This verse is taken from a piece composed by Muti Ibn Iyas Ibn Yahya Ibn Ziad, and which is given in the Hamiha page TV).—The numerous deeds of Kutaiba Ibn Muslim occupy a place in History (17).—In our notice on al-Asmai (vol. II. p. 123), we have spoken of the word Bdhtli and given its derivation. The Arabs of the desert (who were members of the tribe of Bdhila) had an extreme repugnance to bearing this surname; this feeling was so general that a poet said:
It availeth a man nothing to be descended from Hashim if he bears within him a Bahilite soul.
And another poet has pronounced that:
If the words thou Bahilite! were addressed to a dog, the animal would howl from the ignominy of such an appellation.
It was observed to Abu Obaida that al-Asmai claimed
to be descended from Bahila, but he declared that could never have been
the case. On being asked the reason, he replied: "Persons belonging to
the tribe of Bahila disclaim all con"nexion with it; how then is it
possible that a man who did not belong to it "should come forward and
claim to belong to it?" I read in a collection of anecdotes that al-Ashath Ibn Kais al-Kindi (18)
said to the Prophet: "Are we all "equally subjected to the law of
talion?" and he made answer: " Yes; even if "you slayed a man of the
tribe of Bahila, I should slay you to avenge him." Kutaiba Ibn Muslim said to Hubaira IbnMasruh
(19): "What a man thou wouldst "be did thy maternal ancestors not
belong to the tribe of Salul (20)! Sup"pose that I change them for
others?" To this Hubaira replied: "May God "prosper the emir! change
them for whom thou wilt of all the Arabic tribes, "but spare me from
Bahila." It is related also that an Arab of the desert met a person on
the road and asked him who he was? The other replied that he belonged to
the tribe of Bahila. The Arab having expressed his commiseration for
such a misfortune, the man said: "I must inform thee, moreover, that I
am "not sprung from that race, but am one of their slaves." The Arab
immediately went over to him and kissed his hands and feet. "Why doest
thou so?" exclaimed the man. The other answered: "Almighty God, blessed
be his "name! would not inflict on thee such a misfortune in this life,
unless he "intended to remunerate thee with Paradise in the next." An
Arab was asked
if he would consent to be a Bahilite on the condition of entering into
Paradise, and he replied: "Yes, provided that the inhabitants of
Paradise are not in"formed of my being a Bahilite." They tell many
anecdotes of this kind. Husain Ibn Bakr al-Kilabi, the
genealogist, being asked why the tribes of Bahila and Ghani were held
in such depreciation by the Arabs, he replied: "They were once
"possessed of riches and honour, but what abased their reputation was,
that "being surpassed by their brethren of the tribes of Fazara and
Dubyan in a "rivalry of glorious deeds, their own merit appeared slight
in comparison (21;." This circumstance is stated by the vizir Abu
'1-Kasim al-Maghribi (vol. I. p. 450) in his Addb al-Khaivdss.—We have spoken of Kutaiba in the life of Abd Allah Ibn Muslim Ibn Kutaiba (vol. II. p. 22).
(1) The Kdmus, under the root writes this name Omdr; the Sahah, under the same word, has Amr.
(2) This proverb I have not been able to discover.—Al-Jauhari, the author of the Sahdh, says that the horse Harun was celebrated for his speed, and gives his pedigree after al-Asmai, who makes him descend from Auwaj (see vol. II. page 246.)
(3) This was in A.H. 93. At-Tabari calls the city of Khowarezm Medina tat-FIl (the city of the elephant.
(4) I read \yi in place of \'fi, although the manuscripts and the printed text give the latter reading.
(5) See Price's Retrospect, vol. I. page 486.
(6) There were ten thousand men of the tribe of Tamtm in Kutaiba's army. The Tamlmites remained in these provinces till al-Mamun was
proclaimed khalif; they then accompanied him to Baghdad, whence they
were sent into North Africa, where one of their chiefs founded, a few
years afterwards, the hereditary, but not independent dynasty of the
Aghlabites.
(7) See vol. I. page 658.
(8) The best historians place the death of Musab in the year 71. (9) One of my manuscripts has al-Ghal&li ^bWl,
(10) The Arabic has .JsU—JI .,~> _X*3 he sat down between the two tines (simnts).
(11) It is necessary to observe that the original
Arabic of the very obscure address which follows, has been miserably
altered by the copyists. I combined readings from different manuscripts
in order to form a text offering some appearance of meaning, but not, I
fear, with full success. The import of the discourse is rendered very
difficult of comprehension by the speaker's not only affecting to employ
the elliptic language and the idioms of the genuine Arabs of the
desert, but giving to these terms a mystic signification.
(12) For the meaning of the expression ^L\ys:-\ tjy>?j see Schulten's Haririi consessus,2nd part, p 183.
(13) Here the printed text, supported by the authority of all the manuscripts, has ;DU| I cannot give any meaning whatever to the passage unless I replace it by jy^3. The government and wealth which he here speaks of must mean spiritual gifts.
(14) I can by no means give this as a correct translation
of Abu Dahman's speech; the Arabic text may not be exempt from faults,
and, if it be exactly given as our author transcribed it. 1 must have
misunderstood at least one passage of it.
(15) See vol. I. page 208, note s .
16) See Freytag's Hamdsa, page P^f.
16) See Freytag's Hamdsa, page P^f.
(17) Literally: The relations of his doings are numerous. See his history in Price's Retrospect, vol. I.
(18) Al-Ashith lbn Kais, a powerful chieftain of the tribe of Kinda and one of the Companions of the Prophet, was the ancestor of Yakub al-Kindi, the celebrated philosopher.— See vol. I. page 355, note (22) ).
(19) Mnsruh '8 an error °' lDn Khallikin or of his copyists; the true reading is Mushamraj ^j^i^j,.—Hubaira lbn Mushamraj al-Kilabi (member of the tribe of KilOb,) was one of Kutaiba lbn Muslim's
generals, and highly distinguished for eloquence. In Price's Retrospect, vol. I. p.483, we find his name transcribed Uobairah the Kulaubite (read the Kildbite), and it occurs again repeatedly in the following pages. The volume of the Annals of at-Tabari, in the original Arabic, preserved in the Bib. du Roi [supplement, p. 248), writes his father's name Mushamraj, and this historian cites two pieces of verse, p. 259 and p. 260, in one of which it rhymes with manhaj and makhraj; from this we must conclude the final letter to be (^); and moreover, the measure of both verses requires us to read in each Mushamraj, as there written, for if Masruh be substituted, the verses cannot be scanned.
(20) This tribe was also greatly despised by the Arabs.— (See Kreytag's Mehlanii Proverbia, t II. p. 172 j
(21) I read 'ijj ; a manuscript which I have since consulted offering in place of Uji.
KARAKUSH.
The emir Karakush lbn Abd Allah al-Asadi (client of Asad ad-din), surnamed Baha ad-din {splendor of religion), was a slave to the sultan Salah ad-din, or, by another account, to that prince's uncle, Asad ad-din Shirkiih (vol. I. p. 626" , from whom he received his liberty. We have already made mention of him in the life of the jurisconsult Isa al-Hakkari (vol. II. page 430).
When Salah addin established his dominion in Egypt, he confided to
Karakush the government of the palace, and, at a later period, he
nominated him his lieutenant in Egypt, and entrusted him with the entire
direction of public affairs. Karakush was a man of lofty spirit and
singularly favoured by fortune in all his proceedings. It 601 was he who
built the wall which encloses Old and INew Cairo with the intervening
grounds; he built also the Cala tal-Jabal (1) and the bridges at Jiza on
the road leading to the Pyramids. All those monuments are proofs of an
exalted mind. He erected a ribdt, or convent, at al-Maks, and the Khan Sabil (2) outside Old Cairo, at (the gate called) Bab al-Futuh. He founded besides a great number of wakfs (vol. I. p. 49), producing revenues to an unknown amount.
In all his intentions and proceedings he was actuated by the purest
motives. When the sultan Salah ad-din took Acre from the Franks (A. H.
583, A. D. 1187-8), he gave (the command of) the
city to Karakush, who, when the enemy returned and obtained possession
of it a second time, remained a prisoner in their hands. It is stated
that he paid ten thousand dinars for his ransom. Our shaikh, the kddi Baha ad-din Ibn Shaddad
says, in his History of Salah addin 3), that Karakush was delivered
from captivity on Tuesday, the 11th of Shawwal, A. H. 588 (October, A.
D. 1192), and came to pay his respects to the sultan; this prince
manifested an extreme joy on again seeing a person to whom he, Islamism,
and the Moslims were so deeply indebted. Karakush then asked and
obtained permission to go and procure money for his ransom, which was
stated to be thirty thousand (4) pieces (of gold). A
number of extraordinary decisions are attributed to Karakush, as having
been pronounced by him during his administration; nay, things have gone
so far that al-Asaad Ibn Mammati (vol. I. p. 192) composed a small volume under the title of Kitdb al-FdsMsh fi Ahkdm Kardkush (stupidity, or the decisions of Kardkush), and
containing things which it is highly improbable that such a man as
Karakush could have said or done. They are manifestly mere inventions,
for Salah ad-din would not have confided to him the affairs of the
empire unless he had an entire confidence in his knowledge and abilities
(5). Karakush died at Cairo, on the 1st of Rajab, A. H. 597 (April, A.
D. 1201), and was interred at the foot of Mount Mukattam, in the funeral
chapel which bears his name. This monument is situated near the well
and pond which he had caused to be made at the border of the trench (which surrounds the city) —Kardkush is the Turkish name of the bird called okdb (eagle) in Arabic (6); it is employed also as a proper name of a man.
(1) The Cald tal-Jabal, or Castle of the Mountain, forms the citadel of Cairo. See the description of it in M. de Sacy's Abdallatif, page 208, note (4), and, in the tirst line of the same note, read in place of
(2) The Kh&n Sabtl was a caravanserai built by Karakash for the gratuitous reception of travellers, liabnd is-Sabil too 'l-musa/irin.—(Al-Makrtzi's Khitat.)
(3) See Schulten's Saladinii vita et res gestce, p. 267.
(4) Ibn Shaddad, loco laudato, has eighty thousand. (5) See M. de Sacy's Abdallatif, page 206.
(6) Not precisely; kard kitsh signifies literally, niger avis.
Vol. II. 66
KATARI IBN AL-FUJAA.
Abu Naama Katari Ibn al-Fujaa Jouna Ibn Mazin Ibn Yazid Ibn Zaid Manat Ibn Hantbar Ibn Kinana Ibn Hurfus Ibn Mazin Ibn Malik Ibn Amr Ibn Tamim Ibn Murr al-Mazini al-Khariji (the Kharijite) commenced his revolt when Musab Ibn az-Zubair was governing Irak as lieutenant of his brother Abd Allah Ibn azZubair.
Musab was appointed to this post, A. H. 66 (A. D. 685-6;, and Katari
continued, during twenty years, to wage war and to be saluted by the
title of khalif. Al-Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf
ath-Thakafi sent army after army against him, but they were always
defeated. It is related that, in one of his battles, he rode forth from
the ranks on a lean horse, with a cudgel in his hand, and challenged the
opposite party to send out a man to fight him. One of them sallied
forth to encounter him, but immediately fled when Katari removed the
covering off his face to let him see who he was. "Where art thou going?"
exclaimed Katari. "No man need be ashamed of flying from thee,"
answered his adversary. Abu '1-Abbas al-Mubarrad has a long section in his Kdmil on the history and wars of these Kharijites. Katari held his career without interruption till Sofyan Ibn al-Abrad al-Kalbi marched against him, defeated and slew him in the year 78 (A.D. 697-8). He fell by the hand of Sauda Ibn Abhar
ad-Darimi. Some say that he lost his life in Tabarestan, A. H. 79, and
others state that he thed in consequence of his having broken his thigh
by his horse falling with him. His head was cut off and sent to al-Hajjaj. I
must here notice a statement of historians which I am unable to
explain; according to them, Katari waged Avar and bore the title of
khalif for the space of twenty years, yet this is contradicted by the
dates of his first revolt and of his death. This is a point 002 to which
I call the attention of the reader. Katari left no posterity. His
father was called Fujda because he had gone to Yemen and returned to his family quite unexpectedly (fujda). They then gave him this surname, and it stuck to him ever after. It is Katari to whom al-Hariri alludes in the following passage of his sixth Makdma: "And they entrusted him with the management of this "business, as the Kharijites entrusted (theirs) to Abu Naama (1)." He was a man of courage and daring, noted for his frequent wars and numerous battles,
iiis intrepidity and contempt of death. On this last subject he composed the following lines:
I said to myself when I
wavered at the sight of the warriors: "Shame upon thee I "fear not 1
wert thou to ask the delay of a single day above the term prescribed to
thy "existence, thy request would not be heard; be firm then in the
career of death! be firm! "to obtain an everlasting life is a thing
impossible. The robe of existence is not so "precious that the heartless
dastard should fold it up (to preserve it). The
path of "death must be trod by every mortal; the inhabitants of the
earth must all listen to "his summons. He who dies not young must live
in suffering and fall into decrepi"tude, whilst fate delivers him over
to solitary misery. Life is of no use to a man "when he has become an
object of contempt (2)."
These verses are inserted in the first section of the Hamdsa (3);
they would give courage to the greatest coward God ever created, and I
know of nothing on the subject to be compared with them; they could only
have proceeded from a haughty spirit, ardently aspiring after glory.
Katari is counted as one of the Arabian pulpit-orators the most
celebrated for precision of thought and elegance of style.—It is related
that al-Hajjaj said to the brother of
Katari: "I shall "surely put thee to death."—"Why so?" replied the
other.— "On account "of thy brother's revolt;" answered al-Hajjaj.—
"But I have a letter from the "Commander of the faithful, ordering thee
not to punish me for the fault of "my brother."—" Produce it."—"I have
with me something stronger than "that."—"What is it?"—" The book of
Almighty God, wherein he says: And "no burdened soul shall bear the burden of another (4)." Al-Hajjaj was struck with his answer, and gave him his liberty. Hosain Ibn Hafsa as-Saadi said of Katari in one of his poems:
"Thou art he whose loss we cannot support; though useless thy life, thy death was"a calamity."
I have marked the
pronunciation of the names of his ancestors; it is therefore unnecessary
for me to lengthen this article by indicating the orthography of each,
letter by letter; and the persons who copy this work may rely on the
genuineness of what we have there marked (5); I have also put the vowel
points to all the words in the verses.—It is said by some that Katari was not his name, but a surname, and that it is derived from the name of a town situated between al-Bahrain and Oman; Abu Naama, being a native of it, received this appellation (6). Some say also that it is the kasaba of Oman; the word kasaba means the capital of a province (lit. the throne of a region).
(1) See M. de Sacy's Hariri, page OV.
(2) Literally, in French: Qui est compM pour une marchandise de rebut.
(3) See Ham&ta, page f*.
(4) Koran, sural 6, verse 164.
(8) The copyists have all neglected to insert the vowel and orthographical signs.
(6) The author of the Mardsid notices a village called Katar, on the sea-shore in the province of al-Bahrain, between OmSn and al-OkAir.
KAFUR AL-IKHSHIDI.
Abu '1-Misk (the father of musk) Kafur (camphor) (1) was the son of Abd Allah and bore the surname of al-Ikhshidi (enfranchised slave of al-Ikhschid). We ha\e already mentioned some circumstances respecting him in the life of Fatik (vol.11, p. 453).
He had been possessed as a slave by a native of Old Cairo, but, in the
year 312 (A. D. 924-5), he was sold in that city by his master Mahmud Ibn Wahb Ibn Abbas to Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Toghj al-Ikhshid,a person whose life we intend to give. He then rose into such favour with al-Ikhschid that 605 the latter appointed him atdbek (guardian) (2) of his two sons. When al-Ikhschid died (A. H. 334, A. D. 946), his eldest son, Abu '1-Kasim Anujur (the word anujAr signiGes mahmM (praised in
Arabic), obtained the government of Egypt and Syria from the khalif
ar-Radi (3), who issued a written instrument to that effect. Kafur
continued to administer the state with great ability till the death of
Anujur. This event took place on Saturday, the 8th—some say the
seventh—of Zu '1-Kaada, A.H. 349 (December, A.D. 960); his body was
transported to Jerusalem and interred near that of his father; he was
born at Damascus on Thursday, the 9th of Zu '1-Hijja, A. H. 319
(December, A.D. 931). His hrother Abu 'l-Hasan Ali succeeded to the
throne; in this prince's reign the Greeks took Aleppo, Missisa, Tarsus,
and all that territory, whilst Kafur continued to act as his faithful
guardian and the deputy of his power. Ali died on
the 11th of Muharram, A. H. 355 (January, A. D. 966); he was born at Old
Cairo on Tuesday, the 25th of Safar, A. H. 326 (January, A. D. 938).
From this epoch, Kafur assumed the uncontrolled government of the
empire, and, when advised to proclaim the son of Abu '1-Hasan Ali, he
answered that so young a boy was not fit to reign. He then rode out
escorted by spearmen, and exhibited the pelisses of investiture which
had been sent to him from (the court of the khalif in) Irak; he published also a document conferring on him an honorary title (as governor of Egypt), and
at length, on Tuesday, the 10th of Safar, A. H. 355 (February, A. D.
966), he rode out wearing these pelisses. Abu '1-Fadl Jaafar Ibn al-Furat (vol. I. page 319)
served him in the capacity of vizir. Kafur loved the society of
virtuous men, and treated them with marked honour. He was a negro of a
deep black colour, with a smooth shining skin. It has been delivered
down that al-Ikhschid purchased him for eighteen pieces of gold (dinars). In the life of the shartf Ibn Tabataba (vol. II. p. 46) will be found an anecdote respecting him. When Abu 't-Taiyib al-Mutanabbi (vol. I. p. 102) departed in anger from the court of Saif ad-Dawlat Ibn Hamdan (vol. II. p. 334),
he proceeded to Egypt, and celebrated the praises of Kafur in some
kasidas of great beauty. In the month of the latter Jumada, A. H. 346
(Sept. A. D. 957) he recited to him one of these pieces wherein he says,
when describing the horses (which bore him to Egypt ):
They went to KAfur and neglected all other men ; for he who seeks the sea, despiseth the rivulets. They bore us to the [dark) pupil of the eye of the age, and left behind them the white [of the eye) and its corners (4).
Here the poet has attained the acme of perfection.—
In the month of Shawwal, 347 (Dec-Jan. A.D. 958-9), he recited to Kafur
the poem rhyming in b, wherein he says:
Whether I wish or not to praise Kafur, his noble
qualities dictate to me and I must write. When a man leaves his family
behind and visits Kafur, he again finds himself at home.
The same poem contains the following passage:
On that day of rejoicing every man meets his friend with smiles, but I weep and lament [the almence of) those I love. I sigh for my family and long to meet them, but
how far is that distant ankd (5) removed from my ardent wishes. If a choice must bo made between (thee) Abu
'1-Misk and them, thou art sweeter to my heart than they are. The
beneficent man is ever beloved, and the land which produces the plant of
noble generosity is ever delightful.
604 It is related that al-Mutanabbi said:
"When I went into Kafur's presence "with the intention of reciting
verses to him, he always laughed on seeing me "and smiled in my face,
but when I repeated to him these lines:
"Since friendship has
become a mere deception, I am repaid for my smiles with "smiles; and
when I choose a friend, my mind misgives me, for 1 know he is but a "man
1
"He never did so again, as
long as I remained with him. I was astonished "at this proof of his
sagacity and intelligence." In the month of Shawwal, A. H. 349
fNov.-Dec. A. D. 960), al-Mutanabbi recited verses in his presence for the last time, and never went to see him again. The kmtda which
he repeated to him on this occasion rhymes in 6, and contains some
passages in which the poet betrays his dissatisfaction. We extract from
it the following passage:
*
When near to thee, my eyes are rejoiced, but that nearness is combined with the remoteness (of those I love). Does
it profit me to approach thy person, if that which I desire be refused
me? I visit thee seldom, that I may not be burdensome; and I keep silent
to spare thee the trouble of a reply. What I want I declare not; thou
art gifted with sagacity, and my silence is a sufficient explanation,
nay, a plain request. But yet I am not one of those who require to be
bribed into love, and whose attachment must be strengthened by rewards. I
came to confound my calumniators, and my confidence in thy friendship
was fully justified; I came to prove to persons who were hostile to me
and went to (praise the princes of the) East,
that I, who visited the West, was successful when they failed Opinions
differ, except respecting thee; thou art without a rival, and a lion
where other kings are mere wolves. Nay, in this comparison, if the word wolves (w>uj) were not pointed and the reader took it for flies (w^-i),
he would make no mistake. Praise bestowed on other
men is falsehood mixed with truth, but that which thou receivest is
truth pure from alloy When I obtain proofs of thy friendship, I contemn
wealth and look on all other men as dust. Were it not for thee, I had
been always a traveller, every day changing town and companions. For me
thou art the world; to that world I am attached; and, were I to leave
thee, I should be obliged to return to thee again.
After reciting this poem, al-Mutanabbi remained
a year in Egypt without going to see Kafiir, against whom he was
greatly incensed; he merely rode out in his train to avoid incurring his
displeasure. Having then made secret preparations
for his departure, and every thing being arranged, he recited, on the
ninth of Zu Hijja, A. H. 350 (January, A. D. 962), the kasida rhyming in (/ wherein he satirized Kafur. The next day he left Cairo. This poem ends with the following lines:
Who could teach noble sentiments to this castrated
negro ?—his white masters? or his ancestors who were hunted like wild
beasts? or his ear, bleeding under the hands of the coppersmith (6)? or
the price set upon him, when none would give two oboles to purchase him?
But so it is 1 the best of the whites are incapable of honourable
deeds; how then could any be expected from black eunuchs?
He composed many more
satires against Kafur, all of which are inserted in the collection of
his poems. On leaving him he went to Adud ad-Dawlat, at Shiraz, as we
have already related. In a compilation of anecdotes, I read the
following relation: "I was at the court of Kafur al-Ikhshidi, when a man "came in and prayed for him, saying: 'May God prolong the days of our mas"' ter!' but the word days he
pronounced as if it were in the genitive case. "Some of the company
began to converse about this mistake and blamed the 605 "man for making
it, when a person of eminent rank, who happened to be "present, repeated
extempore these lines:
'Wonder not if the man who
invokes God's blessing on our master commit a fault 'of grammar, or
that, struck with confusion, he falter and stammer. For the awe 'which
the prince's aspect inspires is so great, that it renders the man of
education 'embarrassed in his speech. If it be a fault to put days in
the genitive instead of the 'accusative, it was not committed through
heedlessness; he thus offered a good omen 'to our master; and the belief
in omens has been transmitted to us from (Muhammad) 'the chief of the human race. He meant to pray that the prince's days should be 'days of enjoyment, not days of affliction, and that his life should be free from trou'ble (7).'"
The author of these lines was the philologer and historian Abu Ishak Ibrahim lbn Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Ibn Hashish al-Jizi, one of Kafur's kdtibs, and the person who prayed for Kafur and made the blunder was Abu '1-Fadl Ibn Sahbas.—The
anecdotes told of Kafur are very numerous : having obtained possession
of the sovereign authority after a series of occurrences too long to
relate, he continued to hold it till his death. This event took place at
Old Cairo, on Tuesday, the 20th of the first Jumada, A. H. 356 (May, A.
D. 967;; but some say that he died on a Wednesday, and others place his
death in the year 355 or 357; this last
is the date given by al-Kudai in his work, the Khital, and al-Farghani (8)
indicates the same date in his History. Kafur was interred in the
Lesser Kara fa, and his tomb is a well-known object in that cemetery.
His reign did not continue long, as may be perceived, since it commenced
on the death of Ali Ibn al-Ikhschid. His dominion extended not only over Egypt, but Syria also, and public prayers were offered up for him (as sovereign) from the pulpits of Mekka, Hijaz, Egypt, and the cities of Syria, including Damascus, Aleppo, Antioch, Tarsus, and al-Missisa. According to al-Farghani, in his History, he died at the age of sixty-five years. Kafur ruled with justness and mildness; on
his death, contestations arose respecting the choice of a successor,
but it was at length unanimously decided that the son of Abu '1-Hasan
Ali Ibn al-Ikhshid should be raised to
the throne. Kafur reigned two years, two months, and twenty-three days.
On Friday, the 23rd of the first Jumada, A. H. 357 (April, A. D. 968),
public prayers were offered up for Abu i-Fawaris Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibn al-Ikhshid. The history of these princes will be given in the life of their grandfather, Muhammad al-Ikhshid.
(1) This name was given him by antiphrasis; camphor is white, and he was a negro.
(2) See vol.1, page 330.
(3) This is an anachronism, ar-Radi died five years before. We must read al-Mutl, with Abu 'l-Mahasin, w ho says, in his Nujum, that al-Ikhshtd's nomination of Anujur as his successor was confirmed by the khalif alMutl.
(4) The commentators say,
on this verse, that the poet, alluding to Kaffir's dark complexion and
to his merit, represents him as the most noble object upon earth, the
pupil of the eye of the age; and that, for the worthlessness of other
men, he designates them as the white and the corners of the eye, in
which parts the sense of sight does not exist.
(5) This is an allusion to an old Arabian proverb: More difficult to find than the Anted. The Anka was an enormous bird which carried off two children, on which Hanzala Ibn SafwAn, a prophet of that time, invoked God against it, and it never appeared after. The commentator on al-Mutanabbi, who furnishes this information, says that the word w^** in the expression ^-jj** may
be made to agree with -'Jut as an adjective agrees with a substantive,
but I have generally found it governed by it in the genitive as one noun
governs another. —See M. de Sacy's commentary on al-Bartri, page Mr. Lane speaks of the AnM in his translation of the Thousand and one Nights; vol. III. page 91.
(6) The coppersmith put a brass ring in his ear to show that he was a slave,
(7) The word is not only the technical term designating the genitive case, but it signifies also wealth, ante. The word which, as a technical term, denotes the accusative case, signifies also pain, affliction.
(8) See vol. I. pages 155 and 200.
KUTHAIYIR THE LOVER OF AZZA.
