BY

FRANZ ROSENTHAL

SECOND R E V ISE D EDITIO N

L E ID E N
L,

j,

H K i L l

1968

FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION

Copyright 1968 by E. J. B rill, L eiden, N etherlands

A l l rights reserved. N o part o f this book may be reproduced
or translated in any form , by print, photoprint, m icrofilm or
any other means w ithout written perm ission from the publisher
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS

Muslim historiography, hke any other im portant subject, adm its

of m any and va stly different kinds of treatm ent. Instead of a new
edition, an entirely new w ork m ight have been w ritten, and this
m ight have pleased critics, and the author himself, much better.
However, the present volum e is m erely a second edition. It shows
no really m ajor changes. Minor additions and corrections are quite
numerous. There is only one addition of some size, th at is, the
chapter dealing w ith a l-ljis m ethodology of historical writing.
The first edition was published in 1952. W ork on it was begun
almost im m ediately after the end of the Second W orld W ar. In
retrospect, it is clear th at the moment was unusually favorable to
the w riting of a w ork of this kind. Scholarly a ctiv ity had naturally
slackened considerably during the great upheaval. A satisfactory
up-to-date bibliography of both W estern and Oriental publications
on Muslim historiography existed in Brockelm anns GeschicMe der
arahischen Litteratur. A bove all, two m ajor developm ents of
tremendous importance for Oriental studies that had been long in
the m aking reached their final stage, which at the same time
signified a new beginning, only w ith the end of the W ar. One of
them has been the astounding perfection reached b y the means of
communication of all kinds. No corner of the earth is now too
remote for the potential and, more often than not, actual partici
pation in scholarly work, the publishing of research and the editing
of texts. The other developm ent, concerning in particular the
Muslim world, is the undeniable fact that the gap which until recent
years did exist between W estern Orientalism and the occupation
of Easterners w ith their own culture has been closed. Publications
b y Near and Middle E astern scholars on Islam ic subjects m ay,
from the point of view of creative scholarship, be good, or bad, or
indifferent, but w hatever it m ay be, they can no longer be disre
garded as was largely possible up to the tim e of the Second W orld
W ar.
W hile these developm ents are to be w arm ly welcom ed and raise
even greater hopes for the future, th ey will pose certain problems,
and th ey have already caused some difficulties in the preparation of
this new edition. Heroic and quite successful attem pts are being

VI

FO R EW O R D

undertaken b y individual scholars and scholarly organizations

in order to bring bibliographical order into w hat appears to be
a growing chaos created b y the publication explosion. H owever,
there is no single reference w ork th at could take the place of G A L
for the purposes of the present w ork.i Bibliographical references
have, therefore, been added, and new editions have often been
mentioned. This was done somewhat haphazardly. N ot too much
should be read into m y mentioning one edition while seem ingly
ignoring another. A n element of mere chance, such as the availa
b ility of a certain t e x t publication, m ay be responsible. The fact of
a vailab ility has also played some role in the utilization of research
published in non-European languages. Here, we face a m ajor
problem, however. W e m ay well ask of w hat use it is for the reader
who is not an Orientalist b y profession to be referred to works in
languages not readily comprehensible to him. W hile it is not
absolutely true, it comes quite close to the truth to say that, in
order to understand a work, say, on at-Tabari w ritten in A rabic b y
a modern scholar, one must know as much A rabic as, or more than,
one needs for reading at-T abaris w ork itself. The number of
W esterners interested in historical studies who possess such knowl
edge and would be able to m ake use of the research b y modern
E astern scholars seems as y et to be very small. I do not profess to
know any real solution to the universal dilemma posed b y the
increasingly m ultilingual character of modern scholarship.
This history of Muslim historiography was m eant to be an attem pt
to see Muslim historiography as a whole, as it presents itself to
someone not content w ith adm iring outstanding achievem ents
selected arbitrarily or looking into particular niches and corners but
eager to gain a well-balanced appreciation of a large branch of
learning w ith all its characteristic trium phs and failures. Such an
approach does not lend itself very well to subsequent patching.
I suspect th at some of the m aterial added here would h ave been
discarded like so much else, if it had been available for scrutiny at
the outset together w ith all the rest. I even suspect th a t some of
the added references to older publications were considered b y me
before and rejected. A certain scholar, we are told b y as-Safadi
(as quoted b y Ibn Tulun, Luma'-dt, 64, Damascus 1348, referring to
Badr-ad-din Ibn an-Nahwiyah) was unable to give additional
^ E n tries for historians in the second edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam , which began
to appear in 1954, are n a tu ra lly brief and restricted in number.

FO R EW O RD

VII

inform ation requested in connection with the m aterial contained in

one of his works, because authors custom arily consult all the
relevant literature at the tim e of w riting and then forget about it.
This could hardly be called the proper scholarly attitude. However,
w ith all the checking and re-checking I did, I have to adm it th at I
was not able to go over all the m aterial I had used in the first place
and to re-examine it afresh.
This second edition thus shares with the original w ork some
shortcomings of which I am as fu lly aware now as I was then.
Perhaps, it will one d ay be replaced b y something more perfect.
U ntil then, it is hoped that m aking the work available again in a
slightly im proved form will serve a useful purpose and help toward
a better understanding of that great phenomenon of history that
was Muslim historical thinking and writing.

FOREWORD
(to the first edition)
This book represents the very imperfect execution of what I feel
w as a very good intention. It is no exhaustive history of Muslim
historiography, as its title says, but, at best, an attem pt to promote
the understanding of the basic problems of Muslim historiography.
I hope th at it will not be considered unw orthy of the m aterial
support I received in w riting it. The John Simon Guggenheim
Foundation granted me a fellowship which enabled me to visit
England, France, and E gyp t, and to use the great libraries in
Oxford, Paris, Cairo, and Alexandria, aided b y the never failing
cooperation of the librarians in their charge. The Hebrew Union
College in Cincinnati, to whose facu lty I then belonged, granted
me a one-year paid leave of absence. Despite all this generous
assistance, I h ave b y no means been able to avail m yself of the
m any aids to scholarly work which modern inventions make
accessible but, alas!, so inaccessible to the povre scoler. I regret
this; yet, knowing th at scholarship did not in the past, and, I
trust, never will in the future depend upon com plete library
collections, microfilms and airplanes, I venture to present here
w hatever and however little I have to say.

W hile it is m ainly the author who speaks in the first part, Muslim

V III

FO R EW O R D

students of historiography are given the word in the second part.

It contains a translation of
1 a l-K a fiy a jis Short Work on Historiography,
2 as-Sahaw is O fen Denunciation of the Critics of the H istorians;
3 The sections on historiography from T askop riizM eh s K ey to
Happiness.
These three works represent the tw o extant complete system atic
treatm ents of historiography b y Muslims, and a late reflex of them
from an encyclopedia. It m ight have been appropriate to include
a translation of the old and invaluable bibliography of A rabic
historical works, the section on historians in Ibn an-N adim s
(tenth century) Fihrist, with its im portant data concerning the
early stages of the publication of historical works in Islam. Such a
translation would have shown the contrast th at exists between
the Fihrist and the later theoretical discussions of historiography.
It would have offered a good illustration of the developm ent of
Muslim historical thinking. Such a translation was om itted here
because it is hoped that the new edition of the Fihrist b y J. F u c k
which has been announced for such a long time will even tually
appear and th at then the whole work, including the section on the
historians, w ill be translated and annotated. ^
Since unpublished m aterial is often referred to in the course of
the work, it seemed advisable to publish the original text of at least
some of that m aterial. The third part serves that purpose. It contains
only one complete text, th at of a l-K M iy ajis Muhtasar. A ll the
other works, I hope, w ill soon find their editors.
^ B . D o d g e has been w orking on a translation of the F ihrist for a num ber of years.
T h e A rab ic translator of the first edition of the present w ork, SA lih A h m a d a l - ' A l i ,
has added the h istorical titles from the F ihrist to the translation, 273-316 (B agdad 1963).

The m anuscript of this second edition was subm itted to the

Publisher in A pril, 1964. The va st num ber of im portant public
ations th at have appeared since th at date could, if at all, be used
only for additions in the proofs.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword ..............................................................................................
Bibliographical references ...............................................................

v
x iv

P A R T ONE
I Introductory remarks on history and historiography. . .
1. The objective of a w ork on Muslim historiography. .
2. The concept of history, Muslim and modern .............

3
3
8

I I B ackground and e n v iro n m e n t..............................................

1. H istorical consciousness in pre-Islam ic A rabia .........
2. The historical outlook of M u h a m m a d ............................
3. The position of history in Muslim scholarship and
e d u c a tio n ..............................................................................
4. The Muslim h is to r ia n .........................................................

18
18
24
30

54

I I I The basic forms of Muslim historiography ......................

1. Habar history ......................................................................
2. The annalistic form ...........................................................
3. Lesser forms of historical periodization ......................
a. D ynastic h isto rio g ra p h y ..............................................
b. The tabaqdt d iv is io n .......................................................
c. The genealogical a rra n g e m e n t...................................

66
66
71
87
87
93
95

IV The contents of historical w o r k s .........................................

1. G enealogy ............................................................................
2. B iography ............................................................................
3. Geography and c o s m o g ra p h y .........................................
4. A strology .............................................................................
5. P h ilo s o p h y ............................................................................
6. Political and social science ..............................................
7. The use of documents, inscriptions, and c o in s ...........

99
99
100
106
no
113
115
118

V The m ixed forms of historical w riting ..............................

1. The o r ig in s ............................................................................
2. W orld histories......................................................................
3. Local h is to r ie s ......................................................................
4. Contem porary history and memoirs ............................

129
129
133
150
172

V I A rtistic forms of historical w r i t i n g .....................................

1. The use of rhym ed prose {saj^).......................................
2. The use of verse ..................................................................

176
176
179

TA B LE OF CONTENTS

TA BLE OF CO N TEN TS

V I I The historical novel .............................................................

V I I I A n evaluation of Mushm h isto rio g ra p h y ........................

i86
194

P A R T TW O
I X A l-Ijis T u h fa h .......................................................................
1. In tro d u c tio n ......................................................................
2. Translation ................................................................... .. .
A u th ors in tr o d u c tio n ....................................................
First c h a p te r ......................................................................
Second c h a p t e r .................................................................
Third c h a p t e r ...................................................................
Fourth c h a p te r ............................................................... .
F ifth chapter ...................................................................
Sixth ch ap ter......................................................................
In tro d u c tio n .................................................................
First section...................................................................
Second section .............................................................
Third section ...............................................................
Fourth section .............................................................
F ifth s e c t io n .................................................................
Sixth s e c tio n .................................................................
Seventh section ...........................................................
E ighth section .............................................................
Ninth section ....................................... .......................
Tenth section.................................................................
E leventh section .........................................................
Tw elfth s e c tio n .............................................................
Seventh c h a p t e r ..................................... ..........................
E ighth c h a p t e r .................................................................
Ninth c h a p te r ...................................................................

201
201
205
205
206
207
208
208
213
213
214
214
216
216
226
232
235
239
239
240
242
242
242
244
244
244

X A l-K M iya jis Short Work on H istoriography.................

1. In tro d u c tio n ......................................................................
2. Translation ............................................................. .. . . . .
First c h a p te r ......................................................................
Second c h a p t e r .................................................................
Third c h a p t e r ...................................................................

245
245
249
249
255
261

X I As-Sahaw is / 7 aw ...................................................................
1. In tro d u c tio n ......................................................................
2. Translation ........................................................................

263
263
269

XI

X I As-Sahaw is IHdn [cont.)

I. A linguistic definition of ta^'rih .......................... ... 271
II. A definition of ta^rih as a technical term . . . . 273
III. The object of history ............................................... 273
IV . The usefulness of h isto ry ....................................... ... 273
V. The goal of the occupation w ith h isto ry .............. 332
V I. The legal classification of h is t o r y ......................... 332
V II. The evidence in favor of h i s t o r y ........................ ... 338
V III. The blameworthiness of the critics of history . 338
IX . The qualifications required of h is to r ia n s ............ 358
X . The introduction of the Muslim e r a ..................... 378
X I. The works on history ............................................... 388
A . H istorical works according to ad-D ahabis
c la s s ific a tio n .......................................................... 388
1. Muhammad ................................................ ... 393
2. Stories of the p r o p h e ts ............................ ... 403
3. The men around M uham m ad................. ... 404
4. The c a lip h s .................................................. ... 406
5. The kings of Isla m ..................................... ... 411
6. W a z ir s .............................................................. 412
7. Secretaries .................................................. ... 414
8. Am irs .............................................................. 4^4
9. J u r is t s .............................................................. 414
10. Q uran re a d e r s ............................................... 420
11. Hadit e x p e r t s .................................................421
12. Hadit scholars.................................................421
13. H isto ria n s.................................................... ...422
14. G ra m m a ria n s.................................................422
15. L ittera teu rs.................................................. ...423
16. Lexicographers ......................................... ...423
17. P o e t s ............................................................. ...423
18. Servants of God and S M s .........................425
19. J u d g e s ........................................................... ...427
20. Singers ............................................................428
21. A s r d f ............................................................. ...429
22. Noble persons ...............................................429
23. Quick-w itted persons....................................429
24. Intelligent persons ................................... ...429
25. Physicians .................................................. ... 4^9
26. A s a r i t e s .......................................................... 4^9

X II

T A B L E OF C O N TEN TS

TA B LE OF C O NTENTS

X I A s-Sahaw is IHdn [cont.)

27. I n n o v a to r s ..................................................
28. S ia h ...............................................................
29. Misers and spongers...................................
30. Courageous men .......................................
31. The one-eyed, weak-sighted, Wind, and
hunchbacked................................................
32. M o n k s ...........................................................
33. Those killed b y the Q ura n ....................
34. L o v e r s ...........................................................
B. Historical works according to as-Sahawis
classification ......................................................
1. Muhammad and the p ro p h e ts ...............
2. The men around M uham m ad.................
3. The a h d f ....................................................
4. The Qurasites and other special famihes
5. C lie n ts ...........................................................
6. Reliable and w eak transm itters.............
7. Men connected w ith the science of hadit
8. Mu'-jams and masyahahs ........................
9. W orks on men of a particular n a m e ...
10. Macrobiotics and young men ...............
11. W orks on men of a particular period or
d y n a s t y .........................................................
12. Biographies of particular individuals . .
13. Local h is to r ie s ............................................
14. Geographical works .................................
15. S traigh t" historical w o r k s ....................
a. Histories of e v e n t s ...............................
b. Histories of events and dates of death
c. Biographical works ............................

X III

PART TH REE
430
431
432
432
432
432
432
433
433
433
433
433
434
435
435
446
451
454
454
454
455
457
486
488
488
490
499

X II. A n alphabetical list of h is to r ia n s ......................

d. W orks on dates of death ..................
e. Miscellaneous works. T r a v e l s ...........

501
511
515

X III. The chief representatives of personality

c r itic is m ...................................................................

516

X I I TaskopriizM eh on h isto rio g ra p h y .....................................

530

1. In tro d u ctio n ........................................................................

2. T ra n sla tio n ..........................................................................

530
531

1 Ibn Farigun, Jaw am i' al-Hilum ................................................ 539

2 Fahr-ad-din ar-Razi, Hadd^ig al-anw dr................................... 54
3 Ibn.a l-Adim, Bugyat at-talah.................................................. .... 541
4 Ibn Sina, Sifd^................................................................................... 54 ^
5 Al-M aqrizi, al-Habar 'an al-ba sar.............................................. 543
6 Qud^mah, H a r d j........................................................................ .... 543
7 Ibn.al-'A dim , Bugyat at-talab.................................................. .... 544
8 A bu Z a k a riya al-Azdi, History of M o su l............................ ....545
9 A l-Cum ri, Dahirah ........................................................................54^
10 A l-K afiya ji, al-Muhtasar f i Him at-ta^rih .......................... ....547
1 1 A d-D ahabi, M u'jam and Tabaqdt al-qurrd^ ..........................580
12 Ibn.H ajar, In b d ^ ........................................................................ ....5^2
13 Ibn al-Mulaqqin, 'I q d ............................................................... .... 5^4
14 Ibn A b i 1-Mansur, R is d la h ...................................................... ....5^4
15 As-Sahaw i, al-Qawl a l-m u n bi.................................................. ....5^4
16 As-Sahawi, al-Jawdhir wa-d-durar..............................................$86
17 As-Silafi,.M u 'ja m ........................................................................ ....610
Index of proper n a m e s ..........................................................................6 11

B IBL IO G R A PH IC A L R E F E R E N C E S

XV

W ., M usulm anskiy M ir. N auka i skola (Petersburg 1922), is said to contain

a chapter on h istoriography (cf. Islam ica, IV , 138 f., 1930).
------, Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion (London 1928, E . J . W. Gibb M em. Series,
N .S. 5).
B e c k e r , C . H ., Beitrdge zur Geschichte Agyptens unter dem Islam , I, 1-31 (Strassburg 1902):
Zur Geschichtsschreibung unter den Fatim iden.
C a h e n , C., La Syrie du Nord a I'epoque des Croisades, 33-93 (Paris 1940). Cf. also his
Chroniqucs arabes concernant la Syrie, IEgypte et la Mesopotamie, iix Revue des Etudes
Islamiques, X , 333-62 (1936).
C a s k e l , W ., A ijd m al-^Arab, in Islam ica, I I P , 1-99 ( i 9 3 i)a d - D u r i , ' A b d - a l - ' A z i z , Baht f t naPat Him at-ta^rih Hnd al-'-Arab (Beirut i960).
F r i e d l a e n d e r , I., Muhammedanische Geschichtskonstruktionen, in Beitrdge zur Kenntnis
des Orients, IX , 17-34 (1910).
G a b r i e l i , F ., Storici arabi delle Crociate (Turin 1957)------, L Isldm nella scoria, 153 ff. (Bari 1966).
Gibb, H. A. R . , T a M h , in Supplement to E l , 233-45 (Leiden-London 1938), reprinted in his
Studies on the Civilization of Islam , 108-37 (Boston 1962).
G o i t e i n , s . D. F., Introdu ction to V'ol. 5 of al-Baladuri, Kitdb al-Ansdb, pp. 14-24 (Jeru
salem 1936).
G o l d z i h e r , L , a tortenetirds az arab irodalomban (Budapest 1895) (not seen).
G r u n e b a u m , G. E . v o n . Medieval Islam , 275-87 (Chicago 1946), on literature and history.
German trans., 329-75 (Z iirich-Stuttgart 1963).
G u id i , I., L historiographic chez les Semites, in Revue Biblique, I I I , 509-19 (1906).
H a m e e d u d - D i n , Historians of Afghan Rule in India, in J A O S , L X X X I I , 44-51 (1962).
H a r d y , P ., Historians of Medieval India (London i960).
H o r o v i t z , J., The Earliest Biographies of the Prophet and their Authors, in Islam ic Culture,
B ar th o ld ,

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Som e of the abbreviation s used in the footnotes w ill be found listed below , p. 201, n. i .
In general, it has been thought advisable to dispense w ith abbreviations in the references
as far as possible. References to m anuscripts, if preceded b y B od leian , are to the Bodleian
L ib rary in O xford ; if preceded b y P aris, to the Bibliothfeque N ationale in P aris; if
preceded b y C airo, to the E gy p tia n L ib rary in Cairo, w hich also preserves the T a ym u r
collection; and if preceded b y A lexan d ria, to the M unicipal L ib rary in A lexan d ria, E g y p t.
Those are the m anuscripts m ost frequ en tly quoted. T h e num bers are the ones according to
w hich the m anuscripts can be ordered in the various libraries. O n ly in the case o f Paris
do these num bers correspond to those of the published catalogues. In the other cases, the
catalogue num ber can u su ally be found w ithout m uch d ifficu lty in G A L . I t m ay be noted
th at 3. G A L reference to a particular w ork according to b oth the old and the new catalogue
of the E g y p tia n L ib rary u su ally means on ly one and the sam e m anuscript.
It was also th ought superfluous here to give a list of the w orks used. Such a list w ould
have been v ery long, b u t its length w ould, I am afraid, be alm ost equaled b y th at of a
list of those works w hich I w as not able to consult since th ey are unpublished and no
m anuscripts of them were accessible; which I w as able b riefly to read in m anuscript form
while their editions were n ot at m y disposal; which, including some com m on reference
w orks, I w as able to stu d y on ly sporadically through securing a cop y of them through
uU erlibrary loan or travelin g to one of the libraries w hich own them ; and which, though
published, did not exist in the libraries where I had hoped to fin d them . There w as a strong
tem ptation to stu d the footnotes w ith continuous references to w orks w hich I w ould h ave
consulted if th ey h ad been available, b u t I dispensed w ith such rem arks, tru stin g th at m issing
references to certain sources w ill not be ascribed to ignorance or carelessness on m y part.
T he m ain biographical inform ation about the in dividuals m entioned is as a rule given
in connection w ith their first occurrence in the translation of the IHdn, cf. the Index.
T h e general works on historiography, in stru ctive though th ey are in connection w ith
the special field of M uslim historiography, p a y e xtrem ely scant atten tion to the la tter. T he
sixteen th -cen tu ry Frenchm an Jean Bodin had a ch apter on A rab historians in his Method
for the E asy Comprehension of History. B u t the leading Lehrhuch der historischen Methode
und der Geschichtsphilosophie b y E . B e r n h e i m , of w hich I had the third and fourth edition
at m y disposal (Leipzig 1903), ju st had a footnote on Ibn ^ a ld u n (p. 126, n. 2). R. F l i n t s
H istory of the Philosophy o f History (New Y o rk 1894) has a little more. F l i n t p ays m uch
atten tion to Ibn H aldun, who has also found the atten tion of other students of the theory
of historiography, such as R. A l t a m i r a , Cuestiones modernas de historia (Madrid 1904).
H. A . B a r n e s , in his History o f Historical Writing 93-97 (Norman, O kla., 1937), m entions
some of the im portant Muslim historians, and works on Spanish historiography, such as
B. S a n c h e z A l o n s o s H istoria de la historiografia espanola (Madrid 1941-44), n atu ra lly
include sections on Spanish Muslim historians, b u t this is about all. It is safe to sa y th at
none of the num erous and often excellent works of the historians of historiograp hy says
anyth in g of im portance about Muslim historical writing.
The follow ing v ery selective list contains a few works, articles, and opinions concerning
general problem s of Muslim historiography. Com prehensive histories of A rab ic literature
have not been included. It should also be kep t in m ind th at all m ajor works on Muslim
h istory w ritten in recent years b y trained historians con tain su rveys of their sources which
are valuable contributions to the understanding of M uslim historiography. F or general
bibliographical su rveys and for detailed studies of certain periods of Muslim historiography,
cf. also below, p. 5.
A b b o t t , N., Studies in Arabic Literary Pa pyri I : Historical Texts (Chicago 1957).
a l - 'A r in i, a s -S a y y i d

a l -B az,

Mu^arrihu al-hurub as-salibtyah (Cairo 1962).

A s h t o r , K ., Some Unpublished Sources for the Bahrt Period, in Scripta Hierosolymitana, I X ,

11-30 (1961).
A v a u , K a m i l , Die Anfdnge der arabischen Geschichtsschreibung, in Geist und Gesellschaft,

K . Breysig Festschrift, 111, 35-48 (Breslau, n .y., 1928?).

B a b i n g e r , F., D ie Geschichtsschreiber der Osmanen und ihre Werke (Leipzig 1927).

I, 535-59 (1927); II, 22-50, 164-82, 495-526 (1928).

H u r g r o n j e , C . s ., M ekka, II, 216-18 (The H ague 1889).
I v A N O W , W ., Ism aili Tradition concerning the Rise of the Fatim ids (London, etc., 1942,

Islam ic Research Association Series, 10), introduction.

K h a d d u r i , M a j i d , The Law of War and Peace in Islam , 121-24 (London 1940/41): A note

on A rab ic historiography.
K r a m e r s , J. H ., Over de geschiedsschrijving bij de osmaansche Turken (Leiden 1922). E nglish

translation in his Analecta Orientalia, I, 3-21 (Leiden 1954-56).

L e v i - P r o v e n q a l , E ., Les Historiens des Chorfa (Paris 1922).

------ , L historien de ITslam (1936, Univ. d Alger, Seance . . . de rentree des Facultes, X I V ,
7-24. N ot seen).
L e w i s , B., and H o l t , P. M . (eds.), Historians of the M iddle East (O xford U n iversity Press
1962).
L i c h t e n s t a d t e r , I., Arabic and Islam ic Historiography, in The Moslem World, X X X V ,
126-32 (1945).
M a k k i , M a h m u d A., Egipto y los origenes de la historiografia arabigo-espafiola, in Revista

del Instituto de Estudios Islamicos, V, 157-248 ( i 9 5 7 )M a r g o l i o u t h , D. s ., Lectures on Arabic Historians (Calcutta 1930).
O b e r m a n n , j . , Early Islam, in O b e r m a n n (ed.). The Idea o f History in the Ancient Near

East, 237-310 (New H aven i 955 )P a r e t, R . , D ie Geschichte des Islams im Spiegel der arabischen Volksliteratur (Tiibingen 1927,

Philosophic und Geschichte, 13).

P e t e r s e n , E . L., Historieskrivning i Islam s klassiske Periode, in Historisk 1 idsskrift, X I,

V, 455-73 (Copenhagen 1958).

------ , ^AM and Mu^dwiya in Early Arabic Tradition: Studies on the Genesis and Growth o f
Islam ic Historical Writing (Copenhagen 1964).
P h il ip s , C. H. (ed.). Historians of India, Pakistan andCeylon (Oxford U n iversity Press 1961).
P o n s B o i g u e s , F., Ensayo bio-bibliogrdfico sobre los historiadores y gcografos ardbigoespanoles (Madrid 1898), cf., especially, the Conclusion, 363-87, and Apcndice B,
397-402 (que h ayan opinado los escritores m usulm anes aeerca de la historia, su utilidad
y excelencia, su earaeter cientifico).
R i c h t e r , G., Das Geschichtsbild der arabischen Historiker des Mittelalters ('liibingen 1933,
Philosophic und Geschichte, ^t,). English translation in Islam ic Culture, X X X I I I , 240-50

(1959)-

XVI

BIBL IO G R A PH IC A L R E F E R E N C E S

S a c h a u , E ., Introdu ction to V ol. I l l , i , of Ibn S a d, at-Tabaqdt, p. 1 3 ff. (Leiden 1904).

, Studien zur dltesten Geschichtsiiberlieferung der Araber, in M itteilungen des Seminars
fiir or. Sprachen, Westasiatische Studien, V II , 154-96 (1904), in spite of the title,
contains n othing b u t some biographies of early transm itters in connection w ith Ibn S a'd .
S a l i b i , K . s ., Maronite Historians of Medieval Lebanon (Beirut 1959).
S a u v a g e t , J ., and C a h e n , C ., Introduction d Ihistoire de VOrient M usulm an (Paris 1961),
E n glish translation : Introduction to the History o f the M uslim East (B erkeley and Los
A ngeles 1965).
S e m s e d d i n , M u h a m m a d , Islamda tarih we-miiwerrihler (Istanbul 1340-42).
SO M O G YI, J. DE, The Kitdb al-muntazam o f Ibn al-Jauzi, in J R A S , 1932, 49-76, especially
p. 4 9 ------ , The Development o f Arabic Historiography, in Journal of Sem itic Studies, III , 3 7 3 -8 7

(1958)S p u l e r , B ., Islam ische und abendldndische

Geschichtschreibung, in Saeculum. V I, 1 2 5 - 3 7
(1955)S t o r e y , C. A ., Persian Literature, a bio-bibliographical survey (London 1935 ff.), cf. below,
p. 4, n. 3.
T o g a n , a . Zeki V elidi, Tarihde usul (Istanbul 1950).
------ , Kritische Geschichtsauffassung in der islamischen Welt des Mittelalters, in Proceedings
o f the Twenty-Second Congress of Orientalists, I, 76-85 (Istanbul 1953).
WOSTENFELD, F ., D ie Geschichtschreiber der Araber und ihre Werke (Gottingen 1882, A u s
deni X X V I I I . und X X I X . Bande der Abh. der k. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu
Gottingen).
Z iY A D A H , M . M u s t a f a , Al-Mu^arrihun f i M isr f t l-qarn al-hdmis '^aiar al-mtlddt (Cairo
1949, 2nd ed., Cairo 1954).

PART ONE

CH A PTE R ONE

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON HISTORY

AND HISTORIOGRAPHY
I T H E O B J E C T IV E O F A W O R K O N M USLIM
H IS T O R IO G R A P H Y
W riting about the w riting of history b y any particular group or
in any particular period means only one th in g : To show the develop
m ent which the concept of history underwent in the thinking and
in the scholarly approach of the historians of th at particular group
or period, and to describe the origin, growth, or decline of the
forms of literary expression which were used for the presentation
of historical material.^
I t is thus perfectly clear w hat this book will not be and cannot
be, but, in order to dispel any justified or unjustified expectations,
some of the things which will not be found here m ay be mentioned.
The science of Islam is a com parative newcomer in W estern
scholarship. E ven b y a liberal count, one has to give it less than a
hundred years, beginning w ith such men as A. von K r e m e r , Th.
N o l d e k e , or I. G o ld z ih e r . This compares w ith the more than
four hundred years of classical philology and the two hundred
and fifty years of the science of h i s t o r y . ^ The real objectives of
the science of Islam are, therefore, sometimes obscured b y the (in
them selves very important) secondary requirem ents of a grow ing
and as yet not fu lly developed discipline.
This book is not a bibliography of Muslim historians. The
existence of full bio-bibliographical inform ation about Muslim
historians is an indispensable condition for the task at hand. A
first attem pt to dress a comprehensive list of A rabic historians
and their works was undertaken b y F. W u st e n f e l d in 1882.^
^ One m ay com pare B. C r o c e s definition, of the history of historiography, in Teoria
e storia della storiografia, 156 f. (third ed., Bari 1927).
* Cf. F r . M e i n e c k e , D ie Entstehung des Historismus (M unich-Berlin 1936).
D ie Geschichtschreiber der Araber und ihre Werke (Gottingen 1882. A u s dem X X V I I I .
und X X I X . Banda der A bh . der k. Gesellschaft der W issenschaften zu Gottingen).

IN TR O D U C T O R Y REM ARKS

H is Geschichtschreiher der Amher was, in general, not of the same

high q uah ty as his other pubhcations. Y et, it was a highly respect
able achievem ent in its time. However, especially owing to our
greatly increased knowledge of the m anuscript resources of the
libraries all over the world, it is now hopelessly antiquated. A
pioneer w ork on the Spanish historians, which retains a certain use
fulness, was published b y F. P ons B o ig u es in 1898.^ In the same
year, w ith the appearance of C. B r o c k e lm a n n s Geschichte der
ayaUschen Littemtur [GAL), in 1898-1902, a safe foundation was
laid lor our knowledge of Muslim historiography.^ For Persian and
Turkish historiography, we also have quite exhaustive bibliograph
ical surveys in the works of C. A. S t o r e y
and F. B a b in g e r .^
In its sections on the historians, the G A L provides excellent and
in its time exhaustive inform ation on those historians whose works
have survived in m anuscripts and printed books. The relevant
m aterial which escaped B r o c k e l m a n n s attention is very httle. It
m ay be doubted that, if it were possible to follow up all the
references of the G A L (as well as of S t o r e y and B a b in g e r ), any
omission of real importance for the understanding of the history of
Muslim historiography would be discovered. For the purpose of the
present book, the G A L offers a bibliographical foundation of

1
Ensayo bio-bibliogrdfico sobre los historiadores y geografos ardbigo-espanoles (Madrid
1898). Som e tim e before, a check list of Spanish historical works had been prepared b y
F. C o D E R A which w as published in print b y him and in lith ograph y b y J . R i b e r a . It
was m istakenly considered b y G. K a m p f f m e y e r as an old list (of the fourteenth century)
and treated b y him under the title of E ine alte Liste arabischer Werke zur Geschichte Spaniens
und Nordwestafrikas, in Mitteilungen des Seminars fiir or. Sprachen, Westas. Studien, I X ,
74-110 (1906). K a m p f f m e y e r corrected his error himself, ibid., X , 296-98 (1907), and
O L Z , X , 38-41 (1907).
Vols. I-II, W eim ar 1898-1902. Supplement, Vols. I-I I I, Leiden 1937-42. A new edition
of the original tw o volum es (Zweite den Supplementbdnden angepasste Auflage) appeared in
Leiden 1943-49- A supplem ent dealing w ith the works preserved in m anuscripts in the
libraries of T u rk e y and some A rabic countries is in preparation b y F u a t S e z g i n . The
catalogues of m anuscript collections in the W est freq u en tly d evote special sections to the
h istorical literature. A separate catalogue is th at b y A . I. M i k h a y l o v a for the h istorical
m anuscripts in the In stitu t N arodov A sii (Moscow 1965).
Persian Literature, a bio-bibliographical survey. V ol. I, Section II, fasc. i , A : General
h istory, B : T h e prophets and early Islam (London 1935); fasc. 2, C -L : Special histories of
Persia, Central A sia and the rem aining parts of the w orld excep t India (London 1936);
fasc. 3, M : H isto ry of India (London 1939), N : B iograph y (London 1953, including additions,
corrections, and indexes). Although it was incorporated b y S t o r e y in his Persian
Literature, the w ork b y F. T a u e r , Les M anuscrits persans historiques des bibliotheques de
Stambul, in Archiv Orientdlni, III, 87-118, 303-26, 462-91 (1931), and IV , 92-107, 193-207
(1932), m ay be m entioned here.
*
F . B a b i n g e r , D ie Geschichtsschreiber der Osmanen und ihre Werke (Leipzig 1927).
Cf. a ls o L. F o r r e r , Handschriften osmanischer Historiker in Istanbul, in Der Islam , X X V I ,
173-220 (1942).

TH E O B JE C T IV E

sufficient strength.^ It cannot be said, however, th at the existence

of the G A L in its present form and of the other bibliographical
works would m ake the compilation of a special (bio-)bibliography
of Muslim historians a superfluous enterprise. Such a work remains
an im portant desideratum. Using the G A L as a basis, it would be
necessary to omit the non-historical m aterial from B r o c k e l m a n n s
historical sections and to collect the historical titles which are
dispersed over the different sections of the G A L . The accuracy of
each statem ent would have to be checked. The interpretation,
especially of the biographical data, would have to be improved.
A bove all, it would be necessary to collect all the inform ation about
historians and their works that have not come down to us and are
known only through bibliographical reference and through quo
tations. ^ A very rewarding task is w aiting here for a future scholar,
preferably one who has constant access to a large library and to the
m anuscript collections of the Muslim countries.
V alu able bibliographical studies on various segm ents of Muslim h istoriography are being
published w ith increasing frequency in Muslim countries. Cf., for instance, the guide to
M oroccan historical literature b y ' A b d - a s - S a l a m I b n S u d a h , DaVil mu'^arrih al-Magrib alAqsd (Tetuan 1369/1950); the su rv ey of Dam ascene historians b y S a l a h - a d - d i n a l M u n a j j i d , Al-Mu^arrihun ad-DimasqtyUn, in Revue de I'Inst. des M anuscrits A r., II, 63-145
(1375/1956) (also published separately, Cairo 1956), and idem, al-Mu^arrihUn ad-DimasqtyAn
ft l-^ahd al-^Utmdm (Beirut 1964); the stu d y on fifteen th -cen tu ry E gyp tia n historians
b y M. M. Z i y a d a h (above, p. X V I ); the rather detailed discussion of 'Ira q i
historians (with the inclusion of m an y non-'Iraqis) b y ' A b b a s a l - ' A z z a w i , at-Ta^rtf bi-lmu^arriMn, I: F t 'ahd al-M ugul wa-t-Turkumdn (Bagdad 1367/1957); as w ell as special
catalogues of historical literature, such as the catalogue of m icrofilm ed m anuscripts in the
possession of the Arab League en titled Fihris al-mahtutdt al-musawwarah, II, i (by L u t f i
A b d - a l - B a d i ') and n (by F u An S a y y i d ) (Cairo n. y. [1956-57]); Y . a l - ' I s s s catalogue of
the h istorical m anuscripts in the Zahiriyah (Dam ascus 1366/1947); K . ' A w w a d on the
historical m anuscripts in the 'Ira q i Museum, in Sumer, X I I I , 40-82 ( i 937 )- F or Turkish
historiography, one m ay m ention Istanbul KiitUphaneleri Tarih-Cografya Yazmalari
Kataloglan, I : TUrkfe Tarih Yazm alari (Istanbul 1943)Th e scholarly stu d y of historical works w ritten b y Muslim authors of the modern period
is, as we w ould expect, also growing rapidly. Cf., for instance, j A M A L - A D - n i N a s - S a y y a l ,
at-T aM h wa-l-nm^arrihim f t M isr f t l-qarn at-tdsi'^ 'asar (Cairo 1958). There is a tendency
to see these works as being som ehow connected with the great tradition of m edieval Muslim
historiography, cf., for instance, A . G. C i i e j n e , The Use of History by Modern Arab Writers,
in The M iddle East Journal, X I V , 382-96 (i960), and Autobiography and Memoirs in M odem
Arab Historiography, in The M uslim World, L II, 31-38 (1962); G. M. H a d d a d , Modern
Arab Historians and World History, in The M uslim World, LI, 37-43 (1961). F or the w ork
done b y recent Turkish historians, cf. the references in K. K. K e y , A n Outline of Modern
Turkish Historiography (Istanbul 1954)-

Just as th is book is not concerned with bibliography, it is also

not concerned w ith the reproduction or verbal interpretation of
^ B u t cf. the foreword to this edition, above, p. V I.
2
L et it be said right now, how ever, th at in the course of this investigation, I have
m ade the experience th at quotations as a rule are little illum inating as to possible peculiari
ties in the form and contents of lost historical works.

