted by the Abbasides. H e was a Zi?tdiic a t 11eal.t, ;irltl it apl)ears that his irreligion was
. died A. H . 168 (A. D. 784),three moliths alter the accession of tlle khalif al-Hadi.-(~itdb
~ I I O $ , I IHe

(3) "The ad-Durrat al-l'attrna 113s been condensed by one of ~ I I Csdfis, and rntitlctl Izat al-Albab wa
Ilakhirut al-lktisdb (admonitioft of hearts a n d Ireaszlre of acqzcired spiritual merifs); which work is
.. arranged in twelve sections, containing the truths and csserlcc of the spiritual lifc, and the history of the
principal saints."-(Hajji 1ihalifa.)-M. de Sacy spcalis of Ibn al-Multaffil in the prclhcc to his edition of
K a l t l a u i ~ dDimna. In the Notices et Exlrails, t. I . he gives n list of his works, tnlicn from the 2iihrest.
(G) 1 hive rendered the word _c.,l.i!l by Pelrleui, because the works trunslatcd by lbn al-Muhaff&rere
v ritten in that language. Had thcy been in Persian, I b n Kliallildn would have said &+& /.
See Abh 'I-Fed& s Annals, A. B. 137; al-Maktn, p. 200; Price's Retrospect, vol. 11. p. 7.
('5)
(8) Abh 'l-Hasan Ali Ibn Bluhammad Ibn Abd Allah al-Maddini (nutive of Maddin) was a client by en-
franchisement (fifawla) to the family of (dbd) Shams Ibn Abd ManAf. H C was born A. H. 235 (h.D.
752-3) and died at thc residence of Ishali I b n Ibrah'lm 11-Mausili, to whom hc was most particularly at-
tached, A. H. 225 (A. D. 839.40) or 228. H e was a disciple of the Motazilite doctor Mamar Ibn al-Ashdth.
Iic wrotc upwards of twenty i ~ o r k son Muhammad; nearly as Inany on tlic I ~ i s t o rof~ the tribe of Koraisb;
,i great nurnbcr on the matrimo~lialalliances of tllc descc11da111~
o f Muhammad; a scries of ~ o r h s
Z:
OII ~ l i cl~istoryof thc Omaigide a ~ i dAbhasside kllalifs; a rnisccllany of various treatises; the victories and
~ ~ o ~ i c ~ uofc s the
t s Moslims, in many volumes; nnil olhcr wo~.lisbesides: the titles of them all arc givcn in the
Fjhrest, rrom which this notice also has bccri c.ttracted.-(MS. No. 874, fol. 139 et seq.)
(91 This is a parody on a very common fornr of qucstion addressed to a mufti. F o r instance, (I man dies
leaving a H ifc and collateral heirs; thcy disagrcc rcspccting t l ~ cdivision of lhc property left by the deceased,
itntl thry ;~pplyto the mufti for his opinion. This application is worded nearly as follows: Your opinion is
reyuested respecling a man who died and left a wife a n d a certain number of collateral heirs, etc. How
is the inheritance to be shared between them? See similar questions i n the English translation of Muharn-
mad Ibri Musa's ALGEBIIA.
(20) Thnt is: And he alive.
(11) '<Abb Jaafar, or Abd 'I-Hasan, Ahmad Ibn Yahya Ibn Jhbir al-BalAdori was a native of Baghdad.
" His grandfather J i b i r was secretary to al-lihaslb, minister of the finances of Egypt (for the khalif ar-
" Rashtd). He himself was a poet and a transmitter of historical information a;! 1 Towards the end of
9J .
" his life he went deranged and was confined and chained in the liospital, and died there," in the khalifat
of al-&lotamid, betncen A. H. 23G (A. D. 870) and 279 (A. D. 80Z.)-66Hc composed many satires, a n d
v a s one of those N L ~ Q translated (w~rlcs)from the Pehlevi JJu\ into -4rabic."-(F(hresr, fol. 157.
Hamaker's specimen cod. h g d . Bat. for more ample details.)
(12) The learnctl professor, imam, preacher, aud historian, Shams ad-din (sun of religion\~ b i 91..b,uzafbr
,
y ~ s 1bn
~ f ~izoglrli was grandson by the mother's side to the hdfiz AbO 'l-Faraj ibn al-Jotur( (Sibr
[bn al-Jawzi). His father Kizoghli .was a mamldk belonging to the vizir Abn ad-din Yahqa Ibn liubalra,
hy \\horn h e n a s treated like a son and to ahose affection 11c was indebted for his liberty and educa~ioll
shams ad-din YDsuf was born a t Baghdad, A. H. 597 (A. D. 1200-1). and made his studies in that ritj. H e
was a followcr of thr sect of Abh HanEfa. As a preacher, his talent, unction, and delivery gained hirtr U I \ ~ -
versa1 admiration. H e began to preach in his native place, but removed later to Damascus, where he fi.cetl
his residence. He thcrc taught in the Izniya and Sliibliya colleges, and was treated with p e a t favour by per-
sons of the higl~estrank, and especially by al-Malik al-Moa7z8m Isa. Hc then travellcd into different courltries .
to learn thc Traditions and to peach. He died in Zh '1-Hijja, A. H. B34 (January, A. D. l257). His great
historical work, thc Mirdt az-ZamGn, extends to nearly forty volumes, and is highly esteemed. Abh 'I-Jla-
hesin acknowledges that he was much indebted to it when composing h ~ an-NujGrn s az-Zdhira, and he states
that, in his biographical dictionary, the at-8Tinhalas-Safi, he has g i ~ e nthe lifr of Sharns ad-dtn YDsuf with
many details; but i t unfortunately happens that the last volume of this work, containing, no doubt, the arti-
ele of which hc speaks, is wanting to complete the copy of which five volume^ are in the Rib. du Roi.-
(Abh 'I-Matidsin's N u j d ~ n ;D u r r a t al-dsldk fi Dawlat al-Atrak, MS. No.688, Hajji ICha1ifa.j
(13) I do not find them in Freytag's edition, unless they be those attributed there to al-Mukannl al-ki!~dl,
whose namc may have been confoundecl a i t h that of Ibn al-MukaffA.
(15)Sec page 435. 1 suppress the next words of the text, as they are evidently out of their place: they
are these: a n d from this the error has arisen.
(15) This Tradition is not in the Mishkdt at-Masdbth, neither is it to bc found in the Abridgement o l tile
lihatib's History of Baghdad, MS. h'o. 634.
(16) There is a work of this name by'lbn al-Kattj, but that by Ibn Makki is not noticed by Hajji Iibaliffi.
1 have not yet been ahle to discover any thing respecting the author mentioned here by Ibn Khallthbn.
(17) See page 125.
(IS) This is also the orthography of ad-Dahabi's Tdrilrh al-Islam, MS. No. 646.
(19)See nruzes, introduction, page 241.
(20) Abh 'l-KAsim al-Husain I h n Ruh was a holy shaikh and one of the doors leading to the SdhQ a:-
Zamdn (the lord of the time, or last grand Imiim, according to the Shitte doctrine; see DTUZ~S, introd.
p. 65). He was chosen by .Lhb Jaafar Muhammad Ibn OthmAn al-Omari as his lieutenant, and when the
latter classed the Shittes according to their degrees (of initiation), Abd '1-Klsim was authorised to enter
into his presence the first of them all.-He then went to see Ibn as-Shalmaghlni, and gained over so many
proselytes, that the vizirs, er-vizirs, and other persons of high rank rode (publicly) to visit him. He eon-
tinued to be treated with the greatest deference till EfBmid Ibn Abbis became vizir (to a[-Muktadir) and
ordered him to b e arrested. H e remained in prison for five years, b u t was liberated immediately after the
deposition of al-Muktadir, A. H. 317 (A.D. 929). From that time till his death, which took place A. H.
226 (A. D. 93'i-8), h e never ceased to be highly respected, but a t the moment in which his influeace had
attained its utmost pitch, and his plans were ripe for execution, God preserved (the Malifaf) from his
evil designs. He had been accused of inviting the Karmats by letter to lay siege to ~ a g h d a d ,but he de-
fended himself with great ability, presence of mind, and learning. H e was a benefactor to the Sbfites.
and held a very high rank among them.-(Ad-Dahabi's Tllrlkh al-lsldm, No. inanno.)
f
 AR-RAIS JBN SINA (AVICRNA). (1)

Ar-Rais chief) ( 2 ) Ahh Aii al-llusain Ibrr Abd Allah lb11 Sini, a eel+
physicim : llis father w a s a native of Balkh, hut he mmoved from that
city to Bohhim; and 11ari11~ displayed great a1)ilities as a n rrriruil (3), he was
nppoinled to i;II that ollicc in a town called Khar~nai then, one of the government
estates (Did) in the deprndencies of llolib8ra, ant1 a place of great antiquity (4).
[t was there that Abi'l Ali and his hrotller \verc ~ O J : ~ their
I ~ mother, Sattlra,

\sas 3 native of A fsllana, n village near Kllar~n:~i~hen. They afterwards jvent to

inhabit Bokhira, and Ahh Ali then travelled abroad to study the sciences and
acquire a lino~vledgeof their different branches. At the age of ten years, he
\\.as a perfect master of the Koran and general litera turc, and had attained a
9% certain degree of' information in dogmatic iheology, the Indian calculus
( arithnzetic), and algebra. Ahfi A bd Allah an-Nitili ( 5 )
The l~riX.in2(l~A~.ricior?)
having visited them about that time, AbCt Ali's father lodged him in his ovvrl
llouse, and Abil Ali studied, under his tuition, the Ei.~a./fa)yd of Porphyry,
and mastered the art of logic, the Elements of Enclid, and [.he Almagest ; he
even far surpassed his master, and explained to him tlifliculties and obscu-
rities in these works which he, an-Nitili, had not comprehended. Besides
these studies, he freqllented the lessons of Jsmail thc Silfi (G), from whom he
learned jurisprudence, and he exercised himself in actluiring the reaclirigs of
the Koran (7), making learned researches and lroltling tliscussio~rs. On the de-
parture of an-Nitili, who went to visit Khownrezm Shih Mimirn Ihn Muham-
rnad (81, Abii Ali laboured in tlw acquisition of natural philosophy, divinity,
a ~ other
~ d sciences; he read the texts with the commmtnrirs, and God opened
for him the gates of knowledge. IIe then felt an inclination to learn medicine,
and studied the works composed on that subject; he also treated patients, not
for emolument but for instruction, and in a very short time h e surpassed in !hat
art the ancients and moderns, aucl remained without a rival or an equal. In
the sixteenth year of his age, physicians of the highest eminence came to read,
under his tuition, the works which treat of the different branches of medicine,
and learn fro~lihim those modes of treatment which he had discovered by his
practice. During the period of his studies he never slept a n entire nigh,
to the poor, and redressed the grievances of all those whom he c o ~ l drecollect ;
he manumitted also his mamlilks, and read the Koran through once every thrrse
days till he expired. The date of this event we shall give at the end of this
article. By iris learning, penetration, and writings, he Yias the prodigy of liis
age : he composed a treatise on philosophy, entitled m-Shciik ( d ~ remedy)
e !.L?;
and is tile author of the Nrrjdt (or preservative) (23); the I s h d ~ i t(or i,tclico-
tiousj (24); the ICdnl2 (cn~zotzmedicicz~), and other rvorks, both short aud lung,
anroanting to nearly one hundred; besides epistles (or S/& treatises) on differe~n
snbjects. Some of his epistles are beautif~~lly written, such as Hai Ibn Y a k -
;d,t, Sal(ir~xin und AGsdl (E),and the RisdZat nr-Tair (epistleof the bird ) (26).
Great profit has been derived from his writings. He was one of the pbiloso-
phers of the Moslims. ~ h e i eexists some poetry composed hy him; among
tllc rest, the following piece on h e soul (27):

It descended upon thee from the lofty station (Leaven) ;-a dove rare and uncap-
tured, curtained from the eyes of every knowing (creature); yet 'tis it which is mani-
fest and never wore a veil (28). It came to thee unwillingly, and it may perhaps be
ul~willingto abandon thee, although it complain of its sufferings. It resisted (at first)
and would not become familiar, but when it was in ffiendly union (with the body), i t
grew accustomed to the desert waste (the world). Methinks it then forgot the recollec-
tions of the protected park (heaven)and of those abodes which it left with regret; but
when, in its spiral descent, it arrived at the centre of its circle in the terrestrial
(world),it was united to the infirmity of the material (body) (29) and remained
amongst the monuments and prostrate ruins (30). It hath now forgotten thc remem-
brance of the protected park, and weepeth with tears which flow and cease not, till
the timc For setting opt towards the protected park approacheth; till the instant of de-
parture for the vast plain (thespiritual world) draweth nigh. It then cooeth on the
top of a lofty (pinnacle of heaven); (For knowledge can exalt all who were not exalted;;
arid it has come to the knowledge of every mystery in the universe, while yet her tat-
tered vest hath not been mended (31). Its descent was predestined, so that it might
hear what it had not heard; but why then did it descend from the high and lofty (hea- 997
wen) to the depth of the low and humble (earth)? If God sent it down by a decision of
his will, his motive is concealed from the intelligence of man. (Why did i t descend) to
be withheld from the spacious, exalted summit (heaven)by the course net (of the body),
and to be detained in a cage? It is like a flash of lightning shining over the meadow,
and disappearing as if it had never gleamed.

The following lines are attributed to him, but 1 am unable to verify their

Take one meal each day, and avoid food till your food be digested. Preserve with
care the seminal liquid; it is the water of life, to be poured into the womb.
 Ttvo verses mentioned by as-Shahrastini in tllc hcginning OS the !Vi/l(b*clrnl-
Ikdn'nz, and which we here give, arc attributed to Avicena :
I have roamed through all these memorials, and glanced my eyes through these
monuments (321, and I have only seen wretches clasp their beards with the hand of
despair, or gnash their teeth with rcmorsc.

The merit Avicena is well known: he was horn in the ]nonth of

Sapdr, A. 11. 370 (Alrgust or September, A. D. 980), and ire died at Hamadin
on a Friday, in tlie month of Rao~adin,4118 (June or July, A. D. 1037); he was
],oricd in that city. M y rlroikh Ibn al-Athir states, in his great historical work
that he died at IspahHn; but tlre first is the more general opinion.
' t h e Ari~ni/),
is by the shaii-!L Barn8 ad-din Ibn Yjnus, that tlre prince in \\?hose
srl*viceAvicena was employed, having been irritated against him, caused him to
be imprisoned till he died ; and he recited the following vcrses in proof of his
statement :
I saw Ibn Sinh take mankind i n hatred and die miserably i n a prison. His
g Shafd (33) could not cure the misfortune which befel him, neither could his Na-
j&t (3b) preserve him from death .'

( l )The life of Avicena is given in the TUriklb al-flukamd. Tlie conlmcnccrnent is in Avicena's own words,
and contains his history up to the time of his arrival at Jurjbn. H e there met wit11 Abb Obaid Abd ill-
Wkhid, by whom the remainder of his life is related.
(2) This title was probably given to him in his official capacity as vizir, or as a d m i l : see next note.
13) The admil (agent) was an officer to ~ h o mthe governor of a province delegated the executive autho-
rity in one of the cantons under his juris4iction. His chief duly was to collect tile poll-tax, the revenues
arising from tithes, government lands and houses, etc.
(4) Literally: One of the mothers of it; (Bokhdra's) towns. It is thus that Mekka, for its antiquity, is
called Omm al-Kura (mother of the towns).
( 5 ) The Tdrtkh ul-Hukamd writes this name ulL\J\ an-Naili; sonle of the MSS. of i b n KI~alliklohavc
81-B6biIi. I find in the Mardsid: " N d t i l a , a city in Tabercston at five parasangs from Amul."
( 6 ) The SzZfi (az-Zdhid). This ascetic is not noticed by Jam1 in his lives of the Sbfis.
(7) See page 152, note ( l ) .
(8) Mbrnan Ibn Mubarnmad was prince of Jurjania and Nasa, which latter city was given to him by NBh lbll
Mansar the SAmdnide. In the year 386 (A.D. 996) he took prisoner Abb Abd Allah, prince of Hhowbrezm,
and having put him to death, he united the province of Hhowarezm to his empire. He died A. H. 387 (A D.
9971.-(Kitdb Y a m h i , in the Notices el Extraits, vol. IV.; Dlirkhaund's History of the Samanides, by Wil-
liens ;Price's Retrospect, vol. 11. page 249.)
(9) Ibn Bhallikln has Nhh Ibn Nasr, but this is a mistike; as that prince died twenty-seven years before
Avicena's birth.
 BIOG RAPHEAL D~CTIONARI'. EL3
(10) H e w is Avicena's own account of this library: "Having requested and obtained permission frorrl
~ b 1bn
h Rlanshr to visit his library, I ~ , c n tthere and found a great number of roams filled with book.;
*< u p in trunks. One room contained philological and poetical works; another, jurisprudence, and
on, the hooks on each particular science being kept in a room bjr themselves. I then read the catalogue
of the ancient (Greek) authors J;13y!, and found therein a11 1 required: I saw many books, the very
titles of which werc unknown to most persons, and others which I never met with before nor since.v-
(TdrZkh al-Hukamd.1-Avicena was not then eighteen years of age.
(11) See page 231, note (1).
(12) Kho\v&rezm ShAh succeeded his father M B m b as prince of Korkhnj or Jurjinia, and Khowireznl, icl
the year 387 (A. D. W?).
(13) The tailesdn seems to have been a short hooded cloak, or else a simple hood which was hung
down the back. I t \\as generally horn by men of the Iearned professions.
(14) Hajji Khalifa notices this work without specifying its contents. The author of Avicena's life, given
in the Tdrlkh al-Eukamd, only mentions it incidentally, without any observation. I t treated perhaps of
mathematics o r philosophy.
(15) Abd al-WLhid al-Jawzjhni (not al-Jurjdni as I b n Khilllik8n has it: was Bvicena's disciple, aod re-
mained with him for twenty-five years.-~TdrBkh al-Hukamd.)
(16) Shams ad-Dawlat AbQ Tahir, emir of HamadBn, was son of Fakhr ad-Dawlat Ibn Buwaih. He be-
came master of RLi A. H. 405 (A. D. 1014-6). -(Ibn al-Athlr. Mirkhaund.)
(17) Alb ad-Dawlat Abb Jaafar (and not Ibn Saafar, as erroneously printed in the Arabic text) Shahriyar,
and surnamed Ibn Kaliuyeh, because his father was maternal uncle to Majd ad-Dawlat, was appointed go-
vernor of Ispahan by the mother of that prince; but during the dissensions which arose between her and her
son (see Price's Retrospect, vol. 11. page 266), he was obliged to take refuge under the protection of Baha
ad-Dawlat. H e afterwards conquered HamadAn, 8 . H. 414 (A. D. 1023-4); he entered Rai in k20; in 421
hl;took possession of lspahbn and other cities; in 422 he was confirmed in the goveinment of Ispahbn by
the sultan MasbdIbn MahmDd the Ghaznevide; the next year he revolted and was defeated by that prince:
he continued the war, and was again defeated by AbO 'l-Sahl al-Hamdhni, the governor of Persian Irak,
-h0 took Ispahhn in 428; in 427 he made a n unsuccessful attack against AbO Sahl at IspahAn ; he gained
possession of that city a t a later periqd, and died A H. 433 (A. D. 1041-2).-(Ibn al-Athlr. Abh 'l-Fe&.
Price's Retrospect, vol. 11. p. 298.) The following passage is estracted from the life of Avieena given in the
TdrZlch at-Hukamd: ' < O n e evening, in A l i ad-Dadat's presence, the conversation turned on the errors
which h a d crept into the astronomical tables drawn up after ancient observations; and he ordered bvi-
cena to observe the stars, and provided him with the requisite funds. Avicena began by .constructing in-
" struments and hiring artists, a n d he succeeded in clearing up many doubtful points, although the series of
his observations was frequently interrupted by the journeys which he was obliged to undertake: some of
thc instruments he employed were or his own invention." The work ahich he composed at Ispahdn, and
named the Bttdb .l-Alai in honour of his sovereign Ali ad-Dawlat, contained probably the results
of his observations.
(IS) Such is the true meaning o f *the word v in this case. and not epilepsy, as it has been rendered
by some orientalists, Reiske among others i n his Abb 'l-Fed&, tom. 11. ~ ~ ' 9 5I t. is sinwlar enough that
Reislie, who was well acquainted with medicine, could have made such a blunder.
(f9) Boys; i n Arabic dui ; perhaps slaves.
(20) From the life given i n the Tdrtkh al-Hukamd, a d which l b n Khallikbn has here abridged, it appears
that one of his servants embezzled a sum of money.
 'cLG IBN KHALLIKA4NyS
(21) Such seems to be the meaning of the verb &L;',but it may [lcrtlaps signify: TO be obliged to hr
rarried.
r22) The Shafd is a large \\orb in eighteen volumes, on physics, metaphysics, and mathematics,-(sre (:at;l-
logue of the Bodleyan Library, vol. 11. p. 581.)
(23, This medical treatise has been inserted a t the end of the Arabic edition of the Kdnz~n,printed at
Home, A. D. 1593.
,241 ~h~ Ishdr&t is a treatise on logic anti philosophy. See Hajji ~ h i l l l f i l No.
, 743.
poCock says in !)is edition of Hai Ebn Yolcdhan; Elenchus, 1). 3 : " Epistolas seu libellos quosd,llrl
.. ab eo (Aviccnnl) composites recenset Ebn Chalecan: alque inter COS Epistolam Hai Ebn
" dhan e t Episto[am Absal et Eyistolam Salaman." [Pocock should have said Epistolam Sulama+b e t AbsQl;
tiajji Khallfa mentions a work bearirlg this title.) "Dubito an hn: tres ( d u e ) epistolic distincta! furrint, an
una quac triuln istorum llistoriam contirieret, u t h a c nostri authoris ad ipsius imitationcm composita."-
The doubt here expressed by Pocock I am unable to resolve.
,?G) Tllis is probably the same work which is mentioned i n tllc TGrlkh al-flukamd undcbr thc title of as),-
Shnbakat Ka 'C-Tair (Ilte net and the b i r d ) ; it was perhaps :I mystical trcalisr, descriptivr of the bird (or
[ h e soul) detained in the net (the body).
27) This littlc f~iece,of a h i c h only some ill-joined fragments are liere given by Ihn Khallikhn, is founded
on theSdfi doctrine that the soul pre-existed in union with the Divinity, that it comes down reluctantly from
heaven to be united to the body, and that i t returns after death to the happy scat it lcft. The poet represenfa
the soul metaphorically by a dove, and his images and expressions arc borrowed from the pastoral poetry of
the ancient Arabs. I t ~ o u l drequire a long commentary to elucidate thc nllusions and mysticisms with which
it abounds, but such a task is inconsistent with the duty of a mere translalor. An edition of this poem
ulth some additions, and the verses arranged i n a direrent order, has been giver1 with n translation by van
Hammer Purgstall in the Itlbener Zeitschrrift for 1837, No. 98.
(23) This probably rneans that the existencc of the soul, although not to be perceived by the senses, is jel
too manifest to leave any doubt.
(29) This verse runs literally thus: So that when it was united by the h m of' its hubztt LTa (descent) aith
the m of its rnarknz (centre) in the terrestrial; then the th j' of the thakil ( h e a v y , material) was at-
tached to it, etc.-The spiral form of thc B represents its descent, tile form of the & indicates the central
polut to which it tended; the word signifies infirmity; i t is also the nanlc of the first letter ( t i t ) in the
word ([he material body).-I have given the scrise of the verse as I understand i t ; but i t may most
likely contain some mystic allusions above my comprehension.
(30) H e means the world, which is a place of desolation.
(31) The tattered vest of the soul, or the body destroyed by death, is not mended till the day of resurrec-
tion ; anti yet the soul is in heaven and in the enjoyment of all knowledge.
132) He means probably the world; sce thc preceding piecc on the soul.
(33) Or remedy ;Lhe book so called.
(34) Or pr&ervalive; another bark of Avicena's.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTION,il%T.

:21,-fIUSAIN IBN AD-DAHHAK AL-KHALI .

The poet Abli Ali al-Ilusnin Ibn ad-Dahhik Ibn Yisir, generally known bv t h t s
nl'pellation of al-Khali (the lilrertbre), was born at Basrs; he descended fronl
a native of IChorasln, who was an enfranchised slave to Salmin Ibn Rabia
]]Q]lili, one of the cornpallions of Muhammad. This author had a natural talent
for m leas an try, but he composed equally well in all the different styles of poetrr.
Ife was admitted illto the society of the khalifs, and enjoyed their intimacy to n
hipher degree ~ l r o nany other poet, with the exception of Ishak Ibn Ibrahim i j l l -
Nadinl al-Alausili, and even by him he was hardly surpassed in favour. The first
of the khalifs whom he frequented was Muhammad al-Amin, son of HaAn ar-
Rashid, with whom he became acquainted in the 499th year of the Hijra (A. D.
81 M),~ ~ l l i was c h also the year of al-Amin's death; he then attached himself to
the siicceeding khalifs, and continued to be a favourite with them till the wig11
of al-Mustain. He was an able poet of tlre first class, and had some diverting
:ldventures with A b i Nuwb al-Ilakami. The surname of ul-lilzctfi was given
to him fol. his gay and licentious humour (khakiat). Mention is made of him
]lv It,n al-Munajjim in the work called nl-Kitdb al-Bkri, and by Abli 'I-Faraj

nl-Ispahhni in the Kitcib al-Aglldni; both these writers quote some fine pas-
sages from his poetry, out of which we select the following lines; $,

Join thy cheek to mine, and thou wilt then understand a novel idea which per-
plexes intelligence: the vernal roses on thy cheeks render them a garden, and tears 998
render mine a lake. ,

By the same:
0 thou whose looks are magic and whose lips are wine ! thou wert a tyrapt to me;
and, when my patience was overcome, I revealed to the world that thou wert the ob-
ject of my love. It is however right that the veil which conceals thee should be torn
away; for if people blame my fondness, thy face will be my excuse.

Ry the same :
I swear by my love for thee, that I will not turn away my face, to conceal my tears.
Grief, however painful, is allayed by weeping. My heart, through Iove for thee, is too
enfeebled to be broken. The violence of my malady hath left no room in me for
sickness.
 'ClCS IBN IiTIALLIKAN'S
It is stated in the Kiirib nl-//,.lr~i~~i
that Ahil'l-Abl)is Tllalah, the gralnmariau,
(rce /)is l@, page 83,) in reciting the preceding verses, sit~~ihuterl them
;,l-Khali, observing that there was not then a person in existt.rlce capable of
expressing the thought so well.-Ily the same:
Since you have been onfaithful during my absence, wily act as the maid who, thouell
sincere in her attachment, treats her lover with affected scorn? Love me, and then
trifle with my affections; or else rcject me, and then act as one who lovesIme not.

One of his knsidas contains this lit~c:

What a happy time (1) was that in which I never spent a night without expecting
From my beloved the Fulfilment of her promise (to visit me).

Tllis poet died A . H. 250 (A. D . S64), having nearly attained his hundredtll
year: the Khatib says, in his history of Baghdad, that he was born A . 11. 162
(X. D. 778-9).

(.l) Literally : May God shed his blessings on the time.

IBN AL-IIAJJAJ T H E POET.

Y

Abli Abd Allah al-EIusain Ibn Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Jaafar Ibn Mu-
hammad Ibn a1-Hajjhj, the kcitib and poet, was noted for the licentiousness,
humour, and gaiety (I) of' his poetical productions. In this branch he was
without a rival, and he had no predecessor in the style of composition which he
cultivated, embellished as it was by the beauty of the expressions and the easy
turn of the verses. He celebrated the praises of the khalif al-fiI8m811, ibe emirs,
, men of rank ; the collection of his poetical works is so great, that it
~ i z i r s and
is generally found in ten volumes. The prevailing character of his writings is
gaiety, but some good pieces of a grave cast have been composed by him. He
was for some time mahtasib or police-magistrate (2) at Baghdad, and was super-
seded, it is said, by Abi'i Said al-Iotakhri, the Shifite doctor. His ghnzals, or
amatory pieces, are so well known that it is needless to insert any of them
here. As a poet, he has been put on a rank with Amro '1-Kais, for each of them
introduced an original species o f composition, and, in the intervening time, none
existed to equal them. The follo~vingverses a r e a good specimen of his graver
style :
Awakc, my two Friends (3), from your slumber! slumber degrades the mind of the 223
sage and ingenious. There are the Milky Way and the Pleiades; it is like a rivulet
flowing through a garden of lilics. I perceive the zephyr (L! arriving as the shades
of night witl~draw; why then should the wine-cup not arrive when darkness retires?
Arise, and pour me out a Grecian liquor drawn from a cask which has not beer,
touched since the days of the Caesar !-a pure liquor of which the powerful effect gives
tieath to the reason and life to the heart.

By rile same :
Peoplc said (to me) : "You pay constant court to Hamd, and neglect the other
princes." And I answered in the words of a poet who, long before my time, has
well expressed rny thought (5): The bird aligl~lscohere it can pick u p the grain, and &he
dwellings o[ !he gene?-ous are visited (by the needy).

T h e verse which h e here inserts was composed by Bashshir Ibn Burd.-Ibn

al-Hajjij died on Tocsday, 27th of the latter JumPda, A. H. 391 (illay, A . D.
100.1), at the town of an-Nil, xvhence his body was transported to Baghdad.
l l e was interred near t h e sepulcllral cllapel of MGsa Ibn Jaafar, and he had di-
rcctcd by h i s will that he should be buried a t the feet of that imim, and that
d his tomb : And d e i r &g lay with
the following words sliol~ldbc i ~ ~ s c r i b eon
hisfi,re legs strelched forlll at d e e~rtrunceof the cave (6). He was one of
the greatest poets anlong t h e Shiitcs, and after his death, h e appeared in a
dream to one of his companions, and recited these lines o n being asked what
was h i s state i n t h e other world :

The evil cast of my religious principles ruined the excelIence of my poetry; my

Lord was displeased that I reviled the companions of his Prophet (7).

'I'lle sho,.ty ar-Ridi deplored llis death in a kasl$n containing this passage:

They brought tidings of his death when I had still good hopes; how excellent was
he whosc death was announced by these two harbingers (8). He was my foster-bro-
ther by friendship, and he possessed a portion of my heart as if he were realIy my fos-
tcr-brother (9). 1 did not think that time could blunt the edge of that (mtting)tongue.
I weep for thee and for those verses, fugitives throughout the world, in which the
words give immortality to the thoughts. Let time itself long deplore thy loss, for by
thee was enlivened the spirit of ( t h y ) time.

An-Nil is a town on the Euphrates, between Baghdad and Kdfa; it has pro-
57
 <luccd2 of learned and of eminent. men. 'rliis place owcs its oripill 10
a canal by ,yal-Wa*j/i,j I l ~ n Ylisuf' h n l tll(: E I I P ~ ~ K10~ ~this
C S spot,
called by him nrz-Nil (the Nile) a f i r r tllc rivrir of Ecypt. There were
nnmerous villages on its banks.

(1) ~h~ words -- J

p
, resemble each o h e r in their primitive and secnntlrry ~ i g n i f i e a t i ~l h~r ~
primitive is Icanness, a r ~ dthe secondary yaiel?l.
(2) See page 335, note (4).
(3j See page 115. nolc (1).
( 4 ) The:ef)/r/jr,lit~rallyttie east .toind; it is highly celcbratcd hy Arabian poets for its mildness.
( 5 ) Literally: Wllo obtained (that is, wl~oattained) the tl~ought.
(6) Koran, surilt 15, vcrse 11. Hc cornpares himself to 1 1 1 ~dog o f the scvcn slccpcrs; the &ToslimsbcIieyr
that this faithful dog was admitted into paradise with his masters.
(7) I l was quite natural, however, for a Shtite to revile those conlpi~oionsof' I\Iuh;~rnrnadwho al)andoned
a l ~ dbetrayed Ali.
(8) See page 115, r~ote(1).
(9) Literally: Foster-hrother by milk.

A b l ~'l-Kisim al-IIusaiu Ibn Ali Ibn al-1Iusain lbil Ali Ilbn Rluhnnlrnad Ib11
YGsuf Ibn Hahr Ibn Bahrdm I l ~ nal-MarzubCn IL)n M;h%n Ibn Bidin Ibn Sisin
Ibn al-Hariin Ibn Balish Ibn Jiimhs Ibn FirSz Ihn Yezdegor-d 1111t l a h d t n GCr:
(such is the genealogy of the person g e ~ l c r n blcnowr~
) by t l appellation
~ of al-
eso Wazir al-Maghrihi (lhe Mnqhribite vizir). I have hcard i t said by many per-
sons of erudition, that Ahil Ali IIartrl Ibn Ahd 31-Aziz al-Awdriji ( I ) , he in
whose honour al-Mutanabhi composed the Kusicdc~beginning thus :
Maiden1 the watchmen well know that thou canst not visit me by night, for where
ever thou art, in the darkness, light is there (2).

(Tlzese persons, 1 say, pretend) that this Abh Ali was his maternal uncle,
but on examination, I discovered that he was a maternal uncle to al-%lTazir al-
Maghribi's father. As for al-Wazir al-Maghribi, he himself mentions, in his
Adab at-Klznwriss (Instructionfor those intimate cvith princes), that his rnothe~~
was daughter to Mullammad Ibn Ibrallirn Ibn Jaafar an-Nomini, and that the
n l - ~ ~ ~ B rabove--mentioned
iji died in the month of the hrst Jurnlda, A. 11. :{!+cr
(Septenrber, A . 1). 993).-Al-Wazir aldlaghribi is tlrc au~lrorOF a rliwlitL col)-
tailling pieces in verse and prose; Ire composed also an abridgment of ttle i t s / ~ i I r
nl-/lfl~ir,?tik(3) ; the Rildb az-lnris ( f n ~ u i l i a rrliscourses), a s~nal\bui very ill-
s t r u c t i ~ cwork, a n d a proof of the cstensit-e inforrnntion of its aul\lor.; the A&h
nl-Kl~rrcr~ri~~~; t l ~ cRilnb al-Mc~thur 6 11fl~Zuhczl-KlludJ,. ($), etc. I nxad rlre
Ibllowin~passa$tb in a collection of divers pieces; "These words were found
.l writte~ri l l tlre l~andwritingof 81-Wazir ol-blaglrxibi's father; on ihe cover of
L the alrridgmen t of h e IsZdh nZ-Al(zrttiX. : ' IIe (ng. son) (may God preserve him
L and ermble h i n ~to attain the rank of the Saints!) was born a t first dawn of

day, on S u n d ~ v13th, Zi'i 'I-IIijja, A. H. 370 (Junc, A.D. 981). He learned

L by heart the Iioran, a nurnt~er.of granlmalical and philological text-books

' without the comments, and about fifteen thousand verses selected from
' the con~positionsof the ancient Arabic poels. He composed poetry, was
" ' skilled in prose-writing, and surpassed all his contemporaries in pen-
' manship, in the calculation of nativi ties, and in algebra, with other accom-
G ' plishment S of whicll even an inkrior portion would suffice for any A d & ;
'. L and a11 this x n s before he had completed his fourteenth year. He abridged
c this worli wit11 su1)rrior judgment; having given every explanation con-
'' ' tained in it, and not on~ittinga single word (of t/2osewhiclz are therein ex-
" ' plnirzerl) ; he changed also the order of the chapters as far as was necessary

" ' to suit the plan of his abridgment, and classed the matters under their pro-

' per heads. When he had finished lris abridgment, I proposed to him
" that he should put it into verse, and he accordingly began that undertaking
'' ' and composed a number of sheets i n a single night. All this was before
" ' the completion of lris seventeenth year; and I beseech Almighty God to

" ' spare him and to prolong his health.' "--The following is a specimen of the
vizir's poetry :

Whilst the camels were saddling for their journey, I said to my mistress: "Prepare
" all your firmness to support my absence. I shall spend, with unconcern, the best
" of my youth and renounce the pursuit of rank and fortune. Is it not a serious loss
" that our days should pass away without profit, and yet be reckoned as a portion of
" our lives? "

By the same ;
 I look on man in this world as o shepherd by wh0n1 every pnst~rc-groundis rejected,
and who at last finds none to fced his flock. liere is water, but n o Ilerbage; there,
herbage, but no water; and where thou scest water and herbage, that is the haunt of
beasts of prey.

On a handsome youth wllose hair w a s cut oll':

They cut off his hair to rcndcr him u g l y ; jenloss as lhcy wore (to save hi,& fronl
being admired). (1s fuce) 11cn a s n rnorlli~~g covered by t h dark
~ i l i ~ l l (01'
t his h&-);
they dispelled the night, but left him the morning.

By the same :
I shall relate to you my adventure, and advcnturcs arc of various liintls-I one night
changed my bed and was abandoned by repose; tell mc t l ~ c n11ow 1 shall be on the
first night which I pass in the grave?

On h e birth or Abil Ynllyn Alid al-llamid, 1 1 1 son

~ of' al-U'i~zir11-Maghribi, the
follo~vinglines were addressed to h e fatller by Al)il Abcl Allah Muharnnlnd lbn
Ahmad, chief of the army-oflice at Cairo :

In him appears an omen of which the irlcanin.2 clinnot cscapc LIlc Icarned and intelli-
gent : seeing that the child's gra~idfathcr( j a d d ) was A l i , I said : ll~cSorlune ( j u d d ) of
the child shall be exalted (ali.)

This vizir was a mart of great shrcwdness and abilities. W t i e r ~his father, un-
cle, and two brothers were gut to death by al-EIAkirn, thr: s o v c ~ h e i pof Egypt (5)'
he fled to Ramla and joined IIass%nIbn Mufrij Ibn 1)ngllljl Ibn al-Jarrill of the
tribe of Tai,who, assisted by his sons and cousins, lrad scaiir,cd on rkat city; these
he succeeded in inspiring with hostile designs against al-llikirn. IIe then pro-
ceeded to HijAz and excited the ambition of the goverbnor of Mekka, giving hirn
hopes of overthrowing al-Hikin] and conquering Egypt. These intrigues gave
great uneasiness to the prince of Egypt and awoke his apprcliet~sionsfor the
safety of his empire. It would bc too long to relate tlrc con:luet of al-HBkim
under these circumstances, but the result was, that, by a large donation of money,
he gained over the family of al-krrlh, who had. already, by the management of'
the vizir, drawn to Ramla Abh 'l-Futhh al-I-Iasan Ibn Jaafar al-Aliwi (G), the
sovereign of Mekka, and proclaimed him khalif under the title of ar-Rashid.
By his unremitting efforts, al-Bikim succeeded in conciliating the family of
alJarr8h; and Abii 'l-Futhh, being frustrated in his projects, fled to Mekka,
whilst the vizir, to avoid al-88kim's vengeance, retired to Irak ancl i~rokcoff
his intercourse wit11 Ihe Jarrill family. Al-Wazir al-hlagllribi then visited the
~ Ghilib l h11 Khalf (7) ; hut [he khalif nl-Kidir Billah,
vizir Falihr 3 1 - M I I ~Abil
havine received intelligence of the circllms(ar~ce,and suspecting that he had
come to plot against thc Abhaside dynasty, wrote to Fakhr a1-h101k, ordering
him to expel 31-Whir al-Maghribi from tile states of thc khalifat. Fakhr al-
Mulk did not, however, wilhdraw his support from al-Maghribi, and he wlc-
ceeded in obtain~ngfor hinl 31-KBdir's indulgence. Happening afterwards to
p down from Baghdad to W h i t , he took al-JVlzir al-l\la,zllribi in his suite ;
during his stay at WBsit, he treated his guest with every attention, and did not
discontinue his prot.ection till he himself \ a s put to death. AI-Wizir al-
*dghribi then endeavoured to conciliate the khalif al-Iiidir Billah and disculpate
himsell' from the imputations cast upon him; in this he succeeded to a certain
tlegree, and h e returned to Baghdad. Having made a short stay in that h(&
proceeded to Mosnl, where he was chosen by Abd 'l-Muni Kirnkh Motamitl
ad-Dawlat, prince of the Okailite dynasty (g), to fill the place of secretary of
state, which had becomc vacant bv the death of Abii 'l-Ilasan Ibn Ahi 'l-JVazir.
He afterwards directed his intrigues to obtain the post of vizir under the Daile-
mite sovereign Musharraf ad-Dawlat (g), and he did not cease his machinations
until that prince arrested his virir Muwaiysd al-Mulk Abii -4li. AI-Magl~ribi
then received a letter from Musharraf ad-Dawlat, by which he was invited to
leave Mosul and come to court; (he irz consequence proceeded to Hcrghdad,
rvfier-eMusharrJ' ad-Darvlut was emir al-Umari,) and was installed in the
vizirat, but did riot receive either the title of honour or the pelisse, neither was
he allowed to discontinue wearing the ALI-rria(I 0). He continued to fill this
ofice till circumstances obliged Musharraf ad-Dawlat to quit Baghdad (l l l,
when they both went to Awjnl(I2) and stopped with Abh SanPn Gharib Ibn
Muhammad Ibn illakn (13). Whilst things were in this state, al-Wazir al-
Maghribi was induced to quit the service of Musharraf ad-Damlat by his appre-
hension of that prince's dissatisfaction, and he went to reside with AbS 'I-Muni
Kirwjsh at Mosul. About this period, the dislike which al-Kidir had borne nsu
towards him was again excited, and the letters written (61.that ktzaly) to Kir-
wish and Gtrarib respecting him, put him under the necessity of quitting his
protector. He then went to Ab4 Nasr (Ahmad) Ibn Marwin (14) at 3faiyi-
firikin, anll during the rest of iris life, hc rernailml wit11 him :IS a guest,
nllt accortIiog to another sceoot~t,whrn 11c. proceeded to Diir Ilatr, lie be-
came rizir t~ Ahmad jV:~r\,,ln, the sultark of that p r o v i ~ ~ a :and
, died
i l l oflice tile 1 3,11 fialnad:ll~, A . 11. '1 18 (October, A . 1). 10"). Some say
tllst his dOatll hilppenrd!,'?S : but the fitsst slatement is IrlOl'? corrtnct. IIe died
Majy$firikiIl, iris hodr was ~ ~ > i ~ n s p o rtot e dKufi in pursuance of' all
injunction conrained in Iris will. 'l'lrere is an anecdot(. or1 this S U ~ J C C~vhieh
~ is
too lone to bere (15). 1 1 was ~ intorred in a tomb near tllc chapel of
A[i Ibn Al,i TB]&; and 011 i t tlre following rorses wcrc inscribc4 by his owl1

I h n d long travclled i n the path of error and ignorance; i t was lime for me to arrivp
at m y journey's end. I have repented of all lny sins, and this last part of my con-
duct may perhaps efface the former. After Iive ant1 forty years, I had hoped for ,?
longer respite, did 1 not know that my crcdito~.is generous.

IIis son, his uncle, and his two I J ~ O ~ ~ I C Ilvrre

' S put to cleat11 on tllc 3rd of Zfi
'l-Kaada, A . 11. 400 (June, A. 1). 1010).-1 llave read i o some conlpilation that,
he was not a native of Magllrib (ikloghrihi),but that onc of his ancestors, Abri '1-
Hasan Ali Ibn Muhammad, Gllcd a place under govcnln~erltin that part of Bagh-
dad kvllich lies on the west side of the Tigris ( i l 2 KarAl~); aod Iic was named
al-Maghribi (the TVester~i)for that season : this title then contiri~~cd to 1)c givcr~
to his descendants. I have also heard a ereat number of persorls malic the same
observation, but I since found the following passage a t the 1)cginning of the
work composed by the vizir, and entitled Acda6 c~I-Kltntr~n'ss : " A [-Mu tanabbi,
" the poet whom our brothers c?fJJc~ghribcall al-Mutanablitl (the cvlde awake),
says with elegance :

' When Time was in his youth, his children camo and he made them happy, butwe
' came to him in his old age.' "

This seems to prove that he was in reality a native of Maghrib. Further on,
when speaking of an-Nibbigha al-Jaadi (1 6) and his poetry, he makes use of the
very same expression, when quo tinp, this verse of al-Mutanahbi's :

In my body is a soul which has not, like it, become decrepit; although grayness has
ruined (the dark honours) of my face.

His genealogy, as given at the commencement of this notice, was taken by

 IIIOGRI~PHIC,~L
DICTIONARY.
me f r o n ~a note in the handwriting of Ahii 'l-Kisim Ali Ibn Mllnjib Ibn S~,l;~,i-
lnan al-Misri, surnamed Ibn as-Sirafi, who mentions that ire copied it fronl
handwriting of the vizir himself.

(1) Tflc k d t i b Abfi Ali IIarfin Ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Awhriji ( t h e book-keeper) died A. H . 364 (A. 1).
(3751, agctl 66 Ycilrs. He was receiver of the land-tar in somc important districts. A writtcIl collection of
the traditions was rnadc by him. He frcquented the society of the Safis and of al-Hallhj, but on discoverirlp
the real religious opinions of the latter, he informed the vizir Ali Ibn Isa and Abb Bakr I b n Mujlhid [of his
pernicious doctrines).-(Ad-Dahabi's TRrtkh al-lsldm.)
(2) hat is: By thy presence, thou turnest darkness into light, and thou wilt then be surely discovered.
(3) According to Irfijji Bl~alifu,this philo1ogic:al work was composed by Abh Rantfa Ahmad Ibn DaIvDd
ad-Dainauri, who died A. H. 290 (A. D. 903).
(4) This title signifies literally, The memorable, treating of curtain-anecdotes. Probably a philologiral
work: as fair ladies arc always concealed by a curtain or a veil, so the beauties of Arabic style are hidden
under the veil of allusio11.
(5) See M. de Sacy's Expost' de b'histoired~sDrures. tom. I . page 350.
(6) He returned to BIckka and, having ri~adchis suhrnissioii to al-Hhliim, he was reinstated in his go\.rrrt-
rnent, and died there A. H. 430 ( A . D. 1038-g), the forty-sixth year of his administration. -1hn KhaldStIIq
n1S. of the Bib. du Roi, No. d'entrtk, 2402 C, fol. 44.)
(7) AbCl Chjlib Falihr al-Mulk Muhammad Ibn Ali Ibn Khalf was vizir to the Dailemite prince Bahl ad-
Dawlat and to his son Sultln ad-Davlat. His talents, liberality, and noble character e~rtitledhim to be
considered as the greatest vizir who ever served the Buwaih dynasty, with the exception of Abh'l-Fadl 1b11
al-Amid and the Sihib Ibn Abbld. His father was a money-changer, and he himself underwent many vicis-
situdes of fortune before he was raised to the vizirat. He was put to death A. H. 407 ( A . D. 1016-7) by his
sovereign SultBn ad-Dawlat, for somc reason or other . . . (AI-Yhfi's Mirdt ; Abh 'I-Mahisin's urr-
Nujilm az-Z8hira.)-'lbn al-Athir says i n his Kbrnil :l n the gear 419:the khotba was said throughout Iral;
with the substitution of Musharraf ad-Dawlat's name for Sultan ad-Dawlat's. The Dailemitc troops (in the
servicc of the latter) then obtained permission from Musharrif ad-Dawlat to return to their homes in Khu-
zestbn. H e ordered his vizir Ab& Ghllib to accompany them; but on arriving at al-Ahwhz, they murdered
him.-I should suppose this not to be the same person as the preceding.
(8) Hirwash Ihn aldlukallad Ibn at-Nusaiyib succeeded his father as sovereign of Mosul, A. H. 391 (A. D.
1000-1). He died A. H. 448 ( A . D . 1052-3). His history may be traced in Abh 'l-Fed&; tom. 11. p. 605,
and tom. 111. pp. ET, 51, 53, 141.-For the pronunciation of his name, I have followed the MS. of Ibn al-
Athir; it is found written with the vowel points in vol. 111. fol. 24. Ihn Khaldhn has a long chapter olr
the history of the Okailite dynasty.-(MS. No. 2402 C, fol. 116 verso.)
(9) See Price's Retrospect, vol. 11, p. 269, and Abb 'I-FedA's Annals, tom. 111. pp. Oli, U,69.
(10) According to al-Makrizi, the Durrha was a sort of vest in woollen cloth Worn by,gzirs (Chrestoma-
Zhie, t. I. p. 125). I do not understand, however, why al-Maghribi was obliged to wear it constantly.
(li) H e left Baghdad through apprehension of the turbulent spirit of the Turkish troops, to whocn large ar-
rears of pay were owing.
(12) A w l n a lay a t ten parasangs from Baghdad, higher up the river.-(Mardsid.)
(13) Ibn Makn; is the orthograpbg of the MSS, and of Ibn al-Athlr in t b I(iZmi1. Mention is made
of this emir by Abh 'l-Fedl in his Annals, A. H. 421.
 $56 IBN IiII.4 LLIIi AN'S
(24) H i s life, p. 157 of this volume.
(23) w h e n al-Wazfr al-Maghribi felt that his dcatli was incvitablr, he wrole to all t h e emirs a n d chiefs of
his acquaintance ~1.11owere (living)bct\sern Maiyafhrikin ant1 lidfa. 111these lctlcrs, hc informed them that
one of his concubines ]lad died, and tltat be inlcrlded srndirlg the coffill to t h e chapcl of Ali ; h e tllcrefore
asked their protection for the persons \cho accon~patlicd111~hotly, nod tfcsit'ed tbenl, 011 l10 account, to stop i t
,,r the escort Wllen [lc clpired, his peol~lc1)roccctlcd \\ ill1 Iris hotly to the [)I;Iv(! of b u r i a l ; the emirs
thought that it n a s thc body of tlle conr~rbir~c,
i111d nollc attern[~tcdI n slop it on its progress. T h e truth was
not discovered till after his interment. - flbn nt .4lhir.\
(16)H ~ s s A nlbll Kais, a desuenda~ltof Aamlr Ibn SAS&,a member of t h e tribc of Jnatl Ibn K a a b , and ge-
rlerally known by the name of an-XAbig11a al-Juadi, was onc of 111~most cclchraled of lbc poets contemporary
vcith Muhammad. was born before t l ~ c~)rornulgi~tion
of Islamism, to which he became a convert, anti
\vas a devoted partisan 10 Ali Jhn Abi TBlib, on whose sitlc he fought a t the b a t t l e of Silfln. Ife died during
tile priotl irl nhich Abd Allall Ibn az-Zubair, the anti-khillif, ruled a t Meltltn. I t is to liis songs that he is
cllleny rl~tleb~cdfor his reputation. Ho did not give arly proofs of pobscssing a talent lor poetry, till after
llis tlliltieth yeilr, i111dit MaS for this reason that he rccci\cd t l ~ sur'rrarnc
r of all-NB1)igha. (See Chreslomtl-
tl&, tom. 11, p. 410.) (Es-SuyQli; Sharfb Shawdhicl al-Mugltni, MS. NO. 1238, fol. 133.)

IBN KITALA~VAIII.

Abir Abd Allah al-I-Iusain Ibn Ahmad Jbn Khllawaih, the grammarian and
philologer, was a native of Ilalnadin, but (rvlrerz still n y o u d ) he went to Bagh-
dad and frequented somc of the eminent scholars who thcrl ir1hal)ited that city.
Among the number were A b i Bakr lbn al-gnbhri, Ibn Mujihid al-Mukri, Abil
Omar az-Zihid ar~dIbn Duraid. I-le also learned the ~ ' ~ u d i n of g s the Koran
from Abli Said as-Sirhfi, and having removed to Sy~bin, he took up his abode
at Aleppo. Ire then became unrivalled I)y his acrlnil.e~ncntsin every branch of
literature ; (students) journcyed to llinl from all c o t ~ ries, n ~ and I he nlcmbers of
tlle,lIamdin Clmily (which tfletr I~''.IIP~~ n l i f l e p p o ) , treated him with honour,
studied under his direction, and profitcd by his tuition. It was he who related
the following (well k~zown)anecdote : I one clay went to see Saif ad-Dawlat
('Ibn IIarndiin, and when I stood up before him (nfrer ~ n a ~ i l nzy t g saZutalion),
('he said to me : Sit down, making use of the word {ckod, and not cljlos : from
'' this 1 perceived that he was an amateur of philological studies (I), and well
" acquainted rvitlr {hesecrets of the language spoken by the desert Arabs." I6n
935 Khilawaill made this observation because philologers corlsider it preferable to
say ukod to a person who is standing up, and r!jlos to a person \\llo is lyirlp
down 01% mahir~ga prostration (2); and some of thc learned give tllc &Iloniag
g distinction : the rcrb knod implies tile idea of passin(:
reason for n ~ a l ~ i ntile
from r r p to dolr,lurl (and it is for this reason that a person deprived of tlre us(*of
c ~ ~ ~ ), but the rerb jrrlns denoles tlrp action 01.
Ilis linrbs is called ~ ~ z r r k(rl(.rraird)
Inssing from dorxvr to L ~ I (for, wl~iclrreason it is that the i~iglrland of hajtl is
called al-Jr~l.sn' (lhe senlrd it/)), and that they say of a person who govs to that
country : IIe is a jnlis (shle:. LY), or that he jrrlus (sits up). It is thus 11l;lt
hlnrwjn ibn al-l-faknm, ~vhengovernor of I\Iedina, addressed the poet al-Faral-
(]i,Ii in these terlns :

Say to the idiot al-Farazdnk '3) : Proceed to Najd (Ujlos)if you obey not my orders.

This is taken from a piece of verse relative to which a long anecdote is re-
lated (!&).-The for,egoing observatiorls are not here i n their propel place, but
discourse will run into di,sression.-lbn Khilawaih is author of a large philolo-
!;ical work, entitled Kl'tcib h i s (die book i - ' l a i s (rzoit e s ~ ) ) , which is a proof of
his vast erudition; frbo~nthe beginning to the end it is drawn up in this man-
ner : I n ilia langzcnge of t h pure
~ drhbic roce there is not (/clis) a ~ c l tand such
e.-rjwessio/z, etc. ; whence its name. He colnposed also a little book which
he called nl-Anl(5), and in the beginning of it he s a y : The Aal is of tlventy-
five divisions (or .sorts). This treatise is composed with no inferior talent. lle
irlentions in it the twelve imhms, the dates of their birth and death, and the
nanies of their mothers ; what induced him to speak of them was, that in de-
scribing the different sorts of Aal (or, mirage), he came to speak of the Aal
(oi.fnmily) of Muhammad, the Bane Hishim. His other works are the Kit&
fi
~rl-lshlikdli(book qfder.iv~llions),the Kildb nbjornl 'n-Naliwi (the grarnrna-
tical srrmrnary), a treatise on the readings of the Koran, the parsing of thirty
.rumts of the Koran, the K i t i t nGAzlz (6), a treatise on the short and the long
final et$ another on ,the two genders, one on the different kinds of el$ a
comnlentary on ]bn Duraid's poem the Mok.virn; a work (con~ahing
~lesc~.zj,tio~) of the lion, etc. Ibn Khilawaib had some conferences and discus-
sions with al-Mutanabbi i t the court of Saif ad- awla at, and were I not desirous
of avoiding prolixity, 1 should give an account of hem. He composed some
58
L58 IBN ItHALLIK.4N'S
good poetry, and the following verses were rvri ltm by him, as il appears by alll-
Thailibi's statement in the Yolhlla:
If the !,resident of an nssen~blgbe not a man of family, he whom the assembly have
chosen for president is good for nothing. 1 1 0 ~often has i t been said to me: &'why
do I see thee on foot:'" .lnd I replicd : " Bccausc you arc on horseback."

Ibtl Khiilarvaih died a t Aleppo, A. H. 370 (h.D. 980-1).

(1) Literally: I Has swarc of his attachment to the fringc ( o f the robe) of p$ilology.
2 , ~ r o mkllii it appear that the verb 1 x 9 Load signifies t o sit down, and crk joias, to
This distinction is now neglected in common discourse.
(3) Literally: Say to al-Farazdak, (and fully is as hateful as ils name). T h e cxprcssion between payen-
theses nas used by theancients to denote that thc person of whom they n c r c speaking was a blockhead. The
i,,jet an-NAbiglla ad-Dubyhni has uscd it in this sense i l l t l ~ ccornmcncemerit of his fifth kaslc1a.-- (See yfisur
.ts-S1r;rntnlari's Commentary on the l)iwdvz o f tlte six Poels; MS. of lhe Bib. du ltoi.)
(4) This anecdote is givcn by M. Caussin de Percejal i r ~his lifc of a\-Faraztiak, J o u r n a l A s i a ~ i q u s t., x[11.
pp. 516, 517. and 518. The verse rrientioned here by I b n ICl~allikA~~ was corr~poscd1)y R I n r w d ~i ~n answer to
that recited by the poet, and which is rncntioned in page 518 of that periodical. 1bn Kl~allikhnlias omitted
the next verse of the piece composed by Marwan, and I give it llcre after the Ilildb al-Aqhdni:

U .u.J\ * 5?&-9 ,.
i*-~...\
Quit Medtna; it is for thee a forbidden city, and go to Mekka or Jerusalem."
(5) This word signifies family, and mirage. I am inclined to think thut the lattcr meaning is here in-
tended.
(6) This work is not noticed by Bajji Khalifa.

ABU ALI 'L-GIJASSANI.

Abii Ali al-Husain Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ahmad PI-Ghasdni (descended fiorn
the tribe o f G/zassiirt)alLJaiy%ni(a native o f J a e n in Syain) was a traditionist
of the first authority and a philologer. He is the author of the Takyid nl-
Mufzmal (fixation o f doublful orthographies), a book in which he gives the
right spelling of all the names of Traditioilists cited in the Si/~n"lzof al-Bokhiri
and that of Muslim, when these names are liable to be pronounced erroneously :
in this work, which forms two volumes, he has treated the subject with no infe-
rior talent. 1Ie was an able critic in judging of the authenticity of Traditions,
and one OF those great men of learutlingmllosc labours have becn useful to [hc
lIis handwriting was good, Iris 01-thography correct, and he was a r -
quainted with ihe rare and eleeaut expressions of the Arabic language, and witll
poetry and genealogy. When teaching the Traditions, he used to sit in itle
mosque of Cordova, and he had the most eminent men of that ci tv for allclitorS.
I have not met w i ~ hthe particulars of his life (I), or I should mention ttlprjl.
Ilo was born in t l ~ emonth of Muharram, A. II. 427 (A. D. 1035); in the year
44.14, he began his travels for the Ilurpose OF learning the Traditions, and he
died on Thursday night, the 12th of Shibin, 498 (April, A. D. I 05). - Jalydrti 9j4
means 6elnngir7g to J a i ~ & n(Jaen), n large city in Spain. There is another.
place of this name in the dependencies of Rai.

(i) I hoped to have found some further particulars respecting al-Ghassini in the Silat or gift, the ceIebrated
biographical dictionary composed by Ibn BashkuwBI, and of which a copy is preserved in the library of the
Asiatic Society of Paris. His life is indeed given in that work, but I perceived that Ibn Khallikln had
already extracted from it every interesting fact.

AL-BARI.

Abfi Abd Allah al-Husain was son to Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhib Ibn
Ahnlad Ibn Muhammad Ibn al-IIusain Ibn Obaid Allah Ibn al-Kisim Ibn Obaid
Allah Ibn Sulaimhn Ibn Wahb al-Hirithi; this Sulaimin Ibn Wahb was a vizir
and a descendant of Hgrith Ibn Kaab Ibn Amr (I).-This celebrated poet bore
the surnames of ad-Dabbh, al-Badri, al-Biri (the pre-enzinent), and an-Nndim
aZ-Baglzd&di (the boon-compa~2ion from Baghdad); he was also a learned
grammarian, a philologer, and a teacher of the koranic readings; he pos-
sessed besides a good acquaintance with the various branches of polite litera-
ture. Great numbers profited under his tuition, and particularly in the read-
ing of the Koran. He descended from a family conspicuous in the vizirat, as
his ancestor al-Kisirn was vizir to the khalif al-Motadid and to aI-Muktafi his
successor; (this was the vizir who poisoned Ibn ar-Riimi, as we shall relate in
that poet's life;) Obaid Allah, the father of al-KLsim, had been already vizir to
 a n d as br S~llaiinbn1l)n Wal~l),his ~ ( ~ l ~ b risi ( sttch
y ilut it is
,leedlrss to ; sllall rticrrly r d e r the rendor to liis life ill
of l l i m 1 l c 1 ~we

solnp p o d works, sucl, as conlllositions in the lofty stylcl (2) a n d poetical pieces.
]Ie x a s an intim;,tc conlpaniot~and li,iclrd of' i ! t ~.r/inri/' A f ) i Yal:~ 1I,n al-Aah-.
\ , g r i p , and tflc pleasnoti.ies wliicll passed 1)ctwecn tltcn~ are most nrnllsinG,
It happened tllat al-Bii~~i ctllc~xdinto the service of n cc~~t;iin
emir and made {llr
l , s l / u ~ *wen(,
pilerim;lge to MehRn; on Iris r c t ~ r ~ tlic f at, (liflcrcllt times, to see

x ~ ~ , i l ~l wliich
; ~ ~hc~rcpro;lched
~ , him b r his roudl~ct,arid Irint(1d tlrat the place
ly]rich lie had obtained callsed him to disdain his old ; ~ ( * r [ u a i l i t a ~ ~ c'rllis
c. pocrrl

0 son of my aflection ! brit alas, how far (est?.nnged) Fronl me is tlie son of m y a&'ec-
tiorl ! This place of autlloritg, obtained since my departure, has altered the (kind)
looks (wilh w hicil Ize once received me).

I slloold ~ i v this
e piece here, were i t not for ilrc ~*ilial(lry
n ~ r do l ~ s c r ~tyl iof somp
passages. It was answered l)y al-niri ill a long epistle collti~ir~illg also solile in-
delicate expressions, and hceinning thlls :

The sharif Abb Yhla's letter has arrived, and it has mct with as Iiinri a rcceplion as
would be given to himself, I received it with a hearty wclconin, and I applied i t to my
eyes and to my cheek (3). 1 broke the seal and found-whal think you oC honey mixed
with wormwood? Kind reproaches tinclured with bilterncss, such as he better deserved ;
folly and seriousness:-false accusations against me who havc committed no crime,
and blame such as nearly consumes my heart. Ilc pretends that ha came to visit me
many times, and that I refused to admit him; lnay 110 ncvcr meet with a foul repulse!
Cease then to accuse the place I fill, ancl lay riot the fault on my pilgrimage; can a
person, (frank)like me, affect condesccridence or disdain (L)? 1 implore you, by ,4llah!
tell me how you can perceive that I forgct you or that my affection is altered? Such as
you see me, whether acting as an admil (S) or a vizir to a prince, or passing troops in
review, I am still that libertine (khalz")whom you knew, and whom you yet might
easily recognize (6). When a handsome (giro is true to (her promise and visits) me,
that day is my holyday, (as if) the prince himself came to my house. Were I in the
garden of eternal happiness and you in the fire of hell' with 119m;ln (7), do you think I
could forget you? Were my head encircled vith a diadem and .you a prisoner in
chains, could I feel indifferent for you? I fulfil manifold my promised affection to you,
but you do not repay my friendship. (Do you reproach me) because I am solely de-
vote'd to one single person among men, the first among the generous; one who has
spared my self-respect the humiliation of (soliciting succour from) the vile, and has
 loaded me with unbounded Bvo~irs?1 desire no more ; 1 irt my days glide smootllly
away, arid adopt the maxim of kceping within bounds. And yet l am not too proll(\
to beg ; hut where are the generous men whose bounty I may implore?

We shall confine ourselves to the foregoing citation, as the kasi'cZa from which
it is taken contains obscene passages not fit to be given, and others unsllited tt,
ollr purpose.-The followi~lgpiece is by rhe same author :
I have lost my self-respect (8)from having lone solicited the Favours OF a man devoill
of self-respect. I sent to him a statement of my misery,-would that I had died beforp
I sent it. His gifts brought me no honour, and I could hardly recover From his contu-
melious treatment. Death is better than (to live in) an age \\hen men of talent must
hold out their hands to blockheads.

Al-Biiri was 1)orn at Baghdad on thc l 0th of Safar, A. 11. 453 (A. D. 105 1 ,,
and he died on Tuesday, 17th of the latter Jumida, (some say the first,) A. H.
52.4. (April, A . D. 1130).-Dabhis means a maker o r seller of dibs (9).-Bal!,-i
signifies 6elongin.g to al-Brrrlrb-a, a part of Baghdad so called, and in wllich
a\-B8ri resided ; for whicl~reason he obtained this surname.

( g ) This Arnr was sou of Olla & Ibn Khald 1b11Mhlik Ihn Odad, the descendant of Kahliln.
(2) Compositions i n tire lofty style; this is not the literal translation, but i t expresses the sense tolerably
well: the original word is &.,L, nhich means rare or strange expressions, such as are used by the Arabs
of the desert, b u t unintelligible for towns-people.
(3) I n sign of honour.
(4) Literally: An mihi est solutio dedignationis auL constrictio ejus?
(5) See note (3), page $44.
(6) Literally: Whose country you might know were it even by the manner in which his camels ruminate.
This seems to bc a proverbial expression, but I have not been able to find it in al-Maidhi. I t may be, b o ~ -
ever, that I have misunderstood the words, as the last hemislich of the verse may very well signib: Who, as
thou knowest, is easily pleased, were it even v i t h a flask of muddy wine.
(7) Hilmln was the chief minister of Pharaoh. The Koran says: - "Verily Firaun and Hdmhn were
sinners."
(8) Literally: i have spent the water of my face: see note (iY), page 108.
(9) The inspissated juice of the ripe grape is much used by the natives (of Aleppo). It is named dibs, and
has much the appearance of coarse honey, but is of a firmer consistence. I t is brought to town in goat-skins
and retailed in small quantities in the bazars, serving for the common people instead of honey.-(lussell's
dleppo, vol. I. p. 82, quarto edition.)
 IBN Ii1IALLIKAhT7S

Abd IsmaiI al-IIusain lbn Ali Ibll Mullammad Ibn Abd as-Samad, surnamed
al-AInid (or Alnid ad-DuwZ~lt,p~lla[n,( f ' l h e state), Fakllr 31-K11ttBb (the glory
the k & d s (I j ), Muxvaiyad a 6 D i n (sustuillerl 1 1 1-eligion), and generally
known by tile name of at-Toghhi, was a cclebmted m1v2shi ( 2 )a11d a native of
Ispahhn. He possessed great talents, a suhtle genius, and surpassed all his con-
temporaries in the art of composing in prose and verse. As-Samini speaks of
him in tile Kit& nl-hsrib under the articlc ilfu~u,,shi, and after :lraking his
, ~ ,gives an extract from one of his poems descriptive of a wax-light,
~ ~ o l o g i u ,iv
and states that he was put to death in the year 51 5 (A. D. 1121 -2). At-To-
glirii has left behind him a difod12(or collection) of good poetry, and one of
his finest pieces is the kasida entitled the Lar~ziyatal-Ajarn (3), which he corn-
posed at Baghdad in the year 505 (A. D. 1111-2). In his poem he describes
his own situation and complains of the timc in which he lived. It begins
thus :
My strength of mind has preserved me from frivolity, and I was adorned by my
talents, though decked with no other ornament.

936 This kasida, which consists of more than sixty verses (4.), contains every
heauty of style (5) and is thr very essence and excellence of poetry; it is too
long to be given here, but it is generally known and in the harids or the public.
-One of his sentimental pieces is as follows :
0 my heart! what hast thou to do with love? It is long since indifference had set-
tled in thee, and since the lover's ardour has been restrained. Dost thou not feel
pleasure in repose, now that those with whom you passed round the cup of burning
passion have recovered their reason? The zephyr fell into languor and revived again,
but from the malady of which thou complainest, no deliverance can be hoped. I
behold the wavering of the lightning-flash, and the heart within my bosom wavers
and beats (6).
By the same:
Eyes ! treasure up your tears ; it will surely come, the threatened moment of separa-
tion (from my beloved). If to-morrow unite (us) lovers, shame then be on the eyes which
have not been fatigued with weeping (7).

AW 'l-Malli 'l-Hazin mentions at-Toghrgi in his Zinat ad-Dahr and cites

 BIOGRAPI-IICAL r)1CfI'IONtlRY. 563
some fragrnmts of his poetry; he is also spoken of by 1bn nl-Mosta\l,fi, in his
History of' Arbela, nlro says that he acted for some time as vizir i n t h r ~c i f r ;
srld the krilib lmld ad-din states, in his history of the Sebhkides, entitled flll,s-
rat al-Fd,n w a Osral nl-Fitrrr, that at-Toghrii was styled rr2-1Jstdd ( t j I e
1 3 he was vizir at Mosul to the Seljilk sultan Rlaslid lhn hluham-
t e that
~ ~ ~ ~ sancl
mad ; " whrn this prince," he continues, gave battle to his brother the so\-
tan Mallmlid near Hamadin, he was defeated, and among the first prisoncfi
taken, was the uslcicl Abil Ismail, MasAd's vizir. News of this circumstanccb
was brought to Kamil al-Mull; Nizinl ad-din Abii Tllib Ali Ibn Ahmad Ibn
Harb as-Sumairmi, the vizir to Mahrnid, on which Shihib ad-din Asaatl
' L ( (who was then deputy toghrsa-writer to an-Nusnir the kcitib), made the re-

mark that t l ~ a t~ n a n ,meaning the ~ist&i,was an atlreist; and the vizir here
' c observer1 that atheists should be put to death. At-Toghrii was thus slain
+( llnjustly; they dreaded his superior abilities, and put him to death on this
pretext, without having any regard for his personal merit. This was in A. H.
d L 51 3 (A. D. I 1 19-20).'' Rut other accounts assign his death to the years iiI!t
518. EIe was then aged upwards of sixty years, and in his poetry arc
found these two verses, composed on a new-born son who had been brought to
him, and which indicate h a t he had then attained his fifty-seventh year :
This little one has come in my old age ; it rejoiees my sight, but increases my pen-
siveness : a lapse of seven and fifty years would make impression even on a rock.

How long he lived after composing these verses, God knows best .-The rizir
al-Kamiil as-Sumairrni was killed on Tuesday, the last day of the month of
Safar, A. H. 51 6 (Map, A . D. 1 1 22), in the Bazar ( s ~ i k of
) Baghdad near the
Niziimimiyn college; it is said that he fell by the band of a black slave who had
belonged to at-Toghrii, and who slew him to revenge his master's death.-
Toghrdi means a togl~ra-(witer;the toghra is the flourish written wih a
broad-nibbed pen, at the beginning of (oflcial) papers, over the Bismillah,
and containing the titles of the prince from whom the document emanates.
Toghra is a Persian word.--Szrnznirnzi means belonging io S m i r n z , a town
between Ispah$n and Shiriz, on the extreme limit of the Ispahb district.

(1) See note (7),page 26.

(2) Munshi, a person employed by government to draw up state papers.
 (3) This poem is ncll known to Europci~nreaders, I l a ~ i f l bcerl
g , the editiorl
rel)eatcdly ~ ~ u b l i s h e d1)ut
b y the illustrious Pocock is decidedly tile bcst.
(4) Pift!-oise in the printed editions.
[S; In Arabic k9i; see note ( l ) ,page (Jtiil.
(6) In the poems of the arleient -4r;lbs, the lover frequently dcscribcs tlis J O Y in watching ~ h c lighlrling,
\\hiclL llresages a fcrtiiisillg shower to 1111: plains wlrcrc his mistt'css d\\ells. Sce thc f)iu,dn, dr.4~tro
l silys llrat tile ligtltIIin;.
1,. 93, fiotes, At-Toghr$i here rcproduccs that idea, ~ l l i c l lwas quite c l i ~ ~ ~ i c;i lalld
rrlakcs llim think of llis mistress, and l l ~ i i tthis 'recollection ciluscs his lrcart to beat.
(7) Because true lovers should bc aluays weepirig rvhcn separated.
(81 lbrl al-Athfr, in his Arl~ials,notices thc death of' al-Toghrii, anti says that he composed some alcllemical
l ~ been the ruin of many. Oile of thcsc vvorks, entitled Sirr ul-llikma (the secret of
n-,lrks w l ~ i c have
sopfill), atld colltaining a commentary on a treatise of Jhbir Ibri lIniyAn, crrtitlctl ar-ltwftma (mercy), is in
tllc Rib. ~ l r lRoi, f o ~ ~ dAsselio.
s

IRN AL-KIIAZIN T I I E KATIII.

957 Ahii 'l-Fawiris al-Husain Jbn Ali Ibn al-Ilusain, gcoerally know11 by
appellalion of Ibn a1-Khizin the AritiG, was t h e first collyisl of h i s lime; h e sur-
p s s e d all others by the quantity of his transcriptions, lkar.in,; rnado livr hun-
dred copies of the Koran, some of a compact tbrm and some of a folio size. He '

composed also some good poetry, of which we may cite 111c f o l l o w i ~specimen
~~ :

Fortunc torments him v h o pursues

her, bul the man of prudencc despises the world
and enjoys repose. l'ho prince who obtains her dclusivc favours must at last be
contented with a shroud. lle gathers wealth with pain, and will1 pain he leaves it
after him. My only wish is to feel assured that 1 shall meet Cod. 1 detest the wurld,
and why should I love it, since i t s gifts are lethargy (to the sozsl) ? It has not endured
for any man before me; why then this care and sadness?

The lristorian Mtlhammatl lbn Abi 'I-Fad1 (Ahd rrl-n/Ic[Ii/F) al-IIarrladini says,
in liis supplement to the Tnjriril, ~ I - ( ~ I I of
L ~(Ibtr)
I I ~ Miskawaill (I), that Ibn
Ibn al-Iiizin died suddenly in tlre month oC Zil 'l-Aijja, A. 1-1. 502 (July, A. D.
1109), and the shary Abii Mimar al-Mubirak Ibn Ahrnad al-Ansiri states that
his death took place on Monday night, and tllaf, he was buried the next day,
Tuesday, the 26th of the above month.

(1) According to Hajji Khalifa, Abb Ali Ahmad I b n Miskawaih, thc autlior of tllc Z'ujdrib al-Omant, or
sxperience of ~zations,died A. H. 421 (A. D. 1030). AbQ '1-Faraj gives a short accoullt of him in the His-
toria Dynasliarunt, p. 216 of the translation.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY

ABU ARD ALLAH THE SHIITE.

AbG Abd Allah al-IIusain Ibn Ahmnd Ibn Muhammad it,n Zakarivi, sur-
named us-Shii (the Shiiie), was the assertor of the rights ( I ) of Obaid Allah
al-Mahdi, the ancestor ot' the (F~ztbnite)sovereigns of Egypt. His revolt in
Maghrib is a celebrated event, and works have been specially composed on that
subject. W e shall give an account of some of his proceedings in the life of
Obaid Allah al-Mahdi.-Ahii Abd Allah the Shiite, a n a t i ~ eof Sani in Yemerl,
was one of those crafty men who know how to regulate their conduct so as to
obtain their ends; for he entered Ifrikiya alone, without money and without
men, yet by his urlremitting efforts, he succeeded in obtaining possession of'
ihat kingdom and expelling its sovereign Abli Modar Ziida t Allah, the last of
the Aghlabite princes, who fled to the East and there died. The history of these
events \vould he long to relate. -When he had established the affairs of al-hZahdi
on a solid foundation, and reduced h e country under his authority a d made it
ready for his reception, al-Mahdi set out from the East, but being unable to
join the Shiite, he proceeded to Sejelm&s;~,where he was discovered and thrown
into prison bp tlre sovereign of that city, al-Yasb, the last of the ]lid& dynastr .
AhS Abd Allah the Shiite, having marched thither, delivered him from con-
finement and placed the supreme authority in his hands. Abh 'l-Abbis Ahniad,
the Shiite's tilder brother, then arrived and repwached him for lvtrat he had
done : How !" said he to the Shiite, '' yoii were master of the count rSy, and
'' uncontrolled arbiter of its affairs, yet you hare de1,ivered it over to another,
" and consent to remain in the rank of an inferior !" Ry a repetition of such
discourses, hc: induced his brother, to repent of his c~onduc.t,and to meditate
treason, but a l-Mahdi's apprehensions were awakened, and he suborned per-
sons who murdered them both at the same time. This event happened in the
middle of the latter Jumida, A. H. 295 (February, A. D. 91 l ) , at ar-Rakkgda,
between the two castles (2).-Shii is the denomination given to the partisans of
the im&rll Ali Ibn Abi TB1ib.-Xukkridu was a town in the dependencies of 938
Kairanin in Ifrikiya.--As for ZiBdat Allah, mention is made of him in these
terms by Ibn As6kir, in his History of Damascus : "Abh Modar Ziidat Allah
Ibn Abd Allah ~ b nIbrahim Ibn Ahmad Ibrl 1Muhammad Ibn al-Aghlab I l n
59
 L66 IBN 1CEIALLIR:kN'S
a Ibrahim Ibn Sjlim lbn IkPl Ibn Khafija : this is Ziidat Allah the less, the
last of the princes descended from al-Aghlab at-Tamimi.--He came to Damas-
6 6 cus in ,lre rear 302 ( A . D. 91&5), on his way to Bagtrdad, a f ~ e his
r defeat in
4' Ifrikiya and the loss of his kingdom." He then says at the end of the article:
6' I have been informed that Ziidat Allah died at Ramla, in the month of the

c c first Jum&da,A. H. 304 (November, A . D. 916j ; he was buried at Ramla,

and his grave llaving sunk in, it was covered over (with hour&) and left so.
He was a descendant of al-Aghlab Ibn Amr al-M8zini al-Basri (3); Arnr had
L L been governor of Maghrib by ar-Rashid, on the death of Idris Ibn
' 1 Al>d Allah Ibn al-Hasan Ibn al-Husain Ibrl Ali Ihn Abi Tilib. He continued
6' in Mnghrib till his death, and had for successor his son al-Aghlab, who \\.as

succeeded by his descendants, till at last the authority devolved to this Zildat
Allah."--His genealogy is again given in the life of Ali ibn al-Katti; there is
some slight difference between it and that mentioned here by Ibn Asikir, and 1
have set them down just as I found them. Another historian says: LCAhii
l' Modar Ziidat Allah Ibn Muhammad Ibn Illrahim Ibn al-Aghlab died a t

Rakka; his body was borne in a bier to Jerusalem and there interred in the
year 296 (A. D. 908-9). A space of five years, nine months, and fifteen days
" elapsed from the time of his accession till he abandoned Kairawtn, when
'( (his geneml) Ibrahim Ibn al-Aghlab was defeated by Abii Abd Allah as-
'' Shii. On learning this event, he packed up his wealth, and taking with him
the principal ladies of his harem, he left Rakkhda during the night. Ibrahim
" Ibn al-Aghlab was then proclaimed sovereign. The Aghlabite dynasty reigned
44 two hundred and twelve years, five months, and fourteen days." Such is
the summary of these events, which it would be too long to relate in full (4).

( t ) The assertor of rlre rights; literally: The establisher of the mission. Mention has been already made
of the missions established for political purposes. See note (g), page 26. A full account of AbO Abd Allah's
proceedings will be found in M. de Sacy's Expos8 de I'histoire des Dmzes, t. I . p. 257
(2) Between the two castles; perhaps the author means the place called al-fiasr al-Kadlm ( t h e old castle)
and ar-Rakkilda. Ibn KhaldOn merely states that he was slain a t al-Kasr (the castle). The Two casller
are mentioned by an-NuwaPri, MS. No. 702, f. 28 v, but he does say where they lap.
(3) This and what follows is quite erroneous; Ibn AsAkir must have been very badly informed respecting
the origin and history of the Aghlabites.
( 8 ) I n my translation of an-Nuwairi's history of Maghrib, will be found a fuller nccourlt of tbe Aghlabile
dynasty.
 ABU SALAMA HAFS AL-KHALLAL.

~ b iSnlama
i Hafs Ibn Sulaiman al-Khallil al-HamdAni was a client, by en-
~hnchisemcnt,to as-Sabi (a brunch of the great tribe ofIiainmdkn), and "izir
to Abh 'l-Abbk as-SaEh, the first of the Abbaside khalifs. Abh Salarrlawas
the first person under the Abbasides who received the name of vizir and was
~ u b l i c addressed
l~ as such; for this appellation was not known before, either
under the Omaiyide dynasty or any other. Being versed in literature and skilled
in politics and government, his conversation was both amusing and instnlctive,
for. which reason As-Saffih took pleasure ill his society. He possessed a large
fortune, having followed the p[-ofessionof money-changer at Kiifa; and he spent
grt3atsums in support of (the cause of') the Abbasides. He went to Khorasan
for. that object with Abd Moslim to second him, and he there colled(1) the people
to support the cause of Ibrahim, as-Saffih's brother. When Ibrahim was put
to death at Harrin by MarwCn Ibn Muhammad the last of the Omaiyides, the
roll was made in favour of as-~affih,and Abli Salama became suspected of a
leaning towards the descendants of Ali. When as-Saftbh, on his accession to
the khalifat, rrorninated Abh Salama as vizir, he still retained some doubts of his
fidelity ; and it is said that he sent to Abil Moslitn in Khorasan, informing him
of Abd Salama's evil intentions, and urging him to put him to death. But ac-
cording to another account, it was Ab5 Moslim who discovered the vizir's per-
fidy, and informed as-Saffah, by letter, of the circomstance, advising him at the
same time,. not to let him live. This, however, the khalif refused to do, say-
ing: " That man has spent his wealth in our service and has hitherto served us
faithfully; wherefore we pardon him this slip." On perceiving as-Sflah's
unwillingness to follow the counsel given him, AbB Muslim sent a band of men 239
to lie in wait, during the nigLt,-for Abli Salama, who used to pass theevening in
conversation with the .khalif. When the vizir was retiring home unaccompa-
nied, the assassins set upon him and cut him down with their swords; (this was
at al-Anb$r, the khalif's capital;) the next morning the publie said that he had
been murdered by the KhCrijites. This event happened four months after the
accession of as-Saffih to the khalifat; he had been proclaimed khalif on the eve
 of Friday, 13th of the latter Rahi, A. H. 1 32 (Novenlber, A. D. 7,40). When
n d a f f b h was informed of his death, he pronounced this verse:
To hell with him and those who resemble him; we should regret that, in any point,
he escaped our vengeance (2).

It is stated in the History of tile Vizirs (3), that AhG Salama was murdered in
the month of Rajab, A. H. 132 (February or March, A . D. 750). He was
styled the //rejirmily o f M ~ d n n m ~ a d .The following lines were corn-
posed on his death by Sulaimin Ibn al-Moh6jir al-najli :
Crimes are sometimes rejoiced at, but joy were fitter for that which you disliked.
The, vizir has perished, the vizir of the family of Muhammad, and one who detests you
now fills his place (8).

Abil Salanla was not a Khallcil (vinegar-maker), but his housc in K4fa was
sirua~edin the street of the vinegar-makers, and he used to sit with them as
neighbours : it was for this reason that he received the surname of a/-Khalldl.
-ffamddni means belorzgijzg to HnmdanJ a Great tribe i n Yemen. We shall
speak of Sabi in the life of AbB Ishak as-Sabii.-Philologers disagree respecting
the derivation of the word wizrirut (uiziral) ; some derive it from tvinr, a bur-
den, because the vizir relieves the prince from the burtlen of a K ~ i r s ;this is also
the opinion of Ibn Kutaiba; but others sap that it. comes horn wnzr; a moun-
tain, to which people fly for refuge from danger. According to this, the vizir
is one to whom the spiritual or temporal prince has recourse, and to whom he
betakes himself for advice; this is the opinion of A bir ishn k az-Zajjiji.

(1) The dawatG3, or call, was an invitatiorl to espouse the party of the person who pretended to be the
true imhm, and who, as such, claimed spiritual and civil authority over the Moslims. The call was made bp
those agenls or missionaries da8, of whom mention has been made in notc (g), page 26.
(2) This verse is not reconcilable with what is stated above of asrSaff&h's indulgence towards A b ~
Salama.
(3) Hajji Khalifa mentions several works bearing this title.
(4) This piece seems intended as a reproach to ns8atTAh: the poet gives him to understand that he should
not rejoice at the murder of Abll Salama, and that it had been better for him to have allowed him to live,
although he disliked him. A devoted friend to the family of Muhammad had perished, and was now re-
placed'by a man who detests it; meaning KhAlid Ibn Barmak, sprung from a race of tire-worsh'ippers.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.

HAMMAD IRN AB1 HANIFA

Abil Is~rlail Ilammid, son of the imim Abil Hanifa an-Nomln Ibn Thlbit,
followed the sect established by his father, and was highly venerated for his
holy life. His father, in dying, had in his possession a great quantity of pre-
cious objects in gold, silver, etc., which had been confided to his a r e , and
the ~roprietorsof which were, some absent, and the others, orphans under
age. All those objects were brought by Hammld to the kidi that he might re-
ceive them, but he refused to accept them, saying that they could not be in
better hands than those in which they then were. On this, Hammid begged of
him to weigh them and set down the weight in writing, so as to disengage Abil
Hanifa's responsibility, " and then," said he, " you may do as you please."
The kidi consented, and passed some days in weighing these deposits; but when
he had done, Hammid was not to be found, nei~herdid he quit his place of
concealment till they had been given in care to another person. -His son Ismail
was kldi of Basra till replaced by Yahva Ibn Aktham. I have read in the His-
tory of Ahil Hanifa, that when the kidi Yahya. Ibn Aktham arrived at Basra,
Ismail Ibn Hammid left the city and was accompanied by him to some distance,
and the people implored blessings on Ismail, saying: "You abstained from ourb
wealth and from our blood ;" to which Ismail rejoined : "and from your sons ;"
making a sarcastic allusion to the suspicions which had been cast on Yah~a's
character. --The following fact is related by Ismail : "One of our neighbours, a
heretic ( l ) miller, had two mules, which ha called Abh Bakr and Omar ; a cer-
lain night he received a kick from one of these animals and died, and my
qandfather Abfi Hanifa said, when be heard it : ' See into it, for I suspect 240
a that it was the mule he called Omar by which he was killed (2);' and8*this
a was found to be ihe case."-Hammid died in the month of Zti 'l-Kaada, A. H.
176 (February or March, A. D. 793). We shall give the life of his father. '

(l) Literally : a Rafedite; a name given to all the Shiite sects.

(2) The severity of the khalif Omar against infidels is well known.
 IBN KHALLIKAN'S

HAMMAD AR-KAWIA.

~ b 'l-K&im
& Hammid Ibn Abi Laila SBplir (or Maisara) Jbn al-MubArak Ibn
()baid ad-J)ailami al-Kiifi (desce~zdedj;fi.o~rla uutive ($Dnilen~and born m
K @ ) was a client, by enfranchisrment, to the tribe of Baki Ibn WAil, and is
known by the surname of ar-liawiu (the n a r ~ o t o r j . Ibn Kutaiba
in his Kit& akkIc1~irf'and T ~bnkal
L as-Shuarci, that Hammid was
client to ;Cluknif, son of Zaid al-Khaii, of the tribe of Tai, the companion of the
prophet. Hammid was one of the best-informed of men respecting the days, or
adventures of the desert Arabs, their history, poetry, genealogy, and idioms;
a ndaccording to A bli Jaafar Ibn (:Wuha?~2rr~ad) an-NahlrPs, it was ire who united
i l l one collection the seven bngpoenzs (o~*Moullukrrs). The princes of the0mai-
vide family treated him with marked preference and honour; they invited him to
visit them, and when he waited on them, they gave him tokens 6f ttreir favoor,
and questioned him respecting the adventures and sciences of the desert Arabs.
Being one day present at a public audience given by the khalif al-Walid lhn
Abd al-Malik, he was askkd by that prince in what way he merited the surname
of ur-fidwiu, and he returned this answer : Because I can recite tire poems of
L every poet. whom you, 0 Con~manderof the faithful! have ever known or

heard of; and I can rehearse moreover the compositions of many poets whom
yorl will acknowledge that you did not know, neither did you hear of; and no
L one can quote to me passages of' ancient and modern poetry without my being
'L able to tell the ancient from the modern." Al-Walid then asked him how
tnuch poetry he knew by hear[, and Hammid replied: " A, great deal (more
L'than I can tell); but I can recite to you, for each letter of the alphabet,
'' one hundred long poems rhyming in that letter, without taking into count
rhe s tlort pieces; and all that composed exclusively by poets who lived before
the promulgation of Islamism." On this al-Walid told him that he intended
to make a trial of his talent, and he ordered him therefore to begin his tveci-
tations . Hammed commenced, and continued till the khalif, having grown
fatigued, withdrew, after leaving a person in his place to verify the truth of
the assertion and hear him to the last. In that sitting, he recited two thou-
sand nine hundred kasidns bp poets who flourished before Muhammad, and
 BIOGIZAPHICAL DICTION A RP. $71
al-Walid, on being infomn~edof the fact, ordered him a present of one hundnd
thollsand dirhems. The bllowing anecdote is related in the Uurrar u [ - ~ 6 a t r , -
wris by A bi'l Muhammad al-Hariri, the author of the Mnkdmas : U uarnrnid
" ar-Riwia said ( 2 ) : I attached myself exclusively to Yqzid lbn ~ b alMajil,
d
'' whilst was khalif, and his brother Hishim uspd to .treat me harshly for
L( that reason. On the accession of Hishim, I apprehended his resentment, and
~.emainedin my house during a year without stirring out, unless privately tr,
'' visit a tnlslv friend. Not hearing any one mention my name during that
year, I took confidence and went out one day to say my prayers in the mosqutk
at R U S A ~ (21,
~ when 1 was suddenly accosted by two soldiers of ttle
p a r d s , who said : ' Hammid ! answer the summons of the emir Yfisuf Ibn
'LOrnar ath-Thakafi.' (YBsuf was then governor of Irak.j And I said to my-
" self : ' This is the very thing I dreaded !' I then asked them permission to go
home to my family and bid them an everlasting adieu, after which I should
accompany them, but to this they refused positively to accede ; and I deli-
vered myself up into their hands. 1 was then brought before Ydsuf Iblr
Omar in his audience-hall, named al-Ahnzar (the lad), and having made hinr
' C my salutation, he returned it and handed me a letter, containing these word S :

112 the name of God, the Melacful, the Clenzent! ITishiin~,the serorrnt 0 1
God and the Commander of the,faitljful, to Yu"srif Ibn Onzar ath- Thakafi.
W h e n you have read this, send a person to bring you Hnmmrid without
' putting him in fear, and give him $ve hundred dinars with a Mahra (3;
camel, .PO that he may arrive at Damascus in twelve days. I took the mo-
ney, and lookin:; out, I saw a camel ready saddled, on which 1 mounted and
set off. Twelve nights afterwards I arrived at Damascus, and aligbted at
the door of HishAm's palace, where I asked admittance. I was let, in, and 1 944
found him in a large hall paved with marble, each flag of which was separated
a from the other by a band of gold : Hishim was seated on a red carpet,
4 6 dressed in red silk and perfumed with musk and amber. 1 saluted him, and
he retllrned my salutation, and told me to draw near, on which f went up
6' and kissed his foot. I then remarked two slave-girls, the like of whom I had
c never before seen ; each of them wore double ear-rings, and in ear-ring
were two pearls. ' How art thou, Hammid ? said he, ' and how
a is thy health1' - Well ; Commander of the faithful !"I replied. - ' Ibst
 IBN 1LHALLIIiAN7S
t c thou know,' said he, (why I scnt ibr thee ?'-'NO,' said I.--'I sent for tl~ee,'
L '
said he, on account of a verse which came to my mind, and tile author of
cl which I do not know.' I asked to hear it, and he recited co me this
L l line:
&Oneday, they called for their morning draught, and a maid came, bearing a
' ewer .'
6' That verse,' said I, 'hrlongs to a linsid([ by Adi Ibn Zaid al-Ibldi (h).'
'' He tllen ordered me to recite if,, and I began:

L From the very dawn of morning, the friends who blame my conduct, say: Wilt

cthou never return to reason? They blame me for the lovc 1 bear you, 0 daughter of
LAbd Allah! you who hold my heart enchained I Thcy censure me so often on your.
account, that I doubt whether those who reproach me be enemies or Friends.

Li I continued then till I camt: to tllese verscs :

One day, they called for their morning draught, and a maid came, bearing an
ewer. She held it out to be filled with wine bright as the eye of a cock, and clarified bg
G the filter; rough till mixed wit11 \later, but, whcn mixed, delicious to the taste of the

L drinker. On its surface floated hubbles like rubies, which, as i t was poured out, re-
& ceived fresh lustre. With it was then mixed the water of the clouds, no stagnant,
foul, nor troubled water .'