Abu Sakhr Kuthaiyir Ibn Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Abi Juma al-Aswad Ibn Aamir Ibn Owaimir al-Khuzai was one of the most celebrated Arabian lovers. Ibn alKalbi gives his genealogy as follows, in the Jamhara tan-Nisab: "Kuthaiyir Ibn "Abd ar-Rahman Ibn al-Aswad Ibn Owaimir Ibn Makhlad Ibn Said Ibn Kha"thama Ibn Saad Ibn Malih Ibn Amr Ibn Rabia Ibn Haritha Ibn Amr Ibn "Muzaikiya Ibn Aamir Ma as-Sama Ibn Haritha Ibn Amr '1-Kais Ibn Thaa"laba Ibn Mazin Ibn al-Azd." The remainder of this genealogy is well known (1). "The Rabia Ibn Haritha
mentioned in this list is the same "person as Luhai, and it was Amr,
the son of this Luhai whom the blessed "Prophet saw dragging his own
entrails in hell. Amr Ibn Luhai was the "first who introduced the custom of making camels sdibas and bahiras (2),
"who altered the religion of Abraham, and called on the Arabs to
worship "idols. Luhai and Afsa, the sons of Haritha, were the persons
denominated "Khuzda, and, from them, the tribe bearing this name drew its descent. "They were called Khuzaa (segment) because they separated from the tribe606 "of Azd, when it left Yemen at the epoch of the Torrent of the Dike (Sail "al-Aram) (3); they then settled at Mekka, and the rest of their people pro"ceeded to Medina, Syria, and Oman." A little before this, Ibn al-Kalbi says: "Al-Ashyam, the same person as Abu Juma, was the son of Khalid Ibn Obaid "Ibn Mubashshir Ibn Rabah,
and father of the mother of Kuthaiyir, the lover "of Azza; for this
reason,Kuthaiyir was called the grandson of Abu Juma. His "mistress,
Azza, was the daughter of Jamil Ibn Hafs Ibn Aiyas Ibn Abd al"Ozza Ibn Hajib Ibn Afar Ibn Malik Ibn Damra Ibn Bakr Ibn Abd Manaf ''Ibn Kinana Ibn Khuzaima Ibn Mudrika Ibn al-Yas Ibn Modar Ibn Nizar Ibn "Maadd Ibn Adnan." It is stated, however, by as-Samani, that Jamil was the son of Wakkas Ibn Hafs Ibn Aiyas.—The
anecdotes told of Kuthaiyir's affection for Azza and of his interviews
with her are numerous and well known. The greater part of his poems were
composed in her praise. Although a Rdfidi (4) and ardently devoted to the cause of the family of Abu Talib, he used to go to the court of the (Omaiyide khalif) Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan,and recite poems in Vol. u. 67
his presence: Ibn Kutaiba relates, in his Tabakdt as-Shuard (vol. II. paqe 22), that. Kuthaiyir went one day into the presence of Abd al-Malik, and this prince said to him: "I conjure thee by the rights of Ali Abi Ibn Talib
to inform me if "thou ever sawest a truer lover than thyself." To this
Kuthaiyir replied: "Commander of the faithful! conjure me by your own
rights, and I shall answer "you."—"Well," said the prince, "I conjure
thee by my own rights; wilt "thou not tell it to me now? "—" Certainly,"
said Kuthaiyir; "I will. As I "was travelling in a certain desert, I
beheld a man who had just pitched his "toils to catch game, and I said
to him: 'Why art thou sitting here?' And "he replied: 'I and my people
are dying with hunger, and I have pitched "' these toils that I may
catch something which may sustain our lives till to"' morrow.'—' Tell
me;' said I, * if I remain with thee and if thou takest any "' game,
wilt thou give me a share?' He answered that he would, and whilst "we
were waiting, behold, a gazelle got into the net. We both rushed
for"ward, but he outran me, and having disentangled the animal, he let
it go. "'What,' said I, 'could have induced thee to do so?' He replied:
'On "' seeing her so like (my beloved) Laila (in the eyes}, I was touched with pity.' '' He then repeated these verses:
'Timid animal, so like to
Laila, fear not! to-day, I am thy friend. When 1 deli'vered it from the
toils, I exclaimed: 'As long as I live, thou shalt go free for Laila's
'sake.'"
When Abd al-Malik resolved on marching out to combat Musab Ibn az-Zubair, his wife Aatika, the daughter of Yazid Ibn Moawia,
implored him not to go forth in person, but to send some one in his
place. The more she pressed him, the more resolutely he refused, and
when she found her entreaties unavailing, she burst into tears. On this,
all the female slaves and attendants who surrounded her uttered loud
lamentations, and Abd al-Malik exclaimed: "Damn that fellow, Ibn Abi Juma!" meaning Kuthaiyir, "one would think '' that he had witnessed this scene when he said:
"When he resolved on going
forth to fight, the noble lady bedecked with necklaces "of pearls could
not turn him from his purpose. She forbade him, and finding that "her
prohibitions withheld him not, she burst into tears, on which her
attendants "wept in sympathy for her affliction."
He then insisted on her
ceasing to weep, and she obeyed; after which he sei out as he had
intended. It is said that Azza went one day to see Omm alBanin, who was the daughter of Abd al-Aziz, the sister of Omar Ibn Abd alAziz, and the wife of al-Walid Ibn Abd al-Malik. This princess asked her what was the nature of the debt to which Kuthaiyir alluded in the verse where he says:
Every other debtor pays, and his creditor is satisfied; but Azza's creditor is put off, and remains afflicted.
To this question Azza replied that she promised him a kiss, but refused to keep her word. Omm al-Banin then said: "Fulfil thy promise, and let the "sin of the deed be upon me."—Kuthaiyir had a slave-boy who kept a grocer's shop (for his master) at
Medina, and the Arab women sometimes bought from him on credit. He once
sold perfumes to Azza, whom he did not then know, and he remained some
days without being paid. She at length came back to the 607 shop with
some other women, and he asked her for payment. "0," said she, "1 am
quite willing; it shall be done very, very soon." On this he repeated
these words:
Every other debtor pays, and his creditor is satisfied; but Azza's creditor is put off, and remains afflicted.
On this, the other women
asked him if he knew the name of his debtor, and, as he answered that he
did not, they exclaimed: "By Allah! it is Azza her"self." On hearing
these words, he said to them : "I take you to witness that "I declare
her liberated from what she may owe me." He then went to his master,
and, having told him what had passed, Kuthaiyir replied: "I take God "to
witness that thou art free for His sake; and I give thee the shop with
"all its contents." The coincidence was certainly singular.—Kuthaiyir
composed a great number of pieces on Azza's deferring the fulfilment of
her promise; in one of these, he says:
Charming Azza I you defer the payment of thy debt;
and, surely, the worst of maidens are those who defer. To this she
replied: "Silly man! how can I pay a creditor "from whom I never
received money."
In another piece he says:
She pretends that I am changed since our last
separation; but who, O Azza! does not undergo a change? My body is
changed, but my soul remains as thou hast known it, and nothing (in me) has ever betrayed the secret of our love.
When Yazid Ibn al-Muhallab Ibn Abi
Sufra was slain with a number of his family at Akr Babel, as we shall
relate in his life, the news of this event reached Kuthaiyir, who had
been always treated by them with great kindness j on which he shed a
flood of tears, and exclaimed: "What awful calamities! the sons of "Harb
destroyed religion on the day of at-Taff (5), and the sons of Marwan
destroyed generosity on the day of al-Akr (6) !" — Abu '1-Faradj al-Ispahani "vol. II. p. 249), the author of the Kitdb al-Aghdni, relates as follows: "Ku"thaiyir was coming out from Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan's,
dressed in a gown "of flowered silk, when an old woman, who was
carrying home some fire in a "lump of dried horse-dung, met him in the
street. He expressed his disgust so "openly that she asked him his name.
He replied: 'Kuthaiyir, the lover of "Azza.' —' Are not you,' said she,
'the person who said:
"A blooming meadow, on a
fertile soil, whose shrubs (7) overflow with sap, spreads "not a sweeter
perfume than the sleeves of Azza at the midnight hour, when she places
"green aloes-wood on her fire."
Kuthaiyir replied that he was, and she said: "Were
green aloes-wood placed "on this lump of dung, it would give out a sweet
perfume also. Why did you "not. say, like Amro '1-Kais:
"Did you not observe that,
every night on which I went to visit her, 1 found her "smell of
perfumes, and yet she uses them not (8)?"
He immediately gave her
the gown he wore, and implored her to conceal his blunder.—At the time
of my literary studies, I heard a teacher of the belleslettres say that
the latter part of the second verse composed by Kuthaiyir referred to
the meadow and served to
complete the description of it; it was therefore as if the poet had
said, that this meadow, whose soil is so fertile, and whose shrubs
overflow with sap, smells not sweeter [when green aloes-wood is burned on its fire] (9), than do the sleeves of Azza. If the verse be explained
in this manner, the objection falls to the ground;
but it appears very improbable that such could have been the poet's
meaning. — Kuthaiyir was noted for his thoughtlessness. It is related
that he went one day into the presence of Yazid Ibn Abd al-Malik and said: "Commander of the faithful! what did as-Sham"makh (10) mean by these words:
ctf6 J-^V J^y?- ^j-5^ H?y) ^j^^" 608
The khalif answered: "And what harm can it do me if
I know not what that "boorish Arab of the desert meant to say? turn
this fool out (11)!" When Abd al-Aziz Ibn Marwan, the father of (the khalif) Omar Ibn Abd al-Aziz, was governor of Egypt, he had an attack of sickness, and his family wished to amuse him and make him laugh. Kuthaiyir (therefore) went
to visit him, and pronounced these words as he stood at his bed-side:
"Were it not that your "pleasure would be incomplete in case that I got
sick in order to restore you "to health, I should implore the Lord God
to pass your sickness over to me. "I shall, however, pray him to grant
thee health and me a life of enjoyment "under thy protection." This made
Abd al-Aziz laugh, and Kuthaiyir repeated these verses:
We visit the sick-bed of our prince, the prince of
all mankind; 0 that his sufferings could be transferred to his visitors 1
If his health could be redeemed at any price. I should sacrifice for it
the most precious of my possessions.
One of Kuthaiyir's most admired kattdat is that rhyming in t, wherein he says:
In my wild passion for
Azza, after our mutual affection had cooled, I resembled the man who at
noon waits for the coming of a cloud, but, when he lies down to sleep
under its shade, it disappears.
Kuthaiyir was in Egypt and Azza in Medina, when he
conceived an anxious wish to see her. He therefore set out to visit her,
and, as she was then travelling towards Egypt, they met on the road. A
conversation, too long to relate, passed between them, and she then left
him to pursue her journey. Some time after, Kuthaiyir returned to Egypt
and went to see her, but found the people coming home from her funeral.
He immediately proceeded to the grave, and, making his camel kneel
down, he remained there for some time, and then departed, reciting a
piece of verse in which were the following lines:
I exclaimed, when my
emaciated camel stopped at her tomb, and my eyes overflowed with tears:
"Receive the salutation of meeting! when thou wert alive, I used to weep
"on leaving thee, but now, alasl thou art farther from me than ever!"
The stories told of him and Azza are very numerous. He died A. H. 105 (A. D. 723-4). Muhammad Ibn Saad al-Wakidi relates that Khalid Ibn al-Kasim al-Baiadi said: "Kuthaiyir and Ikrima, the mawla of Ibn Abbas, died on the "same day, in the year 105. I was present at the funeral prayer; it was said lf over
them both together, in the afternoon, and the people declared that they
• ■ had lost the ablest jurisconsult and the best poet in the world.
They died at "Medina." We have already noticed, in the life of Ikrima (page 207 of this volume), the
conflicting statements relative to the date of the latter's death; to
that article we therefore the reader.—The meaning of the word Khuzdi has been already explained (in this article). — Kuthaiyir is the diminutive form of the adjective kathir (great); he received this name on account of his extremely diminutive size. He was so short that, when he went to visit Abd al-Aziz Ibn Marwan, that prince used to banter him and say: u Stoop your head, lest you "hurt it against the ceiling." He was also called Rabb ad-Dubdb (the king of the flies), for
the same reason. One of his contemporaries said: "I saw him ''making
the circuits round the Kaaba; and if any one tell you that his stature
"exceeded three spans, that person is a liar."
(1) See Eichhorn's Monumenta, tab. XIII.
(2) See Pococke's Specimen Hist. Ar. pp. 97, 319 et seq.
(3) See M. de Sacy's Mimoire sur divert dvtnements de Vhistoire det Arabes avant Mahomet in the Memoires de iArade'mie des Inscriptions et Selles-Lettres, torn. 47. (4) See vol. I. p. 142.
(8) Az-Zamakhshari says in his geographical dictionary that the word at-Taff is employed to designate those high lands of Arabia which overlook the cultivated country of Irak. The author of the Mar&sid applies this denomination to the open country of Kufa, on the road leading to the desert, and he adds that al-Uusain was
slain there. It is therefore the name of the territory in which Kerbela
is situated; and Kuthaiyir most certainly alludes here to the murder of
al-Husain, the grandson of Muhammad, and
of his followers by the troops of the Omaiyide khalif Yaiid, the
grandson of Abu Sofyan, and great-grandson of Sakhr.
[6) The verb r-sr^ signifies to expose to the sun, to wither, to injure. By the iom of Marwdn he means the Omaiyide princes.
7) The original has: whose jathjath and whose Azar exude sap. Those plants are unknown to me.
(8) See my Diwdn d'Amro 'l-Kais, page 37.
[9) I insert here a passage absolutely necessary for the sense, although omitted in all my MSS.
(tO) See vol. II. page 453.
(11) The verse is certainly difficult, and it is
not surprising that the khalif was unable to understand it Its meaning
appears to me to be this: "When the cheeks of large-eyed maidens in the
desert are pillowed at "morning and at evening under the shade of the
arfn-tree...."
KUKUBURI.
Abu Said Kukuburi Ibn Abi '1-Hasan Ali Ibn Baktikin Ibn Muhammad, surnamed al-Malik al-Muazzam (the exalted prince) Muzaffar ad-din (the triumphant in religion), and lord of Arbela, was the son of Zain ad-din (ornament of religion) Ali,
surnamed Kutchek, who was blessed by Providence with a great number of
other children. Zain ad-din, being low in stature, received the
appellation of Kutchek, a Persian word, which means little (1).
He was by race a Turcoman. Having obtained possession of Arbela and
many other cities in 609 the same territory, he distributed them among
the sons of the atdbek Kutb
addin Maudud (2), the son of Zinki and lord of Mosul, reserving for
himself Arbela only. The history of these transactions would lead us too
far. He lived to an advanced age, some say upwards of a hundred years,
and he lost his sight towards the close of his life. (Zain ad-din having distributed his estates,) remained
ever afterwards at Arbela, and he died there on the eve of Sunday, the
11th of Zu '1-Kaada, A.H. 563 (August, A.D. 1168). Ibn Sbaddad
says, in his life of Salah ad-din (3), that his death occurred in the
month of Zu '1-Hijja of that year. He was interred in the sepulchral
chapel which bears his name and is situated within the city-walls, near
the Old Mosque. His great courage and strength rendered him particularly
conspicuous. A number of colleges and other remarkable establishments
for pious purposes were founded and endowed by him at Mosul. My master
Izz ad-din Ibn al-Athir the hdfiz (see page 288 of this volume) says,
in his lesser historical work, composed by him at the desire of the Ban
a Atabek, sovereigns of Mosul: "Zain ad-din departed from Mosul "for
Arbela in the year 563, and delivered all the cities and fortresses
which "he possessed into the hands of the atdbek Kutb ad-din. Amongst them were
"Sinjar, Harran, Kalaat Akr al-Humaidiya (4),
all the castles in the. country "belonging to the tribe of Hakkar,
Tikrit, Shahrozur, etc., reserving onlv "Arbela for himself. He had made
the pilgrimage, A.H. 555 (A.D. 1160), in "company with Asad ad-din
Shirkuh (vol. I. p. 626)."—On the death of Zain ad-din, his son Muzaffar ad-din (KtikubUri), who was then fourteen years of age, succeeded to the throne, but remained under the tuition of his atdbek Mujahid ad-din Kaimaz (vol. II. page 510), who, having conceived a strong prejudice against him, wrote to the August Divan (or court of Baghdad), representing
him as unfit to govern, and requesting to know what should be done. He
then imprisoned him and placed his younger brother, Zain ad-din Abu
'1-Muzaffar Yusuf, on the throne. Some time afterwards, Muzaffar ad-din
left the country and proceeded to Baghdad, whence, after some fruitless
endeavours to obtain justice, he removed to Mosul. Saif ad-din Ghazi Ibn Maudud (vol. II. p. 441),
the sovereign of that city, then took him into his service and granted
him the town of Harran as a fief. Having removed to Harran, he continued
to make it his place of residence till he at length entered into the
service of the sultan Salah ad-din, by whom he was treated with great
favour. In the year 578 (A. D. 1182-3), this prince, who had conceived a
high esteem for his dependent, took the city of Edessa from Ibn az-Zafarani and bestowed it on Muzaffar ad-din in addition to Harran; he then indemnified Ibn az-Zafarani with the gift of ar-Rakka, which city he took from Ibn Hassan.
It would be too long to relate the particulars of this transaction (5).
Some lime afterwards,he bestowed on him the city of Sumaisat, and
married him to his sister, as-Sitt Rabia Khatun (her ladyship the princess Rabia), the daughter of Aiyub (vol. I. p. 243). Before that, she had been the wife of Saad ad-din Masud Ibn Muin ad-din, lord of the Castle of Muin ad-din in the province of al-Ghaur (6),
who died in the year 581 (A. D. 1185-6). Muzaffar ad-din fought in a
great number of Salah ad-din's battles and displayed the highest bravery
and resolution, standing firm in conflicts from which all others
receded, as is testified by I mad ad-din al-Ispahani,Baha addin Ibn Shaddad,
and other historians. These facts are so well known, that it is
needless to insist on the subject, and his conduct at the battle of
Hittin (7) would alone suffice for his reputation. In this battle he and
the prince of Hamat, Taki ad-din (vol. II. p.
391), held their ground, although the whole army was routed and driven
back; the soldiers then heard that these two chiefs still
continued to resist the enemy, on which they returned to the charge, and
the victory was decided in favour of the Moslims. When the sultan Salah
ad-din was besieging Acre, which city had fallen into the hands of the
Franks, the princes of the East came to his assistance, and placed
themselves under his orders, and amongst the number was the lord of
Arbela, Zain ad-din Yusuf, the brother of Muzaffar ad-din. Soon after
his arrival he fell sick, and, on the 28th of Ra- 610 madan, A. H. 586
(October, A. D. 1190), he expired at Nasira (Nazareth), a
village near Acre, in which, according to one of several conflicting
statements, the blessed Messiah was born. On the death of Zain ad-din
Yusuf, his brother Muzaffar ad-din requested to obtain Arbela in
exchange for Harran, Edessa, and Sumaisat; the sultan having acceded to
his wish, and granted him Shahrozur besides, he set out, and made his
entry into Arbela in the month of Zu '1-Hijja, A. H. 586 (January, A. D.
1191). This is the summary of his history, but, as to the proceedings
which mark his character, we may say that, in works of charity, he
performed what no single man was ever known to have done before. He
delighted in nothing so much as alms-giving, and every day he caused
immense sums to be distributed, in different parts of the city, to
crowds of needy persons assembled to receive them. His first
distribution was made at daybreak, and, when he dismounted from his
horse (on returning from the mosques),
he found great numbers waiting at the palace-door: these he ordered to
be brought in, and gave to each a dress adapted to the season, according
as it was winter or summer, and with the dress he bestowed on him two
or three pieces of gold, sometimes more, sometimes less. He built four
asylums for the blind, and persons suffering from chronic distempers;
these were always full, and every day he provided the inmates with all
things requisite for their wants: every Monday and Thursday evening he
visited (hese establishments and entered into all the chambers,
bestowing on (8) the occupants a small sum for extraordinary expenses,
and inquiring into the state of their health. In this manner he visited
each chamber successively, conversing affably with the inmates and
jesting with them so as to soothe their hearts. He built a house for the
reception of widows, another for orphan children, and a third for
foundlings; in this last a number of nurses were always in waiting,
ready to suckle whatever children might be brought in. Every day. the
occupants of these establishments were provided by his directions with
all Vol. Ii. 68
they required; he went very frequently to see them and ask them about
their health, accompanying his inquiry with a donation over and above
that which was regularly allotted to them. When he visited the hospital,
he stopped at the bedside of each patient successively, and inquired
how he had passed the night and how he felt. He founded also a house of
hospitality, where all jurisconsults, dervishes, and other persons who
came to the city might go to lodge. Indeed, none were refused
admittance; a regular meal was furnished to them morning and evening,
and when any of them resolved on continuing his journey, he received a
sum proportioned to his wants. A college was built by him also and
provided with professors for the Shafite and Hanifite students; he
frequently went to visit them, dine with them, and pass the night in
hearing religious music, to which he was so sensible that, when excited
by its influence, he used to pull off part of his clothes: the next
morning he always sent to the community some marks of his beneficence.
The only pleasure in which he indulged was that of listening to music,
for he never took the forbidden thing (tetne), neither would he suffer
it to be brought into the city. He built two convents for sufis;
these were always filled with fixed residents and visitors; on the days
of solemn festival, the number of persons assembled there was
astonishingly great, and these two establishments were endowed wilh
estates (wakf) sufficient to
defray the expenses of providing for all these strangers, who, when they
intended to depart, were even obliged to accept a donation. He often
went to see the sufis and have
concerts performed in his presence. Twice every year he dispatched a
number of trusty agents to the cities on the sea-coast, and furnished
them with large sums for the redemption of such Moslims as might be in
the hands of the infidels (the crusaders). When
any of the persons thus delivered went to see him, they received from
him a sum of money, and his agents had directions to bestow a present on
the others. Every year, he provided a 611 saMl (9) for the pilgrims, furnished wilh every thing which they might require on the way; he dispatched it off with a lrusty
servant, bearing five or six thousand pieces of gold destined to be
distributed among the needy and the persons employed in the mosques of
the two holy cities (Mekka and Medina). At
Mekka he left numerous monuments of his piety, and these are still
existing. He was the first person who brought water by an aqueduct to
Mount Arafat for the use of the pilgrims on the night during which they
station there; this work cost him a
large sum. He constructed a number of fountains at the same mountain,
because the pilgrims used to suffer greatly for want of water, and he
erected there also a funeral chapel for himself. The pomp with which he
celebrated the birthday of the Prophet surpassed all description; I
shall, however, give a feeble outline of the ceremony. The people of the
neighbouring provinces, having heard what veneration he testified for
the Prophet, hastened to Arbela every year, and an immense multitude of
jurisconsults, sufis, preachers,
Koranreaders, and poets arrived there, at the same time, from Baghdad,
Mosul, Mesopotamia, Sinjar, Nasibin, Persian Irak, and all the other
places in the vicinity. This influx of strangers continued without
interruption from the month of Muharram till the commencement of the
first Rabi. Already, by his orders, upwards of twenty wooden pavilions,
divided into four or five stories, were erected; one being appropriated
to himself and each of the others to an emir or some person holding a
high rank in the state. On the first day of the month of Safar, these
pavilions were decorated in a most splendid manner; a choir of singers, a
band of musicians, and a troop of exhibitors of Chinese shadows were
established in each; not a story being left without a company of these
artists. During the whole period all business remained suspended, and
the sole occupation of the people was to amuse themselves and walk from
one band to another. These pavilions were erected on a line from the
gate of the citadel to the entrance of the convent near the hippodrome,
and every day, after the asr prayer (10), Muzaffar ad-din went forth and
stopped at each pavilion successively; listening to the music, and
amusing himself with looking at the Chinese shadows or whatever else
might be going on. He then passed the night in the convent, listening to
religious music, and the next morning, after the prayer, he rode out to
hunt, and returned to the citadel before the hour of noon. He continued
in the same practice, every day, till the eve of the anniversary, and
this he celebrated, one year on the eighth day of the month, and the
next on the twelfth, in consequence of the different opinions held
respecting the true date. Two days previously to the anniversary, he
sent an immense flock of camels, oxen, and sheep to the hippodrome,
accompanied with all his drummers, singers, and musicians. These animals
were there sacrificed as victims, and a number of caldrons being set
up, the flesh was cooked in various manners. On the eve of the
anniversary, after the maghrib (or sunset) prayer, he listened to a concert
in the citadel, and then went forth (11), preceded by a great number of
persons bearing wax-lights. Two, or four of these lights, I am not sure
of the exact number, were such as are employed in the grand ceremonies,
being fastened, each of them, on the back of a mule, with a man seated
behind to support it. He advanced in this manner to the convent, and the
next day, at an early hour, a quantity of pelisses were brought out of
that establishent (12) by the sii/is, each of them bearing a bundle of
them in each hand, and advancing one after another. A great number of
these dresses, I do not know exactly how many, having been brought out,
he went down to the convent, where the persons of high distinction, the
chiefs, and a great number of other eminent individuals had already
assembled. A chair was then placed for the preacher, and Muzaffar ad-din
went up into a wooden tower, erected to receive him. This edifice had
windows overlooking the place where the assembly and the preacher were,
and another set of windows opened on the hippodrome which was extremely
wide. There, the soldiery were collected in a body, and the prince
passed them in review, now looking at them, and then at the public and
the preacher. When 012 the soldiers had all defiled successively, a
repast was brought into the hippodrome for the poor; a public repast,
consisting of an immense quantity of meat and bread. Another repast was
prepared in the convent for the persons who had attended the preaching.
Whilst the troops were defiling and the preachers exhorting, he sent for
all the chiefs and eminent men, and for the doctors, preachers,
Koran-readers, and poets, who had come from the neighbouring countries
to witness the solemnity; each of these persons was separately
introduced and clothed in a pelisse, after which he returned to his
place. When all had been presented, the repast was brought in, and a
portion of it was sent to the house of such of the company as were
judged worthy of that honour. Towards the hour of the asr-prayer, or
somewhat later, the repast ended, and the prince passed that night in
the convent, listening to religious concerts till day-break. Such was
his custom every year, and I have given merely an abridged account of
the ceremony, because a full description of it would lead me too far.
When the solemnity was ended, all prepared for their departure, and
every one of them received from him a donation. We have already
mentioned (vol. II. p. 385) that, when the hdfiz Ibn Dihya arrived at Arbela and remarked the zeal displayed by Muzaffar ad-din in celebrating this anniversary,
he composed for him the work entitled at-Tanwtr, etc.,
and that the prince made him a present of one thousand pieces of gold;
this was exclusive of the abundant gifts which he received for his
subsistence during his stay. When Muzaffar ad-din (may God be merciful
to him !) tasted of any dish and found it good, he never reserved it for
himself, but told one of the persons in waiting to carry it to such and
such a shaikh, or to such and
such a woman, and these were always persons whom he had noted for their
piety. He did the same with the sweetmeats, fruit, and every other
article set before him. Noble qualities, profound humility, sincerity of
belief, and soundness of moral principle were all combined in Muzaffar
ad-din; he showed a strong partiality to the followers of the Sunnite doctrine
and orthodox believers; the only class of learned men which he treated
with special favour was that of the jurisconsults and Traditionists;
none of the others ever obtained any thing from him unless some
particular considerations induced him to show them attention; the poets
were also in the same case; he had but little esteem for them, and never
made them any presents unless they came to recite him poems composed in
his honour; then indeed he granted them a recompense, not wishing to
frustrate the hopes of any person who counted on his generosity. He
cultivated with pleasure the study of history, and his acquirements in
that branch of knowledge were evident from his conversation. In his
encounters and battles, numerous as they were, he was invariably
victorious; the accounts which have been transmitted down of his battles
not indicating a single defeat. Were I to enumerate all his virtues and
noble deeds, I should be obliged to give a great extension to this
work, but they are so well known that it is needless to enter into any
details. If the reader remark that this article has been extended to too
great a length, he will excuse me when I tell him that our family were
under such obligations to Muzaffar addin, that, to repay even a part of
them, our utmost efforts would be vain; gratitude to a benefactor is,
however, a binding precept. May God reward him for us with the best of
retributions! inasmuch as the benefits and favours conferred by him on
us, and by his forefathers on ours, were boundless, and men's affections
are gained by acts of kindness. Having now proclaimed his virtues, I
shall only add that all which I have stated has my own ocular testimony
to support it, and that I have throughout avoided even the slightest
exaggeration; nay, some of his acts I have passed over in silence,
through my desire of avoiding prolixity. He was born in the castle of
Mosul, on Tuesday the 27th of Muharram, A.H. 549 (April, A.D. 1154), and
he died at the hour of noon on Wednesday, the 18th of Ramadan, A.H. 630
(June, A.D.1233) in his house at al-Balad. This
town formed the state of Shihab addin Karata, but, when MuzafTar ad-din
Kukuburi arrested him in the year 614 (A. D. 1217-8) and took it into
his own possession, he made it his occasional residence. His body was
transported to Arbela and buried in the citadel, but, in pursuance to
his dying injunctions, it was subsequently sent off to Mekka, where he
had erected a mausoleum at the foot of the mountain to receive it, as
has been already stated.—When the pilgrim-caravan set out for Hijaz in
the year 631, the body was sent with them, but it so happened that, on
arriving at Lina, they were obliged to return without effecting their
journey, and the 615 corpse was carried back and interred at Kufa, near
the Mash'had (or funeral chapel of AH). May
God in his mercy requite him well, and accept his good works, and
receive him into everlasting happiness! — His wife Rabia Khatun, the
daughter of Aiyub, died at Damascus in the month of Shaban, A. H. 643
(Dec.-Jan. A. D. 1245-6), and, to the best of my opinion, she had then
passed her eightieth year. She was interred in the college which she had
erected at the foot of Mount Kasiyun, and endowed for the Hanbalites.