IN T R O D U C T O R Y REM ARK S

the contents of Muslim historical works. A n author on Rom an

historiography, for instance, would proceed on the assumption
th at the works he discusses are known to the reader or m ay be
consulted b y him if he so desires. The same assum ption m ust
be made b y the author of a w ork on Muslim historiography, or
he would not be able to complete his task successfully. T he sad
fact, however, is th at in his case, the assumption is not true. M any
of the works, even basic ones, are not w idely known, nor is it alw ays
easy or possible to gain access to them. The non-Arabist, indeed,
has com paratively little opportunity to achieve a correct apprecia
tion of the contents of Muslim historical literature b y turning to
the existing translations, as there are not enough of them. This
situation reveals the need for a wider dissemination of Muslim
historical literature but the defect could not and should not be
remedied b y the present book.
Furtherm ore, we are not concerned here w ith the value of
historical w orks as source m aterial for the w riting of the history of
a particular period. There m ay be a certain truth to the contention
th at the author who possesses the sharpest eye for the tru ly relevant
facts and thus gives his w ork the greatest possible value as a
historical source w ould at the same tim e bring to his w ork the m ost
original concept of history and the most original mode of presen
tation. If this is correct in some cases, it certainly is not the general
rule. On the other hand, it is definitely correct to say th at w orks of
great im portance as historical sources often are unim portant as
exam ples of historical writing. In general, the value of a historical
w ork as a historical source has no direct relation to its significance
for the history of historiography. ^
This holds true, in particular, in the case of Muslim historiography.
The value of a Muslim history as a historical source is conditioned
either b y its an tiq u ity and proxim ity to the described events, or b y
the use of ancient or (near-) contem porary works not preserved
otherwise. The former circum stance is no merit of the historian
(unless he were the first to think of the idea of writing contem porary
history), and the latter a merit only if the choice of the used works
was not obvious. Some of the oldest Muslim historians are valued
very h igh ly because th ey are the first to record for us certain items
^ T h e w ritin g of h istory and the understanding of h istoriography are two different
things. Good historians m ay be poor theoreticians of history. E . M e y e r is a notable
exam p le for the correctness of this statem ent as the readers of his Zu r Thcorie und Methodik
der Geschichte (in K lein e Schriften zur Geschichtstheorie, 1-67, H alle 1910) w ill adm it.

TH E O BJE C T IV E

of information. On the other hand, the fam e of later historians who

became known to the W est at an early date, such as al-Makin
(d. 1273) in the seventeenth and A b u 1-F id a (d. 1331) in the
eighteenth century, declined greatly after the sources they had used
became known. Such considerations are germane to the historian
but th ey have no bearing upon the judgm ent of the critic of
historiography who would not prefer an ancient author m erely
because of his value as a source, or disregard a later author m erely
because his factual inform ation duplicates th at of older works.
In short, the question to be answered here is n o t: W hat is the
historical importance of something an author says?, but: W hat did
he do w ith w hatever inform ation was available to him ?
This book is also no com parative stud y of Muslim historiography
and ancient or m edieval W estern historiography. Such a com
p arative stu d y should be the subject of a separate work, Muslim
historiography must first be understood as the self-contained
intellectual growth it is. O nly occasional com parative references
have been added here as illustrations.
F inally, the present book cannot claim to have taken account
of all historical writing done b y MusHms as adherents of the
religion of Islam. The term Muslim is here understood in a restricted
cultural sense. It refers to the great civilization which took shape
in Dam ascus and B agdad from the seventh century to the tenth
century A .D . Its form ative elements were derived from m any
civilizations, languages, peoples, and religions. Its m ain vehicle of
expression was the A rabic language. The predominance of A rabic
can be considered assured also in the case of historiography,
although historical works were soon w ritten in the native languages
of individual rulers and regions, and there exist an im portant
Persian historical literature since the tenth century, beginning
w ith a free translation of at-T abaris H istory} and a very extensive
Turkish historical literature since about the beginning of the
fifteenth century.^ B y about 1500 or should we say 15 1 7 , the
date of the O ttom an conquest of E g y p t the point was reached
w hen this Muslim civilization began to feel the steadily growing
influence of modern European civilization. Muslim civihzation, and
w ith it Muslim historiography, continued to flourish in m any parts
of the Muslim world w ithout hardly an y changes in its forms of
1 C f. S t o r e y , Persian Literature, I, i , n. 2 (London 1927); I I, 61 f f .
* C f. B a b i n g e r , Geschichtsschreiber, 10 .

IN T R O D U C T O R Y REM A R K S

expression. It remained especially undisturbed in the m ost con

servative or least accessible corners of the Muslim world such as
Morocco and the Yemen. However, there is alw ays the possibility
that w hatever new elements m ay have appeared in Muslim historiog
rap h y during the last four hundred years m ight have had their
origin in a conscious or unconscious exposure to occidental influ
ences. It m ight still be said th at the study of the developm ent of
Muslim historical writing during the dawn of European influence
should not be excluded from a survey of Muslim historiography,
since something might be gained for the understanding of the
m edieval Muslim spirit from the works of the tim e of its disinte
gration. W hether this is correct or not, the w riter of the present
book feels th at the difficulties involved would be too great for his
lim ited knowledge to master. The lim itations of the authors
knowledge also precluded a special treatm ent of Muslim historioggraphy in areas of strong cultural autonom y such as India and
Indonesia. In the authors opinion, the inclusion of all these materials
and the problems connected w ith them would have shed no addi
tional light upon the contours and substance of the great cultural
phenomenon of Muslim historiography and the developm ent it took
during the centuries of its free and independent existence when
hundreds of Muslim scholars w rote historical works guided b y their
particular concept of history.
2 T H E C O N C E P T O F H IS T O R Y , M U SLIM A N D M O D E R N
The vantage point from which the investigation of the history
of the historiography of a particular group or period m ust needs
be undertaken is th at of our own view s regarding the function of
h isto ry and the task of the historian. These views are the product
of our time, of two and a half centuries of historicism, and th^y are
em inently peculiar to modern W estern civilization. The historiog
raphy of any group that does not form part of modern W estern
civilization is subject to different environmental factors and is con
ditioned b y a very different scale of intellectual values. It will be
good to keep this fact in mind throughout our occupation w ith
Muslim historiography, and it m ight not be entirely superfluous
to sketch as briefly as possible the difference between the m edieval
Muslim and modern W estern concept of history.
The sem antic history of the Greek w ord wTopCa is in itself most

T H E CONCEPT OF H ISTO RY

revealing .1 W ith the tremendous upsurge of intellectual and political

a ctiv ity in the Ionian c ity states of the sixth and fifth centuries B .C .,
the term LGropiy] that is, the quest for things worth knowing
came to be identified w ith the kind of knowledge which was of the
greatest interest for citizens of a tzoKlq: the knowledge of countries,
customs, and political institutions of the present or the past. The
restriction of icrTopiT] to the knowledge of the happenings which
accom panied the growth of those phenomena was soon made, and
the term history in its common meaning was born.
The Rom ans adopted both the literary form and the word for it.
Historia remained w ith them a learned expression. In its transition
into the Rom ance languages, it did not undergo the phonetic
changes which it would have undergone if it had been a word of
the spoken everyd ay language. Its m eaning in vulgar usage, how
ever, had already deteriorated in L atin and had taken on m any
different shades of m ean in g. Closest among them to its original
m eaning was th at of anecdote, tale, or the English derivation of
the word from the French: story.
W hen the word eventually regained its scholarly dignity, it was
in an artificially revived form : histoire, history, Historic, istoriya,
etc., or in a no less artificial translation of historia into the ver
nacular, such as German Geschichte.
B y th at time, all these words had been filled w ith an entirely
new meaning. H istory now denoted the process according to which
a particular object had reached a particular stage in its develop
m ent. The preferred object, in conform ity with the traditional
view of history, was man, and, in particular, human political in
stitutions and activities. However, the application of the idea
of history to every conceivable object, animate or inanimate, which
becam e general in the nineteenth century, was quite a logical
extension. H istory, in this sense, has become an all-inclusive
concept. L ike philosophy, it can claim th at every thing and every
a c tiv ity is subject to it and belongs into its s p h e r e .^
^ Cf. K . K e u c k , Historia. Geschichte des Wortes und seiner Bedeutung in der Antike und
in den romanischen Sprachen, E asd etten 1934 (Diss. M unster); H. R u p p and O. K o h le r ,
Historia-Geschichte, in Saeculiim, II, 627-38 (1951).
^ T h e com parison of h istory and philosophy here should not be understood in the sense
of C r o c e s inherence of philosophy in h istory and h istory in philosophy, op. cit., 71.
And, of course, H. S t . J. B o l i n g b r o k e s fam ous: I think th at h istory is philosophy
teaching b y exam p les (Letters on the Study and Use of History, 5, London 1870, cf. also
J. T h . S h o t w e l l , The History of History, 234, N ew Y o rk 1939), is som ething very different.
Challenging rem arks on the difference between the m odern and m edieval concepts of

10

IN T R O D U C T O R Y REM ARK S

In a certain, if basically very different, sense, such a wide ex

tension of the term history was not unknown in Islam, as the works
of al-M asudi and al-M utahhars Book of Beginning and History,
and, especially, al-K M iyajis speculations would seem to indicated
Nevertheless, it must not be apphed to the subject m atter of the
present investigation. The historian who accepts such a com pre
hensive definition of history overlooks the distinction betw een
history as such and history as the object of historiography.^ The
term history m ay refer both to the process of historical develop
ment and to the description of th at process, two to ta lly different
things which all too often are not properly distinguished. E very
little pebble has its own history and is subject to historical processes,
but in view of the existence of an uncounted number of pebbles
and their relative insignificance, it would be absurd to give a
description of its history and th at of millions of other pebbles and
consider it part of historiography. The description of their history,
worked out in general terms, would no longer be h istory, but
part of some branch of natural science.
H istory, in the narrow sense applicable here, should be defined
as the hterary description of any sustained human a ctiv ity either
of groups or individuals which is reflected in, or has influence
upon the developm ent of a given group or individual.^ O nly
history in this sense can form the subject of a scholarly discipline
in its own right, and only this definition of history should be in
the mind of the person who speaks about historiography, historians,
and history, though there can be no denying of the fact th at, for
h istory in the W est m ay be found in W. L a m m e r s (ed.), Gesckichtsdenken und Geschichtsbild
im Mittelalter (D arm stadt 1961). The W estern Middle A ges were so g rea tly preoccupied
w ith G eschichtsphilosophie, Geschichtstheologie und G esch ich tssym bolik th at th ey had
no tim e for the stu d y of history (A. D e m p f , as quoted b y J. S p o r l , in L a m m e r s , 305).
There are no view s of h istory in the M iddle A ges, if such view s are accepted only if based
upon historical facts (H. G r u n d m a n n , in L a m m e r s , 418).
^ See below , pp. 108 f. and 114 f. Cf. also al-M aqrizis definition of h istory, below , p. 15.
Cf. F. C. B a u r , D ie Epochen der kirchlichen Geschichtsschreihung, 1 (Tiibingen 1852):
G eschichte ist sowohl das o b je k tiv Geschehene, als das su b jektive W issen des Geschehenen.
^ Cf. the in stru ctive collcction and discussion of the m ost im portant modern definitions
of h istory b y J . H u i z i n g a , in Philosophy and History: Essays presented to Ernst Cassirer,
i - i o (Oxford 1936). H ow ever, H u i z i n g a s own definition: H istory is the in tellectu al
form in which a civilization renders account to itself of its p a st, does not do ju stice to the
fundam ental hum an character of history.
Incom plete b u t quite acceptable is C. (W. C.) O m a n s definition: H istory, I conceive,
m ay be best defined as m ans effort to record the doings of m an {On the Writing of H istory,
V , N ew Y o rk [1939]). (Cf. also R. F l i n t s excellent History o f the Philosophy o f History,
7 f., N ew Y o rk 1894.)

T H E C O NCEPT OF H ISTO RY

II

the modern mind, the general concept of history m ay, in theory,

be extended to include all animate or inanimate matters.
In the form ation of the modern idea of history, semantic develop
m ents have played a significant role. The same was the case in
Muslim historiography, although, again, on a very different level.
The tw o technical terms b y which the idea of history is commonly
denoted in A rabic are {Him) al-ahbdr and ta^rih. Ahbdr, the plural
of habar, is the more general term. The etym ology of the root hbr
is not quite clear. There is no clue to its possible original meaning in
A rabic itself. The evidence of the other Sem itic languages also does
not perm it a clear-cut decision. However, the suggested connection
of hbr with A kkadian habdru meaning to be noisy, to make noise
seems more probable than any other combination.^ In historical
times, the A rabic word means inform ation (about remarkable
events), and also the events themselves, in which latter meaning
it has a large number of non-technical synonyms. Ahbdr corresponds
to history in the sense of story, anecdote. It does not im ply any
fixation in time, nor is it ever restricted to mean an organically
connected series of events.^ The term later on assumed the addi
tional meaning of inform ation about the deeds and sayings of
Muhammad, and, in particular, the ancient Muslim authorities.
Together w ith other words such as dtdr, it became in fact sometihng
of a synonym of hadit.
Ta^rih, which at least from about the ninth century on m ay be
considered the specific technical term for h istory in general, is
1 Cf. J . J . F i n k e l s t e i n , Hebrew hbr and Sem itic *hbr, in Journal of Biblical Literature,
L X X V , 328-31 (1956). Cf. also The A ssyrian Dictionary, V I, 7 (Chicago i 95f>)Hebrew and R thiopic [hbr) have a root m eaning to join, to con n ect. There also is a
word m eaning associate, colleague, in Hebrew, which, as we know from the evidence
of (Accadian and) U garitic has a h and not a ^ in spite of the E thiopic form (cf. T h . n o l d e k e ,
in Z D M G , X L , 728, 1886) and the Coptic loan sber (cf. F. R o s e n t h a l , in Orientaha, N .S.,
V I I I , 231, n. 2, 1939). It is conceivable th at there existed two en tirely unrelated roots,
the word m eaning colleague w ith a h, and the root to con n ect with a h, and th at
these tw o roots were som ehow b rought together in the languages concerned, even in E thiopic
where the hjh sound rem ained d istin ct (at least, in early times). If this should have been
the case, it would be a convincing assum ption th at A rab ic habar inform ation is derived
from the root hbr to con n ect, in abou t the sam e m anner in which A rab ic '^aql in tellect
was derived from the root ^ql to b in d .
A com bination of habar with H ebrew hpr to look out, to in vestig ate, which was
suggested b y J. B a r t h (Etymologische Studien, 28, Berlin 1893; cf. idem, Wurzeluntersuchungen zum hebrdischen und aramdischen Lexicon, 57, L eipzig 1908), would need support
ing evidence. On the other hand, the form ahbirdh in Job x v i 4, if it is to be translated
as I shall talk (? ), could represent the H ebrew cognate of A rab ic habar, bu t the form is
uncertain and there is much dissension concerning its m eaning (cf. P . D i i o r m e , Tx Livre
de Job, 208, Paris 1926; F i n k e l s t e i n , op. cit.; M. H. P o p e , Job, 115 f., New Y o rk 1965).
See below, p. 66 ff.

12

IN T R O D U C T O R Y REM ARK S

an entirely different word. Etym ologically, it would seem to have

been derived from the Semitic word for moon (month), Accadian
[w)arhu, Hebrew yarh-, Aram aic yrah, South Arabian wrh, Ethiopic
warh. This word is otherwise not used in the Arabic we know.
A direct loan from Accadian into A rabic is highly improbable.
The assumption of a direct loan from Hebrew or Aram aic is also
precluded, in particular on account of the y (and also oi h > h) in
the Hebrew and Aram aic forms. There remain South A rabian and
Ethiopic, or the assumption th at the word in some form existed in
a N orth Arabian dialect no longer known. The word ta^nh is not
the simple root form but a noun form ation which exists in A rabic
and South Arabian, but not in Ethiopic. This makes an E thiopic
derivation unlikely. Furthermore, it would seem that the word was
taken over b y the A rabs as a technical term. This again excludes
Ethiopic origin as the word would certainly have been preserved in
the Ethiopic hterature if it ever existed there. In addition, it makes
N orth Arabian origin rather unUkely, since for a technical term we
would expect a cultural center as its place of origin. South A rabian
origin, therefore, is most probable. There, we have the expected
cultural center where a technical term of the sort m ight have been
coined. In this case, we m ay assume th at the hypothetic original
(South Arabian) form was Hawrih and that ta^nh is a back for
m ation from muwarrah > mu^arrah.
It m ay be noted th at a Muslim tradition concerning the intro
duction of the hijrah era, ta^rih, assumes Yem enite origin.^ This
is an interesting coincidence, but as an argument for a South
Arabian origin of the term it can be used as little as statem ents
about the existence of different dialectical A rabic forms ^ can be
used as arguments for a North Arabian dialectical origin.
Before we proceed, it should be mentioned that South A rabian
offers another possible etym ology of ta'rih. The root VA appears
in a South Arabian inscription ^ as a noun in juxtaposition to
some common legal terms meaning judgm ent or the like. It also
seems to occur once paired w ith a word meaning y ear. ^ C .
C o n t i R o s s i n i has attem pted to establish the meaning of the
1
Th e a u th o rity for this tradition is Ibn A b i H aytam ah who lived in the ninth century,
cf. as-Sahawi, IHdn, below, p. 381 f.
Cf. the authorities quoted b y as-Sahawi, IHdn, below, p. 271.
G l a s e r , 1606, cf. N. R h o d o k a n a k i s , in W Z K M , X X X V I I , 150, n. i (1930).
* Cf. A. J a u s s e n and R . S a v i g n a c , M ission archeologique en Arable, V ol. 2, IVIinaean
inscriptions. No. 32 (Paris 1909-14).

TH E C O NCEPT OF H IST O R Y

13

word in the former case as m andate, business, and, in the latter

case, as epoch. For the derived verb, he assumes the meaning
of to determine, to prescribe. ^ The Sem itic word which corre
sponds to the South A rabian root obviously is the word meaning
w a y , and the South A rabian expression developed from fixed
w ay (of action) or the like. If the word in the inscription of J a u s s e n S a v i g n a c is read correctly and actually belongs to the root VA,
it should be understood not as epoch but also as som ething like
fixed h abits. A t any rate, however, it is b y no means impossible
that the South A rabian root also served to express the idea of
determ ining a document through the use of a date and thus
was the model of A rabic ta^nh.
Unless further evidence in this direction should be forthcom ing,
the derivation from moon, m onth recommends itself as the more
likely w orking hypothesis. A literal translation of ta^nh would then
be lunation, th at is, the indication of the (month and) d a y of
the m onth through observation of the m oon. The transition of
meaning from lunation to d ate and era m ay in this case
be reconstructed hypoth etically as resulting from the use of the
word for the indication of the day and the month in documents
( d ate ), w ith the next step being the widening of its meaning to
indicate the most im portant date in the documents of a wellorganized, permanent adm inistration, the year of the era.
In Arabic, ta^rih means both date and era. The word
apparently does not occur in pre-Islamic literature. It does not
occur in the Q uran. It does not appear in the old hadit) it is
significant th at the only tradition concerning the introduction of
the Muslim era which is included in al-Buharis collection ^ uses
the root 'adda, and not arraha. B u t to all appearances, the word
ta^nh is mentioned in A rabic literature first together with the
stories of the introduction of the Muslim era.^ Muslim tradition
favors the opinion th at the hijrah era was introduced under Umar,
and it should be noted th at it is used in a papyrus dated in
the year 22 of the hijrah.^ The thing itself thus existed in the
first half of the seventh century, and we m ay assume, though
1 C f. C . C o n t i R o s s i n i , G W L in Sud-arabico, in R SO , X I I , i i g (1929-30), and idem,
Chrestomathia arabica meridionalis epigraphica, log (Rom e 1931). Th e article in R SO
served as the basis for R h o d o k a n a k i s discussion referred to on p. 12, n. 3.
2 SaMk, III , 49 K r e h l .
3 Cf. as-Sahawi, IHdn, below, p. 378 ff.
*
C f. J . v o n K a r a b a c e k , Fuhrer dutch die Ausstellung Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer, 1 3 9
(Vienna 1894); A . G r o h m a n n , EinfUhrung, 221 (Prague 1955)-

14

IN T R O D U C T O R Y REM ARK S

docum entary evidence is lacking, th a t the word was also known b y

th at time.
Ta^nh, then, acquired the meaning of historical w ork," and
afterw ards th at of history, exactly as history or Geschichte m ay
mean both history and historical work. Again, it would be very
difficult to fix an exact date for the first occurrence of ta^rih in
the meaning of historical w ork. It is firm ly established in this
meaning from the second century of the hijrah on. Ta*nh acquired
this meaning through being used to designate works which contained
dates. O riginally, therefore, historical works in which no dates
occurred could not properly be called ta^rih. It should, however,
be stated th at in the oldest works called ta'nh, which were collec
tions of biographies, dates were m ost sparingly represented. The
use of the word ta^rih for these and similar works was apparently
justified if only the dates of (birth and) death of some of the individ
uals m entioned were indicated. In al-Buhari's Ta^nh, less
th an seven percent of the biographies are provided w ith the dates
of death, and less than one-half of one percent of the biographies
has an indication of the date of birth.^ Som ewhat more than onehalf of one percent of the biographies, in addition, contains some
date which fixes the tim e of its subject. For all the other persons
listed, there is only the indication of their authorities and pupils
which permits an approxim ate determ ination of their lifetime.
The contents of the vast m ajority of all biographies th at extend
beyond the names of authorities and pupils consists of the p artic
ular tradition of which the subject of the biography was a trans
m itter. Other ancient theological histories were even more sparing
w ith their dates.^
The meaning of history in general developed w ith the use of
the word for annalistic histories and only slowly gained currency
from the third century on.^
1 Th e count was made in the first two half-volum es of the H yd erab ad edition.
*
B y the time of the H atib, the author of the History of Bagdad, the percentage of the
dates of death in the biographies had gone up to fifty percent, according to a count m ade
in Volum e 2 of the Cairo edition of the work. Moreover, the History of Bagdad follow s a
chronological sequence and alm ost co n stan tly gives approxim ate dates. Those men whose
dates of death are not indicated as a rule are m inor figures. W hen later biographical works
give dates th at are not found in earlier biographers, it u su ally is safe to assume th at those
dates were not tradition al bu t the result of later sch olarly reconstruction. T h is applies, in
p articular, to dates referrin g to persons who lived during the first two centxuries of the
Muslim era.
^ T h e m eaning goal, fin al culm ination, which is som etim es indicated for ta^rih (cf. asSahawi, P la n , below, p. 272) is secondary. It is derived from era, epoch . Cf. also our
epoch al in the sense of outstan din g, and the phrase he represents an era.

T H E C O NCEPT OF H IST O R Y

15

The sem antic history of ta'^rih, as it has been outlined in the pre
ceding remarks, though h ighly probable, cannot be considered as
absolutely certain. A t any event, the im portant fact remains that
already as the result of its semantic history, the word must evoke
in the Mushm reader a set ot notions which are not identical with
those suggested b y our h istory. H istory, on the one hand, and
the A rabic words which we translate h istory, on the other,
interlock only in one link of the chain of their semantic associations.
Furthermore, there where th ey m echanically interlock, the philo
sophical im plications of our concept of history which arc the product
of modern historicism set it wide apart from Muslim h istory.
E ven at the com paratively late date of the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries when Muslim historians felt the need for an
abstract definition of history and historiography, their different
definitions do not reveal any real philosophical insight. Ibn H aldun
says: H istory refers to events th at are peculiar to a particular
age or race. ^ Al-M aqrizi defines the object of historiography as
giving inform ation about w hat once took place in the w orld. ^
A l- lji m aintains th at historiography is the acquaintance with
conditions of the world th at have been transm itted provided w ith
an indication of the times when th ey took place, inasfar as th ey
constitute item s of inform ation. ^ F or al-K afiyaji, historiography
is a branch of learning which investigates time-sections and the
circum stances prevailing in them, as well as the circumstances which
are connected w ith those time-sections, w ith a view to their
1 M uqaddimah, I, 50 Paris, trans. R o s e n t h a l , I, 63 (New Y o rk 1958).

Al-habar ^an al-baSar, phot. Cairo T a M h 947, p. 116 : Al-ihbdr ^arn-md fata f t l-^dlam.
W estern m edieval historians sim ilarly defined h istory as the sequence of the great events
of the past. A ccording to M a r i e S c h u l z , D ie Lehre von der historischen Methode bei den
Geschichtsschreibern des Mittelalters ( V I .- X I I I . Jahrh.), 5, n. i (Berlin-Leipzig 1909,
Abhandlungen zur mittleren und neueren Geschichte, 13), there exist on ly tw o m edieval
W estern definitions of history which m oreover depend on each other (for another one,
cf. below, p. 196, n. i, and cf. also H . R i c h t e r , Engl. Geschichtschreiber des zwolften Jahrhunderts, 73, Berlin 1938). Isidore of Seville (d. 636), in his Etymologiae, I, 43 A revalo, says:
. . . siquidem per historiam sum m a retro tem porum , annorum que su pputatio com prehenditur et per consulurn, regum que successum m ulta iiecessaria perscru tan tur. He was copied
b y H ugo of F leu ry (around rio o ), Historia ecclesiastica, as follow s: . . . siquidem
per historiam preteriti tem poris series com prehenditur et per regum et im peratorum
successiones m ulta necessaria perscru tan tur. M . S c h u l z also considers O tto of Freising
(d. 1158) depending on Isidore when he says in his Chronicon, book 3, 12; . . . historiographorum . . . preterita n arrantium . . . . (For H ellenistic definitions of h istory, cf.
P. S c h e l l e r , D e hellenistica historiae conscribendae arte, 9 ff., L eipzig 1 9 1 1.)
Cf., in m odern times, L. G o t t s c h a l k , The Historian and the Historical Document, in Social
Science Research Council Bulletin, No. 53 (1945), p. 8 : B y its most com prehensive definition,
the word history m eans the past of m an kind.
^ See below, p. 205.

i6

17

IN T R O D U C T O R Y REM ARK S

T H E CO NCEPT O F H IST O R Y

fixation as to tim e/' ^ while as-Sahawi says that the object of

history is man and time. The problems w ith which history is
concerned are the circumstances of m an and time broken down to
details w ithin the general fram ework of the accidental circum
stances th at exist for man and in tim e. ^
The gap between the modern W estern concept and the m edieval
Muslim concept of history was not bridged b y the consciousness of
Muslim historians of the element of change affecting hum an behavior
as the m ainspring of history. W hen a l- Y a qubi in the ninth century
w rote a w ork entitled The A daptation of Men to their Tim e," we
are tem pted to conclude from the title th at his concept of h istory
came close to modern ideas of developm ent. However, a l- Y a q u b is
thesis in the little w ork is th a t everybody follows the precedent set
b y the ruling caliph for political, social, and cultural behavior.
W hile the existence of constant change is presupposed b y him and
he im plicitly denies the existence of static forces in history outside
th e eternal hum an element in the chosen leaders, al-Ya'qiabi did
not envisage an orderly process of developm ent any more than did
other Muslim historians or scholars in other fields.^
The discrepancy in the semantic and ideological understanding
of h istory also raises some practical problems connected w ith the
treatm ent of the subject under investigation. It is natural th at
our point of view is determined b y the insight modern m an has
gained into the function and purpose of history. This insight will
remain our ultim ate yardstick. B u t w hat about the classification
of literary products as being, or not being, historical works ? It is
com paratively simple to eliminate chronology from our consider
ation, although scholars have no doubt been right in stressing the
im portance of the invention of eras, etc., for the m echanical
processes of historiography.^ B u t even if we adm it biography to be a
genuine part of history, would we be inclined to accept biography as
so prominent an element of historiography as Muslim historians did ?

Or would it do to disregard certain types of local histories which

go under the title of ta^'rih but contain little or no history ? In order
to clarify the situation, this has been adopted as the criterion for
determining the extent of the m aterial to be considered here:
Muslim historiography includes those works which Muslims, a t a
given moment of their literary history, considered historical works
and which, at the same time, contain a reasonable amount of
m aterial which can be classified as historical according to our
definition of history, as given above.

See below, p. 250; cf. also p. 531, n. i.

2 See below, p. 273.
Another fifteeu th -cen tury author, Zahir-ad-din al-Mar'-asi, in his History of Tabaristdn,
qualified his definition of historiography as a science which involves the knowledge of
the conditions of the ancien ts with the com mon u tilitarian concept of the exem plary
character of h istory, cf. Sehir-eddins Geschichte von Tabaristan, Rujan und Masanderan,
6 D o r n (St. Petersburg 1850).
^ A l-Y a 'q ilb i, MuSdkalat an-nds li-zamdnihim, published b y W . M i l l w a r d (B eirut 1962),
and translated in J A O S , L X X X I V , 329-44 (1964). Cf. also F. R o s e n t h a l , The Technique
and Approach of M uslim Scholarship, 68a (Rom e 1947, Analecta Orientalia, 24).
Cf. J. T h . S h o t w e l l , The History of History, 63 ff, (New Y o rk 1939).
R o s e n t h a l , H istory of Muslim H istoriography

H ISTO RICA L C O N SC IO U SN E SS IN PR E -ISL A M IC A R A B IA

C H A P T E R TW O

BACKGROUND AND ENVIRONMENT

I H IS T O R IC A L C O N SCIO U SN E SS IN P R E -IS L A M IC A R A B I A
Our knowledge of pre-Islamic A rabia shows v e ry m any gaps,
since it is derived from very scant and disparate sources. Much of
the available inform ation is based upon Islam ic sources. H ow far
th ey are reliable in their description of pre-Islam ic and early Islam ic
cultural conditions and in their attribution of literary m aterial to
pre-Islam ic times is a m atter of dispute. The attitude of scholars
educated in the critical spirit of the last century was often one of
great scepticism. A t present, the pendulum is swinging back in this
field as it does in other fields of literary criticism. There is a m arked
tendency tow ard a more cautious approach which, unfortunately
and more frequently than one m ight wish, assumes the appearance
of undisguised credulity. The fact is th at truth and falsehood are so
ingenuously interwoven in Muslim antiquarian and early religious
literature th at no general rule can tell w hat is genuine and w hat is
not. E ve ry single statem ent or literary document has to be judged
b y itself. A n element of subjectivism will enter each judgm ent, but
no fear of subjectivism , however justified, m ust dull our critical
faculties.
The complete silence of our sources w ith regard to any appre
ciable am ount of true literary a ctiv ity in pre-Islam ic tim es m ay
have been caused b y the Muslim view of ancient A rab ia as a
country of ignorance. It is, however, much more lik ely to assume
th at this silence is explained b y the fact th at there actu ally was
nothing to report. The cultural and economic level of the nomad
population was, as it has alw ays been, too low to support any
sustained literary effort. The commercial element in the few larger
towns, such as Mecca, was in a better position m aterially, but even
if A rabic was used to any large extent as a literary language,
which we do not know, the intellectual horizon there, too, certainly
was quite narrow. There hardly existed an incentive to cultivate
a historical literature, especially since the lack of an y large-scale

19

political organization, which was characteristic of pre-Islam ic

central and northern A rabia, deprived the population of the
inspiring experience of a continuity of great political events.
There existed a natural interest in great happenings, and note
w orthy events were used as points of orientation in the history of
individuals. The oldest preserved A rabic inscription, th at of
Imru"u- 1-Qays from the year 328, celebrates the historic achieve
ments of a deceased prince. A nother inscription, th at of Sarahil
from the year 568, seems to refer to a destruction of H aybar which
had taken place a year before.^ B oth inscriptions, however, come
from the northwestern fringe of A rabia where foreign cultural
influences had been strong through the ages. H ow much alive such
influences were in the more central sections of the Peninsula is hard
to say. The lively caravan trade m ay have carried them quite far.
Unless we w ant to lose ourselves in entirely undocumented
speculations, the problem of the actual cultivation of indigenous
historical lore in pre-Islam ic A rabia centers around these tw o
questions: i) Does the literature of the b attle days of the Arabs
go back into pre-Islam ic times and w hat form did it then h ave?,
and 2) did genealogy already in th at early age adm it genuinely
historical m aterial and w hat form did th at connection of genealogy
and history take, if it ever existed ?
There can be no doubt th at the b attle day tradition ^ is as old
as it claims to be and much older. It could never have been
freely invented b y a w riters fan cy in Muslim Dam ascus or Bagdad.
It is an ancient Sem itic form. In fact, it is the same form which
appears in the oldest historical portions of the Bible. There, the
narrative of a historical event m ay be loosely connected w ith a
poem th at was spoken on th at d a y . ^ Or the battle scene m ay
culm inate in a d itty which exalts the achievem ents of one participant
to the detrim ent of the other.^ W e now read those epical narrations
in a larger context, and we are used to view them as part of a whole.
Nevertheless, th ey constitute units in them selves which can be
read and enjoyed as th ey are. Before th ey were incorporated in
the historical narrative, th ey circulated as independent stories.
^ B oth inscriptions can be found in J. C a n t i n e a u , L e Nahateen, II, 49-51 and 2 1 4
(Paris 1930-32).
* A com prehensive stu d y of the b attle -d a y n arratives was m ade b y W \ C a s k e l , A ijdm
al-^Arab. Studienzur altarabischen E p ik , in Islam ica I I P , 1-99 (1931). C f. alsoG . W i d e n g r e n ,
On the Early Prose Narratives in Arabic, in Acta Orientalia, X X I I I , 232-62 (1955) Judges V , cf. also E xodu s x iv 30.
* I Sam uel xvii.

20

21

BAC K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

H ISTO RICAL C O N SC IO U SN E SS IN PR E -ISL A M IC A R A B IA

Reference to the B iblical examples of a b attle-day literature

m ay also help to clarify the relative position of verses and prose
in the A rab b attle-day narratives. Verses are found in them not
only because the philologists who preserved the m aterial cared only
for stories which contained poetic m aterial, but m ainly because of
their character as an indispensable element of the literary form. If
no verses were connected with a certain event, or if verses were not
brought into connection w ith it at some early date, the event would
not have been preserved for posterity. On the other hand, there
is no reason to assume th at the verses existed first and th at the
events were invented to suit the verses, to provide them w ith an
attractive setting, and to help in their interpretation. Verses and
prose context existed simultaneously and complemented each other,
although the verses usually seem to have been the more original
element. It follows th at in ancient times, the artistic form of the
b attle-day narratives was substantially the same as the one in
which th ey are known to us. W hether the one or other narrative
was occasionally fixed in w riting in pre-Islam ic times cannot be
decided. W hile the traditional view and general considerations about
the manner in which such m aterial was usually transm itted in
similar cultural environments point to oral transmission, some of
the m aterial m ight have been w ritten down at times, but none of
the preserved m aterial would seem even rem otely to be based upon
w ritten sources.^

Hsteners and for their emotional enjoym ent. T h ey did contain

historical elements in th at th ey recorded m ajor events and in that
th ey considered such events under certain moral aspects. How
ever, th ey entirely lack continuity. T h ey are not viewed under the
aspect of historical cause and effect, and they are essentially tim e
less. There is also no indication th at in pre-Islam ic times, historical
consciousness ever progressed so far th a t an attem pt was made
to bring those narratives into some kind of historical sequence.
A s such, the battle-day narratives could not have developed into,
or given an impetus to, the developm ent of a historical literature,
although their technique and their form were to p lay an im portant
role in Muslim historiography.
Genealogy, in turn, was much less significant than the battledays as a form of historical expression, but it is more indicative
of the existence of a historical sense. It can h ardly be assumed
th at in pre-Islam ic times the preservation of genealogical lines
included to any considerable degree the preservation of historical
events connected w ith the individual members of a particular
pedigree (except for a few unusual cases where an individual
was involved in an event celebrated b y b attle-day narratives).
Such trespassing into historical territory has never been the real
purpose of genealogy. There is even less evidence for the assumption
th at genealogical lore m ight ever have been put down in w riting
in pre-Islamic Arabia. A ll those interested in certain genealogical
relationships knew the relevant data b y heart; vice versa, if there
w as no one who preserved the knowledge of a particular genealogy,
th at genealogy was no longer of any interest and could as well
remain forgotten. Genealogical hterature starts when genealogical
lines become dubious and it is felt that their literary fixation would
help to clear up doubts and to forestall frauds. Pre-Islam ic Arabs
cannot have been conscious of any weakness in their genealogical
traditions, 1 since th at would have undermined their entire social
and pohtical organization. Consequently, genealogy is not likely
to have developed into a literary form with them, and, in fact,
it later on had a rather insignificant part in the shaping of the
literary forms of Muslim historiography.
On the other hand, the practical interest in genealogical lore
m ay, under favorable circumstances, develop into an interest in

A t any rate, we can be fairly certain that battle-day narratives

existed in pre-Islam ic times, and the question arises w hether their
existence is an indication or expression of historical consciousness.
The reply m ust be negative. Those narratives were not originally
intended to be historical material. The earlier Mushm historians
usually restricted themselves to brief references to the battle-days.
According to W. C a s k e l ,^ the elaborate b attle-day narratives were
fu lly accepted in historical literature no earher than the thirteenth
century. The historians thus showed themselves hesitant to adopt
m aterial which th ey recognized as belonging to the domain of philol
ogists and litterateurs. A nd in fact, in their origin, the b attle-d ay
narratives belonged rather to literature in the narrow sense than
to history. T h ey prim arily served for the entertainm ent of the
^ The point has been, m ade that no prose literature properly speaking existed in preIslam ic A rab ia ( W m . M a r ^ a i s , Les Origines de la prose litteraire arabe, in Revue Africaine
L X V I I I , 15-28, 1927).
O p . c it., 8.