Here Hishbm was in an ecstacy of' delight and said, ' llt*uoo!'
" -- Some
other cir~cumstancesare 11ow mentioned in the narration ; for ii~staoce,that the
khalif told the slave-girl to pour out a drink (of wine) Tor IIamrn5d, which she
ditl : this however is not true, for Hisllhm never dranli wine; it i s therefore un-
necessary to repeat them (S).--" The prince the11 told me," continued Hammid,
('to ask for what I liked.-' May I ask for it ,' said I, ' be it what i l may?'-
" 'Yes ;' he 1 then asked foil one of the slave-girls, and he gave them
replied.
both to me, with what lhev wore, and all that belonged to them." Ilishkm
t11c.n lodged Ilammid in his palace, and the next morning he sent him to a
dwelling wllich had l~eenprepared for him, and in which he found the two
slave-girls with at1 they possessed, aucl every thing which he required. He then
prolonged his stay, and received one hundred thousand dirherns from the kha-
lif. Such is the story as related by al-Hariri; but the fact could not have hap-
pened with YGsuf Ibn Omar at\]-Thakafi, for. it was not he, but Kralid Ibn Abd
Allah a\-Kasri (see his l f e , page 484.), who governed irak at the time ; this re-
 BIOGJ\APHICAL DICTIONARY. $73
suits from the dates of Khilid's appointment and removal, and tlre nomina-
tion of Ytisuf. ITarnmicl's adventures and the anecdotes related of him are
very numerous. R e was born A. 11. 95 (A. D. 713-h), and his death took
place in the year 155 (A. D. 772): some say, however, that he died during
the khaliht of al-Mahdi, who was inaugurated on Sunday, 6th Zb 'I-llijja,
A . A. 158 (October, A. D. 775), and ~ v h odied on the eve of Thursday, the
23rd Muharram, A. H. 169 (August, A . D. 785), at avillage called ar-Rad, in
the dependencies of Misahaddn (G) ; a fact to which MarwQn Ibn Abi Hafsa (7)
alll~desin the following verses :
The noblest tomb after that of Muhammad, the prophet of the true direction, is a 943
tomb at MAsabadAn. I wonder how the hand which filled it with earth did not lose
its fingers !
The death of Hanrmid was lamented in the following verses by the poet sur-
named A116 Yahya Muhammad Ibn Kunisa (S), hut whose 1.ea1 [lame was Abd
al-A5li Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Khalifa 1bn Nadla Ibn Onaif Ibn Mizin Ibn Duwaiba
Ibn Osima Ibn Nasr Ibn Koain :
Could precaution suffice against death, precaution had saved thee from what befel
thee. May God have mercy on thee, trusty friend ! the sincerity of whose affection was
never sullied. It is thus that time works ruin ; by it knowledge is destroyed and the
memorials of history are effaced.
Hammid possessed but a slight acquaintance with the true genius of the Ara-
bic laaguagc, and it is said, that having learned the Koran by heart from a
written copy, he mistook the pront~nciation of upwards of thirty words
(harf ) (9).

(I) This anecdote is given in the ertract from the D u m t published by M. de Sacg in his A~thologie
Grammaticate. See page 107.
(2) See De Sacy's Anthologie, pagel47.
(3) BIahra, was a province in south Arabia, celebrated for its breed of camels.
(4) The life of Adi Ibn Zaid, translated from the Arabic of the Eitab al-Aghdni, sill be found in the
Journal Asiatique.
(S) The anecdote will be found entire in the Anthologie Gammaticale.
(6) Misabadln or Sirwin, a town in Persian 1rali.- (Abh 'I-Fedt.)
('I)RI. de Sacy has given a short account of this poet in the Chrestomathie, tom. III. p. W.
(8) The poet surnamed Ibn KunBsa, and respecting whose real names great uncertainty prevails, was a
member of the Arabic tribe of Asad, and born a t HOfa, A. H. 123 (A. D. 740-1). From that place he re-
60
474 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
moved to Baghdad, where he settled. He had studied under the most emirlent philolo,~crsof the school of
Khfa, and learned by heart the poems and piews of eloquence corflposc(l the tribe of Asad. He was a
sister's son to the celebrated ascetic. Ibrahfm Ibn Adham & J \ . Died at Kt'lfa, the 3rd Shawwil, A. H,
I
207 (February, A. D. 823). The Fihrest gives the titlcs of lhree of his norks; one treats of the influence,,E.
the stars on the weather, Kitdb al-Anzud; another on the ideas usurlly reproduced in poetry; and the third
01, the poet al-Kumait's plagiarisms from the Koran a11d other sources.--(Fih~cst, f01. 98.)

(9) See note (13), page 364.

AJRAD THE POET.

AbS Amr (or Abli Yahya) Hainmid Ibn Amr Ibn Ydnus Ibn Kulaib was a
native of KCfa (or of Wisit by some acco~mts),and a client by enfranchisement
to the family of Sdat, a descendant, of Airnir Ihn SQsa(I). This Hammdd, who
is better known by the surname of Ajrad, was a celebrated poet and one of those
(called Mukhadram) who flourished under the Omaiyide and the Abbaside
dynasties. He did not, however, attain his reputation till after the accession of
the AbbLides; hefore that, he had l~ccna boon-companion to the Omai~ide
prince al-Walid Ibn Yazld, and it was only in the reign of al-Mahdi that he
went to Baghdad. Ali Ibn al-laad (2) relates as follows : " In the reign of al-
Mahdi, the following persons came to Baghdad : Iiarnmild Ajrad, Muti Ibn
IyBs al-Kinini (3), and Yahya Ibn Ziid. They stopped in our neiglllmur-
hood and were intolerable for their wiclcedness arid prolligacy." Hammld
Ajrad was a poet of a superior order; he and llashshir Ibn Burd composed
satires of a flagitious nature one against the other; the pieces which he made
on Bashshir abound in originality of thought, but their indecency will not
allow me to insert any of them. Bashsbir was so much annoyed by Hemmid,
that he composed on him these lines:
On going to his tribe, you will find his door locked (h), and it is only by lying con-
cealed that you can meet him. Ask Abh Yahya how he can obtain glory, he who
has taken an oath against every generous deed.

The following verses also were made on him by BashshPr :

An excellent man that Hammad, did he but adore his Lord and say his prayers. His
face is pale (5)from drinking wine, but on the day of judgment, that whiteness shall
become black (6).
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 475
He was an arrow-maker by trade; some say, however, that he followed no
profession, and that it was his father who made arrows. Gay and witty in
his humol~r,licentious in his conduct, he was suspected to be a Zindik (7) in
religion. I t is related that an intinlacy subsisted between him and an eminent
imlm whose name it is not right to mention, and that they afterwards quar-
relled ; ha then learned that the i m i m spoke of lrim contemptuously, on which
he wrote him thcse lines :
IF you cannot complete your devotions without reviling me, go toil with restless ani-
mosity before friends and strangers. Yet for a Long time you gave me a good charao 243
ter, although I persisted in disobedience to God's law; it was in those days when we
passed something about in leaden ewers (8).
By the same:
YOII swore, (my friendly monitor ,) that if I again became love's prisoner, you would
blame me no more, hut strive to excuse me. But what annoys me in you is this : you
give counsel without being aware that you know not (the person whom I love).
T h e poetry and the adventures of Ilammid Ajrad are well known. He died
A. H . 4 61 (A. 1). 777-8). (Accounts vary as to the nzar~~zerand time of his
deatlz;) some say that he was a native of Wasit, and that he was put to death,
as n Zindik, outside the gate of Kiifa, by Muhammad Ibn Sulaimin Ibn Ali, the
governor of Basra, in the year 155 (A. D. 772). Others state that as he was
going from al-AhwPz to Basra, he died on the way, and was buried on a hill
near the spot. By another account, his death is placed in the year 168
(A. D. 78&5).-When Bashshir Ibn Burd, whose life has been already given
(page 254), was put to death in the Batiha, his body was removed and inter-
red in the tomb of Hammid Ajrad ; and the following lines were inscribed on
the grave-stone by AbB Hishim al-BPhili, who happened to pass that way :
The blind followed the naked (ajrad), and they therefore sojourn in the same abode.
They are both in the hands of MAlik (9)and in hell ; infidels go to hell. The regions
of the earth said: How unwelcome to us i s the neighbourhood of Hammid and Bash-
shAr !
He received the surname of A j rad from the following cireumstance :-When
a bog, he was playing on a verv cold day, quite naked, with some other chil-
dren, and an Arab of the desert, who was passing by, said : "My boy ! you are
" ajrad." This word means naked. -Mukhadrarn, or-rnukhadrim, is a term
h76 IBN lLIIALLIICANIS
gcreuerallyemployed to designate a poet who, like Lal)id, an-Nibiglla al-Jaadi,
and others, lived before and aftcr the promulgation or Islamism. It is some-
times nlade use of in a more general sense, and applied to poets wlro flourished
two different dyilasties. (A/,nds oftlre d(:.~el-tjhave beeri heard to pro-
nounce this word r~rul~rnt,an2 ~ l ae good
and rrzzdarlr-in2 (atul their e x a ~ n ~ is
aut/zority).

(1) See Eichhorn's MonumentaXist. A T . Tab. VII.

(2) Ali Ibn alJaad, a hafic, a traditionist, a mawla to the family o r Ifashim and a nalivc of Baghdad,
died A. H. 230 (A. D. 844-5), aged ninety-six years. During tllc last Sixty years of his life, Ire fasted every
second day.--( Al-YBfi. Ad-Dahabi, Tab. al-Huffdz.)
(3) See note (4).page 438.
(4)He locked his door to avoid giving hospitality to the strangers w h o might arrive.
(5) Literally: white.
(G) That is: he will be punished as an infidel.--See
Koran, surat 3, vcrsc 102.
(7) Zindik, synonymous with atheist.
(8) That something was wine, and they drarlk it out of leaden ewers lest i t stiouldl he seen.
(9) MAlik is the name of the angel who guards hell.

AUJ3 SULAIMAN AL-IIIIATTABT .

Abh Sulaimin Hamd Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Khattil) al-Kt~attibi
al-Busti was a jurisconsult, a philologer, and a traditiollist. He is the author
of some clever works, such as the GhalU al-lI~urrrli/h(expla~?allonof t6c
dificult expressions found in the TracZitio~zsof M~r/rnmnznd);Mnili112us-
Sunarz (ilte distinctive nzarks c f t h e ilindiriotz.~),being a commentary on the
Sur~at?,or body of Traditions compiled by A l ~ dDPwhd; the Aalcint as-Sunan
(signs of the Traditions), containing an explanation of al-Boklliri's collection
of Traditions; the kitab as-Shuhlin (1); a treatise on the object of prayer; a
work in which he corrects the mistakes of Traditionists, etc. When in Irak,
he learned the Traditions from Abb Ali as-SaWr, Abil Jaafar ar-Razzh, and
others, and his own authority was cited for Traditions by al-HBkim Ibn al-paii,
~ b adl - G h a l r ibn Muhammad al-Firisi, Abh 'l-liisim Abd al-Wahhib lbn
Abi Sahl al-Khattibi , etc. (Ath-T/tan"Eibi) mentions him in the Yatimn,
and gives the following verses of his composition :
 It is not the pains of absence, but the want of a sympathizing friend, wllich is the
greatest affliction man can suffer. I am as a stranger to Bust and its people, yet Bust 344
is my birthplace and the residence of my family.

He gives also as his, the fragnlents which follow :

Man may find a refuge From the most ferocious beasts, but there is no refuge from
the wickedness OF men. Ho\v many have escaped the lion, and yet you will not see
one man uninjured by another.

Be indulgent, and exact not the whole amount of that which is your due. Spare the
unfortunate ;for the generous man never requires full payment. Avoid excess in every
thing and keep a medium; efforts well directed, are fortunate in their comrnencemcnt
and thcir end.

Other verses of his are quoted by the same author.-Abi SulaimHn al-Khat-
tibi was the Ibn S a l l i ~ n(2) of his time for learning, philologv, rigid devotion,
and fear of G o d ; he reseml~ledhim also as a professor and an author. Me died
at the town of Bust, in the nlorlth of the first Rahi, A. H, 388 (March, A. I).
998).-Kltattuhi is derived fro111 the name of his ancestor al-Khattib; but
some say that h e was descended from Zaid Ibn al-Ehattib (3), for mhich rea-
son it was that he bore this surname.-Busti means belonging to Bust, a well-
watered and wooded city in Kibt~l,between Herat and Ghaz11a.-Some persons
have becn heard pronounce rlbb Sulaimin's name of Hamd as if it were
Ahrnad, b u t in lhis they arc wrong. Al-Hikim Ibn al-Baii says: &'I asked
" a native of Bust, the doctor Altti 'l-Kasim al-Mozaffar Ibn T i h i r Ibn Muham-
" mad whether Abii Sulaimin's name was Ahmad or Hamd, some persons

" having said it was Ahmad; to mhich h e replied that he heard Abh SulaimPn
" himself say ITamd is t h e name by which I was called, but as people
: L

wrote it A hmad, I gave it up.' AbB 'l-KPsim said also : He recited to me '
'' these verses of his own composition :
Whilst you live, flatter all men, for you are in the abode of deceit. Be who knows
my dwelling, and he who knows it not, will soon be seen with repentance for their
companion (4).

(1) This word is pointed differently in each manuscript, and the work itself is not noticed by Hajji Khalifa.
I suspect that not being able to read the title, he omitted it. In the aucogaph MS. it is written
{2) The life of Abh Obaid al-Klsim Ibn Sallam is given in this work.
c'4)
-
(3) See page 261, note (1).
(4)The sole merit of the original lines consists in alliteration.
 IBN KHALLIKAN'S

HAMZA IBN I-IAISIB AZ-ZAIYAT.

AbA OmBra Harnza Ibn Habib Ibn Omira Ibn Tsmitil, a native of Kiifa, and a
client, by enfranchisement, to the tribe of Akran~a Ibn Ribi at-Taimi, is
rnore generally known bv the surname of az-Zaiy81. He was one of the seven
of the Koran, and had Abfi 'l-Hasan al-Kisii for a pupil ; he himself
had been taught to read the Koran by al-Aamash. The appellation of m-
Zn+2i (the oilrnan) was given to him because he uscd to transport oil from
~ f i f ato Hulwln, and brilrf; back cheese and walnuts. He died a t I-Iul\vin
A. 11. 156 (A. D. 772-3), aged seventy-six years.--Ilulwhn is a city at the
farther extremity of Babylonian Irak, on the bar-dors of l'cibsian Irak.

HUNAIN IBN ISMAK AL-1RAI)I.

9-45 Abii Zaid Hunain Ibn Ishak al-Ibicli, the celebrated physician, was the most
eminent man of his time in the art of medicine. Ilc possessed a perfect acquaint-
ance with the language of the l7ot~ciiutcs,and it was b y him that the work of Eu-
clid was translated into Arabic. Thlbit Ibn Kurra, who came after him, cleared
up the difficulties of this work and put i t into better order. This was also the
case with the Almagest and the greater part of those books, composed in Greek
by physicians and philosophers, which have been rendered into Arabic. Hunain
was the most laborious of all those who were engaged in this business of trans-
lating; some works (it is true) were cxccuted by others. Were it not for
this, persons unacquainted with Greek could have derived no benefit from
sucli works, and it is certain that those which remain untranslated are useless
except to him who understands that language. Al-Mirn611 was particularly
anxious to have books of this kind turned into Arabic, written out and
corrected; before him, Jaafar and other members of the Barmek family had
encouraged the undertaking, but the efforts of al-Mimlin were much Inore
successful than theirs. Hunain himself composed a great number of useful
treatises on medical subjects. The life of his son Ishak has been already given
 BIOGRAPIIICAL DICTI0N:iRY. b79
( p a g e I 87). 1 have read in the History of the Physicians, that ftunain Kent
to the bath every day after his ride, and had water poured on himself; he
would then come out, wrapped up in a bed-gown, and after taking a cup of
wine with a biscuit, lie down, and sometimes fall asleep, till such time as
perspiration should cease ; he would then get up, burn perfumes to fumigate his
person, and hare dinner brought. in; this consisted in a large fattenrd pullet
stewed in its gravy and a cake of bread two hundred drachms in weight :
after supping the gravy and eating the fowl and the bread, he took a sleep,
and on awaking he drank four pints ( m t l )of old wine ; if he felt a desire for
fruit freshly gathered, he took Syrian apples and quinces. This was his habit
till the end of his life. He died on Tuesday, '7th Safar, A. H. 260 (December,
A. D. 873).-In the life of his son, the meaning of tbe word I b d d has been
already given.-The Yonknites were physicians who lived before the time of
Islamism; they were sons of Y o n h (I), the son of Yafith (Japaphet), the son of'
Nhh (Noaft).
YonGn is most prohahly an altered form of
(l) Iw.,r; or IOJYLU.

IBN EIAIYAN.

Ahii Mnrwin Haiyin, a native of Cordova, was the son of Khalaf Ibn 1Iusain
Ibn Haiyin Ibn Muhammad Ibn Haiyin Ibn Wahb Ibn Naiyiin; this last was
a slave enfranchised by the emir (and Spanish Ornakide prince), Abd ar-
Rahrnin Ibn Moawia Ibn Hishhm Ibn Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwin. This Ibn
EIaiyBn is the author of the work entitled Kiriib aal-i)Zuktobis j Tarikh al-
Andalos (the book of f ~ i mwho desires informmation respecting the history of
Spain), and forrnilrg ten volumes : he composed also, on the same subject, the
Kit& aZ-Mubin (dte &closer) (I) in sixty volumes. AbS Ali al-Ghassbi
speaks of him in these terms : He was a man advanced in age, profound in
" knowledge, eminent by his information in polite literature (wherein be was
deeply versed), the standard-bearer bf history in Spain, the &ost elegant
'' writer, and the ablest composer on that subject. He was an assiduous dis-
" ciple of the shaikh AbS Amr Ibn Abi 'l-Hubib(2), (the grammarian and pupil
 L80 IBN HliJhLLIIiAN'S
of Ab2 Ali '1-KQli,) and of ALil 'I-Ali SBid al-Baghdkdi, whose work, the
PlLs&s, he got by heart under lris tuilion. He learned also the Traditions,
and I heard from f~irnthis one: 2'0 ,fhlicitnle, t71rec (days) after t / ~ occur-
e
" lynce a forrunate event, is ~o nznke ZigJ~lqJ"jiiet~rlslr&;and to ofir
1~ coruolati~n, three (days) ?fier n uzisfuvlune, its to encortrage ill hck to come.
died on Sunday, 27th of the first Rnbi, A . F. 460 (October, A. D. 1076),
" and was buried, on the same day after evening prayers (31, in t?la cemetery
of ar-Rnbad (the subr~rl). IJc was born in 377 (A. D. 987-8) ." Al-Gas-
sini calls llinl a faithful historian, and Abil Abd Allah Muhimmad Ibrl Ahmad
Ibn Ailn (A.) ;)mentions lrim in these tcrnls : " lba l1aiyh spoke with rlrgance and
946 4' wrote \\.it?, precision; he never intentionally admitted a false statement or nar-
ration into his history.-- After his death, I had a dream in which I saw him
come towards me ; and I rose u p and made him m y salutation, which he re-
" turned in smiling. I then said to him : ' TYllat lras thy lord done to thee ( 5 );?'
To which he answered : IIc has hat1 rncrcy on me.'--' And the history,' said
" 1, which you wrote ; did you repent of it ( G ) ?'-l It is true,' he rcplied, c I
repented of it, but the Almiehty rcccivcd m y cxcusc~smill1 kindness, and
'Lpa~-donedme.' RIention is made of Ibn l l a i y i n by Abli Abd Allall al-
"

and Ibn Baslllcuwlil in his silat.

Humaidi in his Jrlr2~)atal-~Vi~litabi~,

( 3 ) For the title of this work 1 f o l l o ~ c dthe orthography of my manuscripts and of Bajji Khalifs's
Bibliographical Dictionary, but the autograph manuscript writes it d:dI aI-Matin.
(2) Ab6 Omar Ahmad Ibn Abd al-Azlz Ibn Faraj Ibn Abi 'l-Hublb, the grammarian and native of Cor-
dova, was the favourite pupil of Abb Ali 'I-Khli. His information in tho scicuces of philology, grammar,his-
tory and the Traditions placcd hirn in the first rank among the most cmirlcnt sltaikhs, a n d he merited ge-
neral esteem by his piety and virtue. He died at Cordova on the eve of Friday thc 30th of Muharram, A. R.
400 (Scpteniber, A. D. 1009), aged ncarly ninety years. IIe was buried the next day in the Rusafa cemetery,
and the funeral service was said over hirn by the kBdi Ahmad Ibn Zikwhn. H e drew his origin from the
Berbcr tribe of Masmhda.- (Ibn Bashkuwil's Silat.)
(3) Literally : After the Asr. See note Ill),page 346.
(4) AbB Abd Allah Mulrammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Abn al-Mahfiri, born at Cordova, A. B. 410 ( A .D. iO4&9),
was celebrated as a Traditionist and a jurisconsult; pious and humble, he avoided society and passed most of
his time in prayer at the great mosque of Cordova; and ardently devoted to the study of the ditfcrent branches
of science, he spared IIO pains i n augmenting his library and searching for rare books. He dicd A. B. 512
(A. D. 1119) -(Ibn Bashkulvhl's Silat.)
(3) The usual question in such cases.
(G) His history was merely a worldly book, and such compositions might not be acceptable i n the eyes of
God.
 BIOGRAI'IIICAL DICTIONARY.

KH ARIJA THE JURISCONSULT.

.Il)il Zaid K11;11*ijaIt)n Zaid Ibn Thtbit al-Ansari was one of the sevell
ju~isconsults of Medina ; in the life of another of ihem, Abi Bakr Ibn Abd
ar-Kahman, we have given two verses which contain the names of all tllese doctors
(.lee prtgr 264,). JKhirija was a trrhi ( l ) of high eminence ; he was a clrild in
[Ire latter days of the khalif Otllmin, and his father Zaid Ibn 'rhibit (2) was
o ~ l eof the greatest allrong the companions of Muhammad. The Prophet said,
i n speaking of ZaiJ : " T h e most skilful among you in calculating the shares
of p~aoprrtyto whicllr lreirs are entitled is Zaid ( - 4 f i ( l i ~ k u nZnidu)."
i Khirija
died a t R'lcdin:~, A . 11. !l9 (A. D. 717-43), 01. 100. It is mentioned by Muham-
mad Ibn Saad al-WTikidi, in his ?'crGak(it, that Khirija said : '' I had a
dream and methought I bllilt up a flight of stairs containing seven!?
stq~s,and when I had finished, it fell down, and I am now in my seclentieth
5'"" 1'' and that very. year he died. Ez-Zuhri has given Tradilio~lson his
U

:iuthority (3).

(i)See note (2), page 4.

\2! Sec note (2), page 372.
(3) The Tabakcit al-Fzckahd gives a short notice on Khdrija containing some facts not mentioned by Ibu
Khsllikbn, for which reason i t may find a place here: *' Abh Zaid Khlrija Ibn Zaid Jbn Thhbit, one of
the scven jurisconsults of Rledlna, was an imlm whose authority and eminence were universallg admitted.
6 d Be died at Medlna, A . H. 100, aged seventy years. As a mufti he gave opinions on points of law ; he
drew up also bonds and conseyances, and was consulted on questions relative to the division of inherited
'c property, such as houses, date-trees, a n d money J!yf." This last word may perhaps here signify flocks.

KHALJD IRN YAZID THE OMAIYIDE.

Abb Mishim KhSlid Ibn k'azid Ibn Moawia Ibn Abi Sofyin al-0mawi (member
of r/te Onzaz'yide fanzilj),was the most learned of the tribe of Koraish in all the
different branches of knowledge. He wrote a discourse on chemistry aud 011
medicine, i n which sciences he possessed great skill and solid information, and
61
 482 IBN KtE:\LLII<AN'S
(rill rvhirh) he some epistlrs nhich S ~ ~ O his
W prlofoi~ndi ~ l s t r ~ l ~ t i ~ , ~
l l y ) B Greck monk
and superior talent. He learned the art ( ~ f ' c l t e ~ ~ t h from
( n ~ ~ - R o ar-Rrimi),
/r~/~ whose name was Mariirios, ;311(1 ire twated of i~ in
epistles, one of which contains tlre relation of what pass(!d hetweell MariBnos alld
himself, the manner ill which hc learned the scielrae, and h e tbniglllntical
allusions employed lly his mastcr. On this art. 11r coalposrd nunlersous pieors
of verse, both lone and short, which testil'y his abililios (rr.s a port) ancl his c;lpa-
,-ity chrn,iri) ; I~esideswhich llc wrote soirlc good poetry 011 ot I ~ v I *sllb-
jects, as, b r instance, the folloaling :
The bracelets which or~lanient thc ancles of other fenlalcs play hoscly around the
leg; but I see that the bracelets OF Ramlamove not, ncithcr 00th her hrart. I love tllp
family of: al-AwwAm for the love I bear her, and for her. sake, 1 love her. maternal
rincles of the tribc of Kalb.
r
1 he poem from whiclr these velaspsarv taken is ol' colrsi(lerahle length ; there is
'I

anecdote told about Ramla and A1)d a\-Malik I l ~ nMarwbn, urrhich is so well
;l11

known that I abstain from relating ii (I). lillilid 11x1n 1)rolhcr called Abd
Allah, who came to him one day arltl cornplainet1 (lint 1)c hacl l)ccn trtnted ~virh
contempt and insult by al-M1ilitl, son of Ahtl al-hlalik. Khllid w c l ~ tim111c-
cliately to Ahd al-Malik and said : " Commander of I,I~(Bfaittif~~l ! al-MTalid, ihtl
Com~nanderof the faithful's son, has trraled h i s c o l ~ s i nAl)d Allall witll clor,-
" tempt and spoken disdainfully of him." Al,tl al-Malili rellocted a. Inornent,
and then held up his head and said : f'erily IFiltg~,(vl~erll/iey elzlrrS(1 cl'[?.
" (by force), waste the sanzc and abase the nlost powerful o f t h e it~l~nhitc~rzt,~

"7 *'iheraoJ arm? so r r d l these do (2)." To this Iillilid rrplicd : " A12d rvAe,,
' c rjle resolved to destroy a city-, cve comntctrzdrd rhs bzhnbitcrrtts fiereof; tvlro

" lived in a.uence, (to obey our aposilc) ; but tftey rrctrtl cotv-[y)tlytheruin :
" wllerefire the ~entence was justly pronorr?2ced ogairtsl that ( c i ~ jv ; orrd cvr
" de.ctmyed it with an utter. de.structkn (3)."--" Is it of Abd Allah that you
'' are speaking?" said Abd al-Malik ; " by Allah ! he c a u r into my preserlce just
'' now, and hr did not open his mouth to u t t e r a single fiiult of language."--
" Is i t of al-Walid that you are speaking (4,) ?" retorted Khalid. - "If al-VT81id

" speak badly," replied the khalif, his brother Sulaiman does not."--" And
" if Abd Allah speak badly," answered thc other, his brother Khilid does
" not." - Here al-Wilid said : Br silent, Kllhlid I for, t,y Allah! ,you crre
 /,o/ {biuitlirrl d e cn~(iurr)2or. orre rf the troop ( 5 \ . 3 7 - 6 ~HPaP!I(lII,
ns of'
O Comrnand~rof the faithfill ! l 7 said Khalid ; and turoi,l(: tllen toaards al-
I , 11c nd(l~.rssrdhim ihus : " Fie upon thee ! and who Inore tllan I is o(.
ihe (>ar-sv;lnand the troop? My grandfather A l i S o h i n commallded thl.
~ n / ~ r t , ) r r(/Gr ) ,
and 1 1 1 ~grandfather 0th Ibn Rabia commanded thr troc)p.
L' LIadst tllou spoken of lillle sheep and (iitlr irzoutziain~,and il7riiJ;and said :

God hnve iurtcj- O I L 0,hrnrirl ! (7) we had acknowledged that thou ~ a s int tt1tt
l*if;ht ."-'t'his rccluires some explanation : the caruoarz was that of the K O I - R ~ S ~ ~ ,
wllirll .\l)i~ Sofyhn v n s conducti~ipfrom Syria when the blessed Prophet n~archecl
o u t -,ri~llhis co~~lpanions to seize on it ; the news of this reached the inhabitants
01' R1t:hka, ancl they went forlh to defend tlw caravan, having at their llrad Otba

lb,l 1ial)irt. On ~ ~ a c l l i nthe

g Moslims, the cornha( of Badr ensued. Abfi So-
I'vdrt ant1 Oibn 1vcr.e both ancestors to lihilid ; A b i ~Sofyin bv the father's side,
;rnd Otbn t)y the mother's; for kTind, Otba's daushter, was tlw mo~herof RIoawia,
lihalirl's grandfather. The war-ds little sllerp and little n~ontttoins,etc., arc1
;I* allusiorl to al-Hakam IBn Abi ' l - h i , the grandfather of Abd al-hlalik, who

trad been hai~ishedto Tbif by the blessed Prophet; he there kept a flock of
she(hp and took rcfuge in a little mountain called al-Karma, where he remained,
till Othrnin, on his accession to the khalifat, recalled him; for al-Hakam was
Otllmin's uncle. It is said that the blessed Prophet authorised Othnlin to do
so as soon as hc camc to pou-er.-Numerous anecdotes are related of Khilid,
hut what is here given may sullice. He died A . H. 55 (A. D. 7 0 4 ) .

1) Rarnla Ctait fille de Zobayr Ibn Elawwdm Ibn Khounaylid et d'0urnm Errebdb, femme Kclbile; elle
Ctait scleur-germaine d e Mossab l b n Zobayr. Rarnla fut d'abord Cpousde par un Coraych~tenomm6 O t h a n
tils d'hbdallah, dont elle cut un fils nomm6 Abdallah Ibn Othmin qui devint l'epoux de Soucayna fille de
Hossayn fils d'Ali. Ayres la dkfaite et la mort d'hbdallah Ibn Zobayr, quidisputait le califat a Abdelmelik 61s
tie fiferwan, Khalid fils de Yezid ayant Ct6 en pklerinage a la Nekke, dont Hadjadj Ctait gouverneur, y Bpousa
Bamla alors veuve. Soucayna se montrait fort indocile li son mari Abdallah fils de Ramla. Un jour Ramla se
presenta a u calife Abdelrnelik, se plaignit vivemeot de I'humeur de Soucayna et demanda au calife qu'il em-
ployht soll autorith pour la rendre plus soumise a son mari. Abdelnlelik refusa et dit: " Que veux-tu y fairc?
" C'est Solrcnyna Cille de Housagn.-Que cc soit Soucayna, rcpliqua Ramla, je la vaux bien. Ma famille (la
maison de Khouwaylid) a donne le jour In plus noble fille (Fhtima'i, un mari (Elawwhm) a la plusillustr c
'' fernme (Safiyya Glle dVAbdelmottatib),une femme (Khadidja) a L'homu~ele plus eminent (Mahomet). qur
la famille de Soucayna (ia maison de Hlchirn) puisse se glorifier d'avoir produits."-Abdelmelili, aurpri\
tie sa BertC, lui dit: Rarnla, je vois qu'0rwa fils de Zobayr m'a trompC i? ton
~ egald (ea m'engagean~a per-
484 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
" metlre ton mariage avec Khilid). --I1 t'a donnc! au contraire un avis utile, reprit Ramln; car tu as tu& man
fr&re-gerrnainMossab, et Orwa pensait avec raison que (sans le lion q u i m'unit maintenant A ta famille) je
saurais me venger de toi."-(AghAni IV. f. 3.5 v0 et 36.)-note communicated by M. Caussin de Perceval.
1 2 ) Koran, surat 27, verse 34.
(3) Ibid. suraL17, verse l 7 .
14\ Alluding to al-walld's well-known ignorance of pure Arabic. See Abb 'l-Fedi's Annals, A . 11. 96.
(51A proverbial erpression, signifying, That is none o f your business, you arc not considered as one of us
or of our family.
i6) At Badr, in A. H. 2.
\;, This will he explained filrther on.

KHALID IRN ABD ALLAII AL-KASRI.

Khilid al-Kasri, surnamed Abii Yazid and Al& 'I-llaitham also, was soli ol'
hbd Allah Ibn Yazid Ibn Asad Ibn Kurz, a descendant of rile trihe of Rajila
through that of Kasr. Ibn al-Kalbi mentions h i n ~ i n [he .Inn~lrn~.nt0,)-
Ni,~ab,(nnd traces up his genenlogy) thus : Kb%lirl Ibn Ahd Allah Ibn l'azid
Ibn Asad 1bn Kurz Ihn A h i r Ibn Abd Allah Ibn A1)d Shams I l ~ nGharrl!;han~;i
Ibn Jarir I t ~ nShikk Ibn Saab Ibn Yashkor I1)n Ruhrn ILn Afrak Ibn Afsa Ibn
Nudair Ibn Kasr Malik Ibn Abkar Ibn AnmQr Ibn Ar:ish I l ~ nRrn1- Ihn ai-
Ghauth Ibn Nabt Ibn Malik Ibn Zaid Ibn Kahlin Ibn Sabi ILn Yashhob (9)
Ibn Yirub Ibn Kah(2n.-Khilid was appointed governor of Ai~abianant1 Per-
sian Irak by Hishim Ibn Abd al-Malik the Omaiyide ; Imforc that, in the yeal.
X9 (A. D. 707-B), he was governor of Rlekka. His rnolhcr was a Christian, ancl
his grandfather Yazid was one of thc companions ol' ICIul~ammad. K t d i d was
counted among the most elegant and correct pulpit-oralors of'the Arabian r~ation:
he was also very beneficent and generous to profusion in his donations. On oi~e
of the days in which he gave public audience to poets, a person who bad com-
posed two verses in his praise entered tlle hall, but on hearing the long poems
which the others recited, he thought his own too trifling, and therefore re-
~rlainedsilent till they had withdrawn. Being then asked hy Khilid what he
wanted, he replied : I composed a piece in praise of the emir, but on hearing
" those of the others, I considered m y own two verses as an unworthy tri-
bute." On this, Kh8lid asked to hear ttrtw , and the poet ipci red these lines :
 RIOGRAE'IIICAL DICTION Ally . 'e85
You showered gifts upon me till yon restored me new life; you bestowed on me \vitb
such abundance, that 1 thought you were in jest. But you are beneficence itself; loll 'l'."
are the son of beneficence and its father! Sworn brother to beneficenec ! that qua-
lity cannot abandon you.

Klrilid then asked him what he required, and on learning from him ttlnt klr
c d debts, he ordered them to be paid and made i\im a preje,,,
was ~ ~ ' ~ r e s swith
to a similar amount.-(The k h a l f ) Hishim Ibn Abd al-3lalik wrote to hinl a
letter, in which he said : " I am rold that a man stood np in your preseor(*
and spoke these words : God is benefienl, and so rrrt t/lor~! God is gp,rr-
4i row, and so art thou! and that he thus summed u p ten qualities common
to you and God. Now, I swear by Allah ! that if you do not exculpat,~
yourself, I shall declare it lawful to shed your blood." To this Khilid Ivrote
in reply : " It is true, 0 Commander of the faithful ! that a man stood U,,
before me and said : God loves the generous, nnrl I love thee fo,. the locrr.
(( Cod heam thee. But there is something worse than this : Ibn Shukai '\-B&-
(' ,jali (2) stood up before the Commander of the faittlful and said : IVhich do
L

you like best, your lieutenant ( k h a l f ) or your ambassador (npoatk)l' to

6 6 which you replied : ' My lieutenant, most certainly.' And therr that nrali
( 4 said : L You are the khalif (Zt'eutentrnt) of God, and Mr~hammadis his apostle

d o r )Now the punishment of death, inflicted on a (poor) mall

( ~ n ~ b a , ~ ~ n(3).'
of the tribe of Bajila (such as 1 nnz,) is a less grievous thing to the world at
large than that the Commander of the faithful should he an infidel." It is
at-Tabari who relates this anecdote in his IIistory. D o ~ ~ bwere t s cast on the
sincerity of Khjlid's religious belief, as he had built a church for his mother t(l
pray in : i t was alluding to this, that al-Farazdak said :

God curse the camel which came with swinging trot, and bore to us Khhlid from
Damascus 1 How can he be an imAm (4) to the people, he whose mother believes not
in the unity of God? Hc has built for his mother a convent, wherein is a cross ; and
through hatred, he has destroyed the minarets of mosques.

I n the rnonth 01' the first J~lmida,A . H. 120 (May, A. D. 73S), Histliru
deposed KhAlid from the government of the two Imks; at-Tabari says in his
History : L L Hishim deposed Omar Ibn Hubaira, governor of Irak, and confided
the administration of that province to Khilid, in the month of Shawwjl,
4 i A. I-I. 1 05 (March, A . D. 724) ; he afterwards replaced Khhlid by Yhssuf Ibn
 '1 S6 IBN KHhLLIKAN'S
Omar ath-Thakali, cousin 10 aI-IInjjAj. Ile deprived Kllilid of his oflice filr
1 6 [hc folloI\-ing re;iso,l : A \ s o m a ~1ve11t to him (Klrdli(l) orlc day artd said :

c - 6 \fay God direct tllp rnlir ! I ;,m a hloslir~~ women, and your i l ~ i ~ ~(R)t i sl l l ~ l l
' L and such one, tllP nlngiarl, scirrd 1111o1i111D and ibrctvl nre to 1h11evil deed,
ilnd lras lllnde lrlc h:~tefulto ~rrysclf.' 'Ib this Khilid said : ' IIow did yell
1. find llis prepllcc (6) !' Ilnssin an-Eabati ( / h e N l l h n / ~ n t~~v)~ * otot eIIislliln in-
a r l cate ,the nrorn(mt (&/!clofter COT)ZC),
formin% hin> of t11(1 ( i ~ ~ c ~ ~ ~ n s tand lIislranl
4 L had lVith him au ctrvoy sent to hi111 on business h y YilsuT Il)n Omar the
' 4 goverllor of Yrnlrrr: he dctained liirn [ill r r i ~ l l tlrnd set in, and tllctl called
for lriln and gave him n \vxbitin$, by whir11 (/rk nrasro.) YQsuf was named
porcl.nols
J
of Irak, e~npoweredto exact l'rom Kll?~lidand his accnts a strict ac-
- ( coll,lt of ttltlir administration, and allthoriscd to lcave t)chintl him lris son as-Salt

to govern t h e province of Yemen. O r ) ~ e a i p of' t [his doctllt~crlt,Yiisuf set

out from Sang, ncco~nparlicdb y a fcw persons, ant1 procccdcd, o n th(3 camels
,'(g' he post estrlbli.shozelz/) ro Iirih, whcrc* h c ttt.rivctl o n ~ h r :morninc @I'
the seventeen111 day. I-Ie irnmcdintc.ly seizctl orr Khilid and liis acin>il,c, cast
him into prison, exanlined in10 his c . o ~ i d ~ ~ torturetl ct, him, nrld finally ptrt
L 6 him to dentlr in thc reign of al-Walicl Ibn Ynzid. 11 i s said that he placetl
(he feet of lris prisoner bct~veentwo picccs of wood, \vl~ich lie then for-ced
" togelher until the fret vvcrc' crushed to pieces ; 110 next plactttl tlre pieces of'

'' wood on the legs, which he twoke i11 the same rnarlncsr ; tllcrl o n the thighs ;
'' and lastly on the hack; when the back was brok(hn, his ~ i c t i mclicd. Dur-
ing thpsc tortuws, Khilid n e i ~ h r ruttered a g ~ ~ o nnor n spoke i i wortl." l l t ~
was put to dcalh a t Hira, in thc month of Mlillar~.am, A. IT. 4 26 (October-
November*, A. D. 7h3); somv say, however, i n the month of Zil 'I-Kaada, 4 2.5
,September, A. L). 743). He was buricd tlllring the night somewhere in 1Iir.a.
This city lies at one parasang's tlistarlce Liporn Kiii'a ; ;rnd was the residence of the
Jlundir fa~nily,the kinss of the Arabs.--l&'llcrl Kllilid was in Yhsuf.atl~-Tha-
kafi's 1)1,iso1k,tlrr poet AbB 'sh-Slraglll) al-Absi coorl~osed iri liis praise [llc fool-
lowing verses, which are to be found in the Hnmrisn (7) :
Lo ! the best of men, living or dead, is a prisoner to a Thakelite, and kept by them
949 in bonds ! By Allah 1 though you make KhAlid inhabit a prison, i n which you allow
him to walk-but as o l ~ eoppressetl with the burden (of hzs chains) ; yet 'twas he ho
dispelled the misfortunes of the wretched, and poured forth his donations copious as
a torrent. tie erected for his family a n edifice of f~onourabledeeds, and bestowed his
 BIOGRAPHICAL 1)ICTIONARY. !c87
on the wortlly and the undeserving. Though you imprison al-Kasri, you cannot
imprisn~lhis name; you cannot impriso~~ the bounty which. he shows towards the ;\rn-
bian tribes.

Yiisul' reqliirrd of lihilid the daily payment of a fixed sum, and he ),in)
10 the t o r t ~ l r ewhen lie did not comply. AbB 'sShaglll) having composed these
t e d to Khilid, and received in return seventv
laudatory verses, t r a ~ ~ s n ~ i t them
rhousand dirhe~lrs, wlrich sum the prisoner was holding in readiness for
payment he lrad to make that day. At the same time, Khilid excused kimselt'
ibr the inadequacy of the pr-esent, saving, " You see what state I am in;" and
t i l e poet returned [he gift, with these words: '' It is not for money that I cele-
])rated your praises whilst you mere in this state, but through gratitude for
' - your hind~lessand your bounty." Khhlid sent it hack to him, conjuring
Ilim to accept of i l , and Abil 'S-Shaghb at length consented to receive it.
When Yiislif was informed of this, he called in Khilid and said : "VCThat
induced you to do so? are you not afraid of the torture?"--" It is easier for.
me,'' i~eplicdKhalid, " to die under the torture, than to abstain from la-
vishing wealth, esl)ecially on those who celebrate my praise."-Abli 'I-Faraj
nl-Ispahini says that Khilid was a descendant of Slzikk nl-Kdhin ( r h rtiuit2~r),
~
and t11ai he was the son of Abd Allah-Ibn Asad Ibn Yazid Ibn Kurz. " Kurz,"
bays ilc, was a ( n t e , ~pretender
) (to at2 Arabic descent) ; he was in reality ;l
" Jew- but, or] the commission of some crime, he fled to the tribe of Rajila, anti
'' then entitled hirnself a Bajelite. Some say that he was a slave to the triht'
" of Al,d al-Kais and a son of Aimir Zii 'r-Rukit (Ahzr*wit]' the pntc/~),
" who was so d l e d because he had lost the sight of one eye, and covered it

" with a l ) a t c l ~ Aimir was son to Ahd Shams, the son of Juwain, the son of

'' Shikk the diviner, the son of Kaab." Shikk was son to the aunt of Satih
the diviner, who foretold the coming of the Prophet: a full account of his
interpretof on of the dream relative to that event is given in (1612 Hishrinz7s)
Sirat ar-Ruscil (lgi of the Prophet) (S). Shikk and Satih were two of the
wonders of the world: Satih's form was that of a human body deprived of its
msmbers and lying prostrate on the ground ; his face was in his breast, ancl
be had neither head nor neck (9). He could not sit up except-when angi8y;
hc then swelled and took a sitting posture. Shikk was half a man, for
which reason he was 11amed Shikk (ltnlf); he had only one arm and one leg.
'CS8 IBN liHA1,LIKAN'S
Those two beings were empo'ivered 10 111ahc the ~~redictions which are so
(l 0). They were both born on lllc day in ~ h i c hTllrg~~ dke divineress
iii(ad ; Tarih w:ls thr dnu:;htcr of al-Khaiv al-Himyari and wife o f 111111.&fllzai-
k i i (11 1 ) ~ On tllri~-hirtll, she had then,
tile son of al-A6~i~irb l i ' S - S ~ I T(l)2).
Illb,lllghtto 11cr a d slrat in th(1i1. mouths, prete~~iling that she thus nlade then*
file tleirs of her tliowledgc nrld her art of divination. S11~dicd inlmediately
dlter, and was burird a t a1-Jollfa (13). Shikh and Satih Lot11 lived six hundred
ve;llus(ll,.).--K[t,sri inca11s belotrgittg to Knsr Ibn Abkar, a branch of the tribe
of' Rajila.

4 , Arabian genealogists are not agreed req~ectingthe pronunciation of this name; somc say it is I.hshjob.
(2, I have been urlable to procure any information respecting this person; and 1 doubt if this he a proper
I r a ~ ~ ~Ite . may signify the S O N of the wretched UajeEile, and that the writer of the letter meant his own son.
3) Consequently, God loves you better than Muhammild.
The irnlm presided a t public prayers; and governors of provinces, such as KhAlid was, acted as inlarns
1)) jirtue of their office.
($1 See page 444, note (3).
(6, It is needless to call to the reader's recollcctiun that Mosl~msare c.irc.unlciscd.
17, See HamBsa, page 419.
by Abf~'l-Feda in his Annals, vol. I. p. 5 et sell.
/ S ) This rnost veracious narrative is rcprod~~ced
,g) Jbn Khallikln inserts these absurd fables, because they were currently believed by the Moslims, and
are gravely related by h e i r ancient authors as circumstances corroborative of the divine rnissio~rof Mut~arnmad.
10) Those were predictions relative t o the coming of Muhammad, as has brco already saiii, a r ~ dthe r u p
ture of the dike of Mareh. See M. d c Sacy's Memoire s u r divers fiuhnemens de 1'Histoil-e des Arabes
nvnnt Mahomet, page 165.
11) See the extract from al-Mashdi given in the hlernoir just cited, pages 151 and 20H.
(1%)See Rasmussen's Hist. arab. ante Islam. p. 43.
113) This place is situated between Medtna and Mekka.
(14) This could not bc otherwise if lhcy foretold the rupture of the dike of Mareb, and Mere still living a t
the time of Muhammad's birth, as grave docturs say.

AL-KHIDR IBN AKIL AI, - IRBALI

Abh 'l-Abhis al-Khidr Ibn Nasr lbn Akil Ibn Nasr al-Irbali (native qf A.-
h e k ) was a Sllafite doctor, eminent for his knowledge of the law and of the
doctrines pecllliar to his sect; he was skilled in controversy and in the art of
calculating the shares of inherited .property lo which each heir is entitled.
He studied at Baghdad under al-Kia al-Hnrrisi (Abci 'LfIusan Ali) and ibn
 BIOGRAPI-1ICAL DICTIONARY. 489
as-.$hishi (Abli Bakrj, and he there became acquainted with a allumberof tile
chief doctors. He then returned to Arljela, where a collree was built for llim
to profess in by Abfi Marls~lrSaraftikin az-Zaini, the lieutrnan t-governor of that
city. This college is the one called n/1~&sat ol-Kalk (the college ihe
firtress). It was founded in the year 533 (A. D. 1138-9). He gave lessons in
it for some time, and was the first wllo ever professed at Arbela. A great nun+
her of excellent works were co~nposed by him on the interpetration of the P.iO
Koran, jurisprudence, and other sciences. One of his works contains six and
twenty sermons, stated to have been pronounced by the Apostle of God ( M i d -
hnn~rnnd), and all of them supported by good eu thorities (I). Great numbers
studied under him and derived profit from his tui~ion. He was a man of holi-
ness, morticed life, devotion, and piety ; careless of worldly goods, and ani-
mated with a soul sanctified by God. Ibn Asikir mentions him with high
in his History of Danlascus ; he had risited that city and resided
in it for some time, but returned afterwards to Arbela. Amongst those who
finished their education under. him was the doctor 1)ii ad-din Othrnin &Had-
bini (?), the' expositor of (Abd Ishrrk as-Shirdzi's ~vork)the hllL/bidab. (His
life will be found in the letter ni~z). Another of his pupils -who at taineh emi-
nencc was his brother's son, Izz ad-din Abfi 'I-Kisim Nasr Ibn Akil Ibn Nasr.
Al-Khidr was born A. El. 478 (A. D. 1085-6) ; he died a t Arbela on the eve of
Friday, I it11 of the latter JunGda, A . H. 567 (February, A . D 1172), and was
buried in his own college situated in the suburb. His tomb stands there alone
and is an object of pilgrimage: I have visited it frequently. On his death,
the vacant professorships in the two colleges were filled by his nephew Izz ad-
din (glory o f ' religion); a man of talent, born at Arbela in the year 534 (A. D.
1139-40). He was banished from that city by the sovereign al-Malili al-Muaz-
zanl Muzarrar ad-din, whose displeasure he had incurred, and proceeded to
Mosul, where the follolving lines were addressed to him from Baghdad by his
friend Yik{lt ar-RGmi (whose life shall be given later) :

0 son of Akfl ! dread not the violence of thy enemies, though they betray that ha-
tred which was hidden in their bosonis. The day has come in which some men
- oblige thee to depart thy land, because. they see in thee such merit as their own
land never possessed. It is thus that the ravens detest the presence of the white falcon.
whose plumage appears to advantage when contrasted with the darkness of their
own.
62
 490 IBN JiHALLIKAN'S
In this he alluded to rhe persons wllo traduced llim and turned the sovereign
against him. This occurred, as far as I k ~ ~ o win, the year 602 or 603 (A. D,
1205-7), but 1bn nltisll says that it took plac(: in 606. That same year, the
Georgians sallied forth and took Mermd, a city in tlrc dependencies of Ader-
bijhn, near Arflela ; t l , c b ~ ~plundered it, rrlassacred part of ~lreinhabitants, and
led the rest into csptivit y. As this happened at the lime of Izz ad-din's ex-
pulsion from 11;s son Sharaf ad-din (noblo~ess~ ? rrligion)
j' Muhammad
was induced by the circumstance to compose the f'ollowing verses :
If (those ofdrbela) drive unjustly (our) femalcs from their homes and act with an
excess OF tyranny, we have before us a similar example, in those whom the Georgians
treated with cruelty and drove from Merend.

This Sharaf ad-din had a great talent for*the Dribait (or couplet) ; 1 should
give here some specimens of his composition, were I not afraid of lengthening
this notice too much.-Izz ad-din dwelt outside of Rllosui in the convent of Ibn
as-Shahrozuri, and received a pension from the lord of that city. IIe remained
there till his death, which happened on Friday, 13th of the latter Ralji, oil of
the Iatter Jumida, A. 11. 6 19 (Map or July, A . D. 1222), and was interred at
Tall Tauba (3). His mother was aunt to InAd ad-din Muhammad Il)n YQ-
nus (4); his son Sharaf ad-din died at, Damascus on the evc of Sunday, 28th
Mukarram, A . 11. 633 (October, A. D. 1235), and was interred in the cemetery
of the Sbfis ; he was horn at Arbcla, in the month of Rqjab, A. H. 572 (Janu-
ary, A. D. 1177). Hc studied jurisprudence under his father and ImCd ad-din
Ibn Ydnus, and was taught belles-lettres by Abh 'l-Harem Mak1ii.-Sarafiikfn
951 was a mamllik belonging to Ziin ad-din Ali, the lord of' Arbeli and the father
of Muzaffar ad-din; he was an Armenian by hirth, and a virtuous man, for
which reason his master gavc him his liberty, took him into favour, placed the
highest confidence in him, and made him lris lieutenant in the government.
He built a number of mosques in Arbela and the neighbouring villages, and
founded the collrge of which we have spoken : he raised also the walls of the
town of Faid, situated on the road from Baghdad to Mekka ( S ) , and left many
other mon~lmentsof' his piety, all erected at his own expense. IIe died in the
month of Ramadin, A. H. 559 (August, A. D. 1 164).
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. $9 l
(1) supported by good authori~ies:that is, accompanied with the names o f the Traditionists bT whom they
had been handed down.
(2) Hadbdni is correct, not FIudiani, as in the Arabic text.
(3) See note (2), page 406.
( 4 ) His life is given in this work.
( 5 ) This lace, which lies half-way between KOfa and Jleklia, is noticed by bljb 'l-Feda in his Geography.

Abii 'l-Kkim Khalaf' Ibn hbd al-Malik fbn Masbd Ihn Rastlkuwil Ibn Yfisuf
Ibn DQha Ibn Dlka Ibn Nasr Ibn Abd al-Karim lbn Wiifid a\-Kbalraji al-Ans$ri
al-Kortubi (rlescended $-om the AIJSC~I*.~ of' the tribe of Khazmj n
of Cor~dova), was one of the great learned men of Spain. He composed a num-
ber of uscfiil worhs, amongst others, the Silat ('gift), intended by 1L' ~asMa con-
tinuation to Ibn al-Faradi's (I ) history of' the learned of Spain, and in wl~ichhe
has collected ( the lives of') a great many persons. He composed also a short
history of Spain, in which he displayed his usual ability, and a work called the
Kit& nl-Ghatvcimid wn 'l-Mubhamdt (book of obscure and doubtfd alltc-
sions), in which he mentions and specifies the names of the persons to whom
allusion is made in the Traditions : in this work he followed the plan adopted
by the Kliatib of Baghdad in his trearise written on the same subject. He is
also the author of a little volume, in which he mentions those Traditionists
who handed down the Muwatta (when yet unpub&shed), on the authority
of (their master) MPlik (who composed it). He has classed their names in
alphabetical order, to the number of seventy-three. Another small volume of
his is entitled : Tlze suppliants jor Gods assistance under tribuZu6om and
trouble, those hum@ resigned to him in their wishes and desires, and those
to whose prayers he hearkened, and whom he blessed with nziraculour favo~~rs.
Besides the above, he composed other works. A& 'l-Khattbb Ibn ~ i h s~q sa:
" 1 learned from a note in the handwriting of my master" - meaning tbn Bash-

kuwil-(' that he finished his Silnt in the morrth of die first Jumfda, A . H .
'' 534 (January, A. D. 11401, and that he came into the world on Monday, the
 b9 2 IBN KHAJ,I~IICAN'S
' 63rd (some say the 8th) of Zil 'I-IIijja, 14. 11. 10!1. (0ctol)(lr, A . D. 1 101). He
died at Cordova on the eve of Wednesday. 8th Ramadin, A. 11. 578 (Januarv,
1 6 A. D. 1 183), xvas buried 011 that Wednesday, ~ h ( the ~ rnfternootl
~ prayers
were over, in the ccrrletery of Ibn Abb5~,ncar8 111~:tomb of Yahya Ibn yah-
ya (?)." - His fa&t:r Abii hlarwhtl A l ~ dal-hlnlik Ihn Masad died on the
nlorninp of Sunday, nnd was buried 011 thc evcnint; OS the next day, Monday
25th of the latter Jumida, 8 . If. 6 3 3 il:~~brunry, A . l). 1 139), a t about the age
of eighty (3).

(1) His life is given by Ibn Khallikrln.

(2) His life will be found in this work.
(3) Abd al-Malik was a Traditionist, a juriscortsult of the sec1 of nlolik, arid an i~ssiduousreader of the
Koran.-(Ibn Bashkuwfll's Silat.)

KI-IALIFA IBN I-IAIYAT.

Abd Amr Khalifa Ibn EIaiyit Ibn Abi IIubaira Khalifa Ibn lliaiyit al-Osfuri,
surnamed Shabab, a member of thc tribe of S h a i b h , a native of Basra, and
the author of the 'mlakn't (I), was a /z(iliz versed in history, acquainted with
the adventures of the ancient Arabs, and gif~edwith great talents. Al-Bokhari
gives traditions on his authority in thc Snhilt and in his historical work (2),
and hc is cited also by Abd Allah Ihn Ahlnad Ibn IIanbal, Abli Yala of Mosul(3),
al-Hasan Ihn Sofyln an-Nasawi (I+), and others ; he himself quoted as his
authorities Sofy'in Ibn Oyaina, Yazid Ibn Zurai ( S ) , Abh Diwhd at-Tayilisi (6),
e m Durust Ibn Hamza, and others of the same class. He died in the month of Ra-
madin, A. H. 230 (May, A. D. 84.5). Ibn Asikir says, in his Mojanz, or
alphabetical list of the great jurisconsults who followed the doctrines of the six
, h e died A. 13. 240 (A. D. 854-5) or 246.-Tlre
imims ( i ) that relative ad-
jective 0;furi is derived from o~f u r (carthanzus tinctorurn) , a substance used
for dying cloth red. -It is not known with certainty for what reason he was
surnamed Shahlib.-His grandFather Abd Hubaira Iihallfa Ibn Haiyiit died in
the month of Rajab, A. H. 160 (April-May, A . D. 777). Abb Amr himself
 BIOGIIAPHICAL DICTIONARY. Ic93
said that his graodfatller Khalifa and ShBba lbn al-Hajjhj (8) d.led in the same
month.

(1)This is probably the nark mentioned by Hajji Khalifa under the title of Tabakdt ar-fiuwdt (classifies-
tion of t5e historical Traditionists) ; a sort of biographical dictionary.
(2) Noticed by Hajji Khalifa in his Bibliography. See No. 2174.
(3) Sec note (2), page 212.
(4) he h d ~ z 'l-Abbls al-Hasan Ibn Sofyin Ibn Alrnir as-Shaibdni an-Nasawi (of the tribe o/.\ttai-
bdm and native of Nasa in Kl&ordsdn),studied jurisprudence under Abh Thaur (see page G), arld learned
the ~ r a d i t i o n sfrom Ibn Hanbal and others. He was chief Tradit~onistof Khorasan while he lived, and he
composed a celebrated Musnad (sec p. 323, note (7) ). Died in Ramadln, 303 (March, A. H. 916),at Bilouz
J4, a village situated a t three miles from Nasa.-(Ad-Dahabi's Tdrtkh aCl~ldm; MS. Nu. U.-11, the
printed Arabic text of Ibr~Khallikh, the hdfiz AbQ 'l-Abbhs is surnamed an-Nasri, not an-Nasami; the
autograph rna~luscripthas also an-Nasrf, but this reading, I am inclined to think, is erroneous.
(5) A b h Moawia YazZd Ibn Zuraf al-Absi (member of the tribe of Abs) al-Basri (native of Basra) was a
Traditionist of great exactitude and information, learned, talented, and veracious. On the death of his fa-
ther, who was governor of Basra, he refused (through religious scruples) to accept any part of the inherit-
ance which devolved to him, and supported himself by making baskets. He died A. H. I72 (A.D. 788-91.-
( An-Nujam u s - Z d h i ~ a . )
( G ) The hdfiz Abh DlwOd Sulaimln Ibn Diwhd Ibn al-Jlrbd at-Taiblisi was born at Basra, A. H. 121
( A . D. 739). Be possessed a high reputation as a Traditionist. Died A. H. 203 (A. D. 818-9). (Tabakdt
al-Huffdz.)
(7) The six imlms, founders of the six orthodox sects, were Abll Hanlfa, as-Shaft, MAlik, Ibn Hanbal.
SofyAn at-Thauri, and Abh Sulaimin DIwQd az-ZQhiri.
(8) The i m l m Abh Bistlm L Shgba Ibn al-Hajjij Ibn al-Ward, surnamed the AmSr al-dlzlminin (or
C .
commander of the faithful) in the science of Traditions, was a Mawta to the tribe of Atik
that of al-Azd; his patron Abd& al-Ataki
e, a branch of

r %+c, having been himself a Mawla to Yazid Ibn al-

Muhallab the Azdite. EIe learned the Traditions from Moawia Ibn Kurra and a great number of the ~ d b 2 s .
As-Shafi said of hi~r,:Were it not for ShBba, the Traditions extant in Irak had remained unlinourn. A I - ~ a -
dtni stated that he knew two thousand of them, and Sofyln declared that the death of Shdha was fatal to
the Traditions. He was a mar! of great learning, piety, self-denial, tenderness of heart, and holy life; a
master of the elegancies of pure Arabic, and a poet. Died A. H. 160 (A. D. 776-7), aged 75 ~ e a r s . - i ~ l -
Yifi. Tabakdt al-Muhaddilhln.)

AL-KHALIL IBN AHMAD,

Abb Abd ar-Rahmin al-Khalil Ibn Ahmad Ibn Amr Ibn Tamim al-Farihidi
(or al-Forhbdi) al-Azdi al-Yahmadi was otre of the great masters in the art of
grammar, and the discoverer of the rules o f prosody, which art owes to him
 h94 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
its creation. These rules he included in five circles (or clfr.rses), from which
he deduced fifteen seas ( o r n t r ( ~ s n r ~ s( )l ); to these was added a sixteenth by
al-Akfasll (Said IL,I iMdsrrdn), who named it a l - ~ ~ ~ a b u bI t. is related that
al-Khali], hvhen at l\lekka, payed God to bcbtow on him a science hitherto
tmdiscoveI~ed,and none were to learn hut from him; and that on his
return from the pilgrimage, the scier~ceof pl*~sody was revealed to him. The
knowledge which he lrossessed of' musical rhythm and harmoriy must, however,
hare led him to ihe discove~.yof prosody, in consequrnce of the close analogy
whidl exists between then). Hamza Ibn al-Ilasan al-lspahnni (2) speaks of al-
Khalil Ibn Ahlnad in his [I'ar~bil~ ala ~ ~ ~ i d i i tcrt-Tu.rh~f(3),
l? and expresses his
opinion respecting him in these terms : " To enter now in to the subject we
, 6 6 intend to treat, it must be observed that Islamism never produced a more

active spirit than al-Khalil for the discovery of sciences which were unknown,
even in their first principles, to the learned among the Aral~s. Of this, no
' L clrarer proof car1 Ile adduced than thc science of prosody; a science not
taught to him by any philosopher, nor drawn up 1)y hirn on the model of
" some other previously known, bul invented as h(: walked past a coppersmith's,

011 hearing the strokes of a hammer upon a basin ; t,wo ol),jects devoid of every

quality which could serve as a proof and an illustration of any thing else
t.han their own form and shape, and incapable of leading to any other know-
&' ledge than that of their own nature. Had he lived in days of old, and were
'' the traces of his existencc distant from observation, persons would have
'' doubted that such a mall had been: one who elrccted what none had ever
done since God created the world; the production, namely, of the science j u s ~
" mentioned ; the Ioundation laid by him for that structure, the KitciB al-din,
" which contains the language of a wllole people, and the aid which he gave

" to Sibawaih by furnishing him with that grammatical information out of

l' which hc con~posed the celebratetl Book (Kitdb) which is the ornament of

L'Islamism." AI-Khalil was a holy, sagacious, sage, and grave mall ; one of
his sayings was : A man knoweth not wherein his prcccptor is wrong, till he
" tateth the lessons of ano~her." It is related by an-Nadr Ibn Shumail that

al-Kbalil dwelt in one of the (co1nmo12)reed-cabins of Rasra without having

two pence at his command, whilst his scholars were gaining wealth by the sci-
ence he had taught them. He states also, that one day he heard him say: " I
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. L95
lock the door upon nryself, so that my thoughts wandry not abrod." He
also to remark that, a man's reason and intelligence reach ptrfection, nhm
he attains the age of forty, the age of Muhammad when God sent him forth on
his mission ; but that they undergo alteration and diminution when the man
reaches sixty ; the age in which God took the Prophet's soill to himself. He
said again, that the intelligence is clearest at the dawn of day. Sulaimin 1bn
Habib Ibn al-Muhallnh Ibn Abi Sufra, the governor of Fars and AhwPz, settled
a p n s i o n on him and invited him by letter to come and see him, to which
nl-Khalil wrote in reply :
Let SulaimSn know that I can dispense with his assistance; that I am rich, though 9%
possessing no wealth : the treasure which I husband is my honest pride ; believing,
as I do, that none ever die of mere poverty, and that no state of life can continue
unchanged. (True) wealth comes from a power subject to no weakness: and with all
the craft of the cunning, you cannot increase your store. Poverty consists not in (the
want of) money, but of soul; that w e well know : and riches are in the mind, not in
the purse.

Sulaim3n having, on this, stopped al-Kl~alil's pension, the latter said :

He, who formed me with a mouth, engaged to give me nourishment till such time as
he takes me to himself. Thou hast refused me a trifling sum, but that refusal will not
increase thy wealth.
These lines gave Sulaimln great uneasiness, and induced him to write an
apology to al-Khalil and double his pension ; the poet then pronounced tllese
lines :
SulaimSn has committed a slip which would fill Satan with amazement, did he hear
it. Marvel not, if by chance a good deed comes from him; an inauspicious constella-
tion sometimes sheds on the earth a genial shower.

Al-Khalil and Ahd al-Allah Ibn al-MukaE once met together and passed tht.
night i n conversation ; the next morning they separated, and al-Khalil \\.as
asked what he thought of his companion. '' His learning is greater than his
" wit ;" was the reply. A similar question was then addressed to Ibn al-Mo-
kaffh, who answered: "His wit is greater than his learning.".-Among the
works composed by al-Kllalil must be noticed the celebrated Kitif6 aLAi'n, of
which the subject is philology (4) ; the Kh6b aGArrid (his treatise on plvsody);
the Kitdb ibs-S/zac~Wid(ezomples of grnrnrnatical rules) the K i t b an-No kot
 L96 IBN KHALLFRAN'S
iva 'S-Slmkl(treatise on the diacrilical points and the vowel-signs); the
nn-NaglLm (on musicnl intonntion) ; and the Kildb ol-A~wir~inzil (treatise on
rhose ofspeech afAirh govenz otlltn). Tlre ercat majority of the learned in
philology say that the /<itrib al-rli,r was not aomposr(l 117 al-Khnlil, although it
bears his name; he merely began it, and having drawn up a portion of the
commencement, Re named i t the Ai,?, hut its conrplelio~lwas due to his pupils,
an-Nadr Ibn Shumail, al-Aluwarrij as-Sadfisi, Nasr Ibn Ali al-Jahdami (sj,
and others of the same class ; but the learning of which they thcrr made proof
was hv no means prol~ortionatcto that displa).ed by al-Klialil in the heginning
of the \\-ark ; they in consequence suppressed that purlion, and replaced it by
a new onc of their own composition. T o this must bc attributed certain mis-
takes into wllicl~al-Khalil could hardly have fallcn. This has been fully treated
of by Il)n Dulusthya, in a n instructive work wllich hc wrotch on the subject.
AI-Khalil had a son whose intellect was ~ ~ ( hack~vat-d;
~ry this boy went one day
into the room where his fathers was, and on Iintling hi111 scanning a piccc. of verse
t)v the rules of prosody, he run out and told thc people that his f'athcr had lost
his wits. They went in imn~ediatclyarltl related t.o nl-Khalil what they had
heard, on which he addressed his son in ~ h e s eterms :

Had you known what I was saying, you would have excused m e ; and had you
known what you said, I should have blamed you. 13ut you did not i~nderstandme, so
you blamed me ; and I knew that you were a fool, so I pardoned you.

It is said that he freqoently recited thc following verses, but without stating
whether they were his own or not :

'' The mansion of your friends is near ;" said they, "how strange then that you
should be in sorrow l"-" What avail the mansion and thcir nearness," I replied,
'' if thp, hearts themselves draw not near?"

23.4 The followiog: anecdote, related by himself, has been handed down co us :
" A person of a slow understanding came to me during some time to take
" lessons in prosody, but I could not impress any portion oE it on his mind;

" so I said to him one day; 'Scan this verse:

' If you cannot accomplish a thing, leave it and pass to another which you can
' accomplish. '
 BLOGRAPHIChIA DICTIONARY. 'c97
" he Legan to scar1 it 10 the best of his abilities, but he then went a\v\-av,
" and never calm back. I was quite astonished that, with all his stupidity,
he perceived my drift in proposing to him that verse." Numerous anecdotes
are rclatcd of al-Iihalil; it was from him that (Anzr l b n Othnmn) Sibawaill,
wllose lift: we sliall give in the letter air,, received his knowledge of tile dikrenl
])ranches of philology. It is said that al-Kbalil's father was [he first penon,
after tllc time of tire Prophet, who bore the name of Ahn~ad;al-Marzubini,
in his work called the Kitiib nl-~'kfuklabis, makes a similar statement on the
authority of Allmad Ibn Abi Khaithama. Al-Khalil was born A. H. 100
(A. D. 7 18-g), and died at Ilasra, A. ZI. 170 (A. D. 786-73, or 175, at the age,
it is said, of seventy-four years. It is mentioned, however, by Ibn Kini, in
his Annals, that he died in the year 160 ; and Ihn al-Jawsi, in his Shuzzir al-
Okrid, gives he year 130 as that of his death; this flagrant error has been
copied Ily al-Wikidi. IIe came by his death in the follawing manner: Having
rcsol~ed on inventing a method of calculation so simple, that any servant-
girl (UJAO knew it) could go to a shopkeeper's without incurring the least pos-
sible risk of being deceived by him iu the sum she would have to pay, he en-
tered the mosque with his thougllts occupied on the subject, and he there
struck against a pillar, which his preoccupation hindered him from perceiv-
ing; he violence of the shock threw him on his back, and death was the
result. Sonre say, however, that ire was scanning verses when the accident
happened.-Fardltidi means be/ongbzg to Fard/~fd,a branch of the tribe of
Azd. Far6?2ic-is the plural of fzdrlrud, a word which signifies n lion's whelp
in the dialect of the Azd Shanuwa tribe (6). Some say that farn'I2id means
little sheep.-Ynhnladi is derived from Yahnzad, the name of another branch
of the tribe of Azd, from which great numbers have sprung.-Al-Ualil fre-
quently repeated this vet-se of al-Akhtal's :

If thou warltest treasures, thou wilt find none equal to a virtuous conduct.

(i)Thcse technicalities will be better understood from a perusal of the chapter, page 147, of Preytag's
DarstelEung der Arabischen Yerskunst, or Samuel Clarke's P~osodiadrabica.
(2) Hanlza son of al-Hasan (or of al-Husain, according to Hajji Khalifa) was a native of Ispahan, as ap-
pears by his surname. The best known of his works, entitled Tdrlkh aEOmarn (Ilistory of Peoples), was
composed, according to his own statement, in the year 330 of the Bijra (A. D. 961-2). His other works
63
k98 IBN KIIALllIliAN'S
\yere, a ffislorllof Ispalcan (Tdrikh I s b a A d r ~ i( S C ~Hajji l i h a l i h xo. Zl4914 a r[i~lo)'!/of W e u t men (Tdrilih
sbdl. nt-Omclm), and the Tanbill, hcrc mentionet1 by I])IIKllallikA~l. Nonc or 111~ Arirbic a\ltllors ,,hom I
have consulted, fLlrnish any additiolral informalion respcclirlg Ilim, the author of thc Fikrest cxcclttcd. we
read i n that Hamza Ibn al-Hasnn. a nalivc of IslMhan, Was K, ii man of lcarlling and an auttlor.,-
L2
)ls then the list of his works, eight in numbcr; lhrce of \vllich wcre r:ollecliohs of yrovcrbs, tire fourth
similes; fie lift11 ,*us il rrcatisc on prayers or imprecatiolls l ?I;!
tllc a
,:ollection of epistlcG seventl~,a History of Ispallan; and tllc cighth, a treatise on thc words in theKoran
which may be in difirent m:~naers: *+$I& This last is probably
the work from \\hich the passage on &l-KhaM Ibn Ahrnatl is tllkcn. It would appear, from what the author
of the Fihrsst says, h a t a t the period in which he cornposctl his work, Hamza was no longer living, and as
we know that tfrc Fihrest was written A. H. 377, we must suppose lhat Bamza died bcforc that year. M . de
Sacy, irr the iotl, volume of the fifdmoires d e l ' l n s t i t u l , Acctddntie des I 7 ~ s c r i ~ ~ t l or!tn Relles-l,eltrcs,
s has in-
serted a memoir on the first of the works above-mentioned.
(3) This work is not mentioned by Hajji Khalifa. Its title signifies, 7'hn ?uarning resper/ing the ~t,oue11~
of t h e Taslrif. This last word bears the signification of l o g o g ~ * i p f rand
, false reading of the /ioran. The
three manuscripts which give this passage-for the autograph does not - all agrcc ill the orthography of the
title, ~ h i c hseems, however, to be an alteration of that which is indicated in the preceding note.
(4)A copy of this ceIebrated lexicon is in the Escurial library. It begins with the letter aln, vvhcnce its
name.
(5)AbO Amr Nasr Ibn Ali a1 Jahdami, a celebrated l ~ d p .and : a uusc of science. was a ilalive of Basra. The
khalif al-Mustain having sent for him with the i n t e n t i o ~o~r naming him kAdi, hc obtnincd permission of thp
governor to confer with God about it. Having withdrawn, hc offcred up a praycr of two rakasand said: 0
my God ! if I have any value in thy sight, take me to thyself." Ile then wcnt to sleep and never aoke
again. This happened in the gear 250 (A. D. 864).-(AI-YAM.)
(6, See M. de Sacy's dl(!rn~rirestir I'Histnire tles Arnbc.~nllnnt Mahnmet, 11. 157.

KHUMARAWAIH.

Abfi 'l-Jaish Khumhrawaih was the son of Ahmad Ibn Thldn, whose life we
have already given (page 153) with some account of his father Thlhn. On
the death of Ahmad, he was unanimously chosen by the troops as his successor,
and he thus became governor (of Egypt) at the age of twenty years. His
appointment took place in the days of the khalif al-Motamid. In the year
276 (A. D. 889-90) al-Ifshin Muhammad Ibn Abi 'S-Sij DDivdid Ibn Yiisuf
marched a large army from Armenia and Persian Irak against Egypt (I); but
Khumirawaih gave him battle in the neighbourhood of Damascus and put
him 10 flight. The greater part of the (irtvading) army surrendered, and Khu-
 BIOGRAPIIICAL DICTIONARY. '$99
rnlrawaill advanced to the Euphrates, (over whiclr) some of his troops {pas,srr/)
and took possession of Rakka. He then returned to Egypt, master of all ,hal
tract of collntry which extends from the Euplrrates to Nubia, On the death of
a l - ~ o t a m i dand the accession of al-Motadid, Khumimwaih hastened to con-
ciliate the new khalif by rich presents, and he thus obtained the confirmation of
his appointment as governor of Egypt. He lhen expressed the wish that llis
daughter Katr nn-fl~ci'n,(dew-drop) should marry the khalif 'S son, al-Mu klafi
~ i l l a h ,who was then khalif elect; but al-Motadid said that he would marrv 9;d
her himself, and she became his wife in the year 281 (A. D. 894-5). Towards
the end of that year, or, as some sap, in the next, he consummated his rnar-
riage ; the dowry settled on her by her fither amounted to one million of dir-
hems (2). It is stated that she possessed wit and beauty to an extreme degree :
one day, whilst aGMotadid was enjoying the pleasures of her society in a saloorl
specially reserved for her use and into which no other dare enter, he handed
her the wine-cup and fell asleep on her lap. To relieve herself from his
weight, she placed a cushion under his head, and went into the court of the
palace, where she sat down. When he awoke and perceived her absence, he
got into n passion and called her by name; her answer proved that she was not
far off, and (cvhen she entered) he addressed her thus : " Have I not given you a
mark of honour in choosing you for the companion of my private moments?
" Have I not given you the surest tokens of my affection and mitl~heldit fro~n

" the other females of my hare772 ? and yet you place a pillow under my head

and leave me thus." To this she made answer : '' Commander of the faith-
" ful ! I am fully sensible of the high favour you conferred on me; but one of
" the lessons given me by my father aas, not to sleep with those who sit, or
" sit with those who sleep." It is related that al-llotadid, in marrying her,
had the intention of reducing the Tillhn family to poverty, and such was in
fact the result, for her father made her a marriage-present the like of which
had never been given before ; it is said that (amongst other objects) she re-
ceived one thousand mortars of gold (3). Al-Motadid required of him also to
pay an annual tribute of two hundred thousand dinars (4) after defraying the
salaries of all the government officers in Egypt and the pay of t h e troops. He
continued to fulfil this obligation till the year 282. when his pges murdered
him in his bed at Damascus, on Saturday night, the 27th of Zfi 'I-Kaada (Janu-
500 IBN KIIALLIICAN'S
ary, A . U. 896). He was tl~enthirty-two years of age. T h e assassins wlrcre
put to deatll, and his body was borne in a hirr to Egypt and dcpositrd ill tile
tomb of llis fadler near tllr foot of rnount ~ u k a l t a m . Iris penlnanship was
most beautiflll. I-Te had for vizir Ahil Bakr Muharnmnd 1l)r1 Ali I1,11 Ahnlad
al-Mjridjni, of nhonl we shall llavc again occilsion to spthak. When his
daughter Katr an-Nada was conducted to al-Motadid, she was accomlwnied as
far as the Syrian frontier by her aunt al-Abhisa, the daughter of Ahmncl Ibn
T(jlBn. They made a halt tllere, and their tcnts having been set up, a msll
was built on the same spot and received 111c name of al-Abbisa. It is still
inhabited and possesses a barldsome mosque and a well-f~-ec~l~erited market-
place. This statement is given on the authority of marry well-informed pelasons,
-Katr an-Nada died on the 9th of Rajah, A . H. 287 (July, A . 1). !loo), and
was buried in the Ruslfa pa1,icn a t P,.if;hdad.-Al-Ifsllir~, the son of Abii 'S-sij,
died in the month of the first Rabi, 288 (March, A . D. 901), a t Bardia, the
capital of' one of the provinces of Aderbijan; Arrin, it is said. llis father,
Ab6 'S-Saj, after whom the Sdjite ju72ds (or troops) were so called (5), died
A. H. 266 (A. D. 379-80), at Jundi Sbblir, in t l ~ cprovince of Khuzestan.

(1)For the history of al-Efshtn, see Freytng's Selecta ex Hisforid, p. 24 e t seq.

(2) The manuscripts of Ibn Khallikln and Abb 'I-Mahdsir~ have dirherns in this place, but dinars is
bably the right reading.
(3) Mortars were an important article of the female toilet; tlrey ncre used for pounding perfumes.
(4)The dinar of that period has an irrtrir~sicvaluc of about to11 shillings British.
(5) The historians whom I have consulted furnish no information respecting thesc troops. I learn only
from Ibn al-Ath'lr that Abh 'S-Sbj was appointed by al-Mutawaklril to guard the road leading from Irak to
Mekka, A . H . 244 (A. D.858-9). H e was consequently protector of the pilgrim caravans. I n 253 he received
the command of the province of Jidfa; in 261 that of al-Ahwdz, wherc he was defeated by the Zenj (see AbO
'I-Fed& Annal's, A.H. 255); be then proceeded to Askar Mukrarn, and died a t Jundisapdr (A. W. 266'. on
his return from thecamp of Amr Ibn al-Laith, to whom he hod been probably sent by the khalif with letters of
investiture.- (Ibn al-Athtr.)
 ABU SULAIMAN DAWUD AZ-ZAIIIRI.

/\bir Suloirnin Diwird Ibn Ali Ibrl Khalaf al-Isbahiei (nolive o/. jsplL-
h r i ~ ~gcnewlly
j, known by the surname of az-Zihiri (1), \vas a man of ereat
piety and self-mortification. MC learned the science (of jurisprudence)
liam Ishak Ibn RLhwaih and AbQ Thnur, and was a most ardent partisarl of
the imjm as-Shifi, whose merits and praise he celebrated in two works, lie 256
was the founder of a particular sect (T?), and had many followers, who received
the name of Zdlzirites: his son Abil Bakr Muhammad, whose life shall be given,
lxofessed the same doctrines. Abii Sulaimln was nominated chief professor
at Baghdad (3), and i t is said that he had among his auditors four hundred
wearers of green hoods (4j. The following anecdote is related by himself:
Tllere came one day to my public conferences a native of Basra, whose mme
was Abb YBklib as-Shariti ; he was dressed in two ragged cloaks (S), and har-
'' ing advanced of his own accord t o the place of honour, without being
' c invited to take it, he sat down by my side and said : 'Question me about what

you please.' As I was almost provoked by his conduct, I told him, sneer-
" ingly, to treat of cupping (6). 1Ie immediately invoked the benediction of
& ' God, and related the mode, in which this Traditiorl had been handed do\\-n:
Re who cups and he rvllo is cupped (in the month of Ramadan) hove
brorl-erz the fast (7). He the11 gave the names of the Traditionists who traced
i t u p as far as the Tdbis(8); of those who traced i t up tlrrough an uninter-
'<rupted succession of narrators to Muhammad himself, of those who explained
it, and of the jurisconsults who cited it as an authority for their doctrines.
He then stated the various channels through which the following Tra-
dition has passed down : T h e blessed Prophet was cupped, and Be
gave the cupper his pay; and were cupping a t h h g forbidden, he
L had not given it to him (9). He next related the difFerent modes of trans-
mission by which this other Tradition was received: The Prophet was
cvit/2a horn. He mentioned also other genuine Traditions respect-
ing cupping, and some of middling authenticity, such as these : Ipassed not
by a n , band Of the angels without their saying : Order thy people
44 cupping ( I O),-The healing of my people is by three means : Cupping,
 6'&rjll;b2gJtonpy, m7d c~l~rpr*i;ir?g rr'itlrf;?~(1 I ) , a ~ ol,llOrs
d of a like import.
Hp tlrsn gave the Traditions of s f r ~ b l ta~ithenticity,
. as, Ihlb instance:
no/ cllppcd ,slcch sue/?. rr d<lny; (11 S U C ~rr17rl .rlrch ( l / r / ~ o n r - ; aftel%
66\&ich he rllentioned tlic opinions enp~*esscd by physirians of cvcry age on ttlth
.L subject, and ire eonclo~ledhis discourse w i t h th(. 13crnark that the use of cup-

" ,'ing originatecl at ispall:irr. I then said to him : ' Ily 1jll;ih ! I sllall never
'4 scorn any person again.' " I)Bwild was a man of n 1)owcrGl mind, and i t
was said of llinl by Abd 'l-Abbis ThAlnb, illat his irrlcllrct was greater ttran
his learning. Ilis birth took place at Ki~l'a,A . H. 202 (A. 1). 817-8); somr
sav, hot\rever, 201 or 200; he was brougllr 11p a t Baghdad, and died ilrere in
the month of Zil 'l-Kaada, 270 (May, A. U. HHh,), or-, 1)y another. account, in
Iiamadjn of that year. IIc was buried in the Sllfinizi cemetery; hut some
state, llowever, that he was interred in (tile courB/Icfi)rt:) lris llouse. His son
Abfi Bakr Muhammad related that he saw his Either in a dream, and asked
trim what God had done to him, and tllnt he rcplied : ''He \bath shown rnercv
to me and indulgence." Hr then asked him if God had shown him mercy for
the faults which he (God) had treated with intlulgcnce'? and his father an-
swered : '' 0 my son ! the case of him who hath no1 obtair~cdGod's indulgence
is terrible; it is the greatest of woes !" - His family was ot' Ispahan. We
have already spoken of this place and of the .r/id17Czi cemetery in some of the
preceding articles (see pages 74 and 339).

11, 4;-Zdlliri ( [ h e exteriorist) ; he was so called because hc founded his system of jurisprudence on llic
exterior, or literal meaning of the Koranic tent and the Traditions; he Lhus rejecled the Jimd (general consent
of the ancient imhms), and the Kids. or analogical deductions. Sec ~ l o t c(2), page 6. 111 this, he and his
followers incurred the disapprobation of the most eminent doc1ol.s of' the oilier orthodox sects.-(Tab. al-
I i z ~ k a mfol.
~ , 50, etc.)
,2) This was one of the six orthodox sects already mentioned irr note (7),page 493.
1:)),+W I see note ri),page 55.
1 4 , Hoods were generally worn by doctors of lhe Iilw. Ash-Sharisi says however, in his commentary on
the Makdmas of al-Hariri, p. 206, that the green tailcsdn, 01. hood, was worn by persons of respcctabil~ty
I
(5) This was a proof of his being a Sb6, and that two great shailclrs of that sect had left him their cloaks.
science, and authority as legacies. Thc transmission of the cloak by the master to t11c cliseiple is n custom
of great antiquity. The cloak worn by the SOfis was called by lhcm Ithe'rkn ( r a y ) .
6) He told him to treat of cupping, hecause he thought him mad ; a t ~ da madmnn should know well what
that operation was.
 (7) Tlre rest of tlie Tradition ir .S ibllow~: The one, on account o f wrotneis r i t i c h r d l
from loll of
blood; and the cupper because Iic i s not safe from some of i t going into his m o u t h . - , ~ l - ~ o k h i r i >s a h i b ,
MS. No. 214, fol. 78 verso.) --The ancient Arabs performed cupping by scarifying the part and sUckillp
out tile blood by rneans of 3 tlnrn. This Tradition is given in Matthew's Mishkdl a[-,Masdbik, vol. 1,
p. 414,
(8) Set! page 4, not? (2).
(9) A\-Bokhiri's Sahth, fol. 78.
(10) 1 give here the whole Tradition, of which the first words alone are mentioned by Ibn Khallikin.
~t
\vas handed down by Ibn Mashd, who stated that the Prophet said so when relating his night-journey to hea-
.ten. See !lfasdbFh, MS. fonds Ducaurroi, No. 5, fol. 201 v .
( 1 1 ) Ibn Khallikln gives the first aords only of this Tradition. The Masdblh enables me to complete it.

AL-MALIK AZ-ZAHIR MUJIR AD-DInT.

Abh Sulaimkn Diwlid, surnamed al-Malik az-Zihir Mujir. ad-din (the brii-
lianr prince, dze protectol. of the faith), was a son of the sultan Salih ad-din
1bn Aiyfilr, and lord of al-Bira, a fortress situated on the Euphrates (1). Men of
talents and learning travelled from all parts to visit him, in consequence of his
predilection for their company. He was the twelfth son of Salih ad-din, and
came into the world at Cairo. His father, who was then in Syria, was conga-
tulated by al-Khdi 'I-FBdil on the happy event, in a letter which contained the
following passage: This child, whom the hlessing of God has brought into the
world, completes the number of twelve sons, or rather twelve brilliant stars;
God has thus presented to you (2) one star more than to the patriarch Josrph;
your majesty saw them and you awake, whilst Jacob only saw his in a dream;
he saw them making obeisance unto him, but your majesty saw them
making obeisance unto you, whilst the people bowed down before them.
And He, may he be extolled! has the power of augmenting your majesty's
happiness in making you live to see them fathers and grandfathers." In
these last words, al-KBdi 'l-FQdil expresses a thought which coincides with
that contained in the following verse, taken from a poem composed by al-Boh-
tori in praise of al-Mutawakkil, just after the birth of sl-Motazz, that kha-
lif's son :
 504 IRN Ii1IALLIMAN'S
May you live to obtain the light of his cou~~sels,
and see his etlildren grey and
aged mcn.

357 It bpe* handed do\vkl bv a numf,cr of pcl.SonS he I ~ S Cto~ say:

4 ~ 1 f any one has a srr S;ilil~ad-din, let him look a! mr, for L rrsrm1jle
hiln more any ]lie otl~ersons." AI-hlalik U-Zihir was born on [hc
2Znd of 26 'L-Rijja, A. 11. 873 (June, h. D. 1178), or, by anolhrr account, in
the month of Zfi 'l-Kaada of that year. He and his brother, nl-Malih az-Z$hir.
(3j (Ghhzi), of lvhonl VC sllall make mention under the letter ghuLr, were sons
of the sanne motllcr. IJe d i d a t al-Eir-a on h e eve of' the r~intllday of !%far,
A . EI. 632 (Novr~lrber,A . D. 1'134). 1 was at Aleppo when tl~(:nc\trs of his
death arr.ivctl, and sl-Malik al-Aziz, the so11 of his f)r.olller al-,llalik az-2)$hir,
set ol11 inmcdiatcly and took possession of the cast](: of 31-Ijira. This place is
situa~edon the Mesopotamian side of the Eupllratvs, and lips Ilcoar Samaisjt, a
fortress on thc Greek confines. Somais3 t is on the Syrian side, between Iial$(
at.-Rrlm and Malatiya; i t is separated from 31-Rirn b y t h ~river.

( 1 ) This fortress lies to the north-east of Aleppo.

(2) Literally: To him. The third person \+as g~nerally~lsetlin addressing princcs.
(3) Gl~brt'ssurnamc is u ritton yu1, and tllat of his Lrother. ,.B~J I. Tlle p r o n u n ~ i a ~ i oof
n both is
nearly the same; it is only a practised ear which can perceive the differellcc betqeen thcrn.

DUBAIS 1BN SADAKA.

Abii 'l-Aazz Dubais Ibn Saif ad-Dawla t Abi 'I-IIasan Sadaka Ibrl Mansfir lbn
Dubais Ibn Ali Ibn Mazyad nl-Asadi an-Nishiri, sumanred Nlir ad-Dawlat
(Zigl~~ of the slate), was prince of the Arabs (I), and lord of dlc city called
al-1IilIa al-Mazyadiya (the mansion of tlze JIazynd f a r n i b ) (2). Dubais was
distinguislled for his muniliccnce, gencrous character, and profound know-
ledge of belles-lettres and poetry. He consolidated his authority during the
khalifat of al-Mustarshid, and obtained possession of many cities in Irak. The
family to which he belonged was of the first rank, his father and his ancestors
(/2nuingp o s ~ e s s e (gt,ead
~ power, as) we s l d l mention hereafter under the letln.
(sec Surlako). This is the person n~llornal-llariri meant, in llis thilttv-
ninth il~akrirncz, by the words: Or else Dubais r?f the tribe of AAsad(3).
Tllcv were contemporaries, and al-Hariri's object was not only to gain his
favour I)y mentioning his name in the Jfaakrimas, but also to rrrlder homage to
llis merit (4). Dubais composed some good poetry, and 1 have read in Imid
ad-din's Ii/~nrirta,in the History of Arbela by Ibn al-!lustawfi, and in other.
works besides, that he was the author of' the piece of verse rhyming in e, which
corltains this line :

The love he bears your SulaimAn has made him the slave of a passion, the slightest
pains of which are mortal.

I have found, however, that Ibn Bassim, in his Dakhirn, attributes this
poem to llln Rnsllik, of Iiairawin, and we have already spoken of it in that
f ealso seems evident that it was composed by 11x1 Rashik, for he
I ~ w s ~ ~ ' s i;i it
i j stated in ihr Daklriru to have written it in the year 502, a11d it is improbable
t}lal Dubais, who was at h a t time a youth, could have produced verses of suffi-
cient merit to become known in Spain and to be attributed to so eminent an
author*as Ibn Rashik: it is also to be observed that Ibu Bassin) was perfectly
well acquainted with the poetry of the western Arabs.-Ibn al-Mustawfi relates,
in his IIistory, that Dubais received the following lines from his brother Ba-
drin, who was then far away from him :

Tell Mansfir (S), filusaiyab( G ) , and Dubais that 1 am a stranger in a distant land.
May they enjoy the Euphrates and the sweetness of its waters, since a share of it is
withheld from me 1

To which he returned this answer:

Tell BadrSn, who now, in a distant country, sighs for his native land -(and the man
of noble soul is never disappointed in his wishes)-tell him to enjoy the pleasures of 958
the moment, for care turneth grey the dark ringlets of hope. God holdeth controI
over the events which afflict mankind, and the (parched) earth itself obtains a libation
from the cup of the generous man.

Another historian informs us that Radrin, the :on of Sadaka, bore the hono-
rary title of TQjal-Muliik (the diadem of princes), and that he left Baghdad
when liis father was put to death, atld retired into Syria, where he resided for
64
$06 IBN KHA 1,LIKA N'S
some time ; frolil tllence ]lr. renlovcd to Egypt, and died 1hcl.c in the year 502
(A, D. 4 108-9). Iie posscs~ed;I talent for poetry, and lllc h(itib I[nBd ad-&*
\las llim i n [hr Khnrirl(t. Dullais was in tlrc scrsice o!' tire
solt;ln, 3TasGd lbll \lohanjillnd 1l)n blalnk Slrall, whllll tlral s o v r ~ r : i ~was
r ~ pn-
ouaideof the t,o\r 11 of nl-nla&glm in Adarl)ij51l; thr: I i halif ;~\-l\l~atar~hid
Rill& hyas the*] with tlronr, ha\ in{; lleetl oldigcd l0 accontplny the sultan ibr
wasons which &ail tnxplair~ i n the life or :]l-Mashd. 0 1 1 l'lrursday tllr "h,
or 1 0 II),, al-FI~lstawfi, the 14th 01' 'I-Kaado, A. H. 529 (A. D.
1 4351, a !)and of assassins iwokc: in to the i~lmlif'stcrlt ant1 rn~irdet-cdh i m .
Ap-
prPhflnsivtbof i,lrl,r.rill;; the odium rxcitcd b y this cvenl, the sullan resolvecl 011
I.epresentiagDuljais as the author of thc c~ninlr; I r e tl~rreforewaited [ill ]at-
[tlr* camp 10 prestbnt hi? r(!s~ects,and was s~atedat ill(! cntmnce ol' tlre imperial

lent ; hp then gave. directions to one of his mamllks, w110 immediately slipped
up belrirld Ilubais and struck off his head with a sword. After this cxealtion,
the sultan endeavoured to persuaclc the public h a t Dubais was the author of
the khalif's death, and had t hcrcfore drawn on himscll' the just vezlgeallce ot' his
Dubais was murdered one ~nontlrafter thch assassination of the hha-
lif. ( A h ~M~hammncl
i Hrirri~zIbn nl-Abbcis) al-Mhmilni says in 11;s IIistotsy :
Dubais was put to death on the. 1 4 th of %h'l-llijja ol' tliat year, at the Gale of
b 6 Khuwai (7). He had perceived a change in the sultan's conduct towal-ds him
since the murder of al-Mustarslri(1, and was frt:qom tly incl~rledto take 10 night ;
'' I~uthis destiny prever~t.edhim." I t is stated, 'tlowever., hy Ibn al-Azrak in his
History (of'Moynfdrilrfit) l hat he was slain at the Tabriz Gate, and that his body
was horrre in a hier to his wife Kuhir KhritGn, who was then at Miridin. This
1)rincess hatl it interred close to thc tom11 of her father, Najm ad-din al-Ghizi,
sovereign of Miridin, in the funeral chapel erected over his rcmains in that cily.
The sl~ltanthen married the daughter of Dubais ; hcr mother, Shara f Khitin,
was daughter to Amid ad-Dawlat Ibn Fakhr ad-din Muharrlmad Ibn Jahir by his
wife Znbaida, the daughter of the vizir NizPm al-Mulk: of this we shall again
speak in the life of Ibn Jahir.-An-JVLisl2i1.i means descended from Nishira Ibn
Nasr, the chief of a branch sprung from the tribe of Asad Ibn Klruzainra.

(1) See page 174, note (3).