The number of her male relatives, such as brothers and nephews, whom I
saw, and who were also princes, surpassed fifty — exclusive of those who
were not princes. To name them individually would extend this notice
too far, but I shall simply state, that her husband was prince of
Arbela; her daughter's sons, princes of Mosul; the son of one of her
brothers, prince of Khalat and that region; al-Ashraf, another
brother's son, prince of Mesopotamia; other nephews were princes of
Syria and Egypt, whilst Hijaz and Yemen were possessed by her brothers
and their sons. From this indication the whole number may be imagined.— Kukuburi is a Turkish name, and signifies blue wolf (13).— Baktikin is also a Turkish name. — Lina is
the name of a station on the road from Irak to Hijaz, but nearer to
Irak. In the year before mentioned, the caravan turned back on reaching
it, in consequence of the extreme suffering they underwent for want of
water (14).
(1) This word is written s^J^-jS" in Persian.
(2) The life of Maudftd will be found in this work.
(3) Schulten's Saladini vita et res getta, page 33.
(4) The kalaat, or castle, of Akr al-Humaidiya, was situated in the territory of Mosul.
(5) The following passage from the Two Gardens [see vol. II. page 190, note{ 6) ) may serve to elucidate these events: "The kdtib Imad ad-dtn says: The sultan (Saldh ad-din) then wrote ((o the princes of Meso"potamia), requiring
them to come and make alliance with him. All those who obeyed were
allowed to "preserve their estates, on the condition of serving in the
sultan's army and following him in his warfare "against the infidels.
Nftr ad-dtn Muhammad Ibn Kara Arslan, lord of Hisn Kaifa, sent in his submission with "an ambassador, and the sultan then departed from al-Btra and came to a halt under the walls of Edessa. "Fakhr ad-dtn Masud Ibn az-Zafarani
who was then in the city, made his submission, and it was bestowed on
"Muzaffar ad-dtn in addition to Harran. The sultan then proceeded to
Harran and from thence to ar"Rakka, which was then held by the emir Kutb
ad-dtn Inal Ibn Hassan, who also made his submission."— (MS. No. 707 A, fol. 167 verso.)
(0) See vol. 1. page 27S. Al-Ghaur is the name given to the valley of the Jordan.
(7) See M. Reinaud's Extraits d'auteurs arabes relatifs aux Croisades, page 194.
(8) The fifth form of the verb jJLi is here employed by Ibn Khallikan with the signification of to bring. A similar signification is given by Ibn Bat Ota to the eighth form. In the account of his voyage to Sudan, he says: An bM i \ i jjfciu \J^o(^"she brought us food."
(9) The word sabll (way) is often employed to signify a fountain for the use of wayfaring men [sahib as-sabll). It is here employed to signify a convoy of provisions
(10) See vol. I. page 894, note (if).
(11) Insert in the Arabic ten Jjj *>.
(12) The text varies here in the MSS. I take the
true reading to be 'jliij'j^l ^! Aula)! ^; "from "the citadel (and
carried) to the convent..."
(13) Guk in Turkish means sky-blue, and buri may perhaps mean wolf in some ancient dialect of that language.
(14) Ltna is placed by Berghauss on his map of Arabia in lat. 30° 5', long. 42° 01' E. from Paris.
AL-LAITH IBN SAAD.
Abu '1-Harilh al-Laith Ibn Saad Ibn Abd ar-Rahman, the great imdm of the people of Egypt in the sciences of jurisprudence and the Traditions, drew his origin from an Ispahan family, and was a mawla to Kais Ibn Rifaa, who himself was a mawla to Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Khalid Ibn Musafir alFahmi. The credibility and exactitude of al-Laith Ibn Said as a Tradi
tionist were of the highest order, nor was he less
distinguished for his noble character and liberality. "I had written
down," said he, "a great quantity of "the 'legal) information communicated) by Muhammad Ibn Shihab az-Zuhri (1) "(to his disciples), and
I then asked to obtain the use of the post-horses, so that "I might go
and see him at ar-Rusafa (2); but being then apprehensive that, "in
taking such [an easy mode of conveyance), I should not be acting in the sole "view of God's favour, I abandoned my project." As-Shafi said of him : "Al"Laith Ibn Saad is a more learned jurisconsult than Malik, only his disciples "do not exalt him sufficiently." (Some students were one day) reading, under the tuition of Ibn Wahb (vol. II. p. 15), the collection of legal questions which had been decided by al-Laith, when a person who was not a native of the place exclaimed, on hearing one of these questions read (with its solution): "Cleverly "done for al-Laith! one would think he had heard Malik, and then repeated "his words." On this, Ibn Wahb said to him: "Say rather that Malik heard "al-Laith answer, and then repeated his words; 1 swear by the only true God, "that we never saw a more learned jurisconsult than al-Laith!" This imdm was noted for his generosity and liberality; he enjoyed a yearly income of five thousand pieces of gold (dinars), and this sum he distributed in gifts and other ways. "I went to see al-Laith," said Mansur Ibn Ammar
(3), "and he gave "me one thousand dinars, saying: 'Let this help to
preserve the wisdom with "' which God has endowed thee.'" I saw, in a
certain compilation, that al-Laith held the principles of the Hanifite sect, and that he exercised the functions of kddi in
Old Cairo. I found stated, in the same work, that Malik having sent to
him a china cup filled with dates, he returned it filled with gold. He
used to have almond-cake made for his disciples, and in it he inserted
pieces of gold, so that he who eat most cake might get most money. In
the year 113 014 (A. D. 731-2), being then twenty years of age, he made
the pilgrimage., and heard the Traditions delivered by Nafi (4), the mawla of Ibn Omar.
He said that, according to what he had been told by his family, he was
born A. H. 92 (A. D. 710-1), but it has been positively ascertained that
the real date is A. H. 94, in the month of Shaaban. He died at Old
Cairo on Thursday (some say Friday), the 15th of Shaaban, A. H. 175
(December, A. D. 791), and was interred the next day in the Lesser
Karafa cemetery, where his tomb still continues to be frequented by
pious visitors. As-Samani places his birth in the month of
Shaaban, A. H. 124, and another writer, in A. H. 93; but our former
statement appears to be the most correct. One of his disciples related
as follows: "When "we had buried al-Laith Ibn Saad, we heard a voice say:
"Al-Laith is departed, and you possess him no longer! soon also shall learning de"part and be interred!
"On hearing these words we turned round, but could see no one."—It is said that he belonged to Kalkashanda, a village about three parasangs to the north of Cairo.—Fahmi means belonging to the tribe of Fahm, a branch of that descended from Kais (son of) Ghailan. It has produced many eminent individuals.
The life of az-Zuhri is given in this work.
(2) See vol. I. page 299, note (5).
(3) Abu 's-Sari Mansur Ibn Ammar Ibn Kathtr,
a native of Khorasan, or of Basra, as some say, was celebrated for his
wisdom, his piety, the elegance of his language, and his unction as a
preacher. Having gone to Irak, he delivered Traditions there, and
afterwards passed into Egypt, where he pronounced moral discourses and
exhortations. Al-Laith Ibn Saad, having
heard of his proceedings, sent for him, and asked him how he presumed to
hold discourses in the city without being authorised by the doctors of
the law. He replied that zeal for religion was his only motive, and
that, if al-Laith permitted him, he would make a discourse in his presence, promising that, if he then forbid him to preach, he should obey him. Al-Laith agreed
to the proposal, and having heard from him a sermon which brought tears
to his eyes, he made him a present of one thousand dinars, saying: "Go
forth and preach to the people." During his residence in Old Cairo, the
house and purse of al-Laith were at his disposal, and, on his departure for Baghdad, the sons of that imdm made him another present of one thousand dinars. He died, A.H. 225 (A.D. 839-40).— (Mirdt az-Zamdn, MS. No. 640, fol.118 IVujtim.)
(4) His life will be found in this work.
THE IMAM MALIK.
Abu Abd Allah Malik Ibn Anas Ibn Malik Ibn Abi Aamir Ibn Ann- Ibn alHarith Ibn Ghaiman Ibn Jathil Ibn Amr Ibn Zi Asbah al-Harith al-Asbahi, a native of Medina and the great imdmof that city (Imdm ddr il-Hijra\ was one of the most eminent among the imdms of Islamism. In his genealogy as here set forth, vol.. Ii. 69
some substitute Othmdn for Ghaimdn, and, in place of Jathil, (Muhammad) Ibn Saad (al-Wdkidi) writes Khuthail. Malik learned to read the Koran under the tuition of Nafi Ibn Abi Noaim; he heard Traditions delivered by (Ibn Shihdb) az-Zuhri and Nafi, the maivla of Ibn Omar (1); he taught Traditions on the authority of alAuzai (vol. II. p. 84) and Yahya Ibn Said (2), and he acquired his knowledge of the law from Rabia ar-Rai (vol. I. p. 517), with whom he acted as mufti, or
consulting lawyer, to the government. "There were very few men," said
Malik, "from whom I received lessons, who did not come to me before they
died, to "ask my opinion on some point of law." And Ibn Wahb (vol. II. p. 15) relates that he heard these words proclaimed by a public crier in Medina: "Let no "person act as mufti to the people except Malik Ibn Anas and Ibn Abi
Zib(3)." When Malik felt inclined to deliver Traditions, he made an
ablution, then seated himself in the middle of his mattress, and,
spreading out his beard, he assumed a grave and dignified deportment,
after which preparations he commenced. When asked his motives for so
doing, he replied: "I delight in testifying my "profound respect for the
sayings of the Apostle of God, and I never repeat "one unless I feel
myself in a state of perfect purity." He avoided delivering Traditions
when travelling, or standing, or when pressed for time: "for I like,"
said he, "to feel the meaning of the Apostle's words when I repeat them
to "others." He never went about on horseback in Medina, even when much
enfeebled and advanced in years : "No," he would say, "I shall never
ride in "the city wherein the corpse of God's Apostle lies interred."
As-Shafi relates as follows: Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan (4)
said to me : " Which of the two is the "more learned; our master or
yours ?" meaning Abu Hanifa and Malik. "Dost"thou wish," said I, "that I
should answer with impartiality?" He replied that he did, and I said:
"I then ask thee before God, which of the two is the "more learned in
the Koran; our master or yours?"—"Yours, to a certainty," said he. "I
again ask thee seriously," said I, "which of the two is the more
"learned in the Sunna; our master or yours ?" — " Yours, to a
certainty," he replied. "I shall again ask thee," said I, "which of the
two is the best ac"quainted with the sayings (sentences forming legal decisions) pronounced
by the "companions of God's Apostle; our master or yours."—"Why, yours,
to a "certainty," was the answer. "Then," said I, "there only remain
the analo"gical deductions (kids) (5); and if (hey be not drawn from the three sources we
"have just mentioned, from whence can they be drawn ?" - Al-Wakidi says:
"Malik used to go regularly to the mosque and attend the daily prayers,
and "the prayer of Friday, and the funerals, and visit the sick, and
fulfil all the "duties (of social life) and
take his seat in the mosque, with his disciples col"lected round him;
he then discontinued sitting in the mosque, but attended "the prayers,
after which he would return to his seat and teach; he ceased also
"accompanying funerals, but still continued to go and condole with the
family "of the deceased; but, at a later period, he gave up all those
customs, neither '' going to the mosque for daily prayers nor for the
prayer of Friday, nor making "any visits of condolence, nor fulfilling
any of the social duties; yet the people "bore this patiently, and he
continued, till his death, in the same practice. "He was sometimes
questioned on his motives for so doing, and he used to "reply: 'It is
not given to every man to speak out his own excuses.' " — Some persons
went secretly to Jaafar Ibn Sulaiman Ibn AH Ibn Abd Allah Ibn alAbbas, the uncle of Abu Jaafar al-Mansur, and
accused him of declaring that be did not consider the oath of
allegiance to the Abbasides as binding. Jaafar was so highly incensed on
hearing this, that he caused Malik to be brought before him, and having
ordered him to be stripped, he inflicted on him a severe flogging, and
caused his arm to be drawn out to such a degree that it was dislocated
at the shoulder; in fact, he treated him in a most scandalous manner.
Rut, from the time Malik received this flogging, he rose higher and
higher in public estimation, so that the punishment he underwent seemed
as if it had been an honour conferred upon him. In Ibn al-Jauzi's Shuzur al-Ok&d 6), under the year 147, we find the following passage: "In this year, Malik Ibn Anas received "seventy stripes of a whip, on account of some legal opinions which did not cor"respond with the wishes of the sultans {the persons invested with the civil power)." This
may probably refer to the same occurrence which we have just noticed.
Malik was born A. H. 95 (A.D. 713-4), three years after conception (7),
and he died in the month of the first Rabi, A. H. 179 (May-June, A. D.
795), aged eighty-four years. Al-Wakidi (8) says that he died at the age of ninety, and Ibn al-Furat (9) has the following passage in "his historical work drawn up in the form of annals: "Malik Ibn Anas al-Asbahi died
on the 10th of the first Rabi, A. H. 179." Others place his death in
the year 178, and some state that his birth occurred in the year 90.
As-Samani says in his Ansdb {or dictionary of patronymics),
under the word al-Asbahi, that Malik was horn in 93 or 94: the truth is known to God alone! The h&ftz Abu Abd Allah al-Humaidi has inserted in his Judv;a lal-Muktabk (10) the following relation, which had been first made by al-Kaanabi (vol. II. p. 19): "I went to Malik Ibn Anas
in his last illness, and saluted "him; I then sat down and, perceiving
that he wept, I said: 'O Abu Abd Allah! "' what maketh thee weep?' And
he answered: '0 Ibn Kaanab! why should "'
I not weep? and who has more reason to weep than I V By Allah! 1 wish
"' I had been flogged and reflogged for every question of law on which 1
"' pronounced an opinion founded on my own private judgment (11)! I had
it "'in my power to abstain from doing so; 0 that I had never given
opinions "' founded on my own private judgment!' or other words to that
effect." He died at Medina, and was interred in the cemetery called al-Baki. Malik
was of a very fair complexion, inclining to red; tall in stature,
having a large head, and the forehead bald; he wore clothes of those
excellent stuffs which are brought from Aden, and he disapproved of
shaving off the mustaches, considering it to be a sort of mutilation :
he never changed the colour of his grey hair, by dying it. The following
elegy was composed on his death by Abu Muhammad Jaafar Ibn Ahmad Ibn as-Sarraj (vol. I. p. 323):
May the grave which has united Malik to al-Baki be watered with benignant 610 showers from the dark thunder-cloud, flashing its lightnings. He was the imdm whose Muwatta (12)
has spread his doctrines throughout the earth. The prophet Muhammad,
whose law he exalted, will protect him and preserve him from harm. His
Traditions were of the highest authority; his gravity was impressive;
and, when he delivered them, all his auditors were plunged in
admiration. He had also {disciples,} upright friends of truth, land-marks [to guide us); you might (vainly) ask which of them was the most learned. The son of Idris alone (as-Shafi) would suffice for his glory, but that good fortune was only one of many favours.
Asbahi means descended from ZA Asbah; this person's name was al-Harith, and his father, Auf Ibn Malik Ibn Zaid Ibn Shaddad Ibn Zara, was one of the posterity of Yaruh Ibn Kahtan. The tribe of Zu Asbah is one of the largest in Yemen, and it is from it that the whips called asbahite (as-Siydt al-Asbahiya) derive their name. In the Jamhara tan-ISisab, Ibn al-Kalbi gives the genealogy of Zu Asbah in the following manner: "Harith, called Zu Asbah, was the son of "Malik Ibn Zaid Ibn Ghauth Ibn Saad Ibn Auf Ibn Adi Ibn Malik Ibn Zaid Ibn "Sahl Ibn Amr Ibn Kais Ibn Moawia Ibn Djocham Ibn Abd Shams Ibn Wathil
"Ibn al-Ghauth Ibn Katan Ibn Arib Ibn Zuhair Ibn Aiman Ibn Humaisa Ibn "Himyar Ibn Saba Ibn Yashjub Ibn Yarub Ibn Kahtan; Kahtan, whose real "name was Yoktan (13), was the son of Aabir (Eber) Ibn Shalikh (Salah) Ibn "Arfakhsliad (Arfaxad) Ibn Sam (Sem) Ibn Nuh (Noah)." I must here observe that the genealogy of Zu Ashbah, as I have given it at the beginning of this article, is copied from al-Hazimi's work, the Kitdb al-Ajdla (14).
(1) The lives of these persons are given in this work.
(2) The kddi Abu Said Yahya Ibn Said al-Ansari was a native of Medina. His authority as a traditionist was cited by Malik, Abu Hantfa, Sofyan Ibn Oyaina, and Sofyan ath-Thauri. Having gone to Kufa to see Abu Jaafar al-Mansur, that khalif appointed him kadi of al-Hashimiya. He died A H.143 (A.D. 760-1).—(AdDahabi's Tabakdt al-Bu/fdz. Abo '1-Mahasin's IS'uj&m.)
(3) The life of Ibn Abi Zib is given in this volume.
(4) A notice on Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan is contained in this work.
(5) See vol. I Introduction, page xxvi.
(6) Abu '1-Faraj Ibn al-Jauzi's work, the ShuzHr al-OkUd fi Tdrlkh H-Ohud {necklace-beads, on the events of history), is not noticed by Ibn Khallikan when giving the life of that historian. He quotes it, however, very frequently.
(7) Abo Hanlfa declares
that the longest period of pregnancy is twenty-four lunar months; but
as-Shafl lengthens that term to four years and Malik to six. See
d'Ohsson's Tab. gin. de I'Empire Othoman, torn. V. p. 251. — It would appear that Malik was born three years after his reputed father's death.
(8) His life is given by our author.
(9) See vol. I. page 87, note (10).
(10) The life of al-Humaidi will be found in this work.
(11) See vol. I. pages xxvi, 534.
(12) Al-Muu-atta, or
the beaten path, is the title of the collection of Traditions which
forms part of the basis on which the Malikite system of jurisprudence is
grounded. The greater part of its contents are legal maxims and
opinions delivered by the Companions of Muhammad.
(13) This is the Joktan of the English translation of the Bible; Gen. X 25.
(14) The life of al-Hazimi will be found in this work.
MALIK IBN DINAR.
Abu Yahya Malik Ibn Dinar, a native of Basra and a mawla to the family of the tribe of Koraish called the Banu Sama Ibn Luwai, was distinguished for his learning, self-mortification, profound piety, and devout resignation. He never
tasted of any food but that which he had procured with the produce of
his own labour, his profession being to write copies of the Koran, for
which he received a pecuniary retribution. It is related of him that he
said: "I read in the Old "Testament that whosoever worketh with his hand
shall have blessings in his "life-time and at his death." He was one
day present at an assembly where a story-teller related a tale which
drew tears from the eyes of the audience; almost immediately after, some
sheep's heads were brought in, and they began to eat of them. Being
invited to partake of their fare, he replied: " Those who "wept may eat
thereof, but I wept not." His merits were most abundant, and the
recollection of them still subsists. It is thus that Ibn Bashkuwal (vol. I. p. 491) relates, in his work entitled KitAb al-Mmtaghithin, etc. (book of the im~ plorert of God's assistance): "Malik lbn Dinar had one day taken his seat (to "teach), when
a man went up to him, and said : ' 0 Abu Yahya! invoke God "' to help a
woman who is four years gone with child, and is in great tribu"' lation
(1).' At these words Malik got angry and, having shut the volume of
"the Koran [in which he icas reading}, he remained silent for some time, and "4
then said . 'These people will positively have us to be prophets!' and
recom"menced reading. Having ended, he called upon God, saying: 4 0 Lord! if that "4
which is in the womb of this weman be a girl, change it for her into a
boy! "' for Thou canst undo and maintain what thou pleasest; and the
book of fate 4 4 4
is in thy possession!' He then raised up his hands, and the people did
the "same, when a messenger came to tell the man that his wife was on
the point 44 of being delivered. Malik
had scarcely time to lower his hands, when the man "reappeared at the
door of the mosque, bearing on his shoulder a four year old "boy, with
short curly hair and a complete set of teeth, although his navel44
string was yet uncut." He was one of the great saints. His death took
place at Basra, A.H. 131 (A. D. 748-9), a short time before the plague
(2). *ii7—Writing of Malik Ibn Dinar, I am reminded of some verses which were recited to me by their author, my friend, Jamal ad-din Mahmiid Ibn Abd.
He had composed them on a certain prince, who waged war against another
and vanquished him, taking his treasures, and making captives of his
chiefs and his warriors. When he had got all his adversary's property
into his own possession, he distributed the money to his troops, and put
his prisoners in chains. It was then that Ibn Abd celebrated his praises in a kasida
of the highest excellence. He describes in it that battle, and in one
passage, which we give here, he has a very clever play on the name of
Malik Ibn Dinar; he says:
You set at liberty the wealth which they had kept
in confinement, and you reduced to bondage those who before were free.
Then each of them who had been a mdlik [a person possessing property) was induced to wish that he were now a dindr (3).
This is remarkably fine, and I have been induced to mention it for that reason.
(1) See vol. II. p. 549, note (7).
(2) "In this year {A.H. 131) occurred the great plague which carried off immense numbers. Ibn al-Jauzi "says that seventy thousand persons died of it in a single day."—(IftyHm.)
(3) Because all the dindrs, or gold pieces, so long treasured up and confined, had been just set at liberty.
MA.ID AD-DIN IBN AL-ATHIR.
Abu's-Saadat al-Mubarak Ibn Abi 'l-Karam Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Karim Ibn Abd el-Wahid as-Shaibani, generally known by the appellation of Ibn al-Alhir al-Jazari, was distinguished [from his brother) by the title of Majd ad-din [glory of religion). Ibn al-Mustaufi says of him in his History [of Arhela): u
He was the most renowned of the learned, the most respected of the "men
of talent; one of those distinguished characters at whom the finger of
"admiration is pointed, and whose skill in the conduct of affairs
acquired them "the highest confidence." He studied the science of
grammar under Abu Muhammad Said Ibn ad-Dahhan (vol. I. p. 574),
but did not hear Traditions delivered, neither did he teach them, till
he was more advanced in life. He is the author of some elegantly written
works, and he composed a number of epistles replete with talent. In one
of his productions, the Jdtni al-Osul fi Ahadith ir-RasM [the combiner of the fundamental treatises on the Traditions of the Apostle), he inserted the contents of six authentic collections (1); it is drawn up
on the plan of Razin's work (2), but contains a great quantity of additional matter. His other productions are: the Kitdb an-Nihdya (utmost efforts), which is a treatise on the obscure terms occurring in the Traditions, and fills five volumes; the Kitdb al-Insdf, etc. (impartial comparison between the Kashf and f/ieKashshaf ) (3); a commentary on the Koran selected from the similar works of ath-Thalabi (vol. I. p. 60) and az-Zamakhshari; the al-Muslafa wa 'l-Mukhldr fi l-Adeyat wa 'l-Azkdr (the selected and chosen, treating of the forms of invocation to God, and of the prayers commemorative of his bounties); a small volume on the art of penmanship; the Kitdb al-Badt (liber egregiw materia?), being a commentary on Ibn ad-Dahhan's Principles of Grammar; a collection of his own epistles; the Shdfi, or healing, being a commentary on the imam as-Shafi's Musnad, or
collection of authenticated Traditions, etc. He was born at Jazira tibn
Omar, in one of the months of Rabi, A. H. 544 (July-Aug., A. D. 1149).
After passing his early youth in that place, he removed to Mosul, and
entered into the service of Mujahid ad-din Kaimaz vol. II. p. 510),
the lieutenant-governor of that state, and was employed by him to write
his correspondence. On the imprisonment of Kaimaz, he passed into the
service of Izz ad-din Masud Ibn Maudud,
the lord of Mosul, and was placed at the head of the board of
correspondence, which post he continued to fill till that prince's
death. He was then attached to the service of Nur ad-din Arslan-Shah (vol. I. p. 174),
the son of Izz ad-din Maudud, by whom he was treated with great favour,
and under whose protection he enjoyed the utmost honour and respect. He
served him for some time in the capacity of secretary of state, till a
malady deprived him of the use of his arms and legs; this completely
debarred him from fulfilling the duties of his office, and obliged him
to confine himself to his house, where he had all the men of rank and
learning for constant visitors. He erected a ribdt (or convent) at a village near Mosul, called Kasr Harb, and (having consecrated) the house which he inhabited at Mosul (to a similar pious purpose), he
settled all his property on these two establishments. I have been
informed that he composed all the works above-mentioned after his
retirement from office, having then sufficient leisure for the task, and
being assisted by a number of persons in the labour of making extracts
and copying. 618 Amongst the few pieces of verse which he composed, I
may notice the following, addressed to the lord atdbek of Mosul, on his mule's stumbling under him:
If his mule stumble under him, there is a reason for it. It bears one whose learning is vast [as a mountain) and whose liberality is ample an) the ocean.
This idea has now become common-place, and occurs
frequently in poetry. It is related by his brother, Izz ad-din Abu
'1-Hasan Ali, that, when he was deprived of the use of his limbs, a
native of Maghrib went to them and engaged to cure him; declaring at the
same time that he would not require any payment unless the treatment
which he intended to employ were successful in its results. "We "readily
accepted his proposal," said Izz ad-din, " and he commenced by the
"application of an ointment which he prepared himself. The good effects
of "this remedy were soon evident; the patient's legs acquired
flexibility, and he "was able to stretch them out; but, when there was
every prospect of a com"plete cure, he said to me: ' Give that Maghribin
a remuneration sufficient to "satisfy him, and let him be dismissed.' —
' Why,' said I, ' should we do so, "' since the success of his mode of
treatment is so manifest.' To this he "replied: * It is as thou sayest;
but, in my present state, I am delivered from "' the necessity of
frequenting the great, and treating them with that ceremony "'to which
their rank entitles them; besides, I have settled down into repose "'and
solitude, I, who but yesterday, when in the enjoyment of good health, "4
had to demean myself by courting their favour. Whereas, now, I remain
at '' ' home; and when any thing serious occurs, they come in person to
ask my "' advice: thou seest that, between these two states, the
difference is very great. "' Now, I am indebted to my infirmity for this
advantage; and I do not there"' fore think it reasonable to have it
removed, or to be treated for it. Besides, "' I have but a short time to
live; let me therefore pass the remainder of my "' days as a free man,
exempted from the obligation of self-abasement: I have "' already had an
abundant share of worldly honour.' We admitted the vali"dity of these
reasons, and dismissed the man with an ample reward." Majd ad-din died
at Mosul, on Thursday, the 29th of Zu '1-Hijja, A. H. 606 (June, A. D.
1210), and he was interred within the city in the ribdt founded by himself in the street of Darraj (Darb Darrdj). We have already spoken of his brother, Izz ad-din (vol. II. page 288), and, in a subsequent part of this work, we shall insert a notice on his other brother, Dia ad-din Nasr Allah.—Jazira libn Omar is a city on the Tigris, higher up than Mosul; it is called Jazira tile), because Vol. Ii. 70
it is surrounded by the Tigris. Al-Wakidi says that it was built by a native of Barkaid, called Abd al-A7iz Ibn Omar.
(1) The six authentic collections of Traditions are those of al-Bukhari, Muslim. at-Tirmidi, Abu Daw fid, anNasai, and Ibn Maja, each of whom has a separate article in this work.