T h e occasional exposure of fraudulent genealogical claim s does not contradict this

statem ent.

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BA C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

the past in general and engender or strengthen the historical

consciousness which is a necessary condition for the creation of
a historical literature. The advent of Islam was such a favorable
circum stance which perm itted genealogy to activate its historical
potential. Moreover, genealogical lore, among the A rabs as well
as the Semites in general, was not restricted to individual or fam ily
relationships but served to evolve genealogical schemes which
encompassed all the known population groups regardless of their
size. The table of nations in Genesis ch. X shows th at such schemes
could easily be extended to cover the whole of the known world.
In this extension of the genealogical relationships of small personal
groups to large anonymous political entities, there lies another
avenue of approach tow ard tru ly historical thinking. Here we
encounter one of the contributory factors which conditioned the
Muslim m ind for the acceptance of world history.^
In addition to the battle-day narratives and the genealogical
lore which were at home in pre-Islam ic central A rabia, we have to
reckon w ith the infiltration of certain forms of historical w riting
and thinking from the adjacent territories of the Peninsula. Some
indication as to the character which such infiltration m ight have
taken has already been given w ith reference to the northern fringe
of the desert where the desert comes into contact w ith the civili
zations of the Fertile Crescent.^ There would be h ardly any point
in following this trail back into a more remote an tiq uity and to
discuss the expressions of historical consciousness of, for instance,
the Palm yrenians and the N abataeans inasmuch as th ey were
Arabs. Interesting though such an investigation would no doubt
be, no results which would directly affect our understanding of
the prehistory of Muslim historiography can be expected from it.
A more im m ediate potential source of cultural influence m ight
be sought in the highly cultivated and prosperous regions of
Southwest Arabia. Those regions had alw ays been in direct con
nection with the places of the origin of Islam, down to and beyond
the time of Muhammad. A s well-organized and literate settled
communities, th ey did not lack the continuity of political experience
and the means of recording it which go into the m aking of a histori
cal literature. T h ey possessed a politically oriented chronology
which m ay have inspired Muslim chronology and given the Muslims
1 Cf., further, below , p. 26.
> A b ove p. 19.

HISTO RICA L C O N SC IO U SN E SS IN PR E -ISL A M IC A R A B IA

23

the word for date, era. ^ B u t did th ey h ave a historical literature,

or, at least, did th ey possess some concrete forms of expressing
historical consciousness which m ight have affected the Muslim
outlook on history ?
A rabic historical works contain a great am ount of inform ation
about the South A rabian kings. A good deal of this inform ation
m ay have come to the Muslims through Christian sources of Syriac
or B yzantine origin.^ Y e t, at least part of it gives the definite
impression of being of native South A rabian origin. This, however,
could be the result of the efforts of Muslim scholars who went to
the Y em en and added local color and w hatever local historical
reminiscences th ey could find to the inform ation which m ight have
come to them from other than South A rabian literary sources.
It would thus be no indication of the existence of any indigenous
South A rabian historical literature and very little of an indication of
the existence of historical consciousness among pre-Islam ic South
Arabians.
F or more reliable inform ation, we m ust turn to the South A rabian
inscriptions. T h ey h ave been preserved in great numbers. The
vast m ajority of them has nothing to do w ith history. R oyal
inscriptions of the typ e so well known from the more northern
regions of the ancient Orient do not exist. Practical legal considera
tions were responsible for the fact th a t building and other public
projects were so busily recorded in inscriptions. B u t, in addition,
the very existence of so m any inscriptions of this typ e also reveals
a certain feehng for the historical im portance of poHtical and
adm inistrative measures and a desire to preserve the m em ory of
great enterprises. This impression is greatly strengthened when
we find those inscriptions placed occasionally in the setting of great
contem porary m ilitary events which are carefully described. It
is true th at not even inscriptions of th at typ e could shake a
scholarly auth ority on m atters South A rabian in his opinion th at
the South A rabian inscriptions give the impression of a people
where even the leaders com pletely lack a sense of history. ^ This
^ A b o v e p. 12 f.
Cf. A . M o b e r g , The Book o f the Himyarites, X L V (Lund 1924). Cf. also J . W . H i r s c h BERG in Rocznik Orientalistyczny, X V , 321-38 (1949).
Cf., for instance, Repertoire d epigraphie semitique, Nos. 2633, 2687, 3943 (cf. N . R h o D O K A N A K is, in S B A W Vienna, philos.-hist. K l., 206, 2, 1927), and 3945.
* Cf. R h o d o k a n a k i s , op. cit., 36, n. 4, quoted b y C. B r o c k e l m a n n , G A L Supplement,
I, 1 5 and 2 0 3 . On the historical contents of South A rabian inscriptions, cf. also D . S. M a r G O L IO U T H , Lectures on Arabic Historians, 28 ff. (Calcutta 1930).

24

BAC K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

opinion is very largely based on lack of evidence and would seem

to be far too sweeping. Of course, it is correct if the word historical
(unhistorical)" is understood in its modern sense, but in this case,
it w ould m ore or less apply not only to the South Arabians but
other ancient peoples as well. The inscriptions do show the existence
in pre-Islam ic times of a certain historical consciousness in South
A rabia which later on in Muslim times was to come to the fore in
full force.^ Y e t, if we except the possible South A rabian origin
of the idea of the Muslim era, there is nothing to show that a
South A rabian historiography existed and influenced th a t of Islam.
One im portant element in our picture of the historiography and
historical consciousness in pre-Islam ic A rabia is still missing,
th at is, the role of the Jews and Christians. B oth religions were
num erically well represented in the Peninsula. Large Jewish
groups lived in the oases settlements and in South Arabia. Chris
tian ity was, it seems, represented in central A rabia only b y individ
uals, but there were large Christian settlem ents in South Arabia,
and others all over the northern fringe of the Peninsula. The Jews
and Christians certainly possessed the fundam ental knowledge of
history and the forms of historical presentation which the B ible
transm itted to them, whether th ey knew the tex t or rehed on orally
transm itted paraphrases. However, as far as th ey form ed p art of
the population and were not travelling merchants, missionaries, or
the like, th ey probably shared w hatever historical experiences and
forms of historical expression their pagan neighbors knew or did not
know and did not distinguish themselves from them in any respect.
It can therefore hardly be assumed th at th ey actively cultivated
any form of historical writing. Still, th ey held the key which in
the person of Muhammad opened for the Muslims the w ay to a
historical view of life.
2 T H E H IS T O R IC A L O U T L O O K O F M UH AM M AD
If man is not to abandon himself to despair in the face of adversity
and at the realization of his own futility, his frailty and insignifi
cance need an explanation. Judaism and Christianity provided a
highly satisfactory one: The individual is not alone b y himself.
He does not exist only now. He is placed in a historical context.
His history starts long before him with the beginning of the world.
Cf. below, p. 158 f.

TH E H ISTO R ICAL OUTLOOK OF M UH AM M AD

25

It leads through a series of great moments of spiritual promise

or culm inates in one supreme moment of salvation b y which the life
of all future generations is decisively circumscribed. It thus reaches
its final destination in the future when stock is taken of the actions
and sufferings of each individual and nothing w hatever he did or
w hatever happened to him is disregarded.
The m uch discussed question whether M uhammad received his
inspiration predom inantly from Christian or Jewish sources means
little in this connection, since the forms of Judaism and Christianity
w ith which M uhammad had an opportunity to become acquainted
h ardly differed from each other in this historical interpretation of
hum an life. M uhamm ads talent for simphfication, a result of his
lim ited education, helped him to grasp the essentials of this con
struction much more clearly perhaps, and with m uch fewer dog
m atic preconceptions, than th ey were grasped b y any of his Jewish
or Christian informants.
In M uhamm ads little changed adaptation of this great historical
construction, the future is determ ined b y the end of the world,
the D a y of Judgm ent, when every soul will be asked w hat it did
while it was alive. M uhammad m ay at first have been impressed
b y the nearness of that D ay. Later on, he certainly did not antici
pate its coming in the near future. The Great D a y remained a
fixed and known event of the history of the future. Its coming
w ith all its paraphernalia was so absolutely certain and so exactly
described b y the religion th at those events, although th ey had not
yet taken place, were as well known as if th ey had taken place
already and as any other event of the past. T h ey were the history
of the future in the same sense as there existed a history of the past.
This extension of the idea of history to the future also dominated
m edieval Christian historiography.^ Nevertheless, it is, in fact, a
h ighly improper procedure. It is detrim ental to the value of history
as a reflection about actual factors and influences in human life.
The Muslim history of the future as such would not have been
able to stim ulate historical thinking, because it lacked variety
and inflexibly concentrated upon a few data. However, the idea
of the Judgm ent could be im m ediately applied to the evaluation
of the actions of the present. Since everything th at an individual
did was to p la y a part of great im portance for him in the future
^ I t is again considered p a rt o f h istory b y K . J a s p e r s , Vom Ursprung und Z iel der
Geschichte, 181 (Zurich 1949).

26

27

B A C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

TH E H ISTO RIC AL OUTLOOK OF M UH AM M AD

long after his death, w hatever he did tod ay could no longer be

forgotten tomorrow. The m emory of the pin-pricks of M uhamm ads
adversaries was to stay w ith them, whether th ey liked it or not.
A ll human actions assumed an appearance of permanency. This
constituted a definite incentive to remember and record actions.
T he appreciation of the value of the actions of the present was
accom panied b y a clear and well-defined appreciation of the value
of the events of the past. Muhammad himself was the final goal of
th e historical processes which w ere set in m otion w ith the creation
of the world. A t various periods, spiritual guides had arisen in
different geographical locations. T h ey had either succeeded or failed
in their mission during their lifetime, and all of them had m ore or
less failed to give permanence to their message. Now, Muhammad
appeared, and his message would be final and permanent. Muham
m ad w as no new beginning. H e w as historically connected w ith the
succession of prophets, and he was, in particular, the successor of
one of them, Abraham . O nly the trium phs and defeats of the
history of the past had made M uhammad w hat he was.
It is worth noting that this picture of the history of the past
covers the whole of the world as mirrored in the mind of Muhammad.
He him self was the prophet of his own people, the Arabs, b ut the
other prophets had been sent to different peoples, om itting none.
Figures like al-H idr and D u 1-qarnayn h ad travelled to the ends of
the earth. The history of the whole world had been the concern of
the Creator. The Prophet thus devised a universal scheme of past
history which h ad only to be filled in b y actual historical facts as
soon as such facts became available.
The stim ulus which M uhammad's historical ideas could give
and, later on, actually did give to the occupation w ith history
could not have been any stronger. The actions of individuals, the
events of the past, the circum stances of all peoples of the earth
h ad now become m atters of religious importance. A definite dividing
line in the whole course of history, which later Muslim historiog
raphy never crossed,^ existed in the person of Muhammad. A
similar concept dom inated Christian historical thinking,^ but, for

Muslim historiography, its existence in a w ay proved to be a m ajor

shortcoming as it prevented the adoption of wider or, at any rate,

^ According to Ism a 'ili S i'a h concepts, this d ivid in g line did not exist, and the periods ol
w orld history from the beginning were m arked b y the appearance of the seven successive proph
ets. H ow ever, th at concept was not applied in actu al fact to the w riting of ordinary h istory.
A n exam ple is the S yrian historian Y o h an n an b ar P en kaye whose lifetim e coin cid ed'
with the e arly beginnings of Muslim historiography, cf. A. B a u m s t a r k , E in e syrische
Weltgeschichte des siebten Jahrh.s, in Romische Quartakchrift fu r christliche AUerthumskunde,
X V , 2 7 5 ( 1 9 0 1 ) , and A . M i n g a n a , Sources syriaques, I, part 2, p. V I (Leipzig-M osul 19 0 8 ).

different perspectives.
A practical incentive for the study of history was the abundance
of historical (or pseudo-historical) data in the Q uran. The Q uran
interpreters were forced b y this circum stance to look for illustrative
historical inform ation. In the course of time, the occupation w ith
the historical m aterial of the Q ur an came to be considered one of
the branches of learning th at were developed in connection w ith
the Q ur an.1 The channel through which Muhammad received
his historical inform ation or inform ation believed to be historical
again was oral intercourse w ith Jews and Christians. The Q ur S.n
repeatedly shows his acquaintance w ith the fact th at books con
taining the record of the ancient prophets existed and were read
and recited,2 but any hypothesis which would h ave Muhammad
read historical sources such as the original tex t of the B ible in a
hypothetical A rabic translation is untenable.
The principal fault of the historical m aterial of the Q uran was
th at it contained so m any obviously false data which later historians
w ere in the position to recognize as such but did not dare to discard
com pletely, all the more so since Muhammad himself had already
explained his deviations from the Jewish and Christian inform ation
as the result of a falsification of the Scriptures b y Jews and Chris
tians. Intense as M uhamm ads consciousness of history was, his
knowledge of historical facts was most limited. Contem porary world
history enters the Qur an only once when a prediction is made
about the outcom e of the struggle between the Byzantines and the
Persians.^ The events around the Prophet found more frequent
acceptance in the te x t of the Q ur an, if only in the form of allusions.
The existence of those passages has no bearing upon M uhamm ads
a ttitud e tow ard history except, perhaps, for the fact that he felt
th at events concerning him were so im portant th at th ey could be
made part of the divine revelation. Nevertheless, these Q uranic
passages were not w ithout im portance for the history of Muslim
^ Cf. ss-Sn y n il, Itgan, ch. 65, II, 127 (Cairo 13 17); Taskopriizadeh, M iftdh as-sa^ddah,
II, 364 (H yderabad 1328-56).
^ Cf. H. S p e y e r , D ie biblischen Erzdhlungen imQoran, 159, n. 4 (Grafenheinichen, n. y. [ca.
1938-39], reprinted H ildesheim 1961. Th e proofs of S p e y e r s w ork were read b y me in 1936).
T h e self-evident fa ct th at the existence of a great literature in the cultural centers of
the E ast was n ot concealed to Arab c ity dwellers, even though th ey do not refer to it,
w ould need no special m ention, were it not som etim es disregarded.
Beginning of sArah x x x .

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BA C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

T H E H ISTO RIC AL OUTLOOK OF M UH AM M AD

historiography, because very soon, the events to which th ey referred

became historical happenings of supreme significance to Mushms
and stim ulated historical research.

al-H irah on the Euphrates and had learned there the stories of the
Persian kings, of R ustum and Isfandiyar. Now, whenever the
Prophet preached to a gathering and told them about the divine
punishm ent which had befallen the nations of the past, an-Nadr
stood up right after him, and telling those Persian stories, he asked
the assembled Meccans in w hat respect the stories of Muhammad
were b etter than his. This an-Nadr, according to the commentators,
was the person who em ployed the expression asdtir al-awwalin w ith
reference to M uhamm ads stories.^
It is indeed not impossible th at some inform ation about Persian
national history reached Mecca in the w ay described already in
pre-Islam ic or early Islam ic times. However, it would appear
much more Hkely th at the story of an-Nadr was an invention of the
early eighth century. In the second quarter of th at century, the
alleged sources of Persian national history were translated into
Arabic. Their translation was not a hterary exercise but prim arily,
it was an expression of and a weapon for the Persian national
resistance against the A rabs and their new religion. The story about
an-Nadr, w ith its Prophetic disapproval of the Persian stories, m ay
have come into circulation as a first Muslim counterm ove against
the stirrings of the Persian nationahst spirit. Its h istoricity could gain
little support from other related legendary m aterial. The Christian
poet Harm alah b. al-Mundir, a m acrobiotic who is said to h ave lived
down to the tim e of U tm an, frequented, we are told,^ the courts of
the non-Arab princes and had a good knowledge of their biographies
(siyar). He often came to Mecca, but, even if all this is true, his
stories certainly were not history.
The hadit literature does not contribute any further notew orthy
and reliable inform ation as to M uhamm ads knowledge of, or
interest in history. The Prophets supposedly low opinion of
genealogy has nothing to do w ith genealogy as part of historical
knowledge but must be understood in the light of his efforts
to tear down the social barriers in his contem porary society which
had been created b y ancestral pride.^ In connection with a certain
hadit, we find the rem ark th at Muhammad recommended not to

A minor detail which must not pass unnoticed here is the repeated
reference of the Q uran to the phrase asdtir al-awwalin.^ This
phrase is said to have been used b y the Prophets adversaries in
order to ridicule his declamations. It would be of interest as a
curiosity if the etym ology which connects asdtir w ith Greek
tCTTopLa were correct. This etym ology was proposed b y J. G o l i u s
in the seventeenth century.^ Its adoption b y men such as G. W .
F r e y t a g ,^ H. L. F l e i s c h e r ,^ and A. S p r e n g e r provoked much
discussion during the last one hundred years. Though superficially
very attractive, this etym ology cannot be correct. It has been
shown th at the Greek word is not com m only used in Aram aic
(or in Ethiopic), while Arabic asdtir in the Q uran appears as a
current and generally understood expression. A derivation from
the root str which is known in this particular meaning only in
Syriac would yield the very satisfactory sense of stupidities
but would meet w ith a similar objection. A derivation from the
A rabic root str to w rite which is represented in various Sem itic
languages remains preferable. The stories which M uhammad told
were, consequently, called writings (in a pejorative sense) of
the ancients. The expression asdtir al-awwalin is, however, not
only interesting as an etym ological curiosity, but it also deserves
attention on account of the fact th at the early com m entators
connected it with a tradition whose authen ticity or non-authenticity
is not w ithout im portance for the history of Muslim historiography.
An-N adr b. al-H arit, one of the devils of the Qurays, had visited
1
Si^rahs, v i 25 (25), v iii 31 (31), x v i 24 (26), x xiii 83 (85), x x v 5 (6), x x v ii 68 (70), x lv i
17 (16), Ixviii 15 (15), Ixx x iii 13 (13).
Lexicon Arabico-Latinum, col. 1171 (Leiden 1653). Spot checks of some of the A rabic
w orks before G o l i u s m ake it seem lik e ly th at he w as the first to suggest this etym olo gy
of asdtir.
Lexicon Arabico-Latinum, II, 314 (Halle 1833).
* In 1841, cf. his Kleinere Schriften, II, 119 f. (Leipzig 1888).
' Das Leben und die Lehre des Muhammad, II, 395 f. (Berlin 1869). Cf. also T h . N o l d e k e F r . S c h w a l l y , Geschichte des Qordns, 1, 16, n. 4 (Leipzig 1909).
J. H o r o v i t z , Koranische Untersuchungen, 69 f. ( B e r l in - L e ip z ig 1926).
Those who w ould like to accept the story of an-N adr as authentic m ight, however,
point to his M esopotam ian background and argue th at he learned the word asdtir while
he was in M esopotam ia.
Cf. D. K u n s t l i n g e r , in O LZ , X X X I X , cols. 481-83 (1936).
T his w ould be another instance of the knowledge of the existence of w ritten books
am ong M uham m ads contem poraries, b u t it would be no indication of the existence of
an indigenous literature.

^ Cf. Ibn Hisam, Sirah, 191 W

u sten feld

2 Cf. Y a q u t, IrSdd, X , 191 (Cairo = IV , 107 M a r g o l i o u t h ).

Cf. the translation of as-Sahawi, IHdn, below, p. 3 11. A ccording to at-Tirm idi (cf.
Concordance, II, 238b; Ibn H azm , Jamharah, 2, 4 L 6 v i - P r o v e n ^ a l , Cairo 1948; Ibn
'A b d -al-B arr, Inbdh, 42 f., Cairo 1350), the Prophet recom m ended as much knowledge of
ones pedigree as is necessary for the preservation of fam ily ties.

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BA C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

T H E P O SITIO N OF H IST O R Y

leave aside ta"n h (chronology), because it shows which historical

inform ation is correct and how recent or how remote a particular
piece of historical inform ation is. ^ Under no circum stances can
this statem ent be considered an authentic or very ancient tradition.
It remains, however, a fact th a t the Prophet himself planted
the seeds from which a wider interest in history was to arise. The
apologists of Islam later on took an unhistorical but not inappro
priate line of reasoning when th ey considered M uhamm ads know l
edge of past (and future) history as one of the miracles which were
proof of his prophetical vocation. ^ H istory loomed very large in
his thinking. His work, on the whole, did much to promote the
future grow th of Muslim historiography, although its author could
not have foreseen the tremendous developm ent of learning and
scholarship which was to take place in the name of his religion.

models. Muslim civilization kept to the solid ground it found pre

pared and grew not in depth b ut in width.
A s a result of its m ilitary prowess and of favorable historical
circumstances, Islam had in a short tim e overrun a territory in
which all intellectual achievem ents of the tim e were represented,
and it soon began to m ake those achievem ents its own through an
energetic translation and adaptation activity. A s a new spiritual
movem ent, it was forced to present its tenets to well-trained
opponents and to defend its raison d etre. A s a new w a y of life, it
had to reform the adm inistrative institutions it found in the various
regions. A b ove all, w ith the advent of Islam , century-old barriers of
language and custom fell, and there was a rare opportunity for
all the different peoples and civilizations to start a new intellec
tual life on the basis of absolute eq uality and in a spirit of free
competition. W ith the ninth century, the form ative period of
these processes was completed. From then on, each individual
branch of learning in Islam was governed b y the law s and traditions

3 T H E P O S IT IO N O F H IS T O R Y IN M USLIM
S C H O L A R S H IP A N D E D U C A T IO N
Muslim historiography has at all times been united b y the
closest ties w ith the general developm ent of scholarship in Islam,
and the position of historical knowledge in Muslim education has
exercised a decisive influence upon the intellectual level of historical
writing. T he vicissitudes of Muslim historiography become m uch
better understandable, if th ey are view ed w ithin the general fram e
w ork of Muslim culture.
The growth of the Islamic civilization is one of the great spectacles
in the intellectual history of mankind. It is something which will
never fail to stir the highest adm iration. However, it can h ardly be
called m ysterious or a miracle. It is a miracle, perhaps, because
it took place so rapidly that it was com pleted after it h ad scarcely
begun. It m ay be called m ysterious inasmuch as every act of in
tellectual creation, every flowering of a civilization is something
beyond full hum an comprehension. Y e t, in Islam, the causes and
conditions which brought Muslim civilization into being are clearer
before our eyes than in most other comparable cases. The soaring
flight of the Greek spirit towards heights never reached again, or
the portentous glam or of the W estern Renaissance had an irrational
element in them that was more effective than environment and
* Cf. Ibn al-M udabbir, ar-Risdlah al-^adrd?, in RasdHl al-bulagd^, ed. M. K u r d A l i ,
p. 183 (Cairo 1331/1913)* Cf., for instance, al-B^qillani, I^jdz al-Qur^dn, 19, 27 f. (Cairo 1315); 56-55 (!, te x t in
disorder), 79 (Cairo 13 17, m argin of as-Suyuti, Itqdn). Cf. also below , pp. 46 f. and 288f.

of an autonomous Muslim civilization.

It is only in very modern times that historiography has been
fu lly recognized as an independent discipline. D uring the period
of the transmission of Greek knowledge, the Muslims m ade their
first acquaintance w ith a system atic classification of the various
branches of learning.i It was found then th at history was not
included in the scheme of the established sciences, and for the same
reason which also determ ined the position of history in the W estern
Middle A ges: ^ The H ellenistic classification of the sciences which
the A rabs took over did not assign a special place to history.
' On Muslim encyclopedias in general, cf. M. P l e s s n e r , D ie Geschichte der Wissenschaften
im Islam , 15 f. (Tiibingen 1931, Philosophic und Geschichte, 31).
Cf. J . H u i z i n g a , Sobre el estado actual de la ciencia historica, 12 f. (Madrid 1934):
No m uchas ciencias h a y que para su desarrollo deban tan poco a la U niversidad come la
H istoria. Cuando en los ultim os siglos de la A n tigiied ad se form a el sistem a de la educaci6n
civilizad a, que como las siete artes liberales dom inaria toda la E d ad M edia y aun parte
de la E poca Moderna, no figura la H istoria en el grupo de estas siete. Las m as de la ciencias
m odernas han ido form andose por un proceso de especificacion y de divisi6n, sea de los
tres grandes estudios de la Teologia, Derecho y M edicina, que coronaban el edificio de las
artes, sea de estas m ism as artes, com o se concibieron en el trivio y cuadrivio. E sto no toca
a la H istoria sino en b ajo grado. Su m ateria con stitu ia un anejo de la R et6rica, aplicabase,
de vez en cuando, a los estudios teol6gicos y ju rid icos; pero no se puede decir que en la
escuela esa m ateria de la H istoria experim entase un tratam ien to cientifico. E ra una m ateria
dada, por la m ayor parte de procedencia bib lica y clasica; esta tenia por objeto la declam aci6n y la contem placi6n m oral, pero no la investigaci6n ni la critica. No se prestaba al
m etodo escolastico ui al silogism o. L a H istoria, en la U niversidad, se reducia a un apendice
de la elocuencia y de la poesia, litil ejem plo y agrado de la erudici6n. Cf. also H . G r u n d MANN, Geschichtsschreibung im Mittelalter, in W . S t a m m l e r (ed.), Deutsche Philologie im
A u friss, I I , 2221 (Berlin-Bielefeld-M iinchen, n .y.).

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BAC K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

Politics had an im portant place in this classification, but history

w as not attached to it. Nor do Hellenizing Arabic philosophers as
a rule mention history in connection with poety and rhetoric.^ A
notew orthy exception is, however, found in al-Farabis classification
of Aristotelian philosophy. A l-Farabi refers to biography {ahbdr an
nas) and history [ahbdr al-umam) as belonging to the typ e of
knowledge th at is acquired because it provides pleasure and
entertainm ent, along with m yths and stories {hurdfdt, ahddit) and
the dram atic ( im itative ) arts.^
W hether al-Kindi, in his books On the Divisions of Human Know l
edge and On what Knowledge is and its Divisions ^ referred to history
we are not in the position to tell since these works have not yet
been recovered. In all likelihood, al-K indi did not m ention it and
thus inaugurated a tradition which was to linger on for m an y
centuries.^ The leading Muslim philosophers, al-Farabi, in his
Enumeration of the Sciences, and Ibn Sina, in his Treatise on the
Divisions of the Intellectual Sciences, did not include history in
their encyclopedic treatm ent of the sciences. Further classifi
cations which originated under Ibn Sinas influence, such as the
one contained in Ibn A bd-al-B arrs fdmi^ haydn al-Hlm ^ or Ibn
B adrun's Kimdmah, a historical work, p ay no attention w hatever
to history. The encyclopedia of al-Akfani, from the fourteenth
century, contains a brief list of historical works and has a word of
custom ary praise for the usefulness of history, but, although
a great number of sciences are treated in detail, there is no special
section devoted to history which, like poetry, is classed among
the non-sciences. It is obvious th at in the context of his work, alA kfan i did not think of history as an independent discipline. H is
contem porary, ad-Dahabi, whose fam e rests upon his achieve^ Cf. also below, p. 75. Ibu y a ld u n , Muqaddimah, I, 62 Paris, says th at his science of
civilization belongs neither to rhetoric nor to politics.
^ A l-F arab i, Falsafat Aristutdlis, 61 M a h d i (B eirut 1961), trans. M . M a h d i , 73
(Glencoe 1962).
F ihrist, 358 (Cairo 1348 = 256 F l i Jg e l ) ; a l-Q ifti, 369 M xJl l e r - L i p p e r t ; Ibn A b i
U sa y b i'a h , i, 209 M O l l e r .
* A b u Z ayd a l-B a lh is attitu d e in his w ork On the Divisions o f the Sciences (cf. G A L
Supplement I, 408} is n ot known. He m ay h ave follow ed his teacher al-K in d i, or he m ay
h ave preceded his supposed pupil Ibn Farigiin (see below p. 34f).
II, 36 f. (Cairo, n .y.). No reference to history appears in al-B alaw i (d. 1164, G A L
Supplement, I, 914), Unmudaj, Ms. or. Princeton 1129A = 515H .
25 ff. (Cairo 1340), quoted in the h istorical section of an-N uw ayri, N ihdyat al-arab,
X V , 245 (Cairo 1342 ff.).
IrSdd al-qdsid, 15 (Cairo 1318/1900), quoted b y as-Sahaw i, I'^ldn 30, below , p. 307 f.
* Op. cit., 14.
* H is nam e actu a lly should be Ibn ad-D ahabi, as it was his father who exercised the

TH E PO SIT IO N OF H IST O R Y

33

ments as a historian, m akes no mention of history in his sm all

encyclopedic, if predom inantly theological, treatm ent of the
sciences. Bay an zagal al-Hlm. It comes, therefore, h ardly as
a surprise th at Ibn Haldun, in the Introduction of his H istory,
has nothing to say about history in his enumeration of the sciences.
The reason for this omission apparently is not to be looked for in
the fact th at history, as the main subject of the Muqaddimah,
is dealt w ith in m any places of the work. In connection w ith
astronomy, Ibn H aldun refers briefly to the knowledge of past
eras [at-tawdrih al-mddiyah), ^ but his wide canon of learning
does not include the occupation w ith historiography as an inde
pendent intellectual pursuit.
The classification of the sciences and their system atic presen
tation in the form of encyclopedias was, however, not the preserve
of philosophers but an em inently practical undertaking. A s such,
it could not overlook the existence of a very large historical litera
ture and a steadily widening interest in historical subjects and,
in general, of m any A ra b literary and scholarly activities which
were foreign to the H ellenistic scheme. Thus, not very long after
the Mushms had become acquainted w ith philosophical classifi
cation, they originated the distinction between A ra b and G reek
branches of learning. More frequent than the encyclopedias just
discussed which disregard the A ra b learning entirely or adm it
it only inadvertently are those which include both the A rab
and the G reek (or non-A rab ) subjects.
A catalogue of book titles, such as the Fihrist of Ibn an-Nadim,
would have been incomplete w ithout a chapter on historical works.
The Fihrist, in fact, contains a long chapter on historians, genealo
gists, biographers, etc., which is placed between the chapters on
gram m ar and on poetry. This was in the tenth century. From
the same time, we have al-H uw arizm is treatm ent of difficult
technical terms in the sciences. The terms are grouped together
according to the respective branches of learning to which th ey
lu crative profession of goldsm ith {daqq ad-dahab) and, therefore, w as called ad-D ahabi,
according to his sons Mu^jam, ms. Cairo M ust, al-h adit 65, fol. 13a. Th e Cairo m anuscript
of the Mu^jam w as w ritten in 745/ i344 during the lifetim e of its author and w as seen b y
him. I t uses the form Ibn ad-D ahabi. T h e form ad-D ahabi, how ever, was used v e ry soon
after his death and m ay have been used a lread y while he w as still alive. H is pupil M uham
m ad b. 'A b d allah al-S ib li calls him ad-D ahabi in the M ahdsin al-wasdHl. The autograph
m anuscripts of ad-D ahab i should be checked in this connection (cf. the plates added to
the first volum e of the edition of the Siyar an-nubald^, Cairo 1955/56). For Ibn ad-D ahabi, cf.
also O . S p i e s , Beitrdge zur arabischen Literaturgeschichte, 112 (Leipzig 1932, A K M 19, 3 ).
^ Muqaddimah, III, 107 Paris.
R o s e n t h a l , H istory of M uslim H istoriography

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BA C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

belong. The second part of al-H uw 4 rizm is w ork deals w ith the
"G reek sciences, which are considered foreign importations. The
first part comprises th e A rab sciences. I t has chapters on Muslim
jurisprudence, theology, grammar, calligraphy, poetry, metrics,
and, as the last chapter, "historical inform ation. The disposition
of the historical termini technici w ithin the chapter on history is
as follows: The Persian kings; the caliphs and Muslim princes;
pre-Islam ic Y em en ite and other non-Arab dynasties; another
section on Persian history; Bedouin history; the early Islam ic
raids; the pre-Islam ic Arab rulers; and finally, terms connected
w ith B yzantine history. ^ This arrangement does not follow th at
of an actual historical work, but it corresponds to the m aterial
to be found in w orld histories.
The RasdHl of the Ihw an as-safa contain a classification of the
sciences in which history is relegated to a place similar to the one
it occupies in al-Huwarizmi. It figures among the propaedeutic
{riyddiyah), or, rather, practical, sciences which comprise i) reading
and writing, 2) lexicography and gram mar, 3) comm ercial counting,
4) poetry and prosody, 5) various kinds of divination, 6) magic,
talismans, alchem y, etc., 7) professions and crafts, 8) commerce,
agriculture and animal husbandry, ^ and 9) biography and
history [Him as-siyar wa-l-ahhdr). The next higher group is con
stituted b y the religious sciences, and th e highest one b y the
philosophical sciences. O nly the last m entioned group is considered
as being of any real im portance; therefore, a larger am ount of
space is devoted to it.^ A bout history, the Ihw an as-safa m erely
say th at its contem plation leads to experience and the realization
of hum an instability.^
A nother rem arkable work which appears to date from about the
m iddle of the tenth century and thus would probably be the oldest
of the preserved A rab-G reek encyclopedias is entitled Jawdmi^
al-'-ulum. Its author is a certain Ibn Farigun who is said to have
been a student of A bu Z ayd al-Balhi.^ T he w ork is a com prehensive
1 M afdtth al-'-ulum, 60-82 (Cairo 1349/1930).
^ Cf. Qur^an surah ii 205 (201).
^ RasdHl Ihwan as-safd?, I, 202 (Cairo 1 3 4 7 / 1 9 2 8 ) ; II, 2 4 6 D i e t e r i c i , translated b y F .
D i e t e r i c i , in D ie Philosophie der Araber, IV , 1 0 (Leipzig 1 8 6 8 ). Cf. also below, pp. 4 5 and 1 1 if.
*
Op. cit., I, 253 f. (Cairo 1347/1928). Cf. also IV , 2 11. T he Risdlah al-jdmi^ah, II, 174
S a lib a (Dam ascus 1368-71/1948-51), places the h istory (ahbdr) of the ancients, the poems
of early poets, and the stories of the first generations and d ays p a st among the acquisitions
of the ration al soul and puts this kind of knowledge on a level with religious and astrological
predictions of fu tu re even ts.
Farigun occurs as a Persian nam e; cf., for instance. Ibn al-Jaw zi, M untazam, X , 64

TH E P O SITIO N OF H IST O R Y

35

encyclopedia in tabular form, which is quite a rem arkable arrange

m ent to be found in so early a period. The m ain topic in each
case is w ritten in large letters. Thin lines lead from it to the detailed
explanations which are w ritten in smaller letters and, as a rule,
vertically. T he first reference to history in this w ork is one to the
historical knowledge which secretaries m ust possess.^ Then, in
the second chapter, the author has the following to say about
history which he classifies among the notions of wisdom [Him al~
hikmah) : i) H istory [Him at-ta^rihdt) ^ is based upon rare events
of far-reaching significance, such as a deluge, an earthquake, an
epidemic, or a famine. 2) It is necessary to know the succession of
dynasties and the rulers according to the clim ates in which they
Hved, w ith their number, days, and the length of their respective
reigns. 3) The beginning of creation and the events surrounding the
Resurrection as well as the physical and intellectual conditions of
past generations. Because of its remoteness, this m aterial is often
corrupt. The m aterial is so extensive th at only God knows it all.
I t is acceptable only inasmuch as it is based upon literary sources
or trustw orthy inform ation. 4) The biography of Muhammad,
w hich is instructive for political and m ilitary activities. 5) The
biographies of the Qurasite caliphs, their conquests, adm inistration,
a n d the revolts th at took place during their reigns, as w ell as 6)
the history of the transition of power from the U m ayyads to the
Abb^sids, which is illustrative of the changes of time. 7) The
B edouin (pre-Islamic) history, which contains m uch poetry.
(H yderabad 1357-58); G A L , I, 96; E . d e Z a m b a u r , M anuel de genealogie et de chronologic,
205 (H annover 1927). H ow ever, the proper nam e of the author is n ot certain. In the
m anuscript of the E scorial, w hich w as w ritten in 393/1003, the nam e was read S a 'y a
(Isaiah) b y M. C a s i r i , Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana-Escurialensis, I, 280 (Madrid 1760),
and H . P. J . R e n a u d , Les M anuscripts arabes de IEscurial, II, 3, 82 f., no. 950 (Paris 1941).
M. S t e i n s c h n e i d e r , therefore, claim ed Ibn F arigu n as a Jew (D ie arabische Literatur der
Juden, 120, F ra n k fu rt a.M. 1902). H. S u t e r , stran gely enough, w an ted to id en tify the
auth or of the Jawami^ al-'-ulum w ith a Spanish scholar, Sa^id b. F ath u n (Die Mathematiker
und Astronomen der Araber und ihre Werke, 73, L eipzig 1900, Abh. zur Geschichte der mathem.
ly jss., 10). F or certain points of sim ilarity w ith the anonym ous author of the Persian
geographical w ork Hudud al-^dlam, cf. V . M i n o r s k y , in A Locust's Leg, Studies in Honor
of S. H . Taqizadeh, 189-96 (London 1962).
T h e E g yp tia n L ib ra ry in Cairo has tw o ph otostat m anuscripts of th e w ork (M a'arif
'^m m ah 528 and 527). Th e originals are in Istanbul, T o pkapu saray, A h m et III , 2768 and
2675, cf. H . R i t t e r , in Oriens, III , 83 ii. (1950). T h e form er (first m ade availab le to me
in m icrofilm through the kindness of G . E . v o n G r u n e b a u m ) is dated in D u 1-qa'd ah 396/
A u gu st 1006. T h e la tter, undated, is sim ilar to it in appearance. On the E scorial m anuscript,
cf. D . M. D u n l o p , in Z eki V elidi Togan^a Arma^an, 348-53 (Istanbul 1955). Cf. also G A L
Supplement, I, 435.
^ Phot. Cairo M a'arif 'am m ah 527, p. 49, cf. below , p. 5 if.
* T h e m eaning eras is transparent.
Cf. Q ur an surah x iv 9 (10), and also ix 70 (71).