(2) The town of al-Hilla lies between Baghdad and Kbfa.
 (3) Tile folloning i s tile passage from which these a o r d s are taken: '6The c.rowdsurruundcd zaili
nlld ertolled h i m ; tlrey kissed his hands and thought to gain a blessir~gby Louel~inghis [altered mimellt;
L' tllis n ~ n d ei t seem to rrle that I had Uwais 31-Karani hcforc my eyes, or else Dubais of the tribe of Asad."
-See 31. d e Sacy's IIarlri page 439. Uwais was otlc of the Tibis, and noted for his piet).
1.4) ~t is rclated by as-Sharlshi, that Dubais, on hearing the compliment paid lrirn lby al-Haliri. sellt to hinl
a great quantity of rich robes and preserlts to an imn>ense value.-(De Sacy's rlariri, page 440.j
( 3 1 3larrsOr was grandfather to nubnis and Badran.
(13~Jlusaiyah was probably a near relative to Badrbn.
(7; This w a s o n e of lhc gates of Blarlgl~a: the road from that city to the ton11 of K h u ~ t a passed
i through
i t ; a herlcc its name.

I)IBIIJ IBN )\L1 'L-KHUZAI.

A b i ~Ali Dibil i\li ibn Rxrin Ihrr Sulaimin, the celebrated poet, was a
11~11

nlernl~erof the tribe of Khuzia. The author of the Aghdni gires his
as folloars : "Dil~il, surnamed Abi~Ali, was son to Ali Ibn Razin Ibn Sulairnin
1l)n Tamim Ibrl Nahshal, or NahLas ( I ) , Ibn Iihuris l b ~ lKhilid Ibn Dibil
'' Ibn Ans Ihrl Kh~lzaimaIbn Salimin Ibn Aslam Ibn Af'sa lbrl Niritha Ibn Amr.
" I l ~ nAirnir hll~zailciyi(3)." The X-llati'h al-Baghdidi s a p , however, that he
was the son of Ali Ibn Razin Ibn Othrn$n Ibn Abd Allah Ihn Budail Ibn Warki
al-Klluzki. lIis family, which had se [[led a t Baghdad, was originally from
Kilfa, or., by another account, from Karkisiya. It is again said that Dibil was a
]lickname, his real name being al-Hasan, or, according 10 others, Abd ar-Rah-
min, o r Rluhammad, and that his surname was Abii Jaafar. It is stated also
that he was deaf and had a scrofillous swelling on the back of his neck.--38!)
Dibil was a good poet, but scurrilous and addicted to satire; always ready lo
sla~ldermen of merit, and sparing none, not even the khalifs. He lived (how-
-
euer) to an advanced age, and he used 10 say : " For fifty years past I have gone
about with my cross on my shoulder, but could find none to crucify me on
L ( it-" When he cornposed on Ibrahim Ibn al-Mahdi the piece of verse which
we have inserted in that prince's life and which begins thus, The son of Shikla
and his grtng, elc. (see poge I S ) ; Ibrahiui waited on al-Allmhn and complained
to him, saying: Commander of the faithful ! Almighty God hsth favoured
thee above me, and inspired thee to show compassion and mercy unto me;
508 IBN JiHALLIliAN'S
(1 are Loth of the s a n e family, yet Uibil insu!ts ill his satires ; t\lcref(lre
I,rq lllec to avenge mc."-4i And whal lras 11c said," lxb~)lic(i~ ~ I; -
i)erllaPS T/le o f S ~ S l r rc/r.?"
, th(! V C I ~ S ~ S . - - " ~ ' ~ I : ~is~ oulv 1)ari
n~prbnli~~g
his aspersions," "
Il)r;il~irn; he kr:~s mndc or1 mr worst: t I l ; l n tllal."
-61 Take examplc l)y me," rrl)licd I ; " 1 I r a ~ ~hcr n c ill patirnce
La satire made hr him against mlrsclf, irl w l ~ i c hhc: said :
I)ocs al-Mamfin take me for a fool ? ])id hc not see, the other night, lhc head of
4 Muhanlmati:' I belong to thc same tribc as tllosc whose swords slcw thy bra-
6 ther nlld el~nc,b]erltl~ccwith the throne. 'l'hcy rnisril Lhy rcpotation Ion{; abased,
g drew thee forth from the dcplh of t h y abjcclncss.' "

T o tllis Iljrahiln replied : ' L Commander of tlrc fai thftrl ! Gocl hall) given thee
iL increase of forlxalance and kaowlcdg(1; nonc of US spent 1)11tnut of the super-
&' l ( : W(: show
;l])undaace of thy knowledge, and it is in fnllowiny: thy c x : i ~ ~ ~ p(bat
forbearance.
97
- In the preceding vcrses, Diliil alludes to t h r : conduct or Tj}rir
Ibn al-IIusaiu, of the tribe of Khuzja, in h~sicgingBaghtlad nrrtl killing al-Amin
Muhalnmad, the son of ar-Rashid, by which Ire securctl the Itllnli6tt tn al-M$-
mhn. 'I'hc history of this event i s well known. It must 1)c rccollcctcd also
that Dibil himself belonged to thc trilbc of K h ~ l z i a . W hon thcsc vcrses canle to
al-Mhmin's knowledge, he exclaimcd : "May tlrc cllrsc of Gorl fall on Dibil! ho~v
impudent h e must be to say stlch a thing of mc, who was born in tllc bosom
l ( of the khalifat,, suckled at its hrcnst, and 1,roll~htu p in its crntllc I"---A close

friendship subsisted between Dibil a n d Rluslim Ibr~nl-Walid al-Ansii~ai(:l), under

whose instructions he had attained proficiency in tlre a r t of pootrsy; and it hap-
pcned that al-Fndl Ibn Sal11 (whose life me shall give), nomixlat.ed Muslim to n
place under government in a certain town in K h o r w i n o r in F;lr.s, called Jurjin :
Dibil went then to visit him, trusting to their ~ n u t u a lfric:ndslrip for a good re-
ception ; but as Muslim took no riolice of him, h c left him and composed these

You were false in your friendship and it fell to ruin ; you exposed thc ties of our
mutual attachment till they were brokcn asunder. Yct I had lodgcd bctwcen my bosom
and my heart a lreasure of affection which long rcmair~cduntouched. Spare me your
reproaches ; I expect nought of you ! your honour is lost and can never be retrieved (h).
Consider yourself as a gangrened right hand, which 1 havc cut off; I bcar its loss with
firmness and my heart has taken courage.

He is the author of the following amatory picce (g/t.nzal):

 BIOGRhPLlICAL DICTIONARY. SO!1
I not, (fair) Salma! at a man who weeps i from louo), althougll grey hairs
M ~.vcl
cover his head (5). 0 my Friends ! how will you sleep when once my blood is shed ?
Blame none then for the wrongs I suffered ; it was my heart and my eyes which con- 300
spired against my life !
A porrrl of his composi tion i l l honour of al-hluttalib ibn Abd Allah 1bn 3laiik
nl-Khuzhi ( G ) , the emir of Egypt, contains ~lrispassage :
0 for the days I passed with al-Muttalib ! days on which I pray heaven to shower
its blessings ! They were to me as a meadow and a paradise. A11 other favoiirs but
yours were ungrateful to me ; of all who existed, you alone were my delight. YOU
bettered me, or rather spoiled me, by your kindness; for you caused me to detest the
kindness of others.
One of his sayings was : " If a man tell a lie, lie incurs public abhorrence ;
but it is the adrantage of poetry, that the more the poet lies, the more he is
praised : tlrat is even not suficient; the auditors swear: By Allah! you have
done well!' so that each false witness borne in his favour is accompanied
with a solemn oath." He related also the following anecdote : Sahl It,n ' I

'' IIarrZn (7), the eloquent kktitd, was excessively avaricious; we were one day
'' with him at his house, and we kept up the conversation so long, that hunger
' L forced Irim to call for his dinner. A dish was brought up, containing an old
61 dry cock, which no knife could carve and on mbicll the teeth could make no
" impression. He took a piece of bread, and dipped it in the gravy, and turned
I' over all the contcrlts of the dish, but the cock's head was absent. EIe re-
" flected sotue time; then, looking up, he said to the cook: 'I'l'hcrc is the
'' head :"-' I ~ h r e wit away ,'replied the other.-'Why so?'- 'Because I thought
'' that you would not eat it.'-'Thou didst think wrong, thou scoundrel!' said
" Sahl, ' By Allah ! I hate the man who n7ould throw away the claws ; judge
" then how I must feel towards him who throweth away the head. The head
" is the chief part of the body ; in it are four of the senses ; by means of i t the
'' animal croweth, and were it not for his crowing he would have no merit.
T h e head beareth the comb on which the cock prideth himself; it contaiurth
" the two eyes which have given rise to the proverb: TYine bright as the e j r
" of die cock. Moreover the brain is a marvellous specific for pain in the
'' kidnies, and never was a softer bone seen than that of the head; didst
'' thou rrot know that it is better than the pinion of the wings, better than
the l%, better than the neck! If it be the result of thy sapient judgment
 6s that ,hou not eaten it, $0 a ~ r dlool; f 0 1 ~ it.'--'nj' Allall!' (~sclairnedthe
6 b
c I lillorv ]lot i t is ; I dlrc\v i t away.'--' DUI 1 1<110\v whrre i t is,'
6 6 said Snhl ; ttrou ]last tllro\r.~ri~ do\\.n t h y illroal ; I)III Gocl sll:tll call thee to
61 an account for it!"'-l)illil W ; ~ S co~rsintct 1)1(' ctcsl(bt)rntctl1 ) ~ AI&
~ t J%far
\lo~laillmadlbn A l,d A ]]n]r Illn Razin ;~l-libr~z:li,surnnrnrd A 'sh-Shis (S),
was one of those \\-h cclt*bi.a(cd the pr'aiscs of 31--Rasllitl arid composed
on [)is cleai]l; he mad(. also poerns in honour of nl-Amill, that khalif's
son and successorb, Dibil was born A . II. 1 4 5 (A. D. 7 6 5 ) ; hc (lied A. H.
246 ( A . D. 0 ) a t Tib, ;l town situated hetwn.11 VI'isit i n lyak and the
IH*ovinccs of al-A JIIV\.~Z.-llis grir~~dfa t h c ~nazi r l was ;l irtnadiz hclonging to
()Laid Allall 8) Ibn Khnlaf sl-Khunli, the father of Talhat ;~l-Tallrit(10). Obaid
Alla], \yns a kcifil, in thc service of the khalif Orrlnr* ant1 clricf of' t 1 Government
~
oflice (I I)at Kdfa. Talha mras governor of Si,jistirr and dicbd i n that province.
Tilt: dcath of Uibil was p~-ccededby that of Abb 'I'arnmhtrl (Tfubr"7)), whose life
has been givcn (page 34.8); h i s friend, the poet al-Bofr lorti, I;~rnc*n tcrl his loss in
an elegy whiclr contains the fOllo\vinp, p;ISSaGc :

The abode of dealh, the dwelling OF IIabib and of Dibil, has incse;lsed my sadness
and inflamed m y grief. 1)earest brothers ! may the L~cavcnsrlcver withlhold from your
tombs thcir genial rains; may thcy overshadow you with a dark cloud, shedding grate-
ful showcrs. Lone was the jotirncy of him who announcetl tu me your death ; a tomb
is i n distant Ahwiiz, and moilltleririe bones repose a t Mosul.

I Dibil means n tall camel. IIe used to relate that orlcl day as ire was passing
along, he saw a man in a fit oC epilepsy; on which lle went up a n d shouted in
his ear, as loud as he could, the word DibiZ, and that the man rose up and
walked away as if nothing hacl happened (1 2).

(1, 111 the au tograpti MS. this narrle 1s \\ritlcii Nah~~us.

2 1 Amr Muzclikiyil was the ancestor of the t r ~ b col'Nhuzila.-(Dc Sacy's Mdmoire sur 1'ZZP'sloaze des Arabes
avant Multnmmud, page 188; Rasmussco's rfist. AT. anteisIom. 1). 421.)
(3) See notc (3), pngc 25.
!4) Literally: You are torn to pieces, and I see no means of mending you.
( 5 ) Literally: Whilst greyness smiles (or i s bright) on his head.--Tt~c Arabic poets associate with smiles
the idea of briglltnrsa, because (lie brightness of ttle teeth appears III sniiling.
(6) Al-Muttalib was nppointrd governor of Egypt by al-Mnmbn, A. H. 398 (A. D. 813-4); he was deposed
seven months afterwards, bul was reinstated in his office the same yrar. Nineteen rnonlhs later he was
 BIOG HAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
511
driven out of Egypt by as-Sari l h ~ al-Hakam. The country was then in a very [insettled state, in
quehce of the civil a a r between al-Marnhn and his brother al-Amin.--(N*bm,)
(7) ~ a h Il b n Hat'b11 was horl, in Daslamisin dh&.,.,~, an extensive prorince lying between W i r l t ,
a l - ~ h w h ~and
, Basra. He entered i n t o the service of al-MAmfin and served him with fidelity as lihrariarl
\ i A S . By his wisdom and prudence, his talent for poetry, and his l i u n r y information,
be acquired greal celebrity. He cornposed a number of works on different subjects, the titles o f are
given in the Fe'lirest and the Oillli?~ul-?'uwdrilr!~: one of them was an imitation of XallZa and Bimna,alld
another a treatise i n praise of avarice, his ruling passion. He was of a Persian family and shoned a strc,np
prejudice against Arabs. Died A. H . 245 (A. D. 859-60). He was equally remarkable for the ele:ancr
his style and the mcrit of his poetry.- (.Wardsid; Fihrert; Oo'yln at-Tazcdrikh, tom. VJII.)
(8) The printed text has ill-Shls, not Abil 'sh-Shis. The lattcr is the true reading. This poet died A. H .
l%.-(IIIiraal m -ZamQn.)
(9) Obaid Allah; not Ahd Allah, as in the printed text.
(10) See in the life of Abd Allah Ibri TLbir.
(ii) See note (17, page 272.
(12) This is not very ir~telligible;it means, perhaps, that Dibil's satirical character rendered him an object
of general apprehension, and that the terror inspired by his name was sufficient to expet the evil spirit with
;vhich the epileptic man was possessed-

ABU BAKR AS-SHIBLI.

Abii Bakr Dolaf ILn Jahdar (or Jaafar) Ibn Ylinus, (his name is thus irlscrib&
on his tomb,) sui~r~amed as-Shihli, a celebrated saint, was born and brought
up at Baghdad, but his ljmily llelungrd to Khorasin. This highly-respected
sci$ followed the doctrines of the sect of Milik and had for masters (in the $pi-
rliunl 7zfe) al-.Bunaid and the othvr holy men of that epoch. Ih renounced the
wor~ldat one of' Khair an-Nassij's ( I ) assemblies, and then proceeded to Dunbi-
wend (Dertzaverzrl), of which he was governor a t the time, and asked of the
inhabitants immunity for his past conduct; (he then gave in his dismission.)
The mortifications wlrich hr practised at the outset (of his religious careerj
surpassed all hounds : he used to apply a certain quantity of salt to his eyes in
place of kohl or mztimony (2j, so as to accustom himself to waking and to aid
in keeping away sleep. He held the pure and h o b latr)( [ h e Korun) in extreme
reverence, and at the beginning of the blessed month of Rarnadhn he renewed
his devotional pactices with increased fervour. This," he would say, is a
month m y Lord hath honoured; how much more therefore should 1
honour it 1'. Towardsthe close of his lib, he frequently recited this verse :
 5 12 IBN I(EIALL1IiAN'S
There arc many stations in life, in which, hat! I filled thcm, my death would haw
been conriderod by the (sdfi) brethren (not as u rctonrd but) as a punishmer~t(3).

He nTellt ill one day to a]-dunaid and, standing bcfon: him, clnppcd his hands
(wirh grkf) and spoke thcse verscBs:
The objects of my love accostomed me to union will1 tlrcm, and union is sweet; but
they llavo since rcpclled my advnrlccs, and a rcpulsc is painful. When they resolved
( t o rdert me), they pretended that m y crime was my cxtrcnlc love for them; but that is
not a crin~e. No ! as true as the submission (of the lover) when he meets his nlistress 1
No ! the beloved can only repay (the lover's passion) by loving [him).

To this al-Junaid replied :

I longed to sec thec, (0my beloved l) but when I saw thec, sudden joy overcame me,
and I could not refrain from tears.

Thc KILnli'b relates in his History that Abil 'I-11;isan at-Tamimi said : c c 1
lL weilt one day into the house of AbA nakr as-Slril~liand fol~rldhiin i n a state
of excitation, reciting these vrrscs :
IIe who was accustomed to bc r~carthcc, cantlot support lhy abscncc. The slave
of love cannot sustain thy estrangement. llis lieart sees thcc, though his cyc does
' not.' "
In the life of the preacher Abd Saad lsmail ibn Ali, t h(: kl~ntil,spraks as
follows: "Abh Saad rcpcated to mc thc following lincs which, hy his account,
he had heard from Tihir al-Kharlrami, who mentioned that they had been
'c recited to him by thcir author, as-Shibli :
Youth abandoned me ; my beloved also departed ; ancl a double flow of tears
L

' gushed from my eyes. Fortune was unjust towards thec, (zcnjbrtunatc lover) ! two
' (frirnds)bade thee farewell, but thou hadst only one heart (to supporl the pains).' "

963 As-Shihli himself relates that, onc Fritlay, he per.cchivcd a rnan oul of his
ser~sesstanding naked in the mosquc of nr-Rus9ra (4.) and crying O I I ~ : " I am
'' rnad thr-o~ighlove of God !" On which he said to hinr : " Why dost thou
'' not go into the mosque and keep out of sight and say thy prayers?" To which
the rnadman answered :
They say to me : ' Visit us and pay us the homage to which we arc entitled.' But
" m y prescnt state dispenses me horn all such obligations. Those who sce the stala
"in which I am, and feel for it neither desire (S) nor dislike ;- to love such persons
" I should consent even to hate myself."
 BlOGRAPBICAL DICTIONARY. 51 :1

AS-Sllibli died at Bagl~dadon Friday, the 27th of Zii 'l-tliija, A . H. 3:r!+ (Jlllu,
A . D. OAD), aged eighty-seven years, and was interred in the cemetery of a\-
Kaizuldn : some say, holvever, that his death took place in the yrbar 335,
the former is the correct date. It is stated also, that he was born a t Sarra-man-
-
~ i a . Shihli means belonging to Shibla, a village in the dependencies of
Osrishna, a large town beyond Samarkand, in Transosiana.-Dunl)a'tr,enct' is
situated in the canton of Rai in Persia11Ilali : some call it Dernavetd, but
the first orthography is inore correct.

(1) The celebrated ascetic and great snfi doctor, Abh 'l-Hasan Muhammad Ibn Ismall, more generally
known by the name of B h a i r arc-Nassiij, was a native of Samarrh and an inhabitant of Baghdad. He had
for masters in the spiritual life Sari 'S-Sahati and the famous Abh Hamza Muhammad Ibn Ibrahtm. nlany
i~necdotcsa r r related of his miraculous gifts. He died A. B. B W A . D. 9341, aged upwards of one hundred
years.-(Ad-Dah~hi; Tdrikh al-lsldm, 31s. No.646.) -liltnir an-Nassdj, as ad-Dahabi pronounces it, means
K h a i r , or Good, the wenuer. This historia~lrelates that he came by his name in the follo\ving manner. On
his return from a pilgrimage to hlelika, he passed through Klifa, where, as his complenion was very dark, a
man stopped him and said: "Thou art my negro slave AG and thy name is Hhair." He remained in capti-
vity for some years and norkcd as a silk weaver, ahence his name. His master at length relented and gate
him his libcrty, saying: "Thou a a s t not my slave." But Jimt, in his Lives of t l t e S i r f i s ( M S . fonds dnque-
til, No. I t s ) , givcs a direrent account of the origin of this appellation: according to him, our doctor was
named K h a i r Nussdj (excellent among weavers), because he had been obliged to take to weaving in order
to gain his li~elihood,and his first essays projed him to be already-by a miraculous interference of Provi-
dence- an able \\orbman at the trade.
(2) See Lane's Modern E g y p t i a n s , vol. I . , p. 41.
(3) Death is considered by the S~Ifisas the greatest blessing which can happen to him who loves God, or,
as they express themselves, to the lover; his soul is then delhered from the prison of the body, and obtains
at length its long-sought union &: with the beloved. Had as-Shihli therefore filled an eminent place
in the world, his love for the Creator would have been less fervent, and his recompense in after-life
0~
L
less ample.-Such appears to me to be the meaning of this very obscure verse. 1 must observe also, for the
intelligence of the lines which follow, that the sups admit two modes of union with the beloved; the one
temporary, and the other eternal. The temporary union takes place during the ecstatic 6ts 31s
which the
lover experiences, from time to time, in the practice of his devotional exercises; but these are mere transient
favours, which the beloved sometimes grants and often withholds, whilst the union effected by death remains
unbroken a n d eternal.
(4) Ar-RusAfa was the name of a quarter in the city of Baghdad.
(5) T h e ~ x p r e ~ s i o n seems equivalent to JQ
bk-l $1" ~ (J who tierart

not their own state through the desire o f being ilz mine.
 ABU 'L-MUTA ZU 'L-KARNAIN IBN HAR'IDAN.

Abfi 'l-Mut$ Z& 'l-Karnain at-Taghlibi (belonging ro the tribe of' TagJ~&bj
was son to ~ b '1-Muzaffar
h l-farndfn, the son of Nisir ad-Dawlat Abh Muham-
mad &Hasan Ibn Abd Allah Ibn HamdAn. He bore the s u r n a m e of Wajih ad-
Dawlat (llonournblr in rfze empire). We have already given the genealogy of
,he family in the life of his grandfather N&ir ad-Dawlal (page 4,0!t), and shall
not therefore repeat it here. AS a poet, Abfi 'l-Mut% was distinguished by the
glee, and elegant t u r n of his ideas. The f ~ l l o w i nverses
~ are of
his corn positlion :
When I see the letters I and U entwined in a close embrace, thc word l a y excites
rrlyenvy. To embrace so closely, they must have felt, methiuks, the pains of love (1).

Another of his pieces r u n s thus :

1 am ready to sacrifice my life for her w horn I visited (in private) ; I was then armed
with my sword (to protect me against jealotcs keepers), and her glances were sharper
than its edge. I embraced her, and when my neck was encircled with her ringlets,
then only did I (dare to disarm and) free it from the sword-belt. In that moment, the
happiest of us two in the enjoyment of our wishes, was the one who had suffered the
greatest affliction from the cruelty of the other.

Ath-Th%labi, in h i s Yatirna, attributes to him tllr piece whicli we have given

in the life of Ibn Tabttabi (page 114.), and which begins thus :

She said to the fleeting image which visited me, etc.

But in his notice on Abh 'l-Muti, he states that these verses were composed
by lbn TabHtakA; God knows best. -AbQ 'l-Mud is the a u t h o r of the fol-
lowing lines :
When we met together, and the hour of midnight cast over us a veil of obscurity
which shed pleasure when unfolded, none ever passed a chaster night than we; no
witnesses were there, except our eyes and our honour. No vile delator betrayed us to
our foes ; no traitor ran with active foot to denounce us.

By the same :
When my mistress saw me as thin as a toothpick, she said : This meeting is but a
" dream, and thou art merely a fleeting image." - Not so," I replied ; it is thy
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. S15
a absence which altered my health so that thou canst not distinguish the reality of
my appearance from a false illusion. "

The celebrated poet Abd al-Aziz Ibn Nubita composed a great number of
pieces in honour of (Humdd~z)Abh 'l-Muti's father. Abd 'l-hluti died in the
month of Safw, A. H. 428 (December, A. D. 1036). He visited Egypt, ac-
cording to al-Mosabbihi in his History, during the reign of az-ZQhir a\-Ohaidi,
the son of al HAkil~i, and was appoi111ed by him to the government of Alexan-
dria a i d its dependencies, in the month of Rajab, 414; he remained there a
year, and then returned to Damascus.

)I( I have read many couplets on this subject, and must acknowledge that Abb 'l-Mutl's is decidedly the
\vorst.

RABIA AL-ADA'CVIA.

U m m al-Khair (1 ) Ribia, the daughter of Ismail, a woman celebrated for her

holy life, and a native of Basra, belonged to the tribe of Adi (Adatvia),and
was allied by enfranchisement to the family of Atik. She was one of the most
eminent among the holy persons of the time, and the anecdotes related of her
sanctity and piety are generally known. A t & 'l-Iiisim al-Kushairi says, in
his treatise (012 SufiSnz) (2): '(She used to say, vhen holding converse with God :
" ' Consume with fire, 0 God, a (presumptuous) heart which loveth thee !'

" and on one of these occasions, a voice spoke to her and said : ' That we sball

not do ! tbirlk not of us an ill thought.'-Sofyin ath-'rhauri exclaimed one

' c day in her presence: ' 0, what anguish is mine!' on which she said: 'Speak

not a lie, but rather say : 0, how little anguish is mine! If thou mert really
c in affliction, thou couldst not sigh .'-One of the sG6 brethren relates as fol-
lows : d In my prayers I used to invoke Ribia al-Adawia, and she appmred to
'' me in a vision and spake : ' Thy offerings were presented to us on trays of
light and covered with napkins of light.'--She often said: 'If my (good)works
L L appear ( to the world), I count them as nought.' And one of her counsels
 51G IBN R E ~ ~ \ I ~ I ~ I I < A N ' S
~ t thy sins.' "--Tile
was: 6 Hide thy goorl deeds as closely as thou ~ o l l l d ]tide
~hoiJi/i ShihQbad-din as-Sllhnn-nrdi qi~otes111cfollo\\.illg vobses of hers in lire
Atrl(lr(ft nG;llncit+F:
I reserve my hcnrt for lliy coilvrrse, (0Lord !) all(! lcavc my 1)odg to keep company
with those who desire nry society. h l y body is thus t\lc companion of lhc visitor, but
my dearly belove(] is tbe compnlliolr O S my heart.

She died A. 11. 135 (A. D. 752-3), accolrding to Ibrl al-Ja\vri in the
SnclLIir n/-Oklid, brit in A . 11. 185 ( A . L). 80 l), acculdirhg to anotllcr autlro-
ritY. Her ton~l,, ~vlrichis s i t u n k d on tlrc mount of' ToI', 011 llh~eastcr~lside
264 of' Jerusalem, is :In ol),jerl of pilgt'in~agc. 1l)n :~l-.~awai has a n article on Ribis
i n his Sq/rJ;r~nlna-Sqfiwt, and he tllcre givcs ill(: followirlg :~nccdotrsrespecting
] l tlre autheot,icity of which is certified by a lisl p~-clin(*(l
~ ~ b , to them, in which
(le ern~rneratestllc names of the pcrsons throug11 jvllorn illc:y passed down suc-
cessively from Al)da the dangllter of Abi Sllnwm:~l to irimself. IIc says :
(Abda), one of God's cacellcnt l~alldn~sids arid tllc scrlv;lnl of liabia relates
as follows : ' Ribia ased to pass the \vhole 11ij;llt in I)I';IYC~*, and at nlornitlg
dawn she took a slight slcrp in llrr 01-i~torytill clnylight ; ard 1 Ilave heard
her say, whcn she sprang in dt-cad from her coucll : O I I s ~o u l ! hotv long
wilt thou slrep ? Whm mi/t t l l o u n~r7aBe? S o o ~thou .r/laZt .sleep to rise
170 Inore, 11'11 rhe caZZ shnll sttnzlnnn dree 0 1 2 fire d ( y o f la.~~crrection !'-
'L This was her constant custom till t l x time of hcr death. On its approach
she called me and said : 0 Abckz ! irlfor~12r7011e (f' 711yd e ~ t l zarzd s/~roud

m e in this'gowrr. This was a gown of hair-cloth which she wore when

" praying, at the lime in which the eyes of o r l ~ c r swerc closed in sleep.
I shrouded her in lhat gown, and in a woollcrl 17cil which she used to
wear ; and about a year afterwards, I saw l ~ e rin a t3ream clothed, in a
" gown of green satin and n veil of grccn silk, the likc of which for beauty I
'( never Beheld. And I said : '0 Ribin ! what has bcco~neof the gown in
'( which I shrouded thee, and of t.he woollen veil?' To which she answered :
'By Allah ! i t was taken off me and I received in cxcl~angewhat thou seest
" on me; my shroud was folded up, a seal was put upon i t , and it was
" taken up to the highest heaven, that by it my reward might bc complete on

" the day of .resurrection.'-'It was for this,' I observed, that thou didst
" work when in the world.'-' And what is this,' she rejoined, ' compared with
 BIOGRAPIIICAL DICTIONARY. 517
~vllatI saw of Almighty God's bounty to 11is saints!' I the11 asked her i n
what statc was Obaida (3), the daughter of AbQ Kallib, and she replied : L

( ( cannot be described! by Allah! she has surpassed us, and reached ihe highrs[
place in paradise.' - ' And how so ?' said 1, ' when the pcoplc considered
thee far, far above her.' T o which she answered: ' Because, when in tllr
world, she cared not what her state might he on the next morning or tllp
next night.' - ' And what doeth Abt Milib Daighim ?' ' Ife visiteth AI- -
" mighty God when he p1easeth.'-;And Bishr Ibn Mansilr (4)?'-‘ Admira-
ble ! admirable! he bat11 received a recompense far beyond his hopes.' I then
a said to her : ' Tell me a means I,? wllich I may approach nearer to Almightv

6iGod.' And she answered : L Think on him often, and hy that thou wilt, after
( 6 a littlt: while, be happy in thy tomb.' "

( l ) Onlni al-h'huit means the mother of h'hair or of good.

(2) Sec note (2), page 428.
(3) Obaida, the daughter of Kallib, a celebrated saint, wept for her sins during forty years, and then lost
her sight.- (Siar OS-SdlilrdtMS. KO.865, f. 88.1
(4) AbO Rlullammad Bishr Ibn MansOr as-Sulami (belonging t o the tribe of Sulaim) was celebrated for
his intense application to the practice of devotion. As a Traditionist he is considered a sure authority, and
is cited as such by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal. He died A . H . 209 (A. D. 824-5) -(iMirdt az-Zamdn, No. 650,
fol. 69.)

RABIA AR-RAl.

A bG Othmin Rabia Ibn Abi Abd Rahmin Farrlikh, a ntawla of the Munkadir
family which belongs to the tribe of Temim, and afterwards a nznwla of the
tribe of Koraish, was the great jurisconsult of Medina (in the second century
of islanzisni), and is generally known by the surname of Rabia ar-RAi (l).
In his youth he met a number of the Prophet's companions (and received
znslrucrio,~from them in Tradiiions and legal matters); and from him
Milik Ibn Ans drew some of his information. The following anecdote is
related of him by Bakr Ibn Abd Allah asSanini (a native of Sarzd): " Milik
Ibn Ans came to our (torvn) and began to teach to us Traditions learned bv
him from Rahia ar-Rii; for we were desirous of obtaining from him as
 lil8 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
nlany as possible, founded on so good an authority as that of' Rabia. One
a (lay, he said to us : Why (then) do YOU leave Rabia slccping in that
;ircade orer tllere:" W e itilmediately went 10 l<abin. and hnvitlg awakecl
him, said : c Art tllou Knl)ia?'-' Yes ;' was the reply. -- ' Art thou the
6 person on Tvhose M i l i l i Ibn Ans gives Traditions :"-' Yes.'--'Hoa
tlren does MHliL en,joy (prrblic) favour through t h y means, nltlrough thou
6 ; hast not acqlliredit for thyself l'--' Know ye not,' reldicd he, 'chat an ounce

of worldlv wit goes farther than a camcl-load of learning?' "-Rabia was a

omat talker, and ire used to say that hc who kreps sile~ltshould be classed
:7

between him who is asleep and him who is durnh. Whilst he was one day
at one of Iris public conferences (2), an Aral), fresh from the desert,
tbame in and stood for a long time before him, listcning to his words;
\silo ttlought that the stranger was i n admiration at what he llcarcl, said to him:
0 Arab! how do your people define eloqucncc ?" Thc otllcr answered : c : Bpe-
vity combined with precision ."-" And what is irrcorbl.ect.ion ( 3 )?"-c c That

which thou hast been c~~gaged in all day." This answer covrred Rabia
965 tvi tll confusion. 1Te died A. 11. 13G (11. D. 753-h), somc say 1:30, at al-IIishi-
miya, a city built in the province of al-Anbir 11v as-tinfill, wlro made it his
place of residence, but altermartls removcd to al-Anbir. I t was said by Mjlik
Ibn Ans, that the science of jurisprl~dencchad lost its smectness sincc the cleatl~
oTRabia ar-RAi.4 must oltserve .that it is impossible to conciliate the statement
matle by some, that he died 4.11. 130, with the fact of lris L)urial at al-Tlii~hirni~a,
the city founded hy ([/M k l l u l f ) as-Saffah; for. that prince, ss it is agr.ecd b y
all historians, did not obtain the khalifat till Friday, 13th of the latter Rabi,
A. H. 132 (2'3tll November, A. L). 7'4'3).

(1) Kabla ar-Rdi, or more regularly Rabiat crr-[iAi, means private juclgment Ralria. He was so called
because he drew many of his legal decisions from thc foilrlh source of Muhammadan law, and which is enti-
tled RBi (view, private judgment) or Kids ( ~ n a l o g y ) . (See note (2), page 6.) The sarne system was fol-
lowed laler by Abb Hanifa, whence the followers of his sect were called t h e pcrrtisans of private jthdgmenl
( A s h d b ar-Rdi~.
(2) Literally: At one of his sittings.
(3) The word i, here translated by incorrection, is employed to denote the contrary of eloquence; it
consists in verbosity and ideas inadequately cx~bressed.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTION.4RP.

AR-RABI IBN SULAIMAN AL-MURADI.

The n ~ u n z z i nAbil Muhammad ar-Rabi Ibn Sulaimin Ibn Alld a\-Jallbir. Ibn
~ i r n i l a, native of Basra, and allied by enfranchisement to the tribe of XIurilI
( ~ u r a d i was
) , a disciple of as-Shifi, and through him, most of the works col,)-
~ o s e dby that inlHm were handed down by oral dictation (I). As-Shlfi said of
him : Ar-Rabi is the special traditionist of mv words and works (2)." He said
again, that none e ~ ~ served
er him (so duttfulb) as ar-Rabi (3);and he sometimrs
addressed him in these words : '' 0 Rabi ! could 1 feed thee with science, I shoukl
d o it." The following narration is attributed to ar-Rabi on good authoritv:
When as-Shifi was near his death, I went in and found with him al-Buwaiti,
; L al-Muzani and Ihn Ahd al-Hulim (4). He looked at us and then said :. A s
c

for thee, AbB YakQb! (meaning al-Buwaiti) thou shalt die in chains (5) ; thou,
Muzini ! shalt meet with various adventures in Egypt, and shalt make the tint.
be remembered in which thou wert the ablest reasoner of the age (6); thou, O
Muhammad ! (addressing himself to Ibn Abd al-Hukm) wilt pass over to the
sect of Milik ; and thou, 0 Rabi ! shalt be to me the most useful of all, in pm-
" pagating the knowledge of the works which I have composed. Arise A b i ~
Yaklib ! and take charge of my class.' " Ar-Rabi then relates that all which
as-Shifi foretold to them came to pass, and that he might be said to have
looked, a t that moment, through a transparent veil into futurity. In the His-
tory of Baghdad by the klzatib, (11ze sums anecdote) is thus related, in the life of
al-Bhwaiti : Ar-Rabi Ibn Sulaimh said: W e were sitting in the presence of
" as-Shifi, I, al-Bfiwaiti and al-Muzani, when he looked at al-Bdaaiti and spoke

these words : 'Observe this person ; he will die in chains.' He then cast his
eyes on al-Muzani and said : ' Look at this man ; the time will be wherein he
& L shall never explain a difficulty and be mistaken.' Turning thm to me, he
spoke thus: 'By Allah! there is not one of the fraternity more useful to me
'(than he. I should like to fill him to the utmost with knowledge.' " This
Rabi was the last of those auditors of as-Shifi who handed down, in Egypt, the
savings of their master. I found in the handwriting of the hay3 Abd al-Azim
al-Mundi ri, the following verses, which he gives as ar-Rabi's :
 520 IBN I(WAL1,IKAN'S
( L e t thy) palicnce be exemplary (i~ntlcr?~?is/i)rl~~nc),
and how quick shnll be thy dcli-
ver:lnce l HC shall 1,e saved who, in a l l his :~ctions,s~r.v(:lh God with ;I sinccro heart.
IFe who feareth Cod shall not be afflicted, ant1 hr who hopcth i n (iotl shnll go to that
place (Iwc~ven)For w h ~ c hhe hoped.

Ar-Rabi dial in E,;ypt on hlor~dny,lhe 1 !)(h of' SllawN'jl, A . 11. 270 (April,
A. D, $84, and was inter~*pdin tlrc Karnfa, near I ~ nortfi C s i d ~ hard
, hy ( [ h r
r l ~ o s*f)
~ ~ a]-Fokk:li
~ p (7). His tomb is s ~ ~ r r o u n d e1 ( l) n~ railing, and ;I[ the head
of the grave is a marble slnl,, hearing his name and the date of his death.
- ~ ~ ~ ~meansd ( &belongir~gro flfi~rrill,a great tribe in Yemen from whielr
many persons have spnlng.

(1) This i s an additional proof of a circumstance already known, t h a t in the first ages of Islamism, many
authors never put thcir works in w+ritins,but taught them to thcir s c l ~ o l ; ~vivd ~ . s vocc.
(2) Litcnlly: Ar-Rabt i s my r d w i (or Traditionisli.
(3) T h e disciples of lcarrled mcrl frequently fillet1 the tlulies of scl-varlls 1.0 1.hern.
(4)T h e lives of thesc doctors are givcn hy Ibn Jil~nllilii+ta.
(5) Literally: In thy iron; that is, in the irons whic11 shall bin11tl~cc.
(6) O r ; the most skilful in making analogical detluctions.
(7)The mosque of al-folikli, a large edifice built b y l i i f h r , b w r s t l ~ en a m e of A b b 'l-llasan Ali 11)" 81-
Hasan al-Fokkli (over whose tomb it was probably erecled). His fatltcr nl-JTasan was n brewer (Fokkda).-
I AI-Jlakrizi,)

AR-RABI AL-JIZI.

Abii Muhammad ar-Rnbi 1l)n Sulaimin Ibn 14imhd Ibn al-Aaraj al-.Jizi, a
native of Egypt and a member, hy cnfranchiscn~ent,of thc tribe of Azd, was
Y G of as-Shif'i's disciples, but Ilandcd down very litllc of his master's doc-
~ one
trines: numerous Traditions are givcn by him, however, on the authority of
Ibn Abd al-Hukm. His veracity ss a Traditionist is univcrsally admitted, and
he is quoted Il>y AbbDMaw&d ( t / nulhor
~ of the Sunan) ancl by an-Nassi. "He
died in the month of Zii 'l-llijja, A. D. 256 (Novcmher, A. D. 870), at Jiza,
where his tomb is still to be scen." Such are the words of al-Kudhi in his
Khitat.--Jhr' means belonging to Jizn; this is a village opposite to Cairo,
from which it is separated by the Nile. In the canton of Jiza, and near to the
village, are situated those stupendous erections, the pyramids.
 BIOGL\APliICAL DICTIONARY.

'l-gadl a r - h b i was the son of Ydnus Ibn Muhammad Ihn Alxl Allah
Ibn Abi Far\\.? al-l-lafir.-This last, ~vlrosereal name was Kaisin, kind ilrell
slave (~?lnirglnjto al-Hirith, by whom he was sold to (the Phnlf) Othmill
Ibn Affin.-Ar-Rabi served (the khrrlf) AbA Jaafar al-hqanshr in tlle cnpa-
city of a hrfib (0, and later, in that of a vizir, on ihc deposition of Alrd
Aiybb al-Rli-ri4ni (whose life we shall give). AI-Mansfir placed great confidence
in him and treated him vitll signal favour; he said to him one day: " Ask me,
Rabi ! whatevcr you please;" and ar-fial~i answered: ''1 should wish you to
feel fibiendsllip for my son al-Fadl."-6' Alas!" replied al-hlansfir, know
you not that friendship nmst have m~tives?"-~~Rutit depends on yourself,"
said al.-Rabi, " to have motives for loving him."--LL And how- so?" asked the
khalif.--[ T ~ - c ahimt with kindness," replied the other, and he will love vou ;
' I and when hc loves you, you will love him."-(' By Allall!" esclaimed tlw
prince, 4 6 1 shall love him even before 1 have motives for dainz so; but tell me
11-hy you asked for him my friendship rather than any thing rise?"-“For
'L tllis reason ;" replied ar-Rabi, " when you bear him friendship, the slightest

services he renders you will appear great in your eyes, and his greatest delin-
I' quertcies will he looked on by v011 as slight errors : his faults will be (consi-
" &re$ by yorr) as ihe faults of a child, and your protection will be for him ;IS
tltEjzaked ilztercessor." I n this last expression, he alluded to the words of
the poet al-Farazda k :

The intercessor who goeth to thee clothed is not like the one who goetb to thee
naked.

This verse belongs to a poem composed on Abd Allah Ibn az-Zubair Ibn
al-Awri4m, at the period in which he aspired to the lihalifat and gained pos-
session of Bijlz and Irak ; this was in the reign of Abd al-3falik 1bn Marwan thta
Omaiyide. Al-Farazdak had then quarrelled with his wife an-Nawir (2), and
they both set out from Basra and ~roceededto Mekka, in order that Ahd Allah
Ibn az-Zubair might decide between them. AI-Farazdak, on arriving, went tu
slop 16th Hamza, the son of Ahd Allah Ibn az-Zubair, and an-Nawir with lbll
6;4
 IRN IIIE[."rLIK.SN'S

az-Zu]lair's wife. The two hosts usv(1 their influcll(x1 in fa, our or th(!ilb gupsrs,
but Ibn ilz-xuhair ( d . i ( ~ / /o ~ y ~( J libr r j j ! f i u12rL)rlc(bi0cd it) filvour of an-
~ /lhol
N;lwir agaiiist a\-l:arazdak. Tllc poet then n~ndethr rcrsvs of \\hiclr have
spolieIl, alld his words, [he ,rnB(>rlL/!~I+cPs.so)~, I~t~calnc
p~>ovcrbial to dcllotc
pcrsoIl \\rhose i I l ~ a c e ~ s i canllot
o ~ ~ [)c ~\.itI~~tood.-Al-nI:ln~irr said one day to al.-
Rabi : " Hokv sweet wotlld Ije tl~ewolhld,0 I\abi ! werc it rlcit. for dea1lr."-" say
rather," ar.Rabi, g ' that 1.111: world had not been sweet wrrc it not fol.
( 4 death."-"And Ilow so?"--"1Zccause \\rercki t not for dcatli, you would never
a llave beerl siltins oe tha t throne. - " YOUarc right ;" replied tlre kllalif,-
7 f

On tile approach of death, a\-M:~nsursaid to lrim : " 0 R i ~ l l !i we lla\?e ~ 3 ~ 1 - i f i ~ p d

the ]ifc to comc for a mvrc dream !"--The following anecdotc is rclatcd by ar-
Rahi : \VC werc one day standiug behind al-Miuisil ( ~ v l ~rvrrs o senterl in his
hnfl 4 rrt~die,tce),and a cushion had I~ecnplaced on tlie floor fool. al-ITahdi,
c c who bad been nomirlated succcsso~* to rhe Iillaliht; . at thnl moment entered
Silih, another of ul-3lans~~r's sons, \v110 llatl becrh crldcavouring to o l ~ a i nfrom
'his father the cot~cessionof some post of antllorily Tor Ilirnscll'. IIc advanced
( lbetween the double rank of cour*ticr~s \\~llicl\extcndcd from the throrxc to the
entrance of the hall (S), and in whicll h c y all held placbcs corrvspondir~gto the
L L ~xoblenessof their descent and (h(: c m i ~ ~ c n c ofc ~ h cl~oststllcv lillcd : hc then
stopped and addressed the lcllali f in elegant, terms. Whrrl ire had finished,
a al-Mansfir held forth his band and said : ' Conlc to in(>, my dear son !' IIe
then took him to his arms, and lookctl towards thc prir~cipnlpersons present,
expecting to hear. one of them celebrate the praises o r llis sori and the high
favour which his parent had shown him, but this none of thcm dare to do
thr~oughdread of al-Mahdi. Thcn Sllal~baIlm Ikil at,-'ramimi rose up and
" said : ' Admirablc is the flow of words which proceedctl from the orator who

867 stood before thee, 0 Commander of tllc failhrul! How eloquent a tongue !
V7hat line expression ! What sharpness of intclligencc! What copiousness of
L language ! and what an elegant turn of ~llought! But could it bc otllerwise
ill one whose father is the Comma~~dcr of the faitl~ful,arid who has al-Mahdi
fbr brotller? IVe must say of him in 111c words of the poet :
' Thal noble courser may, by exertions, come up with his t w o competitors, for a steed
' like him can keep pace with the best. Those two may outrun him i F he abates his
' speed; but the excellent (sdlih) horse such as they outrun, is able to distance all
' other rivals.'
 T h e company were filled with admiration at the address dispbred bv ttllh
speakcl in making si~nultnncously[he eulogil~mof the t\vo brotlrers, and hr
this msans not only satisfy in: the dcsires of al-Mansdr, but avoiding to otfmd
L 91-Mahdi. Then," said ar-Rabi, " the khalif told me not to suffer at-Tarnimi
Lc to withdraw till he receivecl n gift of thirty thousand dirhems, anti this ol.der-

I obeyed." It is said that none Itnew who ar-Rabi's father was, and that o,),.
dnv, a membrr of the Ifishimite (imperid) fmil y entered into t l ~ eI)resellr~
of nl-Mansfir and said repeatedlv, ahilst conversing with him : "Rlv father, ?rtyl.
God be nzercz$ll l o ltirn! did so and so." On which ar-Rabi said to him:
HOWoften nlil t thou irrlplore God's mercy on rhv father :' Consider that thou
art in the presence of the Commander of the faithful (&)." To this t t ~ eotlrer
replied : '' I can excuse thee, 0 Rabi! for thou kno\vc'st not the value of ances-
tors." This retort covered him wirll confusion.--(The k h n l f ) At>&Jaafar 31-
Man& visited Merlina and said to ar-Rnbi on entering the city: "Find me sornt*
learned and intelligent person x h o can point out to me the (chitfa)lnansions
of the place; it is now so long: since I saw the dwellings of my family." A
nlost in telligeat and well- informed gont h was discovered by ar-Rabi and pre-
sented to [he khalif; (cliiring their ezczlrsion,) the guide did not make an\
observa lions unless askecl by al-Manshr to do so ; but he then proceeded, with
great precision and beauty of expression, to furnish every requisite information.
Al-hfansi~rwas so l~ighlypleased with him, that he ordered hinl a considerable
sum of money, but the payment was delayed so long, rhat the ~011thfound him-
self under the necessity of asking for it, (and illis he did in the follorving nzarr-
~ t e r : )A s they passed by the house which belonged to AStika, the daughter of
Abd Allah and grand-daughter of Ahii Sofyin, the young man said : "This, 0
I' Commander of the faithful! is thc house of that Aitika to whorn AI-Ah-
'' was Ibn Muhsmmad al-Ansari ( 5 ) alluded in these lines:

' 13nelling of Aiitika! mansiarl which I avoid through dread of Foes, although m:
' heart be fixed on thce! I turn an-ay and fly thee; but yet unconsciously 1 turn to-
' wards thee again. ' "

Those wdrds caused al-Manshr to reflect, and- he said to himself that thtx
youth must have here some reason for giving his information, without being
asked for it. He therefore turned orer the leaves of the poem from which the
 524 IRN KNAIALIR.4N'S
verses were taken, and examined it, passogo by pa~saci),till camr to tllc fol-
lowirig line :

We scc that you do what you promise, but there arc pcrsons, with decciU'ul tonguc,
who promise, hut never p c r h r m .

He in,mediatcly askccl ar-1lnl)i if llc had givm r l t c l yotltll \ ~ l m tlrad beer,

hirh, and 1x1s infornlcd by him, illat n p n r l i c ~ ~ cil>cuntstcince,
la~ \r.Ilich
Ile menliollnl, llarl callscd a delay in the payment. Tlla kllalif tlrcrl ordered
llinl to hini imnledia~cly the douhlc: 0 V hacl h e n pronlised.
Tfre yolllll /lad ccr~ainlgtakm a most delicate manner of hinting the ci~lcum-
stance, i~tldal-blar~slirsho\ved great penetration in percc1iving it .--The follo~y-
ing allerdoto is ~bel:~tediiy Fiilia, the daughtcl of All11 Allah and nlotller 01'
Abtl al-i\'lil\itl I1)n Jaafar Ibn Sulaim3n : L' Wc wcrc onc (lay with the ktlalif
c ( a l - w d i , who had just rcturrwd from nl-AnlGr, to mll~ichllc llatl made ;in

cxcursio~~ of plcnsrrrc, when ar-Rabi camc in, llolding a piccc: of lcathcr, on

whicl, somo words were written in clla~~coal and to \vhicll was at tach(d a seal
composed of clay inixrd wit11 asllcs and iiearing thc imf)ressionof ttlr khalif's
' 6 signet-ring . ' Commandrr of the fiiilhfi~l!' said ar-liatji, ' I never saw any
thing more extraordinary t l l n ~this ~ document; I ~*eceivcd it iron] an Arab of'
f i thc Descrl who -was cryins out : 7 'lli.c is [he Contm~rirlcrof ~ l t efuitlful's
~ t is cttll~tlnr-Robi, for it is to
letter! slletv nre tr1her.e to jitld the n ~ n cvllo
11hn thnt /M told nle to deliver it ! R1-Mahdi took the lctlcr aud lal~ghed;
he then said : It is true; this is my writing and this is my seal; shall I relntc
L t horn i t happcncd?'-To this 'cve rcplied : c If it please ~ l l cCommander of the
268 faithful (G).' And he spoke thus: ' I wcr~tout to hunt yesterday evening when
the sllower was over; the next morning a thick mist ovcrwflclmed us and 1
lost sight of my companions; I then suffered such cold, hunger, and thirst as
God only knows, and I lost my way besides. At that moment came to my
mind a form of prayer which my father (al-Mansur) had taught me, saying
that his father (Muhanznznd) llad learned i t from his grandfather (Ali),who
hat1 been taught it by (his,filther Abd Allnh) the son of Abhis. It was this:
' l Iie who sayetll morning and crening : I n the nunre of God ! and : by the
' L might of God ! W e !have 720 power or force but i12 God! I j y to Godfor
" protection ! I conjde 2'12 God! God su#ceth m e ! TVe have no power or
 fi)rce but Go$ the Iligh ! the Miglrty ! E h y,ateclellrJ slLficelh,[iilirect-
ill

et],, and /rpnle~h-j.or~z,lire arldfloolood; from i l ~ efull (fhouse ancl/ibonZevrl

cletrth! \ITllen I bad uilered these words, God raised up a light before me,
and I went towards it, and lo ! I found this very Arab of the Desert in Iris
" tent, with a fire which he had been just lighting up (7). ' Arab of tile Desert,'
lL said I, ' 113s~lhou wilhal to treat a guest?'-' Dismount,' said he. And
c 4 I clismountcd, and he said to his wife: 'Brieg here that barley.' And
she brought i t . Grind it,' said he ; and she began to grind it. I then said
" to him : L Give me a drink of water;' and he brought me a skin in which
4 ' was 3 little milk, lnixed with more water; and I drank thereof a drink
sue11 as I had never drunk before, i t was so sweet! and he gave me one OS
his saddle-clotlrs and I laid my head upon it, and never did I ,leep a sounder
( 6 o r a swcetcr sleep. On awaking, 1 saw hi111seize on a poor miserable sheep,
: 'Beware, wretched man ! thou llast
" and kill i t , \\.hctl his wife said to h i ~ n

& ' slain ~hyselfand thy children; your nourishment came frol*, this sheep and

" yet thou 113~tIcilled it! What then have we to live on?' On this I said:
" Do not mind! bring the sheell here;' and I opened it with the knife 1 vorr.

" in my hoot, and I took out the liver, and having split it open, I i,laced it up011

'' the fire, alld I eat thereof. I then said to him : c Dost ihou want any thing?
1 shall give thee a written order for it.' On this, he brought me \!\at piece
of Icather, and I wrote on it with a bit of burnt wood which I picked up a t
his feet, that very note ; 1 then set this seal on it, and told him to go and ask
for one ar-Rabi, to whom he was to give it.' This note contained an order
for five llundred thousand dirhims (S), and al-Mahdi exclaimed, on Icarning
" it : D y Allah ! l ineant only fifty thousand, but since five hundred thousand
'Lare written in it, I shall not diminish the sum one single dirhim; and were
6 ' there no more in the treasuq, he should hare it. So give him beasts of bur-
den and let him take it away.' In a very short time, that Arab had numr-
' 6 rous flocks of camels and sheep, and his mansion became a halting-place fur

those wlro were going on the pilgrimage, and it rcceivrd the name of ihr
Dwelling of host of al-l\lahdi, the Commander of the faitbfu1."-Ar-Rabi
died towards the beginning of the year 150 (July, A. 1). 786), but at-Tabari
places his death in the year 169. Some say that he was poisoned by he /te(rl
k/?*/f) al-H&di; but, according to another statement, he was ill for eight days
526 IBN ICIT ALLIICAN'S
and then expired.-His ancestor was called Ab1'1 Farwa bcvnllsc ha wore 1 fur-
red cloak ( j b r w a ) bI.ougllt to Medina, when: Ilr was 1)ul-cllasod i,y 0(11-
; having reeeilred ]il,erty f1~0111that khalif, IIO t11rnec1g r a v t ~ - d i ~ ; ~(h+
cr
, fie was one of c a p l i ~ ~taken
t i l { b s at Jsbal al-Kll;ilil ( / / J P ofs

/ , As for. ;ll-l.';~Jl, thr son of 31,-Rabi, wo shall eivc Iris life.-

The great and \vell-known quarler of' Bi~cbdad, the G,oir~OJ CC/"-XnCi,was so
called becausethe possession o f i t had bccn conc~dtldto :w-l\& by ( / h e Rho/$)
al-Manshr.

( 1 , The ftffji/, aras one of the principal officers at the courts of pri~lccs. 1 1 S~i l t ill the door of the great
ilall when his mastcr gavc audience, and he might admit or cxclude (Itcljab) whorn he [)leased. A turtsirl
(hijdb) was hung across the entrance of thc hall, and the Irdjib mercly raised the corlrcr of i t up, whcll Ile
chose to let an applicant enLer.
(.2) See t l ~ clife of al-Farazdak, inscrted by M. Caussin d c Perceval in thc Journr~lAsiutiquc for 1834.
(3) It was here necessary, for the sake of clearness, to pamphrasc LIIC text.
(4)Politeness and court-etiquette req~lircdthat no words should bc uttered 1)eforc tllc sovcrcign lvllich
might call to his mind the idea of dealh.
( 6 ) Abd Allall Ibn Dlullarnmad al-Ansiri, surnanlcd al-Ahwor cr-cyl, and not of-Alcl~ulal,as all the
MSS. of Ibn Khalliliin have it, was a desccrtda~lt,as his nallrc irldicatcs, of onc of tllc Ausbrs. Ilc cultivated
poetry, and such was the virulence of his satires, t l ~ a tOmar lbn Abd nl-Azlz batrislrcd him to the island
of Dahlak, in the Red Sea. On the death of Ornar, his successor Yazld l b r ~Al)d :I]-Malik rccallcd him, and
he died A. H. 179 ( A . I). 795-6).-Oiyitn at-Tawdrlkh.)-I perceive that i l l tlrc ;rulogr.hph MS. h i s name is
written correctly.
\6) Literally: The Commander o f t k o faithful is predominant in opiniun o,tr 1 / 1 0 subject.
(71 According to the old Arabic custom. T h e dwellers in he Desert lil lircs a1 night to guide travellers
to their hospitable tents.
(8) Ten thousand pounds sterling, a t the lowcst cstimatioa.
(9) According to AhD 'LFcdO, tlic river A b h Folros or AujA has ils sourcc in the rnouritaii~ of al-Klialii,
wf~iclimust therefore lie to the north of Jerusalem. The town of al-Khalil or tlcbron is situalcd to the south
of that city.

RAJA IBN IIAIAT.

AbG Mikdim Raji Ibn Haiat Ibu Jarwal al-Kindi (qf'lhe tribe rd' Kinda) was
one OF the learned (LAthe Znrv), and the intimale companion of Omar Ibn Abd
abAzir. "I was one night with Omar," said he, and the candle was just go-
 RIOGI\ GPHICAL DICTIONARY. 527
ing out, when 1 stood UP to trim it ; but the khalif insisted on my remaining
seated, arid lle lrimsclf row up to put it in order. On this I said: ilIon,
Commander of the faithful ! thou doest it thyself 2' I do it,' replied he,
'4 6 (not as the Co~~zmnnder of'the faithful but) as Omar; and as Omar I return
to my place.
3 l 7
Ne related also the following circumstance : (One dnj;)06:t .
d . when Omar was preaching from the pulpit, I estimated that his dress was not

worth more than twelve dirhims ( l ) ; and he had on a waistcoat, a turban, ;l

shirt, trowsers, a mantle, a pair of boots, and a scull-cap." Many anecdotes
are related respecting his intimacv with Otnar. He was once with Abd al-
Jfalik Ibn Marwill when a person was spoken ill of in that khalif's presence;
" By Allah!" said the prince, "if God deliver him up to me, I shall make him
feel the weight of mv anger (2) !" When he got the man into his power, he
was about to wrcali his vengeance on him, but Rajk Ibn Haiat rose up ancl
said to him: " Commander of the faithful ! God has done what was pleasing to
' L thee, so do ~holiwhat is pleasing to God and grant pardon." On hearing
these words, the khalif not only pardoned the prisoner, but treated him with
hvour. Ra,jC Ibn IIaiat died A . H. 112 (A. D. 730-1). The colour
of his hair was red and that of his beard white (3).

(1) About seven slliilir~gs.

(2) Literally: I shall do and act. See note (13), page 73.
(3) Raj3 Ibn Hait was one of the most eminent doctors of the law in the days of primitive Islamism. Re
taught Traditions on the authority of some of the principal Tdbis, and others, such as az-Zuhri and Katilda,
gave some Traditions on his authority. All the doctors are unanimous in extolling his science and merits,
and i t is quite sufficient to say in his praise, that he was the companion, night and day, of the virtuous Omar
Ibn Abd al-Azlz. The fanlily of Raj$ inhabited Palestine, to which country they had removed from Maidin.
-(Tab. al-Fokakd, fol. 29.)

RUBA IBN AL-AJJAJ.

Abii Muhammad Rdba Ibn Abi 'sh-Shbthl Abd Allah Ibn RBba w a s a member
of the tribe of Saad (as-Suadt), which is a branch of tlrat of Tamim (al-Tn-
minzi), and a native of Basra. He and his father (wbo was surnamed al-Ajjij)
528 IBN ICHALLIIiAN'S
rvcre I~otlrcrlel~ratedfor their poetical pieces in lhal slylc of composition called
r*clin; ( I ) ; t l ~ pproductions of mch, formill!: tnro separate ~ ~ o l u r n casl,e all of tile
,-q;nz class and ~ ~ ~ tt ihf ~ great
y nl,ilitirs of llrcir n o t h o ~ ~ s .I \ i ~ b awas an able
i n philology and possilsscd :I perfect ac([uaintnnce w i t h tllc rare n11c1obso-
letc trlBlnsof tire lanRllngc. Tllc I'ollowirlg an(:cdote is rclatcd hy the grlanlma-
rian Ydnus ll)rl Hallill ( 2 ) : I \\as at AIui Amr ihn al-Alh's, when Sllr~baillJjn
4 1 Orwa ad-l)at,lli enteral. A l ~ hA m r rose u p to rocvivc him, and having
6' on tllc floor tlrc s;lddlr-cloth of his lnuic tlral his visitor might sit down
6' on it, llc cnte~~ed irilo coovcrsation will1 llim. U~~r.irl!;~livirdisco~lrse,Shll-
Ijail said ro ALli A n ~:r I asked your fl.ic111d JElil~athe clel*ivationof his name,
t did not Iillow it.' On l ~ c a r i t ~Iiriba
I L ] , ~ hc g spoken of in this nlanllc1r7I could
d 6 ,lot refrain fr.0111 saying : You must (al Icusl) sr[pposc tliat Maad 1l1r: son of
Ad~liillspoke better Arabic tlian Rbbn or his falllc~.(:I) : ]low, do you know
what four things art. called r1i6n, and that 1 nrn (11c I~umhledisciple of
a ' Shubail was unable to reply, and relir*c!(l Iligll l y oll'cndctl ; on whicll
Abli Amr turned to me and said : 'Tlrer-c is a r c s l ~ ~ c t a bmar1 l c who conles to
our conferences and shows us d ~ i cdcfercnct~,yet you have ofl't~ntlctlhirn 1)y tile
Innnuer in wllicll yen addrt!sscd him.'-' llut 1 c o ~ ~ l not
t l contain myself,'
~*(:pIicdI, L on hearing him speak of Rilba as IACcli(l.'-LAnd are you autho-
rised,' said A 1 4 Amr, ' to col.rcrt tlrc h u l l s of olllcrs'!' " Yilnlis tlren gave
the four meanings of the word ~xibtr,which arc : I . Any s111)stanccemployed as
rennet to coagulate milk ; 2. A portion of the nit$; :{. Tllc wants of a person,
ex. He cnrzrzot supply. the walrts (rilha) of his Ji~nlily.,that is, things of which
they stand in need and which they rely on him to procurc; 4 . Scrr~enadmissarii.
'l'l~esame word, with a I~antsaon fhe sccontl radical lcltcr means, n patch put
on a skin for carrying watc~..--Rlibn rcsidcd a t nasra till ~ h r*clvolt c of 1l)rahim Ibrl
Abd Allah, the descendant of hli ( A ) , against al-Mansur, an c*nt(.lsl,riscof which
the results arc well known : having tlretk corrceived apprelrcnsior~sfor his own
safety, he withtlrew into tllc Dcscrt to avoid 1l1c scene of war-hrc, but died on
reaching tlre very place which hc had chosen as a refugc. 't'lris was in the year
11.5 (A. 1). 762-3) ; he was hen advanced in age. -When i he word rdbn, with
a hnmzu on tire second radical, scrves as an appellativc rroun, it means a wooden
plug used to stop up a hole it, a water-pot ( 5 ) ; its plural is 1piti6. As a proper
name, it designates the poet whose life is here given.
 (1) - Ce mbrre csl clo tous Ics rnklres arabes celui qui offre le plus de facilitg et qui se rapprorhe l e pilli
(lt1I J lqow.''-(l)c Sircy's TrailC stir la Prosodie arabc.) Its rulcs ant1 divisions rnay he foulrtl i n Frej
..qrr~biscfto F'erskunst and Samucl Clarke's Prosodia Arabica.
;'L) Ilis life i s give11 ill this work.
(3) Maati I b r ~A d n i n as the progenitor of the tribes of Azd, Koraish, and Tamlm. None ever spoke or
j,lic\erstood Arabic better than he, and his talent became proverbial. As Rbba descended from the tribc! 01'
Tnrntrn, N a a d was his ;inccslor.-It appears from the Kdmils that Shubail Ibri Orwa isas son-in-law t o
Iintlida Ibn Diirna.
( 4 ) This revolt took piare A. H . 145. Sec Abb 'I-Feda'sAnr~als:Price'sRetrospect, vol. 11. paae 16.
. S ) ~t means also a wooden skiever crnplvged to 11irt up a rent in a water-skin.

Al)A I I j t i ~ nIthh \\as the son of lIitim, 111c son of Kabisa, the son of al-3111-
hallab, lllc son of Abil Sufra, of the tribc of Azd : the reillainder of the genea-
l o p shall br given in tlre life of Iris great grandfather al-3luhallab. Rllh was 970
reoowncil for his ~loblcnessof soul and his generosity. He served under fivtb
kilalifs;, na~ncly: as-SalTilr, al-r\larls;tr, al-RIahdi, al-IIhdi, and ar-Rashid.
'Tllcrc is 110 other example, it is said, of such a circumstance having occurretl
cxccpt in the case of A b i Rldsa 'l-Ashari, who acted ss governor for the
i'r-ol)hct, Abil Bakr, Omar, Otll~nin,and Ali. In the beginning of his reign,
al-Alalltli conferrcj. the government of' Kitfa on Itlih Ibn Hhtirn, and aftel.wards,
ill tllc year 4.59 (A. D. 775-61, lle confided to him that of Sind. 11 is stated

lio\vevcr by some, that RSll was nominated to the government of Sind in thr
!tlalu 160. Al-llfalldi rccalied him in 161 and named him governor of Basra,
;it t l w very rirnc in \vllicil his brother Yazid Ibn Hitim was acting as t h a ~
khalif's lieutenant in If14kiya. Yazid died at Kairamln on Tuesday, the 18th
Ka~nndiio,A. 11. I TO (Ala~*cb,A . D. 7Si), after a go~crnmentof fifteen years
and illree months, and was intcrred outside Bab Salm, one of the city-gates.
Tire people of Ifriliiya then said : " Bow far apart will the tombs of these two
" Illathers Ile ! Tlre one is now pollernor in Sind and the other is here." I t
so happened, however, that ar-Rashid removed Rbh from the government of
Sind and sent him to fill the place left vacant by the death of Yazid: he arrived
in Ifrikiya on the Srsl of Rajah, A. H. 171, and continued to govern that pro-
67
rir,cr [ill his dcatll, \\lricIr l o o t plncc olr t 1 1 ~10111 of I i a m a d : ~ ~A~., I I . Ii 1' hlnll
.Jnllllary, A . D. 791). w s inlrltl~(!(li l l ill(! Same lonll) \\.it11 his l ) ~ ' ( , t l , f h ~ ,

Yarid nlld recited to h i n l a poem in his ilonollr, [()l' wllicll I,(' \\.as !;rlri.rouslV
I-c\Inrdcd; Ile llnd Osaid as-Sularni ( 2 ) ,
e s Yazid
rclclrl~atcrlthe ~ ) r ~ a i sor 11111

\\-llom lie vas llTiliCd i l l ii m a n n e r inaclcquato Io 11;s rlrcrsils: lllis induced

lliln 1 0 eompoap o e contailling an o n or1 Ynxid 1l)rl llitilir ancl :I
R P ~ i r p011 YilZid 1Ij11 - S ; from this I WC ( s ~ I ~ ~ f i ( ' tIlc
I loIlowinR

~ l o v ,cliflt~setlt
~ :lrtt t l ~ ctwo Yazitls-hc) o f Lhc tribe of Sulainl and tllc,
in ge~~erositg
Illustrious son of 1IAtim. P~mofusionis the ,izditc's otlly nirn, lnct tllc I\nisilc1s (9)
l J ~ " o , n is to gather up (Iirl~ims. Let liirrl r~otthink, thc tlunc.cbl tl~:ltl clrig11 to nlaktb
:t sntirc on him ; I am only catollit~gLhc nlcn of gclrc~~trus (lcotls.

Son of Osaid! strive n o t to rivnlize wiih lhc so11 of ilhtir~l,or. tllou s h a l t g~lashlllr
tcctll with rcpeotancc. IIis gcncrosily is an occnr~,ant1 if you tf;ll-e 10 clntcr it, tho11
shalt hc overwhclmcd by its impetuous waves.-1;ool lhnt I was ! I hopcti 10 find honou~
i n the tribe of Sulaim! What an idlc, what a visionary thought! Jjn1 lhc family of
al-lluhallab is a brilliant constcllnlion, ant1 on thc (lay of hnttlc tllcy Icatl them of Su-
Iaim (itzlo cnptivity) as canrels a r c Icd t)y t h c haltcr Lisctl in l t r c b i ~ . nose.

We shall confine ourselves 10 tllcsc cs[l';\cls, a s I llo poc1rl~is of ;l corisitlcral,lcl

Itlngt11.- Yazid hat1 at lir~stpaid litrlc regard lo illis ~ l o c ~an(!
l , \v;rs ~llchrcli,rct;I[-
~ncLedby hinl in a piece corllnining this versc::

I render Cod due thanlis; but hecc i am r e t u r n i n ~with Ihc boots of Ilunain ( h ) , as a
gift frorn the son OF HQtim.

OII his second visit to Yazid, hc was rxlccived \viih e s f r c m c favour and atten-
tion. Tllis Yazid was the anccscor of al-Wazir ai-Mul~allal,i (sec his life, p a p
4.10).

(1) 11 y a clans L'dghdni, vol. 1111. fol. 427, un article sur-Rabia, fils dc Th;ihit. GC podtc dtait appcl<;com-
mun6111cntlialriut Erraklci, yorce qu'il dtait n6 h Rakka
.'UY ' ; on Ic quniific aussi d'Elansdri, comme ap-
partenant a une famille d e Medine. Rabia rut appeld par le lialife Mahdi 4 la cour; il recut beaucoup de pre-
sens de ce princc, qu'il loua dans un grand nombre do pi6ces dc vcrs. Ensuite il quitta la cour, s'bloigna de
I'Irak, n'eut plus nucurl commerce avec les autres pohtes et tomba dans unc sorte d'oubli. I1 h i t avcugle.
Sous le califat de Haroun, Rabia tit un dloge d'Abbis fils de Mohammnd lils d'Ali fils d'Abdallah Bls d'Abbh
l i l i d'4bdelrnoltalib. Cc1 *bl)Ls lui ell\-o).a dcui dinars. Rabia, irrite d'une icllc parsimonie,
jmgea pilr
tlcrlrvcrs satgriqucs. Abbis sc plaignit a u calire, qui fit venir Kabia tleva~ltlui. Irlstruit 12 llon~culr.
lcsirl(kri(. d'Abbds, I l i ~ r o ~Ir~ lblilna
l vivement, renonfa h un projet qu'il avail slots d't:pouser sa fille et re[\-
\oyn Itiibia corl~hlCclc ~)rfiscl~s.-A.CAUSSIA u s PBRCEVAL.
(aThis i s probably Ll~el b r ~Osaid as-Suiami n~entior~edby Ibn al-Atlrir as having commanded an eapeditioil
a ycar l(i.2 [A. 1). 778-9).
A r n ~ r ~ i~n i the
(:l) T h e tribe of Sulnim a as descended from that of Kais.
141 This is a common proverbial expression; it means: to be disappointed in one's erpectatiu~~s.Its orisit\
; ~ n dcxy~lilnatiort are to I)e found in al-Rlaidtiui's Proverbs; Freytag's edition, tom. 1. p, %!l. !+e a l ~
l)()S:IC-'S If(iriri, 1). 104.

~ l l di\I)d Allah az-Zubair Iljn Abi Bakr Bnkkir Ibn Abd illlall Ibn hItlsn1, 9 7 1
Ibn Tllhlrit Ilju Abd Allah Ihn az-Zubair Ibn a l - A ~ v ~ \ - asprung
~n, from Asad (al-
.A.\aili) ((I), a nrernlier of the tribe of Koraish, ancl a desccn:lant of Abd Allall
l l111 az-Z~~lrair., was one of the rilost learnrcl men of his time. Ile filled the plactb
of' liiidi a1 Mekka and composed some useful works, such as the Genealogies OF
111ctribe of Koraish; a most comprel~cnsivctreatise and a standing authority or)
t\lc sul~ject. IIis other writings display the extensive information and supcrioi.
;ibilities of their author. IIe taught the Traditions which Ile had receiribti
i ' l n l l r (Sllfi-(i/2) I l ~ nOyairla and olllcrs of the same class, and his own au~lloritv

was cited for 'Traditions by Ibn hlija al-Kazwini, Ibn Abi 'd-Ilun~a (2) and
c ) : hers. 1Ie continued to act as kAdi at Mekka till his d e a ~ h ,which took placv
O I I tlrc evc. OS Sunday the 23nl (or according to others, the ? I st) of 23. '1-Kaada,

1. I . 2.56 (Octol,er, i2. U. SiO), aged 84 years.--llis father Gnhkir llrn Ahd
.2llah died A . 11. 1'35 (A 1). 810-11).

(1) A b d Alli111 lils tic Zohajr tili d ' E l l a e \ ~ d mest qualifit d ' A ~ a d i ,parce q u il apparlenait, aiusi que
tlitlja, premiere fernme J e >lahomct et soeur d'Elawsilm, i Ir famille d ' A ~ a dfils d'Abdelozza fils de Cossal.
1)rancllc d e Cora~cl1.-A. C. DE YERCEI-AL.
(31 A b h Bakr A b d Allah I b n nluharntnad Ibn Obaid, a member by adoptiorl of lhc tribe of Koraish, a clrelit
(mawla)of tile Omaiyide family a n d surnamed I b n Abi 'd-Dunia, composed sorne uorks on ascetic and otlier
subjects. He learned the Traditions from a great number of Traditionists, and taught them to others. ffr
-as preceptor to some of the young princes of the Abbaside family, a n d one of his pupils obtained later thr.
lihalifat a n d was surnamed al-llotadid. H e received for his services a pension of fifteen dinars a month.
of Baghdad by the Rhatib, MS. fond5 Asselin. S o . 51f, fol. 7.1.)
Died A. FI. 2Si (A. D . 89%;.--~fIi~~ory
 Allah az-%abail%Iblr IZlln~ntl11)11S~lliritnatlI l r r , /'!l~tl ALl;lh 1l)n Aisinl
All(' f\bd
Ihn illdlul;diI-11)11az-%u]);ril. lljn a]-:\ \ Y W ~ I U ,S I I ~ I ~ ~ I I H; ICX~- I% L I ~ ) ; I ~ I ~\\.;\S
~ , a Juris-

corlsrllt of the sect of' as-Sliil'i, ant1 tllc chier i m h n arkcl pi~oli!ssorbof tkr t tinle at
Basn, Iris nntivp city. I'e~>fectlv:icqtiailllal \ v i ~ htiro legal doctrines of his
sect, ]re possessed brsidrs some b nowl(dgr ol' Is11 l r s - l c t l l ~ ~ ~I l:lvinc
. renlovcd t o
l ~1)i'ta-itd
Baghdad, ile taugllt ~ l r cTraditiorls 011 the i ~ t ~ f l l ~01' i ~ y 1f)n Sltlaimirl :,I-
MuIvaddil),i\luhnnlmacl Ibn Sillin al-Iiazziz ( I ) , ll)1.aIzirll 1 ); 1-Mr;rlicf,and o t f ~ ~ ~ % ~
of t]le snlnc cl;tss ; 11;s vcraci ly ilnd cs:~rlitr~de \vclrrh ~itiiv(:~~sall y :~~~knowl~vl~~~d,
and ])is 01\11 authority was given hit 'I'r,adi~iorlsl,y ;~r~-N;il< li;isll ntr t tlol- of
t l r c b

the Corrlmcri tary on ille Koran, by O~nar-11111T$islrrf~rl;l.;-Su k h;~r>i, Ali Jbrl

Hhrilrl as-Simsir., and others. This doc.tol., ~ v l r o wits tlcpr-ivc~<lol' t,lle s(:llsp
of sight, courposcd many works, suclr as tlrc I<(!/> (.sr!flic~ICttt) 011 jul.isp~*tldcncc~,

the Ritcilr .c~tr-Ncr+ut (liher itzlctt~iot~i,,),

tlrc fi'il(i6 S/[//.il-//i~,tn(libel- & (e-
gendis pudenclis), the IIidn'yn (guirEc), thc l i i ~ t i b/rl- /.cfi.r/~ti~u rvu 'Z-I.~ti/c/~ci~.~
(on taki~zgadvice a t ~ dgnitzillg ,fiiuorct*),tllc Ki~cib/:itrt/c(l cl-MrctnnlZi~l~ (ijz-

structions for a pupil), tlre Ritril, nl-lr~trirnl ([he s ~ g n ( ( / )etc. , (2) HP

treated some points of doctrinc in a manner. peculiar. l o Irimsclr. IIis dealt)
took place earlier than A. IT. 320 (A. D. 932).

(1) Abd Bakr Muhammad Ibn Sindn, a Traditionisl and nalivc of' Baghdi~d,died A. H . 223 ( A . D. 8315,.--
(Tab. al-nfuhaddithtn.)
(2) Those works treated, most probnhly, some orjt~risprudcrrrcancl otl~rrsolTraditions.

ZUBAIDA THE WIFE OF AR-RASEIII).

Zubaida, surnamed Omm J a a b r (mother of Jc~afa~'), was daughter to Jaafar

the son of he k / t u l f ) Abii Jaafar* al-Mansdr Abd Allah Ibn Muhamrnad Ibn
Ali lbn Abd Allalr Ibn al-AbbPs ibn Abd al-Mnttalib Ibn Hishim. She was
the mother of Mrrhammad al-Amin, the son of Illriln ar-Rashicl. Her charity
w a s ample, her and the
C O I I ~ U Cvirtuous,
~ histor*\. of lrcr pilgrinragr to )Jrkta
and of what she ilndrrtook to execute on the way is so \\.ell hIla\sn, [lra[ i t 1;
useless to repeat i t (I). Abii 'l-Faraj Ihn al-Jarvzi says in his ?{itrib rif-dlAti/,
(book of .rurxo?ires), that she furnished flrc city ol' hlrktn \vith Iyalel-,
.scarcity of wllicll had been so great some time before, that the ronieat s of :,rtaln..
skin cost a gold pi(w (rhzrif.). She had i t INOII~IIL tllilber from a distanu 01' t l . I 1
miles; this was elrecled by levelling lrills and lre\vir~g~llroughlocks, tly ~ \ h ~ , ~ . .
means a stream, sitilaled itho hoot the sacred territory, was led into tile precillrl\
of it (2). She constructet1 also the Akabat al-Rustin (3;, and when her i111ty1-
dant observed to hrl. that the expense ~ ~ n u he l d vrry great, she replied illat rll,.
was decided to have it executed, were e v n s stroke of a hatchet (giverr r/i,i.i,!s
t/le trfor*k)to cost a dinir. The same tvritel. says that she had orw hundred
slave girls, who all knew the Koran by heart, and that each of them had
task of repeating one tenth of i t daily; so that Ilcr. palaccl ~hesol~rldetlwith a
continual humming like that of bees. He states also that her narne was d , , r t l /
nl-A;iz (l~nndn2nirlof' the dlmig/~tl,), ant1 tllat, on accourlt of 1 1 ~ 1p1urnpnc.s~
~

and freshness, the surname of Zubaida was given 11er by her $1-andfather al-
Mansbr (6). At-Tabari says, in his History, that H(iri-rl al.-Rashid espoused i ) i u
her in the year 165 (A. D. 781-3, and that she died at Baghdad in the nlonttl
of the Grst Jumlda, A. 11. 216 (June or July, A . D. 831). Her father Jaafar.
died in the year 18G (A. D. 802).

(1) The historian Sibt Ibn at-Jawzi says, i n his Miradt a:-Zamlin, year 2i6, that Zubaida spent one r i l -
lion of dinars in her pilgrimage, and that her gifts to the learned i n Melika and Medina, and the expense of
the works executed by her orders in these tmo cities, amounted to two millions of dinars.
(2) See Burckhardt's Travels i n Arabia, vol. p. 195.
(3) Akahat al-Bustdn means the ascent to the garden. It is not mentioned in any of the historical and
geographical works which I have consulted.
(4) Zubaida is the diminutive of zubda, cream, or Fesh butter.

ZOFAR IBN AL-HUDAIL AGHANAFI.

Abh 'l-Hudail Zofar Ibn al-Hudail Ibn Kais Ibn Sulaim Ibn Kais Ibn Mukam-
mal Ibn Doh1 Ibn Diaib Ibn Jadima Ibn Amr Ibn Hunjer Ibn Jundub Ibn al-
,XI 't I B Kii1\
~ f,f,liiAN'S
i n ~ Bfnrr 1I)n UdtI 1lj11 'i'iI)il<lln 1 1 ~ 1al-b-:\s II),,
~ A I I M ~l l ~ t , r r a ~ ~ , 11111
: l l l l ~ a lIIJlt
110cI:~~~ 11111 &ixHr Ibrl Rln;,d(l Illn i\drlarl, s r ~ r ~ r ~ a m:tl-Ar,l)nri
cd (/hr. r/r..rcen~Jrr/,/
) a tloctor of' t l ~ rstScslof Albii IlI;ir~il'a,ancl ;IS pioris a s Icni~t~c(l.Hp
/ r ( - , f l i ( / c r ~\vas
l s , ilr clcvoted lrimsell 1)riocipally
is collsi(lcl-edas olle o f tllc i;~x~:it' I ' ~ ~ h t i o ~ i i s1)11t
IO lhl. solution ol' Icg;il qt~cstioi~s I,y rne:lrls of' ~ ~ r i \ ~ nj tt lt (l l ; ; ~ ~ ~(~r rri ~i )(, \\1llich, \\.id,
1 , S , l 1 a S a o i I ( S ) I ) llis falIlel
; l ! - ~ ~ i l ~j y] ;a, i~!;()I
~ ~ b ~of'olsI~a1~i'ir~.
l ~ ~ ~ZaIii~*~ L MYIS IIOI'I~ i ~ tt I l ( b yeat- ,l 4 0 (A. D.

728-9 , acl(I (Iic~yJi l l 11w 1i1ori11lo I ' S ~ I ~ ~A~. )11. I , (.!III~o, A . 1). 7 7 5 ) .
~ I,158

1, t,rbel, olreatl> r,l)scrr.ed t h i ~ ttllr orll~odoxsects ticducc khc ; i r l i c l ~ ~o sr thc Iiin from four s"urc(bs; tllc
Koran, ~ I I ( . Sunno or! Trilditioi~sof the I'rophct, t11r comrrlon rorlscrlt (Ijmdi ol' Ill(: ilncicllt irnhrns, itll(] ilrla-
Ilr;ir:al rcit~clnings( k i d s ) founded oa thc principles fur~lishedby llle lirsl. tllrrc sourc.t!s. ?'he tlo(:tors csf tlrc
2 ( . l , ~ ~ o l of Abil Hanifi~had slrcl~n ~~redilcctioii l'or 1 1 1Itids,
~ a ~ l dwe111 to S I ~ O I Ilrrlgtl~sill i l s iil~plic;llic)l~,
tllii~
~ I I I ~01'~ o t l ~ co l l ~ c rl,lr~.ersccts o f t r l ~i ~ c c ~ ~ sI.l~crr~
e t l of s;~c.l.i[ic*i~~;:Lhr! :iu 1lioril.v o!' tlic liornn, of t.hc Sunvacl, all,]
()l'tlic itncicnt imilrns to ttlat of tbcir own p r i & , ( ~judgmertl fc ( r d i j . FVe Ilcbrc [ i ~ ~the
t l Shdfito 1111)lih;lllihilr
tlraclarc positively lhat, in place of the kids, o r analogir~:~lrl~!tluc.tions,lllry subslitutcd t11c ~ ~ r i ~ i c : i of
p l cpri\ale
iutlgnl~lnt,or as tlic \~ol.clrdi rnay n r l l sigt~il'y, of merc speculatior!.

Al)il Dnl?[mn Zarlrl Il)rl ;rl-Jaiiri irns a ~lc*rsor~ l i ) r h i s wit, his nnlusil~g
c*c*l(#I,~ant(h(l
;~rlrcbntr~~*c:s, 11is acquainrancc wi l11 gcnrbr;~l lilcra tlirc, atitl his tnlcil t for. ~)ot~trv.
'1'11t~ /uiji,z A1i1 'l-Fara,j Il~r]aI-.li~~vzi says i r i h i s ~ ' ( ~ I ~ ~~T ~v l' -I G~ / i u / ~(rlorlitws~~
~~,sl~
/ I ~ / I I C ( (I/))
/ ( I ) : " AbCi l)~ilirn;t \ViIS a t ) l i ~ ~ slntc
li Li*on-l Abyssinia, anrl orlc of
" liis nitry sayings is tlius rc~lirlcltl: (7'ltr. l;hn/$') A l ) i ~Jnnbra al-Mansi~rI~nda
lkmalr cousi11 who dicd nritl whom Iic nccompnniccl to grave. IIe rhobe t I ~ t b

" sat ~ O J Y I I to pl~csi(1eat 11(.1- I)u~.ialand shomt~Lcleel) afllictiorl a t loss. he13

" \ r t l l a ~moment, AbCi Dulirna went forward and sat down near liim : 61:cilo\v!'
' I - I S I ' what C B I I S ~tI1011 l l a w suilcd ~ O I -tllis p l a c ( ~ l 7pointing to thth
" t l ~ :3rar.c. ' Tlre Commandcl. of thc: faitlthll's cousirl ;' ~>epliecltlre otl~ei*.
"011tllis, tllc Itllnlil was seized with such n fit of 1;utghter tliat he fell back-

" wards, and 11c said, on recov~l.ing:'Fellow! thou hast fbsposrd 11s to shnmc
" I)cro~ethe peoplr ! ' " The Khnlil, says, i n his historv of Bqghclad, that tlic
{f(r:cnscd was II;lmmida, mifc of al-hlansdr, and daugtlte*~of isa, olre ik\-\lilll-
a ~ . Shab1:a relates, in his ilistoruy of Ii.ls~ka, tllat .\lr<\ I ) ; , -
s(ll.'s u u c l e s . - - O ~ ~ ~ IIJII
1i11ln scnt OS his c01isins wit11 ~ I I Cfollowi~~&lines to Sitid llrll i l i l n j ~ l \ye.~ o
I I~crlrmlrloycd as direclor of I hr -4/tdcii/i(2) at Basra -

\Vhril you nlcot tllc emir greet hini wilt1 a salutation, and pm) l l ~ a tlir
t irlurr! OS i;t,:i
he upon him. Tell h ~ mthen, that I have creditor among the .\rat)s or ttlc ~frsc.rt,i !
tlctcstetl wrelctr (31, \ ~ l l ohas an crlil rcccipt of mine f01- orrc tl~ousnndclirlrin~snrltl (11-
half of n thol~sasda i d llle halF of that ; a sum which served not for m y u.c, bul illr ~ 1 1 . t .
\vhicll 1 bestoweti o n thc shailiRs of the tribe of Tamim ('c).

l h n 1)Blnj (5j sent him imt~ledialelvthe sum for which he asked. \lher,
Riilr Ibn ilitinl al-Muhallabi was governor of Bnsra, be ino~belledout to attach
tllc liho~asanitctroops (C), and was accolnpanied b y ALli UuPn~a. (TY/tert
o,~'P(Ic./Lotlwr,) a warrior sallied forth from :hc
r / w t w o n r u ~ i e scvew in pr*ese~zce
ranks of the encmv allcl slew successivrly a number of lii~lr'ssoldiers io singlt.
cc~mhnt. R i h then ordered Ahb Dulima to go and Gght h i m ; his refusals i t m d
n s of no avail; Iit'lh insisted, and Abil Dulirna then pro~louncctl
s ~ ~ p l i c a t i o were
these verses :

I fly to Riih for rcruge; let him not send me to a combat in which I shall I~rirrgdis-
grace upon the tribe of Asad (7). Your father al-Muhallab left you as a legacy tllr 273
love of death, but such a legacy as that I have inherited From nonr. And this 1 know
well, that the act of drawing near to enemies produces a separatiori between s o ~ ~and
ls
bodies.

R i l l positively declared, l~oivever,tlrat 1le should go forth and fight. "\\'hy,"

said h e to Abil Duliima, "do ~ O L Ireceive pay from the sultan ?"--U To frghr
" for h i ~ ~ l . " - - ~And
( ~ l i not
y go forth and attack that enemy of God?"-"11' I
" go fo~btlrto him, 0 emir! I shall be sent to join those who are (&ad and
' g o ; and the co~rdition1 made with the sultan was, to fight for him, h111
" not. to die for him."--"By Allah ! y o ~ ishall go and kill him, or take bin1
" prisoner, 01- be killed yoonelf!" Perceiving him to be in earnest, AbP Du-
linra said : i' You know that this day will be the first of (ny)days in the orxi
" world; 1 must thercfore have a stock of provisions for so long a journey."

RBh gave orders in consequence, and had him supplied with a pasty containirlg
a fowl, with a piece of meat, a skin filled with wine, and some comfits b r tln~
dessert. Being thus well provided, Abh DulBma sallied forth, sword in hand,
536 IBN TiBBLLIICAN'S
on s ella~~ger; liciog c>scclle~lti l o r s r m ~ ri~l l l l ~ el~ippodrome,Ile
lv]rrc\cd llinl nllollt in d i(fihlpnt (lirr.etions ~ l l)r~~l(lislkc(I
d 11;s inner wit.\) great
1 His :l(l\crs:ll.yjy;lt(.llcd l l i l l l fo1. SOIIIC ( i n l ~~pyi~l!:, a filv0rai)ic llioment
10 trim, aIld ilrell 1 b 1 1 ~ i l l l ( lill 011 llirll \vlli]st a ~ l ( l ( l dof d t i ~ (l( / 0 1 / , , ) 2s niglll
i / / , p la(,,,t/,{l/(,~,/,q).
/,j1t,,679/l(((/c,t47p(/ 11111: U I I I ~ I IIIlc~l
U ~ S \ ~ ( Xt h ~ dhis s \ v o ~ and (~
a;iicl to the nlan : L' God l'ol~giv~ ~ O I I ! 1~ t10L 100 hasly, l t ~ l t ~ C B Pwhat I have
to say; 1 coinc 1 0 !oli 011 ilr~portant i~usinc~s."-" 1)11sin(:ss?" asked
otllcr, \rj,u I ~ O I ~ .stopped facing Ilim. -"I am i\l)il l)i~Iirna."--~~ I have
( 4 llrnrd spegJi of y t n l ; 1,111, God ~ r [ c s c ~ you, ~ v ( ~\vhnt can h a w induced y o ~ 10 l
(.olncbout n g a i ~ ~me s ~ \ \ h v ]lope to conc[ucr i r ~ e:lflcr se(1irrg so many of voulb
)

(( pw@cl j l l I,!. nry lis~l(l?"--"I come neither to k i l l yo11 tiolb to lislrt wit11 you,
I)ut llaving u l s r ~ - r e dy o l l ~ .skill and nc~ivity,I 1oe;;ccl to irlnkc go^^ lily frit.~t(l;
ikt;tl I shall IIOW point c,u( to yorl wllnt i s brtttcr- ~lranji/;hti~~g."-"Go 011,
\vi(lr tlrc Ijlessing o f &(l!"--"I set: 11rat. son are tirihtl, and mnsl bc botll
llllngry and thirsty Tlrot is the iiirt."-" Wllsl ;\rSu Klio~asanarid 11ak
d d to us? I have Ilci-c: sonic I~rc;~(l, rncat, winc, nrld n tlcsscrt such as a mar)
cor~ltltlosir~c,:intl is no1 i';lr\011' n porltl of p ~ ~ rwiilcrB
tt1(11'(1 .c ; Ict us GO there and
J~rcaLthst,tl~lcl I slii~ll j-011 Ilcal- s o ~ n cof' 111(~ sorrcs nll1ic~l1tllc Ar.rhs of
I(lr

the Desert sill!; to t l ~ ( * i t .O : I I I ~ "-"

( ~ S . 1 desire nollliri{; I I ~ ~ I I O I ."IIcr(.
. " - - POCS
tflen ; I shall i~~ti*cat, ant1 t l o you Inrrsue, till wc et![ out o f thc cro~vdof conl-
I~atants." They l ~ ~ stnr.(ctl th off; and Rill1 looked a h o ~ i tfor' A1$1 D11l;jmi1,
I)ut in vain; nrltl rl~cK l ~ o r ~ n s n ~ sollghr ~ i t r s their valiant llorsc.innn, 1)ut found him
riot. (IYlie~? the tclclo tvor./l,icp.s lrirtl taken t l ~ p l ' ri ' q ) n , c / )A116 1)11li1nasaid to his
tlcw fricncl, \\l10 hi~dnonTsot into (110 best humour* pnssibl(1: " You know tllat
fiiltl is R most t;encro[ls I I K ~ I I; i t is rr~ougllto say ~ I I R I .lke is descended from
" 21-;\luhallab; now, hc intc~lrlsto ifin: you a rnagnilicent pelisse, a line llorse,

il sntldle (8) platcd \\it11 silver*, :I sword mountcd with prccio~rsstones, a long

.'lance, a 15rrhcr gird, nnrl othcr gifts in abundance; as a proor of what I say,
" 1 lwrc ~;ivryou his signct-rin;; which he sends to you."--"How can you
" make me silcfl a proposal ? U l ~ a am t I to do with my fnrnily ?"'"Let God's
'' will bc done, and come will] m e ; leave your family rherbc, and God will give
yoi1 anotl1c.1. in its stead."-'c Well, let us go, with the blessing of God."
They then entcrrd a ( he rear of the army, and gallopped u p to Rih, who
exclaimed : " Abi~U~rlirna! and where were you?"-" On br~sinessof yours.
 As Sol. killing tlw mall, I could not do it, and as llarine my o,vll t,lood
fo11

" spill, I felt no inclillslion for it, and yet I dared not return %ithorlt doin!;
s o m r t h i n ~ :so I (knrployed gentle means and 11a~ebroudrt you the man (ar
' L S ) , capliv:itcd by your ~encrosity; for I p~~ornisedhinl, in yollr
n a n ~ r , stlch and such things."--" That promise sllall I)tl e\rcuted," said
~(lll, provided hr giv(8 me secnritv for his fidelity. "-L' In wllat manncl%:)'.
-" Let him 11*illghis fa~nilywit11 him." -On this t11c Inan said : )lv falllily
a r r iir away, and i t is impossible for me to bring them here nolv; but stretch
a forth your hand, I \\.ill place mine in it, and of my own free accord, make

fi a11 oaf11 to divora: my wife if I prove a iraitor to you. Now if I do not act
& Gwit11 goocl faith to~vardsyou, she is divorctd by the very fact, and i t ~vould
tllstr l)r u s ~ l c s sfor you to hare her in your power."-" Your rrmark is true,"
said Rilll; \v110 immcdiatcly received his oath and enterer1 into a pact with him,
after wlricll lie rulfilled the promises made to him by llbh Dulima, anti confrrreti
on him, moreover, additional h v o i ~ r s . 'Sire Khorasanitc then b u g h t on their
side against his cou~rtry~rlcn,and [he ertremr bravery shiclr lie displayed P74
l y con1 riha tcd to tllc st~cccssof Rdh .-Al-nlandr haring once given
orrIcr.sto demolist1 ;I rlrim1)er of'houses, among which was that of Abii Uulima,
the Iatlcq--addressc*cl l o him thesit lines :
l ihc Prophet ! (hear) the prayer of one who is on tile verge of death and
C o u s i ~ of
w t ~ o s cdwclling is on the point of being destroyed. As she suffers calmly whom re-
peatctl prcgr~ancicsIlave accustomed to thc pains o l parturition, so he is calm, but his
trancluilli~yis a'frcctcld. The wholc earth belongs to you; lend then to your slave that
portion of it wlricli is enclosed by the valls of his house.

lt'hcti nl-R'Inhdi, the son of al-RSansi~r, retunled to Baghdad from Rai (g), Abil
I)ulinl;i .went to sal~itchim a ~ l dcongratulate him on his arrival. A1-Blahdi
turnctl towards Ihini and said : HOWare you, A1)i'~ Dulima ?"--'i Commander
&'

tllc fai tlrrul!" ~*rplicdthe otller :

LI made an oath that if you returned in health and with riches to the abodes of Irali,
c you should implore Cod's blessing on the Prophet and fill my'lap with dirhims.'