(2^ Abu '1-Hasan Razln Ibn Moawta Ibn Ammar al-Abdari (a member of the tribe of Abd ad-d&r) and
a native of Saragossa in Spain, was t'mdm to the Malikite sect at
Mekka. He is the author of a work generally designated by the name of Razlris Book (Kitdb Razin), in which he assembled and classed all the Traditions contained in the Sahth of al-Bukhari, the Sahih of Muslim, the Muwatta of Malik, the Jdml of at-Tirmidi, and the Sunan of Abu Duwad. Another of his productions is a history of Mekka, abridged from the work of al-Azraki. He
died at that city in the month of Muharram, A.H 528 (December, A. D.
1130). He was one of the masters who conferred licences to teach
Traditions on the hd/iz as-Silali (tee vol. I. page 86).— (Hajji Khalifa — Al-Ikd al-Thamtn, MS. No. 720, fol. 233 verso.)
(3) The Kashthdf is the title of az-Zamakhshari's commentary on the Koran, and the Kathf wa 'l-Baiydn is that of ath-Thalabi's work on the tame subject.
MAJD AD-DIN AL-MUBARAK IBN MUNKID.
Abu '1-Maimun al-Mubarak Ibn Kamil Ibn Ali Ibn Mukallad Ibn Nasr Ibn Munkid al-Kinani, surnamed Saif ad-Dawlat (sword of the empire) Majd ad-din (glory of religion), was
one of the great emirs of the empire founded by Salah ad-din, and
comptroller of the board of administration for Egyptian affairs. He
belonged to a powerful family, two members of which, his grandfather,
Sadid ad-Dawlat (1) Ali (vol. II. p. 342), and his cousin Osama Ibn Murshid (vol. I. p. 177) we have already noticed. When Shams ad-Dawlat Turan Shah (vol. I. p. 284) was sent into Yemen by his brother Salah ad-din, he reduced that country to submission, and appointed Ibn Munkid to act as his lieutenant in Zabid. On his return to Syria, Ibn Munkid,
who had been authorized by him to delegate his authority to his own
brother, Hattan, proceeded to Damascus, and they both returned to Egypt
together. On the death of Shams ad-Dawlat, Ibn Munkid
was thrown into prison by Salah ad-din, who had been informed that a
number of persons had been put to death, and their property seized on,
by this emir. He took from him at the same time eighty thousand dinars,
and goods to the value of
twenty thousand more. This occurred in the year 577 (A. D. 1181-2). Saif al-Islam Toghtikin (v. I. p. 655)
(2) then set out for Yemen, and having laid siege to the fortress in
which Hattan had taken refuge, he induced him to capitulate by promises
which he had no intention to fulfil. Having obtained possession of his
person, he seized on all his wealth, and imprisoned him in a castle.
From that moment, Hattan was never heard of more; some even say that
Toghtikin put him to death. It is mentioned also that Toghtikin took
from his prisoner seventy 619 chests filled with gold. As for Saif
ad-Dawlat, he always continued in high influence, and he acquired great
renown as an enterprising chief. Being a man of learning, he was fond of
it in others: some of the most illustrious poets celebrated his
praises, and one of them, al-Kadi al-Wajih (the honourable kddi) Rida ad-din (accepted for piety) Abu '1-Hasan Ali Ibn Abi '1-Hasan Yahya Ibn Ahmad, generally known by the surname of Ibn az-Zarawi, composed in his honour a kastda which gained publicity equal to that of a proverb. It begins thus:
Conduct me, and may prosperity attend thee! to the mansions where [the family of my beloved) passed
the vernal season. Those dwellings still diffuse the perfume of musk
which they acquired from the presence of her I loved. O thou whose heart
is wounded with desire ! this is a valley held sacred by lovers: take
off therefore thy sandals; none must tread therein with covered feet.
In this poem we find the following passage:
I have a tame gazelle (a young page) on
whom God hath bestowed perfect beauty, and who obliges the mouths of
all mankind to exclaim: "God preserve us from tempta"tion!" His ruby
lips disclose a row of pearls bathed in moisture, and he displays on his
cheek a line of emerald (3). Censurers reprove me, but I affect to heed
them not, though they indulge in every form of blame. They say: "Who is
the person for "whom thou diest of love in thy sadness?" Thanks to the
Lord 1 they know not that person !—A learned scholar travelled abroad,
but found not a generous man who, when he said "Give!" would answer
"Take!" When about to ride off in anger, and ready to undergo the toil
of a long journey, I said to him at the moment the cameldriver commenced
his song. "Lucky (mubdrak) is the arrival, when the camels stop "at the door of al-Mubarak! and who can deliver (munkid) suitors (from their cares), "unless the son of Munkid."
In that part of the poem which contains the eulogium, we meet a line composed with wonderful art. It is this:
Smoother, in peace, than the belly of the serpent;
Rougher, in war, than the back of the porcupine.
Rougher, in war, than the back of the porcupine.
It is a kastda highly to be prized, but 1 confine myself to these extracts so as to avoid prolixity. Abu '1-Maimun al-Mubarak himself composed some poetry; the following, for instance, in which he alludes to fleas:
A race whom man is permitted to slay, and who profane (draw) the blood of the pilgrim, even in the sanctuary. When my hand sheds their blood, it is not their own, but mine which is shed.
It is thus that these two verses were recited and given as his, by Izz ad-din Abu '1-Kasim Abd Allah Ibn Abi Ali al-Husain Ibn Abi Muhammad Abd Allah Ibn al-Husain Ibn Rawaha Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Rawaha Ibn Obaid Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abd Allah Ihn Rawaha al-Ansari (4), a native of Hamat. This Ibn Rawaha was born off the coast of Sicily, in A. H. 560 (A. D. 1164-5;, and he died A. H. 646 (A. D. 1248-9), at Jibab al-Turkoman (the Turcoman weUi), a halting-place between Aleppo and Hamat. He died riding on a camel, and he was born in a ship.—Saif ad-Dawlat al-Mubarak was
born at the castle of Shaizar, A. H. 526 (A. D. 1131-2), and he died at
Cairo, on Tuesday, the 8th of Ramadan, A. H. 589 (September, A. D.
1193). — Zarawi means belonging to Zerw, a village in Said (Upper Egypt \
(1) I suspect that the author meant to write here Sadld al-Mulk.
(2) This person must not
be confounded with Abd Mansur Toghtiktn, prince of Damascus at the time
of the first crusade.— See vol. 1. page 274.
(3) In this metaphorical language, the emerald has the same signification as the myrtle. For the meaning of the latter in poetry, sec the Introduction to vol. I. page xxivi.
(4) Ir giving this long list of names, Ibn Khallikan's object was to show that Izz ad-dtn was a lineal descendant of Ibn Raw6ha al-Ansari, a celebrated poet, who had devoted his talents to the service of Muhammad and proved himself a most useful ally.—See Sale's Koran, last note to »Hrat 26.
religion), and generally known by the appellation of Ibn al-Mustaufi al-lrbili (native of Arbela), was a rdis (officer in the civil service ) of
high influence, and equally noted for his extreme modesty and noble
character. Whenever a stranger distinguished by his talents arrived at
Arbela, Ibn al-Mustaufi hastened to visit
him, and, having offered him a present suited to his merit, he employed
every means to gain his heart. This was particularly the case with
literary men? who were always sure of
being well received. He was a most accomplished scholar, versed in
numerous branches of learning: the Traditions, the sciences connected
with them, and the names of the persons by whom they were handed down,
were so familiar to him, that, on such subjects, he merited to be
considered as a master of the highest authority. In the belles lettres
his acquirements were also of no inferior order: grammar, philology,
prosody, the laws of rhythm and literary composition, the poetry of the
ancient Arabs, their history, contests, battles, and proverbs were all
equally well known to him, and he displayed also a superior talent in
the science of the diwdn (1), the mode of accounting (employed) there,
and the keeping of the registers; adhering to the conventional forms on
which persons of the profession set such high importance. He compiled a
(literary history of Arbela, in four volumes, and to this production I have frequently referred in the course of the present work. His Kildb an-Nazzdm [book of the stringer of pearls) forms ten volumes, and contains a commentary on the poetical works of al-Mutanabbi and Abu Tammam. In the two volumes of which his Kitdb Ithbdt il-Muhassal (ascertained results of investigation) (2) is composed, he elucidates the meaning of the verses cited as grammatical examples, by az-Zamakhshari, in his Mufassal. He composed also a work entitled Sirr as-Santa (the secret of laying persons under obligations) (?), and another to which he gave the title of Abu Kumdsh (3), containing
much literary information, curious anecdotes, etc. It was his custom to
read this book to the learned men who visited Arbela, and, as I was
generally present at the time, I heard a great portion of its contents.
He left also a dkcan of very good poetry. In a couplet of his composition he thus expresses his preference of white to brown (4):
Let not a seductive brownness deceive thee; beauty belongs to the white [or bright) alone. The brown lance slays, but with a part which by nature belongs not to it, whilst the (bright) sword slays with every part, and all those parts are of its own substance.
He took this idea from the following verses composed hy Abu 'n-Nida Hassan Ibn Numair al-Kalbi, a celebrated poet of Damascus, and generally known by the appellation of al-Arkala (5):
If thou art seduced by a
dark olive complexion, ask the pains I endure what is the effect
produced by the silvery white. The part of the (brown) lance which slayeth is but a span in length, whilst every part of the (bright) sword, except one span (the handle), gives deadly wounds.
When Sharaf ad-din (Ibn al-Mustaufi) composed
the two verses given above, a certain literary man observed that he
would have more fully expressed the idea, had he said, that the portion
of the lance which slayeth is of the same substance as the sword. An
amateur of the belles lettres (whether Ibn al-Mustaufi himself or some other, I know not,) then composed the following lines, in which the thought is expressed with that addition:
The bright-complexioned (the swords) inflict the most fatal wounds, and the wounds of my heart were inflicted by bright beauties (of mortal race). If the brown (the lances) slay, it is because their points are formed of the same substance as the bright (swords).
Amongst the poems of Ibn al-Mustaufi which were set to music (6), we may notice the following piece:
O night during which I remained awake till morning, comparing (the beauty of) thy full moon with (that of) its fellow (which I held in my arms)!
Fortune at length granted me that happy night, and if the lover
complained of its length, it was surely with sweet reproaches. I made it
a night of life (and happiness), but
I concealed its existence from 6141 my envious foes, whose only thought
was to scatter calumnies. She (7) who clung to my neck was sweet in
disposition, slender-waisted, and possessing all the charms of beauty.
Her port might be thought erect, but her slender waist, whilst the
zephyr wantoned with it, was ever bending. (She trod with faltering steps like one) intoxicated;
passion hurried me towards her, but piety withheld me, and I blushed at
my amorous folly. My hand rested on her neck; I touched her cheeks;
these I kissed, and the charms of that neck 1 rifled. Had my sighs not
been intermingled with hers (and been thus concealed), they
had discovered us both to the spy who wished to betray her. The morning
was jealous and angry at the night for having joined us, and its
precursor (the dawn) forced us to separate.
The lines which follow are also of his composing:
Blessings on those nights, short though they were,
which brought us together! may genial showers refresh them and give them
new life. From that time, I never said
Proceed! [ihi) to the friend with whom I whiled away the evenings in conversation, but my heart said: alas! (aha).
These verses are to be met with in a kastda composed by my friend Husam addin al-Hajiri (vol. II. p. 434), but most of my acquaintances say that Sharaf addin (Ibn al-Mustaufi,) was their real author.—One night, as Ibn al-Mustaufi was
returning home from the mosque in the neighbourhood of his house, a man
sprung upon him and aimed a dagger at his heart; but he warded off the
stroke with his arm, and in so doing received on it a severe wound,
which was immediately stitched up, anointed, and bandaged by a
barber-surgeon who had been called in. Ibn al-Mustaufi then wrote the following lines to al-Malik al-Moazzam, the
sovereign of Arbela, informing him of the attempt which had been made
against his life. To the best of my belief, this took place in the year
618 (A. D. 1221-2): I was then a boy, but I remember the circumstance
perfectly well. The lines I speak of are these:
O prince whose prowess would excite the admiration of Mars himself (8) 1 the marks of thy generosity are deeply impressed (upon our hearts),
and none of them ever effaces the other (9). To thee I denounce a
heinous deed, the like of which I never suffered from before; a deed
which will form an epoch in history. It is the night of my birth, and in
proof thereof I cite as witnesses, the bandages in which I am swathed
and the oil with which I have been anointed (10).
This idea is singularly original.—He related that he composed the following lines in his sleep:
We passed the night together, and my jealous foe
bit his hands with anger. So ardent is my passion, that I should give
the dark (pupils) of my eyes to prolong the darkness of the night.
In the year 628 (A. D. 1230-1) Sharaf ad-din Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Abi 'IHasan Ibn Isa Ibn Ali Ibn Yarub al-Bawaziji, the poet, arrived at Arbela, and Ibn al-Mustaufi, who was at that time vizir, sent him a mathlUm by al-Kamal Ibn as-Sear al-Mausili, a person employed in his service, and the author of a historical work. — By mathlUm is
meant a dinar from which a small portion has been clipped off. This is a
general practice in Irak and the neighbouring countries; they employ
these clippings in making purchases, and they call them kurdda (clippings); the mathlUms are also employed by them in the same manner: both
sorts are very common among them.—Al-Kamal went to the poet, and said: "The Sdhib (II)
greets thee, and requests thee to employ this sum for thy present 622 "
wants, as he will soon send thee something more adequate to thy merit."
The poet perceived that the coin was not perfect, and, thinking that
Sharaf ad-din had sent it to him whole, he suspected al-Kamal of having clipped it. Desirous of learning the truth of the matter from Sharaf ad-din, he wrote to him these lines:
My lord vizir! you whose generosity is proverbial! you sent me a moon perfect in beauty when at its full (or when with Kamal), but the servant brought it to me a crescent. It would not have decreased, had it not reached its full (or got into the hands of Kamal), for such is the prescribed course of things.
The thought and the double meaning contained in these lines pleased lhn alMustaufi
so highly that he bestowed a reward on the poet, and treated him
afterwards with great favour.—When 1 left Arbela, in the year 626 (A. D.
1228-9), Sharaf ad-din was mustaufi of the Diwan (or council of state). In that country the istifd (or post of mustaufi) is
one of the highest places under government, being second only to that
of vizir. In the year'629 he was raised to the vizirate, and he
fulfilled the duties of this office to general satisfaction. He
continued in place till the death of Muzaffer ad-din (A. H. 630; see vol. II p. 542), but then, towards the middle of the month of Shawwal, the imam (khdlif) al-Mustansir took possession of Arbela, and Ibn al-Mustaufi received
his dismissal. From that time he lived in domestic retirement,
receiving, as I have been informed, constant tokens of public respect,
till the city was taken by the Tartars, on the 27th of the month of
Shawwal, A. H. 634 (June, A. D. 1237). The fatal consequences of this
event for Arbela and its inhabitants are well known (12 . (Ibn al-Mustaufi) Sharaf
ad-din was one of those who took refuge in the citadel, and thus
escaped. When the enemy raised the siege of the citadel, he proceeded to
Mosul, where he obtained a pension, and passed the rest of his life
universally respected. He possessed a large collection of valuable
books. His death took place at Mosul, on Sunday, the 5th of Muharram, A.
H. 637 (August, A. D. 1239), and he was interred in the Sabilah
cemetery, outside the Jasasa Gate. He was born on the 15th of Shawwal,
A. H. 564 (July, A. D. 1169), in the citadel of Arbela. He came of a
powerful family, which produced a number of men
distinguished by the posts which they held under government, or by their learning. The place of isttfd at Arbela had been (previously) filled by his father, and by his uncle Safi ad-din (pure in religion) Abu i-Hasan Ali Ibn al-Mubarak, a man of eminent abilities. It was he who translated Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali's Nastha tal-Muluk (counsel for kings) from Persian into Arabic, for al-Ghazzali had composed it in the former language. Sharaf ad-din (Ibn al-Mustaufi) notices
this circumstance in his History, and I heard it mentioned also, during
my residence in that country, as a well known fact. An elegiac poem was
composed on the death of Ibn al-Mustaufi, by my friend Shams ad-din Abu '1-Izz Yusuf Ibn an-Nafis al-Irbili, surnamed Shaitan as-Sham (the demon of Syria). Shaitan
as-Sham was born at Arbela, A. H. 586 (A. D. 1190-1); he died at Mosul,
on the 16th of Ramadan, A. H. 638 (April, A. D. 1241), and was interred
in the cemetery at the Jasasa gate. Speaking of Ibn al-Mustaufi, he said:
O Abu '1-Barakat 1
had death known that thou wert the paragon of the age, it would not
have smitten thee. The greatest of misfortunes which Islamism could
experience was the loss of one whom men and genii are lamenting.
Were I not apprehensive of extending this article
too much, I should give a great many more anecdotes concerning him, and
notice further particulars of his life, with some of the pieces composed
in his praise; for, God be merciful to him! he was one of the ornaments
of the age, and the like of him, for merit625 and influence, has never
since existed in that city.—We have already explained the meaning of the
word Lakhmi (vol. I. p. 148) and need not therefore repeat it here.
(1) Diwan may here mean register, account-book, or perhaps the office for
keeping the public accounts. From the passage which follows, I am
induced to think that the art of book-keeping was not unknown to the
Arabs.
(2) For the meaning I here give to the passive participle muhassal, I shall assign as my authority that given by M.de Sacy in his Abdallatif, page 244, to the corresponding active participle muhassil. 1 consider the word here as bearing the passive form, because, in the complete Arabic title, it rhymes to Mufassal.
(3) Abu Kum&sh; in Latin, pater supellectilis or supellectilem congerens. A sort of common-place book.
(4) By white and brown are meant fair-complexioned females and brunettes.
(5) Abu 'n-Nida Hassan Ibn Numair, surnamed Arkala, belonged to a branch of the tribe of Kalb, settled in the neighbourhood of Damascus. The kdtib Imad ad din al-Ispah&ni, who
met him at that city, says that he was a great favorite with the
princes of the Aiyubide family, and the constant companion of their
convivial VOL. II. 71
parties, which he enlivened by his gaiety. Salah
ad-din promised to give him one thousand dinars on becoming master of
Egypt, and when that event took place, Arkala proceeded thither and
received the sum. He then returned to Damascus and died there towards
the year 566 (A. D. 1170). The kdtib, who
knew him personally, has given us long extracts from his poetical
works, arranged in alphabetical order, according to the rhymes. — See Kharlda; MS. of the Bib. du Roi, No. 1414, fol 25 et seq. 16) Literally: Which are sung.
(7) Throughout this piece I have changed the gender of the pronouns and made other modifications of a similar kind.
(8) Abu '1-Maashar al-Balkhi, generally
known in Europe by the name of Albumascr, says in one of his
astrological works (MS. of the Bib. du Roi, fonds Ducaurroi, No. 24): "Mars is the indicator of [presides over) war"riors,armed men, men of might, libertines, and highway-robbers. Saturn is the indicator of kings,old men, "gardeners, and farmers. Jupiter, of nobles, judges, vizirs, and devout and religious men. Venus, of women, "eunuchs,and girls. Mercury, of katibs [penmen, secretaries), arithmeticians, merchants, artisans, and boys. "The Sun, of kings and princes; and the Moon, of the post-house establishment [bartd), the
common people, "their trades, and the means by which they gain their
daily bread." It may be seen from this that the Arabs have borrowed the
attributes of the planets from the Greeks.
(9) This verse is entirely
composed of technical terms, such as are employed by dogmatic
theologians in discussing the verses of the Koran. The meaning of these
terms being familiar to persons who have read Pococke's Specimen and
Sale's preface to the Koran, I think it unnecessary to explain them;
the more so, as they are here used with a different signification.
(10; It seems from this that it was then customary to anoint infants with oil.
(11) See vol. I. page 213.
(12) In the year 634, the Moghuls took Arbela by
storm, and put to the sword all the inhabitants who had not taken refuge
in the citadel. They then plundered the city, and having burned it
down, they directed their attacks against the citadel, but after a forty
days' siege, they evacuated the place on receiving a large sum. from
the garrison. During this period, the inhabitants defended themselves
with great courage, but many of them died of thirsf.—(D'Ohsson's Hist, des Monghols, t. III. p. 73).
IBN AD-DAHHAN.
Abu Bakr al-Mubarak lbn Abi Talib al-Mubarak Ibn Abi '1-Azhar Said, surnamed al-Wajih (the respectable), and generally known by tbe appellation of Ibn ad-Dahhan (the son of the ointment maker), was a native of Wasit, and a grammarian. The designation of ad-Darir (the blind) was
also given to him because he had lost his sight. He was born at Wasit,
and passed his youth in that city; he there learned the Koran by heart,
and was taught to read it according to the different systems; he studied
also the science (of jurisprudence), and took lessons
there from Abu Said Nasr Ibn Muhammad Ibn Silm,the philologer, Abu '1-Faraj al-Ala Ibn as-Sawadi, the poet (vol. II. p. 415), and other masters. He then removed to Baghdad, and, having taken up his residence in the Muzaffariya (college), he became the disciple of Abu Muhammad Ibn al-Khashshab, the grammarian (vol. II. p. 66), and Abu '1-Barakat Ibn al-Anbari (vol. II. p. 95).
He attended Abu '1-Barakat's lessons with assiduity, and acquired vast
information under his tuition. He learned Traditions from Abu Zara Tahir
Ibn Muhammad Ibn Tahir al-Makdisi (1),
and, having abandoned the Hanbalite sect, he applied himself to the
Hanifite system of jurisprudence. Some time after this, the place of
grammatical professor at the Nizdmiya college
became vacant, and, as the founder of that professorship had ordained
that it should never be filled by any but a Shafite, al-Wajih Ibn ad-Dahhan passed over to the Shafite sect, and obtained the situation. It was on this occasion that al-Muwaiyad Abu '1-Barakat Ibn Zaid, a native of Tikrit, composed the following verses:
Who will bear from me a message to al-Wajih? yet I know that every message will be useless!—Say to him: You passed to the sect of (.46m Hanifa) an-Noman, after following that of Ibn Hanbal;
you did so because you had nothing to eat. It was not through devotion
that you next adopted the doctrines of as-Shafi, but through the desire
of obtaining a profitable result. You will surely soon go over to the
sect of Malik; mark what I say 1
Al-Wajih composed
some works on grammar, and taught the Koran-readings during a long
period. His conversation was excessively silly, his discourses prolix,
his avarice extreme, and his pretensions exorbitant. He composed some
poetry, of which may be quoted these verses:
Although thou art the prince of generous men, I do
not blame thee for requiring to be pressed before thou fulfillest a
promise. The Lord of heaven bound himself to furnish food to all men,
yet he must be solicited by prayer.
He was born at Wasit, A.
H. 532 (A. D. 1137-8); he died at Baghdad, on the eve of Sunday, the
26th of Shaaban, A.H. 612 (December, A. D. 1215), and was interred in
the Wardiya cemetery.
(1) Ibn Khallikan gives some account of Abu Zara Tahir al-Makdisi in the life of that Traditionist's father, Muhammad Ibn Tahir al-Makdisi.
MUJALLI IBN JUMAIYA.
Abu '1-Maali Mujalli Ibn Jumaiya Ibn Naja,
a member of the tribe of Koraish and of the family of Makhzum, a native
of Orsuf, and an inhabitant of Egypt, in which country also he died,
was a doctor of the sect of as-Shafi, and one of the most eminent in
that age. He is the author of an ample treatise on jurisprudence,
entitled Kitdb ad-Dakhdir ( book of treasures),
containing a greal quantity of matter connected with the Shafite
doctrine, and in which he has inserted a number of extraordinary cases,
not, perhaps, to be found in any other work. This is an esteemed
production, and in great request. In the year 547 (A. D. 1152), he was
appointed kddi of Old Cairo by al-Aadil Ibn as-Sallar (vol. II. p. 350),
who at that time held all Egypt under his rule; and he was removed from
office towards the beginning of the year 549; in one G24 of the last
ten days of Shaaban (November, A. D. 1154), it is said. He died in the
month of Zu '1-Kaada, A. H. 550 ( December-January, A. D. 1155-6), and
was interred in the Lesser Kara fa cemetery.— Orsuf is
the name of a small town on the coast of Syria, which has produced many
men eminent for learning, and was frequented by numbers of Moslims who
kept garrison there [against the crusaders). It is now in the hands of the Franks [the crusaders); may God frustrate their projects!—Postscript. Orsuf was retaken by al-Malik azZahir Bibars, in the year 663 (A. D. 1265).
ABU ALI AT-TANUKHI, THE KADI.
The kddi Abu Ali al-Muhassin Ibn Abi '1-Kasim Ali Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abi 1Fahm Dawud Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Tamim at-Taniikhi: we have already spoken of his father (vol. II. p. 304), and given some account of his life, with extracts from his poetry; and ath-Thaalibi (vol. II. p. 129) speaks of them both in the same
chapter (of his Yatima).
He begins with the father, and then says of Abu Ali: "He was a crescent
of that moon; a branch of that tree; a decisive testimony of "the glory
and merit of that father; the master-shoot of that stem; his
substi"tute during his life-time, and his successor after his death." It
was of him that the poet Abu Abd Allah Ibn al-Hajjaj (vol. I. p. 448) said:
If we speak of elderly kddis, I acknowledge that I prefer the young to the old. Him who concurs not (with me) I should never strike but in the presence of our lord the kddi at-Tanukhi (1).
Abu Ali at-Tanukhi is the author of a book called al-Farj baad as-Shidda (solace after suffering). In
the beginning of this work he says that, in the year 346 (A. D. 957),
he was director of the weighing-office at the mint in Suk al-Akwaz (?); and, a little further on, he states, that he had occupied the place of kddi at Djazira tibni Omar. He left a diwdn of poetry more voluminous than that of his father, and two other works, one entitled Kitdb nashwdn al-Muhddira (the excitement of conversation), and the other, Kitdb al-Mustajdd min FSldt alrAjwdd(the noblest of the deeds of the generous). He took lessons at Basra from Abu '1-Abbas al-Athram (3), Abu Bakr as-Suli (4), al-Husain Ibn Muhammad Ibn Yahya Ibn Othman
an-Nasawi, and other eminent masters of that day; he then went down to
Baghdad, and, having settled there, he continued to teach Traditions
till his death. The 'masters from whom he obtained these Traditions were
persons of the highest authority for veracity. He was an elegant
scholar, a poet, and an historian. He began to learn Traditions in the
year 333 (A. D. 944-5), and he commenced his judicial career in A. H.
349 (A. D. 960-1) as kddi of al-Kasr, Babel (5), and the neighbouring districts, acting in the name of Abu 's-Saib Otba Ibn Obaid Allah. The khalif al-Muti lillah then appointed him kddi of Askar Mokram, Aidaj (6), and Ramhormuz. After that, he (successively) filled
a great number of posts in the civil administration, at different
places. The following verses of his were composed on a certain shaikh who went out (one day with the people) to pray for rain: there was a cloud in the sky at the time, but when the shaikh finished, it cleared off:
We went out to obtain rain from the blessed effect
of his prayers, and the skirt of the cloud was then nearly touching the
earth. But when he began to pray, the sky cleared up; and he had not
ended, before the cloud disappeared.
The following verses were composed, on a similar occasion, by Abu '1-Husain Sulaiman Ibn Muhammad Ibn at-Tarawa, a grammarian, and a native of Malaga in Spain:
They went out to implore
rain, and a cloud which promised a copious shower had already appeared
in the west. When they took their places to pray, and it had begun 025
to drizzle in their sight, it cleared off in answer to their
invocations; one might have thought they had gone forth'to ask for fair
weather.