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BA C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

8) The Persian books and biographies, such as the Covenant of

A rdasir B ab a k a n / the speeches of Anusarwan, the K arnam ah.
A ll this is instructive with regard to political affairs and the ad
m inistration of justice. 9) The m ain events, stories, and actions
connected w ith the individual rulers, and 10) the history of persons
of noble birth, scholars, secretaries, poets, eloquent men, kind men,
generous men, gentle men, moderate men, and faithful men.^
Owing to his chosen form of presentation, the author had to be
brief. The absence of any reference to later dynasties and, above all,
the absence of any specific theological elements as well as the
com paratively minor position assigned to the history of M uhammad
and to th at of scholars and cities would seem to be characteristic
of the tenth century.
A brief discussion of the sciences ascribed to al-Jahiz but believed
to date from the tenth century, evaluates every science as to its
good or bad characteristics. W hat the author describes as magdzi
and ahbdr, apparently referring to the literature on the Muslim
conquests, is characterized as useless forgeries used to cap tivate
the common people.^ On the other hand, hadit and dtdr, the
traditions of the Prophet and the early Muslims, are praised very
highly as teaching the history [ahbdr, anbd'") of the men of the past.
H istorical anecdotes {al-ahbdr wa-n-nawddir) are severely censured.
Other historical m aterial, if this is m eant b y al-ahbdr wa-n-nutaf,
is praised as providing valuable m ental discipline.^ It m ay be noted
here th at A bu H ayyan at-Taw hidi made no mention of history in
his Risdlah f i l-'-ulum.^
The eleventh century is represented b y the brilliant Spaniard,
Ibn Hazm. He included brief treatm ents of history in tw o places
of his Mardtih al-Hilum.^ H istory occupies an im portant place in the
1 Th e te xt is preserved in the Istanbul ms. K opriilii 1608, fols. I46b-I55a.
^ Phot. Cairo M a'arif amm ah 527, p. 90. A rab ic text, below, p. 539 f.
F or early objections to the magdzi literature, cf. I. G o l d z i h e r , Muhamtnedanische
Studien, II, 206 (H alle 1889-90).
^ Cf. C. P e l l a t , i n al-Machriq, L, 70-78 (1956).
^ E d. and trans. M. B e r g e , in B ulletin d'Etudes Orientales de I'lnstitu t Frangais de
Damas, X V I I I , 241-300 (1963-64).
Rasd^il Ibn Hazm, 71 f., 78 f. I h s a n Ab b a s (Cairo n .y. [1954]), cf. the brief sum m ary
b y M. AsiN P a l a c i o s , Un codice inexplorado del Cordobes Ibn Hazm, in A l-A n dalus, II,
49, 52 (1934), and as-Sahaw i, I^ldn 47, below , p. 333 f. A n acquaintance w ith ancient and
modern h istory is one of the things needed for real know ledge (haqd^iq), according to Ibn
H azm s Taqrib, 198 I h s a n ' A b b a s (B eirut, n. y. [1959]). T h e existence of w ell-know n
countries and rulers and the undoubted even ts connected w ith them are the basic premises
for h isto ry pro ved true through an abu n d an tly a ttested tradition (Taqrib, 202). C f.,fu rth e r,
below , p. 112.

T H E PO SITIO N OF H IST O R Y

37

preparatory curriculum of the linguistic and m athem atical-physical

sciences. Since it is an easy and pleasurable subject, it should be
studied when one needs a rest from other more demanding subjects.
H istory serves as evidence for the instability of the world and for
the fact th at tyran n y and injustice are alw ays punished in the end
while virtue is alw ays rewarded. It stim ulates the im itation of the
deeds of virtuous men and is a warning against following the example
of evildoers.! Since historical reports coming from v a stly different
regions, periods, and cultural environments, all teach the same
lesson, their truth cannot be denied.
Subsequently, Ibn H azm has another, more system atic division
of the sciences into a trivium , consisting of the science of the
religious law [sari'-ah), history [ahbdr], and linguistic science, all
sciences which differ in every nation and religion, and into a
quadrivium , consisting of astronomy, m athem atics, medicine,
and philosophy. A ll these sciences have their subdivisions, genealogy
being one of history. H istorical w riting m ay be organized according
to kingdoms (dynasties), countries, or classes [tahaqdt). Histories
m ay also be arranged annalistically, or th ey m ay loosely deal with
a variety of relevant topics. The histories of non-Muslim nations,
such as the Israelites, the Persians, the Greeks [Rum], the Turks,
the Hazars, the Negroes, the Indians, the Chinese, and so on, are
only im perfectly known, if at all. Muslim history, however, is fully
and reliably known. The student of history must not waste his
time on the study of unreliable and unprofitable aspects of historical
knowledge. A ll this m akes it clear th at in Ibn H azm s view, Muslim
history is one of the sciences of the Muslim religious law and is on
a par w ith A rabic philology as an auxiliary discipline in the religiouslegal field, although it has wider and more general implications.
For the second part of the following century, we m ay refer to
the encyclopedia of Fahr-ad-din ar-Razi, entitled Hadd^iq al-anwdr
f i haqdHq al-asrdr, a Persian work, which is more easily available
than the A rabic recension Jdmi'- al-Hdum (if the latter exists at
all).2 It is obvious th at ar-R azi felt th at history constituted an
* Ibn Hazm expressed him self sim ilarly in his R isd la k ft muddwdt an-nufus, cf. Rasd^il, 149.
^ Bodleian mss. or. Fraser 183 (F.the 1481), fols. 36b-46a, and 182 (Ethe 1482), fols.
27a-34a, see below, p. 540 f. Cf. also al Ju w ayn i, Ta'^rth-i-jahdnguMy II, r (Leiden-London
1912-16). The Istan bul m anuscripts m entioned in G A L , I, 508, as containing the Arabic
version, in fa ct contain the Persian w ork. The 1966 reprint of the edition B om bay 1323
of the Jdmi'- al-^iilum, pp. 50-62, contains the Persian text.
T h e unusual encyclopedia ascribed to a certain Q azw ini {(iA L, I, 499), M ufid al-'^ulum
wa-mubtd al-humUm, 169-85 (Cairo 1310), has chapters on historical inform ation and the

38

39

BA C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

T H E P O SITIO N OF H IST O R Y

ancilla theologiae. Its treatm ent, as the thirteenth science of the

work, follows th a t of the science of traditions and the sciences of
the names of hadit authorities. It is followed, in turn, b y another
historical discipline of theological significance, the raids [magdzi] of
the early years of Islam, and, after that, the author turns to the
treatm ent of grammar, and so on. A r-R azi was prim arily a philos
opher. Looking at historiography from his vantage point, he finds
th at in contrast to other sciences, it knows no system atic treat
m ent of its problems on a progressive scale which would lead up from
simple problems to the more difficult ones. Thus, historiography
does not m ake a distinction betw een inform ation which is
obvious, and inform ation which is not obvious. Some of its d ata
are com plicated, and others simple, w ith no gradual transition.
A r-R azi concludes that it would be difficult to observe a logical
arrangement in the treatm ent of historiography. He therefore
divides his discussion into nine chapters which deal w ith factu al
inform ation. He starts, as we would expect, w ith the ancient
history of the Persians and then goes over to M uhamm ads history
and the names of the caliphs. A special chapter is devoted to Ali.
A nother chapter deals with the history of the transition of power
from the U m ayyad s to the Abbasids, which also constituted a
special subject in Ibn F ariguns Jawdmi'- al-'-ulum. The remaining
four chapters are concerned w ith the more recent history
close to ar-R azis own time, i.e., the history of the fam ily of
Sult.n M ahm ud of Gaznah, the beginnings and later history of the
Saljuqs, and, finally, the history of the ruler at whose court ar-R azi
lived, the H uwarizm ah A bu 1-M uzaffar Tekes, who ruled from
589/1193 to 596/1200.

m atters, and the lowest group which comprises the natural sciences
and medicine. According to one definition, the middle group
consists of the quadrivium (and thus would not be concerned with
history). A ccording to another definition, everything th at is
concerned w ith language belongs to it, as, for instance, poetry,
rhetoric, and logic. H istory {Him al-ahbdr) falls under th at part of
language which is concerned w ith prose composition. It forms a
triad w ith speechm aking and epistolography. Its subdivisions are
historical inform ation about kings and their policies; the history
of dynasties and im portant e ve n ts; and historical inform ation about
virtuous men, sages, noble personalities, and men of the opposite

The Suluk al-mdlik f i tadbir al-mamdlik, an encyclopedia in

tabular form composed b y a certain Ibn A b i r-R ab i', presents
itself as a work w ritten under the Caliph al-M utasim (in the ninth
centu ry). This appears to be an error, and it has been suggested that
the caliph in question m ight be the last ^Abbasid al-Musta^'sim who
died during the Mongol conquest of B agdad in 1258.^ H istory,
according to Ibn A b i r-R a b i, belongs to an interm ediate group of
sciences. This group stands in the middle between the highest group
which comprises theology, religious law, and all supernatural
h istory and w ay of life (siyar) of rulers.
^ Cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 372. Accordin g to the G A L , the S u lM m ay have been com posed
in 655/1256. Cf. also A s *^a d T a l a s , in Revue de VAcademic arabe de Damas, X X I V , 274 (1949);
M. P l e s s n e r , in. Ignace Goldziher M emorial Volume, II, 81 f. (Jerusalem 1958).

qualities.!
A bout a hundred years later, another Persian scholar, Muhammad
b. Mahmud al-Am uli, who wrote in 1340, dealt w ith history in
his ponderous encyclopedia, NafdHs al-funun f i ^-ardHs al-'-uyun.^
In his work, too, history occupies a position among the Muslim
religious and A rab literary sciences which form the subject of the
first part of the work. However, it is placed among a group of sub
jects, such as riddles and genealogy, which are classified b y the
author as conversational sciences. H istory is called Hlm-i-tawdrih
wa-siyar. A ctu ally, the author explains, these are tw o different
branches of learning. One of them is concerned w ith the length
of the life and the duration of the activities of prophets, kings,
rulers, and religious groups (nations), while the other deals with
the individual circum stances of each personality. Nevertheless,
al-Am uli follows the custom of treating the tw o together under the
one heading of history. In accordance w ith the usual procedure
of historians, he starts out with a few words about the instruc
tiveness and m anifold practical uses of history in th at it teaches
the fleeting character of w orldly greatness and the in stab ility of
m aterial possessions and gives m an an opportunity to keep his
name alive and to live on as a good m emory. In five chapters,
al-Am uli then presents a brief sketch of world history. He deals
w ith the history of the prophets from A dam to M uhamm ad;
the Persian kings; the kings of H atay, and the kings (i.e., the em1 Suluk al-mdlik, 46 f. (Cairo 1329, an edition which dispenses w ith the tabular arrange
ment).
A -ah razu ris Sajarah al-ildhtyah, which w as w ritten in 1282, has nothing on history.
T h e section on history in an-N uw ayris Nihdyat al-arah is contained in vols. 13 ff. of the
Cairo edition. Its contents is indicated in the table of contents of the whole work.
I, 261-99 (Teheran? 1315-17). I also consulted the Bodleian m anuscripts of the work.

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B A C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

perors and popes) of the European C hristians; the first four cahphs,
the U m ayyads, and the Abbasids; and the later dynasties of the
eastern part of the Mushm world, from the Saffarids to the house
of Jingizhan.
W ith the time of al-Amuli, we have reached the threshold of a
rather unexpected development, to wit, the appearance of historiog
raphy as an independent discipline which was considered deserving
of discussion in monograph form. This developm ent did not have
its starting point in the encyclopedic history of sciences. It grew out
of the historical interests of the Muslim religious sciences, which,
in general, were responsible for most of the progress in Muslim
scholarly technique. Still, history had alw ays been considered b y
most theologians as a necessary but definitely very inferior adjunct
of their studies. Therefore, the appearance of monographs on histo
riography was not something th at came about as a m atter of course
but depended on special circumstances which made it possible for
monographs to materialize.^
In the case of the Persian, al-lji, it seems to have been his
interest in philosophy th at caused him to speculate about the
th eo ry of historiography. His Gift of the Poor M an written in 1381-82
m ainly aims at providing for historical inform ation what philosoph
ical speculation had done for the science of hadit, nam ely, a
system atic approach to the problem of ascertaining historical truth,
so th at the truth of Islam would find its historical justification.^
The discussions of historiography b y al-K M iyaji, who wrote his
Short Work on Historiography in Cairo in 867/1463, and the E gyp tian
as-Sahawi, who finished his Open Denunciation of the Critics o f the
Historians in Mecca in 897/1492, become understandable as the
result of the favorable situation which historical studies enjoyed
in the E g y p t of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In contrast
to other parts of the Muslim world at the time, political conditions
in E g y p t were b y and large stable and offered an atmosphere
in which scholarly work in general could flourish. The m aterial
welfare of scholars was com paratively well taken care of b y m an y
pious foundations. There existed then a few especially keen and
1
A t the same time, the subject of h istory continued to p la y a certain if subordinate role
in encyclopedias. Thus, in the first half of the fifteenth century, 'A b d -ar-R ah m an alB istam i includes biograph y and history (Him as-siyar wa-l-ahbdr) am ong the propaedeutic
sciences said to be m ostly directed toward p ractical and m aterial goals. A m on g them ,
historical subjects o ccu py the last place, after the m agical sciences, cf. al-Bistam i, alFawd^ih al-misktyah, Istanbul ms. Nuru O snianiye 1520, fol. 72b.
^ Cf. below, p. 201 ff.

T H E PO SITIO N OF H IST O R Y

41

thorough religious scholars broadminded one m ight call them, if

sufficient allowance is m ade for their inherent lim itations. These
scholars realized the im portance which historical studies, as th ey
understood them, had for theological and juridical pursuits, and
some of them, such as Ibn H ajar, became historians in their own
right. Moreover, the country possessed in men such as al-Malik
al-Asraf B arsb ay com paratively strong and ambitious rulers who
adm ired past greatness and considered themselves deserving of
historical fame. A few centuries before this period, a Mushm
historian correctly rem arked: W hen the country was full of good
and noble men, God appointed a historian who would tell their
noble deeds and qualities, but when they were no longer and only
mean persons remained, m ercifully there also was no longer a
historian to be found. ^ Now, historians could find again both the
inspiration for their w ork and the m aterial encouragement. Another
coincidence which was as auspicious in this case as its like has
alw ays been in intellectual history was the appearance of a man
who combined in himself the qualities of an eminent statesm an and
scholarly genius. The historical w ork of the statesm an and judge,
Ibn Haldun, was w idely discussed, frequently attacked, alw ays
highly appreciated, and little understood in short, it fulfilled the
m ost im portant function of a scholarly work, th at is, to act as an
incentive and stimulus. Under these circumstances, scholars were
able to specialize in historical research and to speculate about the
theoretical aspects of historiography. The latter stage, however,
appears to have been reached only near the end of the period under
consideration, and the great historians of the beginning of the
fifteenth century, such as al-Maqrizi, do not seem to have devoted
special studies to the theory of historiography.
B oth a l-K afiy a ji and as-Sahawi were prim arily religious scholars,^
but for them, history was not the mere servant b u t alm ost the
equal of the science of tradition.^ Their historical studies exclusively
served the purpose of defending the flourishing historiography
against attacks b y the general run of theologians and of upholding
^ Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, I X , 42 (H yderabad 1357-38), quoting A b u 1-W afa b. 'A q il
(G A L Supplem ent I, 687).
* F or the follow ing paragraph, cf. also below, pp. 245 ff. and 263 ff.
Cf. as-Saliaw i, IHdn 45, below , p. 330 f. Scholars such as A b u Sam ah found it necessary
to defend their historical activities b y the exam ple of as-5 a fi'i. He w as said to have been
considered b y Mus'^ab az-Z u b ayri as the m ost learned historian in existence and to have
studied history (ayydm an-nds) and adab for tw en ty years, as an aid to jurisprudence
(Rawdatayn, 5, Paris 1898, Recueil des hist, des Croisades, H ist, or., 4).

42

43

BA C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

TH E PO SITIO N OF H IST O R Y

its position w ithin the theological disciplines. Their theological

preconceptions naturally warped their discussion. A l-K M iyaji, espe
cially, seems to h ave brought to his task an additional measure of
confused thinking, even if it w as the strict m ental discipline of the
principles of jurisprudence th at determ ined his analysis of history.
However, their works are the perfect expression of w hat Muslim
historiography w as and aspired to be. In points of detail, th ey
depend on the w ork of previous generations of scholars, b ut the
synthesis appears to be their own. A m ong the questions th ey treat
are those of the object and definition of history, its purpose and
usefulness, its origin, the qualifications and methods of the historian,
the criteria and degrees of reliability of historical inform ation (alK M iyaji), and the various products of Muslim historiography (asSahawi). As-Sahaw i's numerous quotations from the introductions
of historical works, almost the only places where historians
expressed general reflections about the nature of their task,i
give a complete cross section of the Muslim thinking on history.
W e miss an y deeper penetration into the problems of history, and
only here and there do we encounter traces of greater awareness
of w hat history m ay mean. However, in this respect, too, al-K M iyaji
and as-Sah^wi tru ly represent the attitude of Muslim scholarship.
H istoriography, in al-M asudis words, was, for Muslim scholars,
factual inform ation {habar) and not speculative research {baht
and nazar),^ and the author of a historical w ork frequently called
himself a compiler [jdmi^).

w ith the biographies of the transmitters.^ In this connection,

local histories of the theological typ e becam e a subject of instruc
tion,^ and if possible, students travelled to their authors, in order
to acquire firsthand knowledge directly from them and on the
spot. Some academic instruction on historical subjects was thus
alw ays available, and the stu d y notes and ijdzahs at the end of
historical m anuscripts testify to that. One might, however, expect
to find frequent references to historical lectures in the innumerable
scholarly biographies which are known. This is not the case. The
references to history and historians in all the biographies of the
History of Bagdad are not frequent. It is true th a t the History
of Bagdad is theologically oriented. This explains w h y few historical
works except those of im m ediate interest for hadit scholars are
mentioned in it.^ B u t its silence with regard to historical activities
proves th a t the official system of education then in force cared

The preceding discussion has made it sufficiently clear th at

historiography could hardly be expected to have form ed part of
Muslim higher education. Indeed, it never achieved the position
of an academ ic subject either in the environment in which the
G reek sciences were cultivated, or in the form al system of
Muslim religious education which crystallized in the eleventh
century. L ack of evidence is enough of a confirm ation of the fact
th a t w orldly history was not represented in the curriculum of any
madrasah anywhere in Islam. The biography of M uhammad was
studied there. T he science of traditions required an acquaintance

1 Th e same situation prevailed in the W estern Middle Ages, c f . F. W a g n e r , Geschickts-

wissenschaft, 54 ff. (Munich 1951).

2 M u fu j, I, 151 Paris ed. = I, 46 (Cairo 1346); cf. also al-M as'udi, Tanhth 354 D e G o e j e ,
and at-Tabari, I, 56.
F or instance, al-W aqid is Magdzt, cf. as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fol. 243b (Ragini).

little for them.

A m an so well known as a historian as ad-D ahabi includes in
the list of his teachers (Mu^jam) only a very few references to
the fact th a t the one or other among them wrote historical works
^ A s-S a m 'to i, for instance, studied Ibn M andahs Ma^rifat as-sa^dbah, cf. Ansdb, fol. 60b
( = I I, 44 of the edition w hich began to appear in H yd erabad 1382/1962, un fortu n ately
w ithout references to the folio num bers of the m anuscript reproduced b y D. S. M a r g o l i o u t h ) . Ibn Ja m a 'ah recom m ends the knowledge of the dates [tawdrih] of the science of
traditions as one of the branches of th at science (Tadkirah 126, H yd erab ad 1354)^ A s-S am 'an i, for instance, studied al-A zraq is History of Mecca (as w ell as the History
of Y a 'q u b b. Sufyan ), cf. Ansdb, fols. 54a ( = I, 400, of the H yd erab ad edition), 148a,
and 195b.
Al-^Iatib al-B agdadi lectured in B agd ad on his History of the c ity (Y aq u t, IrSdd, I, 246 f.
M a r g o l i o u t h = IV , 1 6 f. C airo).T here is no reason to assume, w ith the Handworterbuch des
Islam , 389a, s.v. M adrasa (Leiden 1941), th at he lectured on th at w ork in the M osque, thus
e levatin g it to the rank of a regu larly tau gh t subject. T h e te x t says th at he tau gh t hadit in
the Mosque, and the History o f Bagdad in B agd ad thus, apparently, n ot in the Mosque.
Parallel te x ts are less clear on this point, b u t confirm ation comes from a most interesting
legend which m ay reflect the historical settin g accurately: A student of the I^atib dream ed
th at he was attending a h istory lecture in the house of the H atib as u su al, b u t there was
an unusual auditor there, none other than the Prophet him self, and I said to m yself,
the narrator of the story continues, th at this was not on ly an honor for the Sayh, b u t also
a refu tation of those who censure the stu d y of h istory as in vo lvin g attacks upon the
religious scholars (as-Snbki, Tabaqdt as-SdfiHyah, III, 14 f., Cairo 1324).
Ibn 'A sa k ir lectured on his volum inous History of Damascus in the presence of asS a m 'a n i and the ^Imad al-Isfahani. I t seems, though, th at the lecture was m erely a per
fu n ctory reading of sm all parts of the w ork, cf. al-'^Imad al-Isfahani, Hartdat al-qasr
{Syrian poets), 274, 276 (Dam ascus 1375/1955); the la tte r passage seems to b elon g to a
q uotation from a s-Sam 'an is Supplem ent to the History o f Bagdad and thus to refer to asS am 'an i and not to the 'Im ad.
^ W ith reference to al-H akim s History of Ntsdbur, cf. T B , V , 474, and as-Sam 'am ,
Ansdb, fol. g g b ; w ith reference to al-M ataris H istory o f M edina, cf. Taqi-ad-din a l-F asis
autobiography, in al-^Iqd at-tamtn (cf. below, p. 165, n. 3).
B u t cf. the long list of historical works studied b y the H atib (Y . al-Hss, al-Hatlb ali, 106-12, Dam ascus 1364/1945).

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BAC K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

or occupied himself w ith history. A contem porary of as-Sahawi in

the fifteenth century, Muhammad b. Am m ar, studied the basic
principles of jurisprudence w ith Ibn Haldun, and only in this
connection, it is mentioned th at he also studied part of the Muqaddimah of Ibn H alduns H istory w ith its author.^ H ardly any of
the m any scholars whose scholastic careers were described b y
\ as-Sahawi in the Daw' al-ldmi*' is expressly stated to have studied
w orldly histories, though the historical lectures of Ibn Haldun
wHich Ibn H ajar and others attended are incidentally mentioned.^
The stu d y of historical works, even those which w ould interest
teligious scholars, also is only very rarely referred to in the paw\^
As-SahS,wi himself does not say in his autobiography that the studied
historical works. W e hear, however, of famous historians of the
tim e as teachers, and it is well possible th at th ey also lectured
e% officio on their historical works. A s-Suyuti tells us th a t in one
of his classes in the Mosque of A hm ad b. Tuliin, he was asked
about the historicity of Qaraqus,^ but the question m ay have been
an incidental one and m ay not presuppose the existence of a course
in history. A knowledge of history is often mentioned among the
scholars listed in the Daw'', but it is alw ays mentioned as part of
their general education (adab).^ E ven in the two cases where a
scholars stud y of history is said to have been coupled w ith th at of
jurisprudence, the reference to history pertains to the general
education of the particular scholar. As a man of general culture,
a great jurist, such as the father of the author of the History of
Qazwin, ar-R M ii, m ay have had a good knowledge of proverbs,
poems, historical data, and anecdotes, b u t this was considered the
least of his accom plishm ents. Such knowledge of history resulted
from the role of history as part of a m ans general culture, about
which more will be said later on.
W hile historical studies did not fall under the category of higher
^ Daw^, V I I I , 233. In the biographies of the History o f Granada of Ibn H aldu n s con
tem porary, Lisan-ad-din Ibn al-H atib, we find w h at seem to be unusually frequent references
to a knowledge of h istory on the part of the biographees.
* Daw^, IV , 148. A l-K in a n i studied h istory w ith al-M aqrizi {Daw^, I, 205).
* Cf., for instance, Daw^, I, 196.
* Cf. P. C a s a n o v a , Kardkouch, in Mem. publiees par les memhres de la mission archeol.
frangaise du Caire, 472 (Paris, 1897). For a l-K a fiy a ji lecturing on historiography, cf. below,
p. 24 7 ^ A s is also the case, for instance, in the obituaries of a l-Y u n in is D ayl M ir at az-zamdn
(H yderabad 1374-80/1954-61).
* Daw^, III, 41, and X I, 66.
^ Cf. a r-R a fi i, al-Qawl al-fasl f t fadl A M Fadl, a biograph y of his father, which he in
corporated in the History of Qazwin, Phot. Cairo T a rih 2648, p. 94.

T H E PO SITIO N OF H IST O R Y

45

education, historical works were system atically read and studied

b y the scholars who were interested in them. A fter the death
of the Qur^an com m entator Ibn A b i t-T a yy ib (d. 458/1065), his
library was found to contain four books: one on jurisprudence,
one on belles lettres, and two volumes on history.^ Indeed, a
strange collection! E ven the author of a system atic philosophical
w ork m ay occasionally though rarely betray the fact th a t he studied
historical works. ^ For a later age, w e have much better evidence
of w hat historical books a scholar (who, it is true, developed ear
ly a professional interest in history) would read in the course
of his scholarly education. In the list of the books studied b y
him {al-Mu'^jam al-mufahras), Ibn H ajar has m any historical
titles. The third chapter of the Mu'-jam al-mufahras which deals
w ith the different branches of the science of traditions contains
biographical works and local histories, but among them there
also appears a reference to the great History of at-Tahari^ and
to the Ansdb of az-Zubayr b. B ak kar and Ibn al-A tirs Ansdb
and Kdmil.^ The fifth section of the sixth chapter then contains
the general histories which were studied b y Ibn H ajar, such as
Ibn al-A tirs Kam il, Sibt Ibn al-Jaw zis Mir^dt az-zamdn, and
the works of ad-Dahabi, but also biographical works such as alMundiris Takmilah f i wafaydt an-naqalah. It m ust be said,
however, th at history is lum ped together b y Ibn H ajar w ith the
non-traditional sciences and seen in connection w ith gram mar
and poetry. Ibn H aja rs interest in history was aroused at the
beginning of his academ ic studies. He alw ays considered history
an im portant part of his w ork in the science of traditions and its
adjunct, biography. B u t his enjoym ent of historical works m ay have
been th at of the m aturing student and the man of general Culture.
In fact, the real position of history in Muslim education has
alw ays been one in elem entary education. H istory was an occasional
subject of form al instruction in school. It alw ays was, in some form
or other, the favorite reading m atter for boys and an im portant
element in their intellectual formation.
The Ihw an as-safa* refer to the fact th a t the children in school
learn the Q uran, history (ahbdr), poetry, gram mar, and lexicog Y a q u t, IrSdd, X I I I , 274 (Cairo = V , 232 M argoliouth).
^ H ibatallah al-Bagdadi, MuHabar, II, 223 (H yderabad 1357), quotes the h istory of
al-Jah siyari for the appearance of a star in the days of al-M uwaffaq.
^ Al-Mu^jam al-mufahras, Ms. Cairo M ust, al-hadit 82 (w ritten in 854/1450), p. 140.
^ Op. cit., p. 162. F or the y a t i b al-B agd ad i, cf. above, p. 43, n. 4.

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BA C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

rap h y.i The system atic works on elem entary education are nearly
all silent on the subject of history. The tenth-century Qabisi,
whose w ork was w ritten from the M alikite point of view, refers to
the opinion of Ibn H abib th at there is no objection to hiring a
teacher for the teaching of poetry, grammar, epistolography,
the battle days of the Arabs and similar subjects such as the
biographies of scholars and outstanding men [Him ar-rijdl wadawi a l-m u ru w d t)^ This is history seen in the fam iliar context of
adab works. A slight religious coloring is already present. In later
times, the inform ation about pious men is recommended as the
only historical subject in which children m ight be instructed.
The scarcity of references to the teaching of history in works
on elem entary education shows th at it was not a w idely taugh t
subject. It was permissible to teach it. More could h ardly be
expected. General educational requirements did not extend beyond
reading, writing, and the memorizing of the Q uran. O nly the
great and the well-to-do could afford to hire teachers who would
instruct their children in other subjects.^ H istorical knowledge,
therefore, was usually acquired b y p rivate reading or, on a lower
level, from story-tellers who seem to have filled the role of popular
interpreters of the Muslim religious view of history since the
beginning of Islam.^
A rare glimpse into the im portant role which historical works
played in the intellectual form ation of boys is afforded to us
through the autobiography of the tw elfth-century Jewish scientist,
as-Sam aw al b. Y a h y a al-Magribi, who later in his life converted
to Islam : " . . . A t the age between tw elve and thirteen, I was very
^ Rasd?il Ihwdn as-safd^, III , 60 (Cairo 1347/1928). T h a t ahbdr in this con text does not
refer to traditions m ay, for instance, be deduced from the biograph y of H ibatallah Ibn
M akula, in Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, V II I , 103, anno 430 (H yderabad 1357-58).
^ A. F. al-Ihw ani (or Ahw ani), at-TaHtm f t ra?y al-Qdbisi, 278 (Cairo 1364/1945), cf. the
editors com m ent, p. 156 f. (2nd ed., pp. 304 and 171 f., Cairo 1955).
^ According to the con text, Ibn A b i r-Rabins brief reference to the spiritual advan tage
to be gained b y children from the stu dy of books and biographies {siyar) appears to refer
to the biographies of pious persons (Suluk al-mdlik, 60, Cairo 1329). Taskopriizadeh, Miftdfi
as-sa^ddah, III, 280 (H yderabad 1328-56), is more explicit.
* Cf. the references to princely tutors, below p. 48 f.
The mudakkir calls to m ind G ods benefactions, the wdHz bases his adm onitions upon
the threats m ade b y God, and the qdss, the story-teller, relates the h istory [ahbdr] of the
men of the p a st. T h is distinction between three types of preachers is discussed b y A bu
B a k r Ibn al-^Arabi, ^Aridat al-ahwadi {Commentary on at-Tirm idi's SaMh), X , 140 (Cairo
1350 - 53 / 1931 - 34)* Th e im portance of historical instruction in G reek education was known to Muslims from
the translation of a fragm ent of Them istius, On Friendship, cf. M iskaw ayh, Tahdtb al-ahldq,
51 (Cairo 1322); F. R o s e n t h a l in Islam ic Culture, X I V , 403 f. (1940).

T H E P O SITIO N OF H IST O R Y

47

m uch attracted b y historical inform ation and stories. I was very

eager to read w hat had happened in ancient tim es and to know
w hat had taken place in past centuries. I read the different collec
tions of stories and anecdotes. From th at I transferred m y predi
lection to the long fanciful tales, and then to the big novels, such
as the stories of A n tar,i
1-Himmah, and al-B attal, the story
of Alexander D u 1-qarnayn, of al-A n q a (the Phoenix), and Taraf
b. Ludan, and others. A fter I had studied these works, it became
clear to me th at most of their (contents derived) from the works of
the historians. I looked for true historical inform ation. M y attention
was directed tow ard historical works. I read the book of A bu A li
b. M iskawayh which he had entitled Tajdrib al-umam. I also studied
the History of at-T abari and other historical works. Through them,
I becam e acquainted w ith the history [ahbdr) of the Prophet,
his raids, and the miracles which God produced for him . .
^
A s-Sam aw al was greatly impressed b y the miraculous success of
Muhammad, the collapse of the m ighty Persian and B yzantine
armies, the skilful and just policies of A bu B ak r and Umar.
If he as a Jew could be so much influenced b y the record of a past
which was not his, how much more so must young Muslims have
experienced the emotional im pact of the historical literature. Here
we clearly see the tremendous significance of historiography in
Islam. It helped to inspire lo y a lty to and enthusiasm for the religious
and cultural heritage of Islam at an age in the life of the individual

1
In the tim e of as-Sam aw al, it w as possible for a you n g student to earn his livin g b y
copyin g the novel of 'A n ta r. T h e physician A b u 1-Mu a yy a d al-Jazari thus acquired the
nam e of a l-'A n ta ri (Ibn A b i U sa yb i'a h , I, 290 M u l l e r ). A thirteen th -cen tu ry amir, Salih
b. 'A li b. B u htu r, it m ay be added here, while he was in prison, copied the 'A n ta r novel,
cf. Salih b. Y a h y a , Histoire de Beyrouth, ed. L . C h e i k h o , 2nd ed., 81 (Beirut 1927).
In the tw entieth cen tury, the same m aterial th at inspired as-Sam aw al continues to serve
its old purpose, as we learn from the biograph y of H a s a n A L -B A N N A ^ the founder of the
Ihw an al-M uslim in, a contem porary political m ovem ent th at com m anded a considerable
am ount of a tte n tio n in th e i9 4 o sa n d th e e a rly 1950s,cf. I. M. H u s a i n i , The M uslim Brethren,
3 (B eirut 1956). Cf. also below , p. 188.
^ Cf. M. S c h r e i n e r , in M onatsschrift fu r Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums,
X L I I , 127 and 417 f. (1898). In the edition of as-Samaw^als Ifhdm b y M. P e r l m a n n
[Proceedings of the Am erican Academy for Jewish Research, X X X I I , N ew Y o rk 1964), the
passage appears on p. 100 f., trans. 77 f.
Converts to Islam , in general, leaned h eavily on argum ents from h istory, in order to
prove the superiority of Islam , cf. 'A li b. R abban at-T ab ari (ninth century), Kitdb ad-Din
wa-d-dawlah, 52, 54 ff., etc. M i n g a n a (M anchester 1923). F or th at a u th ors high esteem of
historiography, one m ay com pare his statem en t: I also noticed th at all books of lasting
valu e do not fail to deal either w ith the litera ry and education al m atter of this w orld
and the information [ahbdr] about its inhabitants, or w ith religion [op. cit., 45, cf. also
G . E . VON G r u n e b a u m , M edieval Islam , 98, Chicago 1946).