For tlrc first part, willingly," answered al-Mahdi; L'but for the second, not
a t all."- d61\IayI die to save you !" replied Abd Dolima, " but the two parts
cannot he separated."-" Let AbB Dulima's lop be filled with dirhims," said
al-Malkdi. Ab; J)ulima then sat down and spread out his knees till his lap was
G8
 538 IBN KHAF,I,IE<ANIS
filled ~ r i t hdirhims. " Get up now," said al-Mahdi -" Commander of lllc
faithful 1'' answered the "my robe will torn with the \veigllt; allow
me first to replace the nlorley in llic 1,ngs; then I shall he able to r-isc."-Ab;
Yulima composed a great dral of poetry, and merrtion is made of lrinl by
( H h i , 2 )I1,n (All) al-l\lunajjirn, in his work c~rlitlrd nkRclrl, which con-
tains a selection of pieces composed by poets who lived sulsequently to the
duction of Islamisn~. BCdied A. H. IGI (A. U. 777-8); some say, however,
that he lived till d ~ ereign of ar-llasllid, who soc(:eedt:cl to the khalif'at, A. 1-1.
170.--It is said that his real name was Zuhd, rror Zrrtsd; 11111 thc latter is sup-
ported by better aut1rority.--The followir~gis on(: of tile rlulnerous :lnrc-
otes related of him: I-Ie once called in a pllysiciarl to attend his sou who ]lad
fallen sick, and he agreed to pay hinl a certain sullr of Inoncy in the event of the
patient's recovery. When his son was ~.estorrdto l~ealtlr,Abb Uul5ma said 10
the physician : By Allah! we have nolhing to give you, hut cite the rich Jew''
(naming him) before the judge, for a snm equal to thai which I pronlised you,
L ( and I and my son will serve as witnesses 1.0 prove ihtt ticbt." The physician
immediately took the Jew bcfore the k,itli of Khfa, Jbrl Abi Laila (1 O), or, it is
said, Ibn Shuburma (I I ) , and claimed of' him tllilt sum. AS ihe J e w denied the
debt, his adversarv said : " I sllall go and bring ~ r l y[)TOO fs . 1 Te then brought
"

Abii Dulhma and his son into court. As Al~i'lDulima q ~ p ~ : l ~ e n dthat e d the kidi
would make an inquest into his charact.er as a witness (l2), h e recited tlre fol-
lowing verses when in t l ~ !anteroom, ancl prono~~nced them lolld enough to be
heard by tlre kidi :

IF people wish to cxposc me, 1 shall expose theni; i C they search into my conducl, 1
shall search into theirs. I F they remove the rubbish out OF my well, T shall do the
same to theirs, and let the public know what that rubbish is.

IIe then mtered, and having eiven his cvidence, the k5di said: "I llavc re-
" ceived your declaration and adnli lted your evidence." (Being co?cvinced,
however, that they were f a h e trritnesses,) 11c paid the money out of his own
purse and dismissed the Jew; but he did not dare to ref~lseAbii Dulrima's tes-
timony tlrrougl~dread of his evil tongue. tle thus quieted at the same time his
fears and his conscience.
 BlOGRAPBlCAL DICTIONARY. 539
( I ) According to Hajji Klialifa, the remainder of the title is as follows : fi fad1 is-Sudan m'l-Habmh (being
a treatise o n the eminelzt merit o f the Negro and Abyssinian races).
(2; ~ l l word
e &fAS \ Ahddtlr is employed by the Arabic historians of the crusades in tbe sense of nptf
leuies, or recruits; but i t seems t bear here a different signification. Ibn al-Athlt sags, under the year 255
(A. 1). 570-l), that Said Ibn Dhlaj was at that time L+;
.)3
\ J L ~ ~ J&lhMJ!,
!, atilasra. A s t h r
\* means tribure, or c~pifmion-tax, 1 am inclined to think that the A!.&\ and the FFerp
some othcr species of revenue. Said has deposed from his place A. H. 289 (A. D. 872-3.)
(B: Literally: Rlay he, as a creditor, be covered a i t h ignominy.
(4)Ibn Dblaj was a member of that tribe by enfranchisement.-(Kitab nl-dghuni.)
( 5 ) All the manuscripts liave here Ddlaj, not Ibn Udlaj.
(6) According to Ibn al-Atliir, Rbh Ibn HBtim was appointed governor of Basra, A. H. 165, and filled that
place till 167, and before that, in A. H. 161, according to IbnKhallikln; but none of the bistorians whom I
ttave consulted, speak of this affair between Rhh and the Khorasanites. In the autograph MS. this anecdote
aod tllc preceding one are not to be found.
(7) Abh Dulbma was a mawla, or member by enfranchisement, of the tribe of Asad.-(iiildb al-dghdni.1
,n) This signification of the word dY has been omitted in the dictionaries. Other eramplea of this
significatioo will be found in the course of the work. In Ibn Khaldhn's History of the Berbers, MS. No.
240%.fol. D, r e find this passage &Y~J & L3.
(9) This was perhaps in A. H. 166': Ibn ai-hthlr says that al-Mahdi visited I u j l n in that year.
(10) His life will be found in this work.
(11) Abd Allah Ibn Shuburma Ibn at-Tufail 3-U&1 ad-Dubbi. a celebrated imlm and tdbd, was an enlinellt
jurisconsult of IlCQfa. He learned the Traditions from Ans, as-Shabi, and Ibn Slrtn, and his own authority
n as cited for Traditions by Sofybn ath-Thauri, Sofyhn Ibn Oyaina, and others. His veracity and his eminence
as a doctor of Lbe law were universally acknowledged. He was an abstemious man, intelligent, devout, ge-
nerous, of a handsome countenance and possessing a talent for poetry. He acted under the khalif al-hllman,
as lildi of the cultivated country (Sawdd) around Khfa. Born A. H. 92 (A.D. 710-1); died A. H. 244 (A.D.
561-2).-(Tab. al-Fok. AI-YBfl.)
(l?) The inquest into the character of witnesses is an important part of the Moslirn trial. It is called Taz-
kiyat (pzcrdfication), and is instituted by the kadi when he has any doubts respecting the morality of the
person who gives evidence See Hamilton's Hedaya, chapter on Evidence.

Ab6 'I-Jawd Zinki, surnamed al-Malik al-MunsPr Imdd ad-dirr (the uicto- p75
rious prince, the column of religion), was ion to Ak Sunkur Ibn Abd Allah,
generally known by the title of al-Hdjib, and lord of Musul. (The life of his
father has been already given, page 225.) Zinki was one of the most eminent
emirs under the Seljiikides, and had been appointed governor of Baghdad in the
 year 521 (A. D. I I 'L?), ] q r Malrmird 1111rh l ~ i l ~ a r ~ ~ rll)n l i a dMnl:ih Shhll, 111c ~mci;;~-
ing sultan or tllat dynasty. ( / / L ! ( ~ ( ( J I/') P I ~ L o ~ / , c i ! ~(!/' , f l f ( ~ ~ s (( iTJ~ U A g/*u,)l&
/ f 1 )g I . ) 1\fl(:1~llre . ~ s s a s b i l l a t i ~ ~
of Ak SLlllkUraI-]]I1l,SO]ii ancl tllc clcallr o f his SOII hlas<~tl,\s\-lliclllovcnls we ]liive
already noticed ?"S), a dcrree was iss~led1 ) t~ h ~sulrark M:~l~rnild, \vho
was tllen in ~ ] i o r . a s ; " lclirclct,in{;
~l, that t11(. city 01' Rloslll S I ~ O I I J I~ I~ ~dclivcrcd over
Dubais Sarlnkil al-As;idi, the \old OS al-llilla, \\.lro ilr~~llc!rliatclly])t-c~l)~\rkd
to proceed to new ~ o \ 7 c ~ ~ s r r ~ n(TIE o ~ r ~lilk
. . or 1)obais \\.ill ])c lilund, page
504). T]ro citadel of b l o s ~ urns ~ l llrctr irr 1111: I ~ l ~ r d01's n ~ ~ ( ~ \ V ( ~ I cn~il.,
. ~ I I I llamed
Jisili, jyllo lrad been enti,ust(d by a l - n e ~ s ~ k~ iv i l l l~ I I Oc ~ l n l l l ; l ~ lof d tllc place.
Proml,ted by tllp desire of obtailring tllr govc~.limcnlof Alosl~l l')]. Itinlscll; .li-
jyili dispatched 10 llaghdad two cmissarics, lblri atl-din Al)i~'l-Ilnsao Ali lblr
nGKisi111 as-Sl~al~rozilri a11tl S;1li11 ad-clitr Rlullarr~nlntlnl-Ya:;IlisAlri (l), Sol*tIr(.
purpose o l erectinp, that ari3imrpllcnt. 01)tlrt~ira ~ ~ ~ ~ i tlrcy v ; \ l , fot111(1 t l l a ~tire
khalil' al-Nustnrshid was clccidcdly advcrbsc to tlic ~ l o ~ ~ ~ i r l : i of t i o L)ul)ais,
n and
would by no nlcans ,gi\.c lris c o n s e ~ ~tot i t ; ; r ~ l r J;I ~tulrrl)orof Ic[tcl+spassed be-
tween him and the sultau Rlallmittl on 11rc sul~~jcct.TT(' firl;llly rnntic clroice of
Zinki as a proper canctit1;ltc fi,r t11at ollicc, ant1 Il;lving c.;rll(d in tllc t\vo (&missa-
I-ies sent Crotlr Rllosul, llc rnadc art agrccmo~ltwit11 tllcrll 1 1 ~rllcnrls t s l ~ o u l dbe
taken to ii~flucnccpt~blic,opinion in favot~rof' Zinlci. To ob tnin h i s ~lomina-
tion, the khalif himsc~lf'ofl'cred llrc sultan oncl Illilldr'(~dtllousalld dillars, and
the two dcputics also ertgay;etl to itay h i n ~;i ccbrt;ti~lsun1 of money. T h e conse-
querlcc was that tllc nomination of I)~ll)niswas nnnullcd. %inlii tltcrl set out
and 01)tainctl possession ol' nlosul on tlrc 10111of Rlitl~ar~~;lnl, A. 11. 521 (27th
January, 11. D. 1127). S I I C is ~ ~ h cslaltbu~c.nlmark 1)y 1l)n 31-okain~ii n his
1listor.y (v),
but sonlc say that Zinki procccdcd to Mosul in tllc year 522 ; this,
Iloacver, is not exact. Wllrr~ Zinki \vas csl:~blisl~cdi l l his govcmincnt, the
silltan klal~nllid(whose lih we sllall civ(*) confided to llinl his two sons Alp Ars-
li11 and F a ~ ~ r i i kShBh
ll al-KhaSiji (3) that hey rrright be b r o u g l ~ tu p under his
car?, and i t n7asfor this reason that Ilc received the t itlc of Atjhck, which, as we
have already observed in thc life of Jakar (page 330), means n bringer rip of'
pritzces. Zinki then became master of all the country around Mosul, and took
. Edessa from Joscelin the Armenian (A,), on Saturday, 25th of the latter Jumida,
A . H. 539 (23rd December, A. U. 114.4). IIc afterwards marched against I(alBt
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. -31
Jaahar (S), which was then in the possession of Saif ad-Dal\-lal ~ b f qI-llasaIl
i
Ali Ihn ~ i l i k and
, 11:wing laid siege to it, ire was on dle point of tiihing it, whm,
on the morning ol Wednesday, the 15th of the latter Rabi, A. 1 . (22nd
r , D. 114G), he was found dead in his bed; ]raring been assassin-
~ e ~ t e r n b cA.
ated that night in his sleep by one of his eunuchs ( G ) . He \\-as interr~dat, SiF
fill. My precept01 1zz ad-din lbn al-A tlrir says, in his Historv of the tltbl,eks,
tlra t Zirrki was aholit ten years of age -hen his father was slain, and as tllir
event llappened in the year $87, as we 'have already said ( pnge 225 ), he llltlsr
lravc irt:n horn about 477 (A. D. I OS4->.)--Slfin is a tract of land on the bor-
der of rlw Eupllrates, at the distance of a parasang, or less, from KalAt Jaabar;
i t is situated 011 tlut Syrian side of the Euphrates, and Iialht Jaabar on the RIeso-
Imta~niarl. At Siflin is a cllapcl erected on the spot ~vlrerethe celebrated battle
\ras: filup;llt Ixt~veenAli and nloaaia (hz the year 37 of the Hijra) ; it contains
thc: taml)s of a number of those Companions (c?f nZ;lhanlmnd) vho fell in
thc action; that of A m m i r Ibn YBsir, for instance. -The k i d i Rahi ad-din 37t;
as-Slrallrozilri died on Saturday, the 6th Ramadin, A . IT. 53",(.18th May, A . D.
I 1 :3S), a t Aleppo, whence hisl~ody\\-as borne to Sinin and there interred.

(1) F l ~ l l e dotails
r oTlI~escproceedings are givcn by Ibn nl-Alhtr in his Annals. This portion of Ibn al-AthCrT3
~ o r will
k bc Fourrd, tcxt and translation, in the first volume of the collection published by the AcadGmie dus
I n s c r i p t i o ~ ~c [s Belles-Lettres, and entitled Extraits des Historiens arabes relatifs aux Croisudes.
(2) This v o r l i is not ~ioticedby Hajji Iihalifn, and I ha\c not been able to procure any information respect-
ing its author.
(3) I n the life of GhAzi, thc son of Zinlii, Ihn Khalliliin gives the title bf al-Khafhji to Alp Arslin. In sir
doing h e must have followed the authorily of Ibn al-Athlr. See page 330 of this volume.
(4) It is singular tllal Ibn lihallikln should give the Litle of the Armenian to Joscelin count of Edessa.
( 5 ) The castle of Jaabar. See page 8 9 .
(6) For ;l fuller account of Zinki and his enterprises, see M. Reioaud's Extraits d e Eistoriens
~ arabes rela-
lifs a z m Guerres des Croisades.

ZINKI IBN MAUDUD.

AbB 'l-Fath Zinki, the son of Kutb ad-din Maudiid and grandson of Zinki
(16n Ak Sunkur), whose life has been just given, was surnamed (like him)
542 IBN BHALLIli AN'S
Imid ad-din, and was usually entitled the Lord or SirljBr. Ire received the so-.
vereignty of Aleppo on tile dead, of his cousirl al-kfalik as-Sililr Nlir ad-dill
Ismail Ibn Blahmfid Ibn Zinki, in the yew 577 (A. D. 1184-2). The sultall
Salill ad-din Yiisof Ihn Aiylib then laid siege to Alcppo, A. 11. 579, and ~ b ~ i ~ ~
poswssion of it in the month of S a f a ~of the same year (Juno, A . U. 4182); all
arrangement having been nladc between llilrl and Zi~lki,who reccivrd in er-
change the city of Sinjir a r ~ dits dependencies (I). Zinki ~ ~ e m o v etod Sinjir and
remained t}lerc till his death, which tooh placc in the ~~ionttl of Muhar~ralll,
A. H. 594 (Kovemlrer, A. D. 4197)-

(1) Some uccount of the conquest of Aleppo is give11 by M. Reinaud in his Extrc~itsties Auteurs araber
relatits aatcx Croisalles.

BAHA AD-DIN ZUHAIR AL-RIUHALLABI.

AI,h 'I-Fad1 Zuhair Ibn Muha~nmadIljn Ali Ibn Yahya 11x1 al-IIasan Ihn
Jaafar Ibn Mansilr Ibn Aisim al-Muhallabi al-Ataki ( l ) , surnarr~ed i l ~ ekrilib
Bah: ad-din (splendour of reIigicll~)was orLe of the most erninelit men of the
age for his talent in prose, verse, and penmanship, and l t ~ enollenc~ssof his cha-
racter. Having entered into the service of al-Malilc as-SBlih Najnl ad-din ALd
'I-Fat h Aiyiib, the son of al-Malik al-Kiimil and (ufterwnrds) sultan (of Egypt),
he accompanied him from Egypt to the .Eastern Cncmtrie.~(Mesopotamia),
where he remained for some time and then followcd him to L)amascus, of which
Ile had obtained possession. Ilc continued to rficsidc at Damascus till his master
lost that city under the circumstances which are so well known (2). Soon after,
when al-Malik as-SQlih was at Niblus (~Yapbccs),his troops treacherously de-
serted him, and he was taken prisoner by his cousin al-Malik an-Nisir DLwGd,
prince of Karak, and imprisoned in the citadel of that place. As for Bahi ad-
din Zohair, he remained at NBblus through respect for his patron, and abstained
from entering into the service of another. W h e n al-Malik as-SAlih obtained
possession of Egypt, Zuhair accompanied him to that kingdom in the same
capacity as before, and arrived there towards the end of the month of Zfi '1-
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONXRIr. 33
Kaada, A. H. 637 (June, A. D. 1240); We shall speak again o f these ercrlts in
the life of his father al-Malik al-Xlmil Muhammad, to which article we tljerr-
fore refer the reader. 1 was t h e n dwelling a t Cairo, and having felt a strong
desire of meeting B a l d ad-din from what I had heard respecting him, I ohrained
aa interview with him after h i s arrival, a n d I found that his noble character,
profotlnd instruction, and mildness of' manners far surpassed what I had bee11
told. He was in high favour with his master, by whom h e was esteemed to
such a degree, that he became the sole confident of his secret thoughts, and
with all this, he never employed his influence but to do good: m a n y were the
persons whom he obliped by his recommendations a n d protection. He often
recited to me fragments of his owu poetry, one of which was as follows :

0 thou (who art a) garden of beanty ! take me to thee ; thou shalt suffer no wrong.
Didst thou ever see a garden without a little flower (Zuhuir)'!

He recited t~ me also this piece, as being of his own compositiotl : 277

How can I he delivered from love, which is mixed and combined with my soul.!
I strived to controul my passion for that fickle nymph, who never yielded me a favour.
Did the moon wish to equal her (in beauty), I should sag to the moon: "Thy wish is
" vain." And thou, pliant branch waving over the sands of the desert! (think not tu
rival the thinness of her waist;) between her and thee how wide a difference! When
my friends blamed the fo!ly of my love, her face was for me an ample excuse. What
divine pen hath traced on that neck the letter tout 3 with her ringlets ! How express
my admiration for the dimples on those cheeks ! On passing by me, she turns round
her head-didst thou ever see a gazelle (3)? There is nothing faulty in her but tht*
languor (4) of her eyes. 0 moon of happiness, at whose aspect my star has set! 0
thou who refusest me the sweetness of thy favour, and grantest me the bitterness of thy
dislike ! 0 desire not my death ! and yet, if by chance thou showest me love, I die.

l heard also from him these lines, which h e told me were his own:
I am truly your Zuhair, for the Muxaina (5)to whom I owe my existence is the libe-
rality of your hand. I like to hear handsome (jamdl) mention made of you; that is for
me as a (beloved) Buthaina (6). Ask your recollection concerning my affection to-
wards you; for therein your recollection is a Juhainu ('I).

H e recited to me also another of his pieces, but I recollect only two lines of i t ;
they a r e as follows :
Narcissus of his eyes (S)! how long wilt thou drain my heart's blood? 0, how thou
a r t languishi~lg! In beauty nothing resembles thee ; nought in the world can equal
thy perfection.
 544. IUN KEIALLIICAN'S
All his poctry is remarkal~lefor its delicatr t u r n of thought, and tlre graceflll
ease of its may be i~cnilvcallod unatt:lin:~l)Ie(9). Ile gave lrle a cpr-
tificate (lcclaring tlrnt I \\?as I,crfcclly master ol' (In. poems (*ontaine(l in })is
c]i14!&ll; but as tllis colle(.lion is of li'cc[~c?llocc~~lrr'c11c~c:
ill 1hc I1nntl.s of [)l(h

pllblic, I slrall nl,stnin f i n l : ~c i l i n ~: i l l y ~ I I ~ L ~ (I 'CX ~P ~ . W ~ S . - - I was informed l,v

an intimate fi.iclld of .Jan~blad-tlin Yahyn Ibn Mi1(14h, ( ~ l l o s clife shall
Ilis,

given ill this ~ ~ o r . I dial

< , ) hr onco addressad rhl?k L t 5 in tla: follootin!; linrs :

\\.'hen t l ~ cm:~rksof your liiltclncss nnri I h v o ~ ~c:amc

l- to llrc i n a c-orrstant succpssion,1
escl;lilllctl: " .lIaypst thou live I ' o ~cvcr 10 t I o gootl." Spcak 1 1 0 more of flarim's gene-
rosity; %ulinir is more gcnerol~sthan Ilc (10).

c * with
on a missiorl, ant1 rll;lt lit* ~ l ~ e rmet
},in] fronl 11lc East coulltrics to h'los~~l
978 nly fricnci tllc crl~irSharaf ad-din A I I ~ LAl)l);is A11111a(11t)n IITr~llanl~nad
1 1 ~ 1tj-lf~i
'I:T\-afi Il)n Klla(tib, st~rilarnctlI t,n nl-Ilali~vi, w l ~ o s oI ' i ~ r l i l y n cml-cbo r i f i i ~ ~ aa['
ll~
that city, but who himself was I~ornant1 rcsitl(hc1 iil l)an~nsc.~~s. Tlris cirnir. hav-
ing gone to pay his respects 10 Ili~n,r(xci~(~d in l i i s I I * ( and
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ S Ci l I ion$ ~ most
l,cautir~tlpoein, of wllicli o l ~ cof' tllc verscs n.as :

You composc in vcrsc a l ~ d)on reward those wllo praiso you i n vcrsc ; tell us then
whether you are Xullair. 01. linrim.

On my ret1lr.n frorri Mosul," said Zullait', '' 1 r11c:t Janl?il atl-tlin 1br1 Mat-
" rbh, to whom I gave the poem to rc.ad. 11th was rrl11c1~ s[r~rr.lc.
wit11 {his verse,
" and 1~ after\vartls ~vrotcto lrle ~ h c s ct\\.o lines, I t ' l t c ~ ///c'
~ ~ ~ ~ t u r kof',?,oii~.
s r .

I;lrt(h?c~ss,~J/C."--lbnal-I Ial:t~vi'svo~.scis a n inlitat ion of' 111c fbllowing~~vhicl~

\\,ere composetl 1)y Abir 'l-Kisim, arr csccllcrlt lbocr,, in ironour. of rhc n~issionary
ant1 jwincc! of Ycmtw, S a l i l l ~ nAllrnad as-S11l;lilli (I 4 ) r

Ct'licn f praise the noble chicl Jbn Ahmnri, ho rewards m(: and gives me praise in
return. For my poetry he gives me Itis and presenl.~bcsitlcs; so hc repays me my
capital with interest.
I lcarnctl from Bah3 ad-din that his birth took place at Mekka on the 5th of
Zh 'l-Ili*jja, A . 11. 581 (February, A. D. l 486) ; and hc irlforrncd me, on nno-
ttler occasioi~, rltnt he was born a1 Wadi Nnltllln, a valley near that. city. It
was from his o ~ v nmouth that I rcccived the genealogy inserted above, and he
told me that he clcscc~ldctlfrom al-Milhallat~ 11~11 Abi Sufra.-I had sketched
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTlOKilRE' . 5 'c5
out the foregoing notice \vhilst lie was yet alive and confined to his house ( f h n r
griff') a f t w h e deatlr of his master (A. H. 6'17) ; but he \\-as carried off later,
by the dreadful sickncss a l ~ i c t lprevailed in Egypt and Cairo, -2. H. 656, and
fronl which very few recorered. It brprl 011 Thursday, ihe 2!1ttr of Sllaw-
wB1, and Babi ad-din aas one of thosr \rho were taken ill ; he sulfrrecl a few
clays and then expired towards tlre af~ernoonof Sunday, 4th of Zd 'l-Kaada 01'
that year (November., A. L). 1258). The next day, after tlre prayer. of noon, his
corpse was borne to tlie Lesser Karjfa and interred near the south side of the
chapel which covers the imim asShifils tonlb. 1 was not able to attend his
funeral s(.r~ice,being then confined with the epidemic; but on my r~ccovery,
1 visited lris grave, on account of our mutual friendship, and I prayed to God
to hare mercy on him ; after which I read over him a portion of the Koran.

( l ) Al-Atahi means descended from al-At&, a member of the t r i b ~of Azd.

(2) See the Annals of AbQ 'l-FcdB under tbe pear 637 of the f-lijra.
(3) By this apostrophe Ile means that his mistress turned round her head .uitt~the grace of a gazelle. Thl\
is a very common image in Arabic poetry.
(4) See page 28, note (3,.
( 5 ) Zuhair the author of one of the -@foallakas,descended from Rluzaina Ibn IJdd lbn Tabikha.
(8) Buthaina was the mistress of Jarnfl. See the life of the latter, page 331.
(7) An allusion to the ancient proverb G& \ G-
I U
, Exact information may be had from
Juhaina. See Pocock's Specimen, p. 329.
(8) See Introduction.
(9) This seems to he the idea which the author meant to express by the words U\
L
M\, but some
doubts rcmaiu un the trallslator's mind.
(i0)The poet Zuhair celebrated in his ,Woallaka the generosity of Harim.-This is another play on the simi-
litude of names.
(il) A sketch of this prince's history is given in Johannsen's Historia Yemane, p. 131

ZIAD ZBN ABD ALLAH AL-BAKKAI.

Abii Muhammad Ziid al-AQmiri was the son of Abd Allah Ibn Tufail Ibn
AQmir al-Absi (0, and descended from the family of al-BakkB, a branch of the
tribe of ABmir Ibn SQsB. Zihd knew by heart rhe Sirat ar-Rmril, or History of
the Prophet by Muhammad Ibn Ishak, and taught it with the permission of the
69
 5.1.6 IBN IfIIA J,LI KhN'S
author, and it is Iris authority shicll is cited f)y Abd al-Malik Iljn Ilisl~Smin tile
I.emodcllcd of that lvork, cn titled h'irrtl f i JIL'sft(iriz.
~ ~ Al-Ihkkhi was
born a t K&fa; llis vcl%acityand eiactitode as a trnditionist arc well (:st3blished,
Ilaving by a1-no6h6~i, in tlial cllapler of t h e Snhih which treats on
IVar infidels, and b y 81uslilll ill differerlt pbces of ],is work bearing the sanle
title. Al-Bokhiri lncntio~rsin his Ilisiory this saying of Walii (JAIL :

Zia*d too enlulc.ll/ to lrnoc //isveraciiy. a.s cr. tt.cr(dillbni.\l in2pcnchcd; and at-
Tipmidi, having nlisundos~ootlit, ~vrolein his coll~:cliorl 01 Traditions : Al- L(

Bolilljri states tl~ntIValii said: Zidd Ibtt d b d dlld2, r1ot~riirh,stn,2rEin~ his

m,;,,p/,cp, Anu had hi-r vernci(~* as R 'll~wdifri)/~i*/ b)zpenc/re(l." This is,
floj\ever., a rnistake, as MJnki said rlothit~~f rnorc of hinl than what al-lbkh,iri
n l ~ r lhad \aTal;i imprr~ncclhis vc~,;lc.i!y,ncitllcr al-nokhiri nor Muslim

mould have cited a singlc Tmtlition on his aiithority; sincc they rcjcctcd ~ l r ~ t
979 of al-TIarith al-Aawar and A b L h I l ~ nAiyisll I)ccnlisc as-Sllihi acc~~sctl [hem of
falsehood. Zijd received l ~ i sTraditions from al-Aamasll ant1 tr.ansrniltcd them
to Ahnlad Ibn IIanbal and otllcrs, by whom his nutllor*ity is cited. IIc died at
Kfifa, A . 11. 183 (A. D. '709).-1Znlikrii is tl('t.ivcd from flnlikci (die rvce~~er), a
surname given to his ancestor R a l h Jbn Aimit. Iljrl Sis5 on account of a cir-
cumstance too improper to be mcntioncd (3).

(1) It is impossible t l ~ a tZidtl could have 1)clongcd to tllc trlllc of Abs, as 1 . 1 1 ~surnamc licre given him seems
to indicate. Tllcrrc is every reason to think that, for Absi J-Ad\ W C nllril rcrd Iiaisi C2dl (desc~andsd
L
from Bais Chaildn). The latter, as I have since disrovcrcd, is llic reatlirig of lhc autograph MS.
(2) This cirrurnstar~ccis not rnentioncd in the h'ildb a?-Agltdni, the o111ywork in which tllerc was any pro-
bability of finding it.

TAJ AD-DIN AL-KINDI.

Ahii 'l-Yomn Zaid Ibn sl-Hasan Ibn Zaid Ibn al-I-Iasan Ibn Said al-Kindi
(belonging to the t r d e of Kindo), surnamed T&jad-din (t12e crown of reli-
gion), was born and brought up at Baghdad, but he fixed his residence at
Danlascus and died in that city. He was a koran-reader-, a grammarian, and
a nlall of' letters ; the first of his age in all the branches of erudition, decplv
imburd \\.it11 traditional information rereived from the best aothorities, and so
illnstrioos hy his r c p n ~ a ~ i oillat
~ l i t is uselt~ssfor us to rrpatiatc on his merits.
Havin(: studied uudcr the inost vnlinent masters, and anlonc the rest, Abd 'S-
Said51 I h l as-Sllajari, Alli llllllanrillnd ILn al-Khasbsl~ib, and Alld Rlansil~*
i left Baglldad \\llrri l e t a youth, and he revisited it for the Inat
a l - J a \ ~ ~ l(il~) ,~]a
time in the year 563 (A. D. I 167-8). Ilaving fixed his residence at Alcpl)o,
Ile traded in old clothes, wllicll he took to sell in Asia Minor. IIe aftcr\var&
11e1novcd to Damascus, where lie gained t l ~ efriendship and special favour of tlic
(:nrir Izz ad-din F a n l i k l ~Shlll, son to SlrihQn Shilr and nephex to ihe sultan
Salih ad-din YSsuf lbri Aiyi111. tlaring accompanied his patron to Egypt, he
got inlo his possession the most valuable works preserved in the libraries of
that country, and then returned to Damascus, where he settled. Ile was visited by
numbers for the purpose of st~ldvingunder his tuition, and the list of (Itis own)
masters, drawn up by himself in alphabetical order, fornls a 1ar:;e volume. One
of his sclrolars related to me the follo~vingcircumstance : "I was sitting at tlre
door of the grammarian ,4bfi Riuhammad Ibn al-Kli~ashshib,a-hen the celc-
" brated imim, az-Zabakhshari, came out and advanced towards me. He
" supported himself on a crutch in walking, (having lost one of his feet, which

" had been frost-bitten ;) and the people said : There i s a;-Zan~akhshccri.' Tht.
same person furnished (me wirh n note copied by Itirn) from (a paper in) tllc
Iiandw~-itingof Tij ad-din, and xvllich I here give: 4LAz-Zamal;hshari was the
" most learned Persian of his time in the Arabic language, haring surpassed
" them all by the knowledge which he obtained of it (by practzce) and by the
" study of works treating on the subject. Me was the last of their men ef'talent,
" and was well kaown to be a MotnzeZite. He came to us at Baghdad in the
'' year 533 (A. D. 113s-g), and I saw him twice at the house of my master
" Ablfi 'l-hlanshr al-Jawhliki, under whose tuition he was reading some intro-

" ductory works on philolozy ((2, with the design of procuring from biin a
('licence to teach them; for az-Zamakhshari, with all his learning, had never
l C met (with masters o f repute so as to study under thenzj, neither had he re-
" ceived any oral information (ulhich he was authorised to comnzunicate to
otherJ)." When I was at Cairo, the ~haikhMuhaddab ad-din AhiI TQlih
 548 IBN ILIIA1,LIRA N'S
Muharnmad, surrlnrned I l ~ nal-Khaimi, relart~lto m t this a n c c d o ~ c: '"I'hc shuiX.h
'6 'J'Aj ad-din nl-Kiodi wrotc to me, from l ~ a m a s c u s ,a poem cont,ninin~these

L'lines :

0 my friend ! you so sedulous to ll'n1GI tllc dntics ol' frienclshi~jl you havc hept
' your promise towards us and laid upon u s n heavy dcbl (of grnlilrido). W e are here
in Syria, possessed with tlie desire of sceing (3) ; d o YOU,in Egypt, feel desire
' to see u s ? In withholdi~igfrom yon the respcct duc to yo~irnlclvit, tliero we held
' the first rank ; but you hold tile first rank in lllc bestowing of I'itvOurs upon us. . It
is out of our power that you should scc [is will1 you, and it is out of yours that n e
shoultl sec you wit11 us. JZay God fulfil his promisc lowartls lhosc who keep theirs;
may he grant (to our friend) as full a secompcns(: as the fidclity wch 1l;lvc shown.'

380 To lllis," said Ibn al-Khaimi, 'L I rcplicd i n a piecc of irer.sc which con-
tained tlicse lines :

' 0 you, descendants of Hinda v ho inhabit Syria ! we havc failed in our duty towards
' you. To fulfil the obligations of friendship, we should havc died on your departure
' from us.' "

Ibn al-Khairni recited to rue also the following vcrses ils 'rij ad-din's :

Let the astrologer grovel in his delusion, i f hc pretend 10 thc knowledge of events
brought round by the revolution of the sphcrc. To God ali)ne pertains eternal know-
ledge, and neither rnan nor angel shares with him thcrcin. Astrologers make of their
impiety a net to catch wealth; what cvil mcans thcy employ,-a nel and infidelity!

The following liries were written to 'rij ad-dirl I)y Ab<t Sh~i,jiIbn ad-Dah-
hin al-Faradi, mllose life sllall be given later. :
May the Lord in his bounty grant thee, %cidI such additional favours as may sur-
pass thy utmost hopes! May God never work a chnn.gc in thy happy state as long as
state and change shall be discussed by grammarians ( h ) . It is to thee, above all men,
that n grammatical allusion sl~ouldbe addrcsscd ; havc not grammatical examples been
formed with thy name (5)?

Wllell the shaikh Tij ad-din was far advanced i n years, hc composed these
lines :
I see men desire long life, but length of life proves only the nothingness of the past,
and bringcth with it misery. In the season of youth I wished that Cod might lengthen
my days, and truly such a gift is a favour. But when I obtained my wish, that age
which L desired so much became an affliction. When alone, my imagination sets be-
fore my mind the image of myself borne on the shoulders of mcn who walk with rapid
pace (6). When the Zephyr flits past me, its breath reminds me (not of gardens, but)
of those excavations which are covered over with earth (7). Here I am now, exposed
 'BIOGRAPHICAL I)ICTIONL~RY. 5$9
10 thcfearful thonders and liglitnings (S) of one and ninety years. Peoplr sag:
" hfedicino r i l l do thee good," but for me there is one medicine only-the mercy of
God.

T ~ad-din
J \\.as born at Baglrrlnd on the morning of \?red~i~sdav, ? ~ , t bSlljljAii,
. 11. '120 (September*, A . D. 1 I ?G); llc dit*d at Damasc~lson Alo~~day,[he F tll
Sbaw\yQl, 61 3 (Jsnlrary, A . U. I . L I ~ ) and , \\-as interred the same day at ? I O I ~ I I ~
KBsii'ln. As for rile .~hud-hhlobaddab ad-din (Ibn nZ-Rhainrr], lv told i n 1
himself that his genealogy was as follows : Ahil Tilib Muhammad 1b1r Abi 'l-
Hasan Ali Ibn Ali lbir al-hlufaddal Ibn at-Timaglliz. IIc recited to ure a great
Oral of poetry composed by himself and by others. I got acquainted \\.it11 llinl
at our assemblies in Kair~o,and was informed by him that he was born a t at-Hilla
a1-Mazyadiya (9) on the 28th of Shawwil, A . H. 549 (January, A. D. 1 135).
He died (at Cairo) on lTTednesday, 20th of Zi- 'l-Hijja, 642 (hlay, A . U. 1245),
and was interred the nest morning in the cemetery of the Lesser Karifa. l at-
tended his funeral scrt ice. He was considered to be a perfect master of ([he puru
Arabic) language, and a correct transmitter of poetical pieces and of (phrase.$
i l l ~ ~ s t r c ~o~f i) v ephilology.-Kci.sirirz is a mountain which overlooks Daniascus ;381
i t contains the tonlbs and mctusoleums of the inllalitants, with a moscjue, n
number of colleges and of 3Ioslinl monasteries. ( T w o oJ'tlrt) rir~erscvhiclt cr7nrer
Danzascus,)the Thaura and the Ynzid have their sources in this mountain.

(i) The lives of these three persons will be found in this work.
(2) The words are so vague in their meaning, that the p h a s e to which they beloug may bp
translated thus: Under whose tuition he w a s reading the introductions of some philological zltorks, or under
whose tudlio?a he w a s readirlg s o m ~philological works, from beginning to end.
(3) Literally: P!edges in the possession of desire towards thee.
( I ) State and change, or, as the original words are sometimes translated, ths term of circrrmstance and the
exchange or permutative, arc t w o subjects which the Arabian grammarians have treated ~ i t great
h ability.
(S) Alluding to the usual examples, i r '3 stetit Z e i d ~ &
,l, Q a verbrrouif Zeidw Amrum.
4 ( .J
etc.
(6) That i s : The image of his own funeral. The rapid match of a Moslim funeral procession is well
known.
(7) H e means the graves, but is unwilling to pronounce a vord of such sinister meaning.
(8) 4 metaphor For threats. It is employed in the Koran.
(9) See page 504.
 IBN IiIIALLIICAN'S

Himyar, was ille nnrestolb o l nl-Moizr lbn i%tdis(nil,osc lifi: \ \ i l l he found

ill anolllel part of lllis ivoi~h). Alrntion has I)CCI~ al13endy rnndc of his son IIo-
lukl;in zfi7), of Iris F.reat-f;randsor~nblis (prrgr ?4.8), illld of his des-
cendant Tanlinl(page 281) : in lhis last nrticl(., \v($ ]larchtlactrl up, ill the full-
est nlarrn(.r, tile descent of the family; %iri \\-as tlrtb first of t h c ~ n\\~lloattailled
suprcnle powrla. It \\?as 11c wllo lol~ndcdn ~ l dPj~atili(:dtllc city of Aasllir ; In.
coml,lenccd ilr;lt undertaking during the revolt O S Al)b Y;,zid n{;;iinst ;]l-lihinl
al-llla]ldi and his son Ismail al-Mansfir ($cc pngr. 219). Zi1.i Iiaving csta-
l~lislledhis power at Aashir and subdued the s u r ~ ~ o o n d i ncountry, g received
iron1 al-BIansQr t l ~ egift of t 1 town
~ of Tillart and its dcpendcncics. IIe was
a11 aldc ruler, brave and erltcrprising . The scrrct ,jcalo~~sy ancl I~atreclwhicll
subsisted between him and Jaafar ill-Andalnsi (sec) /)ago Mi) Icd to n 1)attle
which terminated by the death or Ziri. This ova~rtoccl~rrcdin thc reontll of
Rarnadin, A . II. 360 (July, A . 1). 971) : it is said that llis 1lol.s~having stum-
bled, he was thrown to the grourrtl and tlwn liillcd. llis rci;;il lasted twnly-six
years.-V7e have already spoken of A5stlir in tllc life of Ibrl K ~ ~ r l i (page
<~l
4 3 ) (2).- ll'ri/rar3~is a city in N o r h Al'r*ir:a: 11rcr.c arc ~\voplaces wllich bear
this name, one OZl T l i / ~ n rand / the otlrlcr Nctrl %ii/irrr.r,1)ut I do I I O ~know
w11ich of then1 it was that came into thc 1)ossessionof Xi14 (3).

(it Ibn Iihollikln pronounces this word sunhdjn, or sinhaja, bul tlle manuscripts of the History of the
Berbcrr by Ibn Khaldbn write i t Saahhjii. I t is a. Arabic corruption of the Berber name Eondk ,dbj or
Sanak c!L-.
(2) This is an oversight; the author mcrcly rcfcrs back to tlie present artic1o.--In my translation of the
Arabic liislorians alio treat of the dynasties oi' North Africa, will be found n notc on the precise situation of
Aashir, a point whicll had not been hitherto ascertained. I t is suficicrlt to stutc tiere that this city was built
on therange of those precipitous hills to the south of Algeria, which are named i n modern maps Tittery Doch.
(3) New TLhart was founded by Abd nr-Rahman the Rustemide, A. H. 141. It was this city which was
given to Z9ri by al-illansbr.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONAR\-.

ZAINAB THE DAUGHTER OF AS-SHARI.

Zainal), called also Horra, anrl surnamed Omm al-Muwailad, was the daugh-
ter of Abh 'l-Khsim Abd ar-Rahmin Ibn al-IIasan Ibn Ahmad Ibn Salll Il,n
Ahmad Ihn Abdis the Si~fi,a nntije of Jurjin and an inhabitant of Saisapdr.
who was generally knoan by the surname of as-Shiri. His daughter Zainal,
was a wonlan of great instruction, h a ~ i n gmet (and studied under) a number
of persons eminent for their learning, and from whom she obtained certificates
authorising her to teach that information and traditional knowledge which she
had acquired under their tuition. Arnong those from whom she took lessons
\\rere Abii Muhammad Ismail Ibn Abi 'l-Kisim Tbn Abi Bakr the korcm-reacler
and a native of Naisipfir, Ahii 'l-Kisim Zihir as-Shahhimi and AbA Bakr
Wajih as-Shahhhmi the sons of Abii Thllir, Abd al-Munim al-Kushairi, and
Abfi 'I-Futtih Abd al-Wahhib Ibn Shih as-Sllhdivbji (native r?f'Shcidtjdj near
~Vai~apzir).She received also licences to tench from the h u i Abd al-Ghifir
al-Firisi, the very learned az-Zamalihshari, author of the iSnshsh!if, and other
masters of traditional learning. I possess a licence which she granted me in
the year 61 0 (A. D. 121 3-4. 1 was rherz liitlr rnore tlznt2 two p a r s of ngr .
) birth took place on Thlirsday afternoon, l l th of the latter Kabi, A. H.
n . ~my
608 (22nd September, A. D. 121 1) (1). I was born at Arbela, in the college
founded by the sultan of that city, al-hlalik al-Moazzam Muzaffar ad-din, the son
of Zain ad-din. Zainab was horn at Naisapiir, A. H. 524 (A. D. 1130), and died snu
in the same city, in the month of the latter JumPda, A. H. 61 5 (A. D. 12 18-9).
-Shciri means one u?hoprepares or sells carnets hair; I do not know, how-
ever, which of her ancestors it was who, by following this profession, obtained
that surname.

(1) It is possible for a child of that age to learn by heart some of the shorter Traditions, some of which con-
sist only in a few words.
 XlrN IIHALLIKAN'S

Sjliln, &h(:son of llbd Allall a n d sur,namcd Alrh Ornn~.or AI A l ~ dAllall, was

prandsoll to the kllalif Onrar lhn Klra ttil) (lh?ncdgh rr)/lo~)rhr (h~sre~~derl fiOI1)
fJ
n d i Ibll Cunb Z ~ I Llrrvni,
? C I ) / I ~ Crt?(LsoiL
/L ~ sisr.ttu/rle cf.) al-hcfawi.
h(' h o f [/re
He was one of tile cilicf juriscoosults of Mcdirla a i d also one of (he plbincipal
T d b h by his birth, his knrning, and his veracity as a 'L'rat~itior~isl. Iic gave
the Traditions on the aotllorhifyof his fathcr a ~ l dO C ~ ~ Y and S , 11;sown authority
was by sz-Zolrri and by 5%. IIe died towa~dsthe errd of 25 'l-tlijja,
H. 4 W (May, A. D. 72a), or l O S according lo anolllcrbshlement. The khalif
JjishArrl Ibn Abd al-Malik had presided a t the pilgrbirrlage that year, atid on his
return from Mekka, he entered Medina at the momt:nt of S3Linl's deatti. It \ a s
la. ~ ~ pronounced
h o the funeral service over (lie body, and ire 1)rocetvled to the
t,~r.~iug-ground of al-Baki for that purpose; the crowd being so great ([hat it
was i~rzpossibZe10 perfo1.n~it at the house qf' tlre cLeccas~'rl). Ilishim, on see-
ing the multitude of people \vhich had asscml>lcd tbcrc, said to Ibrahim Ibn
l l i s h i ~ lnl-illakhefimi
~ .
: " lVake n levy of Soulb thousand nicn fro111 among these
peoplc, to scrve me as soldiers;" and for illis reasolr it was, that the year of
Silim's death was called 11~c~z.nr of rhejhu). thowand. Rluhammad l l ~ nIshak,
h e author of the work enti(1etl al-Magl~~izi cva 'S-SL'CII., relates as f o l l o ~ s:
a I saw Silim the son of Abd Allah and t l ~ cp-andson of Omar Ibn al-Khattib;
he always wore woollen (l); hc was a corpulent rnarl and lived by the labou~.
of his O \ V I ~ hands. (Tltc kllalq') Sulainlirl Ibn Abd al-Mblik entered one
(lay into the liaabn, and seeing Silim, told hinl to ask wllatcvcr he desired,
o n which SLlirn answered : ' By Allah ! 1 shall ask of God only, wllen I am in
'' God's house.' "

(1) This would seem t o prove that he belongcd to the fralcrnity of the Sbfis.
 !!lOCRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.

ART: BAKR 1BN AIYASH.

Abir Ilnkr Silim 1l)n Aiyish lh11 Silim nl-Khaivit rl-Asadi al-KhG (a n~enrler,
c!/!/' ihr i ~ ~ i hofu A~arl,a n~crtiveof IC[i/i['), an eminent Traditionist and celca-
I~ratcdfor his learning, was one of those who received from Aisint the ,*earl,,lp$
of the Koran, and haodecl them dolvn. Ilc had been ~nfranchised by \\TQsil
I t ~ nlIaiyjn al-Ahdah. The foliosing anecdote r~spectinghim is related bv :I]-
Muharrad in his Krinzil: AhS Bakr Ibn Aiylsh said : ' I was suffering from arl
G anxious desire (of nzeeting one (r~horn I loved), when 1 called to mind the
C' verse of Z ~ 'r-Rumma's
I :

' Perhaps a flow of tears will give me ease from pain; perhaps it may cure a heart
' whose sole companion is sad thoughts.'
L On this I withdrew to a private place and wept, by which means my suffer-
i n g ~were calmed.' " A nunlber of other anecdotes are related concerning
him. Some say that Abfi Bakr vas his real name and not a surname, but
ot11er.s mention that he was called Shoba. The following relation has 1xe11
handed down in his o\lrn words: L'MThena misfortune befel nle in my youth, I
bore it with firmness and kept from weeping by strength of endiirance (I 1; this
however was hurtful to me, aud I suffered much from it ; but one day, being
at al-Konrisa (2), I saw an Arab of the Desert mounted on a camel, who stop-
" ped and recited these lines:
I ' My two friends (3)! (rein over your camels and) turn their breasts towards Huzwa,

that spot so long abandoned. There we shall weep over the abodes (of our friends,
now in ruins)1 Perhaps a flow of tears may give me ease from pain ; perhaps it
" may cure a heart whose sole companion is sad thoughts.

" I asked who he was, and they told me he was Zh 'r-Rumma. Some time 983
" after, misfortunes fell upon me, and having wept, I obtained relief. On this
'' I said : ' That scoundrel of a wild Arab! how kilowing he was.' " Eighteen
days after the death of ar-Rashid, Ibn Aiyish died at KSfa, A . H. 193 (April,
A. D. 809), at the age OF ninety-eight years. Ar-Rashid died a t TQs on the
eve of Saturday, the 3rd of the latter Jumida of that year (23rd March, A . D.
809). -It is also said that Ibn AiyPsh was a 71zawln to the tribe of Kjhil Ibn
Asad Ibn Khuzaima.
70
Ss!, IRN ICIIALLIKAN'S
(1) IIere the author relates, perhaps through ina~lvertence,ilnolhcr ircrsion o f l h c samc anrr(iotr.
i-2) AI-KonBsa, a village near libfa.-(Khrnbs. Milrii~i((1

( 3 ) Sec page 115, Imte (l).

SilBUII IHN AIlDASIIIR TIIE VIZIR.

Abh Nasr Sjll(lr- 1b11ilrdastlir, vizir to t l ~ cYailemilc snltarl Bahi ad-l)a\\rlal

~ b Nasr
h son of Adad ad-Dawlat lbrr Bi~wnil~, was ill~rstriousas a powerful
and enlincnt as a vizir, ec~uallyremnrkablc for Ilis al)ililies and for his
IParnin~. His palace was the constant resort of lllc p o r t s of tlrc day. i\lh-
ThAlibi nlcntions him in the Yrtiilna, and devotes a special chapter of that
nork t o the poets who celebrated his pmisr. Amon!; the ilurnbet. was AhA 'I-
Faraj al-Babl~a~hi, who composed these lines in his honour :
I blamed Fortune for withholding thc accomplisllment of my desires, and she iin-
swered: "Your reproaches are unrcasonablc ; that which you ask cannot bc granted."
1 replied: " It depends on you that my hopes of riches t)e not frustratecl."-" You
a are mistaken," said she, it depends upork Silhilr. Apply to the vizir AbG Nasr
and make an exorbitant demand; the extravagance of your suit will he easily par.-
" doned." I followed the advice which k'ortunc gave ma ; ancl f;ood advice, even from
an enemy, deservas thanks.

Another of those poets, Muhammad Ihn Allmat1 nl-Ilari~n, addressed hirn in a

poem containing this passatfe :

0 thou who ensurest the repose of the erripire in those days of trouble I thou wJlo
art firm in heart when fate itself trembles ! Why tlocs the world treat me so cruelly.!
I cannot obtain therein a place of abodc, and 1 (tuitnder [rom one country to another)
like a novel thought when it passes into a proverb. Wcrc Fortune just, were she in-
tlulgent, I should havc posscssccl, untlcr thy prbotection, horses and serv:~nts. For
how adnlirable are the words which I have scattered allroad ! those precious pearls !
-did maidens possess them, they would not consent to remain without necklaces;-
and thosc brilliant thoughts !-did maidens read them, lheir cycs would require no
fiohl to increase their brightness (1 1.

trd, Abii lshak as-Sihi

The ~ i z i 1 3Iiarinp been deposr(l and nftrrwards ~~einsla
wrote to him ~heselines:
Wedded to the vizirat, you divorced her (2) from you when she was in fault and
acted wrong. It was then necessary that she silould belong to another before she
 RIOGKAPHIC-AL l)ICTIONAI1I'. ..,.. .
,)aa

could legally return to you (3). S11c is now yours again, and she made an oath th:lt
no l~ritlcgroom,cvceptine you, should pass n riight with her ancl live

IIe f'ollndcd a t Baghdad a holcer of /earnirtg ((orcollege), a n d the poet A b l i

'1-118 ill-Mitnrri nllud(1s l o it in this passage fronr orle of his rrlosr celebraied
k(t.sid(1.s .

enlivened o u r cvcni~rt:~
.\ntl in the tlouse of Slbrir, a ~pritjhtly 30~~i;stress ~ i t h.,
,oicP nlelotlious as the dove's.

SQbi~r died at Baglldacl, A. H. $1 C; ( A . D. 11 025-6); he was hixn at dhirir OII 2l;C

~ h ccvc of Saturday, the 15rl1 of Zil 'l-Kaado, A. H. 336 (May, A . D. 045,.
I l i sovereign Bahi ad-din died at Arrajln in the month o l the first Jomida,
L4.11. 1' 03 (Novcmbe1.-December, h. D. 101 aged fortptivo years, nine mon tlls
%l,

and twenty days.-SciL~ir is an Arabic alteration of the Persian words s/r[il~

[),it; /he king's .sari. liere, according to the c11stom of the Persiarrs, the nouli
governed in the genitive is placed before the governing noun (which 1 : ~trot tl)r.
case ill Arabic). The first who bore this name was Sipfir Ibn Ardashir Il)rl
Bahek Ibn Sisin, one of the kings of Persia.-Ad-Dhrakutni says that we must
pronounce 14~-dushil*; n second author states that this word means in Pcrsiar~
flour, nzzLX-, but another saysyflour, Stveet. A d signifies flour, sltir milk, and
slririn sweet.-Some pronounce this name AzdashOl (4).

( 1 ) Such is the real meaning of a verse containirlg a series of quibbles impossible to be translated. In the
Arabic t,.xt n c lind lhe s o r d L,pvith the sense of eyes, of excellent rhings, and of essence or constituent
eub.stance; in the t v o last carer it is opposed to the word dlu which means reality and thaughn.
( 2 ) To maintilin the propriety of the metaphor, it was necessary, in making the translation, to consider
t izirat as of the feminine gender.

(3) It is well kr~ownthat by the Moslim law, a man cannot take back his wife. %hen he has repudiated her
by an abst~lutccl~vorce,until she has been married and divorced by another.
I 41 I n Arabic manuscripts, this name is generally written in the last manner. See additions and corrections.

SARI AS-SAKATI.

Abil 'I-Hasan Sari Ibn al-Mughallis as-Sakati (the seller. of casc clocks j,
was one of the men of the path (I), and of the master5 of the tratlt (2j; the
 iirst person of llis time by his devotion and lris ncqiraintancc witlr tllc doc-
lrilres of Sfifism (3). ITc was rnater1r;tl oncle to A l ) i 'I-Kkim nl-J~tnaicla ~ l dllie
master ( f i t S l i j s ~ l;t )his own master was R.lQl*ill'al-Ihrkhi. Ir is said f l i n t as-
Seknti \Vas one day in Iris shop, when &IhudTc a a c to him will1 ;I 11 ~l.plla[l JioS
: Clotl1e this ol.pllan."-'. 1 c l ~ t h ( ~tllc
d ],OY," said as-Snkati, an(l
hjar<If was rejoiced 1,11e1~~!;4~ a ~ l dsaid : ' May God render tltc world l ~ a t e f 10~ ~ l
thee and grant tlror rrpose from all thy cares !'-I i~nmediatclylch my sllop,
hatillP0
llO~llil)GSO I I ~ I I Cas~ lllc world ; 311d 1 O\VC rrly 1)1-(~scnt Slalc ( o / '
tltI(/C)to tlle i,lesserl merits of MLrif."--Tlrc followin$ anrc(1otc is rclntcd on
p o d nutllorily:Sari said that for thirty years lrc nevrrb c(*:lsrcli r t ~ p l o r i ndirirlr ~
pardon for having oncc (~sclaimrd: Praise br ro God! and on ]wing nslc~(l\]lr
ryqson, Ile said : A f i r e broke out in Baglidad, and a person came nl) to me
told lne that my shop had escaped, on which I uttelscd tllost: words; ant1 rvcn
to tliis mornent 1 rcpcnt of having said so, hccanse it sllowed t h a ~I wished
better to myself tllnn to othrrs."-Al-Junai re1atl.s as follows : '' 1 wmt one
day to sec my uncle as-Sakati and found him in [cars. L W h a t c*alxseth ilrre
to \~reep?'said I.-iYcsterday,' replied as-Sahati, ' m y l i ~ t l egirl came and said
6 t to me : Fatlrer ! the night is warm and I have broilght a pi tchcr (of'(rvrte,.) to
lung it up here for thee (h.).--A hcavincss then came ovcr my eyes and I foll
' c into a sleep, di~ringwhich I saw the most beaiitcoi~smaid of God's creation

descend from heaven. ' For whom art thou dcstincd?' s;ritl 1. L For him,'
she replied, ' who drinketh not of water cooled in a pitcher.' I immedintelg
"took the pitcher and dashed it to the ground." AI-Junaid said tlia~hesaw
the fr-agments lying about and that as-Sakali left them there till they mere co-
vered by tlie accumulation of dust. -Sari as-Sakati died a t Baghdad, A. 11.
251 ; or, by another account, on Wednesday, the 6th of Ramadjn, after day-
break, A. H. 256 (August, A. D. 870) ; but some place his death in the year
257.-He was interred in the S/l~irzizicentelery. The KILuiih says in his his-
tory of Baghdad: " The Shbnizi burying-ground is situated behind the place
called n t-'l'irtha and near the canal made by Isa Ihn Ali the Hashimite, and
" called a f ~ e him r the river Isa. I heard one of my masters say that the Ko-
" raish grave-yard (at Bagl,darl) was known in old ti~nesby the name of the
" lesser Shunizi, and that the cemetery at the back of at-Tiitha bore that of
'' the greater Sh~irt~ii.They were so calIed after two brothers, one of whom
 was buried in each." 'The tomb of Sari as-Sakati is a conspicuous and n8.5
well-known object; close lrside it is that of al-Junaid.-As-Sakati used frr-
quently to recite tliese lines :

When 1 complained OF the pains of love, my mistress said : ' cThou tellest mr a
'' falsehood ; why do I sec thy bones clothed with flesh? Therr can he no love pin (I
" man) unless his skin cleave to his entrails, and his mind be so great\! troubletl, that

'' he answers not when cnlled."

,1; Sec pagc 259, note (3).

(21 See page 340, notc (3).
(3) Literally: "With the sciences of the profession of the divine unity." Every necessary information on
this abstruse subject ill be found in M. de Sacy's analysis of JBmt's Lives of the Sofis; Notices et Extrailr,
tom, XLI. page 345.
(41 Water placed in a porous earthen jar cools by evaporation.

AS-SARI AR-RAFA.

A 1 4 '1-Hasan as-Sari Ibn Ahnlad Ibn as-Sari al-Kindi a\-hlausili /nter,jber r,f
rile nide of'Kbzda and rzt~tiveofMosrrl), surnamed ar-Raffi (tlze dar~wl),was
a poet of celebrity. In his youth, he wrought as a lace-maker a t a shop in
Baghdad, but at the same time, he composed poetry and cultivated belles-let-
tres with assiduily. By his perseverance he succeeded in attaining great pm-
Gciency as a port, and having visited Saif ad-Dadat Ibn Hamdin at illeppo,
he made poems in his honour and remained there for some time. Afier the
death of that prince, he proceeded to Bzghdad and celebrated the praises of al-
\Vazir al-l\luhallabi and orlier persons of eminence, by whom his poetic talents
were highly appreciated and generously rewarded. The enmity which he bore
towards the two Khilidiles, Abli Bakr bluhammad and AbA Othmhn Said
was so great that he accused them of stealing his verses and those of others;
he even went $0 far that, in transcribing the diwun of Kosh$jim, the cele-
brated poet (I), who was then considered in those countries as the pink of ex-
cellence in literature, and \\-hose compositions as-Sari took as models for his
 ol~r.ll,ilr inserled, ill lllc copies w l ~ i c l l1 1 r w ~ ' o ( cn u t , !/l(: 1)esl of 1111' ljoenls mad(.
I)v lliInsl~lfand h y tlre Khfiliditcs : io illis, Iris olrajn>lwas nor o ~ r l yto augmenl
, l l c size of boo]; so .IS to ;;et a iligll(11~
j)l.ic(l f o i - i t , hllt also 10 give \1alue 10
\)is 0a.n poetry to cast cliscrr(li( 011 1 S , r n a k i ~it ~ appeals
~
tIlrtt \\hat he hat\ snitl of tlir3ir 11lagin1'istils Ii6ut:. this circumstrtncc
.. . n
llltlsl Ile attributcy] rile intc~rpolntctlpiccc.; in K o s l ~ ~ sj c~l int r~~ a t ~a n, d which ;u.p
1101 10 lie faun(] i l l ill(: o~si~;io:tlcooirs. AS-Jitri was lry ni~torc;r pur.1; his style is
jiyc~et, llis t),(j,lg[r(s;11,1; ( 4 c p n t , il~ld11(' is p:~~.ti(:~~lilrly
col)ious iii the variety or
ilis l>onlparisons :iod (lescriptions. But hr llad rlei t ll('lb a p\thasing eourltenancp
Ikol- ;l blbaw'h llr;g,~l~c; Ile did not llosscss ~ V ( : I I ;I to1(*r.:1lrI~ s l ~ i l li t ] a n y other sci-
11rrct2I j u t poetry. I'reviously to his death, his iwclical coml)ositions fillcd nearly
[llra. \lundr.i~lIkbn\es, but sincc that, t l w c-ollectiort has ir~c.l.(~;rsc(l,nntf a phi{o-
I t , g e l b of latcr tiinci h a s nrran!;rd i t i ~ all)lrnlw~~icnl
r o l ~ l c ~ . .As-Sari ili(mfionsllis
( f i ) i ' , , l p / ' ) ~)rofcssionin a piecc OS v ~ r s c ,f ~ - o rwllicll
r~ wt. r.slr;rcl tllesch linvs :

mca~tsof m y necdlc I formcrly prcser\ctl my srlS-rcspccl, ant1 avoidcd thc prr)s-

tituting of m y poetic tnlcnt. It rurnishrd IN(. \villn srlsIct~:lnc~c,
so slight intlccd, that
i t seerncrl to cun~ctto me through thc ilccclic's iyc.

~ l l c hti,llonlir~,lyverses, takcn I'18o1lr otie ol' liis / i c i . s l ' ( / ~ ~ . c ,arxl iIll\on(; the I ~ s t
specimens of his talent tor ri~logy:

When he pours Forth his liberality, his loolrs are milcl ant1 his facc beams with plea-
sure, but in the shock ol' adverse hosts, they hccoinc stern. When he ha1 ts, his dwell-
ing is spacious (fir his guests clre many), but wllcn he marches to trattle with his s p a -
drons, hc malics the plain (too) narrow for the criemy (2).

Thou has1 conferred on me such a favour, that thy beneficence makes the darkness
sccm to me as light; to mc who before fount1 [he l~rightncssof day obscure (and cheer-
less). Now I am the envy of my friends ; and before, T was the pity of my enemies.

01re of his linest passages on tllc beauty of' his mistress is tile tollowing :

PR6 I should lay down my life For her who costs me m y life and yct refuses me a simple
salutation ! The death which awaits me lies in ambush i n those eyes I i t is thus that
death lies hid in the sharp edge of the sword.

As-Sari's cnllcctcd poetry is all very good ; he composed also the works enti-
tled : a2-Muftibb 'I-,7fahb i ~ b(the love^. atzd the belnvecd), ul-~Washnzli'nzwn
CiMnsht*ri/~(pe!fiirnes and liqirot-S),and tlre Kitcib n(l-Di,-n (3). 11e died at
linelulad between t l ~ cymrs 360 and 370, according to the R h n ~ i bin his llisto~V
of that city; and othcrs slate that tllc venr of his rlrath aas .l. 11. G62 (h. L).
972-3), or A . 11. 365. Ibn al-Athir says in his Annals that hc dird A . H. 3Cil;
( 4 . D. 976-7).

(1) See note ( h ) , page 301.

( 2 ) That is, he reduces his enemies to the last ertremit~. This vcrse reproduces the idea which is (.l-
pressed i n the Koran, surat 9, verse 119.
(3) T h e word Diru 5,9,3 i s so uncertain i n its signification that it is impossible, qithout having exarriirled
the work itself. to explain its title. fIaj~iKt~alifadoes not mrlllion i t in his Bibliograph~calDictionary.

Abh 'I-F:~w,irisSaad Ibll ~ln11amrnadIlrn Saad Ibn as-Saifi, a celebrated pcber

and n mornbrl~.of the tribe of Taminl, bnre the surqname of Shihib ad-di!~
(Jlcrmbeau of ~,eligrbr?), and was generally known the ;tppellntion nf ililis-
Rais. He was 3 doctor of the sect of as-Shbfi, ha~iu: stnditd jurisprut1rnc.c. at
Rai under the kCtli Rl~~hnnlmacl ' l l ~ rrlbd
~ a\-Karim al-IYazzin ant1 rnairltairleti
( G ~ PL L S U ~ discussions
~ ) on points of' controversy. lie yielded, however, to hi?
passion for literature and conlposed verses of which the merit was enhanced bv
a dignified style; he drew up also some epistles remarkable for tlreir preciihw
and elegance of expression. The hdfiz Ab5 Saad as-Saniini mentions him wit11
high commendation in he Kitrib rrz-Zail and gives some of the pieces (or re/)-
lences) which he, Hais-Bilis, had learned by oral transmission; the same hay: .
had read the collected poetical works and the epistles of flais-Bais under the di-
rection OF their author. By his learning and talent Abfi 'l-Fawiris contributed
to the instruction of many, and 114' his acquaintance with the poetry and thc
various dialects of the desert Arabs, ha held the first place amongst his contenl-
poraries ; but it is said that he was fill1 of arrogance and presumption. lie never
addressed ally person but in the purest Arabic (I) : having once obtained an
order for a sum of money payable in the city of Hilla, he proceeded thitt~erto
 360 IBN KIBALLIKAN'S
the alnoun t of tlw bill, which was drawn 0t1 farmer or ihr: revenues
in that district. On his arrival he st:nt his I)OY lo this person, who not onlv
l*el\aedlistening to his claim, hut called his masler a scoundrel. On this Hais-
this went to the goverllor of tlre [own, U i i ad-din Mt~llalllilIbn A1)i 'l-Askar
3]-~$,yjni, an old and iiltimatc f ' r i t ~ r ~ dof his, and the lnttchr srnt one of thfI
Ils]ler.s of his court l v i l f l IInis-Dais ( o cnforce paynlclnt. A bir 'I-Fa\viris was
ho\v:rcr, w i ~ hwlrnt his friclkcl llrc governor lrnd done for him, ancl
be rel,roaclred hiln \\litll his condllct in t l ~ cfollo~vingletter : " 1 did not ima-
' 4 gine [bat s s acquaintancr and a friendshi[) of so many years coulcl have left
6- on [hp flenr.t that ( s l i , n / ~deerce
) of impr-cssion which I have hcrc discovered ;
Flay, 1 even thought that, were the nrigh~itbstirrtny to i r a r a hostilc: drsiarl

.lg;ijnst nrc, warriors in arnlollr, thick-necked lions 04' thr family or Abfi 'l-
l\sl,al., had risen to my assistance; how lhcn sllottl(1 il not. i n with an agent
6( jvho levies taxes on poor market-pcoplc? with one who farms the rcvenues of
that n~isthrableplace Hille and of its petty circumscription ( 2 ) ? Yct the on[
answer which 1 received to my co~nplaintwils this : 11c s ~ t forsooth, , a hire-
" ling to reprimand him and exact from him a paynlrnt wlrich he a-as bound
I O make !-So shall it not be, 1)y Allall!

The lions, the lions of the forest thinli not of spoil in the day of battle, but of him
whose spoils they are to win.

'' And Iswear by Allah, and by his ProIlhet, and hy the i'rophct's honsehold!
that if thou givest me not such a token of respect as shall he a su1)jcct of con-
'' versation for the femalcs of IIilla a t their weddings and assemblies, thy friend
shall not remain in this, rhy I-lilla, shoold he be ever1 obliged to pass the
" night on the causeway 01.on the bridges. Suppose that I did lose my mo-
'' ney (3); must I then lose my honest pride ! O what an insult ! what an in-
" sult ! Adieu !" He always wore the Bedwin dress with a sword suspended
from his shoulder; this circurnstance induced Abir 'I-Kasim (IXL'bat All~rll)
Ibn al-Fadl, whose life shall be given later, to compose on him the lines which
follow; we must however observe that Imkd ad-din, in his K/~arida,at~ributes
them to the rats (4) Ali Ibn al-Aar$bi, who died, according co him, in the year
547 (A. D. 1152-3):
 BIOGRAI'HICAL DICTIONBKY. 561
Affect as you may the manners of the desert Arabs and wear [like them) a high-peaked
cap, there is not in you a single hair of the tribe of Tamim. Eat the lizard which
burrows in the sands, cut up the dried h i t of the colocynth (S), and drink as you
please of the urine of the ostrich,-yours is not the face of one accustomed to give hos- 987
pitality, and ready to protect his honour from insult.

When these verses came to the knowledge of AbB 'I-Fawiris, he composed

the following in reply :
Strive not to abase exalted worth, when you yourself are pointed at with respectful
admiration. The noble and generous man injures his character by hostility towards
one who is equally noble and generous. Wine (though i t possesses g o d qualittcs)
was declared impure, and forbidden because it attacked the reason.

Al-Bujairi, tlre khntil,, or public preacher at the town of al-Huwaira, ad-

dressed him in these lines:
It is true, Hais Hais ! that we are not of the true Arabic race, yet you belied the
family of Bujair as you have already belied the tribe of Tamim (6).

The following relation was made by the shaikh Nasr Allah Ibn Mujalli, in-
spector of the arsenal (7) (at Baghdad), a man of unimpeached veracity and a
strict sunnite : '' I saw in a dream Ali Ibn Abi Tilib, and I said to him : LCom-
mander of the faithful ! you (and Mrlhanwnad) took Mekka and proclaimed
that whoever entered the house of Abb Sofyin should be in safety, yet you
know what happened to your son al-Husain (8) on the (fatal) day of at-
(( Taff (9).' To this he replied : ' Did you hear Ibn asSai6's verses on this sub-
" ject?'--&No,' said I.--' Go then,' he rejoined, ' and hear them from him!'
-On awaking, I hastened to the house of Hais-Bais, and having called him
out, I told him my dream, on which he sobbed aloud and began to shed
( l tears : ' By Allah !' he exclaimed, ' I never communicated these verses by word

or vriting to any human being, and it was only this very night that I corn-
'6 posed them !' He then recited them to me, and they were as follows:

' When we ruled, mercy was our very nature; but when you came to power, the
c plains flowed with blood. You declared it lawful to massacre your prisoners; but
we were always humane and pardoned ours. Therein lies the di$erence between
' us ; but each vase can exude only the liquor it contains.'

AbQ'l-Fawlris haring one day remarked a great commotion among the peo-
ple, he asked what had brought them.into such confusion (or hais-bais, as he
7s
 562 IBN KHALLIRAN'S
called it), and (as h i s ezpression cvas conside~ledmost sbzggalar) it continued
ever after to be given him as a nickname. These two words (when thus utlited)
signify trouble or caZamiv: it is thus tlrat the A ~ s b sof' the Desert say, in
speaking of persons under misfortune, that they have fallen into hais-hais.
He died at Baghdad on the eve of Wednesday, the 6th of Shibin, A . H. 5.74
(January, A . D. 1I 79), and was buried the next rnornirrg in the ccrnctery of the
Koraish, situated on the vest side (01 !//he ligrbi,i). When aslced concerning his
age, he would reply that he was living in the world at random; the fact being,
that he did not know the date of his birth. He used to assert that he descended
from Akt11at-n llrn Saifi at-Tamimi, the philoeophcr of the Ambs (1 0). Me left
no posterity.-Z-Huwair is a village in the province of Khiizestiin, twelve
miles distar~tfrom al-Ahw3z.

( 2 ) Literally : In t h e Arabic language; that is to say, in lhc dialect of lhc descrt Arabs.
(2) This passage is incorrectly given in all the copies. T h e true reading exists in t l ~ cautograph alone; it
is as follows: %L @L3 JL >;:G
(31 The expression p signifies literally: rubre deliciarurn, which, in A r a h ~ r ,is eiluivdent to
delicic rubrte or delicire aurcE.
( 4 ) The word rais (chief) was the title usually given to persons holding a high rank in thc civil service.-
See page 444, note (2).
(S) The coloeynth was much used as r medicine by the Arahs of tlie dcssrl, b u t the poet here pretends
that they made it into soup.
(6) The author should liavc given a word of explanalion relativc to these verses of ill-Bujairi, and stated
the reason which induced him to compose them; their drift would then be understood. It is necessary to
observe that the auLoogroph wrttcs J (aCBujaijoiri)and+; (Rujair).
(7) Literally : Inspector of. the manufactory at the magazine.
(8) Literally: A r ~ dwas consummated on your son al-Husain what was consummated.-He alluded to his
murder, but did notchoosc to pronounce the word, lest 11c should Irurt still rnorc the parental feelings of Ali.
(9) <'AT-TAFF,a region in the open country near KOfa; it was there that al-Elusnin was slain."--
(Mardsid.)
- (10) Aklharn Ibn Saiti, the philosopher or the judgc of the Arabs, was one of the most influential men of
the tribe of T a n ~ l m . When Muhamrnad announced his doctrines, Aktham recomrnended,his people to adopt
them, but he did not set them the example. H e died a t one of the stations of his tribe in the desert, towards
A. H. 44.-See Rasmussen's Eirtoria Anteislamica, p, $10.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.

Abd 'l-Maili Saad Ibn Ali ILn al-Kisirn Ibn Ali Ibn al-Khsim al-Ansiri a1 Khaz-
raji (descended from the Ansdrs of me tribe of K h a z r j ) al-Warrhk a\-Haziri
( t l ~ ebooh'.-copyisf of a l - H a z ~ u )and
, generally known by the appellation of 288
D a l l d ul-Kufub (the book-broker), was a man possessed of considerable in-
formation and a good talent for poetry. He compiled a number of works in
which he displayed no inferior abilities, particularly his Zhat nd-Dalzr, etc.
(ornament of ithe age, refuge o f contemporaries, and citation of the beauties
contained in modern poetry). In this work, which he designed as a c o d n u -
ation to AbB 'I-Hasan al-Blkharzi's Dunyat al-Kusr, he mentions a great
number of his contemporar~irsand predecessors, with a sketch of their lives and
some extracts from their poetry. The kn'tib Inlid a d d i o speaks of him in the
Kharida and gives numerous pieces of verse which he had learned from him ;
some of these were by Abh 'l-Maiti himself and the rest by other persons,
for he was particularly diligent .in collecting the poetry of others and inquiring
into their history. His Lurnah aGMulal~(flash of anecdote, or ratherfishes
ofmzecdotes) is a proof of his extensive acquirements (I). The followiing verses
are bv Abh 'l-Malli (2) :

Saep@.evenit ut juvenis, in cujus gena rosa fuit et i n cnjus ore vinurn, haud mihi mitem
se praeberet donec super auroram faciei ejus irrepuissent tenebrae. Pnlli equini ad instar
refractarius h i t donec eum compescuisset frenum.

By the same :
Tenebrae lanuginis circumdederunt genas ejns et amore ejus captus snspiria dnxi,
dicens : Aqua vitae i n ore ejus dulei sita est; sinite me in tenebras ingredi.

This idea bears some resemblance to that which Ebn Rashik has expressed in
the following piece : ,

Scepe juvenis fuscus, aoreo colore, ex oculis siccis imbres elicie& (mheZituta sua),
frenurn lanuginis sustinere nesciens, sicut pullus equinus habeam adhw inmetam re-
pellens, opinatus est lanuginem illam e anpore meo qritudiom expellere posse, et
caput avertit me videns, prie molestia et pudore. Sed nescivit illam jlmuginrm) viri-
darium esse in corde meo cupidinem germinare faciens. Videsne genam ejus nil alind
esse quam balteum cui ensis appensus est?
 564. IBN KJ.I.4LLIKAN'S
In the life of Ibn Abd Rabbih, the author of the i k d , we have given ;I passage
which contains an idea similar to that expressed in this last verse (see page 92).
-The following lines arc by al-Haziri :
Pons lanuginis exterrsus super aquam juventutis quae genns suas permeat, mihi viam
praebuit ad obliviscendum amorem, cum jam essem vinctus et captivus.

By the same :
I complained of the pains 1 suffered for the love of one whose absence tortured my
heart;-(pains like) a glowing fire not to be extinguished ! "My absence," replied
she, can best give you respite from your sufferine;~: did the sun not retire, his light
would burn (the world)."

he compositions of this poet abound with graceful thoughts expressed with

great elegance. He died at Baghdad on Monday the 35th (some say tlre I 5th) of
Safar, A . H. 568 (October, A . D. 1172), and was buried in the cemetery at the
289 Gate of Harb.--Haziri means helonging to Ilazira, a place higtlcr up (rhe rroer)
than Baghdad ; it has produced many learned men, who all bore this surname,
and it gives its name to the Hazira cloth.

(1) According to Hajji Khalifa, this work is a collectior~of pieces in prose and verse.
(2) The pieces which Ibn KhallikAn has here inserled would riot have beer1 reproduced in this translation,
did they not serve to prove either the extreme corruption of the age in which he livcd, or the sirigular influ-
ence ivhich the platonic fancies of tile Sufis exerted over the poetry of thc period.

SAID 1BN JURAIR.

Abh Abd Allah (some say Abh Muhammad) Said Ibn Jubair Ibn HishPm,
surnamed al-Asadi, was a black and a client by enfrzanchisement to the tribe of
Wtliba Ibn al-Warith, a branch of that of Asad Ibn Iihuzaima. This eminent
Tkbi was a native of KGfa ; he acquired his learning iinder the tuition of Ibn
Abbls and Abd Allah Ibn Omar ( l ) , the former of whom told him one day to
teach the Traditions. 'L I teach the Traditions ?" exclaimed Said, and you
" here!"-4LIs it not a favour which God grants YOU," replied Ibn Abbas, "in
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTION.4RY. 5 65

" procuring ~ o uthe opportunity of teaching them in my presence ? For if

" you do it right, it is well ; and if you make mistakes, I correct you." When
Ibn Abbbs lost his sight, Said was inscribed on the list of the myjtis, an llonour
which he had always refused to accept, and which now pavc him great dissa-
tisfaction. He learned the rending of the Koran from Ibn Abtis, not directly
(front hintself, but from one rf 12is disciples) (2) ; he received From him also
the explanation of the Koran and most of the Traditions which he transmitted
to others. His own authority was cited for the reading of the Koran by al-
Minhil Ibn Amr (3) and AbP Amr Ibn al-All, who had learned i l from him,
but indirectly. WaB Ibn Aiybs relates that Said once asked him, during the
month of Ramadin, to hold the Koran for him till lle read it, and that he did
not rise from his place till he had read it through: Said himself mentioned that
he once recited the whole of i t in one of the rcrkus (4) which he made in the tem-
ple of Mekka. It is related by Ismail Ibn Abd al-Malik (5) that Said Ibn Jubair
once acted for them as imbm in the month of Ramadin, and that one night he
recited the Koran according to the rending of Abd Allah Ibn Otba lbn illasid (6);
another night, according to that of Zaid Ibn Thibit ; followi~~g thus, each suc-
cessive night, a different mode of reading. h person having once asked Said to
put down for him in writing the explanation of the Koran, he flew into a passiorl
and exclaimed: I should rather be palsied in one half of my body than do so."
It was said by Khasif that the best acquainted among the Ta"bis with (he laws
of divorce was Said Ibn al-Musaiyab,-with the rites of tile Pilgrimage, Ati (i),
-with the distinction between what was lawful and what was forbidden, Tin~ds,
-and with the interpretation of theKoran, Abli 'l-Hajjij Mujhhid Ibn Jubair (g),
but he observed that Said Ibn Jubair had a more general knowledge than them
S
all of the whole of these sciences. Said began the world as a secretary to Abtf
AHah Ibn Otba Ibn Mastid and then served Abli Borda Ibn Abi Mirsa al-
Ashari (9) in the same capacity. Abb Noaim (10) says, in his History of Ispa-
han : 6' Said came to this city and sojourned in it for a time, after which he
went to Irak and took up bis residence in the village of Sunbolln ( l l)." It is
plated by Muhammad Ibn Habib chat when Said Ibn Jubair was at Isphan,
they asked to hear from him the Traditions, but he would not communicate an)-
to them, yet when he returned to Khfa he taught them publicly; on this some
one said to him : Abfi blluhammad! you would not teach the Traditions xhen
 566 IBN KIIALLIKAN'S
at Isphan, and here you are now, teaching them in Kfifa !" Said replied :
Set fi,ri/~ yoctr wares where you are best known (1 2)'' Said joined Al)d ar-
Rahmin Ihn Mullammad Ibn a!-Ashith Ibn Kais in his revolt against Abd
MaIik Ibn Marwan (1 3). When lbn al-Ashhh lost his life after the delbat of his
partisans at Dair al-Jamijim (I 41, Said fled to Mekka, but was arrested i v Kl~alid
Ibn Abd Allah al-Kasri (1 S), the governor of that city, and sent to al-Hajjij Ibn
Ydsuf with Ismail Ihn Awsat al-Uajali (1 6). AI-Hajjij, on seeing him, said.:
Wretch, son of Wretched ! didst thou not come to Khfa when a vile ATab of
6 6 the desert was im$m there(1 ?'),and did I not put thee in his plsce?"-~LYes:"-

" And did I not appoint thee kQdi?and when the people of Kdfh murmured and
said that none Lu t an Arab of the desert was fit for thal oilice,. did I riot replace
thee by AbG Borda Ibn Abi MBsa, ordering him, however, not to decide any
question without consulting thee l"- L'Yes."-" Did I not admit thee to my
evening parties as a companion, though the company were all Arab chieftains?"
-Yes."--"The first time I saw thee, did I not give thee one hundred thousand
dirhims to distribute among the needy, without qirestionirlg thee afterwards
6 L about the manner in which the money \,as employed l"-" Yes."-" What
then made thee revolt against me Y"--4r An oath \~~hical~ bound me to Ibn al-
990 Ashith." Here al-Hajjiij grew angry and said, after a pause : "And before that,
west thou not bound by an oath to thc Commander of the faithtul, Abd al-
a Malik? By Allall ! I shall put thee to death ; guard, strike off his head." This
passed in the month of ShBbin, A . H. 95 (April-May, A . D. 7'1 h), or $)L[., at W h i t ,
outside of which place Said was interred; his tomb is still visited Gy pilgrims.
He was forty-nine years of age at the time of his execution. On the day in
which he was arrested, he said : " An inrorrner has denounced me in God's holy
<' city, 1111t I call him to an account for it before God !" The person whom he
meant was Khllid al-Kasri (l 8). Ahmad Ibn Hanbal said : Al-H;rj,jij killed
I'

" Said Ibn Jubair, yet there was not a man on the face of the earth who did not

" stand in need of (Sait-t and) and his learning." AI-Hajjjij died the same
year, in the month of Ramadhn, or, by another account, six months after Said,
and during that interval, God did not put it in his power to slay another human
being. When Said was decapitated, a great quantity of blood flowed from the
trunk, and al-Hajj5j called in physicians to consult them about it, and to know
why all the other persons whom he had executed before that, bled very little;
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 567
to this tlley made answer: When you put this man to death, his soul was still
'L

" in his body, and the blood follows the soul; hut as for !he others, tllrir solll
" q a s gone with fright before you billed them, and therefore t l d r blood was

'L diminished ."-(The khalif) Abd al-Malik ibn Mnrvln having dreamt that
he made water four times in the milzriib ( I S ) of the mosque, he sent for Said and
having spoken to him about it, he received this answer : Four sons, sprung
" from your loins, shall govern the empire." This pradietian \\-as f~~llilled
by
the accession of his sons al-Walid, Sulainlin, Yazid, and 4lishbm.-When
al-Hasan al-Basri was informed that Said lbn Jubair had been put to death bv
al-Hajii~,he exclaimed : 0 God ! be ( t u r n e d ) against this reprobate of (rhr
a tribe o f ) Thakif l Almighty God ! if there be any persons on earth, from
east to west, who were accessory to his death, lay them prostrate into the
'Lfires of hell !" It is related that al-Htijjij, when on I h p point of deatb, would
faint away, and on recovering, cry out: "But what business has Said Ibn Jubair
" with me ?" The report was, that whenever he fell asleep during his last ill-
ness, he saw Said come up and seize him by the girdle, saying : '' Er~en~y of God,
arise ! why didst thou murder me?" Orr which he nould awake in terror and
exclaim : What business has Said I bn Jubair with me ?" It is related also that
a person saw al-Hajjij in a dream, after his death, and asked him what Gad
had dorle to him. He put me to death," replied a1-Hajij, once for each
" person whom I put to death, and seventy times for Said Ebn Jubair."-The
shaiklz Abfi Ishak as-Shirazi mentions in his book, entitled al-;'13rtlzaddab, that
Said Ibn Jubair could play at chess with his back turned to the chess-board, and
in the chapter on evidence, he cites this fact under the head of c h e s s - ~ l a ~ i n ~ ,
(it being questioned whether a cl1ess-p layer's evidence could he received in rr
court of law).

(I) AbO. Abd ar-Rahm8n Abd Allah, son of Omar lbn al-Gattab, was one of the most eminent among
the Cotnpaniorts of &luhammad by his piety, his generosity, his contempt of the world, his learning, and his
virtues. Though entitled by birth to aspire to the highest places in the empire, he never hearkened to thedic-
tates of ambition; possessing a vast inllueace over the Moslims 'by his rank, his instruction, and his holy life.
he neither employed nor 'abused it in favour of my party, apd duriq the civil wars which raged among the
followers of Islamism, he remained neuter, solely occupied with the duties of religion. For a period of sixty
qe,qr$, eeraons 6 c g ~ e . f r o pall parts to consult him and learn from hi@ the Traditions. His generosity was
equal t o his piety, and it is stated that he would frequently distribute thirty t h o u ~ n ddirbims in charity on
the d a p m which~hegave audienm. His slaves mll*knew Phe extent of-his k h d n e ~ sod , m a v of them aF
568 IBN KIIALLIKAN'S
fhcted an extreme devotion with the well-grounded hopes of obtaining their liberty When his fricnds remon-
strated with him on this subject, telling him that his slaves were only deceiving him, h e used to answer:
I let myself be deceived by him who essays to do it in pretesting God's name." H e died a t Mekka, A. H.
73 (A.D. 692-31, aged 84 years. AI-Bokhlri says: "The most authentic Traditions are those given by Malik,
after N B f t , on the authority of Ibn Omar. - (Tab. a1 -Fokahd, fol. 5.)
(2) In the style of the Traditionists and Koran-readers, the word Ly is opposed to L&...,.
(3) The author of the Tabakdt al-Muhaddithtn gives a short account of al-Minh%lIbn Amr. According
to his statement, al-Minhal was a client by enfranchisement to the tribe of Asad Ibn Khuzaima and a native
of Khfa. He then mentions the names of the doctors under whom he studied and those of his pupils, but he
does not give the date of his death.
(4) For the pronul~ciationof this word I follow the Kdmt2s.
(3) This Ismat1 was probably a son of Abd al-Malik Ibn MarwAn, the fifth Omaiyide khalif.
(6) This was a nephew of the celebrated Koran-reader Abd Allah Ibn Masbd. His father, Otba, was one
of the Ansars. - (Talkth.)
(7) There were two celebrated TBbts who bore this name; themost eminent was AtA Ibn Abi Rablh, whose
life is given in this work. The other, named Ath Ibn YasBr, is noticed in Lhe life of his brother Sulaimin;
see page S 6 of this volume.
(81 The celebrated im%m and Tab2 Abh 'I-Hajjaj MujAhid Ibn Jubair was a doctor of the highest autho-
rity in jurisprudence and the explanation of the Koran. He received his instruction from some of the prin-
cipal Companions of Muhammad. Abd Allah I b n Omar respected him to such a degree that he held his
stirrup when he was getting on horseback and arranged his clothes. H e died A. £3.101(A. D. '719-20)or iii.
-(Tab. al-Fokahd.)
(9) The life of Abil Borda is given in this work.
(10) The life of Abb Noaim has been already given, page 74.
(11)SUNBOLAN, a place a t 1spaban.-(Marasid.)
(12) Literally: Spread open your cloth where you are known.-This is evidently a proverbial expression,
but I do not find it in al-Maidhi.
(13) See Price's Retrospect, tom. I. p. 485; Abh 'l-Fed&, year 77; AI-Maktn, p. 6.5, etc.
(id) DAIR.%L-JAMAJIM lies at seven parasangs from ILQfa, on the road lending to Basra. This convent, or
dair, received its name from the wooden cups, or drinking-vessels (jamdjim), which were made there.-
(1MarQsid.)
(15) His life has been already given, page 484.
(16) This Ismail was probably sent with the prisoner to guard him.
( I T ) Al-Hajjhj alluded to Shabtb I b n Yazld ; see his life in this volume
(18) See the account of Khllid's death, page 486.
(19) See page 37, note (3).

SAID IBN AL-MUSAIYAB.

Abd Muhammad Said Ibn al-Musaiyab Ibn Hazn 1bn Abi Wahb Ibn Amr
Ibn Afiz Ibn Imrin Ibn Makhzdm, a member of the tribe of Koraish and a native
 BIOGRAPHICAL I)ICTIONARY. 1369
of Medina, was one of the seven great jurisconsul[s of that city. Mre have already
given the lives of two; that of Abh Bakr (pnge 263) and that of Khirija ( p a g e
481). This Said was the clrief of the first series of the liibls, and united to the
knowledge of the Traditions and of jurisprudence, the fear of God, profound
piety, and contempt for worldly goods. He received instruction fram [he lips of'
Saad 1h11 Abi Wakkls (1) and A b l Huraira (2). Abd Allah Ibn Ornar 'S) onco
said to a person r h o questioned him ( 0 1 1 a point of religion) : Go and ask
" that man about it," meaning Said, and then come and relate to me his an-
" swer." The other oheyed his orders and Ibn Omar said: "Did I not tell thee
'' that he was one of the learned 1" Another time, xvhen speakiug of him, he
observed to his disciples that if the Prophet were to see Said, he would feel joy
a t the sight. This doctor met a number of hluhanlmad's companions arid
learned (Traditions) from them ; he visited also the Prophet's widows and ga-
thered from them inl'01-mation. The greater part of the authelr ticated Tradi-
tions given on his authority were received by him from Abh JIuraira, whose
daughter he had married. Az-Zuhri and Mak'hdl being asked ~ h was o tile 991
ablest jurisconsult they had ever met, they replied that it was Said Ibn al-Mu-
saiyab. By his own declaration, he performed the pilgrimage forty times, and
it is stated that lle said : L For the last fifty years I hare not missed the first
L

4 L Takbir (4) nor seen the back of a man during the public prayer;" such was

his punctuality in arriving suficientlp early to obtain a place in the first rank
of the congregation. It is related also that during the space of fifty years hr
said the morning prayer without making any ablution since that of the pre-
ceding evening (when he said the last prayer o f t h e day) (5). Said was honk
in the third year of the khalifat of Omar (A. H. 11 5-16, A . D. 636-7) ; he came
to manhood during the khalifat of Othmin, and died a t Medina, A. H. 91 (A. D.
709-1 0). or, by other accounts, A. H. 95, or one of the intervening yean :
some even sav that his death did not take place G11 the year 105. His father's
name must be pronounced lllrrsn$ab (as being the passive participle of the
verb Saiyab), but it is related that Said himself pronounced it Musaeib (as the
aciive because he bad said : '' May God reward (sa@ab)him who
pronounces my father's name @J~.lrrsn2jib (6)."
370 IRN l i B h l , L l l i ~ ~ N ' S
(1) Ah& Ishak Saad I b n A]ji \vakk$s M i l i ] ~Jblr Waltil), n dcsccndant Al)d Mallit, was, b y his
account, the third person u l ~ o m&luhammad convcstcd to Islamism, hcing lllcn scvcnlccn years of age.
fought i n all the Prophet's battles, s ~ t dwas cmplnycd as govcrnor Iky Omar i~lltl1 ) Olhmnn.
~ H c (lied a t llis
castle in A P I ~ ,~$4 ( a town ten miles Roln &ledirli~, a n d W ~ intcrrrd
S a t tlic Dilki, or ccnlctcry of this latter
city. His death occurred beljyecn A . I[. 50 and 55. (Mujmd d - A l t b b b , 1 1 s . forlds St. Germain, No.131.)
(2) Abd ar-Rahm&n Ibn Sal;llr at[-l)abjsi (mcrnber of 1 1 1 tribc ~ of Daws, I)l.ilncll of t h a t of h a d ) , and sur-
named AbQ n u r a i r a (the man I p i [ h t f l e kitten), was :I co11lCmpO~aryof n1~ll;llllllliltla n d O l l C of his most dc-
voted followers. He bore the n;lnle of Qhd S h ~ r n sbcforc his con~er'~io1l.l['llc SUrllarflC of Abh IIuraira was
niyen him by his people because lip brought thcrn h o n ~ colte dily, i n the slcavc Of Ilis clonli, t h c young of a wild
cat which h e had found whilst tending his Uocks. 3luhamrnatl s o n ~ c l i n ~ ccallr:tl
s Irirrr Abll H i r r ( t f t e man willl
tlLe cat). I t is related that Iris mother rcsistcd all his enbrts 10 rorrvcrt Ilcr to Islilnlis~rl,ou \bhicl~hc begged
of the Prophet to pray that her hcart might be opened to the truth : tlrc ])rilyeI' was cKectunl; on returning
home, he was informed by l ~ c that r she now acknowledged o n c only Gntl it~ldhis aposlle Rluhammad. HP
embraced islamism, A. H. 7, a n d died a t McdEna, h. H. 87 (A. D. 676-7), a t the age of 78.-(Siar as-Salaf:
Ilatthew's ~Wshcfft al-illasdbtl~. )
(3) Sce page 567, notc ( l ) .
(4)The takbtr consists in the repclitinn of thc tzdn immcdiatcly hcfo~,cthe praycr.
(5) This is a proof that he did not take any sleep d u r i n g lhc inlerval; for, irt t11nt case, the ~ h l u t i n nwould
have been necessary. IIe most probably pnsscd t l ~ cniglrt i n dcvotiorral oxc~.r:iscs.
(G) There is here a grammatical quibble in the original tcxl altich dis?rp[)cars in tllc trnnslation. Indeed 0,)
examining the passage attentively, 1 thinli it may very ~ v c l lsignify: P1i1y Gorl rclvard him who rcma.rds my
father! I n which case his father's name stlould l)(! ~!ronourrcct~ dfusai?/nb, for !,his word means T ~ W U T ~ CIbn ~ .

lihallikiin's statement is conIi~.mcd,Iro\vevcr, by lllc a u l h o ~ . o fllrc [I'ubukOl n l - f i k a h d , who says lhat Said
was well plcascd when he lrenrtl l ~ i sfather's rtamc p r o ~ ~ o u n c c hlusui!liO.
tl

AlBU ZAID AL-ABSARI.