The lines which follow are attributed to Abu Ali al-Tanukhi:
Say to the fair maiden in the gold-embroidered
veil: Thou hast spoiled the devotion of a pious godly man. Between the
brightness of thy veil and that of thy cheek, 'tis strange that thy face
is not in flames. Thou hast combined the two means (of charming oiir hearts), and, between the lustre of them both, thou canst not escape being beautiful (7). When an eye is turned to steal a glance [at thee), the radiance of thy face says to it: Begone, lest thy sight be gone (8) I
How ingeniously imagined is that expression : Begone, lest thy sight begone!—
These verses, on a veil embroidered with gold, remind me of a story
which 1 read some time back at Mosul. A certain merchant went to Medina
with a camel-load of black veils, but, not finding any purchasers, his
goods remained on his hands, and he gave way to sadness. A person then
said to him that no one could assist him in obtaining a profitable sale
for them except Miskin ad-Darimi (9). This Miskin was an excellent poet,
celebrated for his wit and licentiousness. The merchant went to him,
and found that he had taken to devotion, and never stirred out of the
mosque. Having explained his business to him, he received this answer:
'' What can I do for you i I
have renounced poetry, and given myself "up to my present occupation."
The merchant answered: "I am a stranger "here, and have no other goods
but that load." In short, he spared no entreaty, till at length Miskin
left the mosque, and having put on the clothes he formerly wore, he
composed these verses and gave them to the public:
Say to the handsome maiden in the black veil: "What
design have you formed "against a pious devotee? He had just girded his
loins for prayer, when you sat in "ambush for him at the door of the
mosque!"
The report immediately spread about that Miskin
ad-Darimi had relapsed into his former mode of life, and become
enamoured with a female who wore a black
veil. On this, there was not a helle in the city hut wanted a black
veil, and such was their eagerness to procure them, that the merchant
disposed of those he had at exorbitant prices. When all were sold,
Miskin returned to his devout exercises in the retirement of the
mosque.—The kddi Abu Ali at-Tanukhi wrote the following lines to a man of high rank, in the month of Ramadan .
May you obtain by this fast whatever you desire,
and may God protect you from whatever you may dread. As this month
excels all the others, so you surpass all mankind; nay, you are like the
night of al-Kadar (10) in it.
He composed many other
exquisite pieces. His death took place at Baghdad, on the eve of Monday,
the 25th of Muharram, A. H. 384 (March, A. D. 994). He was born at
Basra, on the eve of Sunday, the 26th of the first Rabi, A. H. 327
(January, A. D. 939).—His son, Abu '1-Kasim Ali Ibn al-Muhassin at-Tanukhi,
was an accomplished scholar and a man of great merit. He composed some
poetry, but I have never seen any of it. He had been a pupil of Abu
'1-Ala alMaarri (vol. I. p. 94),
and acquired much information under his tuition. A great quantity of
poetical pieces were transmitted by him to his own pupils. The family to
which he and his brother belonged was noted for producing literary men
of distinguished wit and talent. He was born at Basra, on the 15th of
Shaaban, A. H. 365 (April, A. D. 976), and he died on Sunday, the 1st of
Muharram, A. H. 447 (April, A. D. 1055). A close intimacy was formed
between him and the hhattb Abu Zakariya at-Tabrizi (11), through the medium of Abu '1-Ala al-Maarri. The Khatib (AM Bakr) (vol. I. p. 75
) has a notice on him in the History of Baghdad, and enumerates the
masters from whom he received and transmitted his traditional
information; he then mentions that he himself wrote down some pieces
under his dictation, and he assigns to his birth and death the same
dates as those given here, with the sole difference that, according to
him, he died on the eve of Monday, the 2nd of Muharram, at his own
house, in the street of at-Tall. He states also that he attended his
funeral, the next day, and said prayers over him. To this he adds, that
he (AM 'l-Kdsim) first
began to acquire traditional information in the month of Shaaban, A. H.
370 (12). He says also that, when quite a youth, the testimony of Abu
'1-Kasim was received as valid, and that it continued to be so till the
end of his life (a decisive proof that his character for morality had never been
impeached). He was extremely cautious in giving evidence, guarded in his conduct, and veracious in his discourse. He fdled the place of kddi in a number of places, such as al-Madain and its dependencies, Adarbaijan, al-Baradan (13), Kirmisin (Kirmdnshdh), etc.—We have already spoken of the word TanHkhi (vol. I. p. 97). It was to Abu '1-Kasim al-Tanukhi that Abu '1-Ala al-Maarri addressed the kadda beginning thus: Speak to me of Baghdad or of Hit.
(1) I translate literally,
but fear that I have neither perceived nor rendered the point of the
verses. The poet perhaps means to say that, were they in the presence of
al-Tanukhi, he would strike his
contradictor for not admitting the justness of his sentiments;
at-Tanukhi being himself a young man and of an amiable character.
(2) This is the same city as al-Ahwaz. It was called also Hormuzshahr.
(3) Abu '1-Hasan Ali Ibn al-Moghaira, surnamed al-Athram (broken tooth), a grammarian and philologer of the highest reputation, was a native of Baghdad and an assiduous disciple of al-Asmai and
Abu Obaida, all of whose productions he learned by heart. He obtained
and handed down much literary information from some very eminent
scholars, and he acquired his knowledge of pure Arabic from the most
correct speakers among the Arabs of the desert. According to the author
of the Fihrett, MSS. No. 874, fol. 76, he died A. H. 230 (A. D. 844-5), but Abu '1-Mahasin, in his Nujum, places his death two years later. He left the following works : Kitdb an-Nawddir [book of anecdotes) and Kitdb Gharlb al-Hadtth {obscure terms occurring in the Traditions.)
(4) His life will be found in this work.
(5) In later times the city of Babel (Bdbil in Arabic) gave its name to a village which rose in the neighbourhood. As for al-Kasr (the castle), it may perhaps be the same as that which al-Idrtsi indicates as situated on the Tigris, between Wasit and Basra.
(6) According to the author of the Marasid, the
city and canton of Aidaj lie between Khuzestan and Ispahan. He says
that it possesses a bridge which is one of the wonders of the world.
(7) This is the meaning of the Arabic verse, which is in reality a succession of puns on a single word.
(8) I have here
endeavoured to express both the meaning and the quibbling of the
original Arabic. The poet, continuing his puns on the different
grammatical forms of the root dahaba, adds here: adhabi la tadhabi. Away I lest thou shouldst become blind; or, lest thou shouldst be destroyed.
(9) Of the poet Rabla Ibn Aamir, surnamed Misktn ad-Darimi, I have been unable to discover any farther information than that given by M. de Sacy in his Anthologie Grammatical, p. 399.
llO) "The night of al-Kadar is better than a thousand months." See Koran, sural 97, and Sale's note.
(11) His life will be found in the last volume.
(12) He means to say that, at the age of five
years, Abu '1-Kasim had already learned by heart some Traditions, pieces
of verse, etc
(13) Al-Baradan lay on the east bank of the Tigris, at five parasangs above Baghdad.
AS-SHAFI.
The imam Abu Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Idris as-Shafi was a member of the tribe of Koraish, and drew his descent from al-Muttalib, the son of Abd Manaf and the ancestor of the Prophet; his father, Idris, being the son of al-Abbas Ibn Othman Ibn Shafi Ibn as-Sayib Ibn Obaid Ibn Abd Yazid Ibn Hisham Ibn al-Muttalib Ibn Abd
Manaf. The remainder of the genealogy, up to Adnan, is sufficiently
known (1). His great-grandfather, Shall, when a boy just grown up, saw
the Envoy of God (Muhammad). As-Sayib,
the father of Shafi, bore the standard of the Hashimide family at the
battle of Badr; he was taken prisoner in that combat, but redeemed
himself from captivity. When he subsequently became a Moslim, he was
asked why he did not embrace the true faith when made prisoner, and thus
avoid paying the ransom; he replied that he was not a man to frustrate
the expectations which the Moslims had founded on it.—As-Shafi (the subject of this article) stood
unrivalled by his abundant merits and illustrious qualities; to the
knowledge of all the sciences connected with the book of God [the Koran), the Sunna (the Traditions), the sayings of the Companions, their history, the conflicting opinions of the learned (jurisconsults), etc.,
he united a deep acquaintance with the language of the Arabs of the
Desert, philology, grammar, and poetry; indeed, he was so well
conversant with the last sciences, that al-Asmai, eminent
as he was in these branches of learning, read over the poems of the
Hudailites under his tuition. He combined in himself such a variety of
scientific information as was never possessed by anv other man, and
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (vol. I. p. 44)
went so far as to say: " I did "not know the annulling from the
annulled Traditions, till I took lessons from "as-Shafi."—"Never did I
see a man," said Abu Obaid al-Kasim Ibn Sallam (vol. II. p. 486), "more accomplished than as-Shafi."—Abd Allah, the son of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal,
related as follows: "I said to my father: ' What sort of a "' man was
as-Shafi, that I hear you pray blessings on him so often?' and he •'
replied: 'My dear boy! as-Shafi was [to mankind) as the sun is to the world, "'and health to the body; what can replace them?' "—Ahmad Ibn Hanbal
said also: "Never, for the last thirty years, have I passed a night
without praying "God's mercy and blessings upon as-Shafi."—Yahya Ibn Main (2) said: "AhVol. n. 72
"mad Ibn Hanbal forbade us (attending the lessons of) as-Shafi; but, meeting him "one day walking on foot after as-Shafi, who was mounted on a mule, I said to "him: 1 Abu Abd Allah! you forbade us to frequent him, and you yourself are "1 walking
after him!' To which he replied: ' Silence! if I even kept company "'
with his mule, I should profit by it.'" The khatib (vol. I. p.75j has inserted in his History of Baghdad the following relation given l>y Ibn Abd al-Hakam (3):
"When as-Shafi was still in his mother's womb, she dreamt that the
planet "Jupiter came forth from it and proceeded to Egypt, where it
fell, but that a "portion of its rays reached every city upon earth. The
interpreters of dreams "declared this to signify that she would give
birth to a learned man, who would "communicate his knowledge to the
people of Egypt alone, but that it would "spread into all other
countries."—" I went to take lessons from Malik," said as-Shafi, "after
having learned by heart his Muwatta, and he told me to go to "some person who would repeat the book to me (so that I might learn it), but I "replied that I would repeat it myself (to him). I
then did so from memory, and 627 " he pronounced these words: 'If any
person is ever to prosper, it is this "youth!' "—When Sofyan Ibn Oyaina (v. I. p. 578)
was consulted on the meaning of a passage of the Koran, or on a point
of law, he would turn towards as-Shafi and say: "Ask that boy."—Al-Humaidi (4)
relates that he heard Muslimlbn Khalid az-Zanji (5) say to as-Shafi:
"Give opinions on points of law, 0 Abu Abd Allah! "it is time for you to
do so;" and that as-Shafi was only fifteen years of age at the time.—
Mahfuz Ibn Abi Tauba, a native of Baghdad, relates as follows: "I "saw Ahmad Ibn Hanbal near as-Shafi in the Sacred Mosque, and I told him that "Sofyan Ibn Oyaina
was then teaching Traditions in another part of the edifice; "on which
he said: 'This one would be a loss to me, but the other would not .'"
—Abu 'l-Hassan az-Ziadi said: "I never saw Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan (6)
show "so much honour to any doctor as he did to as-Shafi. He was just
mounting his "horse,one day,when as-Shafi came to see him, and he
immediately returned with "him into the house, and they remained in
private (conversation) till the night set "in. Yet Muhammad Ibn Hasan
never admitted any person into his presence." —As-Shafi was the first
who ever gave lectures on the fundamentals of jurisprudence, and that
branch of science had him for its author.—Abu Thaur (vol. I. p. 6) said
: " Whoever pretends that he saw the like of as-Shafi for learning,
"elegance of language, general knowledge, and solid information, is a
liar. He
"lived without a rival, and, on his death, he left none to replace him."—"There "is not a person," said Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, " who holds an inkhorn or a sheet "of paper, but is under the deepest obligations to as-Shafi." And as for azZafarani (vol. I. p. 373),
he said that the Traditionists were sleeping till as-Shafi came and
awoke them.—His merits were innumerable. He was born A. H. 150 (A. D.
767-8); on the day, it is said, on which Abu Hanifa died; his birth took
place at Ghazza; some say, but erroneously, at Ascalon, or in Yemen. At
the age of two years he was carried from Ghazza to Mekka, where he
passed his youth and studied the Koran. The history of his journey to
see Malik is so well known that it is needless to lengthen this article
by repeating it (7). In the year 195 (A. D. 810-1) he went to Baghdad,
and, having passed two years in that city, he returned to Mekka. In the
year 198 he revisited Baghdad, and after a month's residence he set out
for Old Cairo, where he arrived A. H. 199 (A. D. 814-5), or 201, by
another account. He continued to dwell there till his death; this event
occurred on Friday, the last day of Rajab, A. H. 204 (Jan. A. D. 820),
and, on the evening of the same day, he was buried in the lesser Karafa
cemetery. His tomb is much frequented by pious visitors, and is situated
near mount Mukattam. Ar-Rabi Ibn Sulaiman al-Muradi (vol. I. p. 519) mentioned that he perceived the new moon of the month of Shaaban as he was returning from the funeral (and this would prove that he was interred on the eve of the first day of that month). "Some
time after his death," said ar-Rabi, "I saw him in "a dream, and said
to him: 'O Abu Abd Allah! how did God treat thee?' "and he replied: 'He
seated me on a throne of gold, and pearls, fresh (from "' the sea,) were
scattered over me.'" All the learned men without exception,
Traditionists, jurisconsults, dogmatic theologians, philologers,
grammarians,etc., agree in acknowledging his veracity, integrity,
probity, piety, unblemished character, purity of morals, mortified life,
virtuous conduct, intrinsic merit, and generosity (8).—He composed a
great quantity of poetry, and I shall insert here a piece of his
composition, which I copied from the handwriting of the hdftz asSilafi (vol. I. p. 86):
He who is blessed with
riches and has not received praises or commendation, is a luckless
wight. Wealth brings the most distant object within reach; wealth opens
every well-barred door. If you hear that a piece of wood produced fruits
when held in a rich man's hand, believe it. If you hear that a poor man
went to drink at a spring,
and that the water sank into the earth, hold it to be true. If riches
could be obtained by subtle policy, you would have found me clinging to
the stars of heaven in search 628 thereof. But he who is gifted with
intellect is denied riches; how widely do intellect and riches stand
apart 1 A proof of God's providence is found in the indigence of the
sage and the pleasant life of the fool.
The following verses are attributed to as-Shafi:
What will thy guest answer if his family ask how
was his reception? Shall he say that he crossed the Euphrates without
being able to obtain a drop of its waters, although its waves rolled
high? that, when he mounted the ascent of glory, the narrowness of the
path prevented him from reaching the object of his wishes? By my
adulation you may discover my poverty, as the glass shows the dregs in
the water which it contains. But I possess the jewels and the pearls of
poetry; I wear the diadem and the crown of style; its flowers surpass
those of the gardens on the hills, and its smoothness outvies that of an
irrigated meadow (9). An elegant poet is a dangerous serpent, and
verses are his poisonous slaver and foam. The enmity of a poet is a dire
calamity, but it is easy for the generous man to avert it.
It was he who said:
Were it not a discredit for men of learning to cultivate poetry, I should be to-day a better poet than Labld (10).
The following lines are attributed to as-Shafi:
The more experience instructs me, the more I see
the weakness of my reason; and the more I increase my knowledge, the
more I learn the extent of my ignorance.
The following verse is also attributed to him:
He meant good, and wrought harm undesignedly; thus acts of piety may sometimes become acts of disobedience.
He related that having married a woman of the tribe of Koraish, at Mekka, he happened to say to her in sport:
How unfortunate that you love one who loves you not!
And that she answered in the same rhyme and measure):
She averts her face, and you entreat her, but succeed not. And that she answered in the same rhyme and measure):
One of our most eminent shaikh informed me that he composed thirteen works
on the merits of as-Shafi.—When this great imam
died, his death was lamented in numerous elegies. One of these elegies
is attributed to Abu Bakr Ibn Duraid (1 \), and the Khatib has noticed it in his History of Baghdad. It contains the following passages:
See you not the memorials
which the son of Idrls has left of his existence? in the obscurities of
science their guiding lights direct us;—eternal monuments on which time
spends its efforts in vain; they still rear their pinnacles aloft,
though ages have expired. (They mark the) paths which conduct (to knowledge), and trace (for ug) the
ways of rectitude. Their obvious meaning is wisdom itself, and the
deductions drawn from them embody principles which, till then, had been
completely disunited. When calamity darkens the world, the genius of the
son of Idris, the cousin of Muhammad, spreads over it a brilliant
light. When grave difficulties embarrass the mind, the 629 brightness of
that genius clears up all obscurities. God chose to raise him and exalt
him; none can depress the man who is exalted by the master of the (heavenly) throne.
Truth was his aim, and piety preserved him from error; 'tis error that
degrades a man. He recurred to the example of the Prophet, and his
decisions are held to be second only to the Prophet's. In his decisions
and judgments he placed his reliance on what is fixed by divine
revelation; truth is always plain and clear.
In childhood and youth he
arrayed himself in piety; when a boy, he was favoured with the wisdom of
old age. He shaped his conduct so sagely, that, when merit was sought
for, every finger pointed towards him. He who takes as-Shafi's learning
for guide, will find an ample pasture in the field of learning.
Salutations to the tomb which encloses his body! may the dark
rain-clouds refresh it with copious showers. The earth of that grave has
covered from our view the body of an illustrious man, once highly
honoured when auditors flocked around him. Misfortune has afflicted us
by his death, but, for its conduct towards him, it must receive
affliction in its turn: for his maxims subsist among us, refulgent as
the moon; and his traces remain, luminous as the rising stars.
If it be asked how it came that Ibn Duraid,
who was not contemporary with as-Shafi, composed an elegy on his death,
we answer that there is nothing extraordinary in such a circumstance,
and that it is perfectly natural; we have besides met other examples of
it, as in the case of al-Husain son of AH), etc.
(1) See Sale, introduction to Koran; Poeocke's Specimen hist. or. pag. 49, 50, 51 ; Eichhorn's Monument a hist. ar. Tab. 1.
(2) His life is given by Ibn Khallikan.
(3) The life of Abu Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Hakam is given by our author.
(4) The imam Abu Bakr Abd Allah Ibn az-Zubair Ibn Obaid Allah al-Asadi al-Humaidi, a member of the
tribe of Koraish and a native of Mekka, was a disciple of the imam as-Shaft and accompanied him to Egypt. The Hakim Ibn al-Bati styles him the mufti and Traditionist of Mekka, and declares that he was for the people of Hijaz what Ahmad Ibn Hanbal was for those of Irak. He died in the month of the first Rabl, A. H. 219 (March-April, A. D. 834).— [Tabakdt as-Shdfiytn.)
(5) AbO Khalid Muslim Ibn Khalid Ibn Said, surnamed, for his red complexion, az-Zanji (native of Zanguebar\ was one of the imam as-Shafl's masters. He belonged to the tribe of Koraish and the family of Makhzum, being a maw la to Sofyan Ibn Abd Allah. He was an able doctor and jurisconsult, but his authority as a Traditionist has been rejected by Ibn al-Madlni and al-Bukhari. He succeeded Ibn Juraij as mufti of Mekka, and he died in that city, A. H. 180 (A. D. 796-7).—[Tabakdt al-Fokaha, MSS. No 755, fol. 21.)
(6) The life of this celebrated doctor will be found in this volume.
(7) The only thing
particular in this journey was the short conversation which passed
between him and Malik, and which our author has already given in
as-Shafl's own words.
(8i The manuscript of the Bib. du Roi, and en fonds. No.
856, contains an account of as-Shafl, his life, sayings, virtues, etc.
It is a short and interesting work; nearly all of what Ibn Khallikan says in the present article is to be found there, and expressed in the same terms.
(9) In the original
Arabic, the last words of this verse have such various significations,
that I may possibly have mistaken the idea which the poet meant to
convey.
10) He means Labld, the author of one of the seven Moallakas.
(11) His life will be found in this work.
IBN AL-HANAFIYA.
Abu '1-Kasim Muhammad, the son of Ali, the son of Abu Talib, was generally known by the surname of Ibn al-Hanaflya (the son of the Hanifite female), because his mother Khaulawas the daughter of Jaafar Ibn Kais Ibn Salama Ibn Thaalaba Ibn Yarbu Ibn Thaalaba Ibn ad-Dual Ibn Hanifa Ibn Lujaim.
Some say, however, that she was dne of the captives taken in Yemama
(1), and that she passed into the possession of Ali. Others again say
that she was of a black colour and a native of Sind; that she had been a
servant to a member of the tribe of Hanifa, and that she did not belong
to it by birth. They add, that Khalid Ibn al-Walid granted
peace to this tribe on condition that they should surrender up to hint
their slaves, not themselves. Relative to the surname of Abu' 1-Kasim
borne bv Ibn al-Hanafiya, it is said that he was indebted for it to the kindness of God's blessed Envoy (Muhammad), who said to Ali: "After my death, a son shall be "born to thee, and I bestow on him from this moment my own name and sur"name ? but let no other of my people bear them both." (Yet) among
the persons who bore the name of Muhammad joined to the surname of Abu
'1-Kasim were Muhammad, the son of Abu Bakr as-Siddik (the first khalif); Muhammad, the son of Talha Ibn Obaid Allah; Muhammad, the son of Saad Ibn Abi Wakkas, Muhammad, the son of Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Auf; Muhammad, the son of Jaafar Ibn Abi Talib; Muhammad, the son of Hatib Ibn Abi Baltaa, and Muhammad, the son of al-Ashath Ibn Kais. Ibn al-Hanafiya was a man of great learning (in the latv), and profound piety; the shaikh Abu Ishak as-Shirazi (vol. I. p. 9) has even given him a place in his Tabakdt alrFokahd, or
classified list of jurisconsults. Some extraordinary anecdotes are told
of his great bodily strength, and one of them is thus related by al-Mubarrad, in his Kdmil: 44 Ali, "the father of Ibn al-Hanafiya, had
a coat of mail which he found too long, and "he therefore ordered a
certain quantity of the ring-work to be cutoff it. On "this, his son
Muhammad took the skirt of it with one hand and the body with "the
other, and tore off the piece at the spot marked by his father. When
this "circumstance was told to Abd Allah Ibn az-Zubair, he was seized with an "afkal, or trembling fit, so jealous did he feel of Ibn al-Hanafiya's strength." Ibn az-Zubair also possessed great strength, and on this subject al-Mubarrad 650
relates the following anecdote in his work (2): "He that was king of
the Greeks "in the days of Moawia sent to that khalif a message
expressed in these terms: "' The kings thy predecessors used to send
envoys to our kings, and each "' party endeavoured to produce something
by which it might surpass the "' other; permit me then to do as they.'
Moawia gave his permission, and "the king sent him two men, one, very
tall and bulky, the other possessing "great strength. Moawia then said
to Amr Ibn al-Aasi: 'As for the tall fel44 4 low, we can find his match in Kais Ibn Saad Ibn Obada, but, with regard to "' the strong one, we stand in need of your advice.' Amr made answer: "4 There are here two (strong) men, but you dislike them both; I mean Muham4 4 4 mad Ibn al-Hanafiya and Abd Allah Ibn az-Zubair.'—'Come what may,' "replied Moawia, 'take the one who is nearest (related) to us.' When the two "men (sent by the king of the Greeks) were brought in, a message was sent to "inform Kais Ibn Saad,
and he entered soon after. Having made his salutation "to Moawia, he
took off his trowsers and handed them to the foreign infidel (who 44 tried them on), and they came up to his breast, on which he hung down his
"head as one who is vanquished. It is mentioned
that they blamed Kais for this "action, saying to him: 'Why didst thou
take such a liberty in the presence 4 4 4 of Moawia? why didst thou not send thy adversary another pair?' And "he replied:
'I wished all to know, and
in the presence of the envoys, that these trowsers be'longed to Kais ;
lest it might be said: 'Kais has kept away, and these trowsers belong 11
to a man descended from Aad and related to Thamud (3).' But I am the
chief of 'eighty men, and mankind consists of those who command and
those who are com'manded. By my origin and rank I resemble other men,
but by the length of my 'body I surpass them.'
44 Moawia then sent for Ibn al-Hanafiya, and, when he came in, he informed "him for what purpose his presence was required. Ibn al-Hanafiya then said "to the interpreters): 4
Tell him to take his choice, either to sit down and give "' me his hand
so that I may try and pull him up, or else to stand and I shall 44 4 sit down.' The Greek preferred sitting down, and Muhammad Ibn al-Ha"nafiya pulled him up on his feet, whilst he was unable lo pull Ibn al-Hanafiva "down. Having then asked Ibn al-Hanafiya to sit, he pulled at him, but was "pulled down himself. Both Greeks retired vanquished (4)."—Ibn al-Hanafiya
bore his father's standard at the battle of the Camel; it is said that,
in the early part of the day, he hesitated to take it because it was a
war between Muslims, a thing which had never been witnessed before; but
his father Ali said to him: 44 Canst thou have doubts concerning (the just muse of) an army com44
manded by thy father?" These words decided him, and he took charge of
the standard. He was once asked how it happened that his father exposed
him to dangers and thrust him into difficulties, whilst he never risked
his other sons, al-Hasan and al-Husain? To this he replied: 4 4 They were his two eyes 44 and I was his hands, and he protected his eyes with his hands." One of his sayings was: 44 He is not a man of prudence who, when in company with a 14 person whom he cannot avoid, does not treat him with politeness, till such time 44 as God may set him free." When Abd Allah Ibn az-Zubair proclaimed himself khalif and received the oath of allegiance from the people of Hijaz, he told Abd Allah Ibn al-Abbas and Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiya to take the oath, but they refused, saying: 44 We shall not enter into such an engagement with thee till 44 thou hast all the land under thy orders, and the people unanimous in thy
u favour."
From that moment he rendered their residence in his neighbourhood
extremely irksome, and employed every means of annoying them; he even
threatened to burn them alive unless they took the oath. But the history
of these proceedings would lead us too far.— Ibn al-Hanafiya came into the world (A. H. 21, A. D. 642)
two years before the death of the khalif Omar, and he died at Medina on
the first of Muharram, A.H. 81 (Feb. A.D. 700); others say 83, 82, and
73. The funeral service was said over him by Abban, the son of Othman
lbn Affan, who was then governor of the city. His corpse was deposited
in the Baki Cemetery; but some persons state that he had fled to Taif in
order to escape from Ibn az-Zubair, and that he died there. Others again say that he died at Aila.— The sect called al-Kakdniya believe
him to be one of the Imams, and that he is still residing at Mount
Radwa. Kuthaiyir, the lover of Azza, who was himself a Kaisanite,
alludes to this opinion in the following verses from one of his poems:
A grandson (of the Prophet's) who
shall not taste of death till he lead on the cavalry 631 preceded by
the standards. He remains concealed and invisible for a time, at Radwa,
having honey near him and water.
Al-Mukhtar Ibn Obaid ath-Thakafi was the person who called on the people to acknowledge Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiya for Imam, pretending that he was the Mahdi (5).-— Al-Jauhari says in his Sahdh, that Kaisdn was the surname of this Mokhtar. Other authors say that Kaisan was a mawla to Ali Ibn Abi Talib. The Kaisanites pretend that Ibn al-Hanafiya is
still residing in a valley of Mount Radwa, and that he is not dead.