48

B A C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

in which other intellectual influences would have been far less

effective.
Stories, poems, and historical data form ed part of the knowledge
which parents would transmit to their children. The historian
Ibn an-N ajjar (d. 643/1245) was educated b y his brother, since
his father had died when he was only seven years old. In touching
words, he describes how his brother brought him up, carried him
to the Mosque on Fridays and the tw o holidays, taught him w hat
to say, carried him on his shoulders to show him the h oly places
and ceremonies when, at the age of nine, he w ent w ith his m other
to Mecca. A nd from him he derived m any stories, poems, and
historical data.^
H istorical instruction held a special place in the education of
young princes.^ R ead historical works and study biographies and the
experiences of the nations, ^ was a recomm endation which it
was advantageous for every am bitious m an to follow. For the
potential future ruler, in addition, the study of historical works
was considered the best w ay to imbibe political wisdom. The caliph
al-M utad id ordered Sinan b. T ab it b. Qurrah to go through a fine
library collection and pick out the books dealing with jurisprudence,
biographies {siyar) from ancient and modern times, historical
inform ation about kings and events {ayyam an-nds), historical
inform ation about the A bbasid dynasty, and similar m aterial,
which would be right for the ages of al-Mu*^tadid's sons, A bu Ja*^far
and A b u 1-Fadl, and could be used for their instruction.^ A bu
1-Fadl, al-M uqtadir, as he was called as caliph, was less than seven
years old at th at time, and A bu J a 'fa r apparently som ewhat older.
The next generation, two sons of al-Muqtadir, H arun and his
brother Ahm ad, who later on became caliph under the name of
ar-R adi, were educated b y as-Suli who soon after his appointm ent
as their teacher discovered their lack of knowledge. He therefore
bought for them books on jurisprudence, poetry, lexicography, and
Ibn an-N ajjar, Supplem ent to the History o f Bagdad, Paris ms. ar. 2 13 1, fol. 36b.
In a fou rteen th-cen tu ry fiirstenspiegel, Ju an M anuel describes the w eekly schedule of
the infante as including general and Spanish h istory as the m ain su bject on T u esd ays,
Thursdays, and S atu rd ays, cf. W . B e r g e s , D ie Fiirstenspiegel des hohen und spaten M ittelalters, 24 3 (Leipzig 19 3 8 . Schriften des Reichsinstituts fUr dltere deutsche Geschichtskunde,
Monumenta Germaniae Historica, II).
^ E lijah of Nisibis, M assime, no. 1 2 3 S b a t h (Cairo 1 9 3 6 ).
*
From S in an s H istory of al-MuHadid, as quoted b y Ib n al-'^Adim, Bugyat at-talab, Ph ot.
Ms. Cairo T a rih 1 5 6 6 , I, 1 3 7 . Cf. F. R o s e n t h a l , in J A O S , L X X I , 13 9 ( 1 9 5 1 ) . A rab ic text,
below , p. 541 f. Cf. also the sto ry reported in T B , I, 228 f., concerning Ib n Ish a q s com position
of a w orld h istory for an 'A b b asid prince upon orders of the la tte rs father.

T H E P O SITIO N OF H IS T O R Y

49

history [ahbdr). E ach of the tw o princes built up his own library.

T h ey studied poetry and history w ith as-Suli and appear to have
been so fond of these subjects th at as-Suli considered it necessary
to switch over to Prophetic traditions and engage an auth ority on
the subject, p robably in order to appease the theologians,^
The role of history in the education of princes was not a fortuitous
one. It was closely connected w ith the old oriental tradition of
historical knowledge as the main source of political inspiration for
kings and rulers. This tradition has lived on in Islam. R o y a l
sciences are genealogy and history (hahar) ; the science of m ilitary
men is the study of books on b attle days and biographies {siyar) ;
and a m erchants sciences are w riting {kitdb) and counting {hisdb). ^
R oyal sciences are genealogy, history {hahar), and p oetry; the
sciences of sultans are raids and biographies {siyar) ; a m erchants
science is counting; and a secretarys sciences are calligraphy and
linguistic usages. ^ The royal sciences are genealogy, history
{hahar, ahhdr), and the outlines {jumal) of jurisprudence. ^ The
knowledge of genealogy and history {ahhdr) belongs to the sciences
of kings and im portant persons. Only noble souls aspire to it, and
small minds do not w ant it. ^ A rhym ed history of the seventeenth
century even included the knowledge of history among the con
ditions of the caliphate:
A writer he must be and know.
The biographies of the ancients he must understand,
Of kings and caliphs.
A n d likewise of amirs and wazirs.
Occasionally, however, an author realized th a t not all nations
knew history as the royal science. Ibn at-T iq taq a thus mentioned
the knowledge of history among the subjects which were esteemed
b y the kings of the Persians and Arabs, but he had nothing to sa y
about history in connection w ith the Mongols.
1 A s Suli, Ahbdr ar-Rddt li-lldh wa-l-Muttaqi li-lldh, 25 D u n n e (London-Cairo 1935),
trans. M. C a n a r d , 73 (Algiers 1946). C f. also Ibn H aldun, M uqaddimah, I I I , 266 Paris,
where ar-R asid orders al-A m in to be in stru cted in ahbdr (see above, p. 44, n. 4).
2 Ibn A b d -R ab b ih , "^Iqd, I, 150 (Cairo 1305).
^ A r-R a g ib al-Isfahani, Muhddardt, I, 21 (B ulaq 1287).
* Ibn H am dun, Tadkirah, part 3, Bodleian ms. or. Marsh 316 (Uri 379), fol. Sob.
Y a q u t, Irsdd, I, 92 (Cairo = I, 27 f. M a r g o l i o u t h ), follow in g al-B ah arzi (?). Cf. also
G A L Supplement I, 204, q uoting al-JM iiz apud as-Suyuti, M uzhir, I, 357 (Cairo 1325).
A l-B a yh a q i, Ta^rih-i-Bayhaq, 15, 17 (Teheran 1317).
A l-(ju m ri, Dahirah, Ms. Cairo T a rih 104, fol. i i a .
Fahrt, 22 A h l w a r d t (G otha i860). C f ., how ever,
Svv'l^'r, D ie Mongolen in Iran ,
439 (Leipzig 1939), who rig h tly stresses the Mongol rulers concern w ith h istory.
R o s e n t h a l , H istory of M uslim H istoriography

50

B A C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

W h a t for the B iblical Ahasuerus was the pastim e of a sleepless

night is described as the usual routine of the caliph Mu^awiyah:
. H e slept one-third of the night, then he rose and sat down.
One brought the files which contained the biographies and history
[ahbdr] of the kings and the wars and m ilitary ruses. Slaves who
were entrusted w ith the task of knowing and reciting these subjects
read to him in turns (?). E ach night, he thus studied a certain
am ount of historical and biographical inform ation, of antiquarian
and political m aterial. ^ This story can hardly claim any historical
auth en ticity but, like the novel in which al-Asm ai entertains
H arun ar-Rasid w ith historical information,^ it somehow reflects
an actual situation. There are m any references to caliphs who
displayed an interest in history.^ The library of a flourishing
d yn a sty would contain m any historical works. It is reported that
am ong the tw o m illion volum es of the library of the F atim ids in
E g y p t, there were 1220 m anuscripts of at-T ab aris History.^ The
figures seem v a stly exaggerated b u t th ey illustrate the interest in
historical works which one expected to find in royalty. Some of the
lesser rulers of later centuries were also credited w ith a knowledge
of history and biography. Others composed historical works of
their own. A Mamluk Sultan greatly enjoyed the lectures of the
historian a l-'A y n i.^U nw ittingly, J e a n B o d in , in sixteenth-century
France, paid a compliment to the great tradition of history as the
royal science in Islam when he said: There is no exam ple more
recent or more fam ous than th at of Selim, prince of the Turks.
Although his ancestors alw ays avoided history on the ground th at
it is false, he himself first had the deeds of Caesar translated into
the vernacular, and b y im itating th at general in a short tim e he
1
Al-M as'udi, M uruj, V , 77 f. Paris ed. = II, 72 (Cairo 1 3 4 6 ) . F urther inform ation about
M u 'a w iy ah s alleged interest in history is found in Y a q u t, Irsdd, I, 96 (Cairo = I, 29 f.
M a r g o l i o u t h ), and F ihrist, 132 (Cairo 1348 = 89 F L t i G E L ) . Cf. also the edition o f 'A b id b .
Saryah , Ahbdr al-Yam an, in Ibn H isain, Ttjdn, 311-488 (H yderabad 1347); Ibn
Q u taybah , ^Uyun al-ahbdr, II, 305 (Cairo 1343-49/1925-30); Agdni, X X I , 1 9 1 ; Y a q u t,
IrM d, X I I , 78, s.v. 'A b id . Cf. also below, p. 64, n. i. In IrSdd, I, 86 ( = I, 29 f.), Y liq u t also
m entions 'A b d -al-M alik b. M arw ans search for a person am ong whose qualities there m ight
b e a knowledge o f A rab p o e try and h istory {ahbdr).
^ Cf. below , p. 58.
3 Cf. A . D i e t r i c h , in Z D M G , C IV , 22 3 (1 9 5 4 ) . Cf. a ls o b e lo w , p . 5 2 .
Ib n A b i T a y y , apud Ibn K a tir, Riddyah, X I I , 266, anno 567.
Cf. a l-'Im ad al-Isfahani in al-Bundari, Nusrat al-fatrah, 142 (Cairo 1318/1900), concern
ing the Saljuq Su ltan M ahm ud (d. 525/1131).
Ibn A b i Zar"- 53, trans. 73 T o r n b e r g (Uppsala 1843-46), concerning the Idrisid A b ii
1- A y s A h m ad b. al-Qasim Kanniin (d. 343/954-55). Cf. also Ibn A b iZ a r ' ,200, trans. 261.
* Cf. below , p. 55f.
Cf. as-Sahaw i, I^ldn, 43, below, p. 328.

T H E P O SITIO N OF H IST O R Y

51

joined a great part of A sia Minor and of A frica to the dominion of

his ancestors. ^
From this, the highest layer of society, the knowledge of history
trickled down the whole social scale of officials, scholars, and all
those who w anted to be considered educated. It became the hall
m ark of general culture. N ot only was Sahrzad of the Arabian
Nights well read in historical works, the biographies of ancient
kings, and the history [ahbdr) of the p ast and not only was it the
princess who possessed thousand historical works concerned w ith
former nations, kings of the past, and poets, ^ but even a porter
m ight claim having read historical works as definite proof of his
contention that he was an educated man. ^
A wazir, even if he was a man w ith no form al education, such as
al-Fadl b. M arwan b. Masarjis, a wazir of al-M amiin and al-M u'tasim, was capable of and interested in w riting a book of personal
reminiscences of the historical events in which he had a part.^
A cultured man, such as the wazir Ibn Sa'dan, would, of course,
have read the Tap, the historical w ork of his contem porary as-Sabi\
and thus, in a discussion w ith at-Taw hidi, he is able to refer to the
fact th at he could not find in it a report about a m eeting w ith
*Izz-ad-dawlah in which means to counter the B yzantine menace
h ad been discussed. The historical knowledge of a wazir was also
useful when it came to choosing an auspicious nam e for a ruler;
thus, B ayb ars who had chosen for himself the nam e of al-M alik alQahir was persuaded b y his minister to change to al-Mahk az-Zahir
because of the unfortunate history of former rulers nam ed al-Qahir.
B u t we also hear th at a w azir does not like to have his ruler study
historical works, since th ey m ight teach him how to exploit his
subjects on his own, so th a t he would be able to dispense w ith the
services of the w azir. T he w azir himself, however, had to know
history, and when the stars determ ined th at a child was to become
^ Method for the Easy Comprehension of History, 13 R e y n o l d s (New Y o rk 1945). M e h m e t
the Conqueror is also believed to h ave shown m uch interest in W estern h istorical works,
c f . F . B a b i n g e r , Mehmed der Eroberer, 115 (Munich 1953). H ow ever, according to M o N T A iG N E ,
Essays, II, c h . 36, the M uslims allegedly despised all histories w ith the exception o f the
h i s t o r y o f A lexander.
* Arabian Nights, I, 6 M a c n a g h t e n (Calcutta 1839-42).
^ Op. cit., I, 60.
* Cf. F ihrist, 184 (Cairo 1348 == 127 F l u g e l ) ; as-Safadi, W aft, Bodleian ms. or. Seld.
A rch. A 28 (Uri 677), fol. i4oa-b.
A t-T aw h id i, Imtd^, III , 159 (Cairo 1939-44).
* A l-Y u n in i, D a y l Mir^dt az-zamdn, II, 2 f. (H yderabad 1374-80/1954-61).
'Ib n at-Tiqtaq& , Fahri, 5 f. A h l w a r d t (Gotha i860).

52

B A C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T
TH E PO SITIO N OF H IST O R Y

a w azir one day, the child showed an early natural inclination

tow ard acquiring a liberal education and a thorough knowledge of
history and political science.^ A nd according to a saying ascribed
to Aristotle, one of the necessary qualifications of a w azir was the
knowledge of historical dates, of the biographies of rulers, and of
the best political practices.^
A secretary in governm ent service needed a particularly thorough
knowledge of the past. He had to be acquainted w ith the eras of
the three nations, the Persians, B yzantines, and Muslims. H e had
to know the contents of Persian furstenspiegels, such as K alilah
wa-Dimnah, the Covenant of Ardasir, and the letters of Anusarw^n.
He also had to be fam iliar with the biographies of the caliphs and
their chronology as well as the raids of the early years of Islam .
A ll this made a perfect secretary of state.^ His letters and docu
ments greatly gained from the insertion of examples drawn from
a large store of historical curiosities.* For his own good, he was
expected to know the history of the wazirs.^
The nadim, the boon-companion of the ruler, had to be able to
converse about any conceivable historical subject. This was one of
the qualifications required of him.'^ If the ruler, as in the case of
al-Mansur, hked entertaining stories, historical inform ation {ahbdr),
and the A rab battle d ays, the am bitious courtier would strive to
m aster these subjects.'^ A fiirstenspiegel from 708-9/1309, which no
longer counted history among the sciences th at deserved royal
^ Pseudo-A ristotle, Sirr al-asrdr, 135 B a d a w i (Cairo 195 4 . Islam ica 14).
2
Cf. A h m ad b. A h m ad b. ^Abd-al-Latif as-Sarji, Tuhfat al-ashdb wa-nuzhat al-albdb, Ms.
ar. Y a le U u iversity L-443 (Cat. N e m o y , ao. 471), fol. 58b.
^ Cf. Jawdmi^ al-'^ulum, Phot. Cairo M a'arif 'am m ah 527, p. 49. Cf. also the tw elfthcen tury fiirstenspiegel, Iddh al-masdlik wa-tadbtr ad-duwal wa-l-mamdlik, Bodleian ms. or.
Sale 74, fol. 30a; ^Abd-al-Hamids fam ous epistle, in Ibn H aldun, Muqaddimah, II, 26
P aris; at-Taw hidi, apud Ibn H ijjah, Tamardt, 1, 4 1 1 (Cairo 12 87, in the m argin of R agib,
Muhddardt).
^ Cf. al-Q alqasandi, Subh al-a^sd, I, 411-66 (Cairo 1331-38/1913-19). F or further historical
inform ation needed b y the kdtib, cf. op. cit., I l l , 254 ff.
A l-G azzali, al-Adab f t d-din, 11 (Cairo 1322. In the m argin of M iskaw ayh, Tahdib
al-ahldq). Cf. also
Sind'-atayn, 351 (Cairo 1320).
Th e nadim nm st know all events (ayydm an-nds), and he should n ot repeat the same
story, or som ething sim ilar to w hat had happened to A b u B a k r al-H udali m ight happen
to him. Al-M ansur rem em bered that al-H udali had told him once before about the b attle
d ay of D u Qar, because at th at time there had been such a terrible thunderstorm and rain
th at al-M ansur had rem arked th at the d ay of D u Q ar could not have been worse! Cf. anN uw ayri, Nihdyat al-arab, V I, 146 and 149 (Cairo 1345/1926).
Ibn al-Faqih, Kitdb al-bulddn, i f. D e G o e j e (Leiden 1885, B ibl. Geogr. Arabicorum, V).
In the early tw elfth century, a com pilation containing a large am ount of h istorical in
form ation and anecdotes, w ritten b y a certain Ibn B abah, was en titled The Capital of the
Nadim , cf. G A L Supplement I, 586, new ed. I, 420, and F. R o s e n t h a l , Humor in Early
Islam , I I , n. 2 (Leiden 1956).

53

protection, still required a knowledge of history and biography for

at least one nadim.^ A n anonym ous official of the fifteenth centu ry
was so h appy w ith as-Sahawis Tibr al-masbuk th at he alw ays
carried it around. ^
The soldier w as advised to stud y the raids of early Islam and
biographies.^ Occasionally, a scholar well-versed in history and
literature held a position in the army.* The Turkish general,
Bejkem , a man of Httle or no form al education, was able to quote
at-T abaris great History. He did it, however, in order to defend
a particular reading in a poem, and was gently reminded b y
as-Suli th at in m atters of lexicographical problems in poetry,
at-T abari was not as great an authority as on other subjects.^
Am ong scholars of all fields, there m ay alw ays have been some
who as grown men would affect a disdain for history, but a
m ajority, which increased in the course of time, aspired to add
to the title of scholar th at of adih, educated man, and this title
implied the possession of historical knowledge ready for use in
social gatherings. In nineteenth-century Mecca, the world history
of Ibn al-Atir, the biographical w ork of Ibn H allikan, and the
centenary biographies were studied b y those who w anted to
shine in conversation. Thus, historiography, if, in general, it was
considered no science at all or just tolerated among the lower
ranks of scholarly disciplines, was richly com pensated for its
theoretical inferiority b y the dom ination it exercised over the
minds of the young and the thinking of men of political influence
and general culture. A nd the Muslim historians had the right to
feel and, as a rule, did feel confident about the value of their work.

^ A l-H asan b. 'A b d allah b. a l-'A bb as, Atdr al-uwal f i tartib ad-duwal, ch. I l l , 7 (P- 122,
B u laq 1295). K ings should be interested in chronology {Him al-awqdt wa-l-azmdn), op. cit.,
ch. I, 7 (p. 47).
^ A s-Sahaw i, iHdn, 43 f., below p. 329. H istorical vadem ecum s, w ritten for men m
authority, were n ot uncom m on, cf., for instance, the pre-Islam ic history, Muhtasar siyar
al-awd^il, w ritten b y M uham m ad b. ^AH b. B a rak at al-H am aw i for the isfahsaldr Sayfad-din A li b. 4 zz-ad-dm H asan (Paris ms. ar. 1507, fol. 2b).
Ibn H am dun, lac. cit. (above, p. 49).
Ibn H ajar, Durar, I, 289.
A s-Suli, op. cit., 39.
*
Cf., for instance, above, p. 44. It m ay be added here th at the stu d y of historical works
m ight have the v e ry h igh ly prized effect of im proving ones style. T his was the experience
of as-Sam aw al (above, p. 47, n. 2).
Cf. Ch. S n o u c k H u r g r o n j e , M ekka, II, 216 ff. (The H ague 1889). H u r g r o n j e s rem arks
show a surprisingly great interest in h istory in the M ecca of the last century. F or the
interest in h istory or the lack of it in E g y p t at the daw n of the modern period, cf. D. A y a l o n
The Historian al-Jabarti and his Background, in B S O A S , X X I I I , 217 ff- (i960).

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B A C K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

TH E M USLIM H IST O R IA N

4 T H E M U SLIM H IS T O R IA N

plines in the sense in which he understood history, or to h ave

earned his living as an official. H alf a century later, we find the
E gyp tian historian Ibn Ziilaq whose exclusive occupation w ith
history caused him to apply to himself the verse;

A s a consequence of its position in Muslim education, historiog

raphy in general was not a discipline th at m ight have enabled
its practitioner to earn a living. Professional historians were
rare. Philology and genealogy, governm ent positions, and the
various branches of theology took care of the m aterial needs of
most historians. Al-Baladuri was a nadim of al-M utawakkil, and
similar positions at the court were held b y a great num ber of the
lay historians of the golden age of the Abbasids. The court historian
then became a fixed institution whether, like as-Suli, he proceeded
more or less on his own in his historical production, or, like Sinan
b. T a b it,! w rote on explicit or im plicit official orders. A m an like
at-T abari w as m uch more im portant and fam ous in his d ay as a
theologian than as a historian. A s-Sabi\ M iskawayh, as-Safadi, all
held governm ent positions, and w riting historical works becam e so
m uch a task of high political personalities that it would be difficult
to say w hether a man, such as, for instance, the thirteenth-century
w azir al-Juw ayni, w rote his great history as an am ateur work, or
as part of his official duties. Then as now, the inside inform ation of
a high governm ent official added prestige to his work.^ A nother
exam ple of the m anifold positions which m ight be held b y historians
is th a t of Ib n Haldun, who was a judge and statesman. A d-D ahabi
and Ibn H ajar were religious scholars. A n occasional physician also
appears among the authors of historical works. Thus, we hear that
A hm ad b. Ibrahim al-Jazzar, who lived under the Fatim ids in alQ ayraw an in the tenth century, w rote on the history of the
F atim id d yn asty, on the conquest of Ifriqiyah, and on the scholars
of his time.^ In eighteenth-century Damascus, even a m aster barber
felt called upon to w rite a chronicle of current events.^
W hat is more, there were few authors among the great names of
Muslim literature whose literary production was predom inantly in
the field of history, let alone restricted to historical works. T h ey
were exceptions. One of them, for instance, was al-M asudi who is
not know n to have devoted himself to other than historical disci Cf. below, p. 104.
^ Cf. al-Q ifti, 110 M u l l e r - L i p p e r t , on H ilal as-Sabi^s historical w ork, cf. below, p. 82.
For the court historian in m uch later periods, cf., for instance, H. I n a l c i k , in B. L e w i s and
P. M . H o l t , Historians of the M iddle East, 162 f.
Cf. Ib n Ju lju l, Tabaqdt al-atibbd , 89 f. F u a d S a y y i d (Cairo 1 9 5 5 ) ; Y a q u t, IrSdd, II,
13 6 f. (Cairo = I, 8 1 M a r g o l i o u t h ) ; Ibn A b i U say b i'ah , II, 3 7 -3 9 M i j l l e r ; G A L , I,
238 , Supplement I, 4 2 4 .
* Cf. G. M. H a d d a d , in Der Islam, X X X V I I I , 2 5 8 -7 1 (1 9 6 3 ).

55

Y o u never ceased to w rite w ith zeal on history.

U ntil you saw yourself w ritten in history.^
The line between those who were full-tim e historians and
those who in addition exercised some other profession is hard to
draw because in practice it did not exist or, at times, m ay m erely
seem to exist on account of our incomplete information. Ibn alA tir, the author of the Kam il, devoted most of his life to his literary
w ork in the fields of history and biography. However, being an
expert on the im portant theological discipline of the biographies of
the men around M uhammad and of the religious scholars, he also
was a successful lecturer, and he was supported b y his ruler. ^
Passing over such T raqi historians as Ibn as-Sa'i (see below),
we m ay again refer in this connection to the rise of the typ e of
professional historian (who, it is true, usually earned his livin g in
some theologico-juridical capacity) in fourteenth and fifteenthcentury E gyp t. The name of al-Maqrizi m ay be mentioned as its
m ost characteristic representative.
The am ateur historian (excluding authors of nothing but their
own personal memoirs) is another interesting figure which is not
infrequently found in Islam. Since historical knowledge was an
indication of ones education, it must have been a tem pting thought
for an educated am ateur to venture into historical writing. H ow
ever, in an environment where stylistic requirements in any branch
of literature were very high, there cannot have been too m any who
felt them selves qualified to w rite on historical subjects. There was
no sharp dividing line between historical am ateurs and historical
scholars. A bu 1-F id a , prince and scholar, cultivated historical
studies during a life full of political and m ilitary activity.^ His w ork
^ Cf. Y a q u t, Irsdd, V II, 22 6 (Cairo = I II , 7 M a r g o l i o u t h ). C f. also as-Sahawi, I^ldn
16 8 , below, p. 5 2 8 . T h e verse is from Ibn D u ra y d s martiyah for at-T ab ari (cf. Ibn al-A bbar,

Tuhfat al-qddim, in al-M asriq, X L I , 3 6 6 , 1 9 4 7 , and a l-B a lla fiq is abridgm ent of the Tuhfah,
25 a l - I b y A r i , Cairo 1 9 5 7 ) , b u t is om itted in T B , 1 1 ,1 6 7 ff. For its use in a eulogy for Ibn
Y u n u s, cf. as-Safadi, al-Oayt al-musajjam, II, 24 2 (Cairo 1 3 0 5 ) ; a l-K u tu b i, Fatvdt, I, 5 2 7
(Cairo 1 9 5 1 ) .
^ Cf. the introduction of his Histoire des Atabecs de M osul, in Recueil des historiens des
Croisades, Historiens orientaux, II, 2, 6 f. (Paris 18 7 6 ) ( = at-Ta^rih
i T u laym at
[Cairo 19 6 3 ]).
^ A l-M alik al-M ansur of H am ah also w rote a h istory, cf. Ibn al-'Im a d , Sadardt, anno 6 1 7 .

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T H E M USLIM H IST O R IA N

57

is not different from th a t of other scholarly historians. Yem enite

rulers, such as al-M alik al-Afdal a l-A bbas b. A li (d. 778/January
13 77)/ and al-Malik al-Asraf Ism a'il b. a l-A bbas (d. 804/1401-2),
m ight, on account of the considerable number of their publications,
be classified as professional historians rather than amateurs. The
latter, however, can hardly be called a scholar, for he is expressly
stated to h ave used w hat in recent years would be known as
research assistants or ghost w riters. It is said that he prepared
an outline (or draft, yada'^ wad'-an) and ordered someone to
com plete th a t outline (draft) and then subm it to him w hat he had
done. W hat he liked he retained, w hat he did not like he threw out,
and w hat he found deficient he supplem ented. ^
A true am ateur historian among rulers was the Yem enite J a yy a s
b. N ajah (d. 498/1105 or 500/1107), who composed a history of his
city, Zabid. H e w rote the w ork m ainly on account of the genealogical
interest of the m aterial he used.^ A royal prince of the last years
of the Abbasids, A bii Hasim Y u su f b. Muhammad az-Zahir (d.
656/1258), took an active interest in the works of Ibn as-Sai, and
on his own com posed a history which w as concerned w ith the
events of the rule of his brother al-Mustansir.^

a sm all chance of survival, or even of having their titles preserved

for posterity, since th e y were rarely published, th at is, copied in a
num ber of copies which would have m ade it possible for them to
escape th e ravages of tim e and man. This m ay be the reason w hy
the only preserved true specimen of the kind which is not restricted
to sim ple fam ily history is the History of Beirut and the Fam ily o f
Buhtur, which was w ritten b y one of the members of the B uhtur
fa m ily in the first half of the fifteenth century. The author con
sidered the w ork as of use only for his fam ily and their future
descendants and destined it to be fam ily property which was not
to be shown to outsiders.^ H is com bination of fam ily history w ith
local history has produced a piece of individuahstic w riting which
is in a sense so different from the ordinary run of historical works
and, one m ight say, also in a w a y so superior th at one regrets th at

Ibn at-T iq taq a w rote his Fahri for a high official, still, the history
of this chief of the Alids m ay be considered an am ateurs product.
In w riting it, Ibn at-T iq taq a looked a t the history of th e caliphs
w ith a double detachm ent as far as historical tradition was con
cerned. He was an A lid, and the caliphate was a m atter of the past
though not yet forgotten. H e therefore succeeded in giving a
certain flavor of historical reality to his reflections on politics and
his entertaining collection of stories about each cahph and his
wazirs at least in some passages of his work.^
Occasional writings of am ateur historians of lower rank had but

in the rhym es of a sixteenth-century p o e t:

^ Cf. O. L o f g r e n , Arahische Texte zur K enntnis der Stadt Aden i m Miitelalter, II, 20
(U ppsala 1936, Arbeten utgivna med understod av V ilhelm Ekmans Universitetsfond, 42; 2 ,1 )
^ Cf. O. L o f g r e n , op. cit., II, 1 0 7 .
Cf. also as-Sahaw i, IHdn, 150 f., below, p. 496 f., for the report th a t the h istory of B a yb a rs
al-M ansuri was w ritten w ith the help of a Christian secretary.
Cf. O. L o f g r e n , op. cit., I I, 43-47.
Cf. as-Safadi, W dfi, Bodleian ms. or. Seld. Arch. A 29, fol. 128b.
Cf. G A L Supplem ent II, 201 f. E v e r since W . A h l w a r d t introduced th e F a h ri to
W estern scholarship w ith words of excessive praise, it has been a favorite of editors and
translators. F o r a m ore favorab le opinion of Ibn a t-T iq ta q a as a historian, cf. J. K r i t z e c k ,
in J. K r i t z e c k and R . B . W i n d e r , The World o f Islam, 159-84 (New Y o rk 1959). Cf. also
E . I. J. R o s e n t h a l , Political Thought in Medieval Islam , 62-67 (Cam bridge 1958). T he
latest edition known to me is th at of 'Iw a d Ibrahim and 'A ll Jarim , Cairo 1945. A n English
tran slation w as published b y C. E . J. W h i t t i n g (London 1947)-

there exists so little of the same type.

The social and economic position of historians m ight in the
average h ave been somewhat better than th at of m any other
scholars. Scholars often had good reason to com plain th at th ey did
n ot receive the bounteous treatm ent th ey thought th ey deserved
from the great of the world, and their fate was eloquently described

I said to P o ve rty ; W here dost thou hide ?

In a scholars inkw ell, P o verty rephed.^
There were quite a num ber of exceptions to this rule am ong
scholars of various periods, and historians, in particular, appear to
h ave been quite well off. Most of them, we h ave heard, were allied
to the lucrative professions of official and theologian. B u t it is
reassuring to know th a t at least in one case, a historian could reap
substantial profits from his literary work. The B agdadi librarian
of the thirteenth century, Ibn as-Sai, was a popular historian who
earned m uch m oney w ith his writings. For each volum e on history
he w rote, he earned between one hundred and three hundred
dinars. T he statem ent, unfortunately, is not quite clear. The
1 Salih b . Y a h y a , H istoire de Beyrouth, 7 C h e i k h o (2nd ed., B eiru t 1927). C f. below ,
p. 157, and K . S. S a l i b i , Maronite Historians o f Medieval Lebanon, 14, n. i , and passim
(Beirut 1959). For Ibn B asras chronicle of D am ascus as a kind of am ateur w ork, cf. below ,

P- 157.
2 A l-M uzajjad (d. 930/January 1524), in Ibn al-*^Aydarus, an-NUr as-sdfir, 140 (Bagdad

1353/1934)-

Cf. Taqi-ad-din al-Fasi, Muntahab al-M uhtdr (an abridgm ent of Ibn Rafiks Supplement
to Ib n a n -N ajja rs Supplem ent to the History o f Bagdad), 139 (B agd ad 1357/1938).

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am ount of m oney m ay refer to each historical volum e he copied (or

to the price of each copy of a volum e of his works ?). For comparison,
it m ay be m entioned th at the teacher of a son of al-Mustansir, the
later al-M ustasim, received, among other presents, the sum of
2000 dinars, when the boy completed his study of the Q uran.^
New-born quadruplets got a present of six hundred dinars from the
ruling caliph.2 A nd after a bad harvest the price of w heat w ent up
to one hundred dinars, and th at of oats to fifty dinars a kurr (six
ass loads).
The historian lecturing to the ruler had been a theoretical
possibility since the beginnings of the caliphate in Islam, even if
the only known historical instance comes from the fifteenth century
(al-Ayni).^ The introduction to the anonym ous pre-Islam ic histori
cal novel, which is wrongly ascribed to such ancient scholars as
al-A sm ai, Nihdyat al-arah f t ahbdr al-Furs wa-l-'^Arab, presents alA sm a'i as entertaining Harun ar-R asid w ith the stories of former
nations and past ages. Harun exclaim s: W here are the kings and
the sons of k in g s? Then, he orders the biographies of the kings
to be brought from the library and commands al-A sm ai to read
them to him. The book he starts to read begins with Sam b. Nuh,
and Harun tells him to complete it b y adding the history from
A dam to Sam, and so on.^
The court historian in real life faced the same professional hazards
as most courtiers. Through an unconsidered word or action, he
risked incurring the disfavor of his master. The story of th e historian
1 Ibn al-F u w ati (?), al-Hawddit al-jdmi'^ah, y i (B agdad 1351). Ibn as-Sa'i, in cidentally,
wrote a special m onograph on the circum cision of the tw o sons of al-M usta'sim and the
m oney spent on th at occasion, cf. ad-Dahabi, Ta^rth al-Isldm , biographies of the y e ar 674,
B odleian ms. or. L au d 279, fol. 82b. (The Hawddit al-jdmi'-ah d ate from the tim e of Ibn
al-F u w ati, b u t it has now been established b y 'Ira q i historians th at Ibn a l-F u w ati was
not the author, cf. E l , 2nd ed., s.v. Ibn al-F u w ati.)
Al-H aw ddit al-jdmi^ah, 219, anno 645.
^ Al-H aw ddit al-jdmi^ah, 226, anno 646.
Cf. above, p. 50. Ibn at-T iqtaqa, Fahrt, 6 f. A h l w a r d t (Gotha i860), tells th at in the
m onth of R am adan, the A ta b e g of Mosul, Badr-ad-din Lu^lu^, had histories and biographies
read to him. B u t the readers were a secretary and a hadit scholar, and not historians, unless
the latter, 'Izz-ad -d iu b y name, m ust be identified w ith the historian Ibn a l-A tir who wrote
his K a m il for Badr-ad-din. H ow ever, according to A . H. a s - S a r r a f , Al-Shahak, 265 (Cairo
1 9 5 4 ). and M u s t a f a J a w a d , in his edition of Ibn as-Sabuni, Takmilah, 154-56 (B agdad
1377/1957), he is to be identified w ith 'Izz-ad -d in 'A b d -a r-R azzaq b. R izq-A llah ar-Ras^ani
(589-660/1193-1262).
Cf. F. R o s e n t h a l , in J A O S , L X I X , 91b (1949). T he introduction of the w ork is to
a large part reproduced in W . W r i g h t s Catalogue of the A rab ic m anuscripts in the British
Museum, no. 1273 (and no. 914). Cf. also S t o r e y , Persian Literature, II, 244. T h e Paris
m anuscript of the Ta^rth al-^Arah qabl al-Isldm ascribed to a l-A sm a'i has been published
b y M. H. A l Y A sin (B agdad 1379/1959).

T H E M USLIM H IST O R IA N

59

(antiquarian, ahbdri) M uhammad b. A li al-"Abdi al-Hurasani,

again, m ay not be historically accurate, but it is a good indication
of w hat was possible. W hen a l-A bdi was alone with al-Qahir,
with whom he was on intim ate terms, the caliph asked him, in a
manner which looked to him v ery menacing, to tell him the truth
and nothing b u t the truth about a number of Abbasid cahphs.
W hen a l-A bdi h esitatingly comphed, he earned high praise from
the caliph and a m onetary reward for having opened the gates
of politics and given inform ation about the m ethods of leadership.
B u t when, upon leaving, he was followed b y the caliph who had his
lance in his hand, he again thought th at his last moment had come.i
W hen the court historian pleased his master, which he usually
achieved b y praising him beyond measure, he had nothing to fear
except the adverse criticism of later generations of scholars,^
but when he praised him and then was caught calling his w ork a
concoction of falsehoods and hes, he got into trouble. This is said
to have happened to as-Sabi w ith his Tdji, the history of the
B u y id s .3 A n author such as M uhammad b. A bdallah a l-U taqi
(d. 385/955), who w rote a historical w ork under the E gyp tian
F atim id al-A ziz, whose court astrologer he was, would have done
b etter to omit from his w ork some of the stories showing the U m ayyads and A bbasids in a favorable light. T h ey were stories com
m only found in histories, but th ey offended i ah susceptibilities.
A l-U taq i was denounced to a l-A ziz. A farm he owned was con
fiscated, and he had to spend the last eight years of his life under
house arrest.^ A less severe p enalty for failing to live up to the
expectations of the ruler was non-paym ent of the reward the
historian had been promised for his efforts.^
In his m aterial position, the historian b y and large shared the
social status of the scholarly discipline to which he belonged apart
from the fact of being a historian. His intellectual outlook was also
not m arkedly different. One feels tem pted to assert th at m any
historians had their eyes more open to reality than those of their
colleagues who did not com pile histories. However, such an
impression m ay m erely be the result of the fact th at historians had
1 Cf. al-M as udi, M uriij, V I I I , 389 ff. Paris ed. = II, 514-18 (Cairo 1346).
* Cf. Ibn H assuls criticism of as-Sabi s Tdjt, Ta fdil al-Atrdk ^ald sdHr al-ajndd, in
troduction.
3 Cf. G A L , I, 96.
Cf. al-Q ifti, 285 M O l l e r - L i p p e r t .
* Cf. V . L. Mi;NAGE, in E l , 2nd ed., s.v. al-Bidlisi (Idris, d. 956/1520).