Abh Zaid Said was son to A h Ibrl T l ~ i b i tIl)n Zaid I l ~ nKais Ibn Zaid Ibn
an-Norufn Il)u hlilik Ibu Tllilaha 11111KnaL I l ~ nal-KllazrnJ ; but. Mullanlnlad Ihn
Saad says, in his 7irGnBril, that, l ' l l ~ l ) i t , AI& %aid's g r ; ~ n d b i ~ h cwas
r , tllc son of
Badlir 11111 A l ~ iZaid TIlibit Ihrr %aid ib11 Kais ; tlle iormcr genealogy is given
in his ITis(ory, and God linows which of the two is correct. Abli
ljy t l ~ eKl~~itilr
Zaid, so~bnamedal-Ansiri ( I j, was a native of Basra and a philolop~r;he held
the first r m k among the 1ilerar.y men of illat tirne, a i d devoted his atlention
principally to the stt~clyof tllc philology of tllc Alallir. language, its sillgular
terms and rare expi-cssiorls. In his religious opinions he was n Kadarite ( 2 ) ,
but his authority as a correct transmitter of pieces preserved by tradition is
 BIOGRAPHICAL I)ICTIONhI~T. 57 1
admitted. Abir O h m i n al-Mizini related that he was once present when a[-
AsmAi \vent up to AbG Zaid who was then surrounded by his pupils, and after
kissing him on thc head :3), sat down among them and said: Thou hast been our
" lord and master for the last fifty years." Ath-Thauri elates that Ibn bluni-
dir said to him : "Shall I give you rhe charactt~sof pour pupil~?-~4Ms-
" mhi has the best-stocked nlemory of them all ; A bii Obaida surpasses them i l l

6 6 general informn~ion;and Abd Zaid al-Ansari is the surest authority in tra-

" ditional knowledge." An-Nadr Ibn Shurnail mentions that he, Ahh Zaid
al-Ansari and Abd Muhammad a\-Ya2idi studied all three together i n the
same book. The following anecdote is told by Abir Zaid, to whom it was re-
lated by Kllalaf al-bhmar (5) : d' 7 went to Kiifa," said Khalaf, " to take down in
" ~ ~ ~ r i twhatever
ing pieces of (ancienr) poetry the learned men of that city might
" communicate to me (by orol tradition); but as they were very tenacious of'
" their information, I offered them forged picc~s, and obtained from them
<l genuine ones in exchange. Some time after, I had a severe sickness and
L L (~.epelzlirrgof my iil,zpostrire) I said to them : ' Alas, sirs ! I have now turned

'' myself wholly t.o God, and 1 must confess that the verses which I gave vou
were made by rnyseif.' They \t.ould not, however, believe me, and these
" pieces still continue to be attributed to the Arabs of the desert." Ab6 %aid
composed a number of useful philological works, such as his treatises on the
bow and the shield, on camels, on the natural constitution of man, on springs
of water, on the dialects, on rare expressions, on the plural and dual,
on milk, on the tents of the Arabs, on the softened pronunciation of the hamza,
on the (shepherd's) rod, on wild animals, on the difference (between the parts-
of the human body and those ofanimals) (51, on the first and fourth forms of
certain verbs, on names rarely borne, on the hamza, on nouns of action (6),
etc. I have seen a Grie work of his, a , treatise on jdants, which contained a
number of curious passages. It is related of ShBba Ibn a\-Hajjij that, as he
was one day dictating Traditions to a circle of pupils, he got fatigued with his
occupation, and looking around, he saw Abii Zaid al-Aniri in the last rank
of his auditors and called to him, wping : ''0 AbB Zaid :
' It is dumb, the dwelling of (my beloved) Maiya, and answers us not! Could it
' speak, it ~vouldgive us news in aboodance ('i).'
 S72 IBN I<TiA B,LIICAR"S
'(Come here to me, Abli Zaid !" The clisciplc thcn drew near to lris master,
and they began to converse together and recite poeros, on wllicll orle of the
eoe students who were learning the Traditions said to ibim : " 0 Abir Bistiim ! we
weay llle skin off the backs of o u r w ~ n c l sin journeying hither, that we may
learn from your nroutll the Tratlitions rrspecting the blcsscd Prophet, and
yet you neglect us and amuse yolrrself with poetry." S h d h , on hearing
this reproach, flew into a rage and exclaimed : " I know hest, fellow ! what is
filled for me; and I swear by the one only God! that I have a sounder know-
" ledge of this (nzeaning poetry) than of that (tnenrritzg the 1571dil1;7?2~).''A&
Zaid lived to a very advanced age, having nearly atreined his hundredth year;
he died at Basm, A. H. 21 5 (A. D. 830-l), or by othrr accourlts in 21 4. or
aged, it is said, 93 years ; some say 95 or 96.

(1) He was so called because he drew his descell~from the Ansdrs.

(2) The Kadarites held the heretical doctrine of rnan's free-will. SW Pocock's Specimen and M. de Sacy's
Expos6 de E'Histoire des Dr~czes,Introduction, page X,note.
(3, It must be recollected that the master a r ~ dthc scholars were seiltcd on tllc ground.
(4) AbQMuhriz & ,
j Khalaf al-Ahmar Ibrr Ilaiyan was i~descendarrt from orle of llle prisor~crswhom Ku-
taiha Ibn Muslim carried off from KhorasAn on conq~leringthat provir~cc. I1c Itas a poet of some talent, and
made verses which he attributed to the Arabs o f the desert; hc composcd i ~ l s on work trcatir~gof them and
containing poems descriptive of their manners.-(Fihrest, rol. 66.) Thc year of Iris death is not given, but,
by what Ibn Khallikan says, he must have lived i n the latter half of the sccond crntury of the Elijra. In the
Ham&sa,p. 382, is a poem attr~butcdto Ilaabbata S h a r r a a , b u t in reality composed by Khaluf al-Ahmar.
(5) See the Handscltriflen, or catalogue of M. de Hanrmer's mantiscripls, page 50.
(G) The greater part of these treatises were only collecliol~sof passagcs in prose and verse, composed by
celebrated authors and selected by the cornpiler as applicable t o his subjcct. M. d c Hammer possesses a
tolume of al-bsmhi's warlts containing six pamphlets of this kind. See lris Irundschriflc~t,No. 61.
(7) This is the beginning of some ancient poem.

AL-AKIIFASI3 AL-AUSAT.

Abil 'I-Hasm Said 1bn Madda, surnamed al-Akhfash al-Ausat (or the second),
was a client, by enfranchisement, to the tribe of Mujjsbi a n d a native of Balkb.
He and al-Akhfash el-Akbar (Akhfash major) Ab6 'l-Khattib were both gram-
marians of the school of Basra : Abh 'l-Khattib was a native of Hajar (or B&-
 BIOGR A PIIlChL DICTIONARY. 313
rain) and a client t o one of the tribes of that country ; his real nanle was -4bd
al-Hamid Ibn Abd al-hlajid, and be had Abb Obaida and SibaTaih arnong his
pupils. Al-Akhfash al-Ausat was one of the great Arabic grammarians ; though
older than Sibavaih, he had studied grammar under him, a~rdhe used to say :
'' Sibawailr did not insert a single passage in his Book ( I ) till he h,ld submitted
'' i t to my examination : he tllen showed that he understood tire sul!jccr bet-
" ter than 1; now, however, 1 know it better- than he." Tllr rollowing anec-
dote was related by the family of Said Ibn SQlim (2) to Abti 'l-Abbis Thalab,
by whom it has been handed down : " Said, having one day received the visit
'' of al-Farr5, said to us : ' Here is the chief of the philologen and of the
0

grammarians who is come to our house.' T o wlrich a]-Farri replied : Not

" so, whilst al-Akhfash lives." It was this al-Akhfash who added a new mea-
sure, called ul-khrrbab, to those already known in prosody; a circumstance
noticed by us in the life of a1-Khalil (see page 4943. He is the a u ~ h oof r the
following works (3) : The Aasat, or mediz~mtreatise, on grammar; Explanation
of the figures of rhetoric employed in the Koran ; on analogical deductions, a
~rammaticalwork ; on Derivation ; on Prosody ; on Rhyme ; on the Thoughts
which usually occur in Poetry; the Book of Kings; a treatise on Interjections ;
the Great Collection of ( yhiloIogical and grammatical ) Questions ; the Lesser
Collection of Questions, etc. He was (what the Arabs call) an njln'; that is,
orle who cannot close his lips over his teeth. The word aX./+ush means having
little eyes a bad sight. He died A.H. ?l 5 (A. D. S O ) , but some say A . H.
224. The name of al-Akhfash al-Asglrar (Aklfash minor) was given to him
till Ali Ibn Sulaimin, another A khfash, came into notice ; it was then changed
into &hkhfash al-Aosat (Akhfash medim).--Mujdshi lbn Dirim is a branch
of the tribe of Tamim.

(l)The celebrated treatise on Arabic grammar by Stbawaih is generally called the Book (Kitdb).
(2) Said I b n SAlim (or SaIm according to the MS. No. 63-1) lbn Hutaiba Ibn Muslim Ibn Amr was a
J
He
resident in Khorasan, where he governed some cantons near Marw under the authority of the khalif.
taught the Traditions in that province, toahich he had gone d u h g the reign of al-&On. He n
s learned
in the grammar of the Arabic language and in the Traditions, but was very reserved in communicating his
information to others. (The Khattb's History of Baghdad, fol. 108.)
(3) The works of the old philologen and grammarians formed two cl.sss, tbc bob (kutub)and the com-
posed bwks (kutub musannafa). See Introduction.
 IBN KHALLIKAN'S

SAID 113N AL-MUBARA K AD-DAHBAN

Abh RIuhamrnad Said Ibn al-WubBrak, a gntmmarinn and native of

dad, is known by the surname of Ibn ad-Uahhbn. 1Te descended from
Abi 'l-Ynsar Kaab al-AraBri (I), as Inay 1)e seen from lllc following gerlealogy :
Said Ibn al-Mubirak Il,n Ali Ibn Abd Allah ILli Said Ibn Muhammad Ibn Nasr
Ibn A b i m Ibn Abbid Iljn Isim lbrr al-Facl1 Zbn Zafar Ibn Glrallib Ibrl I-Iamd
Ibn Shikir 1bn IyAd ll)n I-Iisn Ibn Rqji Ibri Olni Ibn Slrild Ibn Abi 'l-Ynsar Kaab
al-An&ri. Ibn ad-Dalllrin learned tlre 'l'radi tions I'rom A bil 'l-Kisim IIibat
Allah Ibn al-IIasin, ABii Ghilil, Ahrnacl Ibn al-IIasan Ibn al-Banni, and others;
Iry his knowledge of grammar he was the Sib~waibof ilral ti~no,and he corn-
on this subject nlany instructive works, amoilgsl others, a commentary
90j in about forty-three volumes on the frlrilr and Tr~knziZ(~ [of' A6li Ali 'l-Fcirisi);
a greater and a less work both entitled ul-Pusill ( c / ~ ~ p t o : sa )large ; commen-
tary in two volumes on Ibn Jinni's gra~nn~atical traeatisc, thr: Lutnri, and entitled
by him al-Ghurra (the Bright star); this is the llest of all the numerous corn-
rnentaries on the LumcZ which I have seen. IIis other works are : a treatise on
Prosody, in one volume; lectures on Gramnlar, in one volume likewise; tlie
Saidiarz epistle on the Kl;u.liai~ plngiczrisms, in which Ire exposes the stolen
thoughts of al-Mutanabbi (al-Kil~di), in orle volume ; a common-place hook in
seven volumes entitled Za/u- c ~ r - R i i d(J2ocvel.s r?f' the meudows), the Kit&
akGhunia (the abunrlnnt aid, an o~.d~og.r.aphicaIwo~nlr)treating of' the letters
d g and h, the OA.lid(collc~r~s) on tlrc long and sl,or*t.~ Y a n don the letter r ;
another Gllwziu on those words which beal. opposite significations, etc. When
1Ln ad-D:ihhin was :tt Uaghflnd, ;I r l l r r n l ~ c k l . o f otllcbr gr:~mrnarians, suclr as Ibn
al-Jawililii, Ibn al-Kbashshill, alid 1l11r as-Shajari ( 2 ) , all of' thcln great masters
in their art, were residing i n that c i ~ y ,yet rhc public considcred tlinl as their.
superior in talent. He afterwards l&, Ik~glrd;~d ant1 proceeded to Mosul with
the intentioii of visiting the vizir .lami'tl acl-din al-Isbahhni, strrnamed aldaivtvid
(whose life we intend to give), and being received by him with great favour, he
remained for a considerable period undrbr his potection. The same year an
inundation of the raivcr occurred a t Baghdad, and as he had left his hooks be-
hind him in that city, he despatched a person thither to bring them to him, in
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIOI\'l\I\\',
case they had escaped injury. This collection, in the formation of wl~irllIIP had
passed his life, had been entirely s u b m e r ~ e d ,but the greatest damage \vllich i t
had suffered \\-as caused by the waters of a tanyard situated behind his house,
which overflowed a t the same time and entered into the room where he books
were deposiled. They were brought to him in that state, and i j e i n ~advised to
fumigate them and save as many as he co~lld,he employed upwards of t hirtv
pour~dsweight of ladonur~r(3) for tbo t purpose, but the smoke aflkcterl his
head and eyes to such a degree that he lost his sight. Numbers have pro-
fited under his tuition, and I saw the people of Rlosul and the neighbour-
ing countries study with great assiduity the works of which the titles have fxen
given above. He died at hlosul on a Sunday in the month of Shawwhl, A. H.
560 (Mav, A . D. 1174), or 566 according to Ihn al-RIustawfi, and was buried
near the Rlaidin Gate, in the cemetery which is named after al-Moifa Ibn Imrin.
Me was born on Thursday eveuing, the 26th Rajnb, A . H . 494 (May, A . D.
1101), in a part of Baghdad called A-(llrr 7'n'biA. Some sag, however, that his
birth tool; place on Friday. I.le composed some good poetry, of which we mav
cite the following passages :

Avoid levity of conduct-it discredits a man's character; but gravity exalts him in
public estimation. Be not deceived by the smiles of princes; the cloud utters riot its
thunder but when it smiles forth 'the lightning-rash).

Think not, with your talent for poetry, to become our equals; the hen has feathers,
yet she cannot fly.

Think it not strange that I should dread the day of my separation from you ; I, of
whom lions stand in dread. Did you never remark that a new garment cries aloud
when a piece is (torn away and) separated from i t ?

The kn'iil, Im5d ad-din mentions him with commendation in the Khalida and
gives a (sligh~) sketch of his life (4). It is related by AbS Saad as-SarnAni that
the hdfiilir, Ibn Asikir of Damascus told him that he had heard Said ibn al-hlubi- 9 9 4
rak Ibn al-Dahhin say : " L saw in a dream a penon of my acquaintance who
'' seemed to address these lines to his beloved :

0 thou who deferrest to pay thy debt towards me1 is this procrastination and delay
to endure for ever? Soothe my heart with the most trifling favour ; a nothing from
' thee will suffice it.'
576 IBN KIIALLJIC AN'S
C L When 1 saw 1bn ad-Dallhhn," comli~iucsas-%mini, "I repeated to him
4 1 the circumstance, but it was quite unkrlow~lto him ; he might probably have

f i let it slip frolll his memory, for Ibn Aslkir is a narrator of acknowledged

L' veracity.'1 lbrl al-Dahl~jnthen asked as-Sam%tii to dictate it to him, and

Ilaring written it down, lle headed i t with these words : 1 wcrs &firmed by m-
Sanacif2i,on the aol/lorbity r?f ibn d s c i k i ~ ;i v l r ~tiled nzine, tl~ut,etc. A rela-
tion tllus on the autl~orityof two prrsons who therein cite that narrator's
own, is a faet of great singularity. He had a son called Abh Zakariyi Yahya
Ibn Said who cultivated literature and poetry; Ahd Zakariyk was horn at.
\losul to\rards the beginning of the year 569 (A. D. 1173), and died in the
same cily, A. H. G1 6 (A. D. 1210-20). IIe was interred in his father's tomb.
The follo~vinglines were composed by him :
IF I praise obscurity of life, those whose attention 1 havc awkened will rush on be-
fore me to enjoy it. By it I was led to happiness, why should I point out the way to
others?

The following passage is attributed to him :

I remember that in the days of my youth, my stature was erect like the letter e l i f ( \ )
traced in a koran by the hand of Ibn Mukla (5). But now I am bent down and seem
as if I were seeking in the dust for my lost youth.

( l ) Abll 'l-Yasar Kaab Ibn Amr, a mcnibcr of the tribe of Khazraj, and a native of Medlna, was one of
the Anslrs. He was present at all the battles fought by Muhammad, and a t thal of Badr he took a\-Abbts
Ibn Abd al-Muttalib prisoner. Died at Medina, A. II. S5 (-4. D . 674-8).-(Siar as-Salaf. TaEkZh.)
12) The lives of these three grammarians are given by Ibn Khnllikln.
(3) Ladanum is a gum which exudes froni a species of cistus.
:4)See Xharida. Man. No. 2447, fol 33 v. I

,S) Tlte life of Ibn Mukla, the celebrated penman, will be lbund in this work.

SOFYAN ATH-THAURI.

Abb Abd Allah Sofyan ath-Thauri was the son of Said Ibn Masriik 1bn Habib
Ibn Rifi Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Mauhiba Ibn Obai Ibn Abd Allah lbn blunkid ibn
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 5n
Nasr Ibn al-Hakam Ibn al-Harith ibn Thalaba 1bn 1lalk:n Ibn Thaur llrn Alid
Manht Ibn Odd Ibn Tibikha Ibn al-Yis Ibn Modar Ibn Nizhr Ibn hlaadd Itrn
Adnjn. SofyBn ath-Thauri was a native of Kdfa and a master of the highest
authority in the Traditions and other sciences : his piety, devotion, wraci t?,
and contempt for worldly goods were universally acknowledgctl, arid as an
imim, he is counted among the ilIi/jtahids. It is said that the shniklt Abir
'l-KQsim Junaid followed his system of doctrine; this, howerer, is a point cm
which different opinions are held, as has been already mentioned (page 335).
S o f y h Ibn Oyaina declared that he did not know a man better informed than
Sofyin ath-Thauri respecting what was permitted and what was forbidden by
the law. It was also said that Omar Ibn al-Khattib was the greatest man of the
age in which he lived; after him, Abd Allah Ibn al-Abbis ; next came ash-
Shlbi , aldamasll, and their con temporaries ; then Sofyin a th-Thauri. This
doctor learned the Traditions from Abii Ishak as-Sabii, al-Aamash, and others
of the same eminence ; he taught the Traditions to a!-huzli, llun Juraij, nluham-
mad ibu islrak ( l ) , and others of that class. Al-Jlasbdi gives the folloainpl
anecdote in his ilIzlr*rijad-Dahnb, in the same terms as it was related to him l)!
al-Kikia Ibn Hakim : " I was one day at the court of al-BIahdi when Sofyin ath-
" Thauri came in and addressed him with the common salutation which orlr

" Moslim makes to another, and not with that to vhich he \vzs entitled as kha-
lif: during this interview, (the vkir) ar Rabi (lbn YGnus) was standing behind
" the prince and leaning on his sword, ready to execute whatever orders he m i ~ h t

" receive. AI-Mahdi then turned with a smiling face tomards Sofyin and said :993
" L You are much mistaken in some of your ideas respecting me : you imagine

'' that if I wished to do you ill, I could not execute my intention; but now, that
" ~ O L are
L in my power, do you not fear that I may award you whatever punish-
" ment my caprice may dictate?-'If you pass sentence on me,' replied Sofyin,
" ' a powerful sovereign who knoweth right from wrong will pass sentence on

. " you.'--'Commander of the faithful !' exclaimed W-Rabi, ' shall this rude fellow
'' be allowed to address you thus ? Let me strike oB his head !'-'Nay, silence !'
4 4 replied al-Mahdi, ' he and the like of him would desire nothing better than

to die by our hands, so as to make us wretched (in the next IEfP) whilst
" they would enjoy eternal happiness : draw up an act nominating him kldi of

" Khfa and forbidding any person to control his decisions.' The paper w a s
73
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 579
KidQm (3). His parents dwelt at KAfa, where i t is said he himself was born,
and whence he was taken by his father to Mehka. (~Wuhnknzad)Ibn Saad
mentions him in the Trrlakdt and places him in the fifth class of the learned
men of Metka. SofyQn was an im Am, a man of learning, piety, and morti-
fied life, firm (in controlling his passions), and unanimously appreciated for
the exactitude of the Traditions and other relations which he handed down. He
made tlre pilgrimage seventy times, and laught the Traditions on the authoritv
of (Mrtlzanzmad Ibn Muslim) az-Znhri, Abfi Ishak as-Sabii, Amr Ibn Dinir (A),
Muhammad ibn Munkadir ( S ) , Abh 'z-Zinid (6) ALsim Ibn Abi 'l-Najajdd, al-
Aamash, Abd al-Malik lbn Omair (7),and other learned men. His own autho-
rity as a Traditionist was cited by the imim as-~hifi,Shbbba ibn al-Hajjaj, Mu-
hammad Ibn Ishak, Ibn Juraij, az-Zubair Ibn Baktir, nlusib Ibn Bakklr's
uncle (8), Abd ar-Razz5k Ibn Hammiln asSanfni (g), Yahya Ibn Aktham the
kidi 11O ) , and a great number of others. I read in a collection of anecdotes that
Sofyin one day came out of his house to some persons who had come to learn
the Traditions from him, and exclaimed, in a fit of ill humour: "Is it not an
unfortunate case that I who sat with (and studied under) Damra Ibn Said,
c ' which doctor sat with Abb Saad al-Khudri who sat with Obaid Ibn Dinir who

"sat with Ibn Omar-that I who sat with az-Zuhri who sat with Ans Ibn hla-
" lik,"--naming many others, - should now be obliged to sit with you (and
give you lessons) ?" On this, a vouth who was in the assembly said to him :
Are you in earnest, Abb Muhammad ?'---'6Yes."-" Then the misfortune 9 . 9 ~
'' which the disciples of Muhammad's companions underwent in having you for
a pupil, was greater than yours in having us." On this, Sofybn cast down
his eves and recited these lines of Abil Nuwis :
Expose yourself to the aim of the archer, you may yet escape unharmed. (Fear most
your own tongue !) better to die of the malady of silence than (live with) the malady of
talking.
W h e n the assembly broke up, they began to speak of the cleverness of the
lad, who was no other than Yahya Ibn Aktham at-Tamimi ( ( l ) , and Sofyin
said : L This boy is well fitted for the company of those other people," meaning
the persons high in rank and power. It was said by the i m h as-ShPfi that he
never saw a person more capable than SofyHn of giving an opinion on a point
of law, nor one more averse to doing so.-AbB I d , Sofyjn's pndfather, was
;i native of Kbfa 3 r d been cmployrd 3s 311 ari~nil(l'2)I)y I(l1iilid I l ~ nAbd
Allah n\-Kasri (l3), but tire latter was deposcd from 1 1 1 ~government of
Irak, llis successor Ylisuf lL11 Omnr at11-Tllakafi ordcrcd a l l his n&r,i/s 10 he
iirr.esled, alld Abh Imyin tllcrl fled to Rlcltl;a, \ Y ~ C ~heC sctlled. Sofyin said
illat be trimself was llnrdly iwenty years old w h c ~ lhc wc111to (reside ar) Kilta,
and that (on his A l A Ilanifa told his pupils and llre people of the city
that a ]lad known Amr Ibn DinBr was comc among them. On
this," said Sofyiio, " I was visited 1)y pcrsotls who wished to speak to me
Ibn Diniir, and it was Bbh IIanifa who thus made of nlc a Traditionist.
i t I orrce qllestion~dAhli 1Iaaifa n11out Ihn DinQr and lie allswered : ' My son ! I

c c never learned but three Traditions from him, and bave a very confused rccol-

c c lec~ionoE them.' " Sofyin was born a t K i i h on the 15th of S h i b i n , A . H.

107 (December, A. D. 725), and died at hlekka on Satur(hy, the last day of
the lattcr Jumida, A. H. 1D8 (February, A . D. 814) ; 1)rlt some placc his
death on [he Grst of the rnorltll of Ha,jab. IIc was l~uricda1 al-IIajrin, a hill
towards the upper part of Mclika, near which t l ~ cinllabilants or that city are
interred : it is often mentioned by poets ilr their verses.

(I) Maimbna, daughtcr nf al-flarillr Ibn al-llnzn and mc,ml)cr o f Lbc trillc of IliliZI, was married to &las~ld
Ibn Omar ath-Thaknfi ill thc time anterior to lhc announcement of Islamisrr~. nivorccd lty llcr husl)and, slie
became the wife of Abh Zulirn Ahd HI-Ozza. and on his deatli she was cspoust!tl by the I'ropktet. A. H. 5.
She was tbe last of his \\ives. Hcr dcatli look place A. It. 61, o r 38 by anolhcr nccou~rt.-(Talklh.)
(2) Abh'l-Kdsim ail-DahhAlr 1b11Rluzdltim, a mcrrrbcr of the tribe of Bilill, 11 nativc of Khfa,and a rclation
to Zainnb, one of the Prophet's wives, was a Tdbi of the third class. Hc died A. H. 102 (A.D.720-l).-
(Nujzlm.)
(3) Ab(l Salama l i r l r Lbn Kiddrn Ibn ZAhir yib, u n~cm'bcrof tLc tribe of HilBl and a oativc of
lihfit, is linown as a h d j z ancl a devout ascct,ic. He died A. 11. IS5 (A. I). (i75j.-(Nz6jzlnt.j
( 4 ) Abh Muhammad Amr Ibn Dioir was n rnawla a ~ t da native of Alcltka. kIc is counted among the
most eminent of the TUbZs and considerctl as a Trnditior~istof thevery highest authority. H e was one of the
mujtahid irnims. Died A. H. 126 (A. D. 743-4), agcd R0 years.-(fib. al-FoRahd.]
(5) Abh Biilir Muhammad Ibn IVIunladir, a member of tltc tribc of Korcish and of Lhc farnily of Taim AIloh,
was a Traditionist of good authority. H e died A. H. 130 (A. D. 747-B), or 131 .-(Tab. al-.Muhaddithtn.)
(6) Abb 'z-Zinld Abd Allah Ibn Zikain l$' 3 , a native of Medtno a r ~ da mawla to thc tribe of Koraisb,
was a doctor of the law and one of the Tdbis. His varied information, his talents, and his veracity as a tra-
ditionist entitled him to a high pre-eminence among the learned of that day. It is related by (Muhammad)Ibn
Saad that he saw Abb 'X-Zinbd enter into the mosque of the Prophet (at Medtna), with a s many folloa~ersas a
prince; some wishing to coilsult him on questions relative to inherited property, some on arithmetical ques-
tions, some on the meaning of obscure verses in the poems of the desert Arabs, some t o learn traditions and
 RIOGRAPIIJCAL DICTIONARY. 581
some to have other difficulties solved. He dicd suddenly in the month of RamadBn, A. H.. 130 ( h .D. 7.54
aged sixty-six years.-(Tab. al-Fokahd.)
(7) Abh Omar Abd al-Malili Ibn Ornair, surnamed al-Kibti
d .
.!d 1, a member of the tribe of Boraish, or.
by another account, of that of LaLihm, was a Tradilionist and a native of Khfa, wherc he succeeded as-Shabi
i n the post of li5di. H e died in or about the year j30 ( A . D. 747-8.)-(Tab. al-~Wihaddithin.)
(8) This doctor's life is given page 136, note (1).
(9j Abd ar-RazzAk Ibn Hanlmirn a s S a n h i (native of the cily of Sand in Yemen) al-H~myari\member of the
tribe of H i m y a r ) was one of the most celebrated Traditionists of the age. People travelled to I-emen from
all pmls of thc empire to study under him. He was a very learned man and composed some uorlis. Diecl
A. H. 3-11 (A. D. 8-26-7).-(Al-Y&fi.)
(10)The lives of those doctors which have not been given in the preceding notes will be found in other
parts of this work.
(11) The life of the celebrated kAdi Yahya Ibn Aktham W-illbe found in this warli.
(12) See page 448, note (3).
(13) See his life, page 484.

As-Saiyida (1) Sukaina, the daughter of al-Husain Ibn Ali Ibn Abi Tilih, was
the first among the vomen of her time by birth, beauty, wit, and virtue. Left
a widow by Musib Ibn az-Zubair, she became the wife of ,4bd Allah Ihn Oth-
m i n Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Maliim Ibn Hizim, to whom she bore a son named
Kurain. Her third husband, al-Asbagh Ibn Abd al-Aziz 1b11 Marwin, divorced
her before the consummation of their marriage ; she was the11 espoused by Zaid
Ibn Amr Ibn Othmin Ibn Affjn, who also was obliged to divorce her h y (the
khalif) Sulaimin Ibd al-Malik. In another statement, the order of her suc-
cessive husbands differs from that vhich we have here given. I t \\;as after ker
that the head-dress ci. la Sr~kainnwas so called (2)- Many amusing anecdotes
are related of her witty sallies and repartees to poets and other persons : meet-
ing one day with Onra Ihn Ozaina (31, a man eminent for his learning and piety,
and author of some pretty poetry, she said to him: " W a s it you who made
L these verses :

When I feel in my heart the flames of love, I try to cool its ardour by draughts of
g water. Could I even succeed in cooling with water the exterior of my heart, how
c should l extinguish the fire which rages in its interior?' "

On his answer that they were composed by him, she asked him again if he 997
was the author of the following piece :
38-2 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
When I revealed to her the secret of my love, she replied, "YOU used to desire
(secrecy and) concealment when with me; be veiled then (as to your passion) : see
L not how Inany are around us?" To this I nnswercd, "The lovc I bear you and the
(pains) I feel have already cast a veil over my sight." '

He admitted that these verses were also his, on which she said to thc slave-
girls who were (standing)around her : "You are free if such verses ever came
from a heart wounded by love !"-Orwa had a brother called Abd Bakr, \yhose
death he lamented in the follo~vinglines :
Cares haye come to visit me; 'tis thus with the cares of man. The Pleiades are
within a span's breadth of setting. I vatch the stars as thcy culminate in the Milky
jyay or travel on in their course. (Icannot sleep) for the sadness of which I am the
constant companiorl ; my heart seems to contain a fire of burning coals. (My sorrow is)
for Balir, my brother l Jhkr has departed from me l what life can now be pleasing
after (the loss o f ) Bakr ?

When Sukaina heard these verses, she asked who was Bakr? and on being
informed, she exclaimed : '' W h a t ! that little blackarnoor who used to r u n past
us? Why, every thing is pleasing after the loss of Bakr, even (t/2e conzrnon
necessaries of Zfe) bread and oil !"-It is related that a musician once sung
these verses to al-Walid Ibn Yazid the Omaiyide during a social party, and the
prince said, on learning from him that thcy were by Orwa Ibn Ozaina : W z a t
'' life can be pleasirzg afler the loss of Bnkr ? Why, the life we are now
'' leading. The poet has left us room enough to answer his question (h)."-
Orwa was extremely moderate in his desires, and he composed poems on con-
tentment which have circulated widely. I-Ie once set off from EIIjhz with a num-
ber of other poets to visit ( t h e court of) I-lishim Ibn Abd al-Malik in Syria.
llThenthey were in trodnced, the Ichalif recognised Orwa and said to him : Are
' L YOII not thc author of these lines :
' I am not inclined to prodigality, and I know that He vho is my purveyor will come
' to my assistance. If I strive to attain his favours, my efForts fatigue me; and if
' I abstain from seeking them, I receive them without undergoing any toil l'
" I do not see that you act in conformity to your words, for you have now
" come from IIijdz to Syria in search of favours."- " Commander of the faith-

" ful!" replied Orwa, " You have given me a good lesson and reminded me of

" that which the lapse of time had caused me to forget." He then withdrew
immecliately, and mounting his camel, set off for Hijiz. During the re-
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONIIRI'. ,583
a

rnainder of the day, HishPm did not perceive his absence, but drat night i ~ r
awoke from his sleep, and recollecting the poet, he said to himself: L'That mar1
'' is a member of the tribe of Koraish and his words are wisdom; Le came to
" see me, but I repulsed him and refused to grant what he required ; lle is also

" a poet and 1 shall Le exposed to his satires." The next morning, he asked
about him and learned that he had returned home, on which he exclaimt4 :
" Well ! I shall show him that favours can find him out." He then called orlt.
of his rnatvlas, and giving him two thousand dinars, he told him to bear the111
to Orwa Ibn Ozaina. The poet had just entered his house when the rnawla al.-
rived and knocked at the door; Orwa came out to him and said, on receiving the
money : Give my salutation to the Commander of the faithful, and ask him
'' what he now thinks of my verses : I toiled for favours and was called a liar;
'' I then returned'home and they came to me."-This anecdote has no connexion
with the present article, but having made mention of Oma, we were induced to 398
insert it.-The idea contained in the verses composed by Oma have been ex-
pressed in the following terms by Muhanimad Ibn Idris, surnamed Marj Kohl, a
Spanish poet :
The favours which you pursue are like your own shadow; follow them, you cannot
catch them; turn away from them, they will follow you.
Sukaina died at Medina on Thursday, the 5th of the first Rabi, A. H. 1 1 7
(April, A. D. 735). Some say that Sukaina was a surname given to her by her
mother ar-RaEb, daughter of Amro 'l-Kais Ibn Adi, and that her true name was
Aamina : but others say it was Omaina or Omaima. The genealogist Muharn-
mad Ibn as-Saib al-Kalbi (5) relates as follows : L' I was asked by Abd Allah
Ibn al-Hasan Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Ali Ibn Abi Tilib what was the real name
of Sukaina, the daughter of al-Husain Ibn Ali, and on my answering tha~
it was Ornaima, he told me I was right."-Marj Kohl died A. H. 634 (A. D.
9 236-7), in his native place, the island of Shukr (Xucar) in Spain. He was
born A. H. 554 (A. D. 1159).

(1) The titles of Saiyld (lord) and Saiyida (lady) are given to the descendants of AIi and Fittima, the
daughter of Muhammad. Saiyid has become Sidi or Si in the vulgar pronunciatioa, S&gjdo is usually

changed into Stda or Sit.

(2) Sukaina was one of the most brilliant women of her epoch. Her rank, lemning, wit, and good taste
entitled her to general admiration, and her judgment was consulted by the first poets of the day.
5%
*
IBN IL14AL1,IKAN'S
(R) Ahh knrnir Orna Ibn Ozaina, a member of the trihc o f Loith, a poet and a Traditionist, diecl A . 15,
1 1S (A. D. 73liI.-(Oiyan, ai-Tawdr2lrh.)
(4)Literally:1Te has enclosed in a \>ide (extent of g ~ o z t n d ) .
( 5 ) Abh '2-sadr Muhammad lbn as-Saib, ;I rnembcr of the tribe of ICalb and one of the learned men of
Eibfa, was a genealogist, a historian, arid a n i~~terpreter
of tile ICoran. HC composed works on tl~esesubjects,
and died a t Bbl'a. A. H. 146 ( A . U. 763-4). -(Fillrest, fol. 131.)

Abh 'l-Fath Sulaim Ibn Aig6b Ibn Sulaim ar-Rhzi, a doclor of tE~rsect of as-
Shifj, was eminent by his learning a d noted for* his talents and piely. kIe
a great n ~ m b e of
r works, such as the Ishrirn (Ltdiclirntir,lt) ( l ) , a n expla-
nation of the obscure terms occurring in the Traditions, and f1ic Tukril, (simpli-
bca.tion) (2), which must not be confounded with a work henring the same title,
cited by the imtm al-IIaramain in his Nihayat and by al-Ghazztli in his Basit
and W a s 2 ;this latter being conlposcd by nl-Kisim Zbn ; ~ l - K a E l ash-Shishi.
Sulaim's TakrZb is cited, howcrer, in the ZTnsit, chap. 11. of the sectiorl or1
Pledges and mortgages. He learned jurispriidcnce from Ahil llimid al-lsfariini
and instructed Abd 'l-E'ath Nasr al-Makdisi in that science. " I entered Bagh-
dad when a mere youth," says Sulaim, " for the 1)urpose of studying philo-
logy, and I used to go to a shaikh"-naming him-" who [aught I here. One
morning I went to his house rather early, and was told that h c had gone to
the bath. I directed my steps thither, but passing by the mosque where AbG
' L H$mid al-IslPrlini vas givine his lcssons, I went in ancl sat down arnong the

I' scholars. I-Ie was then explaining the laws on fasting and treating this ques-
tion: In one of the nights of Iiamhdan, a tnan cmbraces a woman, but ceases
" before accomplishing his desires on perceiving that it is daybreak ; has that
" man broken the fast (3) ? Pleased with what I heard, I took down notos of
'' the lecture on a blank leaf of a hook which I had with me, and on returning
" to the house where I was stopping, l repeated the lesson to my fellow-lodgers,

'' and resolved on hearing the book of fasting explained to the end, and on noting
'' it down; I therefore went assiduously to Abil ITiimid's course of lessons till I
" had completed my task (A)." Sulaim never let an instant of time pass unem-
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 3x5
d , he therefore repeated a portion of the Koran or of the rosary when
~ l o ~ e and
mending his reed pens, when passing through the streets, and during those
moments \,llich ire could not devote to study. Anin~atedwith the desire of
propagating hno\t~ledgeand of communicating his inf'orxnation to others, he set-
tled at SQr( T y r e ) , a city of Syria, but he made the remark that his reputation
fell at SGr whilst that of 4ld 'l-IInsan al-Mahimili rose at Baghdad. He was
drowned in the Red Sea near Jidda, OIA tlle last day of the month of Safar,
A. H. 447 (May, A. D. 1 0551, on 11is return from the pilgrimage ; he had then
passed his eightieth year. His body was interred in an island near al-JQr, not
far t*om the ferry established between the Arabic coast and Aiziib (on the Egyp-
tiarz side).-Rdzi means nntive of Rai, a large city in Dailenl between Kiimis 999
and Persian Irak. This relalivt: adjective receives the addition of the letter z, as
is the case with Marwazi (see page 7).-Al-Jlr is a illa age on the coast of the
Red Sea at the distance of a day and night from Medina ; this place gives its
name to the Ja'rian wheat. Abh 'l-Kisirn az-Zamakhshari
phical dictionary under the letter slzirz (li), that that al-Jir
sea-coast, at which the vessels (6) coming from Kolzdm (Su
sea of an-Nairn (7) cast anchor. Ibn fIaukal states, in his geography, that al-
Jbr, the port of Medina, is situated on the sea-coast at the distance of three
stations from that city. J i d n is another port on the same sea.-- AbA Said
IbrahEm, the son of Sulaim, died on Tuesday the 26th of Zb 'l-Hijja, A . H. 491
(November, A. D. 1098). Be is spoken of by Ibn Adkir, in his History of
Damascus, who mentions that he learned the Tradirions from a number of the
must eminent shaikhs, who also received some from him. His veracity (as a
Tmditionist ) is well established.

(1) This work is a development of the principles of jurisprudence.

(2) This is also a treatise on the secondary points of the law.
(3) During the fast of Ramadiin, the Moslim must not only abstain from all nourishment during rbe interval
between daybreak and sunset, but also avoid intercourse with the other sex during the same period. It need
scarcely be observed that in the original Arabic this qu~stionis expressed in the crudest terms, the Moslim
law not allowing circumlocutions of any kind, but requiring that every action and every thing should be
designated by its right name.
(4)This passage fires clearly the meaning of the word TcEZtkr, which is the term employed here in the
original Arabic to designate those notes of which Sulaim speds.
74
586 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
(6)Az-Zamakhshari had the strange idea of placing under the letter shZn a list of all the places betwcerl
YanbD and Mckka.
(6) Vessels \J\L
;the ordinary sigrlification of the word is bcasls of burden, but as it 1)ossesses the sanle
primitive signifira~ionas - $ b n (1. beasts of burden. 2 . ships), it may also bear the secondary one.
(7)Tllis is extracted litemlly from ttlr work uf az-Zarnakiishari, but the Sea of an-Nairn ,
$ is not
me~itionedagain by him, lleitller is it 10 bc found irt tile works of olhcr Arabic gcographcrs; it is perhaps a
mistake of az-zamakh~t~ari,lsllo might have intended 10 w i l e J!& J d Ide sea o f Oman, or the Indiarl
Ocean ; or else \ni:]l the sea of an-Namdn: on islu~idbearing this nnmc lies near the Arabian coast
d
a t about one degree ~ 0 ~ 1oft h the gulf o f Aila. See the charts of Niebohr and Rcrghnus, and tllc French
translation of al-Edrtsi's Geography, tom. 1- p- il32-

STJLAIMAN IBN YASAR.

Abii Aiylib (or AL)il Abd ar-Rahman or AI)& f i t 1 Allall) Sulaimin Ibn Yadr,
a (I), one of the Prophet's wircs, and 1~1.0thcrto Ath Ibn
f the seven great jurisconsults of Meclirln, 1lu.e~of whom
entioned in this work. Ire was Icarnclci (h1 the Zaw), a sure
authority (if2 d e T'raditirior~s),devout, pious, and an cxampla set up by God for
general imitation (3,). AI-IIasan Ibn Muhammad (4)said : "We consider Su-
" laimin Ibn Yasir as more intelligent tE~nrlSaid Tbn al-Musaiyal~;" but he did

not say that he was a more learned man or a n abler ~urisconsul~.IIe taught the
Traditions on h e authority o f Ibn Abbis, Abii Iluraira, and Ornm Salama ( 5 ) ;
az-Zuhri and other great Trad itionists taugb t Tratli t ions an his authority. W hen
Said Ibn al-Musaiyah was askcd for a 'fetwa, or' opinion on a Icgal question, he
told the applicant to go to Sulairnrin Ibn Yasir., whoiu hc declared to he the most
learned (doctor) then living. I t is rclatcd hy Kathcln ( I b r z Di'cilnaj that on 31.-
riving at Medina, he asked who was the most learned of tllc inhabitants without
exceprion, and received for answer : Sulaimin lbrl Yasir. IIc died at the age of
seventy-three, in the year I07 (A. 1). 725), or, according to other statements, in
A. H. 100, or 94..

(1)See note (l), page 580.

(2) At&Ibn YasBr, a mawla to Rfaimuna, wife of the Prophet, was il Tdbt of thc first class. His autho-
rity as a Tradikionist and jurisconsult is admitted by all the doctors. l i e died A. U. 94 ( A . D. 712-3).-
(Tab. aE-Fokahd.) -AI-YAfl places his death in the year 103.
 BIOGRAPHICAL .DICTIONARIr. 587
(3) The word means n convincing proof, a eonfutation. Pious men are so denominated because
God will bring them fornard on the day of judngnent to confute such sinners as pretend that they had no
person to set them the example of holiness. See page 878.
(4' AI-Hasan Ibn Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiya, a native of Medtna and a Tdbi, is considered as a good au-
thority for Traditions. His pupils Fcere very numerous. Ha died A. B. 100 (A. D. '118-g).-(Tab. al-
Fokahd.)
(5) Omm Salama Hind Has daughter to Abb 'S-Salt Sabi, surnamed far his hospitality, Zdd ar-tlakb (the
prouision of t h e carauafi), and a member of the tribe of MakhzOm. During the first persecutior~sagairjst
Islamism, she and her husband Abh Salama fled to Abyssinia, where she bore him Salama. She became n
widow A. 1%.4, and the same year the Prophet took her as a wife. She died a t Medtna, A. H. 59 { A . D.
678-91, and was interred irr the Babl cemetery near thai city.-(Talklh, MS. No. 631, fol. 7.)

AL-AAMASH.

Abd hluhammad Sulaimin Ibn hlihrin, a native of Kiifi andgenerally known

by the name of nl-Aamash (the bkar-eyed), was a nawla to &*ly of KPhil,
a branch of the tribe of Asad. This celebrated i m h was with superior @l&
abilities ; he was learned (in ihe law), and esteemed an exact and trustworthy
Traditiot~ist. His father inhabited Dunbiwend, from which he removed to
Kdfa, accompanied by his wife who was then pregnant, and she was there deli-
vered of al-Aamash. - As-Samini observes that he was knomn, not as a native of
Dunhiwend, hut as a native of Kfifa. Al-Aamash and his contemporary az-
Znllri were both in the province of Hijiz at the same epoch; he saw also Ans
I bn Mali k and conversed with him, hut had not the good fortune to hear from
him any of the Traditions ; those which he gave on the authority of Ans came
to him from the disciples of that imim, and he attributes them directly to Ans
without citing the names of chose through whom they passed from Ans to him.
IIe has transmitted a single tradition from Abd Allah Ibn Abi Aufa (I). He
had met and conversed wilh the most eminent among the Tribt, and his autho-
rity was cited for Traditions by Sofyin ath-Thauri, Shbba 1bn al-Hajiij, Hafs
Ibn (2),and a number of other great doctors. He possessed a subtle wit
and was inclined to pleasantry : some s r u d e ~ ~having
ts gone to him one day to
learn Traditions, he said to them on coming out of his house : Were there not
6' in the house a penon''--(rneaning his w$e)-" whom 1 detest more than I
 588 IBN IOIALLIII AN'S
do YOU, 1 sllould not llavs come out to you."-[Iavilrg one day qllarrell~d
with his wife, he called in a man to e&ct n rt:conciliation, and this mediator
addressed tire woman in the followil~gterms : " DO not nrilld his hlcor eyes and
' 6 his thin legs, but consider that IN. is an imim and that is in high estima-
i~tion." On this al-Aanlasll esclaimcd : " Got1 confourrd thcl~! thy sole inter,-
500 " lion is to point out my defects to her."-Being asked by Dhwhd I b n Omar
(the ,&lorj if the prayer was valid a1 wl~icha tailor presided as imim,
he replied Tllar, cannot invalidate thc I)rsnycrif 110 ablli tion has been made
previously (3)." ~ i w $ dthen asked him i f [Ire widrmce of a tailor was re-
ceivable in a court of law and go1 this nnswcr: " It is roccbivablc whcan accom-
dc panied lvith the testimony of two respcctablo witnessesjf~)."-It is said that the
imem Abk IIanifa went 10 sce him during a fit of illncss, and having sat by
him for a long time, h e said, when about to retire: " I1 secrns to nrc that my
'Lpresence is irksome to you."--"ljv Allah !" replied the o ~ l r c r , " you arsr
irksome to me even when you are in your own house." Another time, a
party of friends came to visit him and sat a long nlrilr with lrim ; Ire at length
lost patience, and taking hold of his pillow, he rose 111) and exclaimed : "May
God restore to health one whom you have made sick by your wistrcs for his
recovery."-It was one day n~cntio~redin his presence that the Prophct said :
" If a man oversleeps himself when he slrould have risen in the nieht (to

pray), it is because Satan bas made water in his car." On this al-Aamash
observed that the soreness of his own eyes must havc been produced Ly Satan's
urine. Numerous other anecdotes of a, similar I~irld81°C told of him. It is re-
lated by Abr*l Moamia nd-Darir that Ilish;lrn Il)n Abd al-Malik wrote to al-Aa-
mash, requiring lrim to compose a book on tlrc v i r ~ u e s of Othmin and the
crimes of Ali. When al-Aamash read the letter, he put it into tire mouth of a
sheep which ~nt it up (S), and Ile t l ~ e nsaid to the bearer : Tell him that I an-
'' swer it L ~ I I S . ' ' On this, the messenger informed him that unless he brought
back a writ ten answer, he should lose his life, the khalif having sworn to put
him to deal11 if he returned without one : (finding, horveoer, that a/-damash
was injexible), Ire begged of the doctor's friends to interfere, and they at length
prevailed on him to send a wrilten reply ; i t was worded in ihese terms : Io
" the name of God, the Merciful, the Clenlerrt !-Comalander of the faithful !
" had OthmAn possessed 311 the virtues in t t ~ cworld, tlrey had been of no uti-
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 589
lity to you; and if Ali committed all the crimes of which the human race were
" guilty, they had done you no injury. Mind the qualities of your own little
'' self, and adieu!" Al-Aamash was born A. H. 60; some say however that he came
into the world on the same day in n-hich al-Husain was killed; this was the day
of ABshBr8 (6), A. H. G1 (40th Octoher, A. D. 680). The father of al-Aamash
was present when al-Husain lost his life. Ibn Kutaiba, in his Kiln'b al-illnririf,
counts al-Aamash among those persons who were born two months before tilt ir
time. He died in the month of the first Rabi, A. H. 148 (May, A. D. 7 6 5 ~ ,but
some accounts place his death in 147 o r 149. -ZPida lbn K~udirna(7) relates
that he one day followed al-Aamash and ssw him enter the cemetery and lie down
in a newly made grave; he then came out of it, and shaking the earth off his
head, he exclaimed : 0 ! h o e narrow a dwelling!"-Dt~nbiin-end is a place
situated in the province of Rai in Persian Irak. Some call it Derncic~end,but
incorrectly. W e have already spoken of it ( page 52 3).

(1)Abh Ibrahlm Abd Allah Ibn Abi Aufir surnamed Abh Moaaia ad-Dartr blind) al-Aslam1
&%was a Traditionist of great reputation, having hnoan and conversed with Muhammad. He died at
Khfa, his native place, A. H. 87 (A. D.706) -(Tab. aZ-Muhad.\
(2) Abfi Omar Hafs Ihn Ghiiith, a member of the tribe of Kakhha and a native of Khfa, in ~ h i c hplace he
filled the duties of a kldi, is Iinown as a Traditionist. Born A K. 217 (A. D. 735); died A. H. 196 iA. D.
811-2).-(Tab. al-Muhad.)
(3) Prayer is not valid unless preceded by an ablution. -From this it may be perceived thatal-Aarnash pre-
tended to consider the prayer invalid if the irniim was a tailor.
( I ) To establish a point before the kadi, the evidence of two respectable witnesses is necessary.
(5) It may be perceived from this that the letter was written on papyrus.
(6) The tenth day of the m o n ~ hof Muharram is called the day of Aishilrb. It is held sacred by the
MosIims. For the manner in which this festival is celebrated in Egypt, see Lane's Modern Egyptians,
vol. XI. page 166.
(7)Abfi 'S-Salt Ziida Ibn Kudhma, a member of the tribe of Thaktf and a native of Iihfa, held an emi-
nent rank among the Traditionists. He died in Asia Minor @&m), A. H. 16i (A. D. TT7-8).-(T&. a[-
Muhaddithtn. Ibn al-Athir's Kdmil.)

ABU DAWUD AS-SIJISTANI.

Abb D h d d SulaimPn Ibn al-Ashid1 Ibn Ishak 1bn Bashir Ibn Shaddid
Amr Ibn Imrin al-Azdi (of the mn&e o f A z d ) , as-Sijishi, was a hcifiz learned
 590 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
i n the Traditions and the sciences connected r ~ i l hthrm, sliilful in discerning
those of feeble authority, and erninerlt for his piety and holy lib. IIe tKivelled
to various countries to learn the Traditions, and he took then1 down in writing
from the mouths at' the doctors in irak, Khorasan, Syria, Egypt, and Mesopo-
tamia. He was one of the earliest auttlors who compiled a 1)00k of Traditions
(Kitdb as-Sunan), and this work he presented to Abmad Ibn Ilanbal, by whonl
j t was admired and approved : the shaikh Abii Ishak 3s-Sbirbi, in his Tabnkdr
al-Fokahri, counts r l b i 1)Bwhd among the disciples of that imim. 1qThenAbfi
DQw&d his Kita'b as-Stman, it was said by lbrallim al-Harbi (4)
that the Traditions had been rendered easy to Abli Diwlid as iron was ren-
dered soft to DBwfid (2). " I wrote down," says Abil Dawhd, '' five hundred
thousand Traditions respecting the Prophet, frorn which I selected those, 1.0
501 c c the number of four thousand eight hundred, which are contained in this
l L book (the S~llznn). I have mentioned hereirl the aulhcntic, tbosc which seem

a to be so (3), and those which are nearly so ; but of thcm all, a man only re-
" quires four for his religious conduct : the first, those words of the I'ropl~et :
Deeds are to he judged by the inter~tiotu;the second, by rile same: A proof
of n man's sincerity in Ishnzisnz is his abstni17L)gfrom whnt concerns J t i h
not; the third, by the same: The believer is not 1t"71b a believer itntit? he
desireth for his brotl~erthat which he desil.ethLfi)rhin2selJb; and the fourth,
by the same : The Lawfill is c k n r and tlze UILZ~(.VJ;LIis clear, but between
" them are things Cloz~btJitZ,etc. (h)." Sahl 1Bn Ahd Allah at-Tustari went to
see Abir Diwlid, who was highly pleased on learning his arrival, and made him
sit down. "I have a service to ask of you, Abi! Dciwild !" said Salll.-L' Name
" it," replied the other.-" Not till you promise to do it in case it be a thing
" possible."-Lc If it be possible, I shall gmnt it."--" Then put out that tongue
wit11 kvllich you related the Traditions concerning the blessed Prophet, so that
d' I may kiss it." A bd Dh~vlid ,srantcd his request. ITc was born A . W. 202
(A. D. 817-8). After visiting Baghdad several times, he went. down to Basra,
where he continued to reside till his death. lle expired on Friday, the 15th of
ShawwAl, A. 11. 275 (February, A. D. 889).-His son Abil Bakr Abd Allah Ibn
Abi DiiwAd was a h@z of the first eminence at Baghdad, a man of acknowledged
superiority for learning, an imam and the son of an imim. He composed the
Kitiib nLMas6bih (5j, and studied in Egypt and Syria under the same masters
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 591
as his father ; he learned the Traditions in Baghdad, Khomsin, Ispahln, SijisGn,
and Shiriz. His deatlr took place A. H. 31 6 (A. D. 928-9). The h d j z AbB Ali
an-Naisibhi (6) and Ibn Hamza al-Isbahini ( i )cite his authority (S).- Sijis-
trini is derived from Sijistln, the name of a well known province; but some say
that (in the present case) it comes from Sijistdrta, a village in the dependencies
of Basra.

(1) See page 46, note (3).

(2) According to the Moslirns. Diiwhd or David, the son of Solomon, made coats of mail, and by di\ine
favour the iron was wrought by him with as much ease as if it had been Tax.
(3) In the Arabic text, read hi:?
(4)The rest of the Tradition is as follows: 'ITFh'hichmost men do not understand; and he wha avoids the
things which are dorrbtfil preserves his honour and his religion.-For the text of this Tradition, see Hama-
ker's Wakidi de Expugnatione Memphis, etc. p. 120, notes.
( 5 ) The subject of this work was unknoan to Hajji Khalifa.
(6) Ab5 Ali al-Husain lbn Ali an-Naishbbri (native of Naisdbfir), a hdF: celebrated for the extent and
correctness of the information which he had received from the most eminent Traditionists of his time, was
equally illustrious for his piety and holy life. H e inhabited Baghdad. Born A. H. RT {A. D.\ 890-1; d i d
in the month of the Grst Jumiida, A. H. 349 (A. D 960).-(Ad-Dahabi's Annals, No.M6.)
(7)Ab& Ishak Ibrahim Ibn Rluharnrnad Ibn Hamza Ibn Omlra al-Isbahini (native of Ispahan! wa5 :I
h&fia of great celebrity. He died A. H. 333 (A. D. M).-/Ad-Dahabi's Annals, No. 646.)
(81 The inability of the translator to ascertain what is meant in this phrase by the words
ir.
G!
&\obliges him to pass them over. The printed Arabic test corresponds eraerly with that of the auto-
C
graph MS.

AL-HARIID THE GRARIRZARI AN.

The grammarian Ab& i\.llisn SulaimHn Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ahmad, a native
of Baghdad and surnamed al-Barnid, is noted as one of those persons who
were versed in the system of grammar drawn up by the learned men of Irak.
He had for master in that science Abii 'l-.Abbis Thalah, and was the m s t emi-
nen t of his pupils; he replaced him when absent and succeeded him on his
death. Some good works on philological subjects were composed by him, and
other information was obtained from him and handed down by AbB Omar
az-Zlhid (al-Mutarri;) and by Niftawaih's boy, A bS Jaafar al-fsbahani, sur-
named Barzawaih (I). Al-Himid was a man of piety and-virtue, and pre-erni-
nent by his knowledge of' rhetoric, grammar, philolggy, and p t r y He
 592 IBN KHA LLIRAN'S
had studied also under the grammarians of Unsra, and combinecl their doc-
trines with those which he had learned from lhc Kifa grammalsians, but he tes-
tified a strong prejudice against [he former on the subject OE the grammatical
doctrincs \v11ieh they had tallgllrt him. lie copied books with great correctness,
and composed himself a number of works, such as (collections r,fpasscrges in
prose and Oerse conlposed by the A r r ~ L sqf the desert and r.elulirtg t 4 the
human frame, bets and archery, plants, and wild animals ; h e wrote also an
abridgement of grammar. He died at Uagbdad on the eve or Thursday, the
23rd of 26'1-llijja, A. II. 306 (June, A. D. 318), and was interred in the ce-
rnetery outside the g t c called the Bab at-Tin. Ilc was surnamed al-HZn~id
(the sour) on account of his malignant disposition : on his death-bed, he left his
books to Ab6 Fitik al-Muktadiri ( 2 ) to prevent them from falliog into the
hands of literary men, to whom they might have been serviceable.

(1) The author o f the Fihrest, MS. No. 874, fol. 121, says nothing more of Barzawnih than this : "Barn-
s a i h u9 : no mention is made of any works composed hy liirn."
(2) This Abh 'I-FAlik appears to have been a slave enfranchised by the khalif al-Muktadir.

ABU 'L-KASIM AT-TABARANI.

509 Abli 'l-Kisim Sulaimin I bn Ahrnad Ibn Aiyiib Ihn Mutair al-Laltllmi a t-Taba-
r l n i was the chief h d i ; of his time. IIaving set olit from Syria to collect Tra-
ditions relative to the Prophet, ihe spent thirty-~hree years in visiting Irak,
Hijiz, Yemen, Egypt, and the cities of Mesopotamia. The quantity of Tradi-
tions which he learned bp oral transmission was very great, and the number of
persons from whom he recci\.ed them amountcd to one thousancl. Fle wrote
some useft11 and curious books, replete wi tll ir~forrnation,amongst the rest, his
large, small, and medium editions of the hlojam (alphabetical rliclbnary of
Tradition&ts),which are the best linown of his works. Thc Jzr+ Abd Noaim
and many others cited him as an authority. He was horn at Tabariya (Tibe-
rias) in Syria, and having settled a t Ispahin, he continued there till his death,
which took place on Saturday, the 28th of Zii 'I-Kaada, A. H. 360 (Septem-
ber, A. D. 971), at about the age of one hundred years. Some state, however,
that he died in the month of Shawwhl. He was buried close to the grave of
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 593
Humama ad-Dawsi (I), one of the Prollhet's companions.- Tnbnrdni rneans
native of 7hbarrJ.a (2Uerias); as for Taabnri, we have already mentioned
that i t is derived from Toba~istdn.-Lakhmi means descended finm Lakhrn,
\\?hose real name was MBlik Ibn Adi. (Inppnge 148) we hare related the origin
of his surname and that of his brother Judrim.

( l ) Hurnarna ad-Daasi died at Ispahan, to nhich place he bad accompanied Abh Musa 'l-hshari on a
military expedition.-(S2av OS-Salof.)

ABU 'L-WALID AL-BAJI.

Abii 'l-Walid Sulaimin Ibn Khalaf Ibn Saad Ibn Aiydb 1br1 Wirith a t-Tujibi
al-Andalusi al-Biji was a member of [he sect of Milik and orle of the most emi-
nent men in Spain as a h d j z and a learned scholar. He lived in the eastern part
of that peninsula, and travelled to the East about the pear 426 (A. D. 4034-S),
when he stopped three years at Mekka with Abb 'd-Darr al-Harawi (I), and
rnade the pilgrimage four times. From thence he went to Baghdad, where hth
~xesidedfor three years, during which time he studied jurisprudence, rend rhc
Traditions, and made acquaintance with the learned men of he first rank,
such as Abii 't-Tsiyib at-Tabari, the Shafite doctor, and Abd Ishak ash-Shirizi,
the author of the Muhaddab. He passed a year at Mosul with Abii Jaafar as-
SimnPni (2), and pursued his studies in jurisprudence under that doctor's tui-
tion. He continued in the East nearly thirteen gears. The khatib Abd Rakr
(nl-Bag/zdd:di) is cited by him as an authority for some of his information, and
the same /z&& has also cited the authority of al-Eji ; thus, be says : " Al-gji
'' recited to r;le these verses, composed by himself :
' Since I have learned for a certainty that the sum of my life is but an hour, why
' should l not be sparing of it, and devote it to piety and virtue?'
He composed a great number of works, such as the Kirk6 nl-Muntuki (cf~uicr
selection ) (3), the N z k h al-Foslil fi-Abkanz il- OSQI(clzupiers of estahlish~d
authority on the maxims of dogmatic theolog)), a TaaaY wa Tujrih :h),
containing an inquiry into the credibility of the Traditionists vchose authority is
cited by al-Bukhari in his Sahih, etc. He +as one of the great Moslim imlrns.
-
(3
r
 59r~ IBN KHALLII[AN'S
11 is rnenlioned ])y him that, he heard Ahb 'd-Darl Ihn Allmad al-Ilarawi
say: &'WereccfiiCcates of cnl,acity valid, travelling in S ~ w c hOf learning would
4' be On his rcturo to Spain, he exercised tlrc hinctions of a l<jdi; it
is: even swtedthat he aetcd as such at Aleppo. Ile was horn a t Ratnlyaus (Bn-
[+ls) on Tuesday, the 15tb of ZQ 'I-Kaadn, A . 11. 403 (May, A. D. 1013), and
died a t al-nlariyn, A. 11, 47/1, on the eve of Thursday, tile I 9th of Rajah (Dccem..
her, A. D. 1OS{), between the first and second llours of prayer (5). IIe was
interred at [hc &'ha? by the sea-side, and thr: f~lncralservice was said over him
by his son Abh 'l-Kisim. AI)& Omar Ibn Abd a l - h r r , the arrtlror of the l'&'&,
305 studied under him, and Abh Muhammad Ibn Ilazm as-Zllliri llad with him
cbonferences and discussions, the exposition of which vio111d hcrc occupy too
inucll space.--B@ji means native of' B@iu(Beja), a city in tlrc Spanish pmin-
sula. There is another Bhja in tlir province of Africa, and a village bearin$
the same name lies near Ispahin. -BataZyaus s11all I)e noticrd hereafter ; as
for al-Mariya (Alnzerin),we have already spolicn of if ( p a g e 43.)

(1) AbQ 'd-Darr Abd Ibn Ahmad at-Harawi (nalcue of Hcral) was N doctor of the scct of Rlalili and
skaikir of the nuram, or sacred territory of Mekka. Fle Icirrnctl theTri~tlitionsa t flcraf., Ilaglitlad, Damas-
cus arid other cities, and composed some works, such as Sahil~, or collcc:tiorr of ~ c r r u i n c'I'raditions, a
.vdjnm, or biographical dictionary of his own masters, ctc. I n points of' 11clicf hc l'ollowcd the doctrines o f
al-bshari, in which Ile had becn instructed by thc lrhdi AbO Baltr al-llbliillalri. IIc was a Iic?/Zz, an ascetic,
and had been noted for his Stlpsm; but he afterwards marricd an Arab wife and wcrrl lo dwell ;imong that
people in the desert. Born A. H. 356 (A. D. 067); died ; ~ Mckkit.t A . 11. 433 (A.1). 1041-3). - ([lid at-Tu-
nrim, M S . No. 751, rot. 161.)
(2) Thc kAdi Abh Jaafar Muhammad I b r ~Ahmad as-SimnArri inltabitcd I ~ a g h d a dand taught tlrc Traditions
there, His veracity, learning, talents, and clegant language acquirctl Ltim gencral favour. In religion he
\\as a Uar~alitc, and 11ecom[~osedsornc H . O I . ~ ~011
S jurispr11(1~11(:~.
A s s ~ ~ n l ) l wcrc
i ~ s regularly Irald by llinl a t
his hor~se,and in those mectings the jurisconsolts i~rrdthe thcologii~nsdcl~atcddifferent questions in llis pre-
scnec. He was khdi of Mosul and remained tlrcrc till liis cleirtll, v;hich hi~ppcnetl in the month of the first
lialri, A. 11. 444 (July, A.D. 103). His Ijirlh took place ie thc year 361 (A. D. 971-21.-Simndn is a tow11
i n tlrp ~~rosiriccof KOmis, but AhO Jaafor drcvv his origirl rrorn a Sirrlrriln irr 1ralc.-(Nujn~ al-HkDtadi &IS.
Ioi~dsSt-Gcrmairr, No. 83. fol. 93. Tabalrat al-nnnrcfya M S . St-Germain, No. 132, fol. 161.)
(3) This work appears to have consisled in Traditions. serving as n hasis to thc legal doctrines of the sect
1.0 which AbQ '1-Walid belonged.
(4) 'raadll wa Tajrlh signifies juslificalion a~rdimpugning. Works bcirring this title treat of tlrc credi-
bility of Traditionists.
(5) The first lirnc of prayer is thc M . u g h ~ i bor
, ssnsel, lhc Mulrarnrncdarr d i ~ ycommcncing a t thatmoment;
t,he second is the Asha, when the evening has closed and i t is quite darlr ; the third i s tbe Subh or Fajr,
daybreak; thc fourth the Duhr, a little after noon; [he fifth thc Asr, mid-tirnc between no011a r ~ dnightfall. -
See Lane's M o d c m Eg?lplia?zs,vol. I. page 82.
 IIIOGRAPHIGAI, DICTIONARY.

ABV AlYUB AL-MURIYANI.

Abli Aivhl) Sulaimln 1l)n Abi Sulaimin RLkhlad (l) (or Uia4d) al-hluririni
ill-KhQzi was a vizir to A b i ~Jaafar al-Blansiir, having succeeded to KltQlid lbll
Ibrmak, the grandfather of the Barrnekides. He enjoyed the highest fdvouI*
wit11 the khalif by reason of a service which he had rendered him on a forIllcr.
occasion. It was this : Sulairnin Ibn Habib Ibn al-Muhallab Ibn Abi Su!i,a
to whom Abh Aiyhb acted as secretary previously to the kllalifat of al-illanslir~.
l ~ a dnominated that prince as his deputy in one of the cantons of Fars; but aftel8-
wards, on suspicion of his having embezzled the public money, he had him se-
verely flogged and then obliged him to pay a heavy fine: it was even his inten-
tion to disgrace him publicly after haring subjected tlim to bodily punishment,
Imt Abi~AiyAl) aided the prince to make his escape. Al-Mansbr, on his accession
10 the khalifat, beheaded Sulaimin Ibn Habib and chose Abh Aivdb as his v i ~ i l .
i l l gratitude for his conduct. At a later period, the khalif's feelings toi~arcis
his minister underwent an entire change; lie reproached him with peculation,
: ~ n dhad even some thoughts of making him feel the weight of his velogcallctk.
During the long period that this enmity subsisted, Abii Aiy<il never went into
al-Mansbr's presence without apprehensions for his life ; and as he alwavs
withdrew unharmed, it was said that he had an ointment, re pared by n
magical operation, with which he rubbed his eyebrows before he entered. This
idea got such credence among the common people, that A61i Alj-rib's ointmenl
became a current expression. One of his ingenious parables is thus related by
Khilid Ibn Yazid al-Arkat : Abh Aiyhb vas one. day holding a public sitting
to issue 11is comn~andsand his prohibitions, when a messenger carne to hirn
from al-Mansfir. On seeing him, he turned pale, and when the man had
retired, we expressed our astonishment at his apprehensions. On this, he
repeated to us the following fable: L It is related that the falcoo said b the
: There is not on earth a more ungrateful animal than you are.-Why
46 so ? said the cock.-Beeause your masters took you when yet in the shell
and had you batched, bringing you thus into the world; they fed you with
' 6 c their hands and you remaioed among them till you gEw up ; but now, not
U L olle of them can go near you without your flying to this aide and that side
 596 IBN ICHALLIICAN'S
l4 6 and screaming out. As for me, I was taken from the mountaius \vben already
aged, and they instructed me end tamed me ; then tllry lct me go, arid
6. L catch game in the air which I bring to my mas1cr.-'l'o [his thr: cock all-
& & swered : Had you seen as many falcons on the s[)il arid rc;i(ly for roasting
&

4 as 1 have seen cocks, you would be even Inore fcal.ft~lthan 1. -And you,
my friends,' the vizir, ' did YOU know what 1 k~low,you would not
' 6 L wonder at my /wing afraid even in the hcight of thc fllvour which you see

6. L me enjoy.' " The khalif's vengeance fell at leneth t~pottAhir AiyilL in the
year 4 53 (A. D. 770) ; be was tortured, deprived of all his prhoprrty, and he
died A . 11. 154. --iWuj.dni means belongir~gto nfiua@rin,n village in the pro-
vince of al-Ahwiz, or OS Khdzeslin, according to Ibn Nukla (2).-Kltrizi means
belonging to Khtizistcin, a country betwetln B m a and Falls. Solne say, how-
ever, that this slirname was given to liim for his av;~r.icc,hccause he took up
his residence in the valley of al-KI~lia(3) whcn at Mekka.

(1) This name should perhaps be pronounced Mukhallad.

(2) The life of Ibn Nukta will be found i n this work.
(3) Shib al-Khitz (the valley of al-KhQz) is the name of a place near Mckka. tlc perhaps rhosc this retired
place for his hahitation, to avoid receiving company.

SULAIMAN IBN WAIIB.

Abll Aiyilb Sulaimin was the son of Wahb (l) lbn Said lbn Arnr Il)n Ilosain (2)
Ibn Kais lbn Kitil (3). W hcn Ynzhl lbn Abi SohBn I)c.came govcisnor of Syria,
301 KitAl was cmployed by llirn as a secrctarv, and hc afterwards servcid Moawia in
the same capacity; Moawia passed him over to his son Yazid, and i t was in the
reign of [his hllalif thal hr died. Kais, Kitil's son, was norni~ratedby Yazid to
the vacant pla cc, and having served succcssively Yazid , M3 rwHn 11111 al-IIakam,
Abd a\-Malik lbri Mnrwhn and Hislriim Ibn Abd nl-Millit, llc died ilk the reign of
the last. Hosain, tlrc son of Kais, was then appoin~erlsnb~*ct,aryby ilishlm, and
after him he served A l a r d n Ibn Muhamn~adal-Jaadi, the Ins1 of thc Omaiyides ;
he was then employed by Yazid Ibn Omar Ibn Hubaira, who, on joining the party
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 597
of Jaafar al-lMans5r (4), procured for him a full y r d o n from the cork-
queror. Hosaio was then employed as a secretary hy at-Mans5r and by aI-
Mahdi, in whose reign he died, on a journey to Rai. Al-Mahdi then nomi-
nated Amr, ilosain's son, to the vacant place. Amr passed subsequently into
the service of KllBlid Ibn Barmali, and died, leaving a son named Said, \\-ho
remained constantly with the Esrrnek family. VlTahb, the son or Said, erltrrerI
into tire service of Jaafar Ibn Yahya ( r / ~ Barmekide),
e and afterwards passed
into that of al-Fad1 Ibn Sahl, surnamed Z ~ 'I-Riisatain.
I AI-Fad1 used to say
of him : '' I wonder how any person can keep company n-i~hWa66, and not
" feel seriously affected at his own inferiority ." On the death of aI-Fadl, hi5
brother al-Hasan took Wahb as his secretary, and confided to him the govern-
ment of Kirnlin and Fars, both which provinces prospered under his adminis-
traiion. Wahb was drowned on his way from Famm as-Silh to Baghdad, whi-
ther he had been sent by al-Hasan with a letter for al-3limiin. Sulaimin, tht.
son of WahL, was only fourteen years of age when he became secretary to a d
M i m i n ; he afterwards entered into the service of Itikh ( S ) , from which he
passed into that of Ashnjls (6) ; being then raised to the vizirat by a1 Muhtiidi,
he was employed by al-Motamid in the same capacity. He has left a collection
of epistles. His brother al-Ilasan Ibn Wahb was secretary to (the vizir) MII-
hammad Ibn Abd al-Malik az-Zai y i t , and director of the chancery oftice (7). Hr.
was an able poet a ~ i dan elegant writer of epistles, a collection of which he p u b
]ished. These two brothers were among the most distinguished men of the
time. W e have already stated in the life of Abb Tammam (see page 3543, that
al-Hasan Ibn Wahb conferred on him the place of postmaster at Mosul, and that
he composed some elegiac lines on the poet's death ; these we have there inserted
( p a g e 353).-I cannot give a separate notice on al-Hasan in consequence of m?-
inability to discover the date of his death ; for, as I have already observed in my
preface, illis book is solely intended as an obituarv, and a h a u 1 enter into [he
of any individual's life, it is not befause they are repuired hv the
design of the work, bllt merely bemuse they may furnish instruction md
amusement to the reader. -The principal poets of the time, such as Abli
~ ~ al-Bohtori,
~ and others
~ of theh same class, ~ composed, poems i n llonour
of these two brothers: one of Abfi Tamm5m1sfinest passages is the hllowing,
from a kasidcc addressed to S u h i m b :
308 IBN KEIALLIKAN'S
Family of Wahb! 1 and every man of cducation shall follo\v the path in which p,,
tread. For you my heart (longeth,) ss the livcr parched with thirst (longeth /'or louter;;
but for the rest of men, my heart is as the hearts of others.

A [,,an of great merit said, on hearing these lines, that i t would irnve beell
loore appropriate to address tlleru to the descendants of tlre l'rophet, who alonr
were lvr.orthyof being paised i t 1 such terms. Sulaimin Ibn Wefib dicd i n p i -
son, on Sunday the 15th of Safar, A . H. 272 (AUZUS~,A . D. $R:,), or by ano-
tlher.account in 271. tit-Tabari says in his 1Iisto1.y t h a ~he died on '~ucsday,
the 117th of the m o n ~ h ,in the prison ~ ~ r h e rhe
c was coul;ned by the order of
;i[-&Iu\r.nffikTallla, the fntber of the khalif al-blotadid. Tile poet al-1johtor.i
cnmpose'd the following versses OII Sulai~nhn:

His resolutions are followed by a prompt execution, a n d his intelligence discovers

plainly to him all things hidden. 'I'hat which is out of his sight is held present in his
mind, and when his eyes slumber, his mind is awakc.

'I'his idea has been frequently employed by poets ; it i s thus that Airs Ibn IIajnl.
;it-Tamimi (S), an ante-islamic poet, has said :
When the man of penetration thinks of you, he may be said to see and to hcar you.

The same idea has been thus variously exprcssecl by diffe~>ent

poets :

He foresees so well the results of an affair, that they might be thought t o have al-
ready informed him (of ti~eircoming).

He foresees so well the results of an affair, that by his good judgment he might be
said to witness occurrences before they come to pass.

He knows so well the course of events, that he may be said to havc his eye fixed upori
to-morrow.

When hearts hold secret converse, (you Isnow what passes in them) as if you saw
then1 plainly.

The dilyerent manners of expressing this single idea would form a long chap-
ter, and we shall not expatiate farther o n the subject.-Sulaimhn filled succes-
sively different places in the public o%ces of government, and was raised to the
vizirat, which he occupied till the time of his imprisonment and death.-It is
related that the khalif al-Wiithik once turned towards Ahrnad Ibn al-Khasib (9)
the kktib, and recited to him these lines (of nn ancient poet) :
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. S99
T w o persons, b o t h of them rich, are my d e b t o r s , and h a d Cod so willed, Bey had
paid me Before this. One of them, 0 my friends ! is Omm Amr; a s for the o t h e r , ask
me not her name.

Sulaimin, on being informed of the ciscumstance, exclaimrd : $Iav God

" protect me! by Onzm A m r is meant Ahnlad Ibn al-Khasib, and bv the other

" it is I who am designated." And stlcll was really the case, t h e khalif havinz
confiscated their property a few days afterwards (1 0). When Sulaimin \vas pm-
moted to the vizirat, (or by another account, when his son Obaid Allah \,.as
raised to that post,) the following verses were wvrilten to him by OObaid .\llall,
the son of Abd Allah Ibn T&ir (whose life wrll be fonnd farther on) :

F o r t u n e refused us her f a v o u r s , but s h o w e d her kindness for us in grantjag them to

those whom we love and esteem. And I said to her: ''Complete thy beneficence to-
" wards them, and leave us i n neglect ; i m p o r t a n t business should be done first."

(1)The family of Sulaimin was originally Christian, but had embraced Islamism.- Fakhr ad-din. 31s.
No. 898, fol. 228). The father of his ancestor Kitill bore the name of hlatta (Jfatthcw).
(2) This name is written with the vowel-points in the Fihrest. The beginning of this article to the \\ordh
Itre have already stated is copied verbatim from that work.
(3) The orthography and true pronunciation of this name are uncertain.
(4) Yazid Ibn Omar I b n Hubaira, governor of Irak for Marwan Ibn Muhammad, fought for his master till
the last, and held out in Wilsit eleven months against Abh Jaafar al-Maosor. I t was only on learning this
death of his sovereign that he surrendered.-(See Price's Retrospect.)
(5)I t i k h , when a boy, was a slave to Sallam al-Abrash, by ~ h o mhe v a s employed as n cook, and ah,,
sold him to al-Motasim in the Tear 199 (A. D. 814ctj). Being possessed of great courage, he was raised to
places of the highest authority by that prince and by his successor a[-Whthili. He a a s named commander o r
Lhe household troops L;-'! d
at Sarr-mann-rda, and it was by his hand and in his house that persons con-
tlemned to death by al-alotasirn were executed. Under al-Blutawalikil he held the rank of eornmander-in-
chief, general of the nlaghribin and Turkish guard, grand-treasurer, postmaster-general, grand-chamberlain,
and governor of Baghdad; but a circumstance happened mhich inspired the khalif with the utmost dread of
llis powerful favourite. They had been both drinking together, and al-Mutawakkil, heated with wine, in-
sulted ItAkh so grossly, that the offended officer threatened to take his life. The next morning the khalif
was reminded of the scene, and ofered an apology for what had passed. but some time after, he procured ii
person who snggested to Ithsh the propriety of making the pilgrimage to Mekka. The permission of a[-
llutawakkil having been obtained, he left Baghdad preceded by all the troops, clothed in a pelisse i r f
jlonour, and authorised to exercise the supreme authority in every town through which he passed. On hi.
return, in the month of Zh 'l-Kaada, A. H. 230 {July, A. D. W), he was received with great honour ;II
Baghdad by b h a k Ibn Ibrahtm, who had been nominated governor of that city in the interval, and who
now invited him, in the most pressing manner, to come and stop a t hi palace. ItAlih hesitated. but
a t length to I b n Ibrahim's solicitations, he went in, and a t the same moment the w a r d of four
hundred young slaves who always accompanied him were Shut out. It%kb was immediately cast in10
 600 IBN KHALLTKAN'S
chains and deprived of e\ery nourishment till he expired, after \~llich~ ~ i t n e s s ewere
s brought in t o examine
his body and dcpose that he had died a natural death.--(Ibn al-AtMr. Ibn Shukr.) The Iiltter historian
~~.IL;J\
>? ; a title similar to tliat already
calls It3kL1 the sword of the khalafs' vengeance =
rloliced,page 347, and wllich is now sufficiently explained by the obser\ation of Ibn al-AthPr in the foregoing
cltract. -At siege of Ammhriya, A. H. 223, lthkh commanded the right wing of the MosIim army, and
i n the yearpl5 he was appointed governor of Yemen.-(Ibn al-AthPr.) Itis name i 4 differently pointed in the
NSS., it is found n r i t t e , ~,+bj
dtydkh, tb,!Itdkh, and ,L!. M. Hamaker suggests, in his m r k enti-
L ' C
tled E v e d i t t o adversus Dymyatham, p. 4%, that the true reading may be Inakh, a word still employed by
the Uzbeks to signify prince or emir. I n the autograph MS. it is written j'~?,!.
ifi) Ashnls, one of a]-Motasim's generals, commanded the van of the Moslims a t the siege of Ammfiriya.
la the year 225, he married his daughter to Afshtn, the general v110 conquered BBbel, al-Khurrami. He
,lied A. H. 230 ( A . D. 84&5).- (Ibn al-Ath9r.)-See also Freytag's Selecta e x Hdstoria Halebi, p. 84.
(7) See note (4), page 33.
(X) Aus lbu Hajar was a contemporary of al-Hutaiya and NAbigba al-Jnadi.
(9, Ahn~adIbn al-Khastb became vizir to al-Muntasir, A. 'EI.245 (A. D. 862-3)
(ID) A t that time the governors of the provinces confided to their kdtibs, or secretaries, the duty of colicecling
the public revenue, and the enormous fortunes which some of them acquired in the cxercise of this office ex-
cited, more than once, the avidity of the court of Baghdad Tlte peculators were then cast into prison,
put to the torture, and obliged to pay heavy sums before recovering their liberty. An instance of 11~1smay
be found in the Annals of Abh 'I-Fed& under the year 230. SulaimAn Ibn W a h b a a s onr of Lhc kdtibs impri-
soned that very year, and h e had to pay four hundred thousand dinars for his tleliverance. H e w a s then i n
the service of ItBkh. His brother al-Hasan was confined wilft him, b u t obtained his liberty i t t it much
cheaper rate; fourteen thousand dinars were all he was obliged to refuotl. - (Ibn al.At11Pr.) Sec also I b ~ r
Shutr, vol. VIII. p. 55

SINJAR IBN MALAKSJIAII.

AI)& 'l-Harith Sinjar Ibn Malakshil~ Ibn Alp-Arslh~r Ibn Uiwlid 11x1 hlikiil
11111 Saljik Ibn Dakik was si~ltarlof KhorasAn, Ghazna, anci Ma-war:-an-Nahr

(i"ru12soxiano); prayers were offered up for him from the plrlpits of Arabian
and Persian Jrak, Adarbijhn, Arrin, Armenia, Syria, Mosl~l,DiAr Rakr, Diir
Rabia and the two sacred cities (Mekkn and Meclinn); mor~cywas struck in
his name from one extremity of the Moslim empire to the other, and the titles
of as-Sultin al-Aaram (the powerful .sultan) Moizz ad-din (the exalter of t h e
fnitz) were conferred upon him. His noble spirit and his liberality ranked him
among the greatest of princes; it is said that, during five successive mornings,
 BIOGRAPHICAL DIC'I'ION.4RY. 601
he launched into every species of beneEcence and gave away seven hundred thou-
sand dinars (l), besides horses, pelisses, and other valuable objects. His trea-
surer stated his conviction that the riches contained in his master's treasury
surpassed what had ever been possessed by any of the Persian kings (Chosroes):
" I one day told him," said he, that among his stores were one thousand satin
" dresses, and I requested 11im to look at then1 ; taking his silence for a proof 306

" of his consent, I displayed them all before him, saying : 'Why not look a t
' what htllongs to you ? why not praise Almighty God for the favours and
' bounties Le has conferred upon you?' On this he extolled his Creator, and
observed that it a o ~ ~ be
l d disgraceful for a prince like him to have it said
(that he hoarded) riches on riches. He then gave orders to introduce his
" emirs, and he shared all the dresses among them. He possessed also one
l ' thousand and [him pounds weight (mrl) of precious stones; a thing un-
" heard of in the history of any other prince." The authority of Sinjar and his
good fortnne kept constailtly ir~creasingtill the year 548 (A. D. 1153-h), when
he was defeated and taken prisoner by the Gt~ozz(2), a people of Turkish origin.
The history of this event is well known (3). It was then that the jurisconsult
Muhammad Ibn Yahya, whose life will be found in this work, fell a martyr.
The power of Sinjar was broken by tl~eseinvaders ;they tore his kingdom asun-
der, obtained possession of Naisiphr and massacred a countless multitude of the
inhabitants. Sinjar'remained with them a prisoner five years, and during the
interval, the kingdom of Khorasan was dissolved and the city of Marw fell into
the power of Khowirezm Shih (4.). He at length effected his escape, and hav-
ing returned to Khorasan, he collected his partisans at Marw, and was on the
point of recovering his throne when the term prescribed to his life came to its
expiration.. He was born on Friday, the 25th of Rajab, A. H. 479 (November,
A. D. 1086), in the environs of SinjBr, and it was on account of this o h m -
stance that he received his name. His father, the sultan Malak Sh%, happened
to stop at that city on his passage through Dijr Rabia, when he received intelli-
gence of the birth of a son ; on which he ordered him to be called Ginjar. In
the year 490 (A. D. 1097), Sinjar became the lieutenant of his brother Bark-
yiritk (see his l f e , page 251), and in 512 (A.D. 1418-9) he obtained the solre-
reignty of the empire. Having escaped from his captivity althong the Gbou., he
died at Marrv on Mooday, the 14th of the first Rabi, A.-.H. 552 (April, A. D.
76
 603 IBN 'KIIALLIKAN'S
1157) and was interred in that city. The Seljlik dynasty in Khorasan ceased
with his existence, and most of his kingdom fell into the possession of Khowl-
rezm Sh$h Atsiz Ibn hJuharnrnad Ibn Andshtikin, the grandfather of Tukush
Khowirezm Sh&.-Ibn al-Azrak al-Fhriki (native and historian of ilfajdfd-
~ikin)states, in his IIiscory, that Sinjar died in the year 555 (A. D. 1 160): God
knows best !

(1) The dinar of that time may possess an intrinsic value of about nine or ten shillings.
(2) Ibn Khallikan calls them the Aghazr; this is the singular of the word ; Ghosz is the ~llurol. Ibn Khal-
dfin names them the Aghzltz, which word is the plural of the plural form ghozz.
(31 See AbO. 'l-Fcdl's Annals, year 348.
(4) For the history of Khowarezm Shah Atsiz Ibn Muhammad Ibn Anhshtiktn, see Pricc's Retrospect,
vol. 11. page 390.

SAHL AT-TUSTARI.

ALii Muhammad 6ahl Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Y-ilnns Ibn Isa Ibn Ahd Allah Ibn
Rafi at-Tustari, a celebrated saint and gifted with miraculous powers, surpassed
all (the Su"JiS) of his time in the practices (of 7nystic devorion). He became
acquainted with the s/zaik/~Zh 'n-Nlin (I) at Mekka. The mortifications
which he practised were excessive, and the command which he acquired (over
his passions and world& inclinations) was cxtreme. From the Following
relation, made by himself, it appears that it was his maternal uncle Mnhammad
Ibn Saww4r who was the cause of his entering on the path of the devout life:
" My uncle said to me one day, L Why dost thou not call to mind God thy

'' creator?'--' HOW,'said I, ' must I call him to mind ?' - L On rolling thyself
up in thy clothes (when going to sleep), say three times with thy heart:
" God i.s wit?z me ! God is looking on me ! God is crlitrzessing nzy conduct !

" and let not thy tongue move to pronounce these words.' For some nights I
" dib as be tyld me and I then informed him of it. Repeat the words seven
" times every night,' was his answer. This I did and I informed him again.
" f R e p t them eleven times every night,' said he. I followed his advice, and
" a sweetness fell into my heart. A year afterwards my uacle said to me:
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 603
" 'Keep in mind what I taught thee and persevere in it till thou enterest into
'' the grave ; for it will profit thee in this world and in the next.' During
' ' some years I continued the practice and found therefrom a sweetness in my
" inmost self. Then one day my uncle said to me : ' 0 Sahl ! he with whom
'' God is, on whom God looketh, and whose conduct God witnesseth, is dis- 507
" obedient unto him ! beware of disobedience.' " Such was the commence-
ment of his devotional career. We dwdt for some time a t Abbadin and also at
Rasra, in which city he died in the month of Muharrarn, A. H. 283 (February-
March, A. D. 896)) or 293 by another account. Our shaikh Ibn al-Athir men-
tions, in his History, that Sahl was born A. H. 200 (A. D. 815-6); orhers
say 201, at Tustar. - Tustari means belonging to Tustar, which is a town of
the canton of al-Ahw%zin KhlizistQn. This place, which is mmtin~escalled
Shushtar, contains the tomb of al-BaA Lbn Mglik (2).

(1)See his life, page 291.

(2) Al-Barb Ibn MLlik Ibn an-lYadrlcr) !, the brother of Anas f i n Mhlik, war camel-leader (Mdq to ibe
Prophet, and extemporized to him scraps of poetry ( r a j a )when on his journeys and mUrarj e q e d i t i o ~ r . B e
fought at all his battles and signalized himsetf hy his bravery, having killed, in single cornbat, during the
course of his life, one hundred infidel warriors. H e fell a martyr to the cause of Islamism a t a battle fought
near Tustar, A. H. 20-1.-(Abh 'I-MahAsin's Nujam; S i a ~os5alaf.)-AI-Bar8 was one of the &l as-Suffo.
-(See Bbfi l-~eda's'Annals, gear I t ; De Sacg's Ear4~4,p. %B.)-The A4di 3 L , (n. -a-dtiver, CIICM-
,
rages them by his song, and al-Bar3 had so sweet a voice that on pass& throngh places where there were
women, the Prophet used to silence him, saying: Take care of the gair phklr, j3\,dbJb\ ;a H a d i q
probably to the supposed frailty of the female sex.

ABU HATIM AS-SISISTANI.

Abii Hitin1 Sahl Ibn Muhammad Ibn Otbiin 'lbn Yazid al-Jwbami A j i s -
t h i , a grammarian, philologer, and reoder of the Korjn, was tbe most learned
man of Basra, in which city he had settled. Master of all tbe branches of
belles-lettres, he had for pupils Ibn Duraid, al-Mubarrad, and others, (who
were afierwards) the most eminent scholars of the age. He read twice through
Sibarvaih's Book, under the tuition of aMkhfash ; this Be m e r z t i d to al-Mu-
 60b IBN KBALLIKAN'S
harrad, who declared that he heard him say so. of the oral information
which he communicated to his pupils had been received by him from AhG Zaid
al-Ans$ri, AbB Obaida, and al-Asmhi. IIe was versed in philology and poetry,
skilled in prosody, and an able elucidator of obscure expressions. In the com-
position of poetry he displayed considerable talent, but his acuteness as a gram-
marian was so inferior that, whenever he met Abii Otllmhn al-Mizini at the
house of Isa Ibn Jaafar al-Hhshimi, he either pretended business or hurried out
of the room to avoid answering any grammatical questions which the other
might propose to him. He led a chaste and holy life ; every day hc gave a
dinar in alms, and every week he read the Koran through. Some of his poeti-
cal pieces are very good, such, for instance, as the lines addressed by him to
Abd 'l-Abbgs al-Mubarrad, who frequented his lessons and studied assiduously
under him. Al-Mubnrrad was then a youth of great beauty (I). Abh Hitim
said to his pupils : If you wish to commit a secret to paper, writc i t down
with new milk; the words will appear when the hot ashes of burnt paper
are sprinkled over them. Or write wit11 a solution of white zciJ' (subhate of'
iron); the words will become visible when the paper is sprinkled with an
infusion of nutgalls. Or else write with the latter, and you may revive the
writing by means of the z q . " The following is a list of his works : Tht:
Koran analysed grammatically ; on the faulty expressions employed by the vul-
gar ; on birds ; on the genders ; on plants ; on the words terminated by a long
or by a short.eZzy; on the difference between the names given LO the members 01'
the human frame and those of animals (2) ; on the readirzgs of the Koran ; a
308 work called nl-Mnk&i wa 'I-Mabcidi (3) ; on elegance of expression ; on the
date-tree; on those words which have contrary significations; on the bow,
arrow, and dart ; on the sword ;on thc spear; on the coat of mail ; on the horse;
on wild beasts ; on reptiles; satirical pieces ; on the grain when growing u p ; otl
the human frame ; on the cases in which two letters must be united .into one (4);
on biestings and new milk ; on the vine; on winter and summer; on bees and
honey ; 011 camels ; on herbage ; on abundance and sterility ; on the differmces
which existed between the first copies of the Koran, etc. The following is a
specimen of his poetry :
'They let that handsome face appear, and then blame those who are tempted. If
they aish us to be continent, let them veil that handsome face.
 BIOGRAPBJCAL DICTIONARY. 605

He died in the month of Muharram (or of Rajab), A. H. 248 (March-April,

A . D. 862), at Basra, and was interred in the. centre of the Musalla (5) ; the
funeral service was said over him by Sulaimin Ibn Jaafar Ibn Sulaimin Ibn Ali
Ibn Abd Allah Ibn al-Abbis Ibn AM al-Muttalib al-HQshimi, who was at that
time governor of the city. --Jushrinli is derived from Jusha~n; there are a
number of tribes bearing this name, and 1 do not know to which of them Abil
Hitim belonged.