According to them, he entered there with forty of his companions, and
that they were never heard of after; they are still alive however, and
receive their sustenance (from God). They
say also that he remains in this mountain with a lion on one side of
him and a panther on the other; near him are two springs, running with
water and honey, and he will return to the world and fill it with
justice.— Muhammad (Ibn al-Hanafiya) dyed his hair with hinna and katam (6);
he used also to wear his ring on the left hand. The histories told of
him are well known. The imamate passed from him to his son, Abu Hashim
Abd Allah, and from him to Muhammad Ibn Ali, the father of (the khalifs) as-Saffah and al-Mansur. Of this we shall speak in the life of Muhammad Ibn Ali.—At-Tabari says, in his great historical work, Vol. Ii. 73
under the year 144, that Radiva is the mountain of [the tribe of) Juhaina,
and that it is situated in the canton of Yanbo. Others state that it
lies at a day's journey from Yanbo, and at seven days' journey from
Medina; to the right of it passes the road leading to Medina, and, to
the left, the road leading to the desert, if the traveller be going up
to Mekka. It is at two days' journey from the sea. God knows if this be
correct! Abu '1-Yakzan (7) says, in his Kitdb an.Xisab, that Ibn al-Hanafiya had a son called al-Haitham, and that he was held away {muwakhkhad) from the mosque of the Prophet, being unable to enter it. As a word of the (Arabic) language, al-akhid (the held) means a prisoner, and al-uhkda, signifies any charm, such as magic. It would appear from this that the youth was enchanted.
,1) The expedition into the province of Yemama by Khalid Ibn al-Walld had
for object the destruction of the false prophet Musailama and his
partisans. A very full account of it is given by at-Tabari. See
Kosegarlen's Taberistanensis Annates, vol. I. pag. 149 et seq. See also Price's Retrospect, vol. I. p. 41, etc. and Abu '1-FedS's Annals year 11.
(2) The life of al-Mubarrad will be found in the third volume of this work.
(3) Aad and Thamud were
two Arabic tribes of great antiquity. The Adites were of prodigious
stature, the largest being one hundred cubits high, and the least sixty;
so Jala! ad-dln and az-Zamakhshari inform us in their commentaries on
the Koran, when explaining these words, addressed by the prophet Hud to
the Adites: "Call to mind how he hath appointed you successors unto the
people of Noah, and hath added unto your •' stature largely."—(Koran,
sural 7, verse 67.)
(4) I have already made the remark that al-Mubarrad's work seems unworthy of confidence, and 1 must here express my regret that Ibn khallikan should have been tempted to quote it so often as he does.
(5) Mahdi (for so this word must be pronounced, inasmuch as it is the passive participle of the first form of the verb hada, to direct) signifies the guided, or the well-directed. Sale and others are mistaken in pronouncing it Mohdi and translating it the director.—According
to the Moslims, the end of the world will be announced by a number of
signs, one of which is to be the appearance of the Mahdi, "concerning
whom "Muhammad prophesied that the world should not have an end till one
of his own family should govern the "Arabians, whose name should be the
same with his own name, and whose father's name should also be the
"same with his father's name; and who should fill the earth with
righteousness."—(Sale's Preliminary Discourse to the Koran.)
(6; The Katam (buxus dioicaoi Forsksel) is a species of hi mm. For its description and use, see Dr. Sontheimer's Heil-und-Nahrungsmittel von Ibn Baithar, vol. II. page 348.
(7) Abu '1-Yakzan Aamir Ibn Hafs,
surnamed Suhaim, was a traditionist of acknowledged authority in
whatever regarded the history, genealogy, virtues, and vices of the
Arabs. He composed a great number of works, mostly genealogical, and the
titles of which are given in the Fihrest (MS. 874, fol. 31). According to the author of that work, he died A. H. 170 (A.D. 786-7)
MUHAMMAD AL-BAKIR.
Abu Jaafar Muhammad, the son of Zain al-Aabidin Ali (vol. II. p. 209), the son of al-Husain, the son of Ali Ibn Abi Talib, and surnamed al-Bakir, was one of the twelve Imams, according to the belief of those who admit the imamate (1), and the father of Jaafar as-Sadik (vol I. p. 300). Al-Bakir held a high rank not only by birth but by learning. He received the appellation of al-Bdkir (the ample) because he collected an ample fund (tabakkar) of knowledge (2). It is of him that the poet says:
O thou, copious collector (bdkir) of knowledge for (the instruction of) the pious! and best of those who ever said labbaika (3) on the mountains!
He was born at Medina on
Tuesday, the third of the month of Safar, A. H. 57 (Dec. A.D. 676), and
he completed his third year on the day in which his grandfather, al-Husain, was murdered. His mother, Omm Abd Allah, was the daughter of al-Hasan Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Ali Ibn Abi Talib. He died at al-Humaima, in
the month of the first Rabi, A.H. 113 (May-June), A.D. 731); others
say, on the 23rd of Safar, A.H. 114, or in 117, or the year following.
His corpse was carried to Medina and interred at the Baki cemetery, in
the tomb wherein are deposited the bodies of his father, and his
father's uncle, al-Hasan the son of Ali; it is placed under the same dome which covers the tomb of al-Abbas.—We have already spoken of al-Humaima, in the life of Ali Ibn Abd Allah Ibn alAbbas (vol. II. p. 220.)
(1) That is, "Who maintain that Ali Ibn Abi
Talib was lawful khalif and imam, and that the supreme "authority, both
in spirituals and temporals, of right belongs to his descendants,
notwithstanding they may "be deprived of it by the injustice of others
or their own fear."—(Sale's Preliminary Discourse.)
(2) Others say that he was called al-Bdkir because he split open {bakara) knowledge, that is, he scrutinized it, and examined into the depths of it.
(3) Labbaika signifies: Here I am at thy service: It is an exclamation employed by the pilgrims on approaching the city of Mekka. In d'Ohsson's Tab. gin. tte I'Empire Othom. torn. III. pages 66 and 67, will be found full information on this subject.
MUHAMMAD AL-JAVVAD.
632 Abu Jaafar Muhammad, the son of Ali ar-I\ida (v. II. p. 212), the son of Musa al-Kazim (1), the son of Jaafar as-Sadik (vol. I. p. 300), the son of Muhammad al-Bakir (see the preceding article), and surnamed al-Jawad (the generous , was one of the twelve Imams. Having gone to Baghdad with his wife, Omm alFadl, the daughter of (the khalif) al-Mamun, on a visit to (the khalif) al-Mota sim, he died in that city. His wife was then borne to the palace of her uncle al-Motasim and placed in the haram with the other women.—Al-Jawad used to repeat the following saying of Ali Ibn Abi
Talib's, citing, at the same time, the names of his ancestors through
whom it had been successively transmitted down: "The blessed Prophet
sent me to Yemen, and he counselled me, "saying: '0 Ali! he is never
disappointed who asks good (from God); and
he "' never has a motive for repenting who asks advice. Make it a point
to travel "'by night, for more ground can be got over by night than by
day. 0 Ali! '' ' rise betimes (2) in the name of God, for God hath
bestowed a blessing on "' my people in their early rising.'" He used to
say: "Whosoever gaineth "unto himself a brother in God, hath gained for
himself a mansion in Paradise." Jaafar Ibn Muhammad Ibn Mazyad relates as follows: "I happened to be in Bagh"dad, when Muhammad Ibn Manda
IbnMihrayezd said to me: 'Would you like me to introduce you to
Muhammad, the son of Ali ar-Rida?' I replied: 'Cer'' tainly, I would.'
He then took me in to him, and we saluted and sat down. He "(the imdm) then
said: 'A saying of the blessed Prophet was, that Fatima lived
"'chastely; wherefore God pronounced that her offspring should not be
touched "' by the fire (of hell). But this applied specially to al-Hasan and al-Husain.'"
Numerous anecdotes are told of him. He was born on Tuesday, the 5th of
Ramadan, some say the 15th, A.H. 195 (June, A.D. 811), and he died at
Baghdad on Tuesday, the 5th of 7A '1-Hijja,
A. H. 220 (December, A. D. 835). Some say that he died in the year 219.
He was interred near his grandfather, Musa, the son of Jaafar, in the
Cemetery of the Koraish, and the funeral service was said over him by al-Wathik, the son of (the khalif) al-Motasim.
(1) His life will be found in this work.
(2) In the printed text, for i*| read Ail.
MUHAMMAD AL-HUJJA.
Abu '1-Kasim Muhammad, the son of al-Hasan al-Askari(v.I.p. 390), the son of Ali al-Hadi (t. II. p. 214), the son of Muhammad al-Jawad (see the preceding article), was one of the twelve Imams, according to the opinion of the Imamites. He was surnamed al-Hujja (the proof of the truth), and it is he whom the Shiites pretend to be the Muntazar (the expected), the Kdim (the chief of the age), and the Mahdi (the directed). According to them, he is the Sdhib as-Sirddb (the dweller in the cistern), and the opinions they hold with regard to him are very numerous. They expect his return (into the world) from
a cistern at Sarra man raa, when time is near its end. He was born on
Friday, the 15th of Shaaban, A. H. 255 (July, A. D. 869). When his
father died, he was five years of age. His mother's name was al-Khamt, but some call her Narjis (narcissus). The
Shiites say that he entered into the cistern at his father's house
whilst his mother was looking on, and that he never again came out. This
occurred in the year 265 (A. D. 878-9), and he was at that time nine
years of age. Ibn al-Azrak says, in his
History of Maiyafarikin: "The birth of the Hujja took place on the 9th
of "the first Rabi, A. H. 258; others say, and with greater truth, on
the 8th of "Shaaban, 256 (July, A. D. 870). When he went into the
cistern, his age "was four years; some say five; and others again state
that he entered it in A.H. "275 (A. D. 888-9), at the age of seventeen
years." God best knows which of these statements is true.
IBN SHIHAB AZ-ZUHRI.
Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Muslim Ibn Obaid Allah Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Shihab Ibn Abd Allah Ibn al-Harith Ibn Zuhra, a member of the tribe of Koraish, and surnamed az-Zuhri, was one of the most eminent Tdbts, jurisconsults, and
Traditionists of Medina. He saw ten of Muhammad's Companions, and a num635 ber of the imdms of that age received Traditions from him and transmitted them to others. Of these we may mention Malik Ibn Anas (vol. II. p. 545), Sofyan Ibn Oyaina (vol. I. p. 578), and Sofyan ath-Thauri (vol. I. p. 576).— It is related that Amr Ibn Dinar (vol. I. p. 580, n. (4)) said: "Let az-Zuhri know "what he may, I have met Ibn Omar (v. I. p. 567, n. (1) ), who never went to "meet him; and I have met also Ibn Abbas (v. I. p. 89, n. (3)),
who never went "to meet him." Az-Zuhri then came to Mekka, and Amr
said: "Carry me "to him ;" for he had lost the use of his limbs. They
carried him to az-Zuhri, and he did not return to his disciples till the
next morning. They then asked him how he found az-Zuhri, and he
replied: "By Allah! I never in my life "saw the like of that
Koraishite."—Mak'hul (1) having been asked who was the most learned man
he ever saw, answered: "Ibn Shihab." He was then asked who came next to him, and he answered: "Ibn Shihab." Being again asked who came next, he replied: "Ibn Shihab."—Az-Zuhri had learned by heart all the legal information possessed by the seven jurisconsults (v. I. p. 263), and (the khalif) Omar Ibn Abd al-Aziz wrote these words to all the provinces of the empire: '1Take the opinion of Ibn Shihab (on points of law); for you will "find no one better acquainted than he is with the Sunna (or usages) of times "past."—Az-Zuhri was one day at an assembly (majlis) held by Hisham Ibn Abd el-Malik, and Abou 'z-Zinad Abd Allah Ibn Zikwan (vol. I. p. 580, n. (6)) happened to be present. Hisham then asked az-Zuhri in what month the (regular) donations (from the treasury) were
issued to the people of Medina? and the other replied that he did not
know. He then addressed the same question to Abu 'z-Zinad, who answered:
"In Muharram." On this, Hisham said to az-Zuhri . "0 Abu Bakr! there is
a piece of information which you have ac"quired to-day." To this
az-Zuhri replied: "The Commander of the faithful's "assembly is the
fittest place for acquiring information."—When az-Zuhri kept at home, he
remained seated with his books around him, and so deeply was he
absorbed by their study that he forgot all worldly concerns; this
induced his wife to say to him one day: "By Allah! these books annoy me
more than "three other wives would do (if you had them)."—Abd Allah Ibn Shihab,
his great-grandfather, fought on the side of the infidels at the battle
of Badr, and he was one of those who, on the day in which the battle of
Ohod was fought,
hound themselves by oath to kill God's Apostle if
they saw him, or die in the attempt. It is related that a person said to
az-Zuhri: "Was thy ancestor pre"sent at the battle of Badr?" and that
he replied: "Yes; but on the other "side;" meaning that he had been in
the ranks of the infidels. Muslim,az-Zuhri's father, was a partisan of
Mosab Ibn az-Zubair.— Az-Zuhri remained constantly with Abd al-Malik (2) till that khalif's death, and he then continued with Hisham Ibn Abd al-Malik. (The khalif) Yazid Ibn Abd al-Malik chose him for kddi. He
died on the eve of Tuesday, the 17th of Ramadan, A. H. 124 (July, A.D.
742), (others say, A.H. 123, or 105), at the age of seventy-two, some
say, seventy-three years. It is stated, I know not with what degree of
truth, that he was born A. H. 51 (A. D. 671). He was interred at Addma, or Adama, a
farm which belonged to him. This place is situated on the other side of
Shaghb and Bada, which are valleys (some say villages,) between al-Hijaz and Syria, on the line of separation between these two provinces. It is mentioned, in the Kitdbat-Tamhtd (3), that he died at his house in Naaf, a village near those we have just named, and the same at which Omm Hazra, the wife of al-Jarir (v. 1. p. 294), expired. That poet alludes to the circumstance in the following line from one of his poems:
Was a valley at Naaf, covered with mouldering stones, a fit companion (for thee) who wast the dearest object I possessed?
The tomb of az-Zuhri was placed at the road-side, so that every person who passed by might pray for him.— Zuhri means belonging to Zuhra Ibn Kilab Ibn Murra,
a great branch of the Koraish tribe, the same branch which produced
Aamina, the mother of the Prophet, and a great number of the
Companions.— Speaking of Shaghb and Bada,Kuthaiyir (vol. II. p. 529), the lover of Azza, said:
It was thou who madest me
love the region between Shaghb and Bada, although 654 another country
was my native land. When my eyes drop tears, I pretend that it is the
dust which makes them water; but that dust is Azza, if the doctor knew
it! She dwelt for a season at the one, then at the other, and, from her,
both these valleys have derived their perfume.
This passage seems to prove that they are valleys, not villages.
(1) The life of Mak'hdl is given by Ibn KhallikAn.
12) We must perhaps read: With Yazld Ibn Abd al-Malik. The
printed text agrees, however, with the manuscripts in giving the
reading translated here. >3) Hajji Khalifa indicates a number of
works bearing this title; see Fluegel's edition, torn. II. p. 422,423.
MUHAMMAD IBN ABI L-LAILA.
Muhammad Ibn Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Abi Laila Yasar (alias Dawud) lbn Bilal Ibn Ohaiha Ibn al-Jullah al-Ansari was a native of Kufa. We have already spoken of his father (vol. II. p. 84).
Muhammad was one of those imams who decided certain points of law by
their own private judgment (1), and he exercised the functions of kddi at
Kufa for thirty-three years; first, in the name of the Omaiyides, and
afterwards, in that of the Abbasides. He was also a jurisconsult and a mufti. Speaking
of his father, he said: "I know nothing of "my father, except that he
had two wives, and two green jars in each of which "he made nabid, on alternate days (2)." He studied the law under as-Shabi (v. II. p. 4), and gave lessons to Sofyan ath-Thauri (v. I. p. 576). Ath-Thauri said: "Our jurisconsults are Ibn Abi Laila and Ibn Shuburma (vol. I. p. 539)." Muhammad Ibn Abi Laila relates as follows: "I went in to Ata (vol. II. p. 203)
"and he began to consult me, on which one of the persons present
disapproved "of what he did and spoke to him on the subject, but he
replied: 'He is more "4 learned than I.'"
A slight degree of coolness subsisted between him and Abu Hanifa. It is
related that, as he was one day returning from the mosque at Kufa,
wherein he had been sitting in judgment, he heard a woman say to a man:
"Thou son of a prostitute and a fornicator (Ya Ibn az-Zdniyain)!"
on which he caused her to be arrested, and, having returned to his
tribunal, he ordered her to be flagellated twice, inflicting on her each
time the number of strokes prescribed by law, and this punishment she
underwent standing. When Abu Hanifa was informed of his proceeding, he
said: "In "this single affair, the kddi has
committed six faults: first, in returning to his "mosque after the
sitting was ended, which it was not requisite for him to "do j secondly,
by inflicting the punishment of flagellation in the mosque, a
"thing expressly forbidden by the blessed Prophet; thirdly, by
flagellating "her, and she standing, whereas women should be flagellated
in a sitting "posture and their clothes on; fourthly, by inflicting the
flagellation twice, "whereas the calumniator incurs only one
flagellation, even if he address the "insulting word to a number of
persons; fifthly, were the double flagellation "incurred, he should have
waited, before inflicting the second, till the "pain caused by the
first had ceased; sixthly, he sentenced her to be flagel"lated, although
no prosecutor had made a complaint against her." When this came to the
ears of Muhammad Ibn Abi Laila, he sent
this message to the governor of Kufa: "There is here a youth, called Abu
Hanifa, who attacks my "judgments, and gives opinions in opposition to
them, and insults me by say"ing that I have erred. I wish you would
prevent him from so doing." On this, the governor sent to Abu Hanifa,
ordering him not to give opinions on points of law. They then relate
that Abu Hanifa was one day in his house, with his wife beside him, and
his daughter, and his son Hammad, when his daughter said to him: "Papa! I
am keeping a fast (of abstinence^, and
some "blood has come out from between my teeth, but I spat it out till
my saliva "came clear, without any trace of blood. Should I break the
fast if I swal"lowed my saliva now?" To this her father replied: "Ask
thy brother Ham"mad, for the governor has forbidden me to give opinions
on points of law." This anecdote is cited as an example of Abu Hanifa's
signal merits and of his respectful obedience to the constituted
authority; so much so, that he obeyed even in private, and abstained
from giving an answer to his daughter; this is the utmost extent to
which obedience could be carried.— Muhammad Ibn Abi Laila was born A.H. 74 (A.D. 693-4), and he died at Kufa, A.H. 148 (A.D. 765-6). He held the post of kddi up to the moment of his death, and the place was then conferred on his nephew by (the khalif) Abu Jaafar al-Mansur.
1) At'h&b ar-Rai. See vol. I. 534.
2; This is cited as a proof that he never acquired any legal information from his father, Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Abi Laila, the celebrated Tdbl, although it would have been natural to suppose the contrary.
MUHAMMAD IBN SIRIN.
635 Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Sirin was a native of Basra. His father was a slave to Anas Ibn Malik
(1), but redeemed himself by giving him a written bond for forty, some
say twenty thousand dirhems, the amount of which he finally paid up. He
was one of the captives taken at Maisan (vol. I. p. 372, n. (8)
); others say, at Ain at at-Tamr (2). Sirin bore the surname of Abu
Amra; he belonged to Jarjaraya and was a maker of copper pots (for cooking); having gone to Ain at-Tamr, he there followed his trade till made prisoner by Khalid Ibn al-Walid, along with forty young men not natives of the place. (This circumstance they represented to Khdlid,) but he refused to believe them, and, on their saying that they belonged to good families, he distributed them (as slaves to persons (in his army) (3). Safiya, the mother of Abu Bakr Ibn Sirin, was a mawla to (thekhalif) Abu Bakr. (Preparatory to her marriage,) she
was perfumed by three of the Prophet's wives, and they also invoked
God's blessing on her; eighteen of the Prophet's Companions who had
fought under him at Badr were present at the marriage ceremony; one of
them, Obaiyi Ibn Kaab, offered up prayers, and the rest said Amen. Muhammad Ibn Sirin delivered Traditions on the authority of Abu Huraira (vol. 1. p. 570), Abd Allah Ibn Omar (vol. I. p. 567, Abd Allah Ibn az-Zubair, Imran Ibn Husain (4), and Anas Ibn Malik; Traditions were learned from him and delivered to others by Katada Ibn Diama (vol. II. p. 513), Khalid al-Hadda(5), Aiyub as-Sakhtiyani (6), and others of the imdms. He
was one of the jurisconsults by whose opinions the people of Basra were
guided, and one of the persons of that age the most noted for their
piety. He went to al-Madain to see Abida as-Salmani (7), and (speakingof this interview)he said:
"I prayed with him, and, when he had finished "his prayer, he called
for breakfast; on which, bread and milk and butter were "brought in. He
eat thereof, and we eat with him, and we remained sitting '' till the
hour of the afternoon prayer. Abida then rose up, and having pro''
nounced the izdn and the ikdma (8),
he said with us the afternoon prayer; "and yet neither he nor any of
those who breakfasted with him had made an "ablution between the two
prayers (9)." Muhammad Ibn Sirin was a friend
of al-Hasan al-Basri (v. I. p. 370), but ihey at length came to a rupture, and, on al-Hasan's death, Ibn Sirin absented himself from the funeral. As-Shabi (vol. II. p. 4) used to say (to students of the law): "Stick to that deaf man !" meaning thereby Ibn Sirin; because he was dull of hearing. Ibn Sirin possessed great skill in the interpretation of dreams. He was born (w? 4. H. 33, A. D. 653-4)
two years before the death of the khalif Othman, and he died at Basra
on Friday, the 9th of Shawwal, A.H. 110 (January, A. D. 729); one
hundred days after the death of al-Hasan al-Basri. He
was a draper by profession, but, having fallen into debt, he was
imprisoned. He had thirty sons by the same wife, and eleven daughters;
none of them, however, survived except Abd Allah. He died thirty
thousand dirhems in debt, but his son Abd Allah paid off the whole, and,
before his own death, his property was estimated at three hundred
thousand dirhems. Muhammad Ibn Sirin had served Anas Ibn Malik in the capacity of a secretary when in Persia (10). Al-Asmai (vol. II. p. 123) used to say: " Al-Hasan al-Basri "{was, in furnishing Traditions, like) a generous prince; but when the deaf man "f meaning Ibn Sirin) furnishes Traditions, retain them carefully; as for Ka"ada, (he was, as a collector of Traditions, like) one who gathers fire-wood in "the dark, (picking up both bad and good)." Ibn Auf (11) relates as follows: "When Anas Ibn Malik was on his death-bed, he desired that Ibn Sirin "should wash his corpse and say over it the funeral prayers. As Ibn "Sirin
was then in prison, their friends went to the governor of the city,
"who was a member of the tribe of Asad, and obtained permission for him
"to go out. Ibn Sirin then went and
washed the body, and shrouded it, and '' prayed over it in the castle at
at-Taff (12), where Anas made his residence, "and then returned
directly to prison without going to see his family." I must observe,
however, that Omar Ibn Shabba (vol. II. p. 375) says, in his History of Basra, that the person who washed the corpse of Anas Ibn Malik was Katan Ibn Mudrik al-Kilabi, the governor of Basra; and a similar statement is made by Abu Yakzan (vol. II. p. 578, n. (6) ).— Maisdn is the name of a village situated in the lower part of the territory of Basra. Of Ain at-Tamr we have already spoken (vol. I. p. 202).
(1) Abfl Hamza Anas Ibn Malik Ibn an-N'adr (^aJI) Ibn an-Najjar al-Ansari, surnamed the servant of God's Apostle [khddim rastil Utah), was one of the most eminent among the Companions. When a boy, his
mother placed him in the service of Muhammad, from
whom she requested, at the same time, a prayer for her son. In
compliance with her wish, Muhammad pronounced these words: "Almighty
God! give him "great wealth and numerous children, and make him enter
Paradise." The effects of this prayer were manifested later; the riches
of Anas multiplied, his date-trees bore fruit twice a year (it is said1, and he became the father of seventy-eight sons. At the time of Ibn al-Ashath's revolt, al-Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf reviled Anas in the grossest terms for having sided with that rebel as he had already done with Ali and Ibn az-Zubair. Anas immediately wrote to Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan,
complaining of the indignity with which he, the Prophet's faithful
domestic, had been treated; and this brought him a letter of excuses
from that khalif, who addressed at the same time a severe reprimand to al-Hajjaj. Anas
was ten years in Muhammad's service, and. on his master's death, he
removed to Basra. A great quantity of Traditions were delivered by him,
some consisted of the sayings which he had gathered from the lips of
Muhammad himself, and the rest of those which he received from Abu Bakr,
Omar, Othman, and others. He died A. H. 93 (A. D. 711-2).—(Star as-Salaf. - Oiyun at-Tawdrtkh.)
(2) See Kosegarten's Taberistanentis Annates, vol. II. p. 63.
(3) Here Ibn Khallikan's
text is obscure, and perhaps corrupted. At-Tabari relates the fact
thus: "In "templo quadraginta juvenes invenerunt (.irate*), evangelio
studentes, qui fores occluserant. Fores effregit "Chalid, iisque: quinam
estis? inquit. Illivero: obsides sumus. Tunc fortissimis militibus eos
dispertivit. "Erant ex iis Abu Sii&d....Strln, pater Mohammedis ben
Strln, etc."—(Kosegarten's Taberislanensit Annates, vol. II. p. 63.)
(4) Imran Ibn Husain al-Khuz&i, one of the Prophet's Companions, became kddi of Basra, and died there in the exercise of his functions, A. H. 53 (A. D. 672-3).—(Siar as-Salaf.)
(5, The hdfiz Khalid at-Haddft was a native of Basra and an eminent Tdbi. He delivered Traditions on the authority of Anas, and died A. H. 142 (A. D. 759-60). He received the surname of al-Hadda, because he used to sit with the shoemakers (huddd) of the place where he resided.—(Al-Yafl's Mir At A
(6) Abu Bakr Aiyub Ibn Abi Tamlma, a native of Ghazza and a mavola, received the surname of as-Sakhti yani because he sold dyed leather (sakhtiydn) at Basra. He held a high rank as a Tdbi, and he sawsome of the most eminent of that body, such as al-Hasan al-Basri, Ibn Slrtn, Salim, and Nifl. He met also Anas Ibn Malik. Traditions were given on his authority by Ibn Strln, Katdda, al-Aamash, the imSms M&lik, ath-Thauri, Ibn Oyaina,
the two Hammads, etc. All doctors agree in assigning him the highest
place for learning in the law and for credibility as a Traditionist.
Shdba called him the chief of the jurisconsults, and Ibn Oyaina declared that amongst eighty-six of the Tdbls whom he knew, he never met the like of Aiyub. He died A. H. 131 (A. D. 748-9).—{Tab. al-Fokahd.)
(7) Abu Muslim Abtda as-SalmAni, a native of Kufa and a Tdbt of
the first rank, embraced islamism two years before the Prophet's death,
but never had an opportunity of seeing him. He acquired his legal
information from some of the principal Companions. He left Kufa to
assist the khalif Ali in his wars against the Kharijites. When Shuraih
was unable to resolve a knotty point of law, he sent it to Abtda. This
doctor died A.H. 72 (A. D. 691-2).—(Tab. al-Fokahd.)
(8) If the Musulman, before he begins his prayers, has not distinctly heard the call to prayer (or izdn) pronounced by the muezzin, it is incumbent on him to repeat it and the ikdma before commencing the regular prayer. The ikdma is a repetition of the izdn with some additional words.—See D'Ohsson's Tab. gin. de I'Emp. Othom. torn. II. p. 116.
(9> This circumstance is cited to prove that Abtda did not consider the act of eating as productive of legal impurity.
(10) The original Arabic may here bear another signification, namely: It was in Persia that Jo purchase his liberty) he gave his bond to Anas Ibn Malik.
(11) I read here, Ibn Aun. Abu Aun Abd Allah Ibn Aan
lbn Artaban, a maw (a of Abd Allah lbn Dorra, was a distinguished
traditionist and one of lbn Slrln's disciples. He died A H. 151 (A. D.
768).—(ISujum.
(12) See vol. II. page 534.—The Katil at-Taff [slain at Taff) was Husain, the son of All. — ilbn Khaldon. MS. No. 2402, f. 52 v.)
IBN ABI DIB.