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6o

BAC K G R O U N D A N D E N V IR O N M E N T

an occasion to speak about actual events and real personalities, an

occasion which other scholars all too often lacked. For the successful
com pletion of their task, most historians also needed contact w ith
the contem porary great and others who could give them the
inform ation th ey needed, since, w ith rare exceptions, historical
w riting included the time of the author. W hile th ey were all aware
of the im portance of information from livin g sources, th ey availed
themselves to a much lesser degree of the possibiHty to m ake the
historical past speak through its inanim ate relics,^ and in this
regard, literary sources replaced observation. Y e t, we h ave stories
such as th at about al-W aqidi who was once seen in Mecca carrying
a knapsack. Being asked where he w as going, he replied; To
H unayn, in order to see the place and the historical event which
took place there. ^
The problem of historical truth was, it would seem, upperm ost
in the m ind of quite a few h is t o r ia n s .T h e y asked themselves how
accurate was the inform ation th at had come to them through a
variety of channels. The accuracy of inform ation obtained through
personal observation was never doubted, but beyond th at, critical
historians were aware th at they were faced w ith a crucial problem.
On an elem entary level, it was recognized that events were not
alw ays reported truthfully. Thus, Ibn al-Jazari speaks of the
external cause of the rem oval from office of a judge in 613/
1216-17 and the internal cause which he had learned about
through fam ily tradition.^ More im portant, the theories about
historical truth developed in connection w ith the science of hadit ^
entered historical thinking, as exem plified b y the later philosophers
of history, among them, in the first place, al-Iji and, with a
different approach, Ibn H aldun (cf. also below, p. 113 f.)
The purpose which Muslim historians sought to accomplish was
to produce works which would be useful and im prove the social
position of the individual acquainted w ith them. The knowledge of
historical works, th ey contended, brought w ith it the pohtical
wisdom and conversational skill which assured success in this world,
Cf. below , p. 118 ff.
^ Cf. al-H atib al-B agdadi, T B , I I I , 6.
For O tto of F reisin gs interpretation of in fuga et electione as m eaning, for the historian,
the avoidance of u n truth and the unsw erving adherence to the tru th, cf. J. K o c h , in
L a m m e r s , op. cit. (above, p. 9, n . 2 ), 3 2 2 .
3 Ms. R a b at 194 q, p. 18.
Cf. for instance, al-G azzali, Mustasfd, I, 140 ff. (B u laq 1 3 2 2 -2 4 ).
Cf. below, p. 216 ff.

and the h um ility and p iety which assured blessedness in the other
world.^ The idea of the m aterial value of the lessons of history also
dom inated the Occident. Satis de eo convenit inter omnes, nihil
homini elegantiori jucundius, nihil civilis prudentiae studioso utilius
esse, quam historiam tem porum scire, said G. J. Vossius,^ to quote
one of m any. H e was m erely echoing those of the ancients who saw
tw o parts in history, the TspTrvov and the
against a m an
like L ucian who considered the epyov and tsXo? of history to be
only one thing, the
A nd the question of the value of
history is still raised in our age: E n notre siecle utilitaire, il ne
suffit pas quune science reponde a un besoin de notre esprit et
dispose d une m ethode sure, pour se trouver justifiee aux y eu x du
public. L a question m onte bientot aux levres: a quoi sert-il? ^ The
utilitarian approach in the evaluation of the purpose of scholarship
must, however, alw ays be seen in the light of the prevailing theo
retical definition of usefulness. For Islam, there is no better
guide in this respect than Ibn Sina. In the chapter on the First
Philosophy in the Sifd^ (twenty-third part), he explains th at
useful is generally defined as the thing which through its essence
leads to the good and, eventually, to hum an perfection. In scholar
ship, usefulness is em ployed to indicate the value of a particular
science for the corroboration of the data of another science in the
system of learning. In view of Ibn Sinas general definition of
usefulness, the m aterialistic utilitarianism professed b y the
historians becomes part of a higher concept which m ay not have
been entirely lost to the more thoughtful authors of historical works.
The particular kind of m aterial usefulness which in our thinking
attaches prim arily to historiography was unknown to Muslim
historians: H istory was not used as a means for the propagation
* Cf. the cu stom ary introductions of historical works, such as are recorded in as-Sah&wi,
IHdn. An, anti-historical bias, denying any usefulness to the occupation w ith the past, is
expressed in the H erm etic treatise Stomathalassa which w as popular am ong Christian A rab s:
D o not discuss past h istory (ahbdr al-ajydl allatt qad ^abarat), for its usefulness and
harm fulness have passed w ith its passing; rather stu d y w hat is takin g place in you r own
d ays, because our tim e is the present, and its d ays are num bered (ed. G. L e v i d e l l a V i d a ,
L a Dottrina e i Dodici Legati di Stomathalassa, in M em. Accad. Naz. dei Lincei, Cl. di
Scienze mar., star, e filo l.,
III , 8, 501, 531 [1951]).
* De historicis Graecis libri quatuor, 2 (Leiden, 1624).
^ Lucian, n w i; S st IcTO piav auyypacpsiv, 12, Cf. also P. S c h e l l e r , op. cit. (above,
p. 15, n. 2), 72 ff.
* L. H a l p h e n , Introduction a Vhistoire, 72 (Paris 1946). Cf. also J. H

u iz in g a

, op. cit.

(above, p. 31, n. 2), 108, 117 f.

Bodleian ms. or. Pocock 117 (Uri 482), fol. ig a -b ; Pocock 125 (Urbi 435), fol. 29Sa-b.
A rab ic text, below, p. 542.

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T H E M USLIM H IST O R IA N

of ideas, or, more exactly, historians as a rule did not consciously

intend, in w riting their works, to reinterpret historical data so as
to conform to the ideas th ey m ight have wished to propagate. The
zeal of the early theologians-historians for the preservation of the
exact wording of their works is illustrated b y a story about A hm ad
b. A b i H aytam ah who perm itted the transmission of his History
only as it was {'aid l-wajh). W hen A b u l-*Abbas M uhammad b.
Ishaq as-Sarraj w anted to borrow the History and was reminded
b y Ibn A b i H aytam ah of the condition attached to its transmission,
as-Sarraj returned the w ork and did not use it, because he wanted
to take over only such inform ation as w as new to him and usable.^
The later theologians-historians stressed the need for fairness and
o b jectivity in historians,^ and this plainly suggests that historians
were often guided b y their personal inclinations and prejudices.
However, whether or not this was true, the scholars who discussed
the qualifications of historians in this m anner were prim arily con
cerned w ith theologians and their legal and political quarrels.
Their judgm ent cannot be used for the evalution of the attitude
of historians in general.
MusHm historians, such as the T m M al-Isfahani, could also be
very strong in the expression of their likes and dislikes. T h ey often
were in the service of a ruler, and their w ork was slanted often
very crudely to reflect his political interests. The praise that was
bestowed on a ruler b y historians w riting during his reign m ight
happen to turn into denigration b y historians w riting under his
successor. D uring the Crusades, contem porary historians expressed
an increasingly acute sense of urgency w ith regard to the need of
fighting the invaders,^ and one of them even went so far in using his
historical knowledge in the political struggle as to w rite a special
history or biography {sirah) of the European Christians who in
those years had come to the Muslim countries. ^ In general,
standard forms of praise or condem nation in describing the
character and acts of individuals restricted the historians freedom
of expressing moral judgments. These conventions created b y the

religious environment effectively blot out the true significance or

insignificance of m any historical figures.^
In their works, Mushm historians also made use of historical
judgm ents which obviously were the result of poKtical bias. Certain
U m ayyads were described as thoroughly corrupt and incapable,
some Abbasids were very pious, the statesmanship and san ctity
of A ll was variously appraised, the Fatim id al-H akim was con
sidered a m adm an or, more shrewdly, a man of contradictions.^
Those judgm ents were transm itted to the historians through the
environment in which th ey lived, and th ey adopted them, uncon
sciously or for reasons of expedience. Their persistence and in
fluence were very great. In certain cases, as in the treatm ent of early
Muslim history, every bit of historical w riting is strictly partisan.
The confUct between A li and M u'aw iyah was perpetuated b y
historians in Syria and the Traq, w ith SMih b. K aysan and az-Zuhri
being the outstanding old representatives of the Syrian proU m ayyad point of view, and as-abi in al-K ufah keeping alive
the pro-A lid v e r s io n .T h e struggle between the U m ayyads and
the Abbasids never ceased to have its partisans. A d-D ahabi, for
instance, rem arked b lu n tly th at when the A bbasid forces took
Damascus, they com m itted greater atrocities than did the Tatars
of a much later age.^ H owever, in general, the attitud e of the early
'A bbasid historians becam e the standard for later historiography.
As late as the fifteenth century it was possible for a historian such
as al-Maqrizi to w rite a monograph which compared the two
dynasties and discussed the question w h y the U m ayyads, w ith all
their faults, could ever become caliphs.
However, in spite of all this, historians did not intend to color
history in this manner. Such an intention would h ave been abso
lutely contrary to their concept of history which w as transm itted
facts. Those facts could be true or false, but authors did not

Cf. al-IJatib al-B agdadi, T B , IV , 163.

^ Cf. the older and younger Subki, below, p. 370 f.
3 Cf. B. L e w i s , ixxB S O A S , X V I I, 169 (1955).
*
One would like to know more about this w ork which, according to Ibn M uyassar,
Annales d Egypte, 70 M a s s e , anno 520 (Cairo 1919), was com posed b y the tw elfth -cen tu ry
H am dan b. Abd-ar-Rahim al-A taribi. Or was it identical with the Qut, described b y asSahawi, P la n , 125, below, p. 466.

' Cf. J. SCH ACH T, in Oriens, V II , 155 f. (1954)^ Cf. M uham m ad b. T u lu n s appraisal of al-H akim , in al-Luma^dt, 48 f. (Damascus 1348,
RasdHl ta^Hhiyah 4): kadr at-talawwun f i af'-dlihi wa-aqwdlihi . . . umuruhu mutaddddah.
^ E . L. P e t e r s e n , '^Ali and Mu^dwiya (Copenhagen 1964). P e t e r s e n also refers to a
p ro-U m ayyad pocket in al-Basrah.
^ T a M h al-Isldm, V , 321.
Kitdb an-Nizd^ wa-t-tahdsum ft-m d bayn Bant U may yah wa-Bani Hdsim, ed. G . V o s,
Leiden 1888.
Perhaps it should be stated th at the crux of the argum ent here lies in the word in
ten tion. Modern historians of the last cen tury who liked to stress their factualness have
been found to represent thoroughly su b jective tendencies, while those w riting to bring out
a particu lar trend in history would rig h tly deny any tendency on their part to color the
facts. Thus, the in tention does not m ean m uch for the result, and it is possible to prove

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consider them selves justified to change the details of or to reinter

pret a transm itted factual report.^
Therefore, it also was not possible for historians who belonged
to an unorthodox religious group to re-evaluate "general history
in the light of the experiences of their own group. Dissident his
torians could w rite the particular history of their sect, but since
this history was seen b y Muslims m ainly as a purely rehgious
struggle and since, consequently, even so large a m ovem ent as the
A lid S i'ah had little real political history, th ey have w ritten
com paratively few historical works of their own.^ \\^en a historian
happened to be a S iah, he would note contem porary events which
concerned his persuasion more readily than an orthodox historian,
but this was or appeared to be factual inform ation which was in
no w ay offensive to the later orthodox historians who did not mind
copying it.^ A ll this does not mean, however, th a t the personal
convictions of the historian were autom atically kept out of his work.
His main weapon was his freedom to om it m aterial from his sources
or to add m aterial from other sources which m ust not alw ays have
been historical in the proper sense, and this was expected from him.^
How much it was possible to achieve in this w ay, even if the device
was used w ith m oderation, is illustrated b y al-Ya"qubis History, in
the existence of bias in m ost Muslim histories. H ow ever, m uch of th at, I feel, m ay be
described as unconscious, the effect of not clearly appreciated influences and pressures.
1
A l-J a h iz im plicit censure of the (fictitious) historian ^Abid b. Saryah th at he knew only
the outw ard even ts {zdhir al-habar) (cf. Buhald?, 40, Cairo 1948, and, for the distinction
between e xtern a l and in tern al, above, p. 60, n. 3), unfortu n ately, cannot be in ter
preted as referring to historical penetration. T h e term mujdzafah which is derived from the
science of traditions and which was also used as a title of reproach against some historians
(cf. below, p. 84) im plies such an arbitrary handling of the transm itted m aterial, b u t no
historian would consciously com m it w hat he would consider mujdzafah. H ow ever, the
conflation of several reports on the same m atter {ihtisdr) was freq u en tly practiced for reasons
of b revity, and occasional attem pts to give a different slant to recent source m aterial can
be observed, cf. H. A . R. Gibb, in Speculum, X X V , 58-72 (1950), on Ibn a l-A tir and the
'Im ad. A good classification of the various types of bias am ong historians has been given
b y H. L. G o t t s c h a l k , A l-M a lik al-Kdm il von Egypten und seine Zeit, 2 ff. (W iesbaden 1958).
^ Cf. \ V . IvA N O W , Ism aili Tradition concerning the Rise o f the Fatim ids (Oxford 1942,
Islam ic Research Association Series, 10).
Som e of the oldest works dealing with the religio-political stru ggle of the seventh cen tury
m ay, it seems, be considered as genuine docum ents of sectarian historical w riting, as, for
instance, al-Mincjaris Wag'^at Sifftn . A p articu larly strong case for the genuineness of
H arijite -lb a d ite tradition as h avin g preserved authentic historical docum ents from a v ery
early period has been made b y several scholars, cf., for instance, L. V e c c i a V a g l i e r i , in
Annali dellIstituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli, N . S. I V , i ff. (1952), or J. S c h a c h t ,
in Melanges M asse (Teheran 1963).
For a l-C a z z a lis contention th at the B a tin iT sm a ^ li literature was preem inently histor
ica l, cf. below, p. 337 f.
^ Cf. C. Cahen, Vne Chronique chiite au temps des Croisades, in C R A I 1935, 258-69.
* Cf. the story of al-'U taq i, above, p. 59.

T H E M U SLIM H IST O R IA N

65

which for instance, the A lids have unproportionately long obitu

aries filled w ith their wise sayings and which succeeds very well in
presenting U tm an in a very unfavorable light. O rthodox historians,
in turn, were able to find much m aterial th at was detrim ental to
the historical aspects of the Ism a'iliyah m ovem ent for inclusion in
their works.^
Muslim scholars, in general, were quick to suspect evil intentions
on the part of historians when th ey scented unorthodoxy.^ Such
evil intentions were hardly ever present. However, it is a fact that
the direction of the thinking of the historians expressed itself in
the whole of their work. Their position in the intellectual environ
m ent of their tim e determ ined the choice of the forms and the
contents of the histories th ey wrote, and w ith it, it determined the
developm ent of Mushm historiography. W hen at one time, for
instance, we find philosophy crowd upon historiography,^ this
parallels the role which philosophy then played among Muslim
religious or secular thinkers, and so on. The historians thus did
not use (or abuse) their works for the expression of their personal
aspirations or the aspirations of their particular groups, but the
changing forms and contents of historical works were the natural
and true reflection of the changing cultural and political atmosphere
in which the individual historians lived.
*
In conuection w ith the Ism a 'rliya h , Ibn W asil, the historian of the A yyu b id s, rem arks
th at their tenets are discussed b y the heresiographers and there is no point in perpetuating
them in historical w ork s, b u t he goes on to discuss their h istory, cf. Ibn W asil, M ufarrij
al-kurUb, I, 206 AS-SayyAL (Cairo i 9 5 3 )2
There is h ard ly an yth in g in the strictly historical field which would com pare, for
instance, w ith the orthodox accusation against al-Jahiz th at all his w orks are m erely well
cam ouflaged propaganda for his special brand of M u'tazilism , cf. al-Isfarayini, at-Tabstr
f t d-din, 50 (Cairo 1 359/1940), b u t when it is said th at al-M as'udi had M u'tazilah leanings,
this would seem to h av e been an im pression derived from his h istorical works, turned into
an accusation (cf. as-Subki, Tabaqdt aS-SdfiHyah, II, 307, Cairo 1324, quoted in a fo o t
note to V aq u t, IrSdd, X I I I , 90, Cairo).
Cf. below, p. 114 f.

o sen th al

H istory of M uslim H istoriography

Hahar

CH APTER TH REE

THE BASIC FORMS OF MUSLIM HISTORIOGRAPHY

t

HABAR h i s t o r y

The oldest form of Muslim historiography, a direct continuation

of the battle-day narratives, is the well-rounded description of a
single event, usually of no more than a few pages. Such a description
is called hahar} In the context of the larger historical works, the
w ord hahar is often used as a heading or title, alongside w ith the
word dikr report as well as, occasionally, amr affair or hadit
sto ry, all of which are used in the same maimer. From the tenth
century on, the narrative of the hahar history is at times introduced
b y wa-kdn as-sabah and the reason of it w as, after a particular
event had been sum marily referred to. The character of the hahar
as a self-contained unit is stressed b y the chain of transm itters
w hich precedes each hahar and which is om itted only in order to
achieve b revity or to remove the appearance of scholarly austerity.
Three features are characteristic of the hahar form of historical
writing. For one, b y its very nature it does not adm it of the estab
lishment of a causal nexus between tw o or more events. E ach
hahar is complete in itself and tolerates no reference to any kind of
supplem entary m aterial. If a historical w ork is made up of more
than one hahar, as in practice it needs must be, the juxtaposition
of the individual hahars (as much as th ey are not different versions
of the same story) m ay occasionally indicate a transfer of the
historical locale from one geographical region to another, but as a
rule it indicates progress in time. The tim e intervals in this case
can be of undeterm ined length, although a kind of chronological
continuity is frequently intended. It is obvious th at no deeper
historical penetration of w hatever kind can be achieved in this
manner. It is also obvious th at in w riting the history of a long period
of time, the hahar form becomes quite unmanageable w ith regard
to size, since a hahar, unless it is to lose its true character, can be
compressed only to a certain degree and no more.
1 Cf. above, p. i i f.

h is to r y

67

Secondly, from its ancient predecessor, the battle-day narratives,

the hahar form retained the character of the viv id ly told short
story, the preference for situation and color as against sober facts.
The action is often presented in the form of a dialogue between
the principal participants of an event which relieves the historian
of w hat should be his real task, th at is, presenting a clearly ex
pressed analysis of the situation, and leaves such analysis to the
reader. The frequent battle scenes m ake enjoyable reading, but the
actual facts remain much under a cloud. ^ In general, however, this
characteristic of the hahar form constituted the m ain instrum ent for
lifting all later Muslim historiography out of the category of dry
annals and for stim ulating historical interest among the young and
the men of general education. The high literary quality of hahar
historiography also perm itted the inclusion of chapters on history
(which then m ight be extended also to include the simple data of
annalistic or dynastic historiography) in adah works, such as, for
instance, Ibn A bdrabbih s '-Iqd.
The th ird characteristic feature of the hahar form is rather in
the natu re of a m ixed blessing. A s a continuation of the battle-day
narratives and an artistic form of expression, the hahar history
required the presence of poetical insertions. To find a historical
w ork entirely free of poetical quotations is very rare indeed. ^
If in view of the vastness of the m aterial which had to be discussed,
a historian w anted to be as brief as possible, he m ight think of
cutting out all poetry. A l- Y a qiibi, who expressed this intention
in his History, restricted himself to only a very few verses.^ B u t
even an abridgm ent stripped to an enumeration of bare facts, such
as Ibn al-Jaw zis Sudur al-'-uqud, a short version of his Muntazam,
contains a few verses. These verses as a rule have but a loose
connection w ith the events to which th ey belong. A s far as the
factual understanding of the historical context is concerned, th ey
m ight as well have been om itted in nearly all instances. It is rare
for a Muslim author to note the evidential character of a poetical
quotation.^ The insertion of verses had become a stylistic law
which nobody would think of questioning. In biographies, it had an
^ Th e same statem ent, it m ay be m entioned here, has been m ade w ith regard to T a citu s
descriptions of battles.
^ For instance, al-Quda*^!, ^Uyun al-ma^drif, for which I consulted the Bodleian m anu
scripts, ms. or. Pocock 270 (Uri 865) and ms. or. Maresc. 37 (Uri 713).
A l-Y a 'q u b i, History, II, 3 (N ajaf 1358 = II, 4 H o u t s m a ).
*
Cf. al-H um aydi, Jadwat al-Muqtabis, Bodleian ms. or. H unt. 464 (Uri 783), fol. 6b;
al-M as udi, Tanhth, 170 D e G o e j e .

68

T H E BA SIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

especially firm foothold owing prim arily to the fact th at verse

m aking was part and parcel of a cultured individuals self-expression.
Needless to say, m any good and inform ative verses have thus been
preserved. B u t the amount of bad and irrelevant verses which fill
the pages of biographies, especially those of scholars, is b y far the
greater, and neither poor quality nor the realization th at the
poem s did not do justice to the intellectual stature of their
supposed author ^ acted as a deterrent.^
The pre-Islam ic origin of the hahar form is sufficiently established,
and its oral (or written) literary tradition must have passed into
Islam w ithout a break.^ B u t where do we find the first w ork of the
hahar typ e in Mushm historical w riting ? There can be no precise
answer to this question. None of the products of the earliest Muslim
literature has been preserved. Bibliographical sources or citations
in later authors do not help. Then, there is the gap which existed
between the probable origins of A rabic literature and the organi
zation of Muslim book publication. A s in classical A n tiq uity, the
publishing of a book in Islam required that the authors finished
w ork was given to friends or pupils for the purpose of m aking copies
of it, or it w as turned over to professional copyists and bookdealers
who made a number of copies of the particular w ork for sale. In the
first decades of Islam, an organization of this kind was not possible.
The number of those who knew how to w rite Arabic was necessarily
small. It was only during the reign of Abd-al-M alik that A rabic was
generally introduced in the governm ent administration. P rivate
persons, such as booksellers, m ight have been quicker in establishing
an A rabic book-trade than the governm ent in changing the ad
m inistrative routine. For such an assumption, there is no evidence,
nor is it likely. The A rabic speaking ruling class of the first years of
Islam certainly was less interested in A rabic literature than in the
A rabization of their administration. Over half a century after
M uhamm ads death thus passed before ordinary book pubhshing,
which was not governm ent sponsored such as the editions of the
Q uran, could get under w ay. E ven then, the men who had the
inform ation which interested early Muslim scholars were m ostly
iUiterate or half-literate and little given to literary pursuits. Their
1 Cf. Y ^ q u t on al-B irum , as quoted b y F. R o s e n t h a l , in Orientalia, N .S., X I , 283 (1942).
2 T he m an y A rab ic and occasional Persian verses in Persian histories w hich poin ted ly
bring out the m oral of a historical happening are a sty listic device and in the nature of
proverbs. T h e rh ym ed form is incidental.
Cf. the discussion above, p. 19 f.

Habar

h is to r y

69

m aterial was transm itted orally. This helped to introduce the

pretense of the oral transmission of religious and scholarly subjects
which in the early years m ade the preservation of written works a
superfluous and even undesirable task and reference to them a
clandestine business.^ It would thus seem that the earliest works of
Aa&ay historiography (as well as of the other main forms of historiog
raphy whose seeds were planted in the first century of the hij rah)
m ight have been private books, notebooks of scholars, about
which there never existed any explicit and rehable information.
That which lies open before our eyes is not the beginning of habar
historiography but the result of more than a century of rapid
development. A s its oldest concrete documents, we must consider
elements in the biography of Muhammad. ^
The habar form, in some w ay or other, reoccurs in all Muslim
historical works, unless th ey are restricted to a mere tabular
registration of events or names w ithout any narrative. L ike the
other basic forms, however, it rarely if ever appears in w hat m ight
be called its pure form. It is usually combined w ith other elements
of historical writing. A lready in the biography of Muhammad, it
is supplem ented b y genealogical and related inform ation, such as
Hsts of names of persons possessing some special merit or qualities.
W ith the trend tow ard specialization and thoroughness in detail
which heralds the progress of Muslim science in the A bbasid age,
we also notice an industrious production of short monographs on
historical events. It is as if the old form was entering upon a new
phase of usefulness and was facing a brilliant future. The famous
protagonist of this typ e of historiography was A li b. M uhammad
al-M adaini (135/752-53 to ca. 215/830-31). Am ong the numerous
titles of his works, there appear monographs on individual battles
and the Muslim conquests as well as biographies of individuals and
^ In the eleven th -cen tu ry History o f Bagdad, for instance, the books of authorities
are occasionally if rarely m entioned in the chain of transm itters. T h e older authorities,
then, were oral transm itters and the more recent ones, apparently, transm itters of the
particu lar b ook .
* J. H o r o v i t z , The Earliest Biographies o f the Prophet and their Authors, in Islam ic Culture,
I. 550 (1927), is positive to have found the beginnings of Muslim historiography d ating
from the tim e of ^Abd-al-Malik in at-T ab ari: T he w ritings of *^Urwa (b. az-Zubayr) here
quoted represent the oldest w ritten notes on particu lar events in the life of the Prophet
preserved for us, and at the same tim e the oldest m onum ents of A rab ic historical prose.
A tten tion should be paid to H o ro v itz use of the word notes and n ot books or the like.
' A b d - a l -'-A z i z a d - D u r i , Baht f t naPat Him at-ta^rth, 74 (Beirut i960), speaks of watd^iq
docum ents.
J. S c h a c h t , in Acta Orientalia, X X I , 300 (1953), discusses Musa b. "^Uqbahs (d. 141/
758-59) Kitdb al-Magdzi as an early, if n ot the earliest w ork of M uham m adan h isto ry.

70

71

TH E BA SIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

TH E A N N A L IS T IC FORM

the description of single exploits.^ His w ork is known to us largely

through quotations in later historical and Hterary works.^ So far,
only one of his m any monographs has been recovered. E ntitled
On Qurasite Women that had several husbands, its interest is genea
logical, and the episodes included in it have a very pronounced
literary flavor. It is also clear from the hst of titles of al-M adainis
works that most of them, if short, still were of a composite character.
Before him, a historian of this typ e was A bii Mihnaf L u t b. Y a h y a
(d. in or after 157 /773 - 74 ), and, in his generation or somewhat later,
we find men such as al-H aytam b. A di (d. 206/821-22, or 207) and
Ibn Habib, whose works constitute a collection of m onographs of
either the hahar or the genealogical form. Y et, in spite of its apparent
great promise, their w o r k - in contrast to the historical monograph
of the strict research type which after a long history reached its
apogee in the fourteenth-fifteenth century ^ was not destined to
signify a new start in the history of the forms of Muslim historiog
raphy. It actually marked the end of the hahar form as a quasi
independent and exclusive form of historical writing. A s long as his
tory went back about a century and half and as long as the interest
in it was confined less to historical facts than to the religio-political
significance of certain events, the demand made on historians was
satisfied when th ey gave a detailed narrative of those events. B u t
as tim e w ent on, and the events of im portance greatly increased in
number and, moreover, a great mass of pohtical, adm inistrative,
and cultural inform ation was considered worth retention as a part
of history, it w as necessary to find more economic principles of
arrangement than were offered b y the hahar form. The most prom
inent of the principles of arrangement which the Muslims adopted
was the annalistic form. A mere technique, it nevertheless exercised
a great influence upon the historical contents, and it swallowed up
the hahar form. W hatever its shortcomings, it certainly was an
advance beyond hahar historiography in th at it assured at least

external continuity and the coordination of a variety of subject

m atters, qualities which were foreign to the hahar form.

1
F ihrist, 147 ff. (Cairo 1348 = 100 ff. F l u g e l ) . Cf. also the m uch more lim ited list of
titles of works b y his contem porary al-W aqidi ( H o r o v i t z , op. cit., Islam ic Culture, II,
515 [1928]).
^ A n in stru ctive selection of M ada ini passages from at-T ab ari m ay be found in a d - D u r i ,
op. cit., 270-91.
^ A l-M urdifdt min Qurays, in ' A b d - a s - S a l A m H a r u n , Nawddir al-niahtutdt, I, 2, 58-80
(Cairo 1370/1951).
*
Cf., for instance, Ibn al-H atib on the rulers of Islam who received the oath of allegiance
before th ey reached pu b erty (cf. M. M. A n t u n a , in A l-A ndalus, I, 105-54, 1933); or alM aqrizi on the caliphs and rulers who perform ed the pilgrim age (Paris ms. ar. 4657; an
edition appeared in Cairo 1955).

2 T H E A N N A L IS T IC FO R M
A nnalistic historiography constitutes a speciahzed form of chron
ological historiography.1 A s its name says, it is dom inated b y the
succession of the individual years. Under a heading such as: In
the year n ," or Then, there came the year n, the various events
of this particular year are enumerated. The connection between
the events of one and the same year is preferably made b y the
simple device of inserting the phrase: A nd in it (that is, this same
year, wa-fihd). The extent of the details to accom pany the descrip
tion of the events is left for the author to decide. The pure form
w ould not perm it a consecutive report about an event which extends
over a period of years to be given under one of those years, but this
rule is occasionally set aside.
This form of historical presentation was fu lly developed in the
tim e of the great Tabari. His History was first published in the first
decade of the tenth century,^ and it was continued to the year 302/
914-15, or 303. On account of the size of the work, it would be a
priori unlikely th at at-T abari w as the first to apply the annalistic
form to historical writing. A Muslim author correctly rem arked:
A thing which is an original and unprecedented creation starts out
small and then grow s. In fact, the History of H alifah b. H ay y at,
which continues down to the year 232/846-47, th at is, eight years
before the presumable date of his death, is an annalistic w ork
(starting out w ith a discussion of the term ta^rih and a v ery brief
treatm ent of M uhamm ads early history).^ Further, from the second
1 T h e use of annals for chronicle has becom e an accepted part of our language.
H3re, the original distinction has been strictly observed.
2 Cf. Y a q u t, Irsdd, X V I I I , 70 (Cairo = V I, 445 M a r g o l i o u t h ).
3 As-Sibli, M ahdsin al-wasdHl, ms. Cairo Ta^rih 4557, fol. 8 ib , w ith reference to the
sm all size of A bu 'U b a y d a h M a'm ar b. al-M utannas 6 arth al-hadit. Cf. also as-Suyuti,
Itqdn, I, 3 f. (Cairo 1317), follow ing the Nihdyah of M ajd-ad-din b. al-A tir (I, 4, Cairo 1322).
H ow ever, the growth of the size of scholarly productions in Islam w as extrem ely rapid,
cf. F . R o s e n t h a l , The Technique and Approach of M uslim Scholarship, 43a (Rom e 1947,
Analecta Orientalia, 24), referring to at-T an u hi and the faraj-ba^-d-aS-siddah literature, or
H am zah al-Isfahani and the collections of proverbs (Istanbul, Ms. D am at Ibrahim 943, beg.).
*
T h e on ly m anuscript known so far is preserved in R ab at iggq [q = awqdf, the m anu
script h avin g been form erly in the Z aw iyah an-N asiriyah in T a m k ru t [Tam agrout]). It was
signalized in Liste de manuscrits arabes precieux, exposes a la BihliotMque de I Universite
Quaraouyine a Fes, 60 (R ab at i960). During m y sta y in R a b at in 1963, the m anuscript w as
ju st being sent aw ay on an exhibition, and I was able to inspect it on ly very b riefly. It is
in M agribi w riting and dated in 477/1085, bu t it rather seems to have been w ritten in the

72

73

T H E BA SIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

T H E A N N A L IST IC FORM

half of the third/ninth century, we have the History of Y a 'q u b b.

S u fyan (d. 277/891), which was annalistically arranged as shown b y
the preserved fragm ent covering the years 137-241/754-855 and
confirmed b y occasional quotations. 1 The History of Ibn A b i
H aytam ah (d. 279/893) also seems to h ave contained an annahstic
section which m ay have been hm ited and insignificant as compared
to the w ork as whole; the manuscript m aterial thus far available is
too fragm entary to permit a safe conclusion.^
Some uncertainty has been created b y the fact that the occur
rence of the word ta^rih in the title of a w ork m erely indicates th at
th at particular w ork contained chronological data and, although it
m ight be used for an annalistic work, it does not necessarily refer
to the use of the annalistic form of historical presentation. For
instance, the History of A bu Z u rah ad-Dim asqi (d. 282/895)
appears to h ave been concerned m ainly w ith the usual inform ation
on religious scholars and to have m ade only fum bling attem pts to
indicate precise dates; it m ay be, however, th at the w ork also
contained an annalistic section that is not preserved. It is not the
simple ta^rih, but the expression ta^rih ""aid s-sinin or the like,
H istory according to the years, th at suggests an annalistic work.
A few decades before at-Tabari, A bu 'Isa b. al-M unajjim w rote a
History of the World,^ which, however, m ay have been a treatm ent of
chronology ab origine mundi in the Jewish-Christian style and m ay
not have dealt w ith Muslim history at all. A n Annalistic History
was composed b y Um arah b. W atim ah in the ninth century.
W hether the H istory of J a far b. Muhammad b. al-Azhar (d. 279/
892) was annalistic is not quite certain. Another History, w ritten

b y A bii Salih A bdallah b. (?) M uhammad b. Y a z d M , m ay have

been annalistic, since it is stated th at the author's son completed
it to the year 300, a figure of speech which usually refers to
annals.i The excerpts from the History of the great scientist of the
first half of the ninth century, Muhammad b. Miisa al-Huwarizm i,
which we read in the histories of H am zah al-Isfahani ^ and E lijah
of Nisibis, give a semblance of probability to the assumption th at
al-H uw arizm is w ork was annahstic, and so was the History of A bu
Hassan al-H asan b. Utma,n az-Ziyadi, if we m ay trust a statem ent
b y as-Sam 'ani which seems confirmed b y a quotation in the H atib s

thirteenth or fourteenth cen tury ( I b n T a w i t a t - T a n j ! concurs w ith this opinion). A

collation note on fol. 37 speaks of an original m anuscript {asl) of A b u 'A b d allah M uhammad
b. Y a h y a b. al-H add a . [Ed. al-U m ari, B aghd ad 1967.]
For a quotation indicating the annalistic character of the work, cf. Y& qut, Mu'-jam albulddn, IV , 634 W u s t e n f e l d , s .v . Malatyah.
^ Ms. Istanbul T opkapu saray, Revan K ok 1554; al-FJatib al-Bagdadi, T B , I, 67i,, 7914.
For Y a 'q u b , cf. below , p. 392, n. 3. T he preserved fragm ent, how ever, is la rgely concerned
w ith biographical inform ation.
^ Cf. below, p. 382, n. 2. T he annalistic section covering the years i - i o is preserved in the
Fez m anuscript.
Cf. below, p. 392, n. 7.
*
F ihrist, 207 (Cairo 1348 = 144 F l O g e l ) ; Y a q u t, IrSdd, III, 243 f. (Cairo = I, 229
M a r g o l i o u t h ). Cf. below , p. 79, n. 8, and the translation of as-Sahaw i, I^ldn, below , p. 5 11,
n. I .
Cf. A b u 1- F i d a , Historia Anteislamica, 2 f. F l e i s c h e r (Leipzig 1831).
Cf. Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, V , 37 (H yderabad 1357-58); G A L Supplement I, 217.
'U m arah s Qisas al-anhiyd'^ (cf. below, p. 506, n. 3) could hard ly be m eant here.
Th e decisive ^ald s-sinin appears on ly in Y a q u t, Iridd, V II, 186 f. (Cairo = II, 417
M a r g o l i o u t h ) b u t not in Y a q u t s source, Fihrist, 164 (Cairo 1348 = 113 F l C g e l ). Cf. also
al-H atib al-B agdadi, T B , V I I , 197.

History of Bagdad.
Into the second century of the hijrah (718-815 A .D .), we are led
b y the attribution of a History according to the Years to al-H aytam
b. *Adi who is already known to us as a representative of hahar
historiography and who died, allegedly ninety-three years old, in
206/821-22, or 207.^ A nd it has been suggested th at one of the
works b y his somewhat younger contem porary al-W aqidi (130-207/
747-823) was arranged annalistically, a suggestion which seems to
be born out b y passages such as are found in at-Tabari. Annahstic
historiography w as thus practiced in the Mesopotamia of the second
half of the second century of the hijrah. Y et, the evidence would
^ Fihrist, 179 f. (Cairo 1348 == 124 F l u g e l ). Cf. F ihrist, 180 ( = 124 F"l u g e l ) for the
History to his own day b y A hm ad b. 'A b d allah al-QutrubulIi, who m ay have been a con
tem porary of Ibn A b i 1-Azhar (below, p. 507), in view of a passage in Ibn al-Q arihs Rwa/a/t
addressed to A b u l- A la al-M a'arri (in M . K u r d ' A l !, RasdHl al-bulagd\ 2nd ed., 197,
Cairo 1331/1913): A l-Q u trub u lli and Ibn A b i 1-A zhar told in a h istory w ritten join tly
b y them w hich the B agdadis and the E gyp tian s considered unique in its kind because of
its sm all size and the large am ount of knowledge it contained . . . . T h e problem of iden
tification is further com plicated b y the fa ct th at A h m ad s father (an a u th ority of as-Suli,
cf. Y a q u t, IrSdd, V , 122, Cairo = II, 142 M a r g o l i o u t h ) is m entioned as the author of
a H istory" b y al-M arzubani, N ur al-qabas, 334 S e l l h e i m (W iesbaden 1964, Bibliotheca
Islam ica, 23a). Th e fath er A bd allah appears also to be m eant in al-Q ifti, Inbdh, I I I , 247.
Th e treatm ent of h istory from Constantine to the year 301 of the h ijrah b y Judge
W a k i' m ay also have been annalistic (cf. H am zah al-Isfahani, History, I, 70 G o t t w a l d t ,
S t. P etersburg-Leipzig 1844-48). E xcerp ts from Waki^s w ork can be assumed to be the
basis of al-H atib al-B agdadi, T B , I, 67 ff.
I , 187 G o t t w a l d t . Cf. also T B , I, 67, 83. A l-H u w arizm is History was quoted for the
date of the P roph ets birth b y al-Biruni, al-Atdr al-bdqiyah, Istan bul ms. 'U m u m i 4667,
p. 136, published b y K . G a r b e r s , in Documenta Islam ica Inedita (Festschrift R . Hartmann),
55 (Berlin 1952), and translated b y the same in Der Islam , X X X , 63 (1952). Cf., further,
below , p. 134, n. 3. For al-H u w arizm is interest in chronology, cf. E. S . K e n n e d y , in
Scripta Mathematica, X X V I I , 5-59 (1964-66).
A s-Sam 'an i, Ansdb, fol. 283a; a l-y a tib a l-B a gd M i, T B , I, 157.
*
F ihrist, 146 (Cairo 1348 = 100 F l u g e l ); Y a q u t, IrSdd, X I X , 310 (Cairo = V II, 265 f.
M a r g o l i o u t h ).