(1) The original text contains here some verses composed by Sahl on al-Mubarrad. They contain the ex-
pression of a strong platonic affection, but they cannot with propriety be translated.
('2) See page 572, note (6).
(3) This title means stops and commencemenfs. Hajji Khalira does not notice the work. and mere conjec-
tures respecting its subject would be useless.
(4) See M. de Sacy's Grammaire arabe, tom. I. pages 23 et 53, etc.
The MusuIla (place of praye7.) is a place in the open air where public prayers are said on the two great
Moslirn festivals.-See M. de Sacy's Chrastomathie, tome I, page 191.

ABU 'L-FATH SAHL AL-ARGHIYALC'I.

Abii 'l-Fath Sahl Ibn Ahmad Ibn Ali al-Arghiykni, a doctor of the sect of
as-Sh$fi, highly respected for his learning and mortified life, studied jurispru-
dence at, Marw under the skaikh Abb Ali 'S-Sinji (l), and then received lessons
from the khdi Husain al-Marwarnldi p), vith whose system of d w t ~ i n ehe be-
came so well acquainted, that his master declared that no one knew it better.
He then went to Naislphr and read over the principles of. jurisprudence under
the tuition of the Imim al-Haramain.Abi'i 'l-MaAli 'l-Juwaini, at whose assem-
blies he maintained discussions with general approbation. Having then re-
turned to Arghiyb, he filled the place of k$di for some Tears, holdiq a t the
same time a most exemplary conduct and walking in the path d\ehteousness.
He then made th; pilgrimage and became acquainted with thi gk?t doctors of
Irak, Hijiz, and at-Jibil (Persian irak), from whom he received some Tradi-
tions and to vhom he communicated others. On quitting Mskka, he went to
visit the Siifi (3) sliaikh a l - H a m as-Simnbi, by whom he was advised to
 606 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
discontinue the practice of discussing points of the law : he followed this coun-
sel, and having given up the of kidi, he confined himself to his house and
lived in solitude. He then built with his own money a little Sdfi convent, in
which he went to reside and where he remained, composing works and prac-
tising devotion till his death. He expired on the first day of Muharram, A . H .
499 (September, A . D. 11On), as he was just awaking from one OF his ecstacies (4).
He is the author of that collection of legal decisions which is called the Pat&vo
Argh&&~T~(5,). Ile had heard the lessons of some eminent doctors, such as
AbQ Bakr al-Baihaki (6), N5sir al-Marwazi (7), and Abd al-Ghhfir Ismail al-
Flrisi, the author of the filnjrna 'l-Gllarriih, the supplement to the IIistory of
Naisjpbr and other n-orks.-drghj.dr~i means lelonging to Arglziyri,,, which
is a tract of country in the dependencies of Naislpdr, containing a number of
villages.
(1) See his life, page 4i9.
(2) See his life, page 418.
(3) The word adrif (the knowing), here rendered by Sttfi, is a technical term of mystic thkologv.
It signifies one who has attained to the knowledge of the divine essence and attributes.-See the Vies des
SQfispar Djlmi, in the n'otices et Extraits, tom. XII. p. 323.
(4) See the meaning of the word hdl explained in note ( 8 ) , page 190.
(5) See however what our author says on this subject in the life of Abtl Nasr Muhornmad al-Arghiyhni.
(6) See his life, page 57.
(7) AbQ '1-Fath NBsir Ibn al-Husain al-Omari al-Marwazi, an eminent professor and doctor of the sect of
asShAB, was a member of the tribe of Koraish, and a descendant from thekhalif Omar Ibn ul-Khetthb. The
celebrated hdfii al-Baihaki was one of his disciples. He himself had studied at Marw under al-IlaffAl, and a t
Naisapur under AbCl 't-Taiyib as-Sblhki. He was an excellent professor, mufti, ar~dcontrovertist He ter-
minated a life of modest poverty and virtue in the month of Zh 'L-Kaada, A. H. 486 (Marcl), A. D. 1053\.-
(Tab. as-Shdpytn.)

ABU 'T-TAIYlB SAHL AS-SOLUKI.

Abd 'l-Taiyib Sahl Ibn Muhammad Ibn Sulaimhn Ihn Muhammad Ibn Sulai-
mPn as-Soliiki, a doctor of the sect of as-shiifi, was a native of Naislpbr. W(*
shall give the life of his father and the rest of his genealogy under the letter M .
509 Abb 't-Taiyib was mufti of Naislpjr and son OF the (fornzer) mufti of that
city; he studied jurisprudence under his father Abii Sahl as-Soliiki, who was
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 607

still living when he received the title of chief doctor of the law (inzlim). It is
universally allowed that for learning and the strict observance of religion he stood
without a rival. He received Traditions from his father, from Muharnmad Ibn
Yikiib al-Asamm, from Ibn Musattir, and from others of the same class ; he was
also a profound jurisconsult, a learned philologist, and an able dogpmatic theo-
logian. His disciples gained much instruction from the traditional learning
which he imparted to them, and it is said that when he made his course of
lectures, upwards of five hundred inkhorns were in service (the nunzber cf
those who took notes being $0 great). He was the most eminent professor and
i d r n (I) of the age, and it was from him that the doctors of Nais5pirr received
their information. His death took place in the month of Mubarram, A. H. 387
(Jan.-Feb. A.D. 997); it is stated, however, by A M YBla a1 Khalili in his i d d d ,
that he died in the beginning of the year 402 (2).-6LSoZ~kiis derived fmm
So&k"-such is the sole observation made on this word by as-Samini (in his
Ansab). It is related by Abd al-WAhid al-lakhrni that a soreness having fallen
on Sahl's eyes, his friends used to go and recite pieces of paetry and relate his-
torical anecdotes in his presence, a thing customary in such cases, and that the
shnSh Abd Abd W-Rahmin as-Sulami (3) said to him : Imim! if y o u eyrs
could see your face, they would be healed (h)." With this compliment
was highly pleased, and observed that he had never received one more flattering.
On the death of his father Muhammad Ibn Sulaimih, the following verses of
condolence were addressed to him by Abd 'R-Nasr Ibn AM alJab& :

Who will bear from me, afflicted and lamenting, a message to one who, by his learn-
ing, is the first of all. (Tell him] that patiehce under affliction best becomes the man
whose legal decisions are (just) as the judgments of God.

( l )See page 5b, note (i).

(2) AbYAf! and al-Otllabni place his death in A. H. M.
(3) This person must not be confounded with a celebrated kom-reader of the same na$e, ~~ in the
life of Absim Ibn I b i Nuifid.-See vol. 11. of this work.
(4) This is somewhat analogous to the expression : A sight of you is good for sore eyQ '
 IBN KI-IALLIKAN'S

SHA W A R .

Abir Shujia Shbwar (I) as-Saadi (member of the tribe of' Saad ) was the son of
Mujir Ibn NizAr Ibn Ashiir Ibn Shbs Ibn Mughith Ibn IIabib Ibn al-HArith Ibn
Rabia lbn Yakhnas ( 2 ) Ihn Abi Duwaib Al~dAllah.-Ibn Abi Duwaib was the
fatller of Halima, wlro norsed the Prophet on the same milk with her daughter
as$jhaimi, The father of as-~hai&& was al-Hirith Ibn Abd al-Ozza Ibn R i f b
Ibn Mallin; it was she who was carrying Muhammad in her arms when he bit
her, and she showed him the mark, (many years later,) when she went to see
him. Some say the real name of 11x1Abi Duwaib was A l ~ dAllah Ibn al-Hirith
Ibn Shihna Ibn Jibir I l n Rizim Ibn Nisira lbn Kusaiya lbn Nasr Ibn Saad Ibn
Ihkr Ibn Hawizin. The government of Upper Egypt had been confidcd to
Shiwvar by as-SQlih1bn Ruzzib, al-Aidid's vizir, wbo, when wounded (3) and
on the point of death, reproached himself wit h three faults ; the first, his no-
mination of Shiwnr; the second, his haling built the mosque which bears his
own name, and is situated at the Zawila Gate ; because it might be employed
with advantage in the defence of Cairo against a besieger; and the dlird, his
510 having led his troops as far as Uilbais, and returning back after spending up-
wards of two hundred thousand dinars upon them, instead of marching into
Syria, taking Jerusalem and eradicating the power of the Franks. ShBwar
then established his authority in Upper Egypt, and as his ambition, noble spirit,
and bravery were equally conspicuous, Silih's last advice to his son (and suc-
cessor) al-Aidil Ruzzik was, that he should neither attempt to molest him nor.
let any change appear in his conduct towards him; ShawBr being a person whose
fideiity could not be trusted, and who might revolt when it was least expected.
It would be too long to relate how Sllih's apprehensions were justiGed ; ( w e
shall merely state hat) Sbswar left Upper Egypt, and traversing the Oasis and
the deserts, he appeared suddenly at Tariija, a village hear AlexandriA, whence
he marched to Cairo. He entered that city on Sunday, the 22nd of Muharrarn,
A. H. 558 (January, A . D. 1163), and having put al-ABdil to death, he took pos-
session of the vizirat which had thus become vacant, and got all the authority
into his own hands. Al-ABdil had fled from Cairo with his family on the 20th
of ~ u h a r r a m ,during the night (but hod been pursued nnd made prisoner.)
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 609
The same year, in the month of Ramadin, Shiwar proceeded to Syria with tllr
intention of soliciting succour from (Nrrr nd-din) Mahmhd ibn Zinti, the sove-
reign of tlrat country : Ire had been driven from Cairo by AbA 'l-Ashbil Dirph511l
lbn Airnil3 Ibn SiwBr al-Lakhmi al-Mundiri ( h ) , surnamed Firis 81-\luslimiil
oj'lhe los[inzs). This ill-ab,a110was prefect of the pahee ( S ) , had
(lhe caurrlii~~~
assernbl(1d a great number of adherents, a n d llaving attacked and defeated Shi-
war, he obliged him to flv from Cairo, and slew his son T a i . He then installed
himself in the vizirat; it having become the custom of Egvpl that the victor should
take the place of the vanquished. It is well known that Nlir ad-din sent the
emir Asad ad-din Slrirkilh to assist Shiwar ; we need not therefore enter into
longer details on the subject (G), and i t linallv occurred that Nlir ad-din after
having entered E g p t t l ~ r e etimes, as mav be seen in his life, slew Shii war on
MTednesday, the 17rh trl- 18th of tlre latter Rabi, A. H. 564 (Januarv, A. D. 1169).
Shiwar w a s interred in the funeral chapel erected over his son Tai, and which is
situated in the lesser Karifa, near the tomb of al-Khdi 'I-Fidil. lie fell bv the
hand of the emir I z z ad-dill Jurdik, an enfranchised slave of Nhr addin's. Ar-
R6 hi (7) states, i II his l7ul,f;lt ul-KlruklJii, that he was slain by the sultan Salih
ad-din, who was then accompanying his uricle Asad ad-din, and that this event
took place on Saturday, the 15th of the first Jumtida, in the year above men-
tioned ; and Ibn Shaddbd says in his Sirot Snldh ad-din (8): " When ShAwar
rode forth with his suite to meet Asad ad-din, none dared to attack him
excepl Salih ad-din, who went up to him, and riding beside him, seized him
' L by the collar and ordered his men to fall on. The troops of Shiwar took to
flight and their camp was plundered; as for himself, he was taken to an iso-
" lated tent, and immediately after, there arrived a note in the hand writing
L L of the chief eunuch, by which the Egyptians demanded the prisoner's head,

in conformity to their usual mode of treating fallen vizirs. His head was
therefore cut off and forwarded to them, on which they sent to Asad ad-din
of the rizirat. llaving put it on, he entered the
the pelisse (ri~vesli~aruj
city and was inaugurated as vizir. This passed on the 17d of the latter Rabi
of the same year." The /to$% lbn Adkir says in his History : " Shiaar came
to solicit Niir arl -din's protection, and was received by him with high honour
and respect; tlnt prince sent an army with him into Eggpt, and by its aid
a ShAwar slew his rival (Dirghdm); he did not however fulfil any of his engage-
77
 rnents, and ire subseqotntly sent to ille killg of the Frnnlis, oKc>rin$n s t i l l ) 01'
lrlo~lcyfor assistance. Tire troops of' Nilr ad-din llnrl now returned 10 Syria,
arid tile king of the Franlcs, nnitnated will1 t h SC(!I.(~~ ~ 1101>aof G C I I ~ I I C Eeypt
;

into his power, nlarrhcd as f a 1 3 as liill~nis,of whiclr rily hc took possussion i l l

4 his o\vn name. N i l r ad-clirl 11arin;; receivrd intclligct~ccof this cvc)ot, dis-

' L patched (Asnrl nfl-fli,r S h i A n l ~IVLI/I):it: army into lllc coun(r9y,and t l crlrnlt.,~ ~
frustrated in their projects, retired on his approach. Slrlwar's perfidy now
becanle evident; he ~vrolr:to thc enemy for assistance, and ShirkGh, struck
l r pe~sversityexposed ilitlr, plrbtcnded ~obc unwell,
lvith ille danger to ~ ~ l l i csuch
c on mtlich Shimar wen1 to sec him, but was attacltcd and lrilled By Jurdik

511 a and Burgl~sh,both nza~vlosto Nbr ad-din. T h e death of Shiwai was cer-
tainly planned by Salill ad-din ; it was he who first laid violent 11and.son
him. Asad ad-din then remained in undisputed poss~ssionof tllc suprsemt~
h authority; the doctrines of the srrrt,rrr were again openly prokssed in Egypt,

L and the khotbn was made in the name of the Abbasidcs allcr a lapse of time
L

which precluded all hopes of its rc-establishment." Tllr doctor Orniira al-
Yanr;ini, whose life shall come later, composed some pocins in 1:onoiw of Shi-
war, and the following lines are talten from one of them :

Iron recoils From iron, hut ShSwar ncver recoils from defending tllc rcligion of Mu-
hammad. Time made an oath to produce another man like Shhwar ; thy oath is false,
0 Time 1 expiate therefore thy perjury.

Omira relates that at the ppriod of Shiwar's succcss and of the fall of rhe
Rnzzik family, a number of thcir foriner partisans and of those upon 1v11om ther
had heaped favours, were assern1)lr~d; ~ r o i ~ nShhwnr
tl on one of ilre days in .whicti
11c Ejcld a public sitting to reccivc visitcrs, and that tflcv attacked the cl~arncter~
of their former benefactors in the hopes of gai~iingtht~ir new master's f a v o ~ ~ r ,
On this occasion, Om<\ ra, n ho was prcscnl and who had met with great kindness
n Ibn Ruzzik and his son al-48dil on his arrival in Egypt, rcci(ed to
f ~ - n ~SBlih
Shivar the following verses :

Thy reign has restored health to our feverish times, and the evils which excited the
complaints of the epoch have disappeared, The (brilliant) days OF the Ruzzik family
have passed away; their praises are heard no longer, hut blame ceaseth not (to pursue
them). ( I t is now)as if the good and the just (9) of that family had never filled yondcr
throne. Here are those who roused against them thcir evil Fortune wllilst i t still slum-
bered-(and peace maketh leaves to grow on the sulam tree) (10). We thought-ant1
 our thoughts arc sometimes mistaken-that the troop of their partisans was invincible ;
but when you darted upon them like a falcon (upon his quarry), that Dock of ruliurea
betrayed tllenl 'nnd t ~ o l ito flight). Pet they Mere no despicable foes, but they were
overwhelmed by the to~rcntof your soccess. I n esalting your enemies, I only mean to
exalt your own glory; c\cuse mc then, and blame me not. If I feel grateful to them
for tl~cirL~~~dness in former days, i t is because I remember what 1 experienced, not
because I liad previously bound myself to praise them. Were 1 to c11)en m y mouth only
to bla~nctlier'r~,thy magnanimity would stirink and oblige me to close it. God, i n his
Lintincss, commands us to do good and to avoid saying evil of others.

Olrllra then proceeds to state that ShBaar and his two sons praised hitn
highly for his grnti tude to the familv of Rnzzik.-As for aldfalik al-Manshr (the
viclorioas y 1.2i2cej A bil ' l-Ashbil DirglrQm (the lion, father of the wlzelps) Ibn
SirvQr al-Lakhmi, he left Cairo on the approach of Slriwar wilh the troops from
Syria, anti was slain on Friday, the 28th of the latter JumPda, or, by another
account, in the month of Rajab, A. H. 559 (May, A.D. 1165). 1Ie fell near the
sepulchral cllapel of as-Saivida IVafisa (I I ) , situated between Old and S e w Cairo.
His head was cut off arlti b o r ~ l eabout on a lancr, and his body lay thtlre for three
tlays till i t was partly devoured by dngs ; it was then interred near the Birkat
al-Fil (!l 2 ) , and a cupola was erected near it. This I have read in some histo-
~sian,and illere is still a cupola at the Birkat which I am inclined to think is that
very one. -The word FYci/ln"t (Oasis) serves to designate a long tract of country 319
Iving parallel to Upper Egypt, and situated in the deserts which exlend to h r k a
and are crossed by the road leading to Maghrib. - Tan+ is a village near
Alexantll.ia ; its principal produce is caraway.-Shiwar's descent, as it is given
a t the beginning of (his notice, was copied by me from a (genealogical) tree
which \vas communicated to me by one of his descendants.

(i)It appears from the autograph RIS. that this name must be pronounced Slidmar, and not SMlwir, as I
have hitherto written it. Indeed, William of Tyre calls him Sauar, and lhis should have prevented me from
falling into any rnistalie on the subject.
(2) The printed text has Mukhis, which is a fault.
13) The autograph MS.bar ;all the others hare ' .
(4) The titles al-Lalihmi al-Mundiri given to this Arab chief, prove that he drew his descent from the
ancient princes of HEra.
(5) Prefect of the palace: literally, Lieutenant of the door. This was one of the highest dignities under
he Fatimiles of Egypt. The officer who filled this place went to meet the f o m ambassadors and intm-
duced then) to tlie khalif.-(Al-Nalirizi, MS. St. Germain, KO. 106, f01.343 v.)
(6) For these events consult the Annals of Abb 'I-Fedi, and M. Reinaud's Extraits, etc.
612 IBN I<IIAI,LIliAN'S
(7) The full names of this rl-riter are Abh Al)d All;~hAli Ibll Mul~crmmrtlJl)o A M n l - h ~ i ar-ni~lri.
~
must have nritten his Ti4hfntn[-[<hulafa ( preser~t fi~rkllnlifs) subscqucr~tlyl0 A . H. 5fi.'c. Arrn~llcrof his
~ ~ o r kthe
s , Ilulghat ax-Zurofd, i s noticed i n the Rib. l~otll.Cntal.
(81 See Schulten's SaEad.ini vita e t yes gestae, 1). 34.
(9) There is here a play upon the names of S U l i h and ARtEil, alricl~mean good and jtrst.
(10) Such is the literal rneiillillgof tile origirlal Arabic. l'lrerc Ci111 ])C 110 1ni5L;il~cin lhr! 1iriotc:tl text, as it
;lgrces exactly with the copy of tllc samc poem corrtaioed in 01nrirn's an-il'uiccrt ( t l - t i ~ r i y c ~orl , Irihtnrical anec-
dotes of the vizirs of Egypt, MS. of llle Bib. du Roi, NO 810, f01. 26, wllicl~rnal~uscriptIli~sbccr~ corrected
by the author himself, Tllc last word of the verse he has pointed so that i t rrrusl. be ~~rollounccd salam; yet
autograph of i(l1alliLii11.rites i t sirlint l', a word which does not exist i n Arabic. As the leaves
i;"
of the salam tree vere used in dycing, and were tllereforc frequcotly stripped OK\\c nlay s l ~ l ~ p o stbc c poet to
mean, that as thc salam trce, if left u ~ ~ t o u c h c dis, covered w i ~ l llcavcs ;incl gives slradc to the traveller, so the
Ruzzik family, had they enjoyed peace, might have flourished arid prolcctcd all tllose v\ho sougllt tl~cir
shelter.
tit) Her life will be found in this work.
($2) The Birkat al-Fil, or Elephant's Pond, lay between Cairo and the ciladc1.-(AI-ilrakrizi.)

AL-AFDAI, SHAIIANSI-IAM.
t

A b i '1-Klsim Shihanshib, surnamed al-Malik al-Af(Iit1 ( ~ l excellenr

~e prirrce),
was the son of Badr al-Jamili Amir al-Juyihsh. His Salher Badr was of Armc-
nian extraction, and had been purchased as a slave 1)y Jam51 ad-1)awlat Ibn
AmmBr (/l), who brought him u p and advanced l i i ~ ~i t 1r the world. I l i l d ~ p' ~r ~ l -
dencr, perspicacity, and energy of character rbilrikvdhim among tl~oserncn o f
eminent abilities whose number is so few, a r ~ dbc was tllel.cSorc panled lieute-
nant-governor o l Tyro, or perlmps of Acre, b y i~l-Mustansir,ttre ruler of Egy1)t.
At the period in which the alitlrority of that prbir~ec bad beell greatly zr~kebled
and the aKairs OS the empire had fallen into disorder I 2), a state or tlrings which
we sllall describe in his life, he heard of Badr alJamili's merbit and called him
to his assistance. It was then in the depttr of winter, a pe~iorlin which i t is
not usual to make a voyage, but Badr cmbarlcetl and nr.rircd at Kairo or1
the eve of Wednesday, the 28th of the first Jumida, somc say of the second,
A. H. 466 (January, A . D. 107.4), and received from al-Mustansir the direc-
tion of all the public alrairs. By his presence the authority of the prince reco-
vered the respect which i t had lost, and ortler was re-established in the slate.
 BIOGRAPIIICAL DIC'I'IONARY. G13
Ilaving been named i ~ i z i r .of the sword and d c pen ( chief o/' rhe eii,iZ nrtd
n?i/ilnryj,k i d i 'l-Kudkt (chief ildcli) and president of the nri~siona1.i~~ (S', h(*
displayed such talent in lris administration, that his alb~irel in Egypt \vas gene-
rally said to he the commeocemeni of al-Mustansir's good fortutie and the end
of his abasemvnt. Be was surnamed Amir al-Jt~~iiish (con?n2(nrrll>r
ir chipf).
A t the rnomctlt he lirst entered into al-Mostansir's presence, a person was read-
ing the Koran to that prince and had just pronounced the words : A n d God hns
12ow assisted you with Bach (4) b r ~ tdid not fir~ishthe verse ; on which al-Mus-
tansir declared that had he finished it, he ~vo11ldhave struck off his head (5).
Badr continued in power till upwards of eighty : his death took place in the
rnonth of Zd 'l-Kaada, or of Zli 'I-llijja, A. H. '88 (November, A. D. 1095) (6).
It was he who built the great mosque situated in the Sdk al-Attirin (D~.ug,oist
street) at Alexandria; he finished its construction in the month of the first
Rabi, A. 13. 479 (June-July, A. D. 1086). He built also the chopp/ ?f the
Iirad ( 7 ) at Ascalon. During his last illness he was replaced as vizir by llis
son al-Afdal ShShanshbh, ~vhoseconduct towards iSizir the son of al-hlustansir
and Iftitin t l ~ cAfdalite, governor of Alexandria, is so well known ( S ) . Having
made them prisoners, he took them to Cairo, after which they were never more
heard of. This was in the year 488 (A. D. 1095), some time after al-hIustan-
sir's death. He then placed on the throne Ahmad al-BIustali, that prince's son,
and continued to act as vizir. As for Iftikin, he was executed publicly $9, and
as for Nizir, it is said that he was immured by his brother al-Mustali's orders,
and that he thus perished. W e have already spoken of him in the life of al-
Mustnli (page I GO). lftikin was one of al-Afdal's rnamlAks, and Nizir is the
person from ahom the lsmailite princes, the possesson of the fortress of al-
Alamdt and other castles in Persia, claim their descent (10). Al-Afdal was an
ruler and possessed a sllperior jndgment ; i t was he ~ h o on , the death of
al-Mustali, placed al-Aamir, that sovereign's son, on the throne : he then took
the direction of atfairs into his own hands, and having confined the prince
in his palace, he prevented him from indulging his passion for pleasure and
amusements. This treatment induccd al-Aamir to p'ot against 'his vizir's life,
and on the evening of Sunday, the 30th of Kamadan, A. B. 515 (Decralber, 3 15
A . D. 1 121), as al-Afdal rode forth from his habitation in the imperial p l a c e
(which edifice is on the bank of the Nile and is now called the D l . rtl-Wa-
h&), lyas attacked by tllr conspirators and slain whilst proc~kedin~;
\yards yixer'. tie nras faillcr of' Abd Ali Ahmad 11111 Shhba~lshlih,of
n-llosc col;t]llct towards al-IIifiz A b i ~ '1-93aim<tn Alld al-ll:lmid al-Obaidi,
srlrcr-eielr of Egypt, \re s11:rlI nl:lhc mcntion in the lifo of that prince. 111
our notices on al-3fuslali ant1 O r l l ~ k a[--Tnrltomini ( pcrgc 171 ) VC llnvt.
slloten of al-Aftlal and nleri tiotred tlla t lrc took Jerusalem from SokrnB~l:IIK~
Il-GhAzi, the sons of Or-tol;.--Al-Afdal left after him such a quantity of wealth
as lvas never Ileard of I~eforc; thc author. of the /Ilia1 a l - J l i ~ / ~ l i u( tl iI ~) ~states
it corlsisted of six hundred n~illionsof' dinars (12) ; two hundred and fifty
],rlshp]s of tlit*llims, all of full weigllt and coinctl in Egypt ; seicr~ty--fivethou-
smd sntiu ~$obcs ; t11i1.t~
camel-loads of (pe!jltr~rc~-)
boxes i n Iralt gold ; a gold
in~llornmounted with a pr-ecious storic valucd at twelve t l~or~sand tlinil1.s ; one
J ~ ~ l r ~gold
~ ~ nails,
r . ~ d each weighin,: onc hllndred dinars, tcn of which wcre in each

nf his ten sitting rooms; and on each nail was lrnng a [urban rcndy folded arltl
embroidered in gold; each of tllesc turbans was of a tliflerent colo~lr,and he
selccted from amon$ them whichever hc was inclined to wear; he possessed
tjcsides five hundred chests of c.lorhir~gfor. llle persons in his ser.1 ice, all of the
Iirlest stuffs rvhich Tennis ant1 Dsnliclta could pl~oducc: as for tlke hor.ses, slaves,
rllules, saddles, perfumes, ornaments for the person, and lilrbt~itur-cwliich 11r left
af'cer him, God alone knew tl~circjniinrity. Besides all t h a l , were cows, sheep,
and buffalos in sllch an incrcclible numbcr that n o person would clare to men-
tion it; their milk was farmed out, and in tllc year of his dcat.h it brought in
tllir'ty thousand dinars. Among his elkcts were lbund two large trunks con-
1;lining gold needles for the use of' the female slaves and the women.

1 1 ) This was probably Ab6 TAlib Ibn Amrnir, kildi and govcrnor of Tripolis, who died A. H. 4658, and whose
ucphe\v and successor, Jalal al-Mulk Abh'l-Hasan Ibn Amm:lr, took an actitre part against the first crusaders.
(2) See the Memoire sur ta vie de Mostansir in M . Quatrerntrc's flfemohes sur ~ ' k ~ ~ ~ t e .
(3) T h e Fatirnites kcpt up till the last thcir cstablisliment of missionaries, n h o secretly propagated tire
Shtite doctrines in foreign countries and were their most active political agents.
(4) Koran, surat 3, verse 119.
(5)The rest of the verse is as follows: When you were despicable (to others) ; fear therefore Gad that ye
may peradventttre be ~:tank[ul. Had the reader gone farther, the first part of the verse would have been no
longer applicable to Badr, on account of the modification which the scnse receives from the sequel. I t
nould then have meant : And God had already given y o u the victory arBedr; besides which, the expression.
"nhen you were despicable," nould not have been flattering to the ears o r the princc.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTION.iRI'. 613
f6) llost historians place Badr's death in A. H. 487.
(7) It \ ~ c l s at Ascalon that the head or al-IIusain, the grandson of Muhammad, was ir~terrcdbefore i ~ sreB-
rlloval to Egypt.- [Abh 'l-Fedii's Anndls, year 61.)
(8) See the history of this affair, page 160, note 7).
(9) Our author here contradicts what he lras j u s ~said, a few lines aboie.
(10) See nole \i),page 161, towards tile end.
( 1 1) See note (S), page 152.
(123 This is an absurd exaggeration; 600,000,000 dinars or 300,000,000 pourido sterlitlg !

NUR AD-DiiJYLAT SHAIIAXSHAH

The emir Niir ad-Dawla t (/ight of ille empire) Shihaoshill Ibn Najm ad-dill
Aiyhb Ibn Shidi lbn Marwin was the eldest brother of Salhh ad-din, and tht*
father of the 1wo princes, Izz ad-din Farrtikh S h i h and al-Malik al-AIuzaffarb
Taki ad-din Omar, the former of whom was father to al-l:alik al-hn!jad, prince
of Baalbeli, and the latter was sovereie;n of Ilanlit ( 1 ) . T1.e intend to give the life
of Taki ad-din. Shihansh!ih fell in an engagement with the Franks (21, who had
assembled to the number of, it is said, seven hundred thousa~ldmen, horse and
foot, with the intention of invading all the Moslim countries. They advanced to
the gates of Damascus, hut by the assistance of God, they were defeated. Shihan-
shih was slain in the month of the first Rabi, A.II.543 (July-Aupst, A .D. 4 148;.
His son Izz ad-din (glory of religion) Abb Said Farrrikh Shhh (fortlulutr king j
bore the title of al-Malik al-Mansiir (the victorinns prince) and was gifted with
a noble, generous, and lofty spirit. 11-hen the sultan Sal211 ad-din re~urned
to Egypt, he left FarrGkh S h i h as his lieutenant at Damascos, and that city
enjoyed great prosperity under the firm and able administration of its new go-
vernor. IIe died there in the year 578, towards the end of the Grst Jumida
(September, A. D. 1182) ; such is the statement made by the B&ib Imid ad-
din in the work entitled nl-Bark a.$/]-Sl~n'nzi,but Ibn Shaddid says, in his
lIistory of Salih ad-din, that the sultan received intelligence of his nephew's
(leash in the month of Raj&, 5 i i ' (3); this, however, was a circumstance with
which ~ ~ ad-din~ hmust d have been better acquainted than Ibn Shaddid. Shi-
lranshlh had a daughter, named Azi5, who founded the college at Damascus
\vhich is called after ller the A;ra*w$n': she died on the 40th of hluharram,
 616 IBN KHALLIIILIN'S '

A. H. 503 (Dec~mber,A . D. 1196). As for al-Millik a]-:lmjad (the iffu~~t~iolr.~

p r i n c ~ )Majd ad-din of r-e/igio,z) i\bh 'l-Muzaflir Ballram Shbh, t l ~ .
son of Farrilhlr Shill, he possessed considerable l l i t i s , and vac :illoaed
sir 1,y Salill ad-din to rytnin lllr gorelhnment of Baalbek. IIr is the author of
some pieces of poetry a.!,icl, llnvc lieell rollrrted into a (li(rld/r. 14'hrrl ilaalbek
was taken from ilirrl f l y nl-Asl~rdfIbn al-A5dil (4), h(: 1)1,occetlcdto Damascus,
where he was mlrl-tlcrccl, iri iris own ~,csidtlncc,by one 01' his ~ l ~ a m l i l k son
, dip
eve ofWednpsdny, ille 4 %,llof Sl~n\vwBI,A I-I. 628 ( A ~ ~ g i ~4.1).s t ; 123'1.;

(I)Taki ad-din Ornar w a s ancestor to Abb 'l-Fedi.

(2) See 81. Reinaud's ExtraQs d'auteurs arubes relatzf~ azrx Croisades, p . !)3.
(3) See Schulteo's Saladini r i f a et res gesfce, pp. 48,49.
(.I) AI-bshraf receited [he principality of Damascus, A. H . 026 (A. I). 4225) and lhcn took possc%ssio~l
of
Baalbeli. - il-YAfi.:

SIIABIB IBN YAZID AL-KI-IARIJI.

Abd 'd-Dahllrik Shabil) as-Shaibini was the son of Yazid Ibn Noaim Ibn Kais
Ibn Amr Ibn as-Salt Ibn Kais Ibn Sharihil Ibn Murra Ibo IIammim Ibn Doh1
Ibn Shaibiri Ihn Thalaba ; the remainder of rhe gcnealogv is well known (I).
Shabib Ibn Yazid a1 Khiriji ( t h e /irrelic rebel) revolled at Mosul in the reign of
-4bd al-Malik lbrl Marwin wlrilst a\-Ilajjij 1.bn Ylisuf ath-Thakitfi was governor
of lrak. He slew successively five generals whom al-Hajjij had sent against
him, and he then left Mosul with the intention of reaching KliFa and meeting
al-NajjAj on his way from Basra to that city, but the latter arrived there with
his cavalry after a forced march and anticipated his antagonist. This was in
the year 77 (A. D. G96-7). IIe then fortified himself in the citadel (2) and, the
next morning, Shabib entered the city with his mother Jalliza and his wife
Ghazila. They immediately proceeded to the mosque accompanied by seventy
men, and Glradla recited in it the morning prayer, and thus fulfilled a vow
which she made of saying a prayer of two rakas and of reading the surats of
the Cow and the J'lln2ily of Inusrin (3) in that mosque, if ever she entered the
city. Her courage and bravery were extreme ; she f o ~ ~ g hint all her bro-
 B10C RAPIIICAL DICTION ARY . 617
t h ' s battles, aud on one of these occasions al-Hiijjij himself fled before her, a
mark of cowardice for which a poet reproached him in these lines:
You are a lion aeainst me, but in battle an ostrich which spreads its wings and
hurries OR on hearing the chirping of the sparrow. Why did you not eo forth in the
conflict and fight with GhazAla hand to hand? But no I your heart fled from you (as il)
with the wings of a bird.

JahZzB, Shabib's mother, was also very brave and fought in all his battles. He
himself had assumed the title of khalif and was long successful in resisting
al-Hajj$,j, who was at length assisted by a powerful- army, sent to him by
Abd al-Malik from Syria, under the orders of SofyHn Ibn al-Abrad al-Kalbi.
When these troops arrived at Kbfa, al-Hajjij went forth with them against
Shabib, who, overpowered by numbers, took to flight after a combat in which
he lost his sister, his mother, and the bravest of his partisans. Pursued by
Sofyin at the head of the Syrian troops, lie was overtaken at al-Ahwbz, and
unable to resist, he fled before them to the river Dujail. On crossing the bridge,
his horse became unruly and threw him into the river; borne down by the
weight of his coat of mail, helmet, and the rest of his armour, he yielded to his
fate, and answered to one of his companions who exclaimed : '' How! Corn-
'' mander of the faithful ! is drowning to be your lot ?"-" Yes ; such is the
' Idecision of the Mighty and the All-knowing." His body having been after-
wards cast on shore by the river, it was conveyed by the post-horses to al-Haj-
jij , who ordered it to be opened and the heart extracted. His commands mere
obeyed and the heart was found to.be as (hard as) a stone, rebounding when
struck against the ground. Withm it was discovered another heart, about the
size of a small ball, and this 'contained the drop of congealed blood (out of
which each man is fornzed) (h).-An eye-witness relates as follows : c c I saw
Shabib enter the mosque; he had on a cloak with a hood, spotted over from
drops of rain ; he was tall and of an olive complexion ; his hair was curly
" and of a black colour mixed with gray, and the mosque shook under his
" weight." He was born on the festival of the Sacrifice ( I 0th of 2 u ' G q j a ) ,
A. H. 26 (September, A. D. 647), and was drowned in the Dnjail, as we have
said, A. H. 77 (A. D. 696-7). Some time after his death, a Khkijite named
Itbin Ibn Wasila al-Harihi was brought More A M at-M&; this Itbin be-
longed to the tribe of Shaibh and was one of the heretics (5) who revolted in
78
 Mesopotamia ; his mother, ~vhosennlnr was Asila or Mrnsiln, was of the rribe
513 of Malllim. IIe had composed n long kn.ri'(Z(f, *hicl1 is insc~*tcd by al-hTar,zu-
bBni ill Iris Jfojnm, (and grrve gr.enl ofhnce to [he lihnl{f'). Alrd al-
Malik then addressed him in lilese terms : '' Enemy of God ! was i~ not. yolr who
said :
6If your hmily produced fifctrwttnand his son ( A b d nl-Malili), and Amr ntld lInslriur
and Habib, ours has givcn birth to Hlusain and al-Batin, and from us sprang Shahib,
commander of the laithfd ' ?"

To this ltban made answer : Commander of the faitllful! I clid not say
c c so ; my words were: 'and from us, sprnne Shabib; Conll~~nndcr of the faith-
fL1l!' '' The khalif was delighted with the answer and ordcrcd him to I)c set
at liberty. His reply was certainly admirable, for if the won1 nini'r (cotn-
rnrlncler) be prorlounced nmiro in the nominative case, it is Sljabib who is de-
clared to be the commander of the faithful ; but if' it I)e pronounced cr119rnis
the accusative, the interjection 0 must be understood, and the verse will then
mean, 0 Commander of the afaii/lfi,fill ! Shabib spmrjg +fromo ~ i rfnmiZy, and
nolhirrg more.-The passage which follows is extract,ed from n collection of'
biographical notices on persons generally known by their st~rnames;this collec-
tion is contained in Ibn Asikir's History OF Damascus, towards thc end of the
work : ABD ' L - ~ ~ I N H A al-Kl~iiriji,
L a poet: he went to ask Ahd al-Mahk ll,n
Marwin's pardon for having addressed to him these vcrses :
' Bear a message to the Commander of the faithful-and a prudent counsellor, if
' sought for, is always to bc found-Tell h i n ~that no peacc can exist as long as an
orator of the tribe of ThakEf mounts the pulpits of our land. Give (that) satisfaction
to the tribe OF Bakr Ibn WAil ( G ) , or a fatal day shall await you in Irak .' "

(Then follow the two verses given above.) " AbG Minhll was the surname
of Jtbln Ibn Wasila, and by the orator qf the tribe of ThnX-Vhe meant al-
'' Hajjij.- Jnhfza was the person whose silliness gave rise to the proverbial es-
'' pression, More foolish tltniz Jahhcr. So says Ibn as-Sikkf t it1 that chapter of
" the Kitdh .lsld?t oi%antik which treats of W to which the vulgar give ;i
'' wrong application. -The father of Shabib was one of the Moslims who fled to
" Kdfa during the persecution against Muhammad and his party. In the year
25 (A. D. 645-6) he accompanied Sulaiman Ibn Rabia al-Blhili on a military
'.' expedition into Syria, during which they ravaged part of that country and
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIOSARY. G19

" carried off spoil and prisoners. The father of Shahib hough1 one of the cap-
" tir7es,a young girl of a rosy complexion, tall and handsome, and ordered h a s
" to become a 3Ioslim. On her refusal, he beat her, but she nevertheless would
" not consent. He then made her his concubine, and in her pregnancy, when
" the child quickened, she said that she felt something stirring within her.

'' This p v e rise to the proverb of which we have spoken. She afterwards be-
'' came a convert to Islamism and brought forth Shabib, in the year 26, on the
" festival of the Sacrifice. She told her master that before giving birth to the
" child, she dreamt that she had been delivered of a boy, and that a flame of

" fire then issued from her and mounted up between the earth and the sky, after
" which it fell into the water and was extinguished. 'And,' said she, 'as the
" ' day of his birth is a day of bloodshed, I hope my son will reach to eminence

" and spill much blood.' "-The Dujal'l (Ititle Tigris) is a large river in the
province of al-Ahtviz, having a number of towns and villages on its banks ; it
takes its rise near Ispahin, and its bed nas dug by Ardashir Ibn Bibel;, the first
of the Sastnite dynasty at al-Madiin (Cteslphon). It must not h confounded
with the Dujail of Baghdad which branches off the Tigris opposite to al-Kidi-
siya, on the west side of the river, betweenTikrit and Baghdad, and waters an
extensive territory.-3Toru"ri means belonging to HarcZrd, a village in the terri- sit;
tory of Klifa, where the Khirijites first assembled; it was for this reason, that
they were called the Haru'rite~.

(1) See Eichhorn's Monumenta antiq. arabum, Tab. 1'6.

( 2 ) Literally: The castle of the government (Hasr al-Imira.)
( 3 ) These are the second and third surats of the Koran.
(4) See Koran, surat 22,verse 5, and S. 96, v. 2
ib
(5) In the Arabic text, for read 2 1 9 .
(6) Bakr Ibn WPiI was one of Shabtb's ancestors. See Eichhorn, Tub. IX
'

THE KADX SHURA-IH.

Abti Omaiya Shuraih Ibn al-HPrith ibn Kais Lbn al-Jahm Ibn Moaaia lbn
Aimir Ibn ar-Riish Ibn al-Hirith Ibn Moawia Ibn Thur Ibn Muratti ( l ) be-
620 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
longed to the tribe of Iiinda (nl-Kindi). Thrur Ibn M~lrattiwas the person
who bore the appellation of Kinda. Great differences sol~sistbetwecn the ge-
nealogies given as those of Shuraih, hut the preceding is the most correct of any.
This eminent came into the world before the prornt~lgationof Islamism,
and n.ss appointed kidi of Kufa by Omar Ibrl al-Khattiih. IIe filled that post
seventy-five years, with only one interruption, at the period of Ibn az-Zubair's
revolt, when 11e ob(ained the authorisation of al-IIajjij Ibn YSsuf to discontinue
his services, and did not jndge in any cause till three years after, on the death of
Ibn az-Zubair. Gifted with deep intelligence, penetration, knowledge, j udg-
ment, and great skill in distinguishing right from wrong, h r was the ablest
kidi of the age; i t is even stated, by Ibn Abd nl-Rarr, that he posscsscd consi-
derable talent as a poet. 13e was one of the fonr persons who were called the
smoolll-faced chiefs (0s-Sddkt at-TuZs) ; the others merc Abd Allah Ibn az-
Zubair, Kais Ibn Saad Ibn ObSda (2) and al-Ahnaf Ibn Kais, he whose prudence
became proverbial (3). Shuraih was much inclined to pleasantry; Adi Ibn
Arti went to his house one day, and the folIowing dialogue ensued : Where
are you, kidi? may God direct you !"--"I am between you and the wall."
-" Listen to me."--'' I can hear very well."-LL I am a native of Syria."-" It
' L is a distant land." - ' c And I have married a wife frorn your country." -

L ' a a Y you live happily and have many children And 1 wanted to take her
on a journey."-"Each man has the best right over his own family."-L But.
' l 1 engaged not to remove her from her native place." - Engagenlents arc
" binding (4)." - Judge then betwecn us." - "I have already done so."--

" And against whom have you given it?"--" Against your mother's son."-
'' On whose On the evidence of your maternal aunt's sister's
" son."-It is related that ( t h e klznhf) Ali Ibn Abi Tilib went before the ktdi
Shuraih with a tributary subject ( 5 ) who was his adverse party in a suit; ahen
he entered, Shuraih stood up (to salute lzinz), on which he said : This is the
" first time you ever did wrong." He then lrant his back against the wall,
observing that if his adversary had been a Moslim, he would have sat down by
his side. It is also stated that Ali once convened a meeting of the lcoran-readers
in the court of the mosque; when they were assembled, he told them that hr.
should,soon quit them, and began to question them on different points. Dur-
ing all the time, Shuraih Lept silent, till Ali a t length asked his opinion. When
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTION.4RY. 621
the consultation rr7as over, Ali addressed him in these terms: "You may go;
" you are the most excellent of men;" or, by another relati~n,--~~You are the
most excellent of the Arabs."-Shuraih took a wife in the tribe of Tamim,
whose name was Zainab. Being once displeased with her, he beat her, but
afterwards repented of his conduct and pronounced these verses :

I have seen men beat their wives; may my right hand be dried up on the day in
which I again strike Zainab. Shall 1 strike her when she has committed no fault? it
would not be just in me to strike the guiltless. Zainab is the sun, and the rest of women
are stars; when she appears not one of them is seen.

Such is the manner in which this anecdote is related by (Ibn Abd Rabbi/z)
the author of the Ikd. It is related that Ziid 1bn Abih (6) wrote these words
to ( rhe k h a l f ) Moawia : Commander of the faithful ! m y left hand holds Irak
" in submission unto you, and my right is unoccupied and wails to be employed

" in your service ; appoint me therefore governor of Hijiz." This request hay-
ing reached the ears of Abd Allah Ibn Omar (7), who was residing at Mekka, ; i f 7
he exclaimed : '' 0 God ! withhold from us the right hand of Ziid." A psti-
iential swelling immediately broke out on it, and the assembled physicians hav-
ing advised amputation, Ziid called in Shuraih and consulted him on the law-
fulness of such an operation ; Shuraih returned this answer : '' God's bounty
'' towards you has a certain measure, and your life a fixed limit: if you are to
'' live longer in this world, 1 should not wish to see you without a right
hand (8) ; and if the time of your death be now come, you will have to say,
c c when asked b y rhv Lord how you lost your hand : 'It was through dislike of
W

L meeting thee, and to avoid what thou hadst predestined.' " Ziid died tbat
day, and his enemies having then reproached Shuraih with preventing his
hand from being cut off, they received from him this answer : He asked munsel
from me, and he whose counsel is asked should act with sincerity ; nere it
not so, I should have wished his hand to be cut off one day, and his foot an-
6 t other, and then every limb of his body, day by day ."-The kidi Shuraih died
A. H. 87 (A. D. 706) ; at the age of one hundred years ; but other accounts
place his death in the years 82, 78, 80, 79, and 76, at the age of one hundred
and twenty years, or of one hundred and eight.-Kind. is the relative adjective
derived from Kin&, which was the surname of T b r Ibn nfuratti Ibn Mllik
622 IBN KHALLIIi-AN'S
Ibn Zaid Ibn Kahllin. Some say that Tllaur was the S O I ~of Ohir Ibn al-13arilh
Tbn Morra Ibrl Odad ; he received tlle namc of Kilda because he had bcen un-
~ r a t e f u (I;nna&)
l for llis father's l<ind~lcss(9).

(3) In "lyDiwdn dlAmro 'I-Knis, page I , l h i s name is ir~rorrecllytranscribed d h r t i ' .

(2) A ~ AbdQ Allah Knis Ibn Saatl Ibn ObBda Ihn Duilam was placed by his fdtircr i n the service of tilt.
Prophet, and merited, by his generous character and bravery, the honour of being admitted into his rnast.er7s
familiarity and of bearing his standard in some of his campaigns. H e was appointcd governor of Egypt by
tile khalif Ali, A. H. 37 (A. D. W), but a few months afterwards he lost his plare through thc macllinntiorls
of n$oa\\ia , s ~ e,&])D '1-Fedh's Annals, year 36). B e fougllt urldcr Ali against the Bhbrijites a t an-Nahra-
w i n , ancl agairlst tbc Syrian troops commanded by Moawia, at Siffln. I n the year 11 he led the van of a1-
Hasari Ibn Ali's army a t al-Madbin,and when that prince acknowledged the autllority of' Moesia, he folloved
Ilij exan~pleand then returned to Medina, wliere he finished his days, A. H. 59 (A. 1). 678-9).- ( & M 'I-bla-
Irdsia's Nujilrn and al-Bahr az-Zdkhir.)
3) The lifc of ad-Dahhkk Ibn Rais, surnamed al-Ahnaf, will be found in this volume.
(4) This is a common proverb. See Preytag's kfeidalzi,tom. I. p. 669.
( 5 ) In Arabic z i m m i ; see page 266, note 2.
( 6 ) See page 364, note (9).
(7) See note (l),page 567.
(R) Amputation of the hand was the punishment inflicted on thieves.
(9) The &amas says, that Kinda was so called because h c had been ungrateful for his father's liirkdness
and nent.to li\e wilh his maternal uncles.

THE KADI SI-IARIK.

Abb Abd Allah Sharik an-Nakhii descended from an-Nakhi by the following
lir~e: he was the son of Abcl Allall Ibn Abi Sllarik al-Ririth Ibn AAs lbri al-
II$r>ilhIbn al-Adhal Ibn Wabhil Ibn Saad I-bn MBlik Ibn an-Nakhh ; in the life of
Ibrihirn an-Nakhbi (page B ) will be found the rest of the genealogy. Shank
filled the place of kidi at Khfa under the reign of al-Mahdi, but was deprived of
his situation by the khalif Mdsa al-Bidi. He was a man of learning and an
able jl~riscons~~lt, shrewd, acute, and intelligent. During a discussion which
he had with Mosdlr Ibn Abd Allah az-Zubairi ( I ) in al-Mahdi's presence, Mosib
reproached him with depreciating the khalifs Abii Bakr and Omar, and received
this answer : ' l I do not depreciate your ancestor, and yet he was their inferior."
 BIOGRAPIIICAL DICTIONARY. 6&3

In the course of a conversation which passed at his ho~lseconcerning (/?re khalif.)

Moawia lbn Abi SofyBn, some person said that he was a man of prudence; 011
which Sharik observed that he who treated the just rights of others with con-
tempt, and waged war with Ali the son of Abb Thlib, could riot be lreld as suclr.
Another time, a number of studellts went to hear Traditions from him, and find-
ing that h e smelt of wine (nabirl),they observed that if such an odour came from
them, they should be ashamed of themselves, to which he replied: " (]%U sq.
' G I ~ I U L because
) you feel that y o ~ imight be justly suspected." Haring one dav
gone to see al-Mahdi, that khalif said to him : l have three proposals to make
G'

" to you, and I shall insist on your acceding to one of them ; you must become
" a kBdi (2), or teach Traditions to my sons and instrnct them, or eat a morsel
with me." Sharik, who had not as yet acted as kid;, reflected for some time,
and then answered that of the three things, eating a morsel would be the e&iest
on his conscience. Al-Mahdi then told him to sit down, and having called in
his cook, he ordered him to prepare a number of dishes and, amongst the rest.
marrow coagulated with sugar-candy and honey. When this collation was set
before Shirik, he partook of it, and when he had finished, the cook said to al-
Mahdi : " Bg Allah ! Commander of the faithful ! now that the shaikh has eaten
of that, he is undone." - "And such was in fact the case," said (tfze vizir)
a\-Fad1 lbn ar-Rabi, for after that, the shaikh instructed the khalif's sons, and
" taught them the Traditions, and served under the Abhasides in the capacity of
kidi." Some time after, having received a draught on the (court) banker.
for his services, he insisted on being paid in coin of full weight, and when
the other told him that, after all, (the dtference) would not suffice to buy
him a suit of clothes, he answered : " And yet I gave for it something
4 c better than a suit of clothes; I gave up for it my religious convictions."
Al-Hariri relates in his Durrnt al-Ghautcrjis, that Sharik was one day speak- zlrr
ing of Ali Ibn Abi Tilib's merits in the presence of a member of the Omaiyide
family who used to frequent his society, and the latter said: "lfe was indeed
" an excellent [nima) man." - '' How,)' exclaimed Sharik, ' L is it in speaking

of Ali that it should merely be said, He was a n excellent man?" The

Omaiyide remained silent till Sharik's anger cooled and then said: "0 Ab<l
' L Abd Allah ! did not God say, when speaking of himself, , And we were able to
" do dis ;for it is we mho ore most (nima) p-owerful (3)? And did he
624 IBN KHALLIIiAN'S
not say of Job, We found him a patient pet-son; /LOW excellent (nima) n
sewant was de !for he was one tr~ltofi~equently turned lrir~zseyunto us (4)
And of Solomon, And he gave unto Daua, Solonzon; hoiv excelle~zl(nima) ( L
~erYntzt!( 5 ) Why then not be satisfied at Ali's being spoken of in the same
" terms which God was pleased to apply to himself and to his p r o ~ l t e t s:'"
Sllarik then perceived his mistake and conceived for the Omaiyirle a higher
esteem than ever. As kidi, he judged with strict equityand was almost
always in h e right. He bad a n answer ready on every occasion : being asked
his opinion concerning a man who intended, at morning prayer, to say the ko-
r,Gt (6) before making the rnkas ( i )but
, who did not say it till after, he replied :
That man in tended to do wrong, but did right." Ile was born at 13okh%ra,
A. H. 95 (A. D. 713-4); he filled the post of kjdi at Khfa and afterwards nr
aI-Ahwiz, and died at the former place on Saturday, the first or Zh 'I-Kaada,
A. H. 177 (February, A. D. 794). Khalifa Ihn Khaiyit mentions that his
death occurred in the year 177 or 178. Hariln ar-Rashid was then at X-Iira,
and went to say the funeral service over him, but finding on his arrival that it
had been already performed, he returned back. - " .Nuk/~diis derived from
an-Nakhn", which is the name of a great branch of the tribe of Madhij ;" so I
find it stated by Ibn al-Kalbi in his Jamharnt an-Nisab, and I have read in
another copy (of ike same work) that Ibn Abi Sharik, Sharik7s ancestor, was
named Alis, and that he was son to al-Hirith Ibn Doh1 Ibn Wahbil (a genen-
Zogy dzj5erentfr.om that given above) : God best knows the truth.

(1)See note (l), page 186.

(2) The aversion of pious Moslims to fill the place of kadi has been already noticed, page 235. Shartk
had another motive for refusing such a post; it would have been necessary for him to take the oath of alle-
giance to the Omaigides, and to this, as a partisan of Ali's family, he could not conscientiously assent.
(3) Xoran, sur .77, v. 23.
(8) Ibid. sur. 38, v. 44.
(6) Ibid. sur. 38, v. 29.
(6) See page 347, note (21).
(7) The form of prayer consists of a number of rakas or inclinations of the body, accompanied with
certain pious invocations.-See Lane's nlodsm Egyptians, vol. I. p. 86, and D'Ohsson's Tab. gin. de 1'Emp.
Othom. tom. 11. p. 82
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.

SHUHDA AL-KATIBA , BINT AL-IBARI.

Shuhda Binl (d~rrghterof) Abi Nasr Ahmad Ibn al-Faraj Ibn Omar al-lbari,
surnamed Fakhr an-Nisi (g-lory o j women) and ul-Kntibu (the female scribe),
sprang from a family established a t Dinawar, but she herself was born and died
at Baghdad. By her learning she acquired an extensive reputation and ranked
among the first scholars of the age ; she wrote a beautiful hand and instriicted
great numbers in the Traditions, nrhich she had received from the highest au-
thorities : thus connecting the traditionists of the rising generation with those
of the past. She died on the afternoon of Sunday, the 13th of Muharram, A. H.
57'4 (July, A. D. 1 1?'S), aged upwards of ninety years, and was interred in the
cemetery outside the Abraz ( I ) Gate.-Ibari is derived from ibar, the plural of
ibra (needle), which is the name of the instrument used in sewing. The person
who bore this surname must have made or sold needles.--DAa~var is a town in
Jibil (Persinn Zrnk), and Dlnaxvari, the surname derived from it has been borne
by many learned men. Abli 'S-Saad as-Samdni says that this name is pronounced
Dni~zawnr, but Dinaway is preferable (2). - Her father, Abd Nasr Ahmad
died a t Baghdad on Saturday, the 23rd of the first Jumida, A. H. 506 (No-
vember, A. D. 1 1 12), and was interred at the A hraz Gate, Ibn an-Najjir says
in his History of Baghdad, speaking of Abd 'l-Ilasan Ali Ibn Muhammad Ibn
Yahya ad-Duraini, who is better known hy the name of ThikBt ad-l)awlat (3)
al-Anbiri : (AdDuratizz) was a man of eminent rank and a favourite of
the khalif al-Muktafi (liarnr &h) ; he possessed some instruction and had
a talent for poetry. He built a college for Shafites on the bank of the
Tigris, a t the gate of al-Azj, and erected close by it a convent for Sbfis; on
these two establishments he settled a handsome property. He studied the
i d Traditions, for as-Samini says that he served (us a domestic and pupil) Abd

L Nasr A h m d Ibn al-Faraj sl-Ibari and received from him his daughter Shuhda

( 6 aZ-Kdtibn in marriage. He then rose in the world till he became the favour-
ite of al-'Jluktafi. His birth took place A. H. 475 (A. D. 1082-3), and his
4i death A. H. 549, on Tuesday the 16th of Shaabin (October, A. D. 1154). 519
He was interred in (the court of) his house situated in the square before the
mosque, bllt on the death of his wife Shuhda, in the month of
79
626 IBN RHALLIIIIh.NYS
Muharram, A. 11. 574, his body was rellroved to the Ahzar ccmelery, alrd
77

" interred, with hers, close to ttre Tnj'L3.a college.

rL
(1) In the autograph this name is nritron j
* 1.
(2) Abh ']-Fedit pronounces this name Dainawar.
(3) Thikat ad-Dawlat is a title of honour, which might bc translated: devoted to the dynast?y.

SHIRKUH IBN SHADI.

A b i '1-Hirilh Shirkhh Ibn Shhdi Ibn Marwin, surnamed al-Malik al-Manslir

(the victorious prince) Asad ad-din (the lion oftlte faith) was uncle to the sul-
tan Salih ad-din. Some particulars of his life have been already given in the
life of Shhwar, who (as we have there said) went to Syria, A . H. 559 (A. D.
11 6 3 4 ) , to obtain Ndr ad-din's assistance (against the Ft.ar~X.s)( I ). It. is
slated however by Balrh ad-din Ibn Slraddid, ill Iris History of Salitr ad-din (2),
that he poceeded to Syria, A. H. 558, and that they (Shrik~il& curd Shawar)
entered Egypt on the 2nd of the latter Jumlda of the same ycar. Nitr ad-din
sent with him a detachment of troops under the command of Asad ad-din Shir-
kch, but on their arrival, Shiwar acted with such duplicity and bad faith, that
on the 7th of Zii 'l-Bijja in the same year, they set out again for Damascus. In
the month of the first Rabi, 562 (January, A. I). 11G?'), Shirkdh proceeded a
second time to Egypt with the design, which he had already formed during his
iirst expedition, of getting that caunlry into his owrr possession. Ile followed the
road which leads tllrough Widi 'l-GhizlSn (3) and appeared before Atfih (4,).
In this expedition he fought the celebrated battle of al-Bibain near OshmC-
nail1 (5). Salill ad-din ( who accon~paniedhim) then entered Alexandria, where
he fortified himself, and had to sustain a sicge against ShSwar and the Egyptian
army. Asad ad-din Shirkdh, who had marched into Upper Egypt, then re-
turned and halted at Bilbais, where he made a peace with the IZgyptians. Being
there joined by Salllr ad-din, whom they escorted to him across the country,
he withdrew into Syria. In the year 564, the Franks took Bilbais and mas-
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 627
sacred the inhabitants, on which the people of Egypt sent to ShirkGh for assist-
ance, promising to accept whatever conditions he might propose. Encouraged
L'Y their favollrable dispositions, he entered Egypt in the month of the G r s ~ Rabi
of the above Year (December, A. D. 1168) and delivered them from the Franks.
Shiwar then formed the design of murdering ShirkQh and his principal offwrs,
but they anticipated his project by putting him to death, as we halre already
related (page 609). Shirkdh was then raised to the vizirat on Wednesday, the
17th of the latter Rabi, A. H. 564; he filled that post two months and five
days, when he died suddenly at Cairo, on Saturday the 28th (or, according to
ar-Rauhi, on Sunday the 23rd) of the latter Jumkda, 564 (March, A. D. 1169).
He was buried in that city, but afterwards, his body was conveyed to Medina,
in pnrsuance to his last wishes. Sallh ad-din was his successor. Ibn Shad-
did says in his History (6) : " Asad ad-din was a great eater, and extremely
'' fond of the coarsest kinds of animal food ; this subjected him to indigestions
and cholics, from which he did not recover without suffering severely; and he
'' died from a sharp attack of this kind which was followed by a ~iolentquinsy."
He left an only son named Nisir ad-din Rluhamm ad, and surnamed al-Malik al-
Kihir (the potverful prince). In the month of Rajab which followed Shirkih's
death, his family were deprived of Emessa, which was taken from them by Pu'dr.
ad-din; but Salih ad-din, on obtaining possession of Syria, restored it to %sir
ad-din, who continued to hold it till his death; which took place on the 9th of
ZQHijja, A. H. 581 (March, A. D. 1186). His body was taken to'Damascus by his
wife and cousin, Sitt as-Shim, the daughter of Aiyfib, who interred it near the
tomb of her brother Shams ad-Dawlat T h i n Shlh (whose life has been given,
page 284), in the funeral chapel erected by her in the college which she had 390
founded outside the city. The government of Emessa passed to his son (who
was named 4 t e r his grandfather) Asad addin ShirkGh. This prince was born
A. H. 569 (A. D. 1173-4) and died at Emessa on Tuesday, the 19th of ~ a j z b ,
A. H. 637 (February, A. D. 1240) : he was interred in a funeral chapel within
the city walls. Besides Emessa, he possessed Rahaba, Tadmor (Pah~'ra) and
in the province of al-Khihlbhr (7). He left a number of ~hildrenand was
succeeded by his son al-Malik al-Mansir ( the wictoriom prime) Nbir ad-din
(the champion of rhe faith) Ibrahim, who remained in possession of the govern-
ment till his death, which took place at Nairab (8) in h e (9) of Damascus,
628 IBN KIIALLIKAN'S
on Friday, the 10th ofSafar,A. H. 646 (June, A.D. 1246). llis body was ho12ne
to Ernessa and interred in ihe mosque of al-Khidr (1 O), whicll is situated 10 the
south of the city, His son, al-Malik al-Aslmf' he rnost noble prince) I\luroRar
ad-DaTVlat( l / L e rhe 1jn7piia) Ahd 'l-Fad1 Rllisn sl~ccccdedto the throne.
When I was in Damascus, towards the end of the year 661 (Octol~cr,A . D. 1203),
,his prince informed rile illa~lie was born in rile year of the dcfeat sustained by
the Khowirczmites in d o land of R i m (I I), and that his falllcr was returning
from it with tlre troops whcn hc received intelligence or the I~irtllof a son ; that
battle was fought in the month of Ramadin, A. H. 627 (July-August, A. 1). 1230),
as we have stated in the life of al-Malik al-Ashraf ( ~V12sa ) Ibn al-Aridil, where
we have given some account of it. He related to me also tlrat when his father
received this pleasing news, he said to al-Malik al-Asllraf l b ~ ral-Aidil :
lord (ya khand), the number of your slaves is increased by one." On this,
the prince ordered the child to be called after himself. Al-Malik al-Ashraf
MBsa, the son of al-Mansi-r, died a t Emessa on Friday, the 10th of Safar, A . H .
G62 (December, A . D. 1263), and was interred near tlre tomb of his grandfather
Asad ad-din Shirklih, inside the city: his birth may 11e placed by approximation
in the month of SbawwCl, 627 (August-Septeml~er,A. I). 1230).--S/2il~kr~h is
a Persian word, and signifies the lion of 11ze rnou/ztnitt ; .rltir rneans lion, and
ktih, mountai12.-In the year 555 ( A . D. 1 1 60) Sllirkdh set out from Damascus
for the pilgrimage to Mekka, and took the road leading througll Taimi and
Honain; that same year Zain ad-din Ali Ibn Baktilrin set out with the same
intention, and proceeded thither by the road of the Irak pilgrim-caravan ; the
two princes met at al-ItIiilaifa (1 2).

\l)Consult Abh 'l-Fcdh's Annals and Reinaud's E x l r a i l s d'auteurs arabos relatifs a u x Croisades.
(2) Saladini vita et res gestce, p. 30.
(3) I have not been able to determine the precise position of W a d i 'l-Ghizldn, or Gozellc Valley. i t lies
probably between Atflh and Suez.
(4) Atlih is situated on the Nile, above Cairo.
(5) I n this battlc hc defeated the combined army of the Franks and Egyptians.
(6) Saladini uita, p. 34.
(7) Al-Khlbur is a riv'er in Mesopotamia.
(8) Nairab is situated at halfa parasang from Damascus, in the midst of gardc11s.-(Marasid.)
(9) The Ghdta is the name given to the cultivated country around Damascus.
(10) Khidr is considered by the illoslims as one of the ancient patriarchs and prophets. Ile is tlic Lulclary
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. G.29
saint of travellers on lmd, as Elias is of voyagers. These two meet o11te n year at Mebba during the pil-
grimage. See Reioaud's Monurnens drabes, Persafls et Ticrcs, t o m . 1. p. 169.
(*l) In A.H. 627 JalAl ad-din, prince of Khowiretm, took the city of Khalat &\L, in which he comrnltteti
every excess ; but al-Malik al-Ashraf. the former sovereign of the place, joined his troops to those of A l l ad-
din KaikobAd Ibn Kaikhosrh, prince of RBm, and assisted by the Syrians under the command of S i ~ i s hhe ,
marched against the Iihowarezmites, defeated them completely and retooli the city.- (AbB'l-FedA's dnna1.s.
Price's Retrospect, t 11. p. 415. AbO 'I-Faraj, translation, p. 306. AI-YBfl's Annals.)
(12) Hulaifa, or Zfi I'Iulaifa, is a village six or seven miles from Medlna. It may be seen that I read
&&sJ4 !, and not &L !, as in the printed text and the mmnurcripts. This passage and
the history of Shtrkilh's descendants is not to be found in the autograph MS.

ABU OJZAR AL-JARRfI.

'
All; Omar SAlih Ibn Ishak al-Jarmi was a jurisconsnlt, a learned grarnnlarian.
and a philologer. Having left Basra, his native place, he proceeded to Baghdad.
where he studied under al-Alihfash and others; he met there also Ytinus Ibn
Habib, but did not see Sibawaih. In philology he had for masters Abii Ohida,
Abfi Zaid al-Ansiri, al-dsmii and their contemporaries. He was religious,
devout, exemplary in his life, and orthodox in his belief. He taught the tradi-
tions, and composed a good grammatical treatise, which was entitled al Fnrkh
(the chicken), because it was hatched from Sibavaih's great work, the Ritdb.
When at Baghdad he had discussions with al-Farri. AbB 'l-Abbis a1 Mubarrad
relates as fo1lo1.r~: Abil Omar (al-Jnrmi) told me that he had read through ihr
Diwnn of the Hl~dailitesunder al-Asmii, who surpassed Abii Obaida by his
superior acquaintance with that work; and he mentioned to me that on finish-
ing, al-AsmAi said to him: '0, Abfi Omar ! if a member of the tribe of Hudail
L happen to be neither a poet, nor an archer, nor a runner, there is no good in

' C L him!' Speaking also of this passage of the Koran : And follow not that
c c whereof thou host no knowledge (I), he said to me : ' Say not I have heard
'
6 when you did not hear, or I have seen when you did not see, nor 1 havr
6 knofun when you did not know; for the hearing, the sight, and the heart

" 6 &all all be subjects on which thou wilt hare to answer before God !' " Al-
'Mubarrad said also : "None knew better than al-Jarmi the fiitdb of Sibaaaih ;
 630 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
" and it was under him lhat the great majority studied." He was deeply learned
i n philology, and knew by heart many illustrative passages on the subject;
he jvrote also some works of an original cast, and he held a high rank as a tra-
ditionist and historian, He is the author of a fine work on the life of Muham-
394 mad (Kitd6 fl '8-Siar), a treatise on the forms of verbs and nouns ( 2 ) , another
01, prosody, an of grammar, aud an explanation of the difficulties in
the 17erses by Sibawaih (in his gramnzatical work, the KitBb). The
ha3z AbB Noaim mentions him in the history of Ispahan. Al-Jarmi died A . H.
225 (A. D. 830-60). -The relative adjective Jnrmi is derived from Jnrm; there
were a number of tribes so called, but I know not which of them it was that
gave its name to this AljG Omar. He did not belong to the tribe, but had dwell
with them for a time, whence his appellation of al-brmi.-1 have since found
i l l the Fihrisl(3), a work composed by Abfi ''-Faraj Muhammad Ibn Ishak, who

is generally known by the name of Ibn Abi Y i k i ~ bal-Warrik (the copyist) an-
Nadi~nal-Baghdldi (the social companion from Boglzdad), that Abii @mar
was a nzawln to the tribe of Jarm Ibn Rabbin ; and as-Samsni says in his genea-
logical work that Rabben was the son of I m r i n , the son of Alhlf, the son of
Kudia, the progenitor of a well known tribe. It has heen stated, however,
that A b t ~Omar was a mawla to the tribe of Bajila, a branch of which bears the
name of Jarm Ibn Alkama Ibn Anmlr ; God alone knoweth the truth. What n
well-turned
* satire Ziid al-Aajam (4) has directed against the tribe of Jarm,
where he says :

Jarm forced me to give him some juice of the vine; arld who is Jarm ? and what is
that juice? He never drank it when it was permitted; never, as long as there was
a market (S), did it mount to his head. But when its use was forbidden by a divine
revelation, the man of that tribe is never sober.

In these verses he names the nine, metaphorically, the juice of the uine, for
a reason too long to be explained, but the sum of' what the commentators say is,
that he called it so from its gliding smoothly (insikk) down the throat.

(1) Koran, sur. 17, v. 38.

(2) See Hajji Khalifa, No. 34.
(3) I have given a short account of this ancient and curious work in the Journal Asiutique for December,
1839, page Di.
 BIOGRAPHICAI; DICTIONARY.
(6) The poet Abb Amhma Ziid Ibn Sulaim, a mawla to the tribe of Abd Fais, and surnamed ai-Aajam ,the
foreigner) on account of certain faults in his pronunciation of Arabic, accompanied Abb Musa 'l-hshari to
the siegc of Istakhar, which city was taken, according to ad-Dahabi, MS. No.626, fol. m,in the year 28
(A. D. 648-9). He was present at*HishBm Ibn Abd al-Malik's death, which took place at Rushfa A. H. 125,
The year of his own death is not given.-(As-Soybti's Sharh Shawdhid al-Moghrri, MS. KO. 1238, fol. 31.)
( 5 ) T h e poet means that they preferred selling their wine to drinking i t ; or else that they were too avari-
cious to lay out their money on it.

SALIH IBN MIRDAS.

AbB Ali SPlih Ibn Mirdls, surnamed Asad ad-Dawlat (lion of the enlyliv),
belonged to the tribe of Kilib, his father MirdPs being the son of Idris Ibn Nasir
Ibn Humaid Ibn Mudrik Ibn Shaddid Ibn Obaid Ibn Kais Ibn Rabia Ibn Kaab
Ibn bbd Allah Ibn Abi Bakr Ibn Kilib. Kilib was the son of Rahia Ibn Aarnir
Ibn SisP Ibn Moawia Ibn Bakr Ibn HarvPzin 1bn Mansilr Ibn Ikrima lbn Khasfa 1 ) '
Ibn Kais Ghailin (2) Ibn Modar Ibn Nizhr Ibn Maad Ibn Adnhn.-Stlih Ibn Mirdis
he chief) of a nomadic tribe of Arabs, marched against Aleppo, which was then
governed by Murtada 'd-Dawlat Ibn Llilli al-Jarrhhi, who had been a slave to
Abd 'l-Fadtil Ibn Saad ad-Dawlat Nasr Ibn Saif ad-Dawlat Ihn Hamdin, and
who now acted there as the lieutenant of the (Farimite) sovereign of Egypt, az-
Zihir I bn al-H%kim al-Obaidi. Intrepid, resolute, and powerfully supported by
the members of his family and tribe, Silih wrested Aleppo from the hands of
Murtada 'd-Dawlat on the 13th of Zd 'l-Hijja, A. H. 41 7 (January, A. D. 1027j,
and fixed his residence in the city, where he established a regular administra-
tion. Az-ZPhir then sent against him a numerous army under the command of
Amir al-Juyiish (general in chiemniishtilrin, surnamed ad-Dizbiri after Dizbir
Ibn Ruwaitam (3) ad-Dailami, who was at that time his lieutenant at Damascus,
had acquired a high distinction by his activity, courage, and skill in rnilitarv
Stlih, being informed of this general's approach, went forth to meet him,
and gave him battle at 4-Ochuwina. He lost his life in this engagement, v-hicl)
took place in h e month of the first Jumida, A. H. 420 (May-June, A. D. 1029)
or 44 9 by another account. He was the first of the Nirdiis dynasty, a series ol
who reigned at Aleppo (4). We shall make mention of his great-grand-
 632 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
son Nasr in the life of the poet Abd 'l-Fityin Muhammad Ihn IIaiy&s.--A[-
599 Ochuwdnn, a village of Syria, is situated in the government of Palestine, near
Tiherias. There is another village of the same name in Hijiz, which was the
residence of al-Hlrith Ibn Khilid I l n al-ABsi ihn Hishim Ibn nl-Mughaira al-
R'lakhzilmi (51, who composed on it these verses :

Tell him who asks whorc we reside, that Ochr~whnais our abode and well it suits
us. W e there enjoy a life OF pure felicity, untroubled by calumny, and misfortune
afflicts us no longer.

(1) This is the true reading, and not icck or L as in the MSS.
,2) The autograph MS. has d)L\sp.
(3) In the autograph this name is written c$2\ Autlm.
( 8 ) An abridged account of this dynasty, extracted from K a m l l ad-dtn's History of bleppo, has been pub-
lished in Latin by M. J. J. Mueller, 1829. Bonn.
(S)Harith fils de Khalid Elmakhzoumi, podte distingue parmi les Coraychites, Btait petit-fils d e cet Elassi,
qui, ayant pcrdu toute sa fortune au jeu contre Aboulahab, oncle de Mahomet, avait cnsuite jouc! et perdu sa
liberte. Harith cultiva presque exclusivernent le genre Crotiquc. I1 florissait sous les Omeyades, e t fut gouver-
neur de la Metke pour le calife Abdelrnalik fils d e Mcrwan. I1 Btait amoureux d'Aych6 fille d e Talha e t [a CC-
J
Ibbrait dans scs vers.-(Aghdni, t. I. f. 200 ~0.)-M. Caussin de Pcrceval.

SAID THE PHILOLOGER.

Abh 'l-Alb Said Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Isa ar-Rabii (I), a native of Baghdad and a
philologer, is the author of the work intitled Kitcib aZ-Puszis (Book of Mottoes
or Texts). Having made his studies in theGast under AbB Said as-Sirhfi (sec
page 3771, Abh Ali 'l-Firisi (page 379), and Abii Sulaimln al-Khattiibi (page
476)' he passed into Spain about the year 380 (A. D. 990-1) in the reign of Hi-
shim (al-llllucvacjcad)Ibn al-Hakam, whose minister al-Mans0r Ibn Abi ABmir
then held the direction of the government. Siid was born in the province of
Mosul, but had removed from thence to Baghdad. I-le was learned in philology,
skilled in general literature and history, prompt in his repartees, an able poet,
and an agreeable and instructive companion. By these talents he captivated the
 BIDGRAPBICAL DICTIONARY. 633
attention of a]-Mansir, and was treated by him with extreme favour and libr-
rality; notwithstanding which, he always found good pretexts for asking more
money, and good reasons for obtaining i t . He conqlosed for al-Manshr the
work rntitled aGFusgs, in which he adopted the plan followed by AbG AAli 21-
KLli in his Amn'li (2). He received from his patron, in return, a recompense of
five thousand dinars, but his book was rejected by the public on account of th*
false statements which it was suspected to contain. Having gone to the city of
Denia, he went to a ~liblicaudience given by al-Muwaffak Mujihid a l - i 2 h i r i (3)
the governor; among the number present was a philologer named Bashshlr, a
blind man, who (being ii3fornzed that Sad was there) asked permission from
Mujihid to rally the new corner, and though the prince advised him not to attach
a person who was so prompt in his repartees, he would not renounce his pro-
ject, but cried out : '' Abh 'l-Alf !"-" At your service," replied Siid.--<'What
does the word jamnful signify in the dialect of the Desert Arabs?" SBid,
who knew that he himself had invented the word and that it did not really exist
in the language, remained silent for some time, and then replied, but without
any equivocation or periphrase : " The jaranjid is one who has commerce with
" blind men's wives and not with other women ; and thc jaranful is no longer a

'' jaranful when he quits them for others (h)." BashshPr, on hearing this, was
covered with shame and confusion, whilst every person present burst into laugh-
ter. Mujihid then said to him : " 1 told you to abstain, but you would not
take advice."-Stid died A. H. 417 (A. D. 1026-7) in Sicilv (5). Al-Mansir
at length discovered the falsehood of Siid as a tmnsmitter of oralinformation,
and being told that all the contents of the Fuslis were forged, he threw it into
the river, on which a contemporary poet said:
The Puszis sinks in the sea and so does every thing heavy.
T o which $id replied (in the s a m ~*hyrneand measure) :
The Fzcsits has returned to its element ; it is from the bottom of the sea that pearls
are taken.
( fusiis)

To avoid prolixity, we shall abstain from relating any of the numerous anec-
dotes told of his ready wit in replying to questions calculated to embarrass him.

(1) Ar-Rabai means descmded fmn. Rabtu, but as a number of Arabic tribes bore this name, l am unable
to indicate that to which Said belonged.
80
 634 IRN KHALLIKAN'S
(2) See page 212, note (l).
(3) See page 278, note (8). . .
(4)This is not very intelligible.
( 5 ) According to al-Humaidi, cited b y Ihn B n s l ~ k u ~ v diln his Silut, SBld had retired to Sicily during the
troubles in Spain.

SAIF AD-DAWLAT SADAKA AL-ASADI.

395 AbB'1-Hasan Sodaka an-Nishiri al-Asadi (,netr,bet. qf the irbibe oj'Nds/zhq, rt

branch of t/laj of A~usnd),and surnamed Sail ad-Dawlat F a k l ~ ad-din
r (su*o,d of'
the empire, glory of thefaith), was the son of Bahl ad-llawlat AbQ K i n ~ i Man-
l
stir Ihn Dubais Ihn Ali Ibn Mazyad. Eie was lord of' al-Hilla as-Saifiya, and was
cenerally kr~ownby the denomination of the king o f t h e Arabs. Powerful, cn-
terprising, and formidable to the neiphlmuring princes, he dared to thwart the
projects of the Seljbk sultan Muhammad Ibn Malakshih Ibn Alp Arlshn; and his
resistance led to a war. The two armies met near an-Norniniya ( I ) on Friday,
the 29th of thc latter Jurnida-sonle say on the 20th of Rajab-A. fl. 501 (Feb.,
A.D. 1 l o g ) , and, in the action which ensued, Sadaka lost his life (3,). His head
was borne to Baghdad. Izz ad-din Ali Ibn al-Rthir says, in his corrections o n
:IS-Samini's work, ttlc Alzsn"6, that Sadaka was slain in the year 500 : God knows
best the truth. It was for this prince that the .rAa~vAbfiYala Muhammad Ibri
al-Habbiriya, whose life will be found farther on, composetP his metrical treatise
intilled as-Scid;lt wu 'GAcighim.-His father, Abii Khmil MansQr, died towards
the end of the first Ril)i, A. H . 479 (beginning of July, A. D. 1086). His grand-
father, Abh 'l-Aazz Dubais, surnamed Niir ad-lla~vlat(light of the stare), died on
the eve of Sunday, the 40th of Shawwil, A. N. 4.73 (March, A . D. 1051 ), or
-474, aftcr a rule of sixty-seven ycars : in the year 408, when he commenced his
reign, he was only fourteen years of age. -Ali Ibn Mazyad, Sadaka's grea t-grand-
father, died A . H. 408 (A. D. 1047-8). W e have already given the life of Duhais,
the son of Sadaka (page sod.).---42-HilZa,a town in Irak, between Baghdad and
Kiifa, is situated on the Euphrates, i n the territory of Klifa ; it was founded in
[he year (495 (A. D. 1101-2) by saif ad-Dawlat Sadaka, whose life we have just
given, and was named us-Saz3ya after him (3).-An-NornAn$a is a cic y lying
between al-Hilla and Wlsit.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 635
An-Nombniya lay half way between W a s i t and Baghdad, on the bank of the Tigri~.-(~Maasid.j
!i)
12) For a fllll account of these events, see the selections from Ibn al-Athlr in the first vol. of rlle Extraii.~
des historiens arabes relalifs aux Croisades:. a collection now publishing by the Acadtmia des Inrrripfionl
et Belles-Lettres. See also AM 'l-Fedli's A n n a b , year 501.
(3) There were a number of places in Irak which bore the name of Hilla (statiolz).

AL-AHNAF IBN KAIS.

Abb Bahr ad-Dahhik Ibn Kais (I) Ilm Moawia Ibn Husain Ibn Obida Ibn an-
Nazi1 Ibn Murra Ibn Obaid Ibn al-Harith Ibn Arnr Ibn Kaab Ibn Saad Ibn Zaid
Man; t Ibu Tamim, surnamed a t-Tamimi, was generally known by the appelbtion
of al-Almaf (clublfoot): it was ire whose prudence became proverbial. S o m ~
say that his .real name was Sakhr. His ancestor al-Harith bore the sur-
name of MukGs. Al-Abnaf was one of the principal T6bi.s and had been a
contemporary of the Prophet, buf did not serve under him. The h d j z Abii
Boaim mentions him in the History of Ispahan, and lbn Kutaiba speaks of'
him in the Kit& al-Mnitrf in these terms: " When the prophet went ID the
'' tribe of Tamim, inviting them to embrace islamism, al-Ahnaf was among them.
'' As they did not consent to become hluhammad's followers, al-Ahnaf said to
" them : L He verily invites you to adopt what is honourable for the character,

" ' and forbids you what is disgraceful to it ; become therefore Moslims !' He

'' then professed Islamism, but did not go to see the Prophet ;however, he visited
" afterwards the khalif Omar." From that time he held a high rank among the 594

.Tdhis, being the chief of his tribe, and possessiq a great reputation for iotel-
ligence, acuteness, learni~g,and prudence. He related Traditions on the
authority of (the k/trcly5) Omar, OthmBn, and Ali, and his own authority was
cited for some Traditions by al-Hasan al-Basri. At the battle of Siff'ii he fought
on ihe side of Ali, but he staid away from the battle of the Camel and joined
neither party. In the reigns of Omar and Othmin, he had hpresent at
some of the conquests made by the Moslims in KhorZlsan.' When the aothorii~
of Moawia was solidly established, al-Ahnaf went one &T into his presence:
'6 By Allah said the khalif, 4' never till the day of judgment shall I &l1 to
!'l
636 XBN KBALLIKAN'S
I t

" mind the battle of Siffin, willlout feeling my heart glow wit11 anger. .-
" By Allah !" replied al-Ahnaf, U we have still in our bosoms tlrosc hearts

" which detested you, and we still bear in our scabbards thc: swords with
'' which we fought you; if you advance an incl) towards war, we shall ad-
' L vance a foot, and if you walk to (give as ) battle, wc slinll run to meet

" you ! " He then rose up and witl~drew. A sistcr of Rlo;iwia, who had
heard the conversation from behind the tapestry, then asked him who was the
person who had used sue11 threatening language, and Moawia answcrrd : That
is the man who, if angered, has one hundred tho~~sancl of t ~ r i b eof Tamim
to share his anger, without asking him the reason of it."-It is related that
when this khalif declared his son Yazid as his successor, he s ~ a t c dhim in a
red (2) pavilion, and those who were present went up successivrly and saluted
Moawia, after which they bowed ton-ards his son. One of thcm, having per-
formed this ceremony, turned again to Rloawia, and said : " Commander of the
faithful ! I am well convinced that had you not confided to him the govern-
" ment of the Moslims, you had ruined their affairs ." RloaWi3 then addressed
al-Ahnaf who was seated in his presence: '' What is the matter with you, Ahli
Bahr? you say nothing.!"-" I fear God too much to speak n falsehood," replied
he, and I fear you too much to speak the tnlth."--" Well," said Moawia,
'' may God reward you for your obedience lowards him." He then ordered a
present of several thousand (dirltims)to be given to (the other). When al-Ahnaf
was going out, the same man who had spoken to the khalif met him at the door,
and said : 0,Abil Bahr ! I am convinced that, of all God's creatures, this man
" and his son are the worst; but thev keep their money under bolts and locks,

'' and there is no possible means of getting it out hut by words such as you have
heard."-" Keep off !"replied al- Ahnaf, " s double-faced man shall have no
'L favour in the sight of God." - One of al-Ahnaf's sayings was this: I have
'' followed three rules of conduct which I now mention merely that the man of
reflexion may profit by my example : I never interfered between two parties
1 b unless invited by them to do so ; I never went to the door of these people7'-

meaning princes -" unless sent for by them ; and I never rose from my place
" to obtain a thing when all men were'anxious to possess it.", Another of his
sayings was: '' Come ! I shall point out to you virtues which none can depre-
" ciate (3) : evenness of temper, and the avoiding of what is base. Come ! I
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 637
"shall tell YOU what is the worst of maladies: a low mind and a foul tongue."
He also said : " The noble man never uses deceit ; the wise man never tells a lie,
" and the true believer never backbites.-Better," said he again, better tharl
" the treasures which parents heap up for children, better than the wealth
" left by the dead to the living, is the gratitude of the good and the learned for

" favours conferred upon them."-"Excess in laughter," he observed, "drives

" a\ray respect; excess in jesting drives away politeness, and the man is known

" by the company he keeps."--Hearing a person say one day that he cared
neither for praise nor blame, he observed to him : You repose there, whew
" men of generous minds labour."-He said again : In our assemblies avoid
" the mention of women and of food; I detest the man who is always speakingof'

" his belly and of his pleasures; and he who avoids food, even when he wishes

'' for it, proves, by that, the nobleness of his mind." The following anecdote
is told by HishAm Ihn Okba, the brother of the celebrated poet ZG 'r-Rumma : ('1
'' saw al-Ahnaf go up to some persons who were in discussion about the price to
" be paid for a man's blood who had been killed. He told them to state the sum
" they required, and they asked the double of that fixed by law (4). When
" they had ceased talking, he said : ' I myself will give you what you ask, but

I shall make one observation : Almighty God has declared that the price of
blood shall be single (not double) and his Prophet also has done the same (5) ;
you are plaintiffs to-day, but to-morrow, if you are defendants, L fear that 595
your adversaries may require from you the some price which you yourselves
have exacted !'-'Well !' said they, L reduce it to the usual sum !' On hear-
" ing this, he praised God with thanks, and rode off." Being asked v h a was
prudence, he replied that it consisted in humility joined to patience; and he
used to say, when persons were surprised at his mildness : " I have the same
feelings as you, but I am patient." He observed also. that he had derived
more help from prudence than from the strength of men. '' It was h i s Ibn
U AiGm al-Minkari," said he, f l who taught me mildness: one of his nephews
killed a son of his, and the murderer was brought before bim with his
hands tied behind his back. ' Why frighten the youth?' said he. " He
I L then turned towards him and spoke thus: ' 0, my son! evil is that which

6' 4 houhast wrought; thou hast lessened the number of fiy.family, ~ ~ ~ k e n e d

d t 6hestrength of thy tribe, given joy to thy enemies, and done harm to thy
 638 IBN KHALLIKAW'S
c. people ! Let him go ; and bear the price of blood to the inother of'thc \ ictinl,
c

L'I for she is not of our tribe.' The murderer then retilbcd ; and all this while
Kais seated, and did not cven chsngc colour." When Ziid Ibn Abih
hvas governor of Persian Arabian Irak, he treated a1-Ahnaf and Hlritha Ibn
h d r al-GhudPni with gres t favour and attention ; hut the latter was so strongly
addicted to drinkiog, that the people of Ilasra cornplaitled of his conduct to
Ziid, whom thev even reproached for admitting such a drunkard into his fami-
liarity. To this remonstrance ZiLd replied: " Ilow, sirs, can I cast oil" a man
L < who, since I came to Irak, has always riddcn by my side and yet never struck
a his s t i r r ~ ~against
p mine? neither did be precede me, so as to have his back
4' turned towards me, nor did he remain behind, so that I hacl to look 17ound
after him; in summer, he never sat between me and the zephyr ; in winter, he
never stood between me and the sun, and I never questioned him on any sci-
ence without thinking it impossible for him to know another so well."-I have
since met with this anecdote in az-Zamakhshari's Ra6i 'I-Abrdr, in the chap-
ter intitled On Intemou~.sewith Females, where it is given it1 precisely the saow
terms. -As for al-Ahnaf, nothing coulcl he said ngnimst his conduct. When
%i&ddied, his son and successor, Obaid Allah, said to Iliritlla: " You must
either cease drinking or quit me." -- " You know," replied Hirlitha, on
" what terms I lived with your father."-" As for m y father," answered Obaid
Aliah, l' he held a. pre-eminence in which no reproach could reach him ; but I
'' am a young man, and people will judge of me from those who have influerlee
over me: now you make long potations, and I am afraid that, when I bid you
" sit near me, the smell of the wine may be thought to come l'rorn myself.
Give i t up then, and be the first. of those to be admitted into my presence
" and the last to quit it." To this k18rithn ~*eplied: ' l I should not give it up
for Him (God) who is able to do m e evil and good ; shall I then renounce.
" it to be well with you ?"-'' Leavc me then, but choose anv government I liave
it in my power to give."-cb Let me have Surrak, for its wine has been de-
" scribed to me as good, and give me Rim-Hormuz besides." Obaid Allah
granted the request, and Hbitha proceeded to his government. Whilst they
escorted him to some distance on his way, the following lines were addressed to
him by Anas Ibn Abi Anas (6), or, according to another statement: by al-
Aswad ad-Duali :
 Haritha, son of Badr, you now fill a place of authority; live in it like a rat, to wile
and thieve. Despise not the smallest sums that you may find,; recollect that your
share in the wealth of lrak consists in Surrak. Then rival the tribe of Tamlm in riches,
for riches give a tongue to the most timid of men All people then shall praise yoo:
some of them liars, and speaking only to please you; the rest sincere in their words,
but knowing not what they say, and incapable of proving that what they utter is true.

As foI'al-Ahnaf, he losi Obaid Allah's favour, and persons far inferior to him
obtained reference. About this time, Obaid Allah assembled the chief men
in irak, and al-Ahnaf among the rest, and proceeded wilh them to Syria, for
the purpose of paying their salutations to (the k h a l f ) Moawia. On their
arrival, Obaid Allah went in to Moawia, and informed him that the bead menses
of Irak were come. Bring them i n to me," said the khalif, L' one by one, and
" according to the degree of estimation in which you hold them.:' Obaid Allah
obeyd, and the last person lvhorn he introduced was al-Ahnaf. hloan.ia, who
knew his merit, and always treated him with the utmost honour on account of
his pc-eminence and high authority as chief (of llze tribe of Tami'm), no sooner.
saw him than he cxclairned: ' I Come here to me, AbS Bahr (T)." He then
made him sit down beside himself, on the same cushion, and having asked 11int
how he was, he eniered into conversation with him and withdrew his attention
ftsom the rest of the company. The members of the deputation then began to
crtol Qbaid Allah, and express their gratitude to the khalif for giving them such
a govcmor, but al-Ahnaf remained silent. " Why do you ~ ospeak,.bbht Bahr?"
said Moawia.-" If I speak," replied al-Ahnaf, I must contradict them." On
this Moawia said : "Bear ye ~ i t n e s sthat I depose your governor, Obaid AUah:
' L go now and find a fit person whom I may appoint in his stead; and at

the expiration of dwee days I shall expect sour presence." On retiring, some
hoped to obtain the government for themselves, and others for persons whom t h y
desigpated ; tlley therefore applied secretly to the intimate friends of Moawia, in
order to procure, through their influence, the accomplishment of their r e s p t i v e
projects. When the three days were gone by, they and al-Ahnaf went to Moawia.
and by his directions they took their seats in the audience chamber, amrding
to their rank as before. The khalif then called al-Ahnaf over to him as usual,
and after conversing with him for some time, he asked the o h the result of
hei0delibera tion . Each of the deputies then pqposed his candidate, and made a
long speech in his favour. 'Pbis led to warm debates pnda discussion, during which
6 h0 IBN KHALLIKICN'S
&Ahnaf contillucd silent; he had not even spoken a word on the sullject to any ,

person, the three peceding days. And y ~ u , ' ~ bBahr,"

d said Moatvia, why
do you not If you intend to nomillate a member of your own
family,"replied &Ahnaf, you will not find one equal to Obaid Allah, or ca-
pable of hinl; b ~ l if
t you mean to appoint another Ilerson, then do
" as you please." Whilst the s i f t i ~ ~lasted,
g not one of those who had extolled
Obaid Allah a t their first ever mentioned his name or asked to have
him sent back to thcm. Moawin, having listen~dto al-Ahnaf's observations, said
to the assembly: 4LBearwitness that I restore Obaid Allah to his government."
On this, they all reperited having proposed any other candidate, and Moawia
that, in thanking him for having given them such a Governor as Obaid
Allah, they had not been actuated by any love for him, but that they merely
acted in the usual way men do when speaking of a person under whose authoricy
they are placed. The deputies having rctircd, Moawia took Obaid Allah in
and said to him : "How could you undervalue such a man as that?"-
meaning al-Ahnaf-'' he has dcposcd you and reinstated you in your govern-
ment, although he never uttered a word ; wliilst those people whom you pre-
ferrcd to him, and on whorrr you placed your reliancc, did not render you the
I' least service or even think of yoil when I authoriscd them to nominate your
successor. It is one like al-Alinaf that a persori should choose,when he wants a
good supporter and a precious friend.'' On rhcir return to Irak, Obaid Allah
treated al-Ahnaf wit11 great respect, and made him his intimate and confidential
friend. It was thus that, in this well known circumstance, he was abandoned
bp those in whom be had' placed his trust and on whose support he relied,
whilst al-Ahnaf alone rendered Bi~nany service. Al-Ahnaf lived till the time of
Moslb Ibn az-Zul~air, and accompanied him to Kilfa (g), in which city he died.
His death is commonly placed in the year .67 (A. D. 686-7), but other accounts
assign the years 71, 77, and 6s as the date of that event. He was then seventy
years of age, but it is stated by some that he had reached a very advanced age (9).
He was interred at a th-Thawiya, near the tomb of ZiPd (1 0). The following anec-
dote is related by Abd ar-Rahmin Ibn Omira Ibn Okba Ibn Abi Muait: I at-
'' tended the funeral of al-Ahnaf, a t Kbfa, and was one of those who went down
" into the vault. When I settled the body in its place, it seemed to me that the
" tomb widened to as great an extent as my sight could reach (I I ) : 1 spoke of
 BIOGRAPHlCAL DICTIONARY. G'il

" this to my companions, but they saw not what I saw." This story is men-
tioned by Ibn Yenus in hi$ Biography of strangers who risiied Egypt, in tbr
life of this same Abd ar-Rahmin. AI-Ahnaf was one of those penons surL
named at-litls, whose names we have mentioned in the lift. of the kadi Shu-
raih (page 620). He was born natibus cohlerentibus, which rendered a sur- 597
gical operation necessary. He was rrh~znf of one foot, that is, he walked on the
wahshi (or instep) of i t ; whence his s u name.
~ He lost his eye at the taking of'
Salnarkand (l 2); but some say, by the small pox. His teeth were solidly united
~ogethrr. His head was small, and his beard inclined to one side. His grand-
father, Moa~viaIbn Husain was slain Ly Antara Ibn Shaddid al-Absi, the
famous cavalier, on the day of al-FarGk, one of the celebrated combats of the
ancient Arabs (1 3;. -In this article are some n-ords which require explanation.
Ahncff means inc2itied; the coahshi of the foot is the back (or upper part) of i t .
G/iztdri/ziis derived from Ghudci12 Ibn Ya~.l)ii,a branch of the tribe of Tamim.
Rim-lfirr~zrczis a place so well known that is not necessary to indicate the
pron~lnciationof its name : it lies in al-Ahwiz, a province of Khuzestin, situ-
ated betnleerl Basra and Fars .-Su~.rak lies also in the province of al-Ahwiz. -
Ath- T/tat.r$*a,pronounced also aih-Tltutvazja, is the name of a place outside
KAfa ; i t contains the tombs of some of Muhammad's companions and of other
eminent persons : water is to be found there. -AI-Ahna f had a son called Bahr,
and it was for this reason that he bore the surname of Abii Bahr ( t h e father
Bahr). Behr was a \vrak and indolent (1 4) boy ; when asked why he did not
take example of his father, he replied : " From lazi~~ess."With him died sl-
Ahnaf's posterity.