Abu '1-Harith Muhammad, a member of the tribe of Koraish and of the family of Aamir, and surnamed Ibn Abi Dib, was the son of Abd er-Bahman Ibn alMughaira Ibn al-Harith Ibn Abi Dib Hisham Ibn Said Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abi Kais 634J Ibn Abd Wadd Ibn Nasr Ibn Malik Ibn Hisl Ibn Aamir Ibn Luwaiyi Ibn Ghalib Ibn Fihr Ibn Malik Ibn an-Nadr Ibn Kinana Ibn Khuzaima Ibn Mudrika Ibn al-Yas Ibn Modar Ibn Nizar Ibn Maadd Ibn Adnan.
This illustrious jurisconsult was one of the imam Malik's disciples,
and a sincere friendship united them in the closest attachment. When
Malik went to Abu Jaafar al-Mansur, that khalif asked him what masters (in the science of jurisprudence) he had left behind him at Medina, and he replied: "Commander of the faithful! Ibn Abi "Dib, Ibn Abi Salama(1), and Ibn Abi Sabra (2)." Abd ar-Bahman, the father of Ibn Abi Dib, went to see the emperor of the Greeks (Kaisar), but
in consequence of some malicious reports which were made against him,
that sovereign had him arrested and confined in prison for life. Abu
'1-Harith Ibn Abi Dib died at Kufa, A. H.
159 (A. D. 775-6); some say, 158. He was born in the month of Muharram,
A.H. 81 (Feb.-March, A.D. 700); some say, A.H. 80, the year of the
great torrent (as-Sail al-Juhdf) (3).—Hisl (as an appellative name) signifies the young of the dubb (4). If the second syllable of the word Luwaiyi be considered as a hamza, this name is the diminutive form of l&i {bull); but, if not, it is the diminutive of laiva (a sand-hill).—Fihr means a stone.
(1) AbO Abd Allah Abd al-Azh Ihn Abi Salama, surnamed al-Majishun, died at Baghdad. A. H. 160 (A. U. 776-7).-[Tabak&t al-Fokahd.)
MUHAMMAD IBN AL-HASAN.
Abu Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Farkad, a doctor of the sect of Abu Hanifa, and a mawla to
the tribe of Shaiban, came of a family which resided at Harasta, a
village outside the gate of Damascus and in the midst of the Ghuta (1).
His father left Syria and proceeded to Wasit in Irak, where he settled.
Muhammad, the subject of this article, was born in that city, and he
passed his early life in Kufa. He then travelled to collect Traditions,
and met a number of the most eminent imdms. During
some years, he attended the sittings of Abu Hanifa, after which, he
studied jurisprudence under Abu Yusuf, the disciple of Abu Hanifa. He
composed many valuable works, such as the Great and the Lesser Jdmt, or
collection of Traditions, etc. In his various productions he inserted
disquisitions on various obscure points, particularly those connected
with grammar. He contributed actively to the propagation of the
doctrines taught by Abu Hanifa. He expressed himself with great
elegance, and, when he discoursed on any subject, it seemed to the
hearers as if the Koran had been sent down to mankind in the language
which he spoke. When the imam as-Shafi (vol. II. p. 569), went to Baghdad, Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan was there, and they both met frequently and discussed points of law in the presence of Harun ar-Rashid. As-Shafi was (afterwards) heard
to say: "I "never saw a person who, when questioned on a point which
required "reflexion, did not betray some uneasiness by his countenance;
but I must "except Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan." He said again: "The information which "I learned by heart from Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan would suffice to load a "camel." The following anecdote was related by ar-Rabi Ibn Sulaiman alMuradi [vol. I. p. 519): "As-Shafi, having asked from Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan "the
loan of some books which he wished to copy, waited for a considerable
"time without obtaining them, and he at length wrote to him the
following "lines: •
"Say to him whose like was never seen by any eye
you ever saw — to him whose "aspect would make the spectator think that
he had before his eyes (the united merit of) "all
former doctors: 'Learning forbids the learned to withhold it from the
learned.' "Perhaps he may bestow it on one deserving 1 perhaps he may!
"Immediately on receiving this note, Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan sent him "the books." I found these verses also in the collected poetical works of Mansur Ibn Ismail, a jurisconsult whose life I shall give. He is there said to be the author of them, and to have written them to Abu Bakr Ibn Kasim; as for the former statement, it is made by Abu Ishak as-Shirazi (vol I. p. 9), in his Tabakdt al-Fokahd. It is related that as-Shafi said: "I never met with a "fat man possessing acuteness of mind, except Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan." Ar-Rashid conferred the kadiship of ar-Rakka on Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan, but afterwards removed him, and this doctor then proceeded to Baghdad. "The following anecdote was related by Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan:
"Some "persons went to consult Abu Hanifa about a woman who had just
died, "and in whose womb they felt a child stirring. He told them to
extract "the infant by making an incision, and it proved to be a boy.
The child "survived and grew up to be a youth; and this youth, having
commenced "his studies, used to attend my sittings, where he was known
by the appel"lation of the son of Abu Hanifa." Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan remained
constantly with ar-Rashid, till that khalif made his first journey to
Rai; he 657 then set out with him, and died at Ranbawaih, a village near
Rai, in the year 189 (A. D. 804-5). He was born A. H. 135 (A. D.
752-3); some say 131 or 132. As-Samani (vol. II. p. 156) says that Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan and al-Kisai (vol. II. p. 237)
died at Rai on the same day. It is mentioned that ar-Rashid was heard
to say: "I buried at Rai the sciences of jurisprudence "and grammar."
Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan was cousin by the mother's side to al-Farra, the celebrated grammarian and philologer.
MUHAMMAD IBN ALI AL-HASHIMI.
Abu Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Ali Ibn Abd Allah Ibn al-Abbas Ibn Abd alMuttalib al-Hashimi was the father of the two khalifs as-Saftah and al-Mansur. We have already spoken of his father Ali [see page 216 of this volume). "This "Muhammad," says Ibn Kutaiba,
" was a most handsome man, and lived "honoured with the deepest
respect. A space of only fourteen years intervened "between his birth
and that of his son Ali. The latter used to die his hair "black, and the
former, red; it therefore happened that persons who were not "well
acquainted with them mistook one for the other." Yazid Ibn Abi Muslim, the secretary of al-Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf (vol. I. p. 356), states that he heard his master relate the following anecdote: "We happened to be with Abd al-Malik Ibn "Marwan,
at a country-seat of his, near Duma tal-Jandal (1); he was conversing
*' with a physiognomist and addressing questions to him, when Ali Ibn Abd "Allah Ibn al-Abbas came in, accompanied by his son Muhammad. On seeing "him approach, Abd al-Malik ceased
from conversation; his colour changed, "and he began to mutter some
words between his lips. I immediately sprung "up with the intention of
preventing Ali from advancing, but the khalif made "me a sign that I
should let him alone. He then drew near and made his saluta"tion, on
which Abd al-Malik seated him by his side; and whilst he was pass"ing his hand (carelessly) over his (AU's) clothes, he signed to Muhammad ii that
he also should be seated. He then commenced discoursing with Ali, the
"agreeable tone of whose conversation was well known. A repast being
brought "in, the khalif washed his hands, and ordered the tray to be
placed near Abu "Muhammad (AH), but he said that he was then keeping a fast, and, rising up "suddenly, he retired. Abd al-Malik followed
him with his eyes till he had nearly "disappeared from sight, and then,
turning to the physiognomist, he asked "him if he knew who that was?
The man replied that he did not, but that "he knew one thing respecting
him. The khalif desired to know what that "was, and the physiognomist
said: 'If the youth who is with him be his son, "1 there
will come forth from his loins a number of Pharaohs, destined to "'
possess the earth and slay whoever attempts to resist them!' On hearing
"these words, Abd al-Malik turned
pale, and said: 'A monk from Aila who "' once saw him with me,
pretended that thirteen kings should come forth "' from his loins, and
he described to me the appearance of each.'" The authority (of the imamate) was transmitted to him in the following manner: Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiya, of whom we have already spoken (vol. II. p. 574), was considered by the Shiites as having acquired the qualities of the true imdm on the death of his brother al-Husain. When Ibn al-Hanifiya died, his authority passed to his son Abu Hashim (vol. II. p. 577).
The influence which Abu Hashim possessed was immense, and the Shiites
acknowledged him for their chief. Being taken ill in Syria, and at the
point of death, he left the authority to Muhammed Ibn Ali,
as he had himself no offspring, and he said: "Thou art now '' the
possessor of this authority, and it shall remain with thy children." He
then delivered him his books (or letters), and
the Shiites immediately turned towards him. When Muhammad was on his
death-bed in Syria, he left his authority to his son Ibrahim, surnamed (thenceforward) the Imdm. Ibrahim was imprisoned in the city of Harran, by Marwan Ibn Muhammad,
the last of the Omaiyides, and, feeling convinced that this prince
meant to put him to death, he transmitted the authority to his brother
as-Saftah, who was the first of the Abbaside family who obtained the
khalifate. Such are the main points of the whole proceeding, but C58 to
expose the particulars of it would lead us too far. Muhammad (Ibn Ali) was
born A. H. 60 (A. D. 679-80); so, at least, I have found it mentioned;
but this date cannot be reconciled with that of his father's birth, if,
as has been already stated, fourteen years only intervened between them:
we have observed (vol. II. p. 220)
that his father's birlh took place in the lifetime of Ali, or, in
admitting another statement, on the night in which that khalif was
assassinated; now, Ali's death occurred in the month of Ramadan, A. H.
40 (January, A. D. 661); how then could fourteen years only have
elapsed, when it appears, on the contrary, that there must have been at
least twenty years between the two events?— Muhammad died A. H. 126 (A.
D. 743-4), some say 122, the same year in which was born al-Mahdi, the son of Abu Jaafar al-Mansur and
the father of Harun ar-Rashid. Others refer the death of Muhammad to
the year 125, and state that he breathed his last at as-Sharat.
At-Tabari says, in his History: "Mu"hammad Ibn Ali
expired on the first of Zu '1-Kaada, A. H. 126 (August, "A.D. 744), at
the age of sixty-three years." We have spoken of as-Sharat in Vol. ii. 75
the life of his father Ali (vol. II. p. 220).
—In at-Tabari's historical work, the following passage is inserted
under A. H. 98: "Abu Hashim Abd Allah, the son "of Muhammad Ibn al-Hanafiya, went to see Sulaiman Ibn Abd al-Malik Ibn "Marwan,
by whom he was received with marked honour. He then set out for
"Palestine, and Sulaiman suborned a person to await his passage on the
road, "and offer him a draught of poisoned milk. Abu Hashim had no
sooner swal'' lowed the milk than he felt death to be at hand, and he
immediately turned off "from his way, and proceeded to al-Humaima. He there found Muhammad Ibn "Ali Ibn Abd Allah Ibn al-Abbas, and told him that he transmitted his rights "as legitimate khalif to Abd Allah Ibn al-Harithiya, the son of Muhammad Ibn "Ali."—This Ibn al-Harithiya is
the same person who afterwards bore the title of as-Saffah.—" He then
delivered to him the letters written by the missiona"ries (or political agents) (3) and instructed him how to act at al-Humaina." AtTabari
lakes no notice here of Ibrahim the Imam, yet all other historians
agree in stating that Abu Hashim's rights to the khalifate were
transmitted to Ibrahim, who did not, however, attain (o their full
exercise.
(1) The author of the Mardtid notices a number of places bearing the name of Duma tal-Jandal; one
of them, a castle in the district of Medina; another, a village at five
parasangs from Damascus; and the third, a place in the vicinity of the
Two Mountains of Tai {J aba I at Tai . That which is mentioned in this article seems to be the second indicated in the Mardtid.
(2) The cultivated country around Damascus is called the Ghata.
(3) It has been already
observed, vol. I. p. 26, that some of the Moslim dynasties had the way
prepared for their establishment by political agents or missionaries.
Those dynasties all claimed kindred with Muhammad, and this was the
basis on which they founded their pretensions to the khalifate. In M. de
Sacy's Exposi de I'llistoire den Druzes, a very clear light is thrown on the proceedings of the Ismallian missionaries.
a mawla to the tribe of Jofi, and surnamed al-Bukhari, was the great imdm in the science of the Traditions, and the author of the work entitled al-Jdmi at-Sahth (the authentic collector) and of the (well-knoivn) history
(1). Animated with the desire of collecting Traditions, he went to see
most of the Traditionists in all the great cities, and he wrote down in
Khorasan, in the cities of Irak, in Hijaz, in Syria, and in Egypt (the information he thus acquired). On
visiting Baghdad, the inhabitants gathered round him, and acknowledging
his merit, declaring him to be the first man of the age for his
learning in the Traditions, and for his talent in delivering them to
others. It is related by Abu Abd Allah al-Humaidi, in his Jadwa tal-Muktabis, and by the Khatib, in his History of Baghdad, that, when al-Bukhari arrived
at that city, the Traditionists assembled, and, having selected one
hundred Traditions, they applied to the text of each a wrong isndd (2), and gave them by tens to ten different persons, whom they directed to attend the conference held by al-Bukhari, and
submit to him these Traditions. When the appointed day came, a great
number of Traditionists from Khorasan proceeded with those of Baghdad to
the meeting. The assembly having taken their places, one of the ten men
came forward and questioned al-Bukhari on
one of these Traditions. This doctor answered that he was not
acquainted with it, and the other proceeded to ask his opinion on the
remaining nine, which he submitted to him successively. As Al-Bukhari continued
to answer: "I am not acquainted with it;" the jurisconsults present at
the meeting began to turn from one to another and say: "The man knows
what he is about;" but some of the auditors were led to conclude that he
was a man of great incapacity and slight information. Another of the
ten men then came forward, and, having 659 proposed in a similar manner
his ten altered Traditions, he obtained the same answers as his
predecessor. The eight others then advanced successively, but the result
was always the same. When al-Bukhari perceived
that they had done, he turned to the first man and said: " Thy first
Tradition should be said so and so; thy second so and so;" repeating
them till he came to the last, and prefixing to the text of each the
isndd which belonged to it. He then commenced with the second man,
answering him in the same way, and he continued till he ended by the
tenth. The whole assembly then acknowledged his abilities as a hdfiZj and admitted his superior merit. When Ibn Said (3) spoke of al-Bukhari, he called him the butting ram whom none could withstand }.— Muhammad
Ibn Yusuf al-Farabri (4) relates that he heard al-Bukhari say: "I never in"serted a Tradition in my Sahih till after I had made an ablution, and offered "up a prayer of two rakas (5)." It is also stated that al-Bukhari said: "It "took me sixteen years to draw up the Kitdb as-Sahth. I
selected the matter "which forms its contents from a mass of six
hundred thousand Traditions, and "I have offered it up to God as a title
to his favour."—Al-Farabri mentioned that ninety thousand persons had learned the Sahih from al-Bukhari, and,
that of all who taught it on the authority of the author, he himself
was the sole survivor. Abu Isa at-Tirmidi (6) also taught Traditions on
the authority of al-Bukhari. The birth of al-Bukhari took place after the public prayer of Friday, the 13th of Shawwal, A. H. 194 (July, A. D. 810); but Abu Yala alKhalili (vol. I. p. 53, n. (3) ) states, in his Kitdb ar-Irshdd, that
it happened on the 12th of the above mentioned month. He died at
Khartank, on the eve of Saturday, the first of Shawwal, A. H. 256
(September, A. D. 870), after the evening prayer, and he was buried the
following day, on the termination of the afternoon prayer. Ibn Yunus mentions, in his History of Foreigners (see page 93 of this vol.), that al-Bukhari came to Egypt and died there. This is, however, a mistake, and the truth is as we have just stated. Khalid Ibn Ahmad Ibn Khalid ad-Dohli, the governor of Khorasan, banished al-Bukhari from Bukhara, and sent him to Khartank; Khalid then made the pilgrimage, and, on arriving at Baghdad, he was imprisoned by al-Muwaffak Ibn al-Mutawakkil, the brother of the khalif al-Motamid, and detained in confinement till he died. Al-Bukhari was a lean-bodied man and of the middle size. Different opinions are held respecting the true name of his ancestor (surnamed al-Ahnaf); some say that he was called Yezdibah, but Ibn Makula says, in his Ikmdl (vol. II. p. 248), that his name was Yezdezbah. This person was a Magian and died in that religion. The first of his ancestors who embraced Islamism was al-Mughaira.— In another work, I find the former of al-Bukhari's ancestors called al-Ahnaf, it is therefore possible that Yezdibah was really ahnaf, or club-footed.—Bukhdri means belonging to Bukhdra, a great city in Transoxiana, at eight days' journey from Samarkand.—Khartank is a village in the district of Samarkand.— We have already spoken of Jofi (vol. I. p. 106). Al-Bukhari bore the surname of Jofi because his family were mawlas to Said Ibn Jaafar al-J6fi, governor of Khorasan.
(1) SecFluegel's Hajji Khalifa, torn. II. pag. 117, No. 2174. (2) See vol. I. Introduction, page xiii.
{3. Abu Muhammad Yahya Ibn Said, a native of Baghdad and a mawla to Abu Jaafar al-Mansur, was one of the most eminent h&fiz of Irak. He died A. H. 318 (A. D. 930-1).—(A'ujdm. Al-Yaft.i (4) His life will be found in this work. («) Sec vol. I. page 624. (6) His life will be found in this volume.
IBN JARIR AT-TABARI.
Abu Jaafar Muhammad Ibn Jarir Ibn Yazid Ibn Khalid at-Tabari (native of Tabarestdn) is
the author of the great commentary on the Koran and of the celebrated
history. Some say that his grandfather Yazid was the son of Kathir 040 Ibn Ghalib. At-Tabari was an imdm [master of the highest authority) in
many various branches of knowledge, such as koranic interpretation,
Traditions, jurisprudence, history, etc. He composed some fine works on
various subjects, and these productions are a testimony of his extensive
information and great abilities. He was one of the mujtahid imdms (1), as he (judged for himself and ) adopted the opinions of no particular doctor. Abu '1-Faraj al-Moafa Ibn Zakariya an-Nahrawani, surnamed Ibn Tarara, was a follower of his doctrines. We shall give a notice on this person. Ibn Jarir
at-Tabari is held to merit the highest confidence as a transmitter of
traditional information, and his history is the most authentic and the
most exact of any. The shaikh Abu Ishak as-Shirazi (vol. I. p. 9) places him among the mujtahids, in his Tabakdt al-Fokahd (classified list of jurisconsults). I found in some compilation or other the following verses attributed to at-Tabari:
When I am reduced to poverty, I let my brother know
it not; and when I am rich, I enrich my friends. My honest pride
prevents me from losing my self-respect; and if I do ask a favour,
modesty is always my companion. But did I condescend to forego my
self-respect, I should soon be on a beaten path to riches.
He was born A. H. 224 (A.
D. 838-9), at Amul in Tabarestan, and he died at Baghdad on Saturday
evening, the 25lh of Shawwal, A. H. 310 (February, A. D.
023). He was buried, the next day, in (the court of ) his own house. I saw in
the Lesser Karafa cemetery, at the foot of Mount Mukattam near Old Cairo, a
tomb which is often visited, and at the head of which is a stone bearing this
inscription: "This is the tomb of Ibn Jarir at-Tabari." The public imagine it
to belong to the author of the history, but this opinion is erroneous, the fact
heing that he was buried at Baghdad; and Ibn Yunus himself says, in his His-
tory of the foreigners who came to Egypt (2), that such was really the case. Abu
Bakr al-Khowarezmi, a celebrated poet whose life we shall give, was a sister's
son to at-Tabari.
the Lesser Karafa cemetery, at the foot of Mount Mukattam near Old Cairo, a
tomb which is often visited, and at the head of which is a stone bearing this
inscription: "This is the tomb of Ibn Jarir at-Tabari." The public imagine it
to belong to the author of the history, but this opinion is erroneous, the fact
heing that he was buried at Baghdad; and Ibn Yunus himself says, in his His-
tory of the foreigners who came to Egypt (2), that such was really the case. Abu
Bakr al-Khowarezmi, a celebrated poet whose life we shall give, was a sister's
son to at-Tabari.
ill See vol. 1. Introduction, page xxvi, 201.
(2i See vol. II. page 94.
(2i See vol. II. page 94.
MUHAMMAD IBN ABD AL-HAKAM.
Abu Abd Ailah Muhammad Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abd al-IIakam Ibn Aayan Ibn Laith Ibn Bafi was a native of Egypt and a doctor of the Shafite sect. He commenced by receiving lessons from Ibn Wahb (vol. II. p. 1 5) and Ash'hab (vol. I. p.223), the disciples of the inuim Malik,
but, when as-Shafi went to Egypt, he became his pupil and studied
jurisprudence under him. During the persecution at Baghdad (1), he was
taken before the kddi Ibn Abi Duwad al-Iyadi (vol. I. p. 61),
but, as he refused to do what was required of him, they sent him back
to Egypt, where he finally became chief of the Shafite sect. He was born
A. H. 182 (A. D. 798-9), and he died on Wednesday, the first of
Zu'l-Kaada (some say the 15th), A. H. 268 (May, A. D. 882.) His tomb is
stated to be near those of his father and of his brother Abd ar-Bahman,
and these two are situated close to as-Shafi's. Of this we have already
spoken (vol. II. p. 14). Ibn Kani (vol. I. p. 374)
mentions that he died at Old Cairo, A. H. 269. Abu Abd ar-Bahman
an-Nasai cites him as his authority for some of the Traditions which he
gives in the Sumn (vol. I. p. 58). Al-Muzani (vol. I. p. 200) relates as follows: "We "used to go to as-Shafi that we might hear his lessons, and we would sit down
"at the door of his house. Muhammad Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abd al-Hakam "would
then come, and go in, and make a long stay; he would even sometimes
"breakfast with him. On coming down, as-Shafi would begin to read to us,
"and, on finishing, he would bring Muhammad's mule and help him to
mount, "after which, he would keep watching him till he disappeared, and
then sav: "' To obtain a son like him, I should consent to be in debt
for a thousand dinars "' and unable to find wherewithal to pay them.'"
-It is related that Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Hakam said:
"I used to go frequently to as-Shafi, and in consequence "of this, a
number of persons belonging to our sect went to my father"—who, as has
been said (vol. II. p. 14), was a Malikite —" and said to him: 'Abu '' ' Muhammad! (thy son) Muhammad
attaches himself exclusively to this man, 641 "' and frequents him
constantly. This indicates that thy son has a dislike for "' the sect to
which he belongs.' My father essayed to calm them, say," ing: 'He is
young, and wishes to learn and examine the different opinions "' held on
the same subject.' He then took me in private and said: 'Stick "' to
that man, my boy! for if you leave this city, and happen to say, when
"you discuss a question: AsKhab relates that Mdlik'said—you
will be asked who "' was Ash'hab.' In consequence of this advice, I
attended with assiduity the "lessons of as-Shafi, and the words of my
father never left my memory; till, "having gone to Irak, the kddi consulted
me on a question in the presence of "the company assembled at his
house, and, in discussing it, I happened to "say: 'Ash'hab relates that
Malik said'—on which he asked who was Ash'hab, "and turned towards the
company for an answer. One of the persons present "replied, as if
perfectly ignorant on the subject: 'I know neither Ash'hab "' (brown)
nor Ablak (gray)\" Of Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Hakam, numerous anecdotes are related. Al-Kudai states, in his Khital (2), that this was the Muhammad whom Ahmad Ibn Tulun (vol. I. p. 153) took by night to the aqueduct which he had constructed at al-Maafir, and
the water of which the people hesitated to employ either for drinking
or for making ablutions (3). Muhammad then drank thereof and made use of
it for his ablutions, whereat Ibn Tulun
was so highly pleased, that he detained him no longer and sent him a
rich present (4). It is generally said that the circumstance here spoken
of occurred to al-Muzani, but this is not exact.
(1) This was the persecution in which Ahmad Ibn Hanbal displayed the fortitude which rendered him illustrious. See vol. I. page 44. The khalif al-Motasim endeavoured to force the doctors of that time to hold that the Koran was created. See Aba '1-Feda's Annals, year 219.
(2) The life of al-Kudai will be found some pages farther on.
^3) The people refused to
make use of the water coming from this aqueduct, because they imagined
that the money employed in its construction had not been acquired by the
sovereign in a lawful manner. See,vol. I. p. 414 of this work, the
anecdote told by Ibn Khallikan of Abo Ishak as-Shtrazi's repugnance to saying his prayers in the Niidmiya College.
l4) "The compiler of the history of Ahmad Ibn Talon says: When Ahmad Ibn Talon
had finished ihe "erection of this aqueduct, he learned that some
persons did not consider it lawful to drink of the water "which it
supplied. Muhammad Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abd al-Hakam"—the doctor whose life Ibn Khallikan gives here—" relates as follows: I was one night in my house, when a slave of Ahmad Ibn TolAn's came to "find me and said: 'The emir wanteth thee.' Filled with terror and apprehension, I mounted my horse,
and the slave led me off the public road. 'Whither
dost thou take me?' said I. 'To the desert,' was bis "answer, 'and the
emir is there.' Convinced that my last hour was come, I said to the
slave: 'God help "' me! I am an aged and feeble man; dost thou know what
he wanteth with me?' He took pity on my "state and answered: 'Avoid
making any remark against the aqueduct.' I still went forward with him,
"till suddenly I perceived torch-bearers in the desert, and Ahmad Ibn Tulon
on horseback at the door of "the aqueduct, with great wax-lights
burning before him. I immediately dismounted and saluted him, but "he
did not greet me in return; I then said: '0 emir! thy messenger hath
grievously fatigued me, and I
'suffer from thirst. Allow
me, I beg, to take a drink.' On this, the pages offered me water, but I
said: "'No; I shall draw some for myself.' I then drew water whilst he
looked on, and 1 drank to such a degree "that I thought I should have
burst. On finishing, I said: '0 emir! may God quench thy thirst at the
"' rivers of Paradise I for I have drunk to my utmost wish, and I know
not which to praise most—the excellence "' of the water, joined to its
sweetness and coolness, or its clearness, or the sweet smell of the
aqueduct.' "He looked at me a moment, and said: 'I want thee for
something, but this is not the time. Let this man "retire.' I
immediately retired, and the slave said to me: 'Thou hast hit the mark!'
To which I answered: "' May God reward thee I were it not for thee, I
had perished.' The construction and completing of this "aqueduct cost
forty thousand dinars."—(Al-Makrtzi's Khitat; chapter towards the end of the work, and
Abu Jaafar Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Nasr
at-Tirmidi, a jurisconsult of the sect of as-Shafi, was the ablest of
them all in that age, the most devout and the most abstemious. He
resided at Baghdad, and taught Traditions in that city on the authority
of Yahya Ibn Bukair al-Misri (1), Yusuf Ibn Adi, KaAT-TIRMIDI THE JURISCONSULT.
thir Ibn Yahya, and other masters. Traditions were delivered on his own authority by the kddi Ahmad Ibn Kamil (vol. I. p. 874), Abd al-Baki Ibn Kani (vol. I. p. 374),
and others. His character as a traditionist is perfectly established,
and he bore a high reputation for learning, merit, and
self-mortification. Abu 't-Taiyib Ahmad Ibn Othman as-Simsar, the father of Abu Hafs Omar Ibn Shahin (vol. I. p. 324) relates as follows: "I was at Abu Jaafar at-Tirmi"di's, when a person consulted him about the saying of the Prophet, that God 44 descendeth to the heaven of the world (i. e. the lowest of the seven heavens); and "this person expressed his desire to know how there could, in that case, be "any thing more exalted (than the lowest heaven)! To which at-Tirmidi replied: '' 4
The descent is intelligible; the manner how is unknown; the belief
therein "' is obligatory, and the asking about it is a blamable
innovation.'" His moderation in respect to food was extreme, and this
resulted from indigence, devotion, and patience under poverty. It is
related by Muhammad Ibn Musa Ibn Hammad,
that at-Tirmidi told him that he had subsisted seventeen days on five
pence — (three pence, according to another version)—" I then asked
"him," said Ibn Hammad, "how he had
managed, and he replied: 'That "' sum was all I possessed, and I laid it
out on turnips, one of which I ate "' each day.'" Abu Ishak az-Zajjaj (vol. I. page 28)
states that at-Tirmidi received a monthly stipend of four dirhems (2),
and that he never asked any thing from any person. At-Tirmidi used to
relate the following circumstance: "I had studied jurisprudence under
Abu Hanifa, when, being in the mosque of Medina the year I made the
pilgrimage, I had a dream in 11which I saw the blessed Prophet, and I said: 4 0 Apostle of God! I have 44 4studied the system taught by Abu Hanifa; shall I adopt it?' and he answered: "'No!' I then said: 4 Shall I adopt that of Malik Ibn Anas?' and he replied: "' Adopt that portion of it which is in conformity with my sunna {sayings and "' doings).' I then asked him if I should adopt the system taught by as-Shafi, "and he replied: 4 It is not his system; he took my sunna, and nothing more, "' and he refuted those who contradicted it.' After having this dream, I 44 immediately proceeded to Egypt and copied out as-Shafi's books." Ad-Dara44 kutni (vol. II. p. 239)
styles him a Traditionist of veracity, trust-worthy and pious.