A b ou t the form of the History of Ibn 'A d is auth ority, 'A w a n a h b. al-H akam , we have
no definite inform ation. Aw^nah is credited w ith a w ork on d ynastic h istory, see below p. 89.
^ Cf. J . H o r o v i t z , in Islam ic Culture, II, 516 (1928); at-Tabari, III, 629.

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TH E A N N A L IST IC FORM

TH E BASIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

hardly necessitate the assumption th at the Islam ic origins of the

annalistic form have to be sought in th at region and period. It just
means th at the first known published works of th at typ e originated
then and there.
It is theoretically possible th at Muslim scholars who were prob
ably acquainted with the use of historical data since the introduc
tion of the Muslim era arrived independently at the conclusion
th at an annalistic form would be a convenient vehicle of historical
presentation. However, whenever we find a long established idea
or literary form m ake its appearance in another place which is
not separated from the original home of th at idea or literary form
b y unsurmountable barriers of space or time, we are on m uch safer
ground when we do not assume independent creation but some
kind of borrowing. In the case of a form of historiography, it would
be unreasonable to demand th at there ought to exist tangible
m aterial evidence for the fact of borrowing. For in this particular
case, it is not a question of borrowing the substance of historical
works. It is the mere idea of an annalistic arrangement which was
taken over. The transmission of historical m aterial would have
required the existence of a translation hterature or, at least, of
the opportunity for Muslim scholars to acquire an extensive knowl
edge of foreign historical works. The idea of the annalistic form,
on the other hand, could have been transm itted through some
superficial acquaintance with annalistic writing. Or a casual
discussion with a foreign scholar who mentioned the existence of
annalistic works in his literature m ight have kindled the spark in
a Muslim historian.^
The evidence available as to the form of Iranian historiography
in the seventh century is very slim. This much, however, seems
certain: There is nothing that would perm it us to assume th at the
Persians used an annalistic arrangement. E veryth in g tends to show
th at th ey did not, and there is the additional theoretical considera
tion th at the absence of a continuous era would have made the
com pilation of long-range historical works a difficult task. The
1 W hen H am zah al-Isfahani, in the tenth century, needed inform ation on Graeco-Rom an
history, he asked an old Greek [Rumi), who had been captured and served as a valet, to
translate for him a Greek historical w ork orally. T h is was accomplished with the help of
the G reeks son, Y u m n , who knew A rabic well (H am zah al-Isfahani, History, I, 70 G o t t WALDT, St. Petersbu rg-Leip zig 1844-48; translation b y E . M i t t w o c h , D ie literarische
Tdtigkeit Hamza al-Isbahdnts, in Mitteilungen des Seminars fiir orientalische Sprachen,
Westasiatische Studien, X I I , 121, 1909). Som ething of the sort m ight easily have happened
in earlier times.

75

scholars who preferred to stress the predominance of Persian

influence upon the origins of MusHm historiography ^ have failed
to give proof th at sim ultaneously w ith dynastic historiography ^
the annalistic form was also introduced under Persian influence.
In fact, this cannot have been the case.^
The situation will be found to be different when we turn our
attention to B yzan tiu m and Greek (and Syriac) literature. It is com
mon knowledge th at none of the classical works of Greek historiog
raphy ever reached the Arabs,^ nor do we have any express inform a
tion about the existence of complete A rabic translations of B yzantine
chronographies (but see below). The laws governing Graeco-Arabic
translation a ctiv ity w^ould not m ake us expect the situation to be
otherwise. H istorical literature was much more suspect to Muslim
theologians than science.^ A bove all, it belonged as little to the
curriculum of Graeco-Syriac higher education as A rabic historiog
rap h y later on was to belong to th at of higher Muslim education,
and only works belonging to the disciphnes which m ade up higher
education were translated. However, the B yzantines showed a very
deep interest in historical literature, and B yzantinists seem to be
agreed th a t historiography occupied a preponderant position in
B yza n tin e literary a ctiv ity . It m ay be recalled in this connection
1 F or instance, I. G o l d z i h e r , and, follow ing him, J. d e S o m o g y i , c f . J R A S , 1932, 49.
^ Cf. below, p. 88.
E ven supposing th at the Hwatdyndmak and sim ilar products of Sasanian historiog
ra p h y were based upon official annals , th at would not mean th at the historical works
were w ritten in the form of annals. C f . A . C h r i s t e n s e n , L Iran sous les Sassanides, 59 (2nd
ed., Copenhagen 1944), and the literature on the illustrated m anuscript supposedly trans
la ted from Persian into A rab ic in 731, quoted below , p. 176, n. i. A ccording to the A rab ic
versions of the Hwatdyndmak, the on ly chronological d ata contained in it concerned the
len gth of the reigns of the in d ivid u al rulers.
B. S p u l e r (in B. L e w i s and P. M. H o l t , Historians of the M iddle East, 126) goes much
farth er in his skepticism concerning pre-Islam ic Persian h istoriography: . . . apparently
no real h istoriography existed in pre-Islam ic Persia. S p u l e r s point of view has m uch to
recom mend it.
* T h e Greek, and especially, the L a tin annalistic literature, which as literature was of
m inor im portance, is also lost to us.
One m ay com pare the distinction which as-Safi'i m ade w ith regard to the treatm ent
of G reek books which were part of the Muslim b ooty. He distinguished between those which
dealt w ith medicine and other non-objectionable subjects, and those which dealt with
theological subjects (polytheism ). Most histories w ould have som ehow belonged to the latter
category. Cf. at-Tabari, Ihtildf al-fuqahd\ 178 S c h a c h t (Leiden 1933, Veroffentlichungen
der "D e Goeje Stiftung, 10).
A w ork such as F. F u c h s , D ie hoheren Schulen von Konstantinopel im Mittelalter
(Leipzig-Berlin 1926, Byzantinisches Archiv, 8), has no occasion w h atever to m ention history.
T he professors of rhetoric certainly discussed historical works in their courses, because
th ey furnished m aterial for public speakers.
C f . E . G e r l a c h , D ie Grundlagen der byzantinischen Geschichtschreibung, in Byzantion,
V I I I , 93, n, I (1933)-

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T H E A N N A L IST IC FORM

th at the Bihliotheca of Photius (of the tenth century, it is true) is to

a large part devoted to the discussion of histories of all kinds.^ E ven
if a provincial outlook was predom inant in Syria and the libraries
in Syrian cities were not well stocked with historical works, the
stud y of history certainly was not an unknown subject in Syria
wherever Greek books were understood.
Greek chronicles of the period when Islam came into being
represent exactly the type of annalistic historiography we find in
the later Muslim works. W hen loannes Malalas gets near his own
time, he em ploys the annalistic form, in the same year, at the end
of the same indiction. ^A n arrangement according to the reigns of the
individual emperors is superimposed upon the annahstic structure.
There is some cultural history as well as data concerning scholars,
philosophers, and church dignitaries (most of whom were at the
same tim e politicians). Earthquakes, thunderstorms, and floods are
recorded. This information, as well as plagues, famines, inflations,
and oddities of nature, is characteristic of annahstic historiography
and is also never absent from Muslim annals.^ In loannes Malalas,
we thus have exactly the same annalistic form and contents
encountered later on in Muslim annalistic historiography.^
A Syriac interm ediary would be superfluous, but its existence
should be noted. The sixth-century Chronicle- of Edessa is an
annalistic compendium. The same form of historical w riting as
we find in Malalas appears in Syriac literature in the historical
work of Jacob (James) of Edessa who lived in the seventh century.
Jacob faced chronological difficulties which resulted from the

existence of different eras in late antiquity. This made synchronisms

necessary and also somewhat obscured the annalistic scheme, but
it is clearly there. L ike loannes Malalas, Jacob, too, is concerned
w ith w orldly rulers, church dignitaries, scholars, and pious men.
A b ove all, he also has the characteristic succession of earthquakes,
hailstorms, invasions of locusts, fires, comets, and building activities
th at goes w ith annalistic historiography.^ In sum, there can be
little objection to the assumption that Mushm annalistic historiog
raphy in its beginning was indebted to Greek and Syriac models.
It was not a particular w ork th at served Muslim authors as an
inspiration, but the idea of the annalistic arrangement came to
early Muslim scholars through contact w ith learned Christians or
Christian converts to Islam.^ The close contact between Muslims
and Christians in the field of historiography, even in areas remote
from both B yzan tiu m and the center of Islam, is illustrated b y the
history of early L atin Christian chronicles from Spain,^ where, it
is known, there were historians of some m erit up to the time
of the A rab conquest. ^ How much greater must the cultural
exchange in such m atters have been in Syria where Muslims and
Christians lived on the m ost intim ate terms. If the annalistic form
was thus suggested to the Muslims b y G raeco-Syriac historians, the
former were able to m ake a great contribution to its im provem ent.
T hey were in the possession of a generally accepted, continuous
era which greatly simplified the historical presentation.
Those who would prefer to find more concrete points of contact
between Graeco-Syriac and Muslim historiography will find the
evidence meager but not entirely devoid of some potential support
for the hypothesis suggested here.^ W e m ay discount the alleged
History of Y a h y a an-Nahwi and the History of Philosophers b y

* Cf. J . H e r g e n r o t h e r , Photius, Patriarch von Constantinopel, III, 15-17 (Regensburg

1869).
^ Cf., for instance, Chronology, 439-41 D i n d o r f (Bonn 1831).
AI-H uw arizm i had occasion to refer to earthquakes, plagues, and inundations.
* T he parallel between loannes M alalas, 172 D i n d o r f , and al-BirClni, India, trans.
E . S a c i i a u , I, 112 (London 1910), which was pointed out b y S a c h a u in his notes, certainly
does not prove a n y direct knowledge of M alalas b y the Muslims.
A nother Greek w ork of the same type which m ay be com pared is the Chronicon Paschale.
Inciden tally, the existence of m uch historiographical a c tiv ity in A lexan d ria up to the time
of the Muslim conquest m ay be assumed, although of actu al h istory w ritten at this time
b u t little rem ains (A. J. B u t l e r , The Arab Conquest of Egypt, 95 f., O xford 1902).
It w ould also seem to be entirely perm issible to deduce from the existence of an annalistically arranged w ork such as Theophanes Chronology th at earlier S yrian histories were
sim ilarly arranged. Th e assumption of an influence of Muslim historical w ritin g on
Theophanes is all b u t excluded.
C f. I. G u i d i , E . W . B r o o k s , and I . - B . C h a b o t , Chronica M inora, edited and translated
in CSCO , Scriptores Syri, Series III, tomus IV , i, 1-13, and 2, i - i i .
T he Maronite Chronicle, which is p u b lis h e d in the same volum e and w h ic h s e e m s to have
some connection w ith the historical w ork of Theophilus of Edessa (d. 785, cf. A . B a u m s t a r k ,
Geschichte der syrischen Literatur, 341 f.), should also be considered in this connection.

77

^ Cf. E. W . B r o o k s , The Chronological Canon of James of Edessa, in Z D M G , L I I I, 261327 (1899), and the edition b y the same, in CSCO , Scriptores Syri, Series III, tom us IV ,
I , 261-327, and 2, 197-255 (Paris-Leipzig 1903).
A s suggested b y J. S c h a c h t , in Oriens, V II, 155 (1954)^ Cf. C. E. D u b l e r , Sobre la cronica ardbigo-bizantina de 741 y la influencia bizantina
en la Peninsula Iberica, in A l-A n dalus, X I , 283-349 (1946).
*Cf. H. P i r e n n e , Mohammad and Charlemagne, E n gl, trans., 123 (New Y o rk 1939) Most of the m aterial m entioned in the follow ing section has been known for m any
years, cf. M. S t e i n s c h n e i d e r , D ie arabischen Vbersetzungen aus dem Griechischen, 16 i.
(Leipzig 1897, first part, reprint G raz i960).
Cf. M . M e y e r h o f , Joannes Grammatikos (Philoponos) von Alexandrien und die arabische
M edizin, in Mitteilungen des Deutschen Instituts fUr dgyptische Altertumskunde in Kairo,
II, 12 f. (1932).
H is h istory is also quoted b y A gapiu s (Mahbfib) b. Q ustantin al-M anbiji, ed. L. C h e i k h o ,
in CSCO, Scriptores A r., Series III, tom us V , 128 and 289 (B eirut-Paris 1912), where w e
read Y a h y a b. 'A d i an-N ahw i.

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TH E BASIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

TH E A N N A L IST IC FORM

P orph yry (died between 301 and 304) which was in part translated
into A rabic and is known from quotations. The latter work, although
it contains m uch chronological m aterial/ is concerned w ith biog
raphies, and the same seems to have been the case with the w ork
attributed to Y a h y a . A t any rate, neither was arranged annalistically. The name of Eusebius (died between 337 and 340) suggests
itself as th at of the ancient Christian historian most likely to have
been known to the Muslims, as he was w idely known among Syriac
authors.2 The relevant pre-Islamic inform ation in the great Muslim
historians, such as at-Tabari, a l- Y a qubi, or A bu 1-Fida", does not
seem to go back to Eusebius, but he was known to and used b y a
Christian A rabic author, Harun b. 'A zzur, whose w ork is said to
be preserved ^ but is as yet unavailable and whose lifetim e seems
to date rather far back but is uncertain. A l-Biruni seems to have
know n him indirectly, but the precise form and age of his sources
are uncertain.^ Through Christian intermediaries, Eusebius is occa
sionally quoted in later Muslim historians.^ Eusebius work, in the
form in which it became known to Eastern Muslims, did not have
the slightest intim ation of an annalistic arrangement.
N e x t to Eusebius, we must m ention the sixth-century chronog
raph er Andronicus. Alongside w ith an unidentified ancient Short
Byzantine (Rumi) History, the History of Andronicus, w hich m ay

have been in part an annalistic work, was quoted b y U baydallah

b. Jibril b. B u h tisu (d. 1006),^ who, in turn, was the source of
Ibn A bi Usaybi'ah.^ W hether Ibn B u h tisu s source did or did not
exist in an A rabic translation is difficult to decide. It w ould seem
likely th at he quoted from a Syriac (or Greek) text. Andronicus was
known in Syriac literature,^ and not long after Ibn B uhtisu', he
also appears as a source in the Syro-Arabic bilingual Chronicle of
E lijah of Nisibis (d. after 1049).^ Another Greek chronicler, Anianus,
who lived in the fifth century, was known to Syrians and A rabs in
a minor way.^
A H istory of the Greeks {Ahbdr al-Yundniyin), about whose
form, contents, and authorship we have no further information,
is said to have been translated (into Arabic) b y H abib b. Bahrez,
a matrdn of Mosul, as early as the time of al-M amun, and the
translation was used b y H am zah al-Isfahani. A nd Judge W a k i
(d. 306/918) used a historical w ork (belonging to?) a B yzantine
king, which had been translated b y an anonym ous translator.'^
The Muslim inform ation about Rom an pagan and Christian
kings goes back to Christian Greek or Syriac sources; that about
Old and New Testam ent history and about A ssyrian and Babylonian
kings also goes back to Christian (and, in some cases, perhaps, to
Jewish) sources. It should be noted that like the Biblical m aterial,
these sources need not have alw ays been historical works in the
proper sense. W e thus leam from a chance quotation b y A bu
1-F id a from the History of A bu Isa b. al-M unajjim th at A bu
Isas authority for the dating of Hellen and Moses w as the Contra
Julianum of Cyrillus of Alexandria.^

1 Cf. Eusebius, Chronik, 89 K a r s t (Leipzig 1 9 1 1, E usebius' Werke, ed. K irchen vaterCom m issiou der kgl. Preussischen Akadem ie d. W iss., V^ol. 5).
^ Cf. A . B a u m s t a r k , Syrisch-arabische Biographien des Aristoteles, 2, n. i (Leipzig 1900,
Aristoteles bei den Syrern vom V .- V I I I . Jahrhundert).
P. S b a t h , A l-F ih ris, Supplement, 32, no. 2696 (Cairo 1940), refers to a m anuscript
in private possession, dated in 480/1087; of. G . G r a f , Geschichte der christlichen arabischen
Literatur, II, 112 (Citta del V atican o 1947, Studi e Testi, 133). Eusebius is also used b y
Agapius (Mahbub) b. Q ustantin al-M anbiji.
*
Cf. al-Atdr al-bdqiyah, 85 ff. S a c h a u (Leipzig 1878, 1923), which u ltim a tely would
seem to go b ack to Eusebius. In Atar 305, the Chronikcn of Eusebius is expressly cited for
the Christian E aster calculations. From the Istan bul ms. Umiimi 4667, p. 344, which fills
in the lacuna on p. 307 S a c h a u , we learn th at the quotations from the Chronikon were
derived from the Z tj of Y u su f b. al-Fadl a l-Y ah u d i al-H aybari.
H istorical m onographs of a related type probab ly were, for instance, Sinan b. T a b it b.
Q urrahs History of the K ings of the Syrians (al-Qifti, 195 M u l l e r - L i p p e r t ) , and, perhaps,
the h istory of the ancient E gy p tia n kings b y a certain Ibn Hnwn (Hanun ?) at-Tabari,
cited b y A b u 1-Fida^ Historia Anteislamica, 102 F l e i s c h e r (Leipzig 1831). A ccordin g to
al-H asan b 'A b d allah b. a l-'A bb as, Atdr al-uwal f t tartib ad-duwal, ch. I, 7 (p. 44, B ulaq
1295; p. 52, Cairo 1305, in the m argin of a s-S u yu tis T a M h al-hulafd^), he w as 'A ll b.
M uham m ad b. 'A b d allah b. Hnwn at-Tabari, and his w ork was used in the w ork of M uham
m ad b. H arun al-'A b b a si which, in turn, seems to have been one of the sources for ancient
E gyp tia n h istory in A b u M a'sars Kitdb al-UlHf.
^ Cf., for instance, Ibn al-'A dim , Bugyat at-talab, phot. Cairo T a rih 1566, I, 161.
Ibn Ju lju l, Tabaqdt al-atibbd^, 3 F. S a y y i d (Cairo 1955), knew S t . Jerom es Latin
translation of E u sebius Chronicle {al-Qrw^nqh li-Yrw nm at-turjumdn), bu t this knowledge
no d oubt rem ained restricted to the Muslim W est, and even there was soon forgotten.

79

^ C f. G . G r a f , op. cit., I I , i n .
* I, 73 M C l l e r .
^ Cf. A . B a u m s t a r k , loc. cit.; idem, Geschichte der syrischen Literatur, 136 (Bonn 1922);
G. F u r l a n i , in Zeitschrift fiir Sem itistik, V , 238-49 (1927). Th e references m ay n ot all be
to the same Andronicus.
* C f. p. II o f the introduction to E . W . B r o o k s and J . - B . C h a b o t s translation, in
CSCO, Scriptores Syri, Series III, tom us V II (Paris-Leipzig 1910).
^ Cf. B a u m s t a r k , loc. cit. (p. 78, n. 2).
History, I, 80 f. G o t t w a l d t (St. Petersburg-Leipzig 1844-48); al-Biruni, al-Atdr albdqiyah, 2820 S a c h a u (Leipzig 1878, 1923). For Ibn Bahrez, cf. Fihrist, 341 and 348 (Cairo
1348 = 244 and 248 f. F l u g e l ) . He m ay be identical w ith 'A b d -Y a s u ' b. Bahrez m entioned
F ihrist, 35 f. ( = 23 f. F l u g e l ) ? Jew ish chronology m ay also have entered A rabic literature
at the time of Harun, cf. below , p. 139, n. 5.
H am zah al-Isfahani, op. cit.. I, 70, 76, 79 G o t t w a l d t .
Historia Anteislamica, 152 f. F l e i s c h e r (Leipzig 1831). Cf. the Siwdn al-hikmah,
origin ally the w ork of A b u Sulaym an al-M antiqi as-Sijistani, in the Istanbul m anuscript
M urat M olla 1408, fol. 5a. More ligh t on Ibn al-M unajjim s w ork (above, p. 72) has been
prom ised b y S . M. S t e r n , cf. Bibliotheca Orientalis, X I, 74 (1954).
I, 10, p. 517C M i g n e .

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TH E BASIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

T H E A N N A L IST IC FORM

W hile all the preceding evidence points to the availab ility to

Muslim scholars of a certain knowledge of Graeco-Syriac historiog
raphy, it is b y no means proven th at th at knowledge reached
Muslim historians early enough in this w ay to inspire their use of
the annalistic form. The same apphes to an even greater degree to
some Christian A rabic historical works, which m ay have transm itted
the form and contents of Graeco-Syriac annalistic historiography to
Muslim scholars. A ll the works about which we have definite know l
edge date from long after the tim e when the annalistic form made
its appearance in Muslim historical writing. H unayn b. Ishaq
(d. 260/873) is thus credited w ith a History of the World, th& B e
ginnings, the Prophets, Kings, Nations, Caliphs, and Princes in Islam,
about which we have but little information.^ The History of P h y si
cians b y his son Ishaq (d. 298/end of 910) is basically a history of
ancient medicine and the individuals who created it, with much
chronological detail but no thought of an annalistic o r g a n i z a t i o n . 2
His sporadic use of the Seleucid era, which was occasionally
mentioned also b y other Muslim scholars, did not exercise any
influence upon Muslim historiography. Ishaqs contem porary,
Q u s ti b. L uq a (d. 300/912), wrote a w ork entitled Paradise on
History in his old age, which is also not preserved. The historical
w ork of S a id (Eutychius) b. B itriq (d. 328/940) is in part based
on Muslim sources but draws its m ain inspiration from B yzantine
historiography.
The only complete translation of an ancient history, of which
we know and which has been preserved, certainly came too late to
exercise any sort of influence on Muslim historiography. T h at was
the translation of Orosius, Adversus paganos.^^ A copy of Orosius,
together with a copy of Dioscurides, was sent b y the B yzantine
Em peror Rom anos (rather: Constantine) to Abd-ar-Rahm an anNasir in Spain in the year 377/948-49. Orosius w ork was translated,
but not very literally, b y the Judge of the Christians together w ith

Qasim b. A sbag and provided with m any additions.^ The translation

w as used b y the contem porary Spaniard Ibn Juljul, in his History
of Physicians,'^ and again b y later historians, especially Ibn Haldun
and, following him, al-Maqrizi. A related Christian Spanish treat
m ent of pre-Islam ic history down to the Muslim conquest of Spain,
of uncertain authorship and date of composition, is particularly
rem arkable on account of the fact th at it found its w ay into a
mosque library and thus must have at some time been studied b y
Muslims. In general, as is well known, Mushm historians, because
of the self-centered outlook of Mushm society, were reluctant to
use non-Muslim historical sources. In addition to Orosius, a brief
passage in al-M asudi and a section in the world history of Rasidad-din are all th at can be proven to have been translated from
later W estern European sources prior to O ttom an times.^

Cf. Ibn A b i U say b i'ah , I, 200 M U l l e r , and S. M . S t e r n , loc. cit. N either the F ihrist
nor al-Q ifti m entions the title.
*
Cf. F . R o s k n t h a l , in Oriens, V II, 55-80 (1954), and idem, in Bulletin of the H istory o f
M edicine, X X X , 54 f. (1956), and J A O S , L X X X I , 10 f. (1961).
T h e m uch older Ahbdr al-atibhd^ b y the Muslim kdtib Y u su f b. Ibrahim (below, p. 510,
n. 4), it m ay be added here, was clearly not a historical w ork b u t rather a collection of
stories and anecdotes.
Fihrist, 411 (Cairo 1348 = 295 F l O g e l ).
G. L e v i d e l l a V i d a has found a m anuscript of the w ork and is w orking on its edition,
cf. his article in M iscellanea G. Galhiati, III , 185-203 (1951), and Al-A ndalus, X I X , 257-93

(1954).

For the developm ent of the annalistic form in Islam after it

had been adopted in its early years, it is im portant to realize that
b y its very nature annalistic historiography is prim arily concerned
w ith facts, bare facts, which were, or at least were in theory,
recorded b y contem porary sources and could not be corrected,
im proved, or enlarged b y any later writer. Subsequent annalistic
w orks were thus conceived as mere continuations of the annalistic
w orks of former authors. A l-Q ifti, therefore, found it easy to explain
how one m ight get the m ost reliable historical inform ation from the
beginning of the world to the year in which he wrote, th at is,
the year 616/1219-20. T f you w ant continuous historical infor
m ation well arranged, you m ust consult the w ork of A bu J a 'fa r
at-Tabari, from the beginning of the world to the year 309 (!). If
you wish, you m ay combine the w ork of A hm ad b. A b i Tahir and
his son U baydallah w ith at-Tabari.^ Y o u w ill do well to do that,
because th ey went very thoroughly into the description of the
^ Cf. Ibn H aldun, ^Ibar, II, 88 (B ulaq 1284); Ibn Ju lju l, Explanation of the Names of the
Sim plicia from the Book of Dioscurides, quoted b y Ibn A b i Usaybi'^ah, II, 46-48 M u l l e r .
Cf. M . M e y e r h o f , D ie Materia M edica des Dioskurides hei den Arabern, in Quellen und
Studien zur Gesch. der Naturwiss. und der M edizin, III, 72 ff. (1933). Since Ibn Ju lju l only
in cid entally m entioned Orosius in connection w ith his w ork on Dioscurides, he has no
inform ation about the translation of Orosius.
^ Tabaqdt al-atibbd^, 2, 12, 36 F . S a y y i d (Cairo 1955).
^ Cf. G. L e v i d e l l a V i d a , Un texte mozarabe d'histoire universelle, in E . Levi-Provengal
M emorial Volume, 175-83 (Paris 1962).
^ Cf. B . L e w i s , in B . L e w i s and P. M. H o l t , Historians of the M iddle East, 180-91
(London 1962), and below , p. 147.
See below , p. 135, n. 2, p. 152 f., and p. 462, n. 2.
R o s e n t h a l , H istory of Muslim H istoriography

82

83

T H E BASIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

T H E A N N A L IST IC FORM

A bbasid d yn asty and gave additional details which were not men
tioned b y at-Tabari. T hey stopped at about the same time. A tTabari has a little more. This is followed b y the w ork of T abit
(b. Sinan b. T ab it b. Qurrah), which for some years coincides w ith
at-Tabari and leads down to the year 363. Y ou would do well to
combine w ith T ab it al-Farg^nis Continuation of at-T ab aris w o rk /
because the w ork of al-Fargani is more detailed in some places than
the w ork of Tabit. Then, there is the w ork of H ilal b. al-Muhassin
b. Ibrahim as-Sabi (d. 448/1056), which coincides w ith the w ork of
his m aternal uncle T ab it and supplements it down to the year 447.
No one else was as well informed about the actual state of affairs
and the political inside story of th at period as he was. He got th at
from his grandfather who was a secretary of state and well inform ed
about events.2 He himself, too, was a secretary of state. He checked
the m aterial he collected w ith the incoming (government and
diplom atic) inform ation. This was followed b y the w ork of his son,
C irs-an-nim ah Muhammad b. Hilal. It is a good w ork and goes
down to sometime after 470. Some unknown circum stance caused
him to be brief at the end of the work. Ibn al-H am adanis (work)
then coincides w ith that of Cirs-an-ni'm ah and supplements it
down into the year 512.^ A bu 1-H asan b. az-Zaguni continued Ibn

al-H am adanis work, but his w ork is unsatisfactory, because he was

not a historian b y profession. H e brought his w ork down to the
year (5)27. A l- A fif (?) Sadaqah al-Haddad^ then continued Ibn
az-Zagunis w ork down to the year 570 and something, and
Sadaqahs work, in turn, was continued b y Ibn al-Jaw zi down to
after the year (5)80.2 Then, Ibn al-QM isi ^ continued Ibn alJaw zis w ork down to the year 6 16. ^
A l-Q ifti gave an accurate picture of the prevailing situation.
Annalistic works were composed in succession to and continuation
of preceding works. There w as not much need for any two annalistic
works being w ritten at the same tim e and in the same region. The
im portant part of an annalistic w ork was its contem porary section,
which could become very detailed. The raw m aterial for it m ay
often have been a detailed diary kept b y the author. A valuable
exam ple of such a diary has been preserved from the pen of the
eleventh-century H anbalite, A bu A li Ibn al-B ann a (396-471/
1005-78 ).5 W e do not know whether his diary was intended for
later use in a comprehensive w o rk ; it m ay never have been intended
for publication in any form. However, it shows how the w riting of
contem porary history in annalistic form was undertaken, down to
the execrable handw riting shared b y Ibn al-Banna" w ith m any
other great historians, which must have in evitab ly led to m any
m inor errors in the finished history. E ventu ally, in the fourteenth
and fifteenth-century histories, the historical presentation w as

^ T h e Silah b y A b d a lla h b . A h m a d b . J a 'f a r al-F arg a n ,i is e x te n s iv e ly q u o te d in, th e

life o f a t - T a b a r i in Y a q u t , IrSdd, an d in 'A r i b s Tabari continuatus
, cf. also a r - R a s id b .
a z - Z u b a y r , ad-DaM ?ir wa-t-tuliaf, 47 f., 183 f., 189 f. H a m i d u l l a h ( K u w a it 19 5 9 ); alM arraku S i, Mu'^jib, 33 D o z y (L eiden 184 7, 18 8 1), tra n s . A . H u ic i M ir a n d a , Coleccion de
cronicas drabes de la reconquista, I V , 40 (T e tu a n 1955); I b n H a llik a n , I I , 528, I I I , 222
tra n s . D e S l a n e ; a n d C. C a h e n , La Chronique abregee d'al-^Azimt, in J A , C C X X X , 355
(1938). H is w o rk p r o b a b ly w a s w id e ly u sed b y la te r a u th o rs, e v e n w h ere he is n o t e x p r e s s ly
m e n tio n ed . A l- F a r g a n i w a s b o rn in 282/895-96 (cf. p . X X o f th e in tr o d u c tio n to th e e d itio n
o f a t - T a b a r is History). H e d ied in 362/972-73 (a c co rd in g to a s -S a fa d i an d a d - D a h a b i, cf.
R . G u e s t , in A Volume of Oriental Studies presented to E . G. Browne, 173, C a m b rid g e 1922).
Cf. also N . A b b o t t , Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri I , 1 15 f. (C h icag o 19 5 7). H is son
A h m a d , w h o c o n tin u e d h is fa t h e r s w o rk , liv e d fro m 327/939 to 398/1007 ( Y a q u t , Irsdd,
I I I , 105 f. C a iro = 16 1 f. M a r g o l i o u t h ; as-Safadi, W dfi, B o d le ia n m s. or. Seld. A r c h . A 2 1,
fo l. 48b). Cf. I b n K a tir , X I , 244.

^ T h e te x t m ust apparently be understood in this m anner.

^ On the w ork of G irs (Gars)-an-ni'mah, cf. C . C a h e n , in B . L e w i s and P. M. H o l t ,
Historians of the M iddle E ast, 6 1.
*
T h e year 512 is the date of the death of the caliph al-M ustazhir whose reign began in
487. A lth ough al-H am adani him self says in his introduction th at he w as ending his w ork

w ith the beginning of the reign of al-M ustazhir, it is quite lik e ly th at he did continue it
down to the year 5 1 2 . IHdn (below, p. 488) gives the wrong term inal date of 360. T h e
preserved m anuscript of the w ork goes down to 367 on ly b u t w as to be continued.
It does n ot seem to be com pletely certain w hether the auth ors gentilic w as (the more likely)
H am adani, or H am dani.
'A ll b. 'U b a y d a lla h b. Nasr, A b u 1-H asan b. az-Zaguni (4 55 -5 27/10 6 3-1132), cf. Ibn
al-Jaw zi, M untazam, X , 32 (H yderabad 13 5 7 -5 8 ); Ibn R ajab , D a y l Tabaqdt al-Handbilah,
I, 2 16 -20 a d - D a h h a n and L a o u s t (Dam ascus 13 7 0 /19 5 1); M. J a w a d , in his edition of

Ibn al-F u w ati, Talhis Majma^ al-dddb, IV , I, 534 (Dam ascus 1962). Cf. also Y a q u t, Mu^jam
al-bulddn, II, 907 f. W u s t e n f e l d , s . v . Zaguna. H is w ork is quoted b y Ibn an-N ajjar, D a y l
Ta^rth Bagdad, Paris ms. or. 2131, fol. 20b (Life of 'A li b. M uham m ad b. M uham m ad), etc.
1 Sadaqah b. al-H usayn, 4 7 7 , or 479-573/io86(87)-ii77, cf. Ibn al-Jaw zi, op. cit., X ,
276-78; J. A . B e l l a m y , in J A O S , L X X X I , 227 (1961). H is History is referred to b y asSafadi, W aft, Bodleian ms. or. Seld. Arch. A . 24, fol. 67a, and Ibn K atir, Biddyah, X I I , 298,
probably follow ing Ibn as-Sa'i. It is quoted in Y a q u t s IrSdd, cf. G. B e r g s t r a s s e r in
Zeitschrift fu r Sem itistik, II, 204 (1924); Ibn an-N ajjar, D a y l Ta^rth Bagdad, Paris ms. or.
2131, fol. 137b (life of al-M ustarsid); ad-D ahabi, al-Muhtasar al-muhtdj ilayh, I, 138
(Bagdad 1371/1951). Al-'^aftf cannot be Afif-ad-din, because Sadaqah did not have this
epithet, and al-Q ifti w ould n ot have used the abb reviated form, b u t the adjective m odest,
or the like, also seems strange here, although it is n ot uncom m only used in this m anner.
For Sadaqah, cf. also G. M a k d i s i , Ibn ^Aqtl, 54-58 (Dam ascus 1963).
^ Th e edition stops w ith the year 574.
^ M uham m ad b. A hm ad, d. 632/1235, cf. C. C a h e n , La Syrie du Nord, 71 (Paris 1940).
His father, A hm ad b. M uham m ad, died in 621/1224, cf. Ibn K a tir, op. cit., X I I I , 104.
Ibn al-Q adisis w ork is quoted, for instance, b y A b u Sam ah, Rawdatayn, I, 286 ff., 314 f.,
395; II, 94, 96, 103 (Paris 1896-1906, Kecueil des historiens des Croisades, Historians or., 4-5);
Ibn IJallikan, I, 302, 305; IV , 114, 125 trans. D e S l a n e .
*
A l-Q ifti, n o f. L i p p e r t - M u l l e r . T h e passage was quoted b y D e S l a n e , in his trans
lation of Ibn y a llik a n , I, 290.
Cf. G. M a k d i s i , in i?S O /lS , X V I I l , 9-31, 239-60 (1956); X I X , 13-48, 281-303, 426-43
(1957). Cf. below , p. 174.