(1) This ad-DahhAk Ibn Kais is a different person from the ad-Dahhhk Ibn Kais who fell at the battle of
Marj RBhit. They were contemporaries. See Reislie's note i n the AnnaLc of Abh 'l-Fed&, tom. I. No. 1M.
in which i t is necessary, however, to rectify a double error. I n place of de quo uid. ann. 127, gente Schai-
banitn, read de quo uid. ann. 67, gente Tamimita. TamCm, ad-Dahhik's ancestor, vas son of Murr, son of
Odd, son of Tablkha and n descendant of Modar, but Shaibiin sprang from Bakr Ibn WBil, who descended
from Rabla, Modar's brother.
(2) Red was the colour of the Omaiyides. green that of the Alides, and black that of the Abbasides. Ever1
before the promulgation of Islamism. red or scarlet tents indicated that their powssors were princes. See
my DiunZm d'Amro 'l-Ziais, p 8.
(3) Here the Arabic text should run thus : *37$ 8 ~ 4 s J l .
642 IBN KWALLIKAN'S
(4) The legal price of blood, in the case of murder without rem meditation, is one hundred camels.
(5) See Mishkdt al-Masdblh, vol. 11. p. 166.
(6) Abh Sulait I?hj,Anas Ibn Abi Anas, a member of the Benn Najjiir (a family of Medtna), was one of
M ~ h a m r n a d companions
'~ and fought on his side at the battle of Badr.-(Asmd ar-Rijdl, MS. No. 379 )
(7) The khalif here addresses him hy his surname; a mark of intimacy aod friendship.
(S) See Abfi 'I-FedA's Annals, 1. I. ; adnolat. hist. p. 96. Price's Retrospect, V. 1. p. 440.
(g) I n the autograyih, ]bn KllallikAn had or~ginallywrilten this passngc as it stands in the other MSS. and
in the printed teat; hut having inscl ted aftervtards in the margin that al-Ahnaf died at Lhe age of seventy, he
war obliged u, modify the next phrase. I n place of dG (and he) he substituted $1
c' (and is
said that he); but this correction has been neglected by succeeding copyists.
(10) Accordillg to A b ~ l'I-MahBsin, in his al-Bahr a:-Zdlcfikr, Ziad 1bn hblh died at atlr-Thawiya.
(11) This was of course to be considered as a mark of divine favour to the dead ruan. May God make
thy grave wide for Lhee was a common prayer of the ancient Arabs over tllc tomb of a departed friend.
(12) According to the lilruldsat al-dkhbdr, cited in Price's h'etrospect, Samarliarld was taken by Ohaid
Allah Ibn Ziild in the year 54 D'Llerbelot says that Catiba ben RIoslcmat, meaning Kutuibu I b n Muslim,
took it in the reign of al-Walid Ibn Abd al-IllAlik, A . H . 85; bul al-Wllid did not coma LO the throne till
the year 86. Ibn Khallikan states, in the life of Kutaiba, that this was the general who reduced S a l ~ r a r l i a ~ d .
(13) See Rasmussen's Historia Anteislamica, p. 87.
(14) All the copies and the printed text have h u t the autograph writes this word Ii3ras

TAWUS.

Ahd Abd ar-Rahmin Tiwiis Ibn Kaisin al-likaulini al-Hamdhni al-Yarnini, one
of the most eminent Tn'bis, was of Pcrsian extraction. He received Traditions
from 1bn Abbb and Abii Iluraira, and Traditions were given on his autlrority by
Mujihid and Amr Ibn DirlPr. As a jurisconsult lie held a lrigb rank and pos-
sessed a great reputation. (Orc this s~ibjectnn anecdole) is related by 1bn Oyaina :
" I asked," said he, " Abd Allah Ibn Yazid (1) in what class he studied under

" Ibn AbbBs, and Ire replied with Ati and his condisciples. L And Tdwds ?'--

" said I.- '0,'exclaimed he, L that is quite another thing, hc was admitted
" with the chosen few.' " Amr Ibn Dinh said that he never saw the like of
TBwGs. When Omar Ibn AM aCAziz became khalif, Tiwiis wrote to him these
words : " If you wish your government to be good in every way, confide the
" places of authority to virluous mcn ;" on which Omar said : After that,
'' every other recommendation is useless." He died at Mekka whilst perfarming
the pilgrimage, on the day preceding that of the Tarviya (8th of Zli 'I-Hiju),
 BIOGKAPHICAL 1)ICTIONAKY. G C3

in the year 4 06 (April, A. D. 7251, or, by another account, in 104. Funeral

1)rayers were said over him by Hishim lbn Abd al-Malik. It is related by one
of the karned that on the death of Tiwlia at Rlekka, it was impossible for Be
funeral to Set out on account of the crowd, and that the governor of Mekka,
Ibrahirn Ibn Hishim al-Mahhzc~rni, had to send the guard to clear the way.
" I saw," says the same person, Abd Allah, the son of Hasan, (the sort
" Hasan) (2) the son of Ali Ibn Talib, wit11 his shoulder under the bier ;
" he had already lost the cap off his head and his cloak was torn to pieces on

" his back."-I saw at Bilbek, within the town, a tonib to which pilgrimages
are made, and the natives pretend that it contains the body of Tiwfis; this,
hornrever, is a mistake. Abil 'l-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzi says in his Kridb al-Alkd
(book of surnanzes) : T b v i s was his surname arid his real name was Zakwb.
" He bore the surname of Tialis (peacock) because he was the peacock (chief)

" of the Rot-an-rearlers." The general opinion is that TBwus was his real name.
It is related that the khalif al-hlanslir sent for Milik Ibn Atlas and Abd Allah 398
the son of' Tiwds : when they entered into his presence, he reflected for a short
time and then said to Abd Allah : 'cRelate to me some of the Traditions which
' 4you learned from your father." On his Abd Allah spoke as follows : '' My
" father taught me this Tradition: L He shall be punished the most severely of

" ' all men on the day of resurrection, to whom God has confided a portion

" ' of his authority and who allows injustice to enter into his judgments.' "
ill-Manslir remained silent for a considerable time, and Mjlik, in relating the
fact afterwards, observed : " I tucked up my clothes lest some of his blood
" might fall on them (3), but al-Manshr then said : ' Hand me that ink-horn.'
He repeated the order three times, but Abd Allah did not obey.-' Why
do you not give it to me?' asked the khalif. - ' Because I fear tbat you may
use it in writing something contrary to God's law, and I should then be your
accomplice.' - Up, both of you, and leave me !' exclaimed al-Manscr. -
That is just d a t we desire to do,' replied Abd Allah.-From
g that cky,"
said MBlik, I have never ceased to acknowledge the eminent merit of the son
of ~ $ ~ i r ~ . "Khaulaizi
-- means descended Jrom Khaultin; Khaulk, whose
real name was Afkal Ibn Amr Ibn Milik, was the progenitor of a great tribe
which settled in Syria.-We have already spoken of IJamda'ni (4) : Tiwlis was
affiliated to the tribe of Hamdhn by enfranchisement.
644 lBN KIQALLIKAN'S
(1) Five persons bearing this name are noticed in the A m & ar-Rijdl, MS.No. 379, and two in the Tabak#t
al-Muhaddithlllz.
(2) This addition is authorized by the aulogrnph.
(3) H e imagined that al-Manshr would have struck off Abd Allah's head.
(4) This is a mistake; he has hitherto said nothing of i t . Ilamddni J;S'llaa-which must not be con-
founded wilh Hamad&ni ;1 (native of fIumaddn) - means sprung f r o m Hamddn, the ancestor of a
S
great tribe of Yemerlite Arabs and the fifth in descent from KuhlAn. The surllame of ITamdani entitled
TAwlZs to that of al-Yamdni (native of Yemen). which hc also bore.

Abii '1-Taiyib Tiihir Ibn Ahd Allah Ibn Tiihir Ibn O m a ~at-Tabari, a k5di and
n juriscons~~ltof the sect of as-Shiifi, was a high nrld sore autllority as a doc-
tor, veracious, learned, versed in the dogmas and secondary points of the law,
exact in his researches on the principles of jurispl-udencc, conscientious, vir-
tuous, and holy in his conduct. Ile composed poctry as good as might be cx-
petted from a jurisconsolt : the h6Jz Abb Tihir as-Silafi, in his life of A b i ~'1-
AIh 'l-Maarri, gives the rollowin~anecdote, wllicll was handed (lowri to him
through a series of Traditionists ~vhosenames he mentions, as having been re-
lated by Abh 't-Taiyib at-Tabari : '' When the celebrated scllolax* Abil 'l-Ali
'I-Maarri came to Baghdad and took up his residence in the Suwnika Ghn'Zilr
( the Zittb hnsar of Ghklilr), I wrote to him these lincs :

' What is that which Furnishes a liquid not to be drunk by him who draws it, and yet
' its flesh is allowed. Nc who plcases n~ayeat the flesh of it living or dead, but if he
attempts to drink its milk, he is an erring man. When its produce is Full grown, its
' flesh is good, and he who eats thereof is considcrcd by all thc doctors o l the law as not
' deserving any reprehension. But if its produce be caten when still young, it is
stringent, and no reasonable man would partake oF it. The word of this enigma can
' only be divined by a man of eminence, by one who krlows the secrets of men's hearts
' and has acquired extensive knowledge
Abii 'l-Alh immediately dictated [he following answer to iny messenger :
' Thy question admits of two solutions, both of then1 suitable ; some therefore may an-
' swer it and yet be mistaken. He who thinks that vine is the word of the enigma is not
' in the wrong, and he who thinks that it is dnte-tree must not be called a fool. Their
 ' flesh is the grape and the date: both may be lawfully eaten, but their milk is the de-
' licious wine. However, the fruit of the palm-tree is bitter when green, and grapes
' still green are gathered and eaten. Let the highly-respected LAdi require from me
' an answer to questions numerous as the stars,-nay, more loFty and more difficultto
' reach,-and if I answer them not, I shall deserve never to know them : but the friend
' who loves him will encounter every difficulty.'
b 4 To this I made the following answer:
' One who could hardly find his equal in the world, a man of ample knowledge and
' perfect every way, has excited me to reflection. His heart is a library of all thc sci-
' ences, and his mind is active as an ardent fire. He understands equally well the
' most obscure and the simplest ideas ; their difficulties are for him plain and clear.
' When he awakes a man's heart to friendship, he leads him, though resisting, a pri-
' soner, captivated by the beauty of his eloquence. Iie explains and exposes so well
' every point, that it may be perceived and understood by even an inattentive mind.
' I admire his talent for composing verses so promptly and with so little hesitation.
He draws (his information) from (his mind zohich is) a sea (of knowledge), and his
' merit exalts him even to the mansion of the planets. May the bounteous God in his
mercy grant him the full enjoyment OF his talents during a lengthened life!'

'( On this, Abh 'l- Ali dicta tcd extempore these lines 1 0 the messenger :
' You, 0 kAdi ! whose acuteness (in nrgumenr) is as a drawn sword to confound the
' adversaries of the truth ; your heart is thc dwelling of science, and your merit, in
' every discussion, is admitted as superior. Though possessing little worldly wealth,
you are rich in treasured science. ?\'hen you maintain a controversy, you are a
falcon and your opponents are as pigeons; you seem to speak with as-Sh9fi's mouth,
' and, prompt in replying, to draw your arguments from his mind. Who now can say
that the learning of (as-ShRJi')the son OF Idris, has been lost, whtw !OU undertake to
' light the (path of true) direction. Your kindness was so great, that 1 could not give
you sufficient thanks, and it had been better for me to abstain fro111replying. (Let
L me have) your pardon; for I answered, confiding in your kindness; human nature

c is careless and reflects not. You also did wrong in sending me a note which should
L have been my first and my last title of glory, but, preoccupied by the talents and the

kindness of your messenger, I had not time to learn it by heart. That note could have
justly claimed the merit of giving Resh perfume to musk, and of being deposited in
' the most exalted place of honour. Let soine poets depict themselves in their verses,
L you depict yourself better than they in your learning and your poetry. The earth
L is proud to bear you on its surface, and well may it be proud of a person such as

' you.' "

The follo.rving anecdote is related by a d a m i n i in his Znil, when giving the
life of Abfi Ishak Ali Ibn Ahmad Ibn hlahmiiyah al-k'azdi (4) : "He ( l b n
Mnhnuiyah) and his brother had but a single turban and a single s h i r t be-
tween them, s o that when one of them went out, the other was obliged to
i d stay at home. 1 went to see him one day"-continues as-Samini-" and
 6CG IBN KHALLIKAN'S
" present him my respects, and I had with me Ali ibn al-Husain al-Ghaznawj
L the preacher, when, on entering his house, we found him without any clothing
" except an izcir (2) tied round his waist. LIe begged of us to excuse him fol-
appearing in that state, and added : 'When WC wash our clothes, we are as
the persons whom the klrli ALii 'c-1'aiyib at-Tabari describes in this verse :

F50 ' People who, when they wash the robes in which they deck themselves, take the
c house for a cloak till he that washes has done his task.' "

At-Tabari lived to the age of one hundred and two years, widiout any
alteration 01. decay of Itis mental faculties; he continued till his death to give
decisions on points of law, to correct the mistakes of otlle~.,jurisconsults, to
fulfil the duties of ktdi at Baghdad, and to attend the khalif when he went
out in state. He studied the law at Amul under the tuition of Abri Ali 'z-
Zujiji (3), the disciple of Ibn al-Kiss, and he learned the r.eadirzg of the Koran
a t Jurjin from Abil Saad al-Ismaili ( 4 ) and AbG 'l-Kbim (Yu:Fuf) Ibn Kajj (5).
He then proceeded to Naisi~ur,where he met Abic 'l-Ilasan (M1~hctnzmnd)al-
Mhsarjisi (G), under whom he studied jurisprudence for four years. From
thence he removed to Baghdad, where he followed the course of lectures given by
the shaikh Abd Himid al-Isfariini. Abii Ishak as-Shirbzi was a pupil uf at-Tabari's
and he speaks of his master in these terms : " Of all the men I ever saw, not one
surpassed him in conscientious efforts to clear up points of law ('7); in his scru-
pu10us verification of authorities, and in the justncss of hisviews." Hc com-
posed a commentary on aI-Muzani's Muklrtrrsa~*and on Abh Bakr Ibn al-Iladdid
al-Misri's fririi. 31e wrote also a grcat number of works on the dogmas of reli-
gion, on the doctrines of the ShaGte sect, on the points of contr-oversy between the
sects, ar~don dialectics. The shrrilch Abh Istrak as-Shirizi says : I followed his
lessons with assiduity for upwards of tcn years, and I acted as a professor,
wit11 liis authorisation, for two years, during which 1 instructed hisscholars
in the mosque where he himself taught. He then confided to me the direc-
tion of his whole class." He inhabited Baghdad and acted as k%di in the
suburb of Karkh on the decease of A M Abd Allah as-Saimari ; ttlis place he
continued to hold till his death. He was born at Amul A. M. 348 (A. D. 959-60),
and died at Baghdad on Saturday, the 20th of the first Rabi, A. H. 450(May, A. D.
4 058); the next morning, he was interred in the cemeterylat theGate of Harb ( R d
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. Gk7
Uarb). The funeral service was said over him in the mosque of al-hIans8r.--
We have already mentioned ( p a g e 376) that Tnbnri means belonging to
Tnbarisi&. Amul (written a i t h a long A), is the name of a great city, the
metropolis of Tabaristin.

(1)The imAm Abb 'I-Hasan- not Abd Ishak as the MSS. of Ibn Khallikiin have it-hli lbrl Ahmad Ibn
al-Husain Ibn Ahmad lbn al-Husain Ibn Mahrnbyah al-Yazdi ( a natiile of Yazd in the province of Fars)
was an eminent doctor of the sect of as-Shifi and a koran-veader. H e composed a number of works on the
law and the Traditions. His life was spent in the practice of devotion and self-mortification, and died
A. H. 551 (A. D. 1156-7)at the age of seventy-eight. His learning was equal to his piety. He had made his
studies at 1spaban.-(Tab. al-Fok. fol. 114. Tab. al-Kurrd, MS. No.743, fol. 157, verso.)
(2) See page 4, note (4).
(3) The khdi Abb Ali al-Hasan Ibn Muhammad az-Zujdji, one of tbe great jurisconsults of Amnl and an
eminent doctor of the sect of as-ShAf7, n a s a native of Tabaristin. He composed some works an jurispru-
dence and died between A. H. 370 (A. D. 980) and 400.-{Tab. as-Shdf. Tab. al-Fok.)
(4) Abll Saad IsrnaPl al-Ismaili, the son of AbiS Bakr al-lsmalli, (see page S), studied under his father
and became shaikh of the Shafites in Jurjhn. By his profound knowledge in jurisprudence, dogmatic theo-
logy, and the Arabic language, and by his skill in drawing up bonds, he obtained the reputation of being the
im&m of his time. H e composed some works on law, and died A. H. 396 (A. D. 400!5-61, aped 6% (Tab.
as-Shdf.)
(5) The life of Ibn Kajj is given by Ibn Rhallikin,
(6) The life of al-Mhsarjisi will be found in this work.
(7) Literally: Not one was more perfect in ijtihdd (or, as a mujtahid). The meaning of this term has
been already explained, page 201, note (1).

B N BABSHAD THE GRAMMARIAN.

Abll 'l-Hasan TLhir Ibn Ahmad Ibn Ebshid was the greatest grammarian of
his time in Egypt; it is said that his family belonged originally to D a i h .
He is the author of some instructive works, particularly the celebrated M~kud-
danza, or introdudion to grammar, to wbieh he joined a c ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Hte a r y
composed also a cornmentar yon the J m l of az-Zajjiji, and ;roother on the &d1
of Ibn as-Sarrij ( l (. ).ming his retirement from tbe world he compiled a copious
treatise on grammar (whzch, hocrwveuer, he ie$ unpub&sked): it is said that a
fair copy of it it would have formed warly fifteen vdumes. The grammarians
 G!r 8 ZBN KII ALLIKAN'S
into whose hands it afterwards fell, called it the Tmlik ~ L G h u f u (2). It
p s s d first from him to his disciple AbS Al)d Allalr Muhammad Ibn Barakjt
as-Saadi tlre grammarian and philologer, who replaced him as a professor; it
passed the11 to Ibn Bar;\kit's disciplc and successor, the gram~narianAbli Mu-
Irsrnmad Abd Allah l l ~ nBari, and Srom him to his p r ~ ~and ~ i l successor thc gram-
rnarian Abli 'l-Husain, ~ v l l owas generally known by tlrc opprobrio~asurname of
Tltull nl- Fil (elephrrrzt's dung). I t is slated that each of these persons left it
to his disciple with tire ~~ecommendation of keeping it carefully, and students
frequently endeavoured to obtain leave to copy it, but rvithout success. By his
learning and writiogs, Ibn E i l ~ s h i dlvas highly uscful 11e held a place at the
Clraacet~y-o(iice,at Misr, a ~ l dno paper rlrctlt out of it without being submit-
ted to his exa~nination; if he perceived in it any fault of grammar or of style,
11t: had it rcctiGed By the clerk who wrotc it out; but if he found it correct, he
gave his approval to it and it \\.as tile11 sent ofE to its address. For this servicc
he received a salary from the treasury, which was paid to him montllly. IIe filled
this post for some time ( b ~ at~ tlength gave it up). It is said that he was induced
to do so from the followiog cit*cumstance: Being onc day on the roof of the
mosque at Old Cairo wit11 some other persons, ratiog a collation, a cat went over
to them and lhey gave it a bit of meat. 'J'he animal took it into its lrrouth and
went off, but soon returned again, on which they tl~rewanother. morsel to it.
551 This i l carried off also, atld it kept going and ccming a gr-cAntnumber oF limes,
at each of which i t received from them another hit. Struck with (his singu-
larity, and knowing tlrat no single cat could eat all that they had given, they sus-
pected something extraordinary, and followed the animal. They tllerl saw it
clamber over a wall on the roof and go down into an empty place like an aban-
doned room. There they found another*cat, but blind, eating of the food which
had been brought to it and set before it 117its companion. They were much
struck with this, and Ihn Blibshhd said : " Since God has caused this dumb ani-
mal to be served and fed by another cat, and has not withheld from it. its nou-
rishment, how could he let a human being such as I am perish of hunger?"
He immediately broke off all the ties which bound him 10 the world; he gave up his
place, renounced his salary and shut himself up in a chamber, where he pursued
his studies in the full confidence that God would provide for him. His friends
then took care of him and supported him till he died. His death took place
 BIOGRAPHICAL DlCTlOl\r'hRY. 6L9
on the evening of the thinl day of Rajab, A . H. 469 (January, A.D. Uii,, inOld 11

Cairo, and he was interred in the greater Iiarifa cernelery. 1 have visited his
tomb and the date here given I took from the stone a t the head of his grave. Iie
came by 16s death in ihe following manner : On quitling the world, he collected
his property and sold it all, except those articles which he absolu~elyrequired ;
he then took up his abode in an upper room i g h u r f ) of the mosque of Anlr Ihn
al-ABsi, or, as it is now called, aZ-Jdmi'l-Atik (dre Old illosyue), at Old Cairo.
One night, he went out on the roof of the mosque and having stumbled on orlc
of the openings serving for the admission of light into the interior, he fell
through, and the next morning he was found dead.-Bsibshkd in a Persian word
including the ideas of jg.and happiness (3).

(1)The lives of Ibn as-Sarriij and az-Zajjlji will be found in this work.
(2, This titlemeans notes taken in the garret or attic. It will be seen farther on, that Ibn Blbshbd took
up his residence in the attic story, or rather in a small room on the roof of the mosque of Amr.
(3) This derivation does not seem to be perfectly correct.

TAHIR IBN AL-HUSAIN AL-KHUZAI.

Abri 't-Taiy ib Tihir Ibn al-Husain Ibn 3luslb lbn Ruzaik lbn Main-,or, as 1
have read somewhere else : Ruzaik Ibn Asaad Ibn Ridtiph, or, as I have found
it i n another place : Asaad Ibn Zidin (some say, Musi b\ Ibn Talha Ibn Ruzaik)-
nl-Khuzii, surnamed Zii 'l-Yaminain (umbidexter),was a member, by adoption,
of the tribe of Khuzba : his grandfather Ruzaik Ibn Mlhin having been a ma-
~lurnittedslave of Talhat at -Talhht al-Khuzii (I), hixn who was so highly cele-
brated for his nobleness of soul and his excessive liberality. Tkhir was one of
al-Mamh's ablest supporters : when that prince was residing at Marw, the capital
of Khorasan, he revolted against his brother al-Amin and dispatched TLhir, with
an army, to attack him at Baghdad, an event of which the history is we11 known (2).
Abfi Yahya Ali Ibn Isa Ibn MBhin was sent by al-Amin to repel Tihir, but, in
the battle which msued, he lost his life. Ibn al-Azimi al-Halabi (rhe native of
82
 nlepllo)
(3) says in his IIistory t113t al-l\~liinS U I Ali
~ ~ 11111 IS^ 11)113ibllAll BR:I~IISI

'rHhir ibn al-Husai~land that they encount(1red at l'rai, where i\li was slain on t h ~
seventh ofShPbln, A . 13.4<)3(May, .2. l). X 1 1) ; and ;~l-'khU", in Iris llislory, states
llrat the battle took place in tire vcar 1!)5, willlorrl ninrliin;; in what nnontlr; but
lIe then says : 6' Ali was slairl in battle aricl 'I'i hir seri t :l mcssen!;rr to Mnrw with
the news. These two are separated by an illt(:~ralol' abo~ittwo lrri~rdred
0 and fifty pamsangs; the express was on the rvny from [ I l c eve of Friday till SUII-

day morr,ing"-he does not mention tluc rnontlr-" and llc i~rbrivcdwith the
dispatch on Sonday."-Furtlrer on, be says : " Ali lhtr Isa \vent forth from
Baghdad on the seventh of Shlbin, A. 11. 195." 1 1 is th(hrefo~*c manifest that
Ibn al-Azimi has confounded the date of Ali's death with h a t ol' \)is departure
fromBag11dad. Al-Tabari then says : "The news of llis death ;l~.~.ived at Baghdad
a on Thursday the 1 5th of Shaw~vilof tlre same year." It is t l ~ c ~ c f oprobable
~~e
that he lost his life on tlie seventh or ninth of Shncvwn'l, and that thc copyist
wrote the name of this month Shribrin, l)y rnistake; and, in that casc, he may
352 have left Baghdad in Shibin as at-Tabari has said, ancl his dear11 may have taken
place in the month of Shawwbl or Ramadin ; hut this, Cod lirtows h!sl. Tdhir
then marched towards Baghdad, taliitlg 1)osscssiori of all 1 . 1 1 ~plncvs tllr,o~l~$i which
he passed, ard having besieged al-Ainin in that city, h(! slc\v l ~ i mon Sunday
the 6th (or the 4th) of Safar, A.11. 198 (OctoLci*,A . L). 8113). TJlis i s tllc acbcount
given by at-Tabari, I ~ u another
t historian says : "'I?;ihir. sent to al-MA~niln, re-
questing his permission to do as Ire pleased .rvith al-Amin ill case Ile took him
prisoner; but in reply, al-Mirniin sent him a s h i r ~wit11 no o~jclainj:i r ~it fi,r
the head: by this TBhir knew that he \vished him to hc put to death (/I), and
'' he acted accordingly." I-Te sent al-Amin's 11cad to Khorasan that i t might be
presented to al-Mimiin, who was thcn dcclared khalif. Al-RilhmGn treated TBhir.
with great respect for the soundness OS his counsels and the scrviccs which he
had rendered. When Tihir attained t11c height of his eminence, some one
said to him a t Baghdad : " May you well enjoy the rank which you now hold
" and which none of your rivals in Khorasan have evcr reached !" To which he
replied : "That is what 1 am unable to enjoy, since I cannot see the aged females
" of BQshanj climbing up to the roofs of their houses that they may get a sight

@' of me as I pass by." He said this because he was born at Bilslranj and had
passed his youth there; his grandfather RTuslh having lleen goveimor of that place
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 653

'' it and then wept till his eyes were drowned in tears. c Commander 01 ,lip
" faithful !' said Tihir, ' ~ h do y you weep l May God never cause to
" a tear! The universe obeys you, and you have obtained your utmost
" wishes.'-' 1 weep not,' replied the khalif, c from any humiliation may
" have befallen me, neither do I weep from grief, but my mind is never free frolll
" cares.' " These words gare great uneasiness to Tihir, and (on retiri,i,pi he a i d
to Husain, the eunuch who waited a t the door of the khalif's private apartroeo~:
" I wish you to ask the Commander of the faithful why he wept on seeing r n l ~ . ' '
He then sent him one hundred thousand dirhims. Some time afterwards, ~vherl
al-MBmBn was alone and in a good humour, Husain said to him : W h y did
'' you weep when Tihir came to see you?"-'L What is that to replied
the prince.--'( It made me sad lo see you wcep," answered the eunnch. I shall
'' tell you the reason, but if you ever allow it to pass your lips, 1 shall have Four
head taken off." - '' 0, my master! did I ever disclose anv of your secrets?"
- " I was thinking of my brother Muhammad (al-Anzin j," said the khalif,
'' and of the misfortune which befel him, so that I was nearly choked \vi tlr
" weeping ; hut Tihir sllali not escape me ! I shall make him feel what he
" will not like." Husain related this to Tihir, who immediately rode off to
Ahmnd Ihn Ahi Khllid (!l) and said to him: I am not parsimonious in nly gra-
titude, and a service rendered to me is never lost; contrive to have rne re-
'' moved away froin al-Mirn<~n."-(' I shall ;" replied Ahmad ; '' come to nle
" to-morrow-morning." He then rode off to al-Alimin and said : " I was
not able to deep last night."--" Why so:"' said the khalif.--" Because you
have entrusted Ghassin (10) w i ~ l the
i government of Khorasan, and his friends
6' are \lerp few (4 I); and 1 fear that ruin awaits him."--'' And whon~do you
0 think a proper person for it?" said al-Mlmiin. -" Tihir," replied Ihn Abi

Khh]id.-'i He is ambitious (12)," observed the khalif.-" I will answer for his
conduct ;" said the other, Al-Mimbn then sent for TBhir, and named him go- 334
vernor of Khorasan on the spot; he made him also a present of a eunuch whom
he had brollght up, and to whom he had just given orders to poison his new master
if he remarked any thing suspicious in his conduct. When T5hir was solidly
in his government, he ceased making the kholba( for ~l-fljdn2lir2) ;
this event is related in the following terms by Kulthfim h ThHbit, the d i ~ c t o r
of the post eslablishment in Khorasan : " T l h i r mounted the pulpit on Friday.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICT1ON:iRT. ii35
(3) See [)age 174, note (6). The historian Ibn al-Azfmi must have written subsequentlj to A H. 517. ~4
he mentions that Zioki attacked Damascus in that year.--(Zubdal al-llalab, MS. KO. 728, f. it%,r I . u l ~ .
(4) A shirt without an opening for the bead could not be of any use exrept to rover a body without a head
(5) Correct the Arabic text and read
.. L -1 dr2.
( G ) Meaning by this that he deserved to have his hand cut off for robberg.
(7) This he did lest the company might hear the verses.
(8) This historian's names are Abh 'I-Husain Ali Ibn Ahmad as-Salami.
(9) See page 20, note (9).
(10) Ghasshn Ibn AbbAd was appointed governor of Sind by al-Mlmrln, A. H. 213," - (Ibn et-Athtr
(11) Literally: " He and his could eat up the head between them." See Frey tag's Proverbs of ai-Yaidar~l,
tom. 1, p. 73, No. 189.
(12) Literally: "He is hungry."
(13) Ibn Khallikhn might have mentioned from nhich of the great Arabian stems the tribe of KbalQb~r
branched OR. That it was not well known, is proved by the silence of the best genealogists.

SAIF AL-ISLAnl TOGIITIKIS.

Saif al-Islim (tflesword of Ishmism) Abil 'I-Fa\viris Toghliliin, the snn o!

Aiydb Il~nShidi Ibn Marwin (,I), and surnamed al-Malik al-Aziz %nhirad-tiiu
(the great prince, supporter qftfzefaith),held the sovereignty of Ytlmcn. \ \ hen
his brother, the sultan al-Malik an-Blsir Saliih addin became master OF Egypt, h(#
sent his other hr-other Shams ad-Dawlat Tiirin Shih-him \l-hosr lift: has bevn
given, page 280,-to take possession of Yetrten. That prince got the !;rmtr~p r t
of the country into his power, but then returned from i t , as we have already rlierr-
tioned. In the year 577 (A.D. 1181-2) the sultan sent thither. Saif RI-Islinl,who
was a man of courage and generosity, noted for his talents as an administrator
and his justice as a governor. His bounty and beneficence drew poets aLout
him from the most distant lands, and amongst the rest lbn Chain of Damascus,
whose life will be found in this work, and ~ h came o to celebrate his praises i r t
some brilliant knsidas, which procured him rich rewai7ds from the prioce's libe-
rality. The favour of his patron then enabled him to acquire a large fortu~lt.,
and he left Yemen wit11 his riches : On arriving in Egypt, which was now under
the rule of al-Malik al-Aziz ImM ad-din Othmhn, the son of Sal& ad-din, he y ~ t j
\xras hy the clerks of the A lms-Office to pay the legal alms (2i on all the
634; IBN K13 I\ LLIKAN'S
rncrcllnndize which he had brought with h i m . Tlris induced him to compose
the following verses :

All the persons named al-Aziz (the great) aro not worthy of such a title; it is not
cvery thunder-cloud nhich brings with it a genial shower. flow difierent is the con-
duct of the two Aziz-one bcstows alms, lhc other takes them.

Saif al-Islhrn died on [h(' 19th of Shaivwil, A . 11. 503 (Septcn~bcr,A . D. I 1 97j
at al-MnnsBra, a city founder1 by himself in Yemen. IIc was succcedcd in his
government by al-hhlik al-Moizz fit11 ad-din Ismail, tbc prince for whom AbQ'I-
Ghaniim Rlusallam Ibn Mahmiid Ibn Ninla Iljn A r s l i n ash-Sl~aizari( ~ z n i i v eof
Shnizni. i~r Syria) composed his Ajliil, al-Asfii* rua ClllnrriiG al-Akhb&;
(cvonder.s of travel nt;d singular narratives), a work containing a copious
nccourit of his travels and much informalion respectiny; (the errtitlent) mcw (wl101)~
he hud ntetj. AI-Izz 1Ln Asbliir (3) says that SaiE al-lsl,;rn died at Ilarnm ([I!,
a town in Yemen, ancl AbB'1-Ghanhim, the writer abovc ~nentioned,stales in 11is
Jnnz/~aratal-Is lrinz zril a n - N a d r i wa 'n-Niza'7rz (5) ( coZlec/ions respecting
Islamism-011 Islam-containing pieces in prose and verse), that the rlea (h of
Saif al-Islim took place a t Taizz (G), in thc collvge of which town Ire was in-
terred. I l e then adds : '' His son Fath ad-din Abii 'l-Fidi Ismail was slain in
the month of Rajab, A . H. 598 (April, A. U. 1202), at A#ji, a place situaled to
the north of Zal~id(7). Fath ad-din was succcedcd by his l~rotheral-hlnlik
L L an-Nisir AiyGb (X)."-Abil 'l-Ghanhim, the author of this work, was versed
in polite literature and had a talent for poetry ; he was still alive A . II. G1 7
(A. D. 1220-l), hut he cliecl in that same year or i n oue or tire years ensuing.
His father Abii 'th-Than5 Mahmdd was a grammarian, and professed that art in
the Mosque (jdmi)at Damascus. The AriJiz Ibn Asikir makes mention of him
in t h e great History (cf Damnscrrs), and Imid ad-din says in the KJtarida that
he died A . H. 5G5 (A. D. 1169-70). Sharaf ad-din lbn Onain relates that this
Mahmiid recited to him the following lines of his own composing :

They pretend that the k's requisite i n winter are many (D), but it is not a falsehood
to say that there is only one. When you have the k of his (money-bag), you have then1
all; in the wild ass is found every sort of game (10).

,Toghtikfn is a Turkish name.

 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
(1) The life of Aigdb has been already given, p. 243.
(2) The legal alms are a property tax of two and a half per cent.
(3) his is in tbe margm of the autograph and not in the author's hand. - For Asair I should read
nl-Athtr.
(4)The town of al-Hamra lay between Johla a n d Taizz.
(I)The last word of this title is vrritten >l.!$ in the original manuscript and in the handwriting of Ibil
Khallikbn himself. All the other MSS. ha+e
'9 (nazrn),which is manifestly a fault, as the first part of the
title should rhyme with thesecond. This work, nhich is not noticed by Hajji Khalifa, was perhaps a pane-
gyric on the prince SaZf al-Islam.
(6) Taizz, as i t is written in the Mardsid, is the Taas of the gazetteers
(7, Zabtd is the same city as the Zebid of the gazetteers.
(8) A fuller account of these princes will be found in Johannsen's Historia Ymance, p. 150 et seq.
(9) This alludes to a couple of verses composed by Ibn Snkliara, and inserted by al-ElarIri in his twenty-
fifth'l~akdnza (See De Sacy's edition, p. 262.) Their meaning is nearly as folloss: Winter is come and I
have for it seven things requisite when wet weather keeps me within doors; they are: kian (shelter), kls
(purse), kdnilm (stove), a k&s (cup) of wine, after some kabdb (roasted meat-see Lane's Modem Egyptionr.
v.1. 11. 180:, a plump kuss (girl), and a kisd (warm covering). The kuss (arvum qmitale) was frequently
designated by the metonymy of the sixth Rdf (AI-Kdfas-Sddisa).
(10) The Arab hunters considered the flesh of the wild ass as preferable to that of all other animals, be-
cause it had the taste and qualities of every sort of game. The expression itself is proverbially employed to
designate a single object which can replace n number of others.

AS-SALIH IBN RUZZIK.

Abd 'l-Ghhht Talhi Ibn Ruzzik, surnamed af-Malili as-Slih ( the virtwus
prince), was a vizir of Egypt. He had been originally entrusted with the govern-
ment of Mdoya Bani Khasib, a place in the province of Upper Egypt (Said), but
on the assassination of az-ZBfir Ismail (see his life, page 222), the officers of the
palace sent to request his assistance against AbMs and his son Nasr, the authors
of that crime. He immediately proceeded to Cairo at the head of an immense
multitude of Arabs from the desert. On his approach, Abbis and his son fled
with their partisans, amongst whom was Oslma Ibn Murshid Ibn Muokid, who had
been a sharer in their guilt (see his life, puge 177). Sllih then made his entry into
Cairo and being appointed vizir to (the kltalzf) al-FBiz, he became the absolute
master of the state and director of the government. This took place on the
19th of the first Rabi, G. H. 549 (June, A. D. l 4 SA).-He was eminent by his
83
 personal merit, profuse in his donatio~ls,aeccssiblo t.n s~titors,a generous patroll
to men of talent, arrd a good poet. 1 iravc rcnd his collf>ctcilpoetical \vorks
I tool; tllc f o l l o ~ ~ i nlrassngrs
forming two volunles, Eron) \\~l~ich g :

35Ci EIow often does time set before us its vicissitudcs, that t 1 . l ~may
~ servc for our in-
struction ; yet we turll away and heed them not. WC t o r g ~ tthat the hour of death
must come, and llcvpr thinlt of it till our maladies ronlind us.

There was a youth n hose s l c ~ ~ d form

e r and plinnt. waist secmcd, from their niovc-
merits to have acquired n portion of thc intoxication which his eyes shctf around. [{is
glances were so penetrating that, in the morn OF battle, I might havc dr;lwn then] from
their eyelids to scrvc me as a sword. " The tnusk 01 that izdr," I exclaimed, has
traced o doublc eli[ ( l ) on his chock, and not n ~iooblcldm (J)(l). It is not
down which spreads over his cheeks, but the locks 01 his hair whicll havc broken
loose." Bchold with wonder a sultan whose justice is universal and who himself
suffersfr-on1the tyranny of love (i). By Allah 1 were i t not t l ~ a tflight is a shamcf{l]
word and shameful in itself, 1 should havc fled 10 him for protection against his own
cruelty (3).

The celebrated prcacher and native of Damascus Abli 'I-fTasan Ali Ibn I1)rahiln
Ibn Naja Ibn Ghaniim al-Ansiri (rlr..scen~fedfi~onz one qf' rhe A t s r i r s ) , a member
or the Hanbalite sect, and sarnaincd Znin ad-din (!he or-/~cn~~c./rt (;[reZib"io/r),but
generally known by the aplrcllatiorr of Ibn Nl!jaijn, gives t l ~ ofoIlo\vin,g vcr-scs ;\S
the production of Talii lb11 Ruzzik, and m(~1tionsllrat, when llc was in Egypt,
they were recited to him by tllcir nuthur :
Your hoary age has cast off the dark tint of youth, and the whitc falcon has settled
i n the nest or the cron (4). You slunlbcr in apathy, but misfortutie is awaltc and the
tooth of affliction will wound you and not bc rcpellcd. Ilow can you preserve the
treasure of your life if you squander it away uncountcd'!

The poet Ahd Allah 1l)n Asnad surnamed al-Muhnddab ( S ) , a native of Mosul,
but an inhabitant of Emessa, celel,r.atetI t l ~ cpraises of asShlih Tnlii i n a poem
rhyming in R, and beginning thus :

Will it not suffice you that I perish under your corrcclion? You only punish me for
the excess of the love I bear you (6).

It is an excellent kasldn and expresses in these lines the drift of the author :

Why then be angry if secret foes say I have forgotten thee? knowest thou not that
I can never forget thee? May thy friendship be withheld from mc if what they say is
true, andmay my thirst be never quenched by the generosity of the son of Ruzzik!
 BIOGRAPIIICAL DICTIONARY. 639
Were I not afraid of lengthening this article too much, I should transcribe
here tlre e!ltire poem, which is both long and instructive (i).-On the death 01'
al-Fiiz, lvlio was succeeded by al-Aidid, as-Sllih not only continued to hold the
vizirat, but &as treated by the new khalif with greater honour than ever : Ire
married his daughter to al-hidid wlrom irc held in conlpletc sul~jectionand n
prisoner (in the and, serluced bv long prosp~rity,he neglected 11ke
~wecautioasof prudence. Fatigued at length with his tllraldonr, the priner
devised a plan against his vizir's life, and formed a conspiracy for that porposr
with the portion of the regular troops called the Azildd or-Rdi (tlw sons of the
shephe~rl)(8). These men were to remain concealed in a part of the palace
which he indicated, and on the passage of as-Silih, either by day or by night,
they were to kill him. They lay there in wait, and as the vizir was about leaving
the palace, they rose to attack hirn, but the door through which they had to pass
was locked by the mistake of one of the hand whilst endeavouring to oprn it,
;111{l their design was thus frustrated for that night; God having had some motive

for allowing their intended victim to live a short time longer. Another day
they posted themselves in their place of concealment, and, when as-Silih rn-
tered the palace, they sprung upon him and covered him with wounds, some
GT them in the head. The alarm was immediately given, and the persons who
had accompanied as-Silih came in to his assistal~ceand slew the murderers. IIe 357
was carried home, the blood flowing from his wounds, and be died ttre same
dav, Monday, 19th Ramadin, A. 11. 556 (September, A. D. 1 161). His birth
wasin the year495 (A.D. 1101-2). Thepelissesof investiturewere then borne
to his son Abii Shuji al-Aidil Muhi ad-din Kuzzik, him of whom we havespoken
in the life of Shhear, page 608. He thus became vizir, on Tuesday, the day
after his father's death, and received the honorary title of al-hidil an-Nisir (ihe
just, the protecto,j. The jurisconsult OmPrat al-Yarnani lamented the den6 of
as-Silih in a long kasidn commencing thus :

Is there in tbat assembly a person well inFormed to whom I may apply? For the grief
I feel has troubled and expelled my reason. I have heard a rumour which makes me
envy the deaf, which shocks him who hears it and strikes dumb him who relates it.
Can I have an answer to encourage my hopes and make the truth of this fatal news
appear less probable than iks falsehood ? The aspect of things only increases my fears ;
-I see the throne set out, but he who filled it is absent ! Has he retired (merely/ba
time)and left his son to replace him, or has he departed never to return? I see sad-
ness upon all faces such as shows that the faces (chiefs of Iht ki~gdom)are orphaned
by his ~ O S S .
 660 IBN KIIALLIKAN'S
It contains also this passage :

Leave me! this is not the moment for \\rccpingl TAaterour tears shall dcsccnd as the
dew and as the showers. Suspect not tlrc sincerity of my grief; that shower (of gene-
rosity)i n which I placed my hopes lras becn dissipated from over me. Why sliould we
not weep him and dep1ol.e his loss, sow that our children are orphaned and hcrcft?
After a life of beneficence he has vanished From our eycs ; 0 that T kncw the Tatc which
God reserves for u s ! Shall your guest, the stranger whom you protected, find still an
honourable treatment 2nd be induced to remain, or must his baggage ])c packed up
for a prompt departure?

Silitl was interred at Cairo in the Palace of the Vizirat founded by al-Afdal
Shihanshdh, whose life we have given, puge G 1 2 ; bu l 011 thc 19111 OS the month
of Safar, A. [I. 557 (February, A. D. 1 1 62), his son al-A5dil caused the body to
be taken up, and having placed it o n a bier, he followed it to the cemetery of the
Greater Karifa and had it deposited in the tomb which is still cnllcd the Mauso-
leum of as-SQlih. Omira t al-Yanlani composed, on this sul)jcct , another good
knsi'da-, containing the following passage relative 10 h e bier ( l d h i r ) :
Like the ark (tabzit) of Moses, it contained di~nity(9) and gravity.

He made also a number of other elegies on his death.-This was the Sblih who
built the mosque outside the Gate of Zawiln(4 0) at Cairo. In the life of Sh5ivar we
mentioned the flight of as-Shlih's son, al-Atidil Ibn Ruzzik, from Cairo, with the
date of that event (seepage 608); he took with him tl.easnres to an immense
amount, and accompanied by his family and domestics, hc put himself under
the protection of Suhimin-some say, Yakhb-lbn-an-Nis (I l ) al-Lakhrni, an
old friend of ~ h cvizir's family and indebted to them for the an~plefortune which
he then possessed. IIe received tllcm in his house at Atfih (131, but immediately
\vent off to.Sh3war and ir~formcdhim where they wcrc. Shiiwar sent back with
him a 11-oop(of~oldiers)who arrested al-AHdil and brought him to thc door of
the palace, where he kept him waiting for a long time and then sent him io
prison.-1.k afterwards said to Ibn an-Nis : As-SAlih reserved you for his son
358 '' as a precious treasure, and I shall reserve you for mine;" he then ordered him
to be strangled. Al-Aidil re~nainedin prison for some time and was at length
put to death hy Shbwar's orders; his head was then brought forth to the great
officers of the empire. It is a singular coincidence that as-S8lih was nominated
vizir on the nineteenth day of the month, that he was murdered on the nineteenth
 BlOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 66l
day of the month, that his body was disinterred and that tllc authority of the
Ruzzik family ceased on days of a similar date.-Zain ad-din Lbn Nujaiya, the
preacher above mentioned, was born A . H. 508 (A. D. I1 14-5) at Damascus; he
passed his youth in that city and visited Baghdad a number of times ;he married
Omm Abd al-Karim Fitima, the daughter of Abb 'l-Hasan Ssad al-litlair Ibo
Muhamrnad Ibn Sahl Ibn Saad, a descendant from one of the Anslirs and a native
of Valencia in Spain (1 3). BeFore his death, he removed to Egypt and there
taught the Traditions. He died in that country on Wednesday, the 8th of
Ramadln, A. H. 599 (May, A. D. 1203).

( I ) See the observations in the Introduction to this volume.

(2) By the sultan, he means himself.
(3) I shall henceforward omit every piece similar to this, unless there be means of disguising its offensive
character.
(4) This means in simple language: Your gray hairs have taken the place of your hlact, ones
(5) The life of al-Muhaddab Abd Allah Ibn ad Dahhbn will be found in the nett volume.
(6,Tlreword 'S:., an incorrect erpressioo, is equivalent to 4 fi The first comes from
the root Sd and the second from
(7) Imld ad-din gives this poem in his Iihartda; see MS. of the Bib. d u R&, No. 1414, fol. in
(8) Ibn al-Athtr says in his Annals: "Among the Egyptian emirs, he a b o took the most active part in the
'' murder of as-Sblih was the person named Ibn ar-Rdt (the son o f the shepherd)." Al-Makrtzi, in his Khi-
tat, speaks of as-Sallh.and gives a short account of his death; according to him, he was attacked and wounded
by a Bhtinite. An account nearly similar is given in the Nujitm.
(9) Dignity; in Arabic, sakana. See M. de Sacy's observations on this word in his Chrestomathie, tom. 11.
page 77.
(10) According to al-Makrlzi, as-Silih built this mosque for the reception of the mortal remains of bl-HU-
sain, the son of Ali, which were at that time interred a t Ascalon and in constant danger of being profaned
by the Frank army.
(21) I here follow the reading of the autogaph.
112) AtfPh is situated on the east bank of the Nile, about forty miles above Cairo.
(13) Abh 'l-Hasan Saad al-Khair Ibn Muhammad the Traditionist descended from a family of the Anrdrs
and was born a l Valencia in Spain. H e travelled to the East and went as far as Stn (Chirur), for which rea-
son he was surnamed as-S'lrai al-Balansiyi. At Baghdad he studied the law under Abb Hdmid aEIsfardini
and learned the Traditions from Abb Abd Allah an-Nibli J1d\
and other doctors. When in IspaMn he
took lessons from Abh Saad al-Mutarriz, and it was in that city he got married; it war there also that his
daughter Fgtima was born. His authority as a was cited by Ihn A s u r , AbO. Saad as-Sambni, Abd
Mbsa al-l)la&i, and others. He di&l a t Baghdad in the month of Muhamm, A. H.MI (b.D. 2146-7),and
the funeral prayers were said over bis corpse by the Kddi 'I-EdUl az-Zainabi. He was interred near the
tomb of Abd Allah, the son of the imhm Ibn Hanba1.-(M-Makkari, MS. NO.?@, fd.W.!
 ABU YAZID AL-If ASTAMI.

Abh Yazid Taiffir a\-Rastbmi, the fatnous ascclic, was the son of Isa 11-)nAdam
1bn Isa Ibn Ali. His eraadfa~l~rr was n Mngian, but hrcnmc a convert to
Islamism, and his two h~athers, Adam and Ali, werc, like himself, devout
hut in an inferior dcglro. Abd Yaaid, being askcd 1 1 0 he ~ had acquired
his knowleclge (of't/le .sl~ir*il~lal
W O I ~ ( ~ ans\vered
) , that i t was by means of a
hunglly belly and n 11akcd body. A person said to lrim : " W h a t is tire greatest
Sllffcring which yoli llavc undergone in thc way of God ?" to which bc replied :
6LIt cannot be describcd." Ilc was then aslted what was r he slightest morti-
fication which he had inflicted on himsclf ( I ) ? and he said : " As for that
question, I can answer it : when 1 summoned myself to do an act, pleasing
to God, if I rcplied not with a good mill, I deprived myself of water fat, a ycar."
He used to say : When you sec a man possessing miraculous powers so as
&'

a ever1 to mount into the air, let not that deceive you, but sec if he observes
God's commands and prohibitions, i f he ltceps wilhin the hounds imposed by
religion, and if he pt~rl'ormsthe duties which it prcscrihes." Ilis sayings are
very numerous, his works of mortification and devotion are highly celel,~ated
and his miraculous gifts were clear and eviden t. 1Ie died A. 11.261 (A .D. 874-5) ;
some say, 264.-Baslcinti nleans I)~Zor7gir?gto Bnstcil,~,1vhicI1 is a well known
town in the province of Khmes (2); some pcrsons state that it lies just within
the fr'ontier of Khorasan, ncar the I~orderof Irak.

. i f The word &<L has been omitted by n,istultc i n the Arabic text after &.L,
(2) This ~wovineclies towards thc south-eastern extremity of the Caspian Sea,

ABU 'L-ASWAD AD-DUWALI.

AM 'I-Aswad ZHlim Ibn Amr Ibn Sofyln Ibn Jandal Ibn Yamar Ibn Hils Ihn
Nufitha Ihn Adi Ibn ad-Dil Ihn Rakr was surnamed ad-Dili or ad-Duwali, but a
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 663
great diversity of opinions exists relative to his name, his Genealogy llis suF
(1)- He was of the most eminent among the l.&;$, an inhabitant
of Basra, and a partisan of Ali Ihn Ali Tilib, under whom he fought at ttltb
battle of Sillin. In intelligence he was one of the most perfect of lllen aud in
reason one of the filost sagacious. He was the Grst who inrented glamnlar :
is said that Ali laid down for him this principle : the paria of speech art)
tfrrcc : ihe rroun, the verb, and ibe purticle, telling hinl to found a completlb sr;!,
treatise upon it. Others say that be was i~~structor to the children of Zild
Ibn Abih, who was then governor of Arabian and Persian Irak, and that he
went to him one day and said : Emir, nray God direct thee ! I see that ttrc
" Arabs have become mingled with these foreign nations and that their tongues

" are altered (so that they syenk il2coi~reclZy); wilt thou then auttiorize me to com-
" pose for the Arabs somelhing which may enable them to know their language?"
-or, according to another relation, - to use correctly their language :' "

-Zihd refused permission, but some time afterwards, a man came to him and
said : '' Emir ! may God direct thee ! tuwajiu clbana tva taraka bnnun (2) (mor-
" ~ U U Sest patrenz nostrunz et reliquitfilii);" on this he sent for AM 'l-Aswad

and told him to prepare for the puhlic that which he had previously Forbidden
him to compose.--It is related by otkcrs that as he entered his house on a certain
day, one of his daughters said to him : '' Papa ! m a ahsanu 's-samdi? (what
in the s/i--?)"-- to which Le answered : 'L Its stars ;" but she
L 1S 1120stbe~~ixtCJfUI

~.cplied: Papa, 1 do not mean to say \\-hat is the 111ost beautifut object in it ;
I was only expressing my admiration at its I~auty."--~L You must then say,"
observed, mn ahsann 's-samdn (how benutl;ful is ihe sky'." He then
invented, the art of grammar. Abli Harb, ad-Duwali's son, related as follows :
The first section (of de art of grammar) composed by my father was on the
ii verbs of admiration (3)." Abii 'l-Aswad having been asked where he had
acquired the science of grammar, answered that he had learned the Grst points of
it from Ali 1bn Ali,,Tilib. It is said that 4 b i '1-Aswad never made known an!
of the which he had received from Ali, till Zild sent to him the order
to compose which might serve as a guide to the public and enable
tllem to understand the Book of G o d (the Koran). He a t first asked to 1~ dis-
pensed (Fom a task), but on hearing a Inan m i t e the follolving passage
ollr of the Koran : Anna 'llnhs bar+n mina 'GmushrGina wa rasdu/tu, which
last word the reader pronounced msnlilli, he exclaimed : " l never thought that
6 . tllillSs have come to this (!I)." He then returned to ZiSd and said : '(1
shall do what you odered ; lind nle an intelligent (5) scribe who will fol-
low rlrp directions." On tlris n scrilx I)elonging to the tribe of A bd al-Kais
was hroui;bt to him, but did not give 11im satisfaction ; srrother then came and
Abi~'I-Aswad said to hirn : "When you see me open (,futnli) m y mouth in
6' pronouncing a letter, place a point over i t ; when l close ( d u m n ~my
) mouth,
( l place a p i n t befom (or, upon) the lettel*, and when I pucker up (krlsor) my

mouth, place a point under the letter." This the scribe did (G). Tlre art (of
gramnlnr) was called nalzrr~ubecause Abil 'l-Aswad had said : " I asked per-
nlission of Ali Ibn Ali Tilib to compose i t 2 tlze same way (~zahrun)as hc had
i 6 done." God knows best, if this be true (7) .-Abti 'l-Aswad had a house in
Hasra, but as he was continually suffering from the maliciousness of a neighbour,
he sold i t ; and some person having said to him : " You have then sold your
c L house ? " he replied : " Say rather, I have sold my neighbour ;" a saying

which became proverbial @).-He went in one day to Obaid Allah Ibn Abi Bakra
Nukai (9) Ibn al-Harith Ibn Kalada ath-Thakafi, who, on seeing him clothed in a
a tattered cloak which he often wore, said to him: "Abii 'l-Aswad, are yoil not
tired of that cloak?" To which he received this answer: '(There are tire-
" some things which it is impossible to quit." When Abii '1-Aswad with-
drew, the other sent to him one hundred coats, on which he recited the lines
which follow: (some say, however, that it was between him and al-Nundir Ihn
al-Jirtid that this passed) :
A generous brother, prompt to assist (ndsiru), clothed me wben I asked it not, and
therefore do I praise him. If you are grateful, that man best deserves your thanks who
makes you presents while your self-respect remains undiminished.
In this verse, the word ndsirn is sometimes read yrisiru; the meaning of the first
reading is clear, as it comes from nusrri (assismilce);the second reading implies
pity and compassion; thus they sap : Such a one has cornpassion (yrisinl) on
such a one."- AbB 'l-Aswad composed a great deal of poetry (1 0) ; one of his
pieces i's as follows :
It is not by wishes alone that you can procure your livelihood ; you must send your
bucket down into the wcll with those of others : sometimes it will come up full, and
sometimes with mud and but little water.
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 665

His poetical works have been collected into a volume. He is the author of 540
this verse :

Omaiya dyed our hands with blood, but Omaiya withheld from us their wealth (11).

It is related that Abh 'l-Asgad had an attack of the palsy, and that he used to
go to the market himself, although scarcely able to draw his leg after him, and
yet he was rich and possessed both male and female slaves : a person who knew this
accosted him one day and said : God has dispensed you from the necessity of
" moving about on your own business ;why do you not remain seated at home'!"

T o which he replied : " No; I go in and out, and the eunuch says : L He is
'' ' coming,' and the boy says: ' He is coming,' whereas, were I to conti~uesit-
" ting in the house, the sheep might urine upon me without any person's pre-
venting them."--Khalif'a Ibn Khaiyit states h a t when Abd Allah Ibn Abbis
governed Basra in the name of Ali Ibn TQlib(1 2), he had to make a journey to
Hijiz, and left AbB 'l-Aswad to replace him ; the latter continued in his post
from that time till the death of Ali .-He was notorious for his ararice, and he used
to say : If we listened to the demands made by the poor for our money, we should
" soon bc worse off than they." He said also to his sons: Strive not to rival
" Almighty God in generosity, for He is the most bountiful and the most glorious ;

" had he pleased, he would have given ample wealth to all men ; so strive not to

" be generous, lest you die of starvation."-He once heard a person say : lITho
" will give a supper to a hungry man?"--" Let him come to me;" he replied.

W h e n the supper was over, the man left the table and was going out, but his
host called after him : "Where are you going?"--dgTo my people;" replied the
other. -"That," exclaimed Abll 'I-Aswad, " I shall by no means allow; when I
L' gave you to sup, my sole motive was to prevent the true believers from being

troubled by you for this night a t least." He then put him in the stocks and
kept him in confinement till the next morning.-Abd 'l-Aswad died at Basrs
of the plague in the year 69 (A. D. 688-g), aged eighty- five years; some per-
sons mention, however, that he died of the palsy before the plague broke out :
othen again state that he died in the khalifat of Omar Ibn Abd a l - A z u now
t h i s prince came to the throne in the month of Safar, A. H. 99 (September-Octo-
ber, A. D. 717), and died at Dair-Sa~njn(1 3) in the month of Rajab, A. H. 101
(February, A. D. 720). When AbS 'l-~swad was on he point of death, some
84
 6GG IBN IIHALLIJCAN'S
one said to Ililn : ' 6 Rejoice! God's forgirerlcss awaits you ;" to which he replied :
But 1~7hcr.eis thc s h a m e whicll I should feel if any of mg deeds required for-
" eireness ""-- DrrirwZi' mpnn b ~ b ~ r g - i n
&g) D~ia~il,
whiclr is a l)rsnch
of tile tribe of KinBm. In fo~blninctllc l~clntircatljcctiva from Dou7il, thcy say
l)ucYct/iand notDucvili,so 2s to avoid a succession o r kesrns or i's : it is t 1111sthat
fr.om N u ~ n i , . ~
ihc
, nnnrc of ano~llertribe, they form N(mzn1.i;this is a general
rule. Ducq7aZis the name or an animal 1)c.lween ~ h weascl c and the fox (lA.).-
The true pronunciation oT the word Hils is given by al-VJazir al-M;~glirihiin his
Kit&/j nal-l~rri,(l 3 ) ; i t is ortcn written incorrectly, and I have found some dir-
fcrenees of opinion stil.,sist.i~i~ respecting it, hut llzls is thc right orlhographv.
(1) The autograph has ;,,A . 3 &J,.
[2) The man should Ilavc si~idobflna, not abdna, and banln, not buniln.
131 Sec M. de Sacy's Grammairc Arobe, and Iiis cdition of the AIFya, page 66. The bcst published trea-
tise on this suljjcct is contained in Ibn Akil's comnrcritary on thc Alfiya printed at BOIAli, A. H. 1252 ; the
most satisfactory work on Arabic grarnmar which we possess. I t can bc orrly surpassed by l b n Hishim's
Moyhni 'l-Iabih, a profound and truly philosopllical treatise, b u t riot yet printed.
(4)This passage is ror~tainedin the third verse of the ninth surat. If read correctly, it signifies " This is a
declaration- lhnt God is clear of tlre idolaters, and his Aposlle also ; but if the last word bc pronounced
" rasulflti, it means-tltat Cod is clear of the idolalers and of Itis aposlie."
. , U I

( 5 ) The autograph has !A) in place of '.L); the sense is the same.
(6) These arc the rcd points still found in'sorne of the old ICbfic MSS. of tlic Koran.
(7)The following particulars relative to the origin of Arabic grammar are takcn from the notice on AbO'l-
Aswad ad-Duwali in AbO. 'l-Rfal~bsin'sal-Bahr a:-Zdkltir, year 69.-" I once went in," said Ahh 'l-Aswad,
to the khalif Ali and found him in deep ~xflexion,on which l said to him: 'Commnrlder of lhc faithful!
what are you thinking of?' He answercd : ' I heard in your town faults of language, and I wish to com-
pose a book on the principles of Arabic.' 1 replied: ' i f you d o SO,you will give us new life.' Some days
4' afterwards I went to liirn and he handed mc his book &C- in which was tliis passage: Z'!L~p a r t s of
" speech are the noun, the verb, a n d the parlicle; Ihe noun designates a thinq which has a name, (he verb
'. indicates the motion of tlte t l t i r ~ gwhich Ilas a natne, a n d the parlicle i s that wlzich i s neilher noun nor
" verb. He then told me to follow that up and add to it the observations which might come into m y mrirrd; I
" Illerefore collected many and submitted them to him. Anbasa learned grammar from ad-Duwali, Maimhn
al-Akran L,y\rborn Anbasa, Abd Allal~Ibn Abi 'l-Hasan al-Hadrami from MainOn, L a Ibn Omar from
" al-Hadrami, al-Khaltl Ibn Ahrnad, the inventor of prosody, from Isa, Slhawaih from al-Rhalll, al-Akhfhsh
" Satd Ibn Masada fromSibawaih, and the krrowledge of it then spread among the public."-(MS. No. 6159 A.)
The author o f the Fikrist says that Saad, a newly converted Persian, happened to walk past Abh '1-
Aswad ad-Duwali and was asked by him why he went on foot? To which he replied: "Because my horse is
" l a m e , saying W& & !, instead of 1% , ' .!. Some persons present laughed a t the mis-
take, but AbO 'l-Aswad then conceived the project of rendering Arabic of easy acquisition to newly con-
verted nloslims from foreign countries, and he composed the chapter trealic~gof the governing and the
g o v m e d parts ofs~,eeclt J+d Jr1i11 +L .- (Fi?tdst, Fol. &.)-The following extract from the
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIOKBRY.
same pro'cs lhat Aba '1-Aswad did really compose a treatise on grammar bearing ths title : it contains
things not the subject, but they are sufficiently curious to merit insertion: - a Nuhammad
Ibn Ishaksays: there was a man in the city of al-Badftha whose name was Muhammad Ihn al-Easan.
but was generall~known by the surname of Ibn Abi Baara OF. Be was a book collector and po+
sessed a library, the like of which I never saw for its extent. In the division of Arabic books were trea-
tises O n grammar, ptlilology, and literature, nith some old books besides. I met this man a number oi'
timesl and he at length became intimate with me, though he was in general very reserved, and apprehen-
hensive that the Bamdln family (the sovereigns of dleppo) might seiaean what he had. Be then pulled out
a large trunk cont$ning about three hundred pounds weight of parchments folded double. and o l Egyptian
card paper (kartdsl, Chinese paper (warak slni), paper of Tehlma, and payer of Khorasan. These contained
passages of pure Arabic learned from the Arabs of the Desert, a few of their Rastdas, and some notes oa
grammar; with anecdotes, historical relations, stories, genealogies, and other branches of knowledge peculiar
to that people. l i e told me that he had received them from a native of Khfa, whose name I forget, and who
was an eager collector of ancient autographs (al-khut4t al-kadlma). This person, being on the point of death.
left these writings to him because he was a Shiite and had thus obtained his friendsbip. i looked at the
documents (said Muhammad) and Has struck with admiration; they were all more or less injured by time,
but on each quire or roll was a series of certificates 10 the number of five or six, all in the handwriting of
men eminent for their learning, and each of them declaring the preceding to be really in the handwriting of
the person whose signature it bore. Among them I saw written: Koran i n the handwriting of Khalid l b r b
A b i 'l-Hu'lydj, one of AEi's parlisans; then followed these words: This volums came into the possession of
dbiL Abd Allah I b n Hdni. Among these papers I remarked some in the handwriting of the imhms al-Hasan
and al-Husain ; others contained protections and charters (Ohzld) in the handwriting of the khalif Ali, etc.
Among the autographs of the grammarians and philologers, were those of Abll Amr Ibn al-AM, AbO Amr
ash-Shaibkni, al-Asmhi, Ibn al-AarAbi, Slbanaih, al-FarrA, and al-KisAi. Among those of Traditionivts
were some by Sofyfin Ibn Oyaina, Sofyan ath-Tbauri, al-Aazli, etc. And I discovered also in these papers
~ f grammar was invented by AbO. 'l-Aswad; it was a document in four sheets, an Chinem paper I
a I l r ~ that
believe, and hearing this tilIe : Discourse on the governing and the governed parts of speech, by Abti 'l-AS-

- i n the handwriting of Yahya Ibn Yamar"-one of Abil 'l-Aswad's disciples, see Fihn'st, f. 5.5 v.-
underneath were inscribed in old characters (bikhatt &) these words: This is the h a n d w r i t i ~ gof -h
then followed a note by an-Nadr Ibn Shumail. When the owner of these papers died,
a
one t h e
the trunk and its contents disappeared and we never heard more of it."-(Fihrist, fol. 54 et s q . )
(8) ~ l - y h f iremarks that the proverb is this: 1 have sold my neighbour, not my house; and that a com-
mon sayin;; is : A &jar kabl id-ddr, examine the neighbwrhood before you buy the house.
(g) This is the reading of the autograph-
(to) 1. the Arabic text r e a d , k !.
(ii)Correct the Arabic text and %ad bk~.Ibn Khalliibn might have explrined this verse and ffien -
tioned the fact to which it makes allusion. AkYafl says of it : This seems to mean : The Omai~idtssent
us to fight, but were too avaricious to recompense us.
(12) ~ l - y h f tsays in his Annals, A. H. 68,that A b a 'I-Aswad was kadi of Basra.
(13) Dair Samhn lay in the neighbourhood of aI-Khonlsara, a t o m at about two days' journey east of
Aleppo.
(14) Perhaps a species of ichneumon.
(is) See page 481.
668 IBN JCHALLETIAN'S

ZAHR AL-IIADDAD.

Abll 'I-Mansilr Zifir Ibn al-Kiisirn I l ~ nMnnsCr Ibn A l ~ Allall

l I l ~ liillnlaf
l 11111

Abd al-Gllani al-Isl;a~ldn~-i~,i

(I), generally known by thc sllrllame of al-llatldid
(the QZacX.srnilh),was n poet of talerl t and celebrity. IIe celebl-atell tllc praises of'
m a n y eminent persons in Egypt, and the greater part of his collccicd poclir:ll
\+rorks is very fine.-The hrijiz as-SilaG and other illustriotrs inen ta t g l ) t, rnil11
his authol-isation, some of the poems which lrc had composed. Orlc of' Iris best
known pieces is the following :

Ilsd he taken refuge in an exemplary patience, l ~ i stears had not gushcd forth in
dews and showers. 'l'he troops of love ceased not to attack his heart till it v1as brokcll
and torn to pieces. Ilis passion has not lcFt him any remains of life, except the mere
principle of existence contained in the (sole) fragment of his heart (zoltic/~still remnins).
He who desires to live in safety should always avoid the languishinf; eyes of the fair.
Let not that languor deceive you; those glances wound your heart even when they give
it pleasure, Charming gazelle! thou whose eyes lance arrows wliich picrce to the in-
most heart 1 who arranged those pearls which shine in thy rnouth ? who l~rcparcdt l ~ c
intoxicating moisture in which those pearls arc bathed? what nrlist gave such straight-
ness to the lancc of thy figure? with what stcel were pointed the arrows of lhy ela~lces?
Use thy body gently, lcst it melt away ; I fear lest thy silken vcst (so[& as i t is) may
hurt i t . Themagic effects of thy beauty surpass the enchantments of HArOt (2),yet he
is the ablest in that art; tell me (3) now who is his master? Ry Allah l if once a mar1
is captured by thy charms, all human art can scarcely set him frec. 'I'hou hast sent
love to attack the hearts of men, and they willingly submitted, for its victorious power
had already reduced them to the last extremity.

I knocked at every door which leads to fortune-1 spared no cfforts; why then does
she always fly and shun m e ? Avoid the vain wishes hope inspires; thc. favourite of
fortune is (as wretched) as hc whom she oppresses, and the man enriched by her favour
is still a beggar for more.

A poem (4) of Ibn Duraid gained him the hearts of men, when naghdad, the place of
his dwelling, rejected him. Subdued by the charm of his verses, they hoped to retain
him among them, and that troop of foes whom he had prostrated by the power of his
talent-or rather the enemies who wished to tear him to pieces-dispersed and left
him unharmed (5). The Being who hath granted thee his richest favours cannot be
offended by thy spending them on others.

The kosida from which these extracts ere taken is of the highcst beauly; but I
must here notice a singular circumstance : my professor 11nPd ad-din 11x1 Bii-
tish (6) has inserted these verses in his work inti tled the Moghni (su$cient),
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 669
which conbins the explanation of the obscure passages met a i t h in (Ahi lshak
~ s - ~ ~ / z i ~ ' n 'trra~ise
z i ' s ) on jurisprudence the Mulraddab, and gives n short account
of the persons whose names are mentioned in that work ; he then comes to speak
of Al)ii Ilalir Mullammad Ihn al-Haddid, a doctor of the sect of as-Shifi and n
native of Egypt, and after giving an account of him, he says : 111. conlposed
" some fine poetry, and a certain jurisconsult recited to me a nunlbrr of verses

" from a knsida which he attributed to him ;" he then cites some of the verses,
and they are the same as those given above. W,t this is an error into which h(&
colild only have bee11 led from confounding ZiCr al-HaddAd with the jurisconsult
Ibn al-Haddid .-The following lines also are by ZiGr :
(The family of my beloved) have departed, and did I not hope for their return, I
should die. By Allah! it was not they, but my own heart from which I then was sepa-
rated.
Imhd ad-din mentions these lines i n his Khari'do, but atlrihutes them to al-
Aini (7), and then says : " Al-Aini was an able officer and noted for his Lraverv;
a he died A. H. 546 (A. D. I 151-2)." Rut the truth is, that they are by ZiGr,
and l m l d ad-din hinlself gives them again in the life of that person.-One of'
this poet's knsidas contains the following verse :

Lovers speak ill of the spies who beset them; 0 that I was in such favour with my
mistress as to be in dread of spies 1

He died in Egypt in the month of Muharram, A. H. 529 (October-November, 369

A . D. 1134)-We have already spoken of the surname of Judunzi (pnge 1-48).
-..The following lines on the weaver's loom were composed by ZQGr:
Look at the beauty of my products, admire my construction and the skill of him who
made me. I resemble the hands of two lovers, clasped in each other on the day of
separation, the fingers of one inserted between those of the other.

Ali Ibn ZBfir Ibn Mansfir praises him highly in his work entitled Baddi 'l-
Bnddya (S), and relates the following anecdote respecting him, on the authority
of the kidi Abd A M Allah Muhammad Ibn al-Husain al-Aamidi, who had
been acting for some time as deputy to the kldi of Alexandria: I went," says
he, to see al-Amir as-Said (the fortunate emir) Ibn Zufar whilst he was go-
'. vernor of the city, and I found him putting some drops of oil upon his little
finger. Having asked him the reason, he answered that the tightness of his
 670 IBN KHALLIKAN'S
" ring had caused his finger to swell, on whicll 1 observed illat it wollld be best
to have tllc ring cut off before things grew worse. Ilc then asked me who
\vould be proper person to do it, and I sent Tor Ahd 'l-Mansirr Zilir Ibn at-
" Kisiln al-IIaddid, ~ v h ocut ~ l l eriug ancl ex~emporisedthcsts verses :
S The human race could not reckon all thy excellent yualitit:~, even were their
' prose-writers and their poets copious in thy praises. A ring must be too small for
the finger of him whose generous hand is as ample as the ocean (g).'
The emir was $eased with t h e l i ~ ~ cand
s , gave the ring, wllich was of gold,
to their author. There was a tame gazelle lyine, at the emir's fctlt with its
head on his lap, and %fir externpo~*iscdon it these lines :
S I wondered at the courage of that gazelle and the boldncss of ils conduct. I mar-
vel to see it c r o u c h i ~ ~down;
g how can it be tranquil near you who arc: a lionb!'
The emir and the con~panyprescnl admired this picce cven more than the
L( preceding, and ZQGr, having then remarked a net plnecd bcfor~the door* to
keep out the birds, recited as follows :
L I saw a net at your exalted door, and that caused me some embarrassment; hut

after reflecting in my mind, I said : The sea is the place for nets (IO).'
He then retired and left us in admiration at thc r~eadiucssof his wit and the
elegance of his talent."

(1)The autograph has L%

(native of Alemndria) : most of the other DISS. read JJ
a word bearing the same signification.
(2) HhrQt and MArOt, two rebel angels, were chained a t BabcI, where they taught men magic.
(3) The autograph has ,i>,'io place of ~ 2the sense
: is nearly the same.
(4) Literally: A poem rhyming in d j ( w i t h a point). The autograph has a13, which is no doubt the
true reading. The poet here recais to mind the effects of a poem by Ibn Duraid rhyming in the same letter
as his own kaslda. The fact to which Ibn al-Haddad alludes is not mentioned by I b n Iihallik&n in the life
of Ibn Duraid.
(5) I have been obliged to paraphrase a very obscure verse, in order to make its meaning inlelligible.
(6) See page 187, note (5).
(7) See Rharlda, MS. No. 1374, ff. 58 et 76.
(8) This work is noticed by Hajji Khalifa, who states that its author, the vizir Jamal addln BbO 'l-Hasan
Ali Ibn Ziifir, a member of the tribe of Azd and a native of Egypt, died A. H. 623 (A. D. 1226).
(9)Literally: To whom thesea is a hand.
(10) He calls the emir a sea for his vast generosity.

END OF THE FlRST VOLUME.

 A~DITIONSAND CORRECTIONS.

PAGE3, line uit. " I put this work in order i n the year 654." The autograph manuscript is dated 653,
but considerable alterations were afterwards made in the work by the author, who continued to correct and
improve it till the last gears of his life.
1'. 6 , note (4).The reading of [he printed Arabic text is confirmed by the autograph MS.
P. 16, line 27. For as-Ibn Dobaithi read I b n ad Dobailhi, and ror ad-Sambni read as.Sam&ni.
P. 18, lines 7 and 9 . For fifuhariX read fifulrltdrik.
P.20, note ( 5 ) . For Abil 'l-Fadd read here and in some of the follewing pages Abb 'l-F&, or rather dbd
'l-Fida.
IBID.,4 a b imo. For Bahmdta read Bahman.
P . 22, l i ~ l e24. For SM-Takin read Sul-Tikln.
P.25, note (3). It appears from the Nzqjana that Moslim Ibn al-Walld died A. H. 208.
P . 26, note (12). Suppress the words, This zille, etc.
IBID., 3 ab irno. For Orfa read A ~ a f a .
P. 28, line 21. For Book of Dictates read Book of Rctations.
P . 33, note (21.Add : see also a notice from the Fihrest on the Sabeans, Journal Asiatiqus, t. XKI. p. 244%.
P. 35, ?bole (5). Add: I have since discovered that the work of Abd ar-RahmPn al-Korashi merits w coo-
fidencc.
1'. 36, note. M y friend the Abbate Arri died a t Turin on the 2nd of September, 184..1, leaviag his work
unfinished.
1'. 37, lines 13 and 15. For Sukr read Shukr.
P. 38, not&(8). Orwa Ibn Hizim Ibn Mujkhir, an Islamic poet and a member o f the tribe of Azra, corn-
posed all his poems i n praise OF his cousin AlirB, the daughter of Ikkl Ibn MujAhir. Their love was .mutual,
hut Orwa's poverty was an obstacle to his marriage, and 4 z r &was forcad by her f a W to become the or
another. The poet died of grief soon after, and his mistress survived him only a few d a ~ s . -(As-Sog%ti's
Sharh Shawahid al-Moghni, M S . 1238. f. 97, verso.)
P . 44, line 11. For Doma read Dornli.
P . 49, note (2). The worlrs entitled Maw&tt contain astronomical table., serving to deturaiac the e h t
times of the five daily prayers From the position of the sun.
P . 61, 6 ab irno. For Haws read Konos.
IBID.,5 ab into. For Zahr read Zohr or Zlchr.
p . 87, 3 ab imo. For diotata read d i c t a i t m .
P. B, note (S). A d d : the reading given in the printed text is in conformity with the autograph.
P. 100, note (2).For Ad-Dakkllk read a&-Dahhdk.
P . 108, note (20). Read: Was generally known by the name of Iddn as-SW,an appellation which s i g i -
fies the *tiEks of the water-bag, which were the implements necessary for carrying it convenieaty ;he was, in
fact, a water-carrier, for which reason this poet was sometimes called h 1Sdn or l6n as-Sukkd ( t h son of
the s t i c k s or the son of the l o a t w - c a d d .
 ADDITIONS AND COItRECTIONS.
P . 110, line 20. For Fudi Ibn Omaid read Fadl lbn dntitl.
P . 121, Zinc G. For the life giuing breeze rear] the parching gales. and in the printed Arahic text substitute
for >W. The first is the reading of ~troautograpll MS.
L C
P. 131, line 7. For l i i t r i b al-lsmd fi 'l-Asma read liilab ul-dsma fi ' l -Asmd The title is thus ~ r i t t e r rill
-
the autograph 11s. : SI-JYj 8dh! +U.
P . 142, note (131. Read: See note ( 4 ) , page88.
P. 147, I ~ I L C 1. For A N - N A P I S A I . - L A K I I read AN-NAFIS A L - L A K U M I .
P. 151, line 18. For (after sunrise) read (afler sidnsel)
P. 157, .note (1). Addition : I here give the genealogy of the Btlwaih famrly, i~fterthe autograplr of Ibn
KhallikBn :

[t may be seen that the difference between the genealogy given in the autograph and that which I drew up
from other sourccs is very slight.
P. 170, lines i and 3, and p. 171, note (l). For Mastawfi read Mustau9F.
P . 175, line 22. For Hamtd read ITumaid.
P . 181, note (1). Add: According to the Moslim law, conquered provinces and cities taken by storm be-
come the property of the state; therefore the i m a m or chief o f t h e empire alone can dispose of territories or
grounds situated in these places. I t was a disputed point between the Shafites a n d thc IIanifites, whether
Muharnmad had taken Melika by storm or by capitulation; tllc Shafites mailrtained tlrc former opinion and
the Hanifites the latter. It was also taught by some doctors that Mekka was God's metropolis and
that consequently houses i ~ rit could neither bc Ict nor sold, as they were as muell Cod's property as ttre
Temple itself.-(See K i t d b al-Mizdn, MS. No. 360, fol. 162 v.) Hence the discussion to which Ibri Khal-
likan alludes. I am now preparing for the press some observations on the laws relative to landed property
situated in the countries subdued by the Moslim arms. I n this essay I shall endeavour to prove that, in most
cases, the sovereign i s not the proprietor of estates under cultivation.
P. 211, line 27. For Kali Kala read K d l i K a l a .
P. 218, lines 1 and 2. For Iihalf read Khalaf.
P . 221, note (3). The piece from which this verse is taken may he found in the volume of the ILifdb a [ -
A g a n i which belongs to the Asiatic Society of Paris, fol. 176. The poet's name is there writtcn: +!

+ 'y?y$ &+>h & j ! f j L =

P. 223, line 17. The physician and historian AbA Jaafar lbrahlm I b n Abi Khillid, surnamed Ibn al-Jazzhr,
was a native of Kairawhn, where his father and his paternal uncle Abb Bakr practised also the art of rnedi-
cine. He had studied i n that city between A. H. 300 and 320, under Ishak Ibn SulaimAn al-lsratli, the phy-
sician to ZiAdat Allah Ibrahtrn tbe Aghlabite. As a teacher. a practitioner, and an author, he attained a
high reputation, and disdained courting the favours of the great. The only man of rank whom h e visited
was an old friend of his, AbA Tilib, uncle to the Fatimite prince al-Moizz, a n d him h e went to see every
Friday. He passed the days of summer, every year, in one of the ribdts or garrisons o n the sea-coast.
According to Ibn Abi Osaibiya, he died, aged upwards of eighty. Hejji Khalifa, in his Bibliography.
 ADDITlONS AND CORRECTIONS. m:]
So. 3U'JO, places his death in b. H. 400, but ad-Dahabi conjectures that it look place herore A. H. 3.W.
He was a man of great information in various sciences. The list of his medical works is given by ad-Dahab~
itnd Ibn Abi Osaibiya, and may be found in Wustenfeld's dralrische derfle. His Z(13nl-;MusdFr (pro-
visions for trauellers) has been translated into Hebrew, Greek, aod Latin. His historical ~ o r l i sare thc
7'rrarif I'ashih at-Tarllrh ithe trullt of hisloricul stafemenls), sllieh is a short treatise; and the Akhbdr
nd-Dawlat irfislory o f tile present Empire), containing arl account of thc rise and progress of the empire
t11~1idedby Obaid Allah al-Mat~di. He lefi a fortune of twenty-four thousand dinars and menty five hun-
(!red weight (kintar) of hooks on medicine and other subjects. - Ad-Dahabi's Tdril~lra[-lsldrn : Ibn Abl
O.si1111i~a.This last author c ~ l e ssonle verscs from a poem composcd by KushAjim in praise o l Ibri al-
.I~IZZ~C.I
1' 2'23, lost line but rrne For I b n .Ibd ml-nulirn read Ibn dbd nl-Hakt~m The same fault occurs in other
parts of the \ o l u n ~ c .
1'. 295, line 4. For N f f f i who was read Ndf; was: and Iinr 6, for was governor read who uras gmermr
l'. 269. l i n e 14. Fur Humid lbn d b d al-aarnid rend throughout Hamajd /hd b d al-Harntd.
9
'

P . 27f, rrote (11I. Add : The autograph MS. also bas ,.!
&
l'. 5 5 , t i n s 13. Note on the aords Mu:n ad-dln Arce:. William of Tyre calls this person Enarius.
r l ~ i seems
~ h 1 0 prove thal his name should be written d n e r i ) , not ine:
4

lulo. nore (5). In the autograph. the ward &\referred to $&Q!,a feminine noun, rhieh word the
a a i l l n r str~lckout and replaced by +c4, rhieh is masculine; he forgot however to c h i i n g d ! irito&ij\
.
;IS h c should have done.
1'. ?Ss, note it). I shall here give the genealogy of Tamim after the autograph:

Isln, note (2). Add : The name of Zandli was altered by the Arabs, who pronounced it Sarohdg and Sun-
k d j . This Sanhhj was the progenitor of the SanhAjites or Sunh&jttes.
P . 289. sole ( 4 ) . Add: But this is an error, for Muhammad Ibn Musa died A. H. W , and aI-Uotadrd
was proclaimed khalif, A. H. B9. He must bve met al-Notamid.
P . 315, lint. ti. For I b n ar-Rahmdn read I b n Abd ar-Rahmdn.
IBID,note (4).It is noticed. however, by B3. de Sacy, in his edition of al-Harhri, p. 74,libe 3_6-
p. 318, note (44 . For at-Am'lm read al-dmin.
p. 339, line For his (merits) are" read ':his merits are."
S ,-,
 P 340, ,tote [ I ) .
For as-Sahraz~rdi read a s - S ~ ~ l t r r ~ ~ l ~ u r d i .
1'. 347, nolc (23). Add: See page 600.
p. 354, n o r e 'I. Ahbjn al-Ldhiki
U
&yl c3 l.;! 1h11Al'd a l - H a n ~ l d11111 I,dllil, Ibn Ofair ar-Raltiqtll
(member of lhe tribe descended from Rolidsk, the duughler of l'iais IRn 'I'l~dlube\,~vasa poet of concidcrahlp
rcput;~tion. He versified a numhar o f prose works, and amorlgst others the followin; : Kaliln w a nar~~nrc,
Vrrnt A n u d i r w d n , and - 1 ~ ,.;, ,r3L (P). Hr composed also il book of cpislles - ( F i h ~ i ~ sfol.
t . lli4,\

P. 355. note (11). Add: The autograph writes this word J!Lb.
1'. 377, line 4 . For A b ~ iTaglab read dbll Tayhli6.
1' 398, line 27. For Iiafs Ibn Sl~dl~Zn
read Abii IIafs Ibn S h d I ~ i l ~ .
P. 390, note. AI-Jurjdn~ composed also a celcbri~tedgrdrnnrar, l l ~ cJ u m ~ l . IIc d ~ c t lA 11. i i 1 ( A . 1,
1078 g), or 474; not i n 461 (1068-9) or 464, as printed by nrist;~kc in t l ~ c11otr.
1' 40.2, lines 1 and 2 For Abrl 'l-Juwdiz read Abil 'I-Juwaiz
P. 439, line 13. For A H. 589 (A.D. 1200- ), read A H 582 (A.D 1186-7) - 'f111b I~istoriiln1s soalcllm(..
r lrrtl under the name of Ibn h7i:ogltli. This last word is Turhi\h and mrilll'i s o n of tltc 9 ~ 1 1 .
1'. 453, line 3. For KhaEf rcad /ihalaf.
P. 476, lzne 17. For A U B s u A~I M A N read aou SUI.AIMAN.

A 1111rnberO S thc i~li~lologicsl

1'. 477, no!e (1). The true reading is rrlost certainly -'.?_-U\. trei~lise.
L
bear this litle and contuir~the explanation of the Arable nords employcd to desig~~;lle thc differen~sorls o l
ruounds. I n that language, as in English, tl~ereerisl particular ternls to signify a scrulrh, a gash, U cut, cc
stab. ctc,, and as uneJucated persons thought them syoonymous, thc cilrly ~)hilnlogersfelt themselves oblrgc~l
to fix their real meaning. Ibn i{ulaiba, in his Adab al-Kdtib, has a short cl~aplcror1 this subject.
1'. 486, line G. This HassAn an-Sabati is spoken o f by ul-Mashdi. He was revenue-collector in lrak uri-
der the khalif al-Waltd Ibn Yazid. See Dr. Sprenger's translation of the l u r t l j ad-Dcilrab, or Meadows o /
Gold, vol. I. p. 255.
p. 493, lines 13, 14, und 28. For Haiydt read Xhaiyrlc.
P. 493, Eirte 3. Read : al-Akhfash (Said Ibn Maraduj.
P. 493, line 10. For Bdlour read RTLlBz.
P. 500, note ( i ) .For al-Efsh'tn rcad al-Ifshin.
P. 505, tine 8. For rlqminy in e, read rhyming it&l.
F). 510, line 11. For Obaid Allalr, read Abd Alluh and anrlul tlrc nolc (g), 11 514.
1'. 516, line 11. For A b i Shawu7dl read AbzZ Shawwdl.
1'. $19, lines 10 a n d 12. Read: al-Uhwuiti.
l'. 525, ltne 1. For H e prolecletb, suffiseth, directeth, a n d bcnle11~-fromFre and flood, rcatl i s protected,
(titled, directed, a n d preserved- from fire a n d Food, etc,
1' 544. Sharaf ad-dtu Ahmad Ibn Muhammad, surnamed Ibn al-HalAwi, was n tlativc of' l)arnascus
abilities as a poet joined to his personal appearance and agreeable manners procnrcrl him the favour of LII(.
princes whom he went to vibit in different parts of thc Moslim empire and whose praises he celebrated i n ttir
kasldas. Badr ad-din LOld, prince o f h f ~ s u lr,e c e i ~ e dhim a1 his court and conferred upon lrim a rank in tilt,
ilrrny. Ibn al-Haldwi died A.H. 657 (A. D. 1259), aged53 years -(NujiZm; lbn Hahlb, MS. No G8R; Ahn
'I-Fedl, eLc )
l'. 853, line 10. For Bahd ad-dln read n a h & ad-Dawlal.
P. 555, note (4) Thc altera~ionof the letterl into j and of C / , into is very common in Arabic rnanri-
scripts, and was almost always caused by the very means which had been originally taken to guard against i t .
 .il)l)I'fIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
hus i n words of doubtful pronunciatiot~,\\llcr~oltc of these lelters occurred they placed ;I ' o r jasma user i t
to d c ~ r o l ethat it Has ullyointecl : but subseque~ltcopyists changed rhe jasma into a poitlt fur the and init,
three points for the CI".-A~ for the tierivatio~~ o f Ardosllir given b!. l b r ~KhalliLAn, i t is hardly rlcbeessarr
to sily 11~11rt is absurd.
I). 537, line 14. For K-RAF.\ reatl . \ H - n . i r ~ a .
I). 567, l i w 2. Vor into read i n .
1'. 568, note (a\. Atld: I llave here lirisunderstood the text of lbrl Bballtkin. and gibe11 a \\rue;: sco5cL: 1
l t ~ awords l.sl,_ r u d \.ay. The first means, to learn by listening to the master's instructior~s:a ~ l dtlie s r -
c o ~ l d ,to repeat ihe Iessons io the muster who make observations on i t . A similar differerlce exists beteee:]
thr s~guihcationsof the words C 11 atid
-4J $p
koran-render. The lirst teaches the Kola11 by rendill:. 11
Il~mselfto his auditors; tile second ~ I J L his C ~disciples read it to bin1 and corrects them when they tl~(~llil

P . 599, note (51,l i n e l i . For Itash read Itdkh.

1'. 624. nofe c21. For Ornaiyides rrad AbLosides.
 PART 1.--PHOL'I<H NARIES.

h'. B. 'f'he names preceded by an asterisk ere fhosc of Iwrsons or 1)laces ~ ~ m t i c u l ~rr~l ~y l i c ci ldl 111i.i VOIUIIIP.
l ' l ~ eletter 11 1)laced after the number of the pagc indiri~tcsthat \ h e n a m e occurs i r ~i1 nolc. 111 consultir~gthis
liJt, search for the name o r surname by which 1l1c Ilersoll was usually linow11, nrrd rleglcct all prelixcs, such
ns Abti, 16t1, etc.