At-Tirmidi mentioned that he passed twenty-nine years in writing out the
Traditions. He was born in the month of Zu '1-Hijja, A. H. 200 (July, Vol. Ii. 76
A. D. 816); some say A. H. 210; and he died on the 11th of Muharram, A. H. 295 (October, A. D. 907). He never dyed his hair (as was customary at that period). Towards the close of his life, his intellect got deranged to an extreme 642 degree.—" At-Tirmidi, says as-Samani (vol. II. p. 156) "means belonging to "(Tirmid) an ancient city on the bank of the river of Balkh, which is called "Jaihun (the Oxus). Various opinions are held respecting the pronunciation "of this name; some say Turmid and others Tirmid; the inhabitants themselves "pronounce it Tarmid; the pronunciation which was long familiar to us was "Tirmid; but persons who pretend to exactness,and possess information on the "subject, pronounce it Turmud. Each
of these pronunciations has its partisans, "who give reasons in support
of their opinion." Such are the words of asSamani, and I am unable to
offer any thing decisive on the subject. Persons who have been there
inform me that it is situated, not in the province of Khowarzem, but in
that of Transoxiana, and on the same side (of the river) as the latter.
(1) Yahya lbn Abd Allah Ibn Bukair, a mawla to the tribe or Makhzum, was an eminent traditionist of Egypt, and taught Malik's Muuatta from memory. He died in the month of Safar, A. H.231 (October, A. D. 845).—(Hum al-Muhadira.)
(2) Four dirhems are
nearly equivalent to half a crown. This stipend was paid to him out of
the public treasury: every doctor of the law, regularly ordained, being
entitled to a pension from the state.
IBN AL-HADDAD, THE JURISCONSULT.
Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Jaafar, surnamed Ibn al-Haddad, was
a doctor of the sect of as-Shafi, a native of Egypt, and a member of
the tribe of Kinana. He is the author of the work entitled Kitdb al-Funl in
which he treats of the development of the law according to Shafite
principles. It forms a small volume, but is replete with information,
and the questions of which it treats are discussed with extraordinary
subtility. Some of the most eminent imdms have undertaken to comment it; al-Kaffal al-Marwazi (vol. II. p. 26) composed a moderately-sized volume on the subject; the kddi Abu't-Taiyib
at-Tabari (v. I. p. 644) elucidated its obscurities in one large volume, and the shaikh Abu Ali as-Sinji (vol. I. p. 419)
drew up a complete commentary on it, wherein he fully discusses every
point. This last is one of the best productions of the kind. Ibn al-Haddad learned jurisprudence from Abu Ishak al-Marwazi (vol. I. p. 7). My master Imad ad-din Ibn Batish (vol. I. p. 187) states, in the work composed by him on (Ah'd Ishak's) Muhaddab, and in his Tabakdt al-Fokahd, or classified list of jurisconsults, that Ibn al-Haddad was one of the most distinguished disciples of Abu Ibrahim al-Muzani (v. I. p. 200), but this is an oversight on his part, for Ibn al-Haddad was born the year al-Muzani died. Nay, alKudai^) mentions, in his Khitat, that his birth took place on the day of alMuzani's death. How then could he possibly have been his disciple? I notice this error here lest persons should be led to think al-Kudai mistaken, and Ibn Batish in the right. The latter also attributes to Ibn al-Haddad the verses rhyming in z, which I have quoted in the life of Zafir al-Haddad, native of Alexandria (2). Ibn al-Haddad was
a doctor of great exactness in the examination of points of law, and
singularly skilful in obtaining clear results from the depths of
obscurity in which they lay concealed (3). He occupied the posts of kddi and
professor at Old Cairo; the princes and the people held him in the
highest respect, and it was to his opinion they deferred when doubts
arose on a point of law, or when any grave event took place. People used
to say: "It u would be the strangest circumstance that ever occurred to find an executioner "angry (from having nothing to do), or to meet with a heap of dung free from "impurities, or to see an opinion of Ibn al-Haddad's refuted
(4)." His birth took place on the 24th of Ramadan, A. H. 264 (May, A.
D. 878), and he died A. H. 345 (A. D. 956-7), or 344 according to
as-Samani. He delivered Traditions on the authority of Abu Abd ar-Rahman
an-Nasai (vol. I. p. 58) and other masters. Al-Kudai states, in his Khitat, that Ibn al-Haddad expired
on his return from the pilgrimage, A. H. 344, at a place called Munya
Harb, near the gate of Old Cairo; on the spot, it is said, where Cairo
now stands. He was versed in a great variety of sciences, such as those
connected with the Koran, jurisprudence, the Traditions, poetry, the
combats of the ancient Arabs, grammar, philology, etc. During his life
he remained without a rival, and was beloved by all persons, from the
highest to the lowest. The emir Abu '1-Kasim Anujur Ibn al-Ikhshid attended his funeral, in company with Kafur (vol. II. p. 524) and followed by
a crowd of the inhabitants. He lived to the age of seventy-nine years, four months, and two days.—Hadddd means a worker in iron, or one who sells it.
(1) His life will be found in this volume.
(2) See vol. I. p. 668, the lines beginning thus: "Had he taken refuge in an exemplary patience."
(3) Literally: He was an exact doctor and a diver for the meanings.
(4) In the original Arabic, this saying consists of three short sentences, rhyming together.
ABU BAKR AS-SAIRAFI.
643 Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Abd
Allah, generally known by the name of SairaG, was a native of Baghdad
and a doctor of the sect of as-Shafi. He ranked among the (regular) jurisconsults (of that city). Having studied the law under Abu'1Abbas Ibn Suraij (vol. I. p. 46), he acquired distinction by his acuteness in the discussion (of points of law not hitherto settled), by
his skill in the use of analogical deduction, and by his penetration as
a dogmatic theologian. He composed a work of quite an original cast on
the fundamentals of jurisprudence; and Abu Bakr al-Kafial (see next article) states,
in his work on that subject, that Abu Bakr as-Sairafi was, next to
as-Shafi, the most learned of men in that branch of science. He was the
first person of our sect (the Shafite) who
undertook to compose a treatise on the drawing up of bonds (1), and the
work which he produced on this subject is of the highest excellence. He
died on Thursday, the 21st of the latter Rabi, A. H. 330 (January, A.
D. 942). —The signification of Sairafi is well known; it means one who changes gold and silver coin. I mention this here, because many persons mispronounce his surname and say Strafi.
(1) In Arabic: Ilm (u-ShurHt. See vol. I p. 83, note <5).
ABU BAKR AL-KAFFAL AS-SHASHI.
Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Ali Ibn Ismail al-Kaffal (1) as-Shashi, a doctor of the Shafite sect, was incontrovertibly the ablest jurisconsult (imdm) of
that age, and possessed not only a deep knowledge of the law and the
Traditions, but was also versed in dogmatic theology, and proved himself
a learned philologer and a good poet. The Shafites did not possess in
Transoxiana a man to be compared to him. (In the furtherance of his studies) he travelled to Khorasan, Irak, al-Hijaz, Syria, and the northern frontier of Mesopotamia, and his reputation spread far and wide. He learned jurisprudence from Ibn Suraij (vol. I. p. 46), and composed a great number of works. He was the first who drew up a treatise on the approved method of dialectics (jadal) employed
by the jurisconsults among themselves (2). He composed also a treatise
on the principles of canonic jurisprudence, and a commentary on the Risdla (3). It was he who propagated the Shafite doctrines in Transoxiana. He taught Traditions on the authority of Ibn Jarir at-Tabari (vol. II. p. 597) and other eminent doctors of that age, and Traditions were delivered on his own authority by the Hakim Abu Abd Allah Ibn al-Baii (4), Abu Abd Allah Ibn Manda (5), Abu Abd ar-Rahman as-Sulami (6), and many others. He was the father of al-Kasim, the author of the work cited, under the title of at-Takrtb (simplification of the Shafite doctrines), in the Nihdya and the Basit (7). Al-Ghazzali mentions him in the second chapter of the section on pledges and mortgages, but calls him Abu '1-Kasim, wherein he is mistaken. Al-Ijli (vol. I. p. 191) states, in his Explanation of the Obscurities met with in the Wajiz and Wastt, in the second chapter of the section on purification with sand, that the author of the Takrtb was Abu Bakr al-Kaffal, and that some attribute the work to his son al-Kasim. He then adds: "And for "this reason it is that, in citing him, they designate him by the vague appella"tion of the author of the Takrib" I shall here add that, in the month of Shawwal, A. H. 665 (July, A. D. 1267), I saw in the library of the Addiliya college (at Damascus) a copy of the Takrib in ten volumes, but bound in six, and bearing an inscription indicating the author to be Abu '1-Hasan al-Kasim Ibn Abi Bakr al-Kaffal as-Shashi; and this copy was in the handwriting of the shaikh Kutb addin
Masiid an-Naisapuri, a doctor whose life will be found further on. It
bore also a note written by Kutb ad-din, declaring that he had made a wakf of it (8). This is a different work from that of as-Sulaim ar-Razi {vol. I. p. 584)
bearing the same title, yet I have met a great number of jurisconsults
who supposed it to be the same. This induces me to draw the reader's
attention to the circumstance. Copies of al-Kaffal's Taktib are
scarce, but those of ar-Razi's are in every person's hands, and it is
by the work of the latter that the jurisconsults of Khorasan finish
their studies. Some difference of opinion subsists respecting the true
date of Abu Rakr al-Kaffal's death; thus the shaikh Abu Ishak as-Shirazi states, in his classified list of jurisconsults, that he died A.H. 336 (A.D. 947-8), and the Hakim Ibn al-Baii says
that he breathed his last at as-Shash, in the month of Zu '1-Hijja,
A.H. 365 (August, A.D. 976). He then adds: "I wrote "down (pieces of information)under his dictation, and he also did the same under "mine." As-Samani (v. II. p. 156) makes a similar observation in his Ansdb, and 644 then adds: "He was born in the year 291 (A.D. 903-4)." The same author mentions however, in his Zail, or Supplement, that he died A.H. 366, and he repeats the same statement in his Ansdb, under the head of as-Shdshi; but the former date is given by him in the life of al-Kaffal himself.—Shdshi means belonging to as-Shdsh; this is a city beyond the Sihun (9), and has produced a number of learned men.—This al-Kaffal is a different person from al-Kaffal al-Marwazi (see vol. II. p. 26), a doctor who lived at a later epoch.
(1) Al-KaffAl signifies locksmith. See p. 26 of this volume.
(2) For the elucidation of this, see the extract from Ibn Khaldun, given by M. de Sacy in his Anthologie Arabe, pages 474, 475.
(3) This is the celebrated epistle composed by as-Shafl on his own doctrine.
(4) His life will be found in this volume.
(5) The life of Ibn Manda is given by Ibn Khallikan.
(6) Abu Abd ar-RahmAn Muhammad Ibn al-Husain Ibn Musa as-Sulami (member of the tribe of Sulaim) was
a native of NaisApur and the most eminent Sufi doctor of that age. He
travelled to all parts in search of instruction,and collected
information from the lips of numerous masters. He composed a commentary
on the Koran, a history, and nearly one hundred other works. His death
took place in the month of Shaaban, A. H. 412 (Nov.-Dec. A. D.
1021).—(JVu/am. Al-YAft.)
(7) These works are by Abu Humid al-Ghazzali. Ibn Khallikan gives his life.
(8) See vol. I. p. 49.
(9) The StAdn or Cirr, the ancient Jaiartes, falls into the lake of Aral.
ABU L-HASAN AL-MASARJISI.
Abu '1-Hasan Muhammad Ibn Ali Ibn Sahl Ibn Muslih al-Masarjisi, a
Shafite jurisconsult, was one of the great masters of that sect in
Khorasan, the best acquainted of them with the doctrines promulgated by
its founder, with the regular system which they form, and with the
ramifications of those points of controversy to which its main
principles give rise. He studied jurisprudence in Khorasan, Irak, and
Hijaz, and was the assiduous disciple of Abu Ishak alMarwazi [vol. I. p. 7),
whom he accompanied to Egypt, and with whom he remained till his death.
He then proceeded to Baghdad, where he acted as deputy to Ibn Abi Huraira (vol. I. p. 375)
every time that the latter absented himself from his class. In the year
344 (A. D. 955-6) he returned to Khorasan, and gave lectures at
Naisapur, which were attended by the jurisconsults of that city. He
taught jurisprudence to the kddi Abu '1-Taiyib at-Tabari (vol. I. page 644), and he himself received lessons from his maternal uncle al-Muwammal Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Isa al-Masarjisi. When in Egypt, he collected [legal) information from the disciples of al-Muzani (vol. I. page 200) and from Yunus Ibn Abd al-Ala as-Sadafi (1). The Hakim Ibn al-Baii (2)
states that, in the month of Rajab, A. H. 381 (September-October, A. D.
991), regular assemblies were held to hear him give dictations in the Dar as-Sunna ( college for teaching the Traditions). He
died on Wednesday evening, the 5th of the latter Djumada, A. H. 384
(July, A. D. 994), at the age of seventy-six years, and was interred on
the evening of the following day. The shaikh Abu Ishak as-Shirazi (vol. 1. page 9) says in his Tabakdt, that his death occurred in A. H. 383. — Mdsarjisi means related to Mdsarjis; this person was grandfather to Abu Ali al-Hasan Ibn Isa Ibn Masarjis an-Naisapuri, and had been a Christian, but was converted to Islamism by Abd Allah Ibn al-Mubarak (vol. II. p. 12). The doctor Abu '1-Hasan Muhammad al-Masarjisi was son to the daughter of this Abu Ali, and surnamed after him, like all the other members of the family.
(1) His life will be found in this work.
(2) The life of the Hakim is given by our author.
AL-KHATAN.
Abu Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Ibrahim,
a native of Istirabad, or of Jurjan according to some, and a doctor of
the sect of as-Shafi, was generally known by the surname of al-Khatan. He
acquired a high distinction by his piety, his talent as a jurisconsult,
and the excellent traditional information which he possessed on points
connected with Shafite law (1). In the science of controversial
reasoning, and in those connected with the Koran and its reading$,he held
the first rank, and was one of the most eminent amongst the learned
whose skill lay in speculative investigations and dialectics. When in
his native town, he received lessons from Abu Noaim Abd al-Malik Ibn Muhammad Ibn Adi,
and other masters of the same epoch; in the year 337 (A. D. 948-9) he
visited Naisapur,and remained there two years, after which he proceeded
to Ispahan, where he studied Abu Dawud's (vol. I. p. 589) Musnad (authenticated collection of Traditions) under the tuition of Abd Allah Ibn Jaafar (2). He
then passed into Irak, and, when upwards of forty years of age, he
began to write, and produced numerous works. He was an indefatigable
traveller, and received information from the lips of many doctors. A
commentary was composed by him on the TalkMs, a work of Abu '1-Abbas Ibn al-Kass (vol. I. p. 48). He died on the Festival of the Sacrifice (the 10«/i of 7A 'l-Hijja), A.H. 386 (Dec. A. D. 996) at the age of seventy-five years.—He was called al-Khatan (the son-in-latv) because 645 he was thus allied to Abu Bakr al-Ismaili (vol. I. p. 8).
(1) Such I take to be the meaning of the words w^i^l ,_j an expression which frequently occurs, and which, in a former part of this work, I rendered erroneously by: he had some excellent views on the subject of the Shafite doctrine. The >js>.j are
undoubtedly the particular channels through which certain decisions on
points of law passed down to posterity by oral transmission. When a
doctor was the sole possessor of some traditional information of this
kind, and if the persons through whom it descended to him were men of
acknowledged credibility, the expression just mentioned was applied to
him. If the points of information which he possessed were transmitted
down through an unusual channel, the expression employed was: J l~-> j& Oj^-j Uj. See also p. 016 of this volume, in the life of al-Farisi.
(2) Read dJI Jl* ,y» in the printed text.
ABU SAHL AS-SOLUKI.
Abu Salil Muhammad Ibn Sulaiman Ibn Muhammad Ibn Sulaiman Ibn Harun Ibn Musa Ibn Isa Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Bishr al-Hanafi al-Ijli (a member of the tribe of Hanifa, a branch of that of Ijl), and
generally known by the name of as-Soluki, was born at Ispahan, the
native place of his family, and dwelt at Naisapur. He was a doctor of
the Shafite sect, an interpreter of the Koran, a scholastic theologian,
an adept in the belles-lettres, a grammarian, a poet, a prosodian, and a kdlib. The Hakim Abu Abd Allah Ibn al-Baii mentions him in his historical work, and says: "He was the chief doctor of the age, and the ablest of conu temporary jurisconsults; he had studied the law under Abu Ishak al-Marwazi, "and
fathomed all the depths of science. He then proceeded to Irak, and went
"to Basra, where he continued to give lessons for some years, when his
presence "was required at Ispahan, where he also remained during some
years (1)." On learning the death of his uncle Abu 't-Taiyib (2), he
departed secretly for Naisapur, in the year 337 (A.D. 949), and, for
three days, he sat there in public to receive condolences, during which
the shaikh Abu Bakr Ibn Ishak (3) remained seated at his side, as did also all the chiefs of the civil administration, the kddis, and the muftis of
the two sects (4). When the ceremony of mourning was terminated,
regular assemblies were held to hear him discuss points of law, and
there did not remain an adversary or an approver of his opinions, but
acknowledged his merit and superiority. The shaikhs visited him repeatedly, to request him that he would bring to their city those whom he had left behind him (his wife and family) at Ispahan, and he at length acceded to their wishes. He then undertook the duties of professor and mufti at Naisapur, and the jurisconsults of the place received lessons from him. The Sdhib Ibn Abbad (vol. I. p. 212)
used to sav: " We never saw the like of Abu Sahl as-Soluki, and he
himself never "saw his like." Abu '1-Walid (5) being asked concerning
the respective merits of Abu Bakr al-Kaftal (vol. II. p. 26),
and as-Soluki, he replied: "Who could "possibly equal as-Soluki?" This
doctor was bornA. H. 296 (A. D. 908-9); he began to learn the
Traditions, A. H. 305; he went to attend Abu Ali ath-Thakafi's (6)
lectures on law in 313, and be died towards the end of the year 369 Vol. Ii. 77
(A. D. 980), at Naisapur. His body was borne on a bier to the hippodrome of al-Husain, and the sultan authorised Abu 't-Taiyib (vol. I. p. 606),
the son of the deceased, to celebrate the funeral service. He was
interred in the mosque where he used to teach. —The word SolUki has been already explained (vol. I. p. 607).
(1) Being unable to distinguish where the extract from Ibn al-Bali's work
finishes, 1 indicate it as ending here; but what follows to the date of
as-Soluki's death may perhaps belong to it. I am however inclined to
suppose it shorter than I have indicated, and that the last words of it
are: The ablest of contemporary jurisconsults.
(2) Abu 't-Taiyib Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Sulaiman al-Hanafi as-Soluki,
an eminent doctor of the sect of as-Shafl, a traditionist and
philologer, died in the month of Rajab, A. H. 337 (Jan.-Feb. 949) —[Tab. asShdfiyin.)
(3) AbO Bakr Ahmad Ibn Ishak Ibn Aiyub, a native of Naisapur, and surnamed ad-Dubai (^*^a) t) was one of the itndms of the Shafite sect, and a mufti of the highest reputation. He wrote a number of large works, such as the Mabsut [the developed, probably
a treatise on Shafite jurisprudence), a treatise on nouns and
adjectives, another on faith and freewill, a fourth on the merits of the
four first khalifs, etc. Born A.H. 258 (A. D. 871-2); died in the month
of Shaaban, A. H. 342 (Dec-Jan. A. D. 953-4).— [Tabakdt as-Shafiyin.
(4) The two sects were probably the Hanifite and the Shalite.
(5) Abu '1-Waltd Hassan Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ahmad,
a member of the Omaiyide family and a native of Naisapur, was one of
the imams of the Shafite sect, and the first Traditionist of his age in
Khorasan. He was distinguished for piety and learning. In one of his
works, he treated of Moslim's Sahlh, and, in another, of the Shafite doctrines. He composed also an excellent commentary on as-Shafl's Risala (see p. 606, note (3) ). Died in the month of the first Rabl, A.H. 349 (May, A.D. 960), aged seventy-two years.— [Tab. as-Shafiyin>.
(6) Abu Ali Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab ath-Thakafi al-Hajjaji drew his descent, as his surnames indicate, from al-Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf ath-Thakafi. This imdrn, equally
distinguished for learning and piety, resided at Naisapur. Born A. H.
244 (A. D. 858-9); died in the month of the first Jumada, A.H. 328
(Feb.-March, A.D. 940).— (Tab. as-Shdfiyin.)
ABU T-TAIYIB IBN SALAMA AD-DUBBI.
Abu 't-Taiyib Muhammad Ibn al-Mufaddal Ibn Salama Ibn Aasim
ad-Dubbi, a native of Baghdad, and one of the most eminent doctors of
the Shafite sect, studied jurisprudence under Abu '1-Abbas Ibn Suraij (vol. I. p. 46). He was noted for his extreme penetration, and this induced Abu '1-Abbas to pay him the
greatest attention, and take the utmost pains in giving him instruction.
Abu'tTaiyib composed a number of works, and he died in the month of
Muharram, A. H. 308 (May-June, A. D. 920); being cut off in the flower
of his age. He possessed some excellent traditional information on
points connected with the Shafite doctrines (1).—His father, Abu
Talibal-Mufaddal Ibn Salama Ibn Aasim
ad-Dubbi, was a philologer, and author of some celebrated works on
various branches of literature, and on the rhetorical figures of the
Koran. He belonged to the school of Kufa (2) and wrote an elegant hand.
He met (and received information from) Ibn al-Aarabi (3) and other men eminent for learning, and he composed a book in which he pointed out and corrected the errors committed by al-Khalil Ibn Ahmad in his Kitab al-Ain (vol. I. p. 496). The following is a list of his works: the Kitdb at-Tdrikh [book of history), treating of philology; the Kitdb al-Fdkhir (liber se jactantis); the Kitdb al-Ud wa 1-Maldhi (on the lute and other musical instruments); the Kitdb Jald as-Shubah (obscurities cleared up); the Kitdb atTaif (4), the Kitdb Did il-Kulub (light of hearts), treating of the rhetorical figures of the Koran, and filling more than twenty volumes; the Kitdb al-Ishtikdk (on etymology); the Kitdb az-Zari wa 'n Nabdt [on seed and plants); on the members of 646 the human body; on the requisites for a kdtib; on the words ending in a long and in a short elif; a Mudkhil, or
Introduction to the science of grammar (5). AbuBakr as-Suli (6)
transmitted traditional information on his authority, and says that he
attended his lessons in the year 290.—Salama Ibn Aasim, the grandfather of Abu 't-Taiyib, was the pupil of al-Farra (7),
and the person who transmitted to the world his master's peculiar
system of Koran-reading. They belonged to a family of which all the
members were celebrated for talent.—Al-Mufaddal was a favorite of the vizir Ismail Ibn Bulbul (8); being informed that the poet Ibn ar-Rumi (vol. II. p. 297) had composed a satire on him, (he made a complaint to) the vizir, (who) testified his displeasure towards Ibn ar-Rumi
by refusing him a share in the recompenses which he was accustomed to
distribute. The poet then composed the following verses against al-Mufaddal:
Cover yourself with the cloak of al-Kisai—or dress in the furred garment of al-Farra — or have al-Khalil for
a friend or Sibawaih for an inseparable companion (9)—or become one of
Abu '1-Aswad's company (10) and take a surname indicative of melancholy;
yet God will never permit thee to be counted a man of learning, but
will let you be reckoned among the dunces (11 J.
(1) See page 601, note (1), of this volume.
(2) See vol. I. page 379, note (2).
(3) His life is given in this work.
(4. This is a treatise on the Taif al-Khidl. See vol. I. Introd. p. iiivi.
(5) Compare this list with that of al-Asmai's works, page 126 of this volume, and see an observation on the subject in the Introduction to vol. I. page wiii.
(6) The life of Aba Bakr as-Suli is given by Ibn Kballikan.
(7) The life of al-Farra is given in this work.
(8) Abu 's-Sakr ( ^^.M ) Ismail lbn Bulbul was appointed vizir to al-Motamid by al-MuwalTak, that
khalif's brother. His noble and generous character gained him many
friends, and his talents placed him at the head of the civil and
military authority of the empire. This office procured him the title of
the grateful
vizir. In his youth he led a disorderly life, but,when invested with power, his conduct gave ge
neral satisfaction, and drew from the poets al-Bohtori, Ibn ar-RQrai,
and others, the warmest eulogiums. He claimed kindred with the tribe of
Shaiban, but this was repelled as an unfounded pretension by some of
his enemies, and Ibn ar-Rumi incurred his
displeasure by reciting to him a piece of verse in which he said that
even if he had not the honour of being descended from ShaibAn, he would
have been an honour to ShaibAn. The poet who thus unintentionally lost
his patron's favour, became his enemy and lashed him in virulent
satires. Ibn Bulbul was arrested by al-Motadid; and, after undergoing severe tortures, he was executed in prison by that khalif's orders.—(Ad-Dual al-Itlamiya, MS No. 895, fol. 233.) (9) Literally: As a pledge in (your) possession.
(10) That is: a grammarian. See vol. I. page 662.
(11) This piece is a mere tissue of puns on the names of the most celebrated grammarians. Their lives are given in this work.
Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Mundir an-Naisapuri (native of Naisdptir),a jurisconsult of great learning and information, is spoken of in these terms by Abu Ishak (1) in his Tabakdt al-Fokahd (classified list of jurisconsults -. 11 The
questions on which jurisconsults disagree were set forth by him in some
"works of quite an original cast, and which are indispensable for such
persons "as wish to defend or attack any of those points." I do not know
from whom he acquired his knowledge of the law. He died at Mekka, A. H.
309 (A. D. 921-2), or 310. A well-known book of his, on the points of
disagreement between jurisconsults, is that which bears the title of Kitdb al-Ishrdf (view of
the different systems); it is a large work, and proves him to have closely examined the systems of the great jurisconsults (imdms). It is an excellent work, most instructive, and of great utility. Besides this, he composed a treatise called the MabsHt (extended), in
which also he sets forth the systems of the principal jurisconsults,
and indicates the points in which their opinions differ. This work is
larger than the Ishrdf. He left also a small treatise on the ijnui (points of law on which the imdms unanimously agree).
(1) He means Abo. Ishak as-Shtrazi. See vol. I. p. 9.
No comments:
Post a Comment