84

T H E BASIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

broken down into months and days w ith considerable regularity,

whereas earlier annalistic writers were not as consistent in this
respect. 1 A b ove all, the transm itted facts had to be taken at
their face value. The verb jdzafah, borrowed from the term inology
of the science of traditions, was applied to historians as an ex
pression of disapproval for the baseless expansion, interpolation,
free and untruthful invention of information.^ To our mind, the
use of the term m ight occasionally indicate a certain originality
of approach. B u t this is b y no means certain. W hen we read about
a late author, Nur-ad-din A li b. D aw ud b. as-Sayrafi al-Jawhari
(d. 900/1495), whose historical efforts supposedly provoked the
derisive laughter of his contemporaries, that he wrote history b y
baseless expansion {mujdzafah), and not on the authority of some
one telling or transm itting the inform ation, we are somewhat
curious to know whether here we are actually deahng w ith an author
possessing an independent attitude tow ard historical sources. Th at
the following verses are applied to him:
O you who say th at there exist perfect works on history.
Y o u are related to camels which do not know what th ey are
carrying,^
would serve to strengthen our impression th at we m ight expect
here some originahty. Y et, from w hat we know of the authors
production, we can be certain to be very much disappointed. In
general, all the m anifold accretions from other forms of historical
presentation and from sciences other than history which w ent into
the m aking of Muslim annalistic works were not able to produce
an y basic change in the inherent traits of the annalistic form. It
remained the vehicle which made historical writing as easy as a
technique as it made it difficult as a form of expression for artistic
or intellectual aspirations.
The need for an additional w ay of organizing the steadily growing
^ Accordin g to J .- M . A b d - e l - J a l i l , B r h e histoire de la litterature arabe, 126 (3rd ed.,
Paris 1946), the d atin g according to year, m onth, and d a y was practiced since the eighth
cen tury beginning w ith a l-H aytam b. 'A d i. Is this a m isunderstanding of w hat w as said
b y D . S. M a r g o l i o u t h , Lectures on Arabic Historians, 1 7 (C alcu tta 1930) ?
F or a d a y -b y -d ay h isto ry of E g y p t, which m ay have been a diary, cf. Ibn H allikan , II,
3 18 trans. D e S l a n e . Cf. also al-B ayhaqi, Ta^rih-i-Bayhaq, 1 7 5 (Teheran 1317), on the
h istory of A b u 1-F ad l a l-B a yh a q i ( S t o r e y , II, 2, 252 ff.; M . M i n o v i , in B . L e w i s and
P. M . H o l t , Historians of the M iddle East, 13 8 40 ).
*
I t often occurs in as-Sahawi, I^ldn, b u t cf. also Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, I X , 42
(H yderabad 1357-58), and already Kitdb al-Agdnt, I, 19 (Bulaq 1285); I, 36 (Cairo 1345 ff.),
in a critique of Ibn H u rradad bih s historical inform ation.
^ Cf. Ibn ly a s, Badd^i^, II, 288 (Bulaq 1311/1893-94). On al-Jaw hari, see below, p. 247.

T H E A N N A L IST IC FORM

85

m aterial in larger tim e units was occasionally felt in later centuries.

A d-D ahabi, in his History of Islam, introduced a subdivision into
decades (years one to ten of the hijrah, etc.), which he consistently
apphed throughout the whole work. The origin of the division is,
however, not to be sought in annalistic historiography. It was
derived from the biographical historiography th at was under the
influence of theology. Before ad-Dahabi, Ibn al-Jaw zi wrote a book
on the Ages of Prominent M en in which those men who died in their
second, third, etc. decade of their hves were treated as separate
groups. 1 A d-D ah abis indebtedness to biography is not only shown
b y the special position of the obituary-biographies w ithin the decade
arrangement, but above all b y the word he uses for decade, tahaqah,
which links his decade division w ith the tahaqdt literature.
The same biographical origin also attaches to the centennial
arrangement. The division of the m aterial in centuries was apphed
to collections of biographies, which are as a rule arranged alpha
b etically but also, as in Ibn al-'Aydarus,^ annahstically. O nly very
rarely, as appears to have been the case w ith B aybars al-Mansuris Zuhdat al-fikrah,^ is the century considered a superimposed
element of periodization in an annalistic non-biographical history.
The biographical origin is confirmed b y the occasional use of the
word qarn centu ry in the title. Qarn is no abstract numerical
unit like mi''ah centu ry but has alw ays been felt to be connected
with the length of the life of individuals or groups. A s late as the
fifteenth century, we find an author such as al-M aqrizi om it cen
tu ry from the various lengths of duration attributed to qarn.^
1 Cf. G A L Supplement I, 916, no. lo c.
^ W ho includes some events.
I consulted the abridgm ent, Bodleian ms. or. Pocock 324 (Uri 704) containing the
years 559-774, and the incom plete ms. or. H unt. 198 (Uri 711), dealing w ith the third
century.
Al-Habar ^an al-basar, Phot. Cairo Ta^rih 947, p. 123: Qarn m eans the succession of
one nation after the other. Its duration is said to be ten, or tw en ty, or th irty, or six ty
years. W ith some hesitation, it m ight be defined as the average length of the lives of the
people of a given period. Thus, a qarn am.ong the people of Noah means the length of their
lives, and among the peoples of Moses, Jesus, 'A d , and Tam ud, the length of their respective
lives. A qarn is said to be fo rty years . . . The a u th ority for the preceding statem ent is Ibn
Sidah. A ccording to the Sihdh (II, 400, B u laq 1292) a qarn is e ig h ty years. It is also said
to be th irty years . . . (Arabic te x t, below, p. 543.)
A l-lji, Tuhfah (below, p. 207 f.), fol. 19b, says th at A b u H anifah assigned to the qarna.
duration of 120 years, M alik one of seven ty, and Ibn H anbal one of six ty or ninety.
The Lisdn al-'-Arab, X V I I, 211 f. (B ulaq 1300-8), has approxim ately the same inform ation
as is found in al-M aqrizi. I t quotes a num ber of additional sources. Qarn, in the m eaning of
people livin g at the same tim e, is said to be derived from iqtarana to be connected. T he
duration of qarn is also fixed at se v en ty or eigh ty years. For the m eaning of one hundred
years, a tradition is quoted, according to w hich the Prophet p a tted a b o y on the head and

T H E BASIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

L E S SE R FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL PE R IO D IZ A T IO N

A certain connection of this typ e of w orks w ith annalistic historiog

raphy is, however, established b y the fact th at authors w rote
continuations beyond the century m ark. This seems to have been
the case w ith al-Birzali, and Ibn H ajar w rote a continuation of th e
Durar al-kdminah in which the biographies are arranged according
to the years in which the persons listed died.^ The crystallization
of centennial historiography took place towards the end of the
thirteenth century. For the first tim e the word centu ry appears
in a title in connection w ith th at century, in Ibn al-F u w atis Pure
Pearls on the Poets of the Seventh IThirteenth Century and the same
authors General Events and Useful Experiences of the Seventhj
Thirteenth Century.'^ A l-6u b rin is History of Bajdyah, according to
the title given it in Ibn al-H atibs Ihdtah,^ was restricted to the
seventh/thirteenth century. The tradition thus inaugurated w as
continued. For the next four centuries, we have Ibn H aja rs
Hidden Pearls on the Great M en of the EighthjFourteenth Century,
as-Sahaw is Sparkling Light on the People of the NinthjFifteenth
Century, Ibn a l-A yd aru s Resplendent Light on the History {ahbdr)
of the Tenth]Sixteenth Century, and al-M uhibbis Choice of the Age
on the Great M en of the Eleventh!Seventeenth Century ^

3 L E S S E R FO R M S O F H IS T O R IC A L P E R IO D IZ A T IO N

86

said to him : L ive a qarn, and that b o y lived to be one hundred years old (cf. al-Buhari,
Ta?rth, I, i, 323, H yd erab ad 1360 ff.). T h e same tradition was also accepted b y al-M arzuqi,
al-Azm inah wa-l-amkinah, I, 238 (H yderabad 1332), as proof th at a qarn should be one
hundred years, b u t al-M arzuqi also quotes another well-know n tradition (cf. as-Sahaw i,
P la n , 42, below, p. 326) as an indication th at qarn signifies th irty or fo rty years, while the
Lisdn refers to the same tradition as an indication of the indefinite length of a qarn. A s early
an author as Ibn S a 'd , Tabaqdt, I, i, 126 S a c h a u and others, did not doubt th at qarn m eant
a hundred years, and for an author of the tim e of Ibn K a tir {Biddyah, I, lo i) , it was
n atu ral to consider a hundred years the common though n ot exclusive m eaning of qarn.
Th e actu al d erivation of these meanings of qarn is not absolutely certain. Qarn, in the
m eaning of horn, strength (of an individual or group), m ay have developed into period
of the strength of an in d ivid u al or group, hence generation or some other period of time.
1 Phot. Cairo T a rih 4767. Ibn H ajar stopped w ith the year 832/1428-29.
A l-B irza lis Muhtasar al-mi^ah as-sdbi^ah covers the years 601-736 (G AL, II, 36). T h e
title is e vid en tly not genuine, cf. E l, 2nd ed., s.v. al-B irzali.
^ Cf. G A L Supplement, II, 202. A w ork on seventh/thirteenth-century poets, al-Gusun
al-ydni^ah f t mahdsin Su^ard'' al-mPah as-sdbi^ah (listed in G A L Supplement, I, 581, under
Ibn al-Abbar), has been ascribed to Ibn Sa'^id b y its editor, I. a l - I b y A r i (Cairo, n.y. [1954 ?],
Dahd^ir al-^Arab, X I V ). Ib n S a 'id is also credited w ith a w ork of sim ilar contents and a
sim ilar title, al-Cfurrah at-tdli^ah f t fudald^ (not Su^ard^) al-mPah as-sdbi^ah {GAL Supplement,
L 5 7 7).
H ow ever, a s-S u yu ti states in the introduction of his Bugyah th at he used an anonym ous
al-Budur as-sdfirah f t udaba^ al-mPah as-sddisah Resplendent F u ll Moons on the L itte ra
teurs of the S ix th C e n tu ry .
= I, 5 ff. (Cairo 1319). Cf. G A L , II, 239.
*
In practice, those works favored the personalities of one particular region. W ith the
tenth/sixteenth century, the regional restriction becam e official, and has rem ained so ever
since. For the collection of the biographies of N orthw est Africans in the tenth and eleventh
ci.G A L S u p p lem en t, II, 678, and II, 681 f. (new edition II, 605). Cf. also II, 683.

87

A D Y N A S T IC H IS T O R IO G R A P H Y

No annalistic history in Islam is entirely free of a superimposed

principle of arrangement, th at is, one based upon the reigns of
caliphs and other rulers. In addition, a special biography is as a
rule devoted to the particular ruler either in connection w ith the
year of his accession to the throne or the year of his death. These
biographies stress the moral and ethical quahties (or lack of such
qualities) of the particular ruler and often add a description of his
physical appearance.^ A list of his children, wives, officials, and
other statistical inform ation (for instance, the names of the leaders
of the pilgrim age during his caliphate) is also found in this connec
tion. The importance which was attached to such adm inistrative
data is evidenced b y the fact th at th ey constitute nearly the entire
contents of the section devoted to each caliph whenever the author
w anted to be brief, such as, for instance, al-Q udai in the 'Uyun
al-ma'-drif.'^ In the Muqtabis of al-Quda*^is Spanish contem porary
Ibn H ayyan , the hsts of officials, scholars, poets, and opponents
of the ruler precede the annalistic presentation of the events of his
reign. 3
The oldest preserved historical works (and, as a rule, the numerous
dynastic histories of later years, after the disappearance of a central
a u th ority in Islam) used the reigns of the rulers as their only
principle of arrangement and h ad no proper annalistic division.
T h is m ay h ave been the case already w ith Ibn I s h ^ s History of
the Caliphs, about which we have only very scant inform ation so
far.^ A good exam ple is the History of al-Ya*^qubi, which, further
more, has the p eculiarity of indicating the astrological constellation
which prevailed at the beginning of each reign. Or one m ight
compare the Ahbdr at-tiwdl of al-Ya*^qubis contem porary, adDinawari. A l-B alad uris Ansdb is also built into a fram ework of
A history of the personalities of the eleventh cen tury w as also begun b y M uham m ad atT a y y ib al-Fasi, cf. E . L e v i- P r o v e n ? a l, Les Historiens des Chorfa, 284 (Paris 1922).
^ From the time of al-M a mun, we have a m onograph on the subject, Kitdb Sifat alhulafd^, which was quoted b y al-H atib al-B agdadi, T B , X , 391. F or its occurrence in the
biograph y of M uham m ad and Greek parallels, cf. F . R o s e n t h a l , Arabische Nachrichten
iiber Zenon den Eleaten, in Orientalia, N .S ., V I, 38 (1937).
*
A l-Q u da4 enum erates the children, secretaries (or wazirs), judges, cham berlains, and
provin cial governors of the caliphs.
Cf. the edition of p a rt three of the w ork b y M. M. A n t u n a (Paris 1937, Texies ar.
relatifs d I histoire de I Occidenf musulman, 3).
Cf. N . A b b o t t , Studies in Arabic Literary Pa pyri I , 80 ff. (Chicago 1957); M. J. K i s t e r ,
in Journal of Sem itic Studies, I X , 320-26 (1964).

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caliphal histories. There can be h ttle doubt that the older histories
of the U m ayyad and A bbasid dynasties followed the same arrange
ment. The natural sequence is th at leading down from the most
ancient to the more recent rulers. This sequence was only once
reversed in Mushm historical writing, and that was in the History
of Sinan b. T ab it in which, we are told, the author dealt first with
his contem porary al-M utadid and then, going backward, w ith the
reigns of the preceding caliphs. ^ Much later, there seems to have
existed a feeling that the annalistic and alphabetical-biographical
principles of arrangement were so prevalent and ordinary th at an
uninterrupted, coherent presentation of the history of a given d yn asty
was something original ; this, at least, is w hat Ibn al-Barizi says
in his prose w ork on history which he started to w rite in 666/1267.2
The ruler scheme of historical presentation is very ancient and
w idely used. It is known from ancient oriental as well as GraecoB yzantine historiography. In its Muslim form, it is characterized
b y a special interest in ethical and adm inistrative questions. This
m ay be a sign of the influence of Persian national historiography
which also used the ruler scheme, since Persian historians appear to
h ave considered ruler ethics and political adm inistration the most
im portant elements of history. The early biography of Muhammad,
it is true, contains such inform ation in a quite similar form. N ever
theless, there remains the possibility th at Persian influence, which
m ay reach back into the time of Muhammad, ^ m ay have been at
w ork here. The larger dynastic principle of historical periodization
m ight have also become known to the Muslims as a result of their
early contact w ith Persian historiography. However, it is well worth
remembering th at anybody reared in the ancient Arabic-Bedouin
concept of political organization and acquainted w ith the religiopoUtical history of early Islam would see the mainspring of all
historical happenings in dynastic divisions. The A rabic word for
'd3masty, dawlah, m ight give us some clue, and it would be
interesting to find out when it first occurred in A rabic literature in

this meaning.^ Its original m eaning is circulation, turn. It was

connected in Islam w ith a theory of recurrent cycles of political
power as early as the time of al-Kindi.^ A s a com bination of Persian
nationalist and S i'ah aspirations, the idea m ay have been much
older, and the fact th at the word dawlah which expresses it came
to be used as the A rabic term for d y n a sty m ay be corroborative
evidence for a certain Persian influence upon Muslim dynastic

^ Cf. al-M as'udi, M uru j, I, 19 Paris ed. = I, 7 (Cairo 1346), quoted b y as-Sahaw i, IHdn,
157, below, p. 505.
Kitdb Ta^rih al-Hhdd wa-l-bildd, preserved in the Istan bu l m anuscript H atice Turhan
V alide S u ltan 22 8, fol. ib , to which F u a t S e z g i n k in d ly drew m y attention. A p p aren tly
only the introduction of the w ork is preserved in the m anuscript. T he w ork m ay h ave been
rather sim ilar to the versified h istory of the same author, preserved iu Vienna, Ms. ar, 808
(G AL, 1, 3 49).
Cf. above, p. 28 f.

historiography.^
Muslim authors them selves had certain ideas about the origin
of dynastic historiography, which, however, are not very helpful.
The first to w rite on the dyn asty the A bbasid dynasty, th at
is ^ was Muhammad b. SMih b. Mihran b. an-N attah, who died
120 lunar years after the establishm ent of th at dynasty. B u t we
are also informed th at Ibn an-Nasri already w rote a Book of the
Dynasty.^ This was the source of the w ork of Ibn an-N attah, who
m ay have functioned as the editor and revisor of the unpublished
w ork of his teacher Ibn an-Nasri. Moreover, we are alw ays hesitant
to believe th at a w ork stated to have been the oldest one of a special
typ e actually w as the oldest one. In this particular case, we should
look for older works of the same typ e on the U m ayyad dynasty.
In fact, the Fihrist states th at Aw anah b. al-H akam al-K albi,
the auth ority of the historians al-H aytam b. A di and al-MadaHni,
who died around the middle of the second century of the hijrah
(ca. 767),^ wrote a Biography of Mu^dwiyah and the Umayyads.
^ T h a t is, w hether its occurrence can be established for the eighth cen tury or earlier.
=* Cf. al-K ind i, Risdlah f t mulk al-'^Arab, ed. O. L o t h , in Morgenldndische Forschungen
(Leipzig 1875, F estsch rift H . L . Fleischer).
As stated in E l , 2nd ed., s.v. dawla, the developm ent of the m eaning d y n a sty for dawlah
appears to be an internal A rab ic developm ent which gained im petus in e arly 'A b b asid
times, and the possibiUty of Persian influence upon the form ation of the concept is slight
b u t cannot be ruled out entirely. H ow ever, in connection w ith the above paragraph, the
doubts concerning Persian h istoriography iu general, expressed above, p. 74f., should be
taken into consideration. On dawlah, cf. a lread y A. M e z , Abulkdsim , V I I , n. 2 (H eidelberg
1902).
*
Al-M as^udi, M uru j, I, 12 Paris ed. = I, 5 (Cairo 1346) has this inform ation in addition
to th at contained in Fihrist, 156 (Cairo 1348 = 107 F l u g e l ). An im portant nin th-cen tu ry
w ork dealing w ith early 'A b b asid h istory is believed b y ' A b d - a l - ' A z i z a d - D u r i to be possibly
the History of Ibn an-N attah , cf. M ajallat K ulltyat al-dddb wa-l-^ulum (Bagdad), II, 64-82
(1957) (I owe m y knowledge of this publication to the courtesy of P. A . G r y a z n e v i c h ).
Fihrist, 158 (Cairo 1348 = 108 F l u g e l ), cf. G . L e v i d e l l a V i d a , Les Livres des
Chevaux, X X X I V (Leiden 1928, Publications de la Fondation De Goeje, 8).
F ihrist, 134 (Cairo 1348 = 91 F l u g e l ).
A ccording to the Kitdb al-M atdlib of A b u HJbaydah, A w a n a h s father was of low and
ra cially m ixed parentage, cf. Y a q u t, Irsdd, X V I , 134 (Cairo = V I, 93 M a r g o l i o u t h ),
b u t there is nothing in this statem ent which would necessarily connect 'A w a n a h w ith
either the B yzan tin e or the Persian civilization . Cf. also Ibn Ish a q s caliphal h istory
(above, p. 87).

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TH E BA SIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

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This w ork m ay have been a history of the U m ayyad d yn asty quite

com parable to later works of dynastic historiography.^
The dynastic arrangement of Muslim history is paralleled b y
the presentation of pre-Islamic history b y Muslim historians in the
form of nations and dynasties. The treatm ent of pre-Islam ic history,
in general, met w ith the great technical handicap that the Muslims
never invented a system of time-reckoning for the pre-Islam ic
period, such as the B.C. system which became established in W estern
chronology, but even there only in very recent times. ^ In the
life of the Prophet, certain events are occasionally described as
being so-and-so m any years before the hijrah. A ll references to
other eras, such as th at of the creation of the world or the
Seleucid era, are m erely incidental in Muslim literature and entered
through the sources consulted, which were either Christian works ^
or works on chronology, such as th at of al-Biruni, who em ployed
Seleucid dates in keeping w ith the custom of the astronomers.
W herever a correlation of hijrah dates and pre-Islam ic dates is
attem pted, as, for instance, in connection with the establishm ent of
the lifetim e of Galen, Christian influence is unmistakable.^
Pre-Islam ic history also presented a more incisive problem to
Muslim historians. For them, the great break in world history took
place with the coming of the Prophet Muhammad. The entire
preceding history and, to some degree, the subsequent history of
non-Muslim peoples were considered a story of errors which could
fulfil the great purpose of historiography, th at is, to instruct, only
in its negative aspect. In particular, th ey were of no use in fulfilling
the principal d u ty of historiography, which was to illustrate the
truth of Islam. This appears to be the main reason w hy the inform a
tion on pre-Islam ic and non-Muslim history alw ays remained com-

paratively meager and was never fu lly integrated in Muslim

historiography.! O nly if al-Biruni thought of the great mass of
historical inform ation th at existed in other Hteratures was he
justified in saying th at the life of man does not suffice for ac
quiring a thorough knowledge of the history {ahbdr) of one of the
m any nations in existence; how, then, could it suffice for the
acquisition of the history of all of th e m ? ^ In reality, it would
not have been difficult to acquire all the knowledge that MusHm
histories contained on foreign nations.
Pre-Islam ic history was accepted into Muslim historiography
from its very beginning. The ancient A rabic and South Arabian
history and the Jewish and Christian history from the creation
of the world belonged into the biography of the Prophet. Inform a
tion about this m aterial was not alw ays sought at the proper
sources. The most accurate inform ation about Jewish and Christian
(including Roman) history is found apart from later Spanish and
W estern Muslim works in a l- Y a qubi and, to a lesser degree,
also in H am zah al-Isfahani, and in A bu 1-F id a where he bases
himself upon A bu Isa b. al-Munajjim. Other Muslim authors
lean h eavily tow ard the often very fanciful m aterial of the Jewish
and Christian prophetical stories which was m ade respectable
b y its supposed authorship (such as th at of W ahb b. Munabbih) and its long tradition. W hen Persian history became known
to the Muslims, which happened no later than the end of the
first or the beginning of the second century of the hijrah, it was
p robably very soon incorporated in the com plex of pre-Islam ic
history, since at its end, it had certain connections w ith early
Muslim history (but cf. above, p. 74). It could thus have contributed
to determine the character of the Muslim concept and form of
presentation of pre-Islam ic history. This concept and form reached
their full developm ent w ith the early ninth century as a consequence
of the transmission of the cultural heritage of other nations to the
Muslims and the grow th of the international cultural idea of
eternal wisdom . H istorians under the influence of theology,

In our e arly preserved historical literature, such as al-B aladu ris Ansdb, m en like
'A w a u a h and A b u M ihnaf frequently figure as oral transm itters of historical inform ation
on U m ayyad h istory (examples in a d - D u r i , Baht f t naPatHlmat-ta^Hh, 215 ff. [Beirut i960]).
A l-B a lad u ris technique, u nfortunately, prevented him from telling w hether he also found
this inform ation in the w ritten works of those men (cf. a d - D l t ri , op. cit., 36 f.).
F. K . G i n z e l , Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologic, III , 182
(Leipzig 1906-14), states th at the B.C. era has been em ployed since the end of the eighteenth
century. H ow ever, one would exp ect to find occasional earlier exam ples of its use, in spite
of the classical tradition and the unfam iliarity w ith n egative calculations which w orked
against its adoption. Y e t, the great Scaliger m anaged to have, it seems, only tw o v ery
incidental references to a date before Christ in his Opus de emendatione temporum, 22,
and, indirectly, 446 (Geneva 1629). It is in terestin g to observe in this connection how
the Marmor Parium avoided a n egative chronology b y counting the years from the
even t to the epoch y ear of the era.
^ Cf. above, p. 80, and H am zah al-Isfahani, History, I, 76 G o t t w a l d t (St. PetersburgLeipzig 1844-48).

91

^ A rationalization of the lack of interest in non-M uslim h istory is the statem ent b y Ibn
H am dun, Tadkirah (Ms. T o pkapu saray, A h m et III, 2948, V ol. X I I , fol. 2a), th at he restricted
him self to the h istory of the A rabs and Persians, because we do not see any use in stu dying
the conditions of other nations, and their history has not come down to us in a coherent
form .
2 A l-B irim i, al-Atdr al-bdqiyah, 5 S a c h a u (Leipzig 1878, 1923)Cf. F. R o s e n t h a l , The Technique and Approach of M uslim Scholarship, 70 ff. (Rome
1947, Analecta Orientalia, 24).

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T H E BASIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

such as at-Tabari, continued to restrict themselves to JewishChristian and Iranian history and did not p ay any special attention
to the Greeks, Indians, or Chinese. The same was the case with some
nationalist Iranian authors, such as ad-D inawari or, to a much
lesser degree, Miskawayh.^ Other historians did not close their eyes
to the widening of the intellectual horizon. T h ey saw and treated
the history of pre-Islam ic peoples preferably as cultural history.
In the treatm ent of the ancient Greeks, their political history was
alm ost entirely omitted. The section which a l- Y a qubi, for instance,
devoted to the Greeks is taken up b y a detailed report on their
scholarly and scientific achievements. W hen, at the same tim e, the
Indians and Chinese came within the ken of Muslim historians, it
was likewise as representatives of a particular culture and not as
political entities. The author of the eleventh-century Gurar, atT a Mibi,2 w isely remarked th at it is difficult and, indeed, im
possible to report on the history of the Indian kings as one reports
on the other kings, because the sources do not speak about their
history. He therefore gave excerpts from al-M utahhars Beginning
and History on the religions, customs, and laws of the Indians.
Reporting on these m atters is like reporting on their kings,
because people follow the religion of their king, especially the
Indians, who sacrifice themselves for the glory of their kings, and
some of whom even worship them ." ^ Historians of science and
medicine, such as S a'id al-Andalusi and Ibn Juljul, arranged their
biographies of pre-Islamic scholars according to the various
nations represented b y them.^
The m ajority of historians who dealt with pre-Islam ic dynasties,
it would seem, refrained from any attem pt to interconnect the
history of the various nations according to some scheme o f
synchronization. Some of them, however, such as at-Tabari and,
more system atically, ad-Dinawari, tried to estabhsh a chronological
relationship between the pre-Islam ic nations th ey dealt with. It
stands to reason that such attem pts at synchronization m ight very
well have been the resrdt of an inner-Muslim development. Nothing
was more natural for them than to acquire, through inquiries with
Persians, Christians, or Jews, sufficient inform ation to construct a
1 Follow ing his chronographical sources, H am zah a l-Is fa h a n i a t least in c lu d e d the
Greeks, Rom ans, and Copts in his History.
2 Couccrniug the authorship of the work, of. F . R o s e n t h a l , in J A O S , L X X , i 8 i (1950).
^ Paris ms. ar. 1488, fol. 247a.
* Cf. also below, p. l o i f.

L E S SE R FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL PER IO D IZA T IO N

93

chronological relationship of the first Persian king w ith the first man
of Jewish and Christian m ythology, etc. It should, however, be
noted th at the synchronization of the history of the various peoples
was cultivated b y Christian G raeco-Syriac historiography. On the
other hand, it is hard to see w hy Persian historiography in preIslam ic times, unless it was Christian or Manichaean, should ever
have bothered w ith synchronisms. Moreover, the express statem ent
th at one of the translators of the Hwatdyndmak, Musa b. *!sa
al-Kisraw i, tried to correlate Persian w ith Seleucid chronology
is proof of the fact th at he did not find synchronisms in his Persian
sources. 1 The idea of sjm chronization could possibly have come to
the Muslims from Christian G raeco-Syriac historiography. It would
thus constitute another form al affinity between it and Muslim
historiography.
B TH E

tahaqdt

d iv is io n

The meaning and developm ent of the word tahaqah are clear.
Tabaqah means lay er. The transition to people belonging to one
layer or class in the chronological succession of generations is
easily made.^ A s in the case of qarn, which preceded tahaqah in
its use in the meaning of generation, ^ lexicographers tried to
establish the exact length of a tahaqah. T w en ty years was the
choice of some,^ while others based themselves upon a Prophetic
tradition th at said: My nation consists of five tahaqdt, each
of which is fo rty years. ^ A rbitrarily, the length of tabaqah could
also be fixed at ten years.
The tahaqdt division is genuinely Islamic. It would seem to be
the oldest chronological division which presented itself to Muslim
historical thinking. It is in no w ay genetically related to the
synchronistic m ethod which was common in Greek biographical
tradition and which, at some later date, entered A rabic literature
together w ith Greek biography.'^ It also has no bearing upon
the origin of the tahaqdt division th at the word was early applied
to the four successive Persian dynasties. The tahaqdt division was
^ H am zah al-Isfahani, History, I, 17 G o t t w a l d t .
^ Lexicographers find a sim ilar m eaning in the forms tahaq and tibq, cf. Lisdn al-^Arah,
X l l , 79 f. (Bulaq 1300-08).
Cf. below, p. 167.
^ Lisdn al-^Arah, X I I , 79 f.
Cf. Ibn al-Jaw zi, Talqih, Paris ms. ar. 724, fol. 27ia-272b. T h e edition, Delhi 1927,
which is listed in G A L Supplement, I, 915, w as not available.
* Cf. ad-D ahabi, History of Islam , above, p. 85.
Cf. F. R o s e n t h a l , in Orientalia, N .S ., V I, 33 ( i 937 )

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TH E BASIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

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the natural consequence of the concept of the Men around Muham

m ad, the Follow ers, etc., which, in conjunction w ith the isndd
criticism of the science of traditions, developed in the early second
century of the hijrah. A m arked sim ilarity of this concept with
Jewish tradition m ay be explained as a parallel Sem itic develop
m ent rather than as the result of Jewish influence upon Islam,
though the latter possibihty is not excluded.^ The connection of the
tahaqdt division w ith the science of traditions is confirmed b y its
almost exclusive use in biography. A t the beginning, as, for instance,
in Ibn S a d, the tabaqdt arrangement was em ployed for the biogra
phies of authorities who were of im portance for the transmission
of traditions. In early local histories, such as B ah sals History of
Wdsit, it was restricted to transm itters of traditions. L ater on,
it could be used for the classes of all kinds of personahties, but
preferably scholars. Inappropriately, it was eventually also applied
to the classification of events, as in ad-D ahabis History of Islam.
The common superimposition of a local division upon the
tahaqdt division started early in general tahaqdt works. In fact,
it already appeared in Ibn S a d who added special sections on the
K ufians and Basrians. In these sections, the men around Muham
mad, who had some connection w ith al-K ufah and al-Basrah but
had been mentioned before in a more im portant context, were
treated once more, if briefly. The local or regional division w as a
m atter of local or regional pride, but, above all, it was helpful in
justifying the legal practices which prevailed in a certain locality. It
therefore occurs in the tahaqdt histories of the jurists of the different
schools. It was taken over into non-religious literature b y Ibn A bi
U sayb i'ah in th at part of his History of Physicians which deals
with the Islam ic period. However, a roughly similar arrangement,
on a much smaller scale, appears already in the biographies of
physicians in Ibn J u lju ls Tahaqdt al-atihhd\ and the history of
science, recognizing as its starting point the achievem ents of preIslam ic nations of separate geographical location, was predisposed
tow ard the adoption of a system of geographical division.
The greatest and obvious draw back of tahaqdt works was that
it was extrem ely difficult for the historically minded to find in
them w hat th ey were looking for. In the famous Tahaqdt al-fuqahd^

of A bu Ishaq as-Sirazi, one needs about as much inform ation in

order to be able to locate a particular biography as one might
expect to find in th at biography once one has succeeded in locating
it A This is an extrem e example, but it illustrates the fact th at true
to its origin, the tahaqdt division alw ays was more practical for the
purposes of the religious sciences than for those of historiography.
The alphabetical principle of the arrangement of biographies
gained more and more friends in the course of time.^ N ot infrequently
in later times, a m ixed arrangement is preferred. In the History of
the M dlikites b y the fourteenth-century Ibn Farhun, entitled adDihdj, the M alikite scholars are treated in the order of their given
names, but this arrangement is subdivided into tahaqdt, and the
tahaqdt, in turn, are arranged geographically.

1
Parallel developm ent, instead of direct influence, m a y also account for the origin of
the isndd, as against the theory of J. H o r o v i t z , Alter und Ursprung des Isndd, in Der
Islam, V I I I , 39-47 (1918).

c T H E G E N E A L O G IC A L A R R A N G E M E N T

During the first tw o centuries of Islam, the old im portance of

fam ily relationships in the social organization of A rabian life was
m aintained, if not augmented. Qurasite or H asim ite and Alid
descent, or the descent from members of the old guard of Islam,
constituted nobility in Islam and opened the door to all positions
of leadership. Thus, a fertile field of practical usefulness was opened
for those learned in genealogical lore. Genealogical knowledge also
lent itself to abuses. A n illum inating anecdote in this respect is th a t
told about Sarahbil b. S a 'd (d. 123/740-41) who is said to have been
the greatest expert on the raids of Muhammad in his time and who
used his knowledge for blackm ail; he would tell, he threatened,
th at the father of the person approached b y him had not partici
pated in the battle of Badr.^
During the eighth and ninth centuries, the antiquarians-historiansphilologists were at the same time also genealogists. Their works were
hahar-siyle collections of the deeds of various members of tribal
groups. One of the early genealogical monographs, the Kitdh H adf
min nasah Qurays, on minor Qurasite families (that is, to the
exclusion of the Prophet), b y M uarrij b. A m r as-Sadusi, who was
a somewhat older contem porary of H isam b. al-K albi and whose
small w ork seems to antedate the large one of the latter, has been
^ I used the Bodleian ms. arab. e. ii 6 , as the edition (B agdad 1356/1937, cf. G A L
Supplement III , 1224, ad I, 670) w as not available.
Cf. below, p. 167 ff.
Cf. Ibn A b i H atim ar-R azi, Jarh, II, I, 339 (H yderabad 1360-73/1941-53), and the
other biographies of Sarahbil.

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TH E BA SIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

preserved.^ I t confirms the rather obvious fact th at the stimulus

for w riting works of this kind stemmed from the desire to fix the
place of new ly im portant families in relation to the Prophet. A
com p aratively large amount of space is given to poetical quotations,
which, again, is not unexpected. A nother p artly preserved exam ple
of early genealogical w riting is the fam ous Nasab Qurays b y azZ u b ayr b. B ak k a r (d. 256/870).^ L ike an earlier w ork of A bu
U baydah M am ar b. al-Mutanna, ^ it was more concerned w ith the
good qualities and virtues of the Qurasites than their relationships.
Since the m embers of the leading fam ilies were at the same tim e
also the leaders of political life, the extension of genealogy to
history w as easily accomplished. The historical inform ation to be
found in as-Sadusi, which was added to the enumeration of names
and pedigrees on both the paternal and the m aternal sides, w as still
v e ry m eager (and it has often remained so also in later genealogical
works). However, on a large scale, w e find the genealogical principle
of w riting history applied b y al-Baladuri to his Kitdb al-Ansdh. The
tribal and fam ily affiliations of historical personalities are its basic
principle of arrangement, even though it is dom inated b y the
biographies of the caliphs. Its form is th at of hahar and dynastic
historiography.
In reality, already in the time of al-Baladuri and almost as soon
as Islam extended beyond the borders of the A rabian peninsula and
the rigid lim itations of Bedouin society, the forces which shaped the
h istory of Islam could no longer be encompassed b y genealogical
schemes. Genealogical historiography of the typ e of al-Baladurts
A nsdb was no suitable vehicle for w riting the history of the com plex
M uslim civilization, and it is to the credit of Muslim scholarship
th a t it all but disappeared after the ninth century. If found a ready
refuge in the w est of the Muslim world. The provincial character of
Spanish Islam at once its strength and its weakness favored the
retention of genealogy. In addition, the political history of the
W est took its course against the background of the ethnic rivalries
1 E d. S. a l - M u n a j j i d (Cairo, n.y. [i9 60 ]). F or Mu^arrij, cf. G A L , I, 102. F or az-Zu hris
possible w ork 011 genealogy, cf. below , p. 1 3 1 . F or H isam Ibn a l-K a lb is great Jamharat
an-nasab on tribal genealogy and its connection w ith h istoriography, cf. W . C a s k e l , Das
genealogische Werk des H isdm Ibn Muhammmad al-Kalbt (Leiden i g 66 , n ot seen).
2 A n edition b y M a h m u d M . S A k ir has begun to appear in Cairo 136 1/19 6 2.
Cf. al-M as'udi, Tanbih, 210 D e G o e j e . F or the Nasab al-Ansdr b y A bd allah b.
M uham m ad b. 'U m arah Ibn al-Q addah, w ho also w rote in the second h alf of the second
cen tury of the h ijrah , cf. Ibn S a 'd , Tabaqdt, V ol. I l l , I, X X V I I ff., and III , I I, in particu lar,
7 0 i,f., 9817, 1515, also 4 5i5 f., 11925. and al-H atib al-B agd ad i, T B , X , 62. Cf. also as-Sahaw i,
I^ldn, 108, below , p. 433 f.

L E S S E R FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL PER IO D IZA T IO N

97

of A rabs and Berbers, whose Bedouin character w as preserved b y

the constant influx of new Berber elements on the Bedoum level.
From A hm ad b. M uhamm ad ar-R azis comprehensive w ork on the
genealogies of fam ous Spaniards ^ to a seventh/thirteenth-century
w ork on the tribes and personalities around the Mahdi of the
Almohads,^ W estern Muslim hterature produced a good number of
genealogical works of historical importance. It also was there th at
historical m aterial w as arranged (for the first tim e ?) according to
the ethnic principle. The A lid descent of the upper class in N orth
west A frica, moreover, generated a flourishing genealogical literature,
so th at in later times there was hardly an educated s