A. Abd Allah ll)n Iihalaf, 5 1 0 . Ahd o r - l t a l l n ~ l ~l b~r ~ .4 htllatl 1111.

Abd Allah lhn Monwin, 71. Ali(lc, I!J11.
Abbir, 1 8 2 . Ahd Allah Ibn Ornar, 567 n . Abb A l ) d ' i ~ r - l i i ~ as-Suli~~rli,
t ~ ~ ~ ~ b ~ ~thc-
al-Addil lbn ss SBlih, 608. .ibd Allah 1b11 Otba lbn LlasDd, Sl~ailiti,fi07.
ill-Aajam, ZiBd, 6 3 1 11. 565. Abd ~ ~ r - l i a ~i~s-Sa~tini,
~bli 5s I 11.
'al-Aamash, 5 8 7 . Abd All;~hIbn Salbma. ?g n. .lbn . i l ~ dI ~ i t l ~ l!)?.
~~I~,
al-Aimidi, hbO Ahd Allah Muham- Abd Allah l b u Thwils, G 4 3 . Abd al-n'iit~itl al-Lakhmi, t;Oi.
mad, 669. Abd Allah Ihn Yazld. GJ?. I b n Abd al-WAhitl al-IiaghdAdi. !)?.
nl-Aamir al-Obaidi, (;l 3. Ab& Abd Allah ol' Alcppo, the ;IS- t2l)d ;IS-SIIIII~ ill .4hbdsi. :{\-'I.
Zbn al-larilbi, 5 6 0 . tronomcr, 4 3 1 . Ibn Al)d Ji1111alittl dill Rlahrr~ritl,:I!):<.
lbrr Abi 'I-AAsi, 483. d bli .kbd Allah, thc son of al-Rlull- .4bd 1la11i'l.llils'hbs S I I I I : I ~411 ~ I11.
,
31-Aasnrn al-Kirmiti, 3.27. tadi. 55. Al)(li~[or Ob11i1)II)II itI-'raL)ik), l(i(;11.
a\-Aasba, 267 11. 'ADfi Abd Allah thc Sl~Pilc,465. .41)11;1. dauglitcr ol' ,ibh Shitu \ i ; i i .
Aashir, 2 4 8 , 249 n, 550 n. Abrl al-bzlm al-Blur~diri,8 9 I,. 511i.
Aasirn, 10. llbd al-Aztz Ibn at-Fadl, 27. lbn i1Itdi1 al-.Abl);idh~~i, :):+ 11.
Aatika, daughter of .4bd l l l a h l b r ~ Abd rl-Aziz l b n Marwin, 3 3 7 11. f b n Abtlal al-lsl';miir~i, 5'1.
Abi Sofydo, 523. Abd al-Aziz Ibn an-C\Tornbrt, 3 4 5 . Bbdi'~!~ill-Ji~wiIEki,:<!)S [I.
'nl-ABtis, 396. Abrl al-Azlz lbn Abi's-Salt, 230, Ahil;~si.4:1'1.
A b b l d Abb 'l-Hasan, 41fi. 231. *Abdi. )l?.
Ibn Abbhd, tbe Sbhib. 212. Abd ill-Ghilni al-Misri. 3 8 7 . I b r ~Abdbs, ?H n. 4 3 ; .
A b b i n Ibn Aivash, 546. 'Abd ttl-II;lmld Abb Yi~hya&l-Ma- Abrli Rlujtr ad-dill, ?:!;!V.
'Abbbn al-Llhiki, 3 5 4 , 674 11. ghribi, 4 5 2 . Omm Abldn, 152.
' I b n al-AhbAr, Abb Jaafar the b b d al-1ii1111Sd lbn ,1113 al-hlujld, 'at-Adawia. 5 1 5 .
poet, 125. 573 n. al-Adawi, 559.
Abbhs, the ~ i z i r .2 4 2 , 657. *.-il)tl ill-Ilolirn (al-IZofiarn) Ibn nl- ICn h d h a m , 474 n.
al-8bbrls Ibrl Arnr. 497. KhatCh, 12. Adi Ibn A r t n , 233, 690.
111-Ahbbs, son of at-8lbmbm, 18. Ibn Abd al-Jabbbr Rlul~nmrnad, 67. Adi l b r ~Zaid, I 8 9 n
al-Abbbs I b n Mujlil~id at-Abbhsi, Ibn Ahd ill-.labbilr AbO Nasr, 6 0 7 . Ibn Adi Abil Abd Allat], 5 4 .
530 n. 1bfi Ahd ; ~ l - J i ~ l ~ bSulairndn,
dr 256. Zbn al-.idtm KornSI ad-din, ? 4 f i .
Abbbs Ibn Sahl, 3 3 4 . Abd 01-ICBhir Ib11 Abd al-Azfz, 14 I. Ibn Adlilo, 1G8.
Ibn Abbhs, S9 n, 6 6 5 . Ibn Abd al-Karlm al-WazzSo, 5 5 9 . l b n Adlln al-lausili, 3 5 3 .
al-Abbbsa. 5 0 0 . Omm Abd al-I{arlrn Fbtimo. 6 6 1 . 'al-Afd;~l Shlhanshhh, (it.!.
Abd Allah Ibn ASmir, SO n. Abd al-bliililc Ibti B a h m m , 303. dfdali, 328.
Abd Allab Ibn Ahmad [bn Ilalibal, Abd al-Malik Ibn Sakhr al-Hlshiwi. Allah. 3 4 2 .
45 . 316 n. Afshann, 4 4 0 .
A b d Allah lbn Ali 'I-Abbisi, 4 3 2 . Abd a1 Orza, Abb Zuhrn, 5 8 0 n. al-Afslltn, 7 2 n, 6 0 0 n.
Abd Allah Ibn Hizbm, 58 i . Abn an-Xabi l b n al-Mahdi, 2 8 4 . Dartrl 'I-Aftns, 317 n.
Abd Allah Ibn Hasan, 663. Ibn kbdan-Nfir al-Lazzi, 37. al-hhdab, 553.
 INDES.
Ahmad lbn Abi IihAlid a]-bhaal 'Ibn Aldh, 170. i s m &lbn Klrhrija. ::63.
90 n, 653. Ibn al-Aniid Abd 'I-Fadl, 110 n. ' A b d 'l-hswtd ad-lluwali, tit;?.
ilrrnnd Ibn Sl~iihanshdh,814. nl-Amidi, Abh 'I-KAsirn, 354 a. AtA Ibn k'asAr, 586 n.
.ihmad Ihn YdsuC Ibn ad-nsia 'al-Amtn; 650. '-4btZ 'l-btahiya, 204.
155 n. Arnir al-.Jugdsh. 613. a[-Ataki, 545 n.
i h r n a d Ibn Ybsuf 1b11 al-(iisim Amrnir Ibn YAsir, 54 1. Ibn Atiya al-Atwi, 180 n.
271 n. ibn Ammfir, 144, 614 11. Atsiz, 602 n.
' A bJ Bhrnnd al-Askari, 383. .irrir Ibn ;]l-tiiiitllan~, 373. Atsiz Ibn Auk, ?i3.
'al-Ahr~af Ibn Kais. 50, 63;. Arnr Ibn ZIusain, i9;. ItlAba, 30:i.
al-hhsh, 426 n, 430. '-4btE .kmr as-Shaibiirri, IS?. Ibn Abi bufa, 589 n.
al Ahwal, see Ahmad. -4rrrro 'I-lcai~,xvi. Aulad ar-Ksi, 659.
al-bhwas Ihn Muhammad al-Ansdri :\mu1 647. Aho al-lbildi. 310.
596 n. Arras lbn Ahi Aoas G I ? o. i O n ati-dtn Ibn Hubaira. 4 3 9 n.
nl-Ahahzi, Rluhammad, 335. . i n n z ~ .208 Ibn AOn. Abu Abd Allah, f ~ ( n. l
I b r k al-Ahzam, 28 n. al-A~lbir. 135. ibn Abi AOn. 437.
Ibn Aidan (read Ibn IdAn), 1 07 n 'al-Anbl~i. Thikat ad-Dnw 1st. G?: 4hs Ibn Hajar. 600 n.
671. Ibn al-bnbAri, Abh Rakr, 334. 'Avicena, 440.
al-AFka, 373 n. An basa, I 16 n, 666 n. rbn al-Aahni. 999.
d t n at-Tamar, 202, 244 11. Andalus, 37. il-Ardriji. 455 n.
Alni, 208. l o e z tread Ancr) Nutn ad-din, ?;i lgbr Ibn Hutaiya, 'ZiO n.
a1 Atni, 669. 673. Ibn d b i 'I-Azdkir, 436.
AiyAr Ibn Hutaiya, 210 n. 'ill-l~lrniti, Abh 't Tdhir. 451. Izbz, 977 n.
'Ibn BiyBsh, Abh Bakr. 553. h n s (read Anas) Ibn M5lrli, 235 n. 'hzhar Ibn as Samrnhn, 175.
'JbJ biyhb al-Muriyiini, 306. 595 Ansdri, ? l 8 n. lbn Aztb, 95.
' l b n al-Ajjlj, Rllba, 527. hntbki. t 1;. Ibn al-Azlrni, 174 n 649, 655.
'bjrnd, 4 7 1 . al-brrliki, Ali Ibn Sulaimtin, 337. Azra bint ShBhanshBh, 6th.
Akahat al-Bustan, 532 n. At~Oshtililn, 631. bn a\-Azrali al-FLriki, 15s.
Ibn A b i 'l-Akh, ?4 1. bnfijbr. 108 n.
Ibn al-bkhni. ?S?. Omm al-Arab, 4-2.
'ill-hlthfash al-Ausat, 57-2. al-Arbali. (see al-lrbili).
nl-hkhlash al-Akbar, 57Y. Ardashir, 555.
' I b n Ahhi 'I-llrn, 14. al-Ardebili. TAhir ad-din, xv. Ibn dbi Raara, 667 n.
' I b n Aliil a!-lrbali, 488. Irtllrrn~~sht. 406 n. M b Ilazih, 415.
Akr:~,671. 'd-.irghiyini. 605. Ibn BAba al-Kdbisi, 178.
al-Akrdn, 666 n. 'Ibrc al-Arif, 150. Ibn BAbshAd, 647.
Aksab, 172. al-lrkat, 595. Bddtlm Ibn Ahd Allah, :if l.
'Ak Sunkor al-Bursoki, ? ? i . al-Arji, 267 n 'Radi az-Zan18n al-Hamadhi, t t 2 .
*Ak Sunkor the HSjib, ?45. Ibn al-drliat, 595. 'Bgdls Ibn al-lansbr, 9-18.
al-hkta. 155. Arrnandzi, 277. 'Badr al-JarnA!~, f;1?.
hktham Ibn as-Saifi, 569 n. 'al-Arrajhni. 134. 3adr ad-din al-Asadi. 946.
'dbzl 'I-.&l$ al-hlaarri. 94, tSG, 64 'ArslAn Shiih. Nhr ad-dto. 174. 3adr ad-din LOlh, if;?, 1 6 5 , 175.
Ibn d b i 'I-hln, 217 n. Artok, see Ortok. Badrdn. 505.
lbn al-A1A Omar, 208 n. Asaad al-lfhani, 189. 11-Radri, 461.
'Alam ad-din as-ShatAni, 403. dsaad Ibn Shibab, 360. 11-Baghaai, Abif 'I-KAsirn, 3% n.
al-Mail i Abh 'I-Hasan Muhammad Asaad Sh~hAba d d t n . 463. al-Baphawi, Rluhammad al
108 n. 'Asad ad-din Shtrkhb, 444, G?6. FarrA, 419.
al-Alaai AbQ 'I-Husain Ahmad, 156, al--hqadi, Muhsmnradlbo Asad, 406 laghdad, old and new, 435.
al-hlawi, Muslim, see Abh Jaafar. ' h b a g h al-Mdliki, 924. %ahAad-[)awlat Hm Bbaaih. 555
Bli Ibn al-AarAbi, 560. RI--4sbagh Ibn Abd al-Azfz, 581. hhA ad-dtn. the Hdtib, 542.
Ali Ibn Abi TBllb, 663. 4shhb ar-Rh. 518 n. Bahi ad-din a*-Sinjdri, 1%
Ali Ibn Ahd as SalAm. 277. A bO 'I-Ashb&l, 609. 11-Bhili, 618.
Ali Ibn Hamza, 395. 'AshhAb al-Kaisi, ??3. h h r Ibti ad-Dahhdk, 64f.
d l i I b n Hamza af-Tspahbni, 35.). '71-Ashahi, 38. jahrain, 450.
Ali l b n I I i i r i l ~as.Sintshr,
~ 534. dbit 'l-Ashhir. 109 n. l - B a i d a ~ i ,Abh abd Allah. I I tl.
Ali Ibn Isa, 650. Ibn XI-AshAtb,Abd ar-liahmtln, 937 I-Baidawi, Bb& '1-Kbair, t l n.
.ili Ibn Mufrij, 178. ' I b n at-AshAth, Sulaimin. 5S9. Iriihak, 57.
41i Ihn Mubarnmad al-Misri, S 6 n. 4sbjB as-Sulami, 208 11. al-Baihalii, 57. -
Bli Ibn nn-Nombn, I 5 1. 'al-Ashjii, 93. 11-RairAsi,917 n.
*A ba Ali 'I-FAr~ki, 376. Pshnhs. 600 n. LBajari, 659.
Ali 'I-FAris~. 103, 379- hskar Mokm~,13:. at-Mji, 593.
'Aba Ali 'I-Ghasssni, 458. I b n I(ii'l-Askat, Y40. l b n Bakiya al-Abdi. 8'1.
'A622 Ali 'l-KAli. 910. 11-Askari. 383, 391. b n dbd Bakra, 664.
bit Ali 'n-Naishphri, 591 n. al-Asbari, AbO Ahmad. 385. al-Bakkii, 545.
Alto, 356 n. '
a1 Askari, AbO Muhammad al-Ha Baklrhr 1hn Eutaiba, 761.
'1bn al-Allif, A M Bakr, 298. San, 390. Ibn %likir, az-Zubair, 531.
Alrnariya (Blmeria), 43. 'al-Askallni, 386. RakhtyL, 450.
dIOh, t i t . 'al-Askalttni Ab& 'I-Hasan, 4 10, bn Bakhtgashh, 317.
f;ill;r Ibn Abd Allah as-Sanioi, :r l i Ornnt ad-l)uha~nr,360, 3ril
.4bti Uakr al-Khatib, 190. L h ~ j i ~ i61
I, 9,
.ib3 Rakr the juriseonsult, ?G;$. *I)ulaT as-Sllibli, :,I I
Abii Bakra, "L3 n . Abzl 1)ulaf al-ljlj, 6:;.
ill-llaliri, Abh Obaid, 319 n. '.4bfi I)ulfi~n;i,:J.\ i.
f b n Ilaktilitn, 330, 6'28. l)umbdwend, 5 l :I, 589.
t!iikllba, 355 11 Abtt 'd-ljnnn, b!).
:!l-Ralbdori, 43'4 n. Ibn 4/16 'd-l)urlia, 531 11.
HAlitz, 493 n. 'ad-l)uri~ini, (;?!I.
IbnllBrra, 651. atl-Dbri, lbri S;~lrbhrr,4 0 1 rl.
I h n ill-BannA, -4bd GhAlib. :I: { . 1)urust I b r ~Ifamza, 492.
ill-Bar$ ihn R'ldlik, 603 11. I b n l)urusl~lya, l 1 1 .
Ibn al-Barh al-Abdi, 86 11. Ibn A b i I)ilfiiItl, 111.
Harakdt as-Sai~di,Gls. "ad-Dahbis, $61. l b n -4bi I ) u \ \ a ~ h ,(iO8.
'Ibri R i ~ r h l nal-Osi~li,80. I)arl~lyal~. 435. 'ad-l)uwali, Abh 'I-Aswad, 662,
'AI-Blri, 459. Dablk, 253. Uuwln, 943. Yi7.
f b n RAri, G 4 9 . a d - I h b a b i , sxiv.
'I{i~yiani~n, ?h:{. ad-Dahhbk Ib11 Kais, G41 n.
~ ~ ~ ~ r i i y?:bl.~r~li, ad-l)ahhlii 1br1 Kais, seaal-Ahnaf.
al-Rarn,aiii, 39i1. ad-1)ahhlk Ibn Okail, 303.
'al-Ijal.rnaki, Jaafar, 30 l . ' I b r ~ati-DahhAn. 5 7 4 . Padl Allah ill-11;1mdbni, 405.
Harzawaih, 591. Ibn ad-Ddia. 155 n. b'acll Ihn S a m d b ~ r "17-
,
'al-BasBsiri. 172. Dir~ghbm, AbIl MAlik, 517. al-Padl lbrl Yi~hy;~.151.
Hlshhn. 7 8 . Ilair al-Jamdjlm, 568 n. AbG '1-Podl al-liaghdbdi, 191.
' I b n Bashkuwbl, 4!!1. Dair al-Akhl, 105. li'did, 37'1 n, 4!)0.
I{ilshshiir, 6'33. I h i r Samdr~,(it;5. Fdika, 5'24.
'Ilashshhr Ibo B w d , 'L>(. Ilakilk, 17.1 Ipakhr ad-1)aulnt Ibn Hukn ad-
al-Basri, 176. ad-ljakka, 327 n. Ilawlat, 2 1 (i.
Hastlm, 664. 1)Alaj 8s-Sijazi, 9 n. 'Fakhr al kutlAb, 416.
Ibn Basthrn, 3?0. Ibn Ublaj, 535. F a k h r al-Rlulhk, rid^ &n. ?74.
'al-Bastimi. AbQ Yazid, 662. Damra Ibn Said, 579. ' I b n Il'alnh. the vizir, 327.
al-BatAih, 153 n. IiOb lhzih, 215. F a m as-Silh, 270.
RI-Ratdihi, 153, Ibn Llarest, 415. al-Pnradi, { ? l n.
Batalyaus (Badajos),54 i. 'ad-Dhrimi, 112. '111-Fariihtdi, 497.
RAtini tes, 22?. $bQ 'd-llarr al-llarawi, 594 It. Abd 'I-Faritj al-lspahani, ;IT$.
l b n BAtfsh, 187 n Ibn 1)arrdj al-Kastalli, 120. 'AbB Paras al-HarndAni, 36C.
Ibn al-Batli, 191. Dastamtshn, 5 l l 11. al-Parghlni, 155 n, 290.
Begkem at-Turki, 4 % ) . Ljawssr, 329. al-FArigha, 357.
Belkln, 268 n. ad-Dawsariya, 319. 'al-FAriki, 4 b Q Ali. 376.
Hihrhz, 243. a d Dawsi, Iiumama, 593 11. al-Flriki, lbrl nl-Azrak, 158.
Rir Omm MAbad, 360. Dilwfid I b n Ornar al-Hkik, 588. ' I b n Phris ar-Rilzi, 100.
al-Btra, 504. DAwdd Ibn Sulairnln al-Muwaddib al-Ffirisi. 438 n.
Birkat al-Ftl, 6 1 l. 532. 'al-Pdrisi, A b b Ali, 103, 379.
'Rishr Ibn Ghiith, 26u. DBwhd al-Tai, 355 n. at-FArisi -4bd al-GhaBAr, 476.
'Bishr al-Hafi. ?57. 'Abil DkwQd as-Sijisthni, 589. al-li'grisi AbQ 'l-Husain, 2 17.
'Bishr Ibn al-Harith, 957. Ibn Abi DBwild, 590. Farama, 4 2 .
Hishr lbn hlansQr, 519 n. 'Uernbwend, 513. "al-Farrk al-Baghhwi, 419.
'Ilishr al-Martsi, 260. L)la ad-d'ln, the h@z, 90 11. ParrQkb Shlh, 246, 330.
Ibn Bishrbn, Omar. 53?. Dta ad-din I\luhalhil, 560. Parrilkh Shah Izz ad-din, 61 5.
Ibna Bistlm. 436. DibAj, 266 n. AbQ Farwa a[-Haffar, 51 l , 526.
nl-Bohtori, 19. 'Dibil lbn Ali 'I-Khuzli, 507. al-Fasawi. 173, 381 n.
Ijolkfn, ?G8 n. Dihya Ibn Muassah, 316 n . al-FLshsni. 78.
'Bolultktn Ibn Z91.i, 167, 326. *ad-DlIi, Abh 'I-Aswad, 66?. al-Flsi, 152.
Borujird. 251. Zbn Dtnbr, Abd Allah, 20 n. al-Fadhi. 3x9.
al-Bujairi, 561. Ibn Dtnhr, Amr, 580 n. *Path ad-din Ismail. 656.
Bhran, 26s. ' I b n Dlnhr Obaid, 579. 'AbzZ 'I-Path al-ArghiyAni, 005.
Burgush, 610. Dtnawar, 625. 'Abzt 'I-Falh Ali, sonof Ibn al--4mid,
' BQri, Tkj a l - M u h k lbn Togl~likln ad-Dlnauri, 455 n. 407.
271. Dirghlrn, 609, Ijl l . Fatik Ibn Abi 'l-Jahl al-Asadi. 105,
'BOri, Taj al-Mu:Ok Ibn AiyQb, 272. ad-Dizbari, 63 1. 110 n.
al-Burjnmi, 320. *Dolaf as-Shibli, 51 l . Filtik a l - l a j n h n , 110 n.
al-Bursoki. 228. Zbrr Dbst, 114. l b i z FAtik al-Muktadiri, 599.
'al-Bursoki ak-Sonkur, 22s. Dosht Maisln, 235. F&tima al-Juzdamiya. 19 I .
Bushanj, 654. 'Dubais l b n bli al-Asadi, 634. FirQzlbAd, 11.
Bust, 447. 'Dubais Ibn Sadaka, 504, 540. al-FokkAi. 520 n.
al-Busti, 447. 'Dubais, NQr ad-Dowlat, 634. p e d e r i c 11, the emperor, 168.
Ruthaina, 87, 331. ad-Dubbi, 56 rl. Ibn al-Furdt, Jaafar, 319.
 16n al-Furlt, Alrh 'I-Hasan Muham. Halirna, 6 0 s .
mad, $6 11.
al-Halirni, 420.
A6il 'l-Futt~h al-Alawi, 4 5 2 . al-Hamadiini, Ibn Abd al-.\lalik
'-4bS 'I-Futhh al-ljli, 191.
2811, 40.5.
'nl Hamaddni, Bad! az-Zamhn, I 1 ?
Ibn Hamdhn, -4bd Allah, 408.
* Ibn Harr~diin, NAsir ad-Dawlnt
404.
(;aza, 4 1 . Ihn Hamdhn, Saif ad-Dawlat, 105.
ill-Ghadaiya, 130 n. aCHamdani, 642.
'al-Ghadanfer, 405. 'ill-HarndAni Abb Faris, 366.
(ihddtr Khumm!<.160. ' I b n HamdQn al-Andalusi. $16.
I b n Ghailhrr, 394 n. al-Ifamdbni. Abh Sahl, 445 n.
Ghaith Ibn Ali, 277, -rl-Hiln~Pdthe grammarian. 59 1.
Abzl ChAlib, Pakbr al-Mulk, 155 n, Rhmid (Humaid) Ibn dbbls, 4 24
'-4bil Ghhlib al-Taiylni, 278. 439 n.
sl-Ghanawi. 4 2 7 . Iiarnld (Humaid) Ibn Abd al 11.1-
Ghanim Ibn Abi 'I-Alil. ? l 7 n mid. 917.
'Abh 'l-GhanAim lbn Nima, 656. Han~td(IIumaid) at-Tawtl, 176 n
Chars an-Ntma Ibn Hilbl, 290. ' Han~mBdAjrad, 474.
(;hassin, 653. 'Hammad ar-Rhwia, 470.
al-GhassSni, 145. 'HammLt1 Ibn Abi HaniTa. 469.
'al-Ghasshni, AbQ Ali. 453. tlammld Ibn Salama, 26 1 11.
al-Ghaznawi, Ali Ibn al-liusain, 656 tIamm8d Ibn Sllim, :110.
al-Ghhzi, 506. IIammhm Ibn Orwa, 35;
Ghazza. 4 1. Ibn Hamrnbrn, Ali. 97.
'GhazzAla, 616. al-UammArna. daughter of Isa, 5:ia
'al-Ghazzhli, 79. al-Hamra, 65'7 n.
RI-Gbazzi, Ali lbn Omar, 28 n. 'ILamza Ibn Habib az-Zdiydt, 478.
al-Ghazzi, AbQ Ishak lbrahlm ill- Hanl-ra al-Ispahlni. 497 n.
Kalbi, 38. Ibn Hamza al-lspahani. 310, 59 1 c
i~I-Ghazzi,Shi11Ab bd-din, xiv. Ibn Hamza SamnIln, 493.
(ihozz, 602 n. AbzZ Harnza Muhammad lbn Ilrra-
al-Ghudani, 638. 611. him, 51 3.
Ghhta, 62s n. 'al-Hamzi, 43.
' I b n Hanbal, Ahmad, 44.
' I b n Abi Hanlfa. 469.
*al-Harawi, ~ b m a d Ibn Wuham
mad, 78.
1bn Habih, 490. al-Harasbi al-Kbsim Ibn Rabi, 9 3 3 .
Ibn Hablb, al~Halahi,v AbO Harb ad Dili, 663.
I b n Habib al-Kuhallabi, 435. Ibn Harb, 53 o .
al-Hadblni, 489. Zbn Harbawaib, 53 n.
'nl-Haddhd al-Misri, 668. Harim Ibn Sinbn. 409 n, 515 n.
Ibn al-Haddad, 669. al-Hartri, Abh 'I-Khattib lbn A i i n
al-Hadrarni. Muhammad lbn Hirhn, 111.
320. al-Harith ai-bawsr. 546.
al-Hadrami, Ibn Abi 'I-Hasan, 666 n. al-Harith Ibn al-Hazn, 580 n .
al-Hhfiz al-Obaidi. 614. al-Harith Ibn Hishim, ?63.
Hafs Ibn GhaiSth, 589 n. al-Harith Ibn Khdlid, 611 11.
Ibta Hafs, AbQ Ishak, 234. al-Harith Ibn Kilda. 357.
Abzt 'l-Haija al-HakkAri, 162. HAritha Ibn Badr, 688.
'Abil 'l-Haija Ibh HamdAn, 505. ' Harmala, 369.
'Hais Bais as-Saifi, 559. 'Harmala lbn ImrBn, 370
Haiyq Ibn al-AI& asSulmi. 69. Harritn, 289.
Haiyhn Ibn Harma, 265. al-Harbn (flF), 554
-1bn HaiySn, Abh Mamba, 473.
Zbn Haiydn, Wdsil, 553. Hbriln Ibn Abd Allah. 337 n.
Hhjir, 200 n, 2 10 n. H B r h Ibn Abbas, 654.
-al-HajjAj Ibn Ydsuf, 219, 356. al-HarQri, 619.
*Ibn al-Hajjdj. the poet, 448. =al-Hasana1 3asri. 361, 370.
al-Hajhn, 580 al-Hasan aEKirrniti. 397.
al-Hakami, 391. al-Hasan as-Simnilni, 605-
al-Haktki. Rasbid, 345. al-Hasan Ibn Jabir, 390.
Hakr al-FabhSdin, 975 n. al-Hasan Ibn Muhammad, 587 n.
' I b n al-Halawi, 544, 674. 'a\-Hasan Ibn Sabl. 408, 507.
'al-Hallbj, 443,445. al-Hasan lbn Wahb, 353. 597.
al-Hasan Lbn Zaid, 4-10 n.
-4btt'l-Hasan A l i Ibn Wtllili. 541.
-4bJ 'I-Hasan at Tamlmi, 51.1.
al-Hbhimi, Salih Ihn Mi, I I:.
al-Hishirni, Abh Tlhrr. I 1 2 .
al-Hhshirniya, 435, 515
Ibn al Hasin, 574
Hassin Ibn nlurrij at Tai, 4j9.
FlassAn an-Nabati. 4 8 6 , ( i i 4.
'AbzZ Hbtirn as-Sijist~ni,60.s
Ibn Hatirn a1 Hamddni, I 16 n.
nl-HattBlih, 157.
al-Haulhn, 356 n.
lbn HBzim al-Rhhili, 569
Ibn Hazm az-Zhhiri, 99.
Hazlra, 564.
'al-Haztri, Abh 'I-Madii, 563.
IIerbt, 78.
'Hibat Allah al-Ahwazi, 133.
AbzZ Hiffin al-Muhazzimi. 73 n.
al-Hilhli. 241.
al-HilAli, Mairnhn, 579.
al-Hilla, 634.
al Hilla al Blnzgadiya, 504.
Hits, 666.
Sahib 31-Himbr, 519, 591.
al-Hind. 372 n.
Hind, daughterof an-Nornhn, 364 11
'Ibn HinzSba, 319.
Htrr, 189, 486
al-Hisibi, Muhammad I bn Ismail.
398.
Hishdm Ibn Okha, 637.
AbrZ Hishlrn at BBhili, 475.
Ibn Abi 'I-Hubib, 480 n.
Hubaira. 596. ,597 n.
Ibn Hubaira. Omar. 379. 485.
' I b n al-Hudail al.Hanafi, 533.
Hudba Ibn Khashram, 336 n.
Zu-Hulnifa. 629.
Hulwln, 478.
Ibn Humaida, 248 n
HumAma ad-Dawsi, 5!)3n.
'Hunain Ibn Ishak al-Ibbdi, ii*
dbO Huraira, b70 n.
'On dbi Huraira, 375.
Husain, the eunueb, 653
'IIusain, the kLdi. 4 1 S.
Uvsain lbn liais. 596
al-IIusain Ibn Ali, 589: his head.
615 n.
al-Husrin al-lkhshidi. 319, 34 t .
al-Husain Ibn ad-DaBbiL, 417.
'al-Busain Ibn Jawhar. 253, 315.
al-Husain Ibn al-Kisim Ibn Wahb,
436.
" sl-Husainiba BbanrClr. 442.
"aliHusain Ibn Mu&. 65.I.
al.Hnsain Ibn R&b, 4 39 n.
a1 Eusain Ibn Salama, 3b I .
'al-Hussin Ibn Shoaib as-Sinjt .
419.
al-Husaini, sec Muslim.
at-Husaini, S a d a!-Mulk , I6 1
Hashaim Ibn Bushair, 1 87 11.
'al-Husri, 34.
Ih HusPtl, 113.

al Ibildi, 1SS.
'al-lblri, 6 ? 5 .
Ibral~imthe Abblside, 467.
Ibrahim nl Harbi, 41; 11.
'Ibrahim al-Mausili, 20.
Ihrahln~Iba At~rnad Ibn .4bi Abtl
436.
Ihrclhtm Ibn i ~ l - H a s i ~r;?.
Ibrahirn lbrl Ilishirn al-M;tkhnirrni
552, G43.
'Ibrahfm lbn al-hlalldi, fG.
"Ibrahim Ibn Slrlil~al TIAshirrri, 311;
'Ibrahim lbn Sulairn ar-Rdzi, 585.
lbrnliim lblr al-Willid, 59?.
'trl lflili, 30.
Ifrikiyn, 35, 421.
Ifrikush, 35 r l .
lftikit~( . A f t i i c i r ~ ) , 1 fi 1, 613.
'aI.ljii, 191.
Ikll lbn Mujdhir, 67 1.
nl-lkhshldi, Ahmad Ibn Ali, 341.
ill-lkhsbidi, AbQ'I-Fath Ismail, 1 9 1
ill-Ikhshtdi, al-Husain, 319, 3.1 1.
iil-Ikhshldi, Sharnbl, 341.
Ikhshidites, 322 n.
'QbiL Imrln Maimbn al-IIilhli, 579
Ibn Abi Irnrhn, 53 n .
-al-lrdki, the khatlb, 1.2.
al-Irlki, Zain ad-din, xiii.
al-Irbili, Ize ad-din, 48:).
'41-lrhili, Sharaf ad-din. 490.
al-Irbili, Zain ad-din. 130.
'al-Irbili, Saldb ad-din, 167.
[sa (river), 209 n, 556.
Isa Ibn Ali. 431, 432.
Isa Ibn Jaafar al-Hashimi, 604.
Isa Ibn Omar, G66 n.
Isa Ibn Zaid, 207.
Islsrain, 55.
'al-lsfaraini, AbO Hbmid, 53
'al-Tsfaraini, AbO Ishak, 7.
Ishak Ibn Ibrahfm, 6i!).
'Ishak Ibn Ibrilt~imal.lnusili, 1S3
'Isht~kIbn Hunain, 187.
lshbtliy;#, i26.
Ismall Ibn Attd al-Malili, 5 6 3 .
lsmail I b r ~Ali, 512.
Ismail Ibn Awsat al DAjali, 5lic;.
IsmaPl Ibn al-Fadl, 192 n.
Ismall lbrr Hammild, 469.
Ismail I b r ~JatPr ill-HAjali, 6s?.
Ismall an-NaisilpQri. 551.
'Ismall Fath ad-din, 656.
[smatl the Srlfi, 440.
ill-Ismatli, AbQ Bakr, 8 n.
;NI-Ismaili.Abh Saild. G47 11.
Ispahiln, 74.
nl-lsratli, lsliali lbn Sulairniin, 220
67).
'al-Istakhri, 3 7 4 .
al-lstalihri 4bO Said, 418.
Italih, 599 n. al-Jawhari, Ibn Shltldu, 263 n.
'Itbin lbrl Wasili~,(j [ X . Jaushbn, 14.'.
lyQd, 7 2 . al-Jawzi, 10.
~i~l-lyAdi, 72. I b n al-Jawzi, s i b t , 439 n, 6 : 'c
a[-lgidi Bbtl 'l-Hasarr Ali, ol"l'ur~is JB$vlli, 510.
93. al-Jazzlr. 180 a .
ill-fyidi Ihn Azib, 95. Ibn al-Jilzzar, Ahll .Ii~nClr,6 7 2 .
'lyas ;I(-lihtli, 5'35. Jidda, 584.
lzz ad-din Farrhkh Slihh, 24ti. 'Jihbrlias as-Sllihi, 3 ii.
Izz ail-dill, Ahh 'I-lllsim al-lrbili lbn Jilawaih, 65 l.
'1x9. 'Jilddk at-l'akirwi, 147, l i s .
'112 ad-Dalvlal I3alihLybr, 250. 'al-JCli, Iiida ad-lilt,, 91
Jirjls. 36 n.
t~, al-Jirbni. 454 rb.
Jlna, 5?0. '
'al-Jlzi, 520.
'Jaafi~raCArdali, 328. Jofi, 106.
' J n a t ~ rthe Uarmekidc, :$U 1 . Joscelin, 510.
'JaaFar as-Sddik, 300. Jouna al-Abrnir i, l;i;.
'Jaafar Ibr~Falhh, 327. Ibn J u b a ~ r ,S l i X .
'Jai~firr Ibn Ilarnddu a l - b ~ ~ d a l u s ial-Jubairi, Aba Abd Allah, 11 1 .
:{?G. Jridarn, 148.
Abil Jailfirr al-.ilawi, R'lusli~n,3% n Juhilina, 545 n.
3 4 2 . 149 o. 'al-Juhaai, 422.
dbri Jitnfar al-lspafi&ni, 59 1. al-Juhfa, 365 n.
'Jaehar, 320. 'JunBda, Abh Oshma, 337.
Ibn al-Jand, Ali, 476 11. 'al-Junaid, 338.
Jdbir lhrr thiyhrr. 300. JOr, 218 n.
al-JahdAmi, 401 I r , 498 fr. Jurdlk, 609.
aldilhili, 909 11. al-Jurjlni, Ahd al-Kdhir, 300 n.
I b n Jahlr, 50ti. ill-Ju~.jhrii,AbQ 'l-Abbas, 273 11.
'itl-J:~hiza, 617. 6 1 8. al-Jurj8ni. Ali, 101.
Ibn al-Jahm al-Bermaki, G:{. ill-JurjArri Abb Ilnlir, 7 2 .
"Jahzn al-Barrnaki, I i s . ill-Jurj811i Abb Obnid, 4 4 1 .
al-Jaidllr, 354. 356 11. a1 Jushami, 605.
AbG '1-Joish az-Z~ddi,36 1. Juwaio. 4 16.
'al-JaiyBni. 459. 'al-Julvaini, Fithllr ill-l\uttfil), i l r:.
JaiyBsh. 36 1.
'Jakar, NasPr ad-dta, :c4!1.
Ibrr Jaktaa. 171 n.
Ibn Jala, 1 4 8 .
dalill ad-din, prince of lihowareztn Kaab l b r ~Arnr, 576 n.
62'3 n. Kaab Ibn %clhair. 336 n.
aldalls, 146 n. 'ill-Kaubi. 422.
al-Jallldi. 191. al-Klbisi, lbn Uilba, 173.
Jambl ad-dln Ibn Bhri, ? i s . 'The Kddi, Husain, 4 1 6 .
Jarnddr. 412 n. 'a1 Kadi rr-Rashtd. Abh 'I-IIusaia,
al-Jdmi 'I-Bilk, 6 4 9 . 143.
'Jamll. the poet, 33 1. al-Kadi ar-Rashid. AbO M~itlammad.
Janndba, 430. 143.
'al-Jannlbi, 1?ri. "al-Kldi As-Sfriifi. 37: .
al-Jhr, 582. Ibn al-Lhdisi, 290.
'JarPr, the poet, ?94. al-Ka~irh,361.
Ibrr. Jartr al-Iiajali, (is?. I b n KadQs, Rluhammad, 1h:,.
al-Jarrni. 629. KafratQtha, 288
'al-Jnrmi, Salih Ibn Ishak, 629. KdfQr. 104. 285, 3.41.
'a[-Jarmi, Abb Omar, 629. Ibn al-liahhdl, 161.
al-JarrAh al-Hakami, 39 1. Khhil, 587.
l b r ~alJarrAh, Muhammad. 25 n. Karkobbd Ibn Kuikhosrh, 629 11:
lblz al-Jarrlh Waki, 374 n. Kaikobld the Dailemite, 427.
al-Jarrbr, 203. 'al-Kaini, 40.
JAsim, 352. al-Kairawiln, 35.
a]-Jawani, 560. ai-lCairaw8nit AbIl Abd Allah, 389.
'Abzl 'l-Jawlliz, 401. 'al-Kairawani, l b r ~RashPk, 384.
'Jawhar, the kdld, 340. al-Iiairawgni, Ibn Shnraf, 385.
al-Jawhan, s2 n Kais, 561.
;tl-Jawbari, Ybsuf, 409. Kais lbn AAsim, 166, 637.
 INDEX.
Iiais Ibn Kithl, 596. Khalbt, 128 11. al-Kindi, the philosopher, xxvii,
Iinis Ibn Saad lbn Obbda, 629 n *lbn Khalnwaih, 105, ,466, 355 n
Iiarslr, 430. 'al-Khalt, 447.
Ain al-Kaiyhra, 424. 'Khhlid Ibn Abd Allah al-Iiasri,484. al-Kindi,
'a[-Kindi, Abh
Muhammad
Omaiya, lbn
619, yhsul.
6-!1.
al-Kirkha Ibn I-laliim, 57;. Iihilid Ibn Barmak, 305. 389 n.
f6n Kaltuyah, 445. lihhlid Ibn Yazld, 68. 'al-liindi Taj ad-din, t 03, 546.
linliit Jaabar, 51 1. Khblid Ibn Yazid al-.4rliat, 595. 'al-Kin& Zaid ~ b na[-Hasan, 546.
;ll-Kalbi,Ahmad Ibn Abdar-Rahmin,
1;1.
Khblid lbn YaziJ, the Omaipide, 481.
Zbn A b f Khllid. Ahmad, 1 0 n, 653
Kinnisrin, 7 1,,
al-Kirmiti, 429.
*a[-Kalbi, Ibrahfrn, 6 'al-Khalil Ibn Ahrnad, 495. al-Kirriya, 24 1.
"ill-Iinlbi, Ihrahtm al-Ghazzi, 38. al-Khalillbn Aibek, xili. 'Ibn al-Kirriya, 231;.
'nl-Kalbi Abb Thaur, 6 . "Khalib Ibn Khaiybt, 492 Kirwttsh, 455 n.
Iidli Iiala, 21 1 a!-lihaltli, Ahb Yala. 53 n. Kitbl, 596.
'al-Klli, Abb Ali, 210. 'al-Khallbl, the vizir, 467. Kizoghli, 439 n, 674.
liallht. 143. al-Khallhl, the ha@, 324 o. al-KonAsa, 554 n.
KalyQb, 381. Ibn KballikBn, viii, 91, 545, 551, Iionbul, 28 n.
Ibn Kbrnil, 183. 628. al-Iiortubi, 94.
' A bit 'I-Khni, 450. at-Kbalbki, 651. k'oss, 137 n.
Ib12 Kbni, 374 n. Kharnss Ibn Ali, 377 n. Kostanttniya, 369.
I b n al-Ki~rhb,S6 n. 'Zbn Khamts al-Mausili, 141. al-Kotrusi, 148 n.
'al-1CarB bisi, 4 t 6 al-Kharhiti, 343 n. al-Kudii, Murtada ad-din, 397
liarafa, 53 n. 'Khhrija the jurisconsult, 481. 'al-Kudhri, 5 4 , 5 9 .
JiarAn~atlbn Manstlr, ?49. Omm Khbrija, 43s n. Iiuhbr Khhthn, 51).
liarghawnitr, 368. al-liharkawi, 475, Kultham lbn ThAbit. 653.
'al-K3ri 'I-Raghdidi, 323. Iiharmaithen, 440. Kumm, 375 n.
;il-karrna, 483. Kbarshana, 369. Ibn Iiunbsa, 473.
' I b n Abi Karltma, 260 Iihartabirt, 128. Kurain, 581.
Karnehia, 226. al-Khasrlh, 399. 'Ibn Iiurlihl, 43.
' Z &'1-Karnain Ibn Hamdin, 514. al-Khasib Ibn Abd al-Hamid, 4 1 . al-Kushairi, Abd al-bfhmin. 58 a.
Kdsdn, 77. al-Khasib, bbh Nasr, 19 I . 'al-Kushairi, Ibn Sdbik, 329.
al-Khsim Ibn Ohaid Allah, 28, 188. Ibn al-Khaslb, 600 n. Kushijlm, 301 n.
ill-KAsim Ibn Rabih, 233. Khasif, 565. KutAma. 36 n.
.46?2 'I-Kbsim Ali, the vizir, 54 al-KhAsir, Salm. 29 n Huthaiyr, 333.
d b u 'I-Khsirn Ibn Ahrnad al-Anda- al-Khathami, TBbir, 512.
lusi, 380. 'al-Khatlb al-Baghdhdi, 75.
Abil 'l-I<lsim al-TabarAni, 59s. 'al-Khatib al-Irlki. 19. L.
KAslibn, 77. ' I b n al-Kha~lb,hbd al-Hukm ( H a -
KAsihn, 549. kam), t?. Laith Ibn Einina, 388.
' I b n al-Khss at-Tabari, 4s. 'al-Iihatir, 193, 195. Ibn LBjin, Onrar, 485.
Kasshm al-Aiyhr. 406. al-KhattAbi, 476.477. Lakhm, 593.
Kasr as-Stda, 283. Khltbn Zumurrud, %i+. Lakhm Abd al-Whhid, 607.
ill-Kasri. 488. 'al-Kbaulini Bbil Abd ar-Rahman, 'al-Lahhmi, 147.
'ill-Kasri. Khllid, 484. 643. Ibn al-Lalihmi, 194.
lictstalli, 122. 'aI-Khaulini, Abh Jaafar, l s 6 . al-Lawishi, 406.
'al-Kbtib ar-Rhmi, 340. KhawBC. 79. LhzOn lbn Ismall, 61.
Katr an-Nada, 499, 500. 'al-EhawAfi, 79. Liwa, 55 n.
Kathtr Ibn Abmad, S17 n. *Ibn al-Khizin, tbe poet. 131. Lokk, 161.
' I b n al-Iiatt8n. 51. "ibn al-Khidzin, the kbtlb, 461. Lolirnbn. 146 n.
'sl-IiawArtri, 339. *al-Iihazzaz, 339. Lhlh, 104.
Kazwtn, 80. Khidr. 628 n .
al-Kazwiui, '330. 'al-Uidr Ibn Aliil al-Irbili, 488.
al-Kazrhni, 377 n. Khindif, 146 n. 31.
Khabaran, 190. al-KhirAji, 398.
al-Khabri, Abh Haklm, 421 n. Khosdjerd, 57- Maad Ibn Adnhn, 5%.
al-Khabhr, 628 n. KhowBrezm Shah IbnMhooOn, 445 D. al-Maifiri, Inhammad Ibn Adsino.
-1bn Khafaja, 36. KhowBrezm Sh&. Atsiz, 609. 994.
al-Khafilji, 540, al-Uowhrezmi, Abh Bakr the juris- A bb 'l-la6li 'l-HamdAni, 368.
al-Khafilji ad-Dahhak. 303. consult, 60 n. a l - B m i , 94, 97, 196, 644.
al-Khrf&ji Farrhkh Sbih. 330. al-Khudn, 579. 'AM 'l-Maashar aI-Balkhi, 3t5.
' l b w ai-Khaimi, 549. 'JChumhrawaih, 498. Ontm Milbad, 36 1, 36).
Bhair an-Nasshj, 51 3 n lihurzkd Ibn BBris, 137. Mbbadm, 259 n.
' I b n KhairAn, Abh dli, 4 17. KhOzestAn, 137. al-Madhini, Ali, 438 n.
Ibn Abi Khaithama, 494. I h ghuzaima, Abh TBhir, 61. al-Rladfi, Shoaib Ibn Barb, 57%
Ibn al-Khaipht, 128. Ehuz&, 77. al-lagbrib, 76 n.
Kalaf at-Ahmar, 572 D. al-l[ihbi, 596. 'al-MagBtibi m 'l-Uoi, the vizir,
'Ibn I(balaf as-Sarakusti, 91s. 1 al-Kibti. Ibn 581 n. 450.
Zbn Khalf (Khajaf), the vizir, 455n.' Ibn Kilda, 261. ""rl-%abbili, 56.
86

ICn Bldhan, 649.
.Ibil 'l-Dlahlsin, xiv.
al-Mahdiya, 231 11.
al-hlahjam, 31i0, 364 n.
fbn MahrnQyah, 647 n.
'ill-Maidhi, AhQ 'I-l'adl, 130.
'al-Maidlni, 4 h Q Saad, 131.
BIiiimQna, 580 n.
$Irisin, 37%n .
al-Rlakbrn, 195.
nl-Makdisi, Abd a1 Ghbni, 90 n.
;I[-MakhzQmi, Tbj ad-din, xii.
Ibn Makki, 435.
lbn bfakn, 455.
'al-Malik al-Amjad, 516.
'at-Malik al-Ashraf, 628.
al-Malik al-Aziz, 655
ill-Malik al-IJdiz Siibik ad-din, 168
al-M~~lrk at-KAhir BahB ad-din, 167
'al-Malik al-Kbhir Nhsir ad-dln,G27
'nl-Malik al-hfar~shr,(527.
al-hialik at-Moizz Ismall. 656.
;)l-Malik al-Mughith, 167.
al-Malik an-RAsir, Aiyhb, 657.
al-Malik an-Nhsir DBwOd, 54t.
'al-Malik as-Sdlih, 659.
'Malili an-Nuhat, 389.
'Sbd hlalik Mammati, 195.
Mbrnar Ibn al-Ashilth, 438 n.
MBmar Ibn Mubbrak a1 Ansilri, 32.4
WArnar al-Yamani, xxiv.
A bia Maamar at-Ansari, 464.
'Ibn Mammlti. 195.
al-Mbtnhn, the khalif, 270.
ai-MhmQn, Abh 'I-Klsirn, 52.
Mlmdn Ibn bluhammad, 444 n.
al-MlmQni, 500.
'Ibn Mana a1 lrbili, 90..
'al-ManBzi, 126.
Manazjird, 128.
"Manshr al-Asi~di.634.
a1 MansOr, Abh Abmir. 123 11,
al-Manshr, Ibn Boluklihin, f 4s.
'al-Manshr Ibn rl-Kilsirn 1b11 a1
Mahdi, 218.
Manshr, Zulzul, 18.
a!-Mansilriya. 249.
I b n al-Milrigha, 297.
%larianos, 454.
MBrida, 2 1 .
111-MAriddni, Abll Ilakr, 500.
Mlrik, 18
'al-Marisi, 260.
al-Mariya, 151 a.
Marj Kohl, 583.
hlarj Rlhit, 100 n.
Marjin, 361.
MarQf al-Karkhi, 556.
lbn Marhf, 37:) n.
Marwan Ibn Abi Hafsa, 473
Marwln Ibn Abi JanOb, 67.
'Ibn Marwhn al-Kurd~,157.
'AbzZ Marwln lbn Bashkuwll, 492
Marwarrhd, 50.
Itfarw as-Sbahjln, 50.
'al-Marwarrhdi, Abh Hhmid, 49.
al-Marwarrbdi, Abh Jnafar, 219.
INDEX
*nl-~Iaraazi,Abh Ishali, 7.
al-$lorwaei. Nisir, 5 7 , 6 0 6 11.
*lbn al i\larzub$n, 377.
fililsabadAn, 4 7 3 .
Ibn hlhsatln, liumaid, 395.
'aI-l\Iasl~tilb,164.
^Ibn al-Rlashlbb, 162.
a/-laslla, 326, 386 n.
Banfi Maskin, 262.
lbn Masshl, 161.
al-Mastawfi, see al-Mustawfi.
Miisrhr, the eunuch, 310.
Mhshd Ihn Bishr, 290 n.
Masdd Izz ad-din, 228.
Mashd as-Saklabi, 253.
al-Mathna (al-Muthanna) l b n Mis
whr, 282. 284 n.
Matrild lbti Kand al-Kbuzli, 4 1.
Jbn Matrhk, 544.
Maudhd, 227.
al-Mausili, Abh Hafs Omar, 255.
*al-Mausili, lbrahlrr~,20.
MLzrr, 384.
*al-RlAzini, Abh Othmhn, 264.
'Ibn Mazyad, 634
Mereod, 490.
Mesthi, I 1 G n.
Ibn Midrar al-Yasa, 465.
"1-Mihilni, 190.
Ibn Mihrbn, Abh Bakr, Cil .
' I b n Mihrhn, AbQ Muhammad, 5117.
lbnMik~t%sa a1 Maghrrbi, 196 n .
a1 Minhdl Ibn Amr, 563 ri.
' A b O 'I-Minhbl al KhBriji, 618.
al-Minkhri, liais Ibn Aasirn, 166,
637.
'Ibn Mirdls, Sllih, 631.
MisBr Ibn Kidilm, 580 n.
Ibn Misknwaih, 464 n.
al-Misstsi, 112.
al-Misslai, Muhammad, 1 I 1.
Moawia, 59 n.
Moatvia Ibn IIusain, 641.
Moawia Ibn Kurra, 235, 493 n.
AbzZ Moawia ad-Darlr, Abd Allab
Ibn Abi AOl'a, 589 n.
Abzl Moawia ad-Dartr, Muhammati
Ibn KhAzim, 189 n.
al-Moghaira Ibn Shbbn. 357.
'Moizz ad-Dawlal Ihn Buwaih, 155.
hlolcirr Ibn IIimhr, 24 1 11, 67-2.
Monastic, 132 n.
Moslim Ibn al-Walld al-Artsbri, 25 n
508.
'Ibn al-Muaddil, 354.
&l-MuAfa Ibn lmrhn, 259 n.
Ibn Abi Muait, 640.
Abtl 'l-Mubbrak al-Azdi, 191.
lb~a01-Mubdrak, 54.
Ibn al-Mubirak Said, 574.
rl-Mufrij Ibn al.JarrAh, 406.
ol-Muhaddub, Asaad, 658.
al-Muhaddab ad-dtn Ibn al-Lakh-
mi, 194.
Ibn al-MuhAjir al.Bajali, 4 6 8 .
'al-Muhallabi, the vizir, 110 n, 4 10
al-Muhallabi, Sulaimhn, 495, 595
'al-Muhallabi, Xuhair, 544.
D'luhamrnad Ibn Abd Allah l b r ~
Saad, 95.
*blul~arrrmadIl)n Abd ar-liahrnlrl
al-IlAshimi, 415.
Muhammad lbrl Ahmad Ihn Abi
l)uwBd, 70, 71.
Muhammad Ibn Isa al-Yamani,
146 11.
Muharsrnad lhri lfablb. 296, 565.
Muhammad I b r ~ill-IIajjAj, 363.
Muharr~rnad 1b11 liarn'ld at-Thsi,
355 n.
Rltrt~ammadlbn JlilrOn al-Hadri~rni,
3'10.
'Muhammad lbn Iihalf (KhalafI ,
.?97.
~ ~ l i a m r n aIbn
d an-Nom~n,281 11.
Muharr~rr~adl b r ~Ombra lbrl I1amz;r
al-lspahil~li, 320.
Muharnrnati Ibn SulaimAn Ibn Ali,
475.
Mutiammad Ibri Yilkhb al-Asamm,
607.
Muharnmad J l ~ nZaid al-Wbsiti. ?7.
Abll Mnhammi~dIbn Ahrnail, 4 5 ~
'al-MuhAsibi, 365.
Muhilrik, 19.
nl-Muhassad, 105.
al-Muhazzimi, 73 n.
al-Mnh~iatha, 158.
MutrP ad-din, AbQ Shuji, G$!,.
Muhriz. 249.
Muln ad-dli~,975.
MujAhitl AbQ 'I Jaish, 278 11.
Mujlhid lbrr Jubi~ir,568.
ul-Mujhhid Jarr~alad-Uanlat, ?'I !.
Ibn Mujbhid, 47 n.
"at-Mujullt, 173.
lbn Mujalli, 561.
'nl-Mujld al AskalAni, 386.
Mujlr ad-dtr~ Ahek, 275.
Mukaddis l b n Saifi, 651.
al MukaPTa, 435.
' f b n al M~rkall'e,431, 395.
'al-Mukanna, 436.
MukAtil al--4klri. 26 n.
Mukhtil al-Bakri, 41 5.
hfukhhrik, 209 n.
Mukram Ihn al-Alil, 39.
Ibn Munbdir, 499 n.
Munabbih Ibn Nabtt, 356.
lbn al-Munajjim, 178, 538.
al-Mundir the Ornaiyide, 93.
al-Mundiri, Abd al-Azlm, 89 a.
Munya Hani Khasih, 657.
'Ibn Munlr al-'rarabolusi, 138.
Mhuis, the eunuch, 26 n .
Ibn Murlkadir, 580 n .
Baml Munkadir, 517.
Muniat as-Sa~yldln,3 4 3 .
Muniat ShalkAii, 343.
Muraath, 256.
al-Murldi, 520.
Murhal Ibn Os[lrno, 146 n.
*al-Muriylni, 306,595.
'Murehid, Abb Oshma, 180.
'Ibn hlurshid, Oshma. 177.
'al-hIurtada as-Shaizari, 395.
Murtada ad-Dawlat al-Janahi, 631
MQsa Ibn Isa al-ribblsi, 317 n.
Abzl MOsa al-Asllilri, 529.
Musilb Ibn Abd Allah az-Zubairi
186 n.
Mushb Ibn Kuzaik, 650,654.
'Ibn al-Musaiyab, 5G8.
al-Musalla. 116 n.
Musallam Ibn Mahmad, 656.
Ibn Musattir, 617.
Muslim, al-Husaini the Sharlf, 322 n
149 n.
Muslim Ibn al-Walld al-Ansari,% 11
508.
Muslim Ibn Mahrnhd, see Blusallam
al-Mustakfi billah, 30 n.
"at-Mustlli, 159.
al-Mustarshid, 50G.
'al-Mustawfi, 170.
I b r ~al-Mustawfi, 16.
'A bil 'I-Muta at-Taghlibi, 514.
Abil'l-Mutahhir as-Saidalini, 191.
al-Mutamarnia, 359.
'al-Mutanabbi. 101. 671.
Ibn al-Muthanna al-Astarabldi
xxviii.
Mutt Ibn lybs, 438 n.
al-5luttalib Ihn Abd Allah al-Khu
zhi, 509.
al-Muwaffeli, Talha, 154.
Muwaffek ad-dln al-Hanbali, 149 n
hluaaiyad ad-Dawlat Ibn Buwaih
215.
RI-hluzaffar al-Busti, 477.
Ihn a\-hluzaffar, 56 n.
Ibn Muztihim, 5d0 n.
Muzaikiya, Amr, 510 n.
I\luzaina, 545 n.
'al-Muzani, 200.
;in-Nabigha al-Jaadi, 456.
'an-NadOm al-Baghdhdi, 459.
'Zbn an-Nadfm al-Mausili, 183.
Ibn an-Nadtm al-Warrhli, 32,630.
Nhfi, 225.
'an NBfis al-Lakhmi, 147.
'an-Nab%, 81.
'an-Nahrawilni, 401.
N a h d r asShoizbni, 349.
Abi2 Nakshal at-Tdsi, 353.
Nairab, 628 n.
Nairabain, 356 D.
NaisbpOr, 61.
Zbn Najh, 658.
Najah, 361.
B n an-Najjhr, i l n.
'Najm ad-din AiyQb, 943, 542.
Najm ad-din al-Ghhzi, 506.
an-Nakhai, Alkama, 6 n.
an-NakbAi, al-Aswad, 5 n.
'an-Nalihhi, Ibrahlm, 5.
'an-Nakhai, Shartk, 578, 652.
'an-XAmi, t 10.
Nasi, 59.
an-YasIi, the hlefiz, 5 s .
an-Xasawi, lbn Sofyhn, 4 9 ! n.
*an-Sishiri, 506 n.
'Piasir ad-Dawlat Ibn Hamdhn, 401
SAsir al Marwazi, 57, 606 n.
'Nasth ad-dln er-Arrajhni, 131.
Sasr Ibn AAsim, 339.
Sasr Ibn 4bbBs, 422, 657.
Nast Ibn IIajjAj. 359.
Piasr al-Makdisi, 42 n.
'an-Nasr al-lhari. 025.
Nasr ad-dlndbd a!-Iiahir, the k6di
135.
'Abil Nasr al-Kurdi, 157.
an-Nasshj, 513 n.
an-NBtili, 440.
an-NawBr, 59 1.
Nawkin, SO
an-Nazz8m al-Balkhi, 186 n.
an-NiBli. 661 n.
'Niftawaih, 96.
Xiftawaih's boy, 591.
an-KI1, 449.
'Ibn Nirna, AbCl 'I-GhanAim. 656.
Ibn an-Nis, 660.
'Nidm al-Mulk the vizir, 4 13.
Nizir Ibn a1 Mustali. 160.
NizIr Ibn Shihanshiih, 613.
Nizlr Ibn al-Mustansir, 613.
'AhO Nizhr Ibn Shfi, 389.
'Abd Roaim al-Ispahiini, 74.
an-NomAn Ibn Bsshlr, 98 D.
lbn an-Mornln, 323 n.
an-Nombni, Dluhammad Ibn Ibra-
him, 450.
an-Nomkniya, 634.
Ibn Nubakht. Lsmall, 391.
an-Nufai. 963 n.
Nubawend, 339.
l b n Nujaiya, 658.661.
lbn Nuk%i, 664.
"Ztl 'U-NQn al-filisri, 99 1 .
'Nur ad-Dam lat, Dubais, 631.
'Nur ad-1)awlat Shhhanshhh. 615.
'NQr ad-dln Arslau Shah, 174
Nur ad-din Ibn MabmOd, 542.
NOr a d d i n Ibn Zinki, 275,609.
'Abd Nuwas Ibn Hhni, 391
Obaid lbn Dtnhr, 579.
Obaid Ibn SofyAn albkli, 364.
Obaid Allah lbn A h m d 'fbn Ab
Thhir, 291 n.
Obaid Allah (Abd Alloh) Ibn Khril.
laf, 510.
Obaid Allah Ibn Sulaim&nIbaWahb
49 n.
Obaid All& Ibn Zikd, 638.
AM Obaid al-Bakri, 319 n.
A btl Obaid atb-Thakafi, 305.
Obaida, daughter of b l l h b , 517 n
Ochuwhna, 63%
Uddat ad-Daelat, 405
Ibn ilbi Okail alh-Thakafi, 357.
al-Okaili, 456.
Ibn al-Oliaimi, 540.
Okbil lbn Aimir, 35.
Olibi Ibn Kin,35 n.
Olaiya, daughter of al-Nahdi, S t i l l
Ibn al-Omaid {ul Amid), 110 n
Ibn Omair al-Kibti, 581 n.
'Onraiya lbn hbi 's-Salt, ??A.
Ibn Ornar, the ktidi, 494.
Omar Ibn al-AII, 508 n.
Omar lbn BishrBn, 539.
Dmar Ibn H~lbaira,370,46b.
[)mar Ibn Lijln, 185.
Omar Ibn Shikla, 330.
"Abtl Ornar aldanni, 659.
Ibn Omar ath-Thaliafi, 456.
3mbra al-Yamani, 610, 659
4bh Omhra. Ibn Sbl. 44.
11-Omari, Abb 'l-Fath. 58 n
11-Omari, Abh Jaafar, 439 11.
11-Oman, NBsir, 57
3rnm Ibida. 159.
)mm al-Arab, 49.
Jmrn ad-Duhairn, 360, 361.
)mm hfhbad, 364.
11-Omr, 310.
11-Urmawi, AbO Bakr, 14 11.
rbn d bi Oruba, xriv.
lrwa Ibn Hiziim, 38, 671.
Irwa lbn Ozaina, 581, 584-
Ibn Orwa, 559 o.
Ortuk Ibn Aksab, 171.
11-0r0di. Ibrahlm, 11 1
Ibn Osaid as-Sulami, 531 0 .
Oshma Ibn Murshid, 177, 657.
rbn Abi M m a al-Halabi 11 1
'Abd Oshma JunBda, 337.
al-OsfOri, 494.
11-Oswhni, 145-
11Qtalii. S O .
Itbh, the beloved of Abb 'l-.4ti-
hiya, 203.
)tba Ibn Gazwitn, 176
)tba lbn Rabia, 483.
Ab& Othmln al-Mhzini, 564.
Ibn Oyaina. 578.
' hOzaima, Orwa, 58 1,584
b r a , 331.
R-
*
lablb. daughteraf br 'l-Paie, 583.
ar-Rabl Ibn Sulaimdn a I-gbt~Adi,
519.
'm-Rabt Ibn Yt~nus,541.
'm-Rabl alJtzi, 520.
Rabh ar-Kii, 517.
tabta ar-Rakki, 530 n.
Rabla aLAdrria, 515.
labia Iba Thaur al-h&, 383.
'hW t a &NhiIi 417.
l Bn A M RaBMh, 99.
k k & n , 413.
tam, 554 n.
 'i~r-flnli'iial-Anmsli, ? h i .
'iir-llafl'ii i~s-Sari,5 5 7 .
1 6 1 ar-liaghir~~~i,
~ 2:) 1 11.
Iinhaba hlalilc Il)n ' r a \ ~ l i 77., 4?? I
'Ibn Htlrl~aih,180.
;:r-llill, 65!).
Ilitrdiu as-Saklal)i.?53.
I{ais ;id-tlCn al-A.rraj&ni, 134.
Iiaja, Abu '[-All, 135.
'Ilajh Ibn liaiyit, S?(;.
- Alra 'r-Rakimak, l 16.
itr-Kakkhda, 346.465.
ilr-Raltlilshi, 31 1i n .
itr-Rakmatain, 130 11.
Kdma, 200 n.
Kamhdat al-IiOfa, 183 n.
Ramln, the dnughtcr of Zubair, IS?
Ibn Rbmtrt, I I 11.
Kashid al-lli~liiki,345.
RSshidu, 151.
,lhn Hashtk al-liaircivilni, 384.
1611 Kashik ill-lihtib, 3 8 5 .
ar-Kass, 115.
' i i r - l h ~ ~ il ,l i.
ar-Rauhi, 6 l 2 n.
Ildwand, 77.
'ar-Riwandi, Abu 'I-Husain,76.
irr-Rfizi, 100, ass.
'itr-Rdzi. Ibn Flris, 100.
Sablrl, ?P($.
Siihri~,2 i!).
as-si~ljti,All11 'l-AI)t)i~.l 4 !J
*Sill)(~r1I)r1 Ar(l;tshlr, LIIC vizir, 554
Sadi~li;~ al Ili~rltlhd,?$)U.
*Sadaka ill-Asi~tli,63.4.
Sad;~li;~ Sail' ad-l);t\\ lal, ??7.
;IS-Siitlhlirt-'l'uls, 6 2 0 .
i~s-S;~l';tiIi,xiii.
l671 Si~ili,651.
IS-SaILir, Al~hAli, 4 7 r i .
'lbrb Slli, A b i ~Nizdr, M!).
1s-Safin, 105.
~s-Silfrbk~i, 90 n.
snlll)i~l~ 4 1 2 I1
'TheSlhil) 11111Abbld, 2 1.2.
3ll1il) ;~l-liin~hr, ??l n .
jiihl lbn Hariln. t l ~ ck d t i b , 51 I 11.
3ahl. Abh 'S-Salt, 587 11.
'Sahl at-'rustari. 590, 602.
'Sal11al-Argl~igbni.(i05.
Sal11 as-SolC~lii,601;.
'IDn Sahl the lidlib, 83.
IS-Sahrni, 15 n.
jahna, 414.
Ibn as-Saib, 584 11
fbn Slid, the philologer. 6 3 2 .
Said Ibu al-hdsi, 5~ n, 336 11.
;aid Ibn Amr, 5 9 7 .
SBlih 1Ln L)ilwhd, 256.
'Silih Ibn Ishi~li;l1 Jarrni, 679.
Sdlil~Ihn ill-Rli~~~s~lr, 522.
SAlih Ihn 'I'itrif, 314.
";IS-Siilih Il)n liuzztl;. 608, (i57.
Shlirn Ibn Ahtl AIIIIIIIbn Ornar, ?(; ;.
SiiIi111i~r-Ilhzi,4? 11.
S!~llArr~ ill-hbrnslt, 311, 599 p .
~ i l ~ ~ i l l l ll l(i~l1~ l ,
S~IIIII ill fil~isir,.22 11.
Salrein, 2 10.
SalrnA~~ Ibn 1lal)iit al-Dlhili. 447.
Ahtl 'S-Sail, S i ~ l ~!,X7 l , 1,.
Abil 's-S;II~fith-TI~i~Li~li, 486.
Samhw;~,108.
Silrr~ll~i, 155.
~ / ~ n S i r m d bits-Sl'lri,
n 276, ?7;.
'Ib11 as.Samr~~Ar~. 175.
Sarnnbn lhn Il;~rnzi~, 4?3.
Sitnth ;11-hIul\i i i l - l l u ~ i ~ i161.
~~i,
Sat~ItAja,2 4 9 , 550 11.
'Sarill'tilil~l, 480, 490.
'as-Sar;lkl~shi A l ~ bMuhammad al-
Ilasan, 408.
as-Sarakhshi Ishak lbn Ibrahirrr,
?g?.
ns-Sitraltusti, 218.
;IS-Sari11, 3 1 X n.
1611 A b i Sii1.h. 36 11. V

ar-Rdzi, Ali, GC. 'Said Ibn Jubair, 564.
itr-Kdzi, Shlim, 42 11. Lbald Ihn al-Mubdrak, 574.
. A
'ar-Rizi Sulaim, 584. 'Said 1bn al-klusi~iyi~l),
Ilazirl lbn Sulain~drr,51n. ;aid Ibn Nassi, 210 n.
i~r-liazzhz.Ahb Jaafiir, $71;. 3ald Ibn Silim, 309, 573 11.
ar-Ridhi, Suhaim, 14!) 11. said al-Ahwal, 360.
ar-Rida, 1 0 n. said al-Hamdani, 3G8.
Hidwhn, Fakr al-Mulhli, l ?5 . Abil Sald al-Istakhri, 448.
Ibn Ridwln, 232 n. 'Abil Satd alJanndbi, 427.
' l b n ar-Rifdi, 152. A bil Said as-Slrlti, 456.
'Ilfiha Ibn al-Ajjbj. 527. 1s-Saidalhni, 191.
nr-Rlldhbri, Abb Ahd Allah, 86 11. is-Salli, 335.
i~r-HOdblri,Abfi Ali, 86 n. Saif al-Isldnl, 655.
'Rhb lbn Hhtim, 559,535,539 11. iaif ad-Dawlat Ibn IIamdbn, 105.
Rfih Ibn Zinbd, 364 n. Lif ad Dawlat Ibn Abd al-Rlalili,
lbn Rbh, al-Husain. 439 n. 541.
ar-RBhi (Rauhi), 612 11. Saif a d - D a ~ l a tI l ~ nSadakii. 227
Zji'r-Hukbl. 487. 634.
'Rukn ad-llawlat Ibn Buwaih, 407 i.alk, 43 n.
RusBfa, 46 11, 1 9 9 . 1s-Sairnari, 646.
Iiusdfiya. 3 1 s n . is-Sairdfi, see as-SlrbG.
Itushd, 361. as-Saiyida Suliaina, 581.
ar-Huslanli, Abh Satd, $ 1 7 it. 460 'S-Saj, 500 o .
Rbydn, 2?t; rbn Abi 'S-Sdj, 498, 500.
Ibn HuzaiL, 649. as.Sakati, 555.
Ibn Ru~zIli,S%lih,610, 657. jakhr Ibn Amr, 383.
1s-Sakltra, 160 n .
' b n as-Sakkh, 671.
is-Sakkhi, xiii.
f b n Saklab, 52.
Saad al-Asltlra. 106. 1s-Saklabi, 253.
Saad Ibn Abi Walikhs, 570 n. jalah ad-Din, 609.
Saad al-Khair, 661 11. Salam al-Adawi, 5 5 2 .
Abn Saad al-Khudri, 579. IS-Salhma. 405.
Abri Saad, the vizir. 260 n. Abil Salama al-Khallhl, 467.
Ibn Abi Saad the Sbfi, 75. )mm. Salama, 587.
Saba as-Sulaihi, 544. s Saldmi. 6 5 5 11.
'as-SLbi, Abh lsbak, 31. SAlih Ibn Ahmnd Ibn IIanbal, 45.
Sirri lbrt al-llir karn, 51 1 n.
'as-Sari i ~ r - l i a f d557.
,
56s. 'Sari as.Sitknti, 555.
Sari 'I-(;liawilni, 25n.
Saria, 40.
Sarr rnarl ran (Sarnarra], 19.
'Ibn as Snrrlj al-llirghdddi, :3?:{.
Satih, 487.
5i1tlilra, 440.
Ibn Sawwilr, 602.
'Stlabhb. 4!H.
Shubba lbr~IkAl at-'l'amirni, 5??
'Shab'ib l b r ~YilzPtl al-lil~driji, ( ; l b .
Ibn Shabr, 4 2 9 .
lbn Shbtiiln, 323.
Ibn Shddbn, Ali, 413.
lbn ShAJArt al-Jawhari. ?fi3 r t .
Ibn Slladddd as-Sanhilji, 283 11
Shhdi Ibn M ~ r w d n ,?43.
Ibn Shidi, see Shlrlihh.
Abil 'S-Shaghb al-Absi, 486.
Shbh Zambn, 250.
l b n ShLh, 551.
a s - S h a h h i , 58 n.
'Shdhanshhh, al-Afdal, G l l .
'Shdhanshlh, Nilr ad-Dawlat, 6 15.
as-Shalidiyhji. 55 1 .
Ibn ShdhPn Abll fIafs Onrar, 3.24 n,
401 11.
l b r ~as-Shahna, 255.
'as-Shahrozbri, Baha ad-dtn, 540,
54 1.
'as-Shaibdni, 85.
The Shailth, 4 1 R 11.
as-Shaima, 608.
as-Shaizari al-Murtada, 398.
as-Shaizari I b r ~Nima, 656.
lbn Shaklka, 330.

' I b n 'S-Shakhna, 931 11, 3&G.
Ibn Shikir, xiii.
Shakla, 17.
Ibn Shakla, 18.
' I b n as-Shalmaghani, 436.
Shams-ad-Da~lat,A btI Thhir, 445 I
'Shams-ad-Dawlat TQriin Shhh, 28
Sharns al-lihilhfat, 3".
' I b n Shams al-lihilafat, 348.
Shams al-Mulhk Ismail, 274.
Shams al-hfulDk DakBk, 274.
Ibn Sharar al-Kairawhni, 385.
"Sharaf ad-din al-Irbili, 490.
Sharaf Ehithn, 506.
as-Shhri, 551.
f b n as-Sharid. 382.
'Sharik an-NakhBi, the Ehdi, 571
622.
as-Shariti, Ab& Takbb, 501.
ShAtBn, 404.
'as-Shhtgni, 403.
as-Shatt, 75 n.
'Shdwar, 605, 626.
'as-Shibli, 51 1.
Sbibl ad-Dawlat KdMr, 285.
Shihih ad-dtn, Asaad, 463.
Shihlb ad-din, Mahmbd, 574.
Shihhb ad-dln al-Ghazzi, xiv.
' I b n Shikla, Ibrahtm, 17.
Ibn Shikla, Omar, 330.
'as-Shti, 465.
'Shikk al-Khhin, 487.
.as-Shirhzi, bbQ Ishak, 9.
'ShlrkOh, 944, 609, 626.
'Ibn ShirkOh, 627.
AbzZ 'S-Shts, 510.
Shoaib Ibn Harb al-Madaini, 578 r
Shdba Ibn al-Hajjhj, 572, 493 11.
Shubail Ibn Orwa, 519 a.
I b n Shuburma, 539 n
'Shuhda bint al-Ibari. 6 2 5 .
dbzl Shujl, Muht ad-din, 659.
Jbn Shr~khi'I-Bajali, 485.
Ibn Shulir, the vizir. 13, 1Yfi n.
Shukrdn al-Ahbid, 292.
Shunizi, 339, 5 % .
'Shuraih, the KAdi, G1 9
as-Sburilti Muhammad lbn Ahmad
52.
Shushtar, 603.
Sibawif
as-Stda,
F.
as-Sidilli, 158.
Sifffn, 54 1.
'as-Silnfi, 86.
Simhk. 98 n.
Simnan, 594 n.
as-Simnbni. Abti Jaafar, 594 11.
as-simnhni, al-Hasan, the Shfi, 605
Ibn Stna, 440
l b n Sinhn, 539 n.
as.Sindi Ibn Shah+, 315 n.
SiobPja, see Sanha~a.
as-Sini al-Balansiyi, 661 U.
'Sinjar lbn Malakshhh 6 0 0 .
*as-SinjPri, BahB ad-d!~, 19G-
Sdhib Sinjar, 512.
INDEX.
'as-Sinji, 419.
'as-Sirsii, 377.
as Sirafi -4bD Said, 4 56.
'as-Slrhfi al-KAdi, 377.
Ibn as-Stdfi, 253, 4 5 5 .
Sitt as-Sham, 285, 627.
Ibn SiwZlr, 61 l .
Siwhsh, 699 n.
Sofybn Ibn W oan ia al-MuhalInb
432.
'Sofybn Ibn Oyaina. 5i8.
'Sofyln ath-Thauri, 576.
8ofyBn a1 l i a l b ~ ,617.
I b n Sofyd~lal-Okli, 569.
Sohairn ar-Hishi, 149 n.
Jokmhn lbn Ortuk, 160, 172
'as-Solhki, 606.
iomaidt, 504.
as SoyOti, a v ~ i i .
as-Subki, Taj ad-din, xxviii.
rts-Sublii, Taki ad-din, xxir.
'Sukaina, 58 1.
Ibn Sukkara al-Hhshimi, 403 n
as-Sukhari, 532.
SDI-Tikin. 93.
'Ibn Sill, 1 4 .
as Sulaihi, Sab%Ibn Ahmad, 541
as-Sulaihi, Ali l b r ~hfuhammad, 36 I
'Sulaim Ibn Yasar, 586.
'Sulaim ar-KBzi 584.
'Sulairnlrl Ibn al-Ashhth, 589.
3ulaimBn Ibu Bbd aldabbbr, 246
julaimhn Lbn Ali '1 Abbgsi, 257 r
434.
qulaimhn Ibn Habib al-hluhallab
495, 595.
Sulaiman Ibn Jaafar al-H8shimr
605.
3ulairnBn Ibn Kathlr a1 lihuzii. 654
'Sulaimhn Ibn Muhammad al-Bagh
dbdi, 591.
Sulairndn Ibn Rabia al-BAhili, 619,
Sulairndn Ibn Wahb. 596.
Sulaimsn a1 RBji, 593.
;dlaim&n a1-Bajali, 168.
lba Sulait, 6 4 2 n.
as-Shli, Ibrahtm, 92.
S-SOli, Abd Allah, '23, 94.
Ihn Sura, 176.
[bn Suraij, 56.
S-Shri, 577.
urrak. 64 1
8uaaida, 144 n .
bn as-Sunaintza, 19s.
bunbolhn, 568 n.
lunh8ja, 36 n.
unhdji, 9 4 9 , 550 n.
ak Sunkor al-Bursolii, 227.
ak Sunkor al-HBjib. 995.
as-Sumairmi, 463.
'at-Tabari AbO 'G'raijib, 614.
"at-Tabari Ibn al-PSss, 48.
Taberesian, 43.
Ibn Tabbtabii, I b t I 'I-Hasan. 1 I:,,
Ibr~~TabAtabB.466 'I-Kbsim, r r i
Nahr Tiibik, 575.
at Tibisi, 106, 107.
at-Talf. 569 n
Taghlib, 4U6.
'at-Taghlibi, Abh 'I-Jlutd, 514.
TBhart, 550.
lahh. 52
'at-Tahhwi, 51.
'Tbhir Ibn al-Husaio al-hhozhi, 659.
Ibn'Abi Tahir. Ihr l i d r i b , 291.
lbn d b i Tbhir, the viz~r,94 rr
[bn Abi Tahir al-Azdt, 15.'.
d bO TAhir al-Kirmiti. 4%.
Abil TBhir Shams ad-Dawlat, 44s 11.
rai Ibn Shinar, 609.
'at-Tai, 354
1bn Abi 't Tai, 94s n
11-Taidlisi, 493.
r a i d , 336 n .
'at-Tai hni, Abh ChAlib, 278.
%T4aJ-din al-hindi, 103, 516
ldki addin Ornar, 615.
'Takiya bint Ghaith, 276.
at-Talli, 657.
it-Talakhni, '216
f b n TAllb al-lisri, 178.
rall as-Sultdn, ?Y6 n.
Pall Tauba, 406 n.
Ibn at-Thmagh&, 549.
'AbG 't-Tamahbn al-liain~.4U.
Tanlim lbri at-lloizz 1bn BBdio,
?XI.
Tamlm Ibn al-Dloizz Ibn al-Men-
shr. 2-79.
ibB-Tanlrnam at-Tai, 66, 34s.
ranDkh, 94, 97.
it-Tanhlihi, Abii 'I-Kbim, 95.
~t-Tanelihi,I b h &luhammad, 9;
rartfa, the ditineress, 488.
"arilja, 342, 608.
'arsus, 49.
t-Tawhldi. Abh 'l-HaiyAn, S n..
T l a Os, 647.
bn TbwOs, 643.
ThAbit Ibn Kurra, 988.
'I'hAbit Ibn SinAn, 489.
fhdlab, the grammarian, 83.
ri, 60.
halt al-FOl, 648.
AM Thana MahmBd, 656.
T k @ n al-Misri, 49
Tlianri, 578.
'Ab* '$%aural-Kalbi, 6.
Ibn Thaur al-Asadi, 353.
Ibn Thanhba, 413.
Thasip, 64 1.
*Wibtad Dawlat al-Anbjri, b-';
'atTinalsi, 3%. 398.
*H-Toghrai. 4~~
Tightiktn, d b a IllansDr 5: i.

'Toghtihtn, Saif al-Isllm, 655.
'l'okharusthn, 256.
at-Torlbsi, 10.
Toster, 137, 603.
al-Tostori. Sahl, 590.
Tripolis, 142.
at-Tugush, 275.
;it-Tujibi, 370.
Fbn Thlhn, Ahmad, 153.
Ban4 Thma, 146.
lbn TQmort, 283.
Tfirhn. 287.
' ~ h r i bShhh, Shams ad-Dawlat.,284.
a t-Turkomlni, Shams ad-din, xiv.
Tfis, 80.
at-Thsi, 80. '
Tustur, 137, 603.
'at-Tustari, Sahl, 590, 60'2.
at-Tutha, 556.
-Tutush, 273.
"rbzhn, 392, 39d.
Uwais al-Karani, 507 n.
Vdentia, 37
al-Waddilh, 100 n.
Wldi 'd-Daum, 3 3 3 .
Wadi 'l-GbizlAn, 628.
Wadi 'l-Kura, 336 n, 372 D.
Wafa Ibn Aiyas, 565.
Abil 'l WaQ al-JalQdi, 191 ,
Whhht, 611.
Wabb Ibn Satd, 597.
fbn WahbQn, 108, n.
Waki Ibn al-Jarrbh, 374 11.
'Ibn Waki at-Tinnlsi, 39G.
al-Wakshi Abh 'l-Walld, 230.
Wala, 88.
WAliba Ibn al-Hub%b, 395 n
WAiiba Ibn al-Harith, 564.
'AbeZ 'I-Waltd al-Blji, 593.
'al-Wanni al-Faradi, 421.
Waraklln, 268.
al-Warr%kIbn an-Nadtm, 31, 630.
Wlsil Ibn Haiybn, 553.
'Zbn Waslla, 6 18.
Whsit. 360.
INDEX.
I '%aid Ibn nl-llirsnn al-Kindi, 546.
X.
Xucat, 37.
Yahya Ibn Abd Allah, thc Alilp, 308 'nz-Zaiybl, 478
Yi~ftyillbn Aktllarn, 65.
Yahya, the Uarmckide, 307.
al-Yaghishni, ,510.
'01-Yahmadi, 497.
Yakhb lbn I)Awbd, 257 11.
Ibn Abi Yokbh an-Nadlrn, ill-Wilr %:~liiatl-din 111-Mr~ndiri,88 11.
rhk, 33, 630.
A b t ~Yala al-Mausili, 112 n.
IOn Yamar, G67 n.
Zti 'I-Yarnlnain, 654.
al-Yamani, Omdra, 61 0.
al-Yilmhni Muhammad lbn Isa Zi~wtli~
146 11.
Abh 'I-Yasar, 576 11.
Yasir, 312.
"al-Yazdi, 647.
Yuztd Ibn Harfln, 374 n.
Yaztd lbn BAlim, 529.
Yaztd Ibn ill-Muhallah, 23.
Yazld Ibn Omar Ibn IIubaira, 5'3~. Xihrikiln Ibn Uadr, 209 n .
AbQ Yaztd, 219, 22 l .
al-Yazcldi, 266.
Yhnus Ibn Hnblb, 528.
YDsuf Ibn Omar, nlh-Thakali, 4 8 6 'Zir~lti,Irnhd iltl-dln, 53!).
I YQsl~f,the eunuch, 275.
YQsuf dl-Jawhari, 409.
Z.
Zhd ar-Rakh, 587 11.
az-ZAfarAni, AbQ Ali, 373
az-Zhfariini, Abb 'l-KSsim, 2 17 n.
.Zhfir al-Haddad, 668.
'Zdfir Ibn sl-Khsim, 668.
Zhfir Ibn nl-Mansur, 609.
lbn Zhfir, Ali, 669.
az-Zhlir al-Obaidi, 222.
Zihir as-Shahilmi, 192 n.
Zilhir ad-din al-Ardebtli, xv.
'Zahtr ad-dln Ab4 Ishak, 15.
'az-Zhhiri, Abll Sulaiman Dhwtld
501.
Zuhr:\, 30 11
Ibn ZilhrA tho S h f ~ 7, 5 .
%;lit1l l ) r ~Arnr, 5 8 I .
Zi~idI I ~ I Ii ~ l - I i l ~ i ~ t ~26A1b ,11
%;lit1 Ihn 'l'hhbit, 372 n.
'Abrl Zilid al-Ar~shri,:170.
Xhidn Ihrr I(udAnla, 580 n.
'Ibn Z;~itIfinill-~indalusi, 125
'Ibn Xilidfill Al)h Bokr, 125.
%nin atl-d111nl-lrb:li, 330
'Xninah, daughter of as-Shari, !,!,I.
aj-%ninitbi, (jb1 11.
1bn ilz-%iliyi\t,G!).
'as-ZnjjAj, es.
Abit Xirltnriya l b n al-Mubarilk, 5;(;.
A1)tI Zalilcbr, 317
Ibn nz Zi~kkAk,1 R .
.ZAliln Ibn Arnr, (;U?.
irz-%;lrnakhsh;lri, 5 57.
Zamzitrn (%rrrizcr~l),I46 11.
'Zund Ihn ill-Jzlun, 534.
l b r ~az-Znrrhd ud-l)nilarni, 367.
Catc, 6(iO.
'Zihti Jbn Abd Allith al-ljakkilr, 54:).
%i;ld 11111Ahd t~r-llahmhn,131.
%idd Ihrt Abllt, 358, 384 rr, 821,66;1.
Ziatl nl-Aajam, (;.;I n.
Ibn Ziad Ohi~itlAllilh, (i3R.
X~AtlaIbn Ziad, 336.
ZiAtlat Allah al-Aghlabi, 46r;.
Ab11 'z-Zihrikh~r, 354.
Abrl 'X-ZirrAd, 580 n.
IDn Xinbb, 364 11.
Zir~lci11111hlt~lrdfid,54 l .
Ibn Xinlti, Nbr id-dln, 275, 609.
'Zlri lhrr Marrid, 550.
'Zobeida, wifc of ar-llashld, 307,
532.
'Zofar Ihn nl-lludnil al-JIanafi, 533.
nz-%oxnni, Mtlharnmad, 290.
Zubltidu, wife of ar-Kashld, 307,
532.
Zubaido, daughter of Nizdm 01-
Mulk, 506.
'az-Xubnir lbn llakkhr, 5:t l .
'nz.Znbniri AbR Ahd Allah. 575.
'Zuhair al-Muhalli~bi, 5 $ 2
nz-Zujbji, 617 n .
Ibn Zhlhk al-Misri. 388.
Zulzul, 18.
az-Zumaili, 370.
Ibn Zurbi. 493 rl.
 INDEX.

PART 11.-NOTES.

Dubait. xxxv. ~ k h d d i t c s 399

,
1)ubb (desert lizard), 86. lmdms, the six, 493.
Durrda, 455. Imprecation, used to denote appro-
AdL 3-b, 53. &>, 395. bation, 471.
Inqeest into the character of a i t -
Ahddth &\3.s\ 539 nesses, 539.
Eloquence, Arabic, 235. Interior and Exterior, sciences of,
Ahkdm
r L\,
Alms, 260,409.
6. Emir of the Arabs, 174.
Enallage of persons, 299.
366,
Isndd, nii.
Executioner's carpet, 73. Ispeh<al&r, 9%.
Aloes-wood, 73. Eye, evil, 108.
Alphabet, Arabic, 4 6 . Izdr, xxs~i,4 , 35.
Eyes, languishing, 9 8 .
Ansdrs, 137,218 n.
Amin, 2 6 3 . Farrdsh. 275. Jurisconsults, the year of the, 263
Bss, wild, 657 n. Fire of hospitality, 100. Jurisconsults, &seven, 564.
Assemblies, 73. al-larh wa '2-TddZ1, 417.
A~dbek,330. al-J&ml 'LAtik, 649.

liadarites, 574.
Bbdi, his g e a t responsibility, 135.
Ghlllia, 259. The sixth K d f . 657.
Grievances, court of, 73, ~hfbrites,3 9 i .
c
+
",. 461. Kdid al-Euumdd, 253.
Kardfa, 53.
Batinites, 1'28. Kasgda, rxxiv.
Bismillah, 4 , 347 Kdtib, xrii, 46.
Blkclr ; the colour of the Abbasides: HdRs, xxii, 57. Khalifs, the well-directed, 496.
31 5. ~ d r dyed,
, 47, 125. Khazanat al-Bunild, 388.
Black thief, 146. Hdjib, 526. Ehotba, 174.
Blood, price of, 649. Kid 534.
Books, composed, 573. ~dljL,190.
Boots of Hunain, 531. Hamadhn, the people of it stl~ p i d , Kibla, 37.:
Burial, Moslim, 114,119. 102. Koran, xvu, is eterna1,merits result
Hanifite doctors, meddled with ing from the reading oC it, 446.
worldly matters, 4 18. Kushairi's epistle, 422.
Chancery office, 33. Hashimites, 971.
Cheeks, softness of, ?S, 196.'
Cbristianiq, Arab tribes which pro- f:22iti3ikad L.'\J a n d ,
dYvhL\i, 3-
fersed, 97.
Classics, 38. J---?y, 4n.
bp7 11.

Cloak, sfifi, 502. Hoods, green, 501.

College, tirst Dloslim, xxvii, 8- H,,s,, people of 34;.
College, for the study of Traditions, 29S.
89.- Ladanurn, 576.
Colocyntl~,568. "+,587. Land of the East, 43 t .
Liberality, its emblem is humidit]
Colours adopted by different dynas- 284.
ties, 641. Lightning, inspires jog, 464.
~ o m p a n i h s ,the twelve, 494 Liver, the seat of love, 116-
Correspondence, board of, 33.
1&\, 365.
Danek, 260.
Ddr al-Ilm, xxix, 337.
David, the son of Solomon, a worker Madrasa, xsvii.
in iron, 591. Madrastzt al-Xdb, 4 89.
M-, 228.
~awat%p>, 468. JP, 450- Mandgfthe Path, 259.
Debating societies, 56-
Deserted dwellings, 38. IbAdites, 921.
Dibs, 461. Iddat, 376.
Dictations (Am&IQ,29- Ignorance, time of, $3. Mwalia, xxxv, 42.
Dihkffn, 77. Ihrdm, 98- MqcaEa, 395.
Dnams, true, 46, 48 ; image of the Hikrdb, 37.
beloved seen in, 134. 138. ljdza, 455. &fi&r, 72.
Dual, usage of, by p e t s , 115- 1filds.
 ' / ' f i ( [ 7 [ ~ll(l-l'u~;r~lt,
!l!)?.

Mistress, the poel's, 42, !IF.

Roi S\ sxvi, 5 3 4
~ ~ ~ i ~ ~ xxxvi. ~ / - Ilt bi / ~ ~ ~ l
L-)'
Moles on the face, 2 7 3 . Itujna (a measure 01' ~ l f l ) ~ ~ dx yv i). t fii/asdn, &U,, :,I)?.
blank of the Koraish, 263. 529. .
y'd/?/((t, !,:{, 374
Mortars, 500. n u l l , 316. ?'cl,ru-i!/cl, tliig of, 6:'U
hlosque of a!-iizhar, 3 4 5 - l{;lven, its c r y liwhodes t h stri'nr;l-
~ ~ ~ l , z ~ ~ lba!,,
,c,,,
17fukhndram,209,475- lion of [rier~ds,9 6 . 'I'er:~,lic:orr~l)nrctl1.0 l i g \ ~ t . t r i ~ ~ g ,
.Vujtahid, xxiv, R, 201. Readings, 1he SCYCrl, Ic)?. '/'hagltc~r~tn,( I I ~ I 1~lI?, .
Muhtasib, 375. Registry Ol'iicc, 274. Tkikrrl, 102.
.Mwjd~cira,382. Resident irgcnt, 172 Tilrkc~,?S:{.
Munshi, 463. Rhythmical pros?, rvi. 'I'orrcnl, yc:nr o f thc, 30 L .
MusalLa, 116, 6 0 5 . Ribdt, 159. 'I'r~rtlitlon~, xvii.
Musnad, 182, 323. The Ridn, 20. 'l'rotlitionists, :I?:!,
Mustawfi (not Maslawfih 171. Trul'lltrs, 9 : 4 ! ~ .
Muwakkit, 20- v ' j , 4"
Muwallad, 209. f r r ~ tX-i-..i&\
l~ ,I L I I ! ~01. L I I ~ . ,
Muwashshaha, X X X ~ . 4:.
d?,-db
"".
'L\!,),
'I'nrkisir g~rnrlls,1 7 8 -
-gy, n saddle
!)!l-
418.
Myr~le,thehair is so colled by Peels, 9', 97 l , G 7 3 .
Saiygd, Sniylda, 583.
284.
Sayings, ancient, U, 374
Schools of Itasra and Kul'ii, xrii, X:{, 4 \?9' , .I . !'

Nabld, 316. 379.

Najd, 130. The science, 5 3 . ii+, an 0 .
Narrator of histories, 49.
Neophytes, 449.
Sciences of the ancicrlla, I,\$), ? B 1 .
Scorpion's sling, 487. fl
a)\
,ii>L.J\, (;:)l).
NewrOz, 3 4 0 . Sentences, 58.
.L;74.
, Shuntzi, 339, 556. [ J T ~ ~ - I ! P ,!14.
Shzcrtit, 53.
S i n d k , 98.
llnion A, 1 ;+.
u ~ l / l ( l ,953, 3ii!,.
{laths, expiation of false, 53. snfi doctrine, 42(i
Oaths, when required before justice, Suy&fiyn, college, Y 23 11.
263.
Offices of government, 272.
&P, 450. Visi~jl,sc:ir:nc'c of, Ho.
Vowpl sign^, :{li{.
Omaiyide khalil's. genealogy.
Orihodoxy, the ancient, 4 4 .
9 5
ecdl
J&f,
545.
Ozra, tribe of, 33 1. &, 175. W(tbf, h!).
Wnxlighl,, ?bO.
t'arliel;, social, 187. L+, 17Y. Wirtcr ol' t t ~ fnc"r,
: IOU.
We(.i'~r"~~n(l chrir~l.t!rsof Itit:
path ~h;?,$, 2bg- L?, 53>J. ?Hi?.
Il'izdrnf, 408.
People of the House, 3479
Perfumes, forbidden to pilgrims,
L)\,
175. \vcjrkfi urtwritt(:n, xxiii, 4 9 .
98.
Philological treatises, 57'2.
G,
73.
Yondnilos, 47!).
Postmaster, 355. ;jdd.g] >L, 367, ti00. '
Prayer, times of, 594.
era, "!'- Zlhirites, b O l .
%rrj,j(~jiyucollcgc, Z t(i .
Raba, 347. Zcpl~ir,460.
Rdfidi, 142. Tdbi, 4. Zirnmi, 461;.
Rationalists, t;, 534. Tahakdl, 48.

UNl) O F VOL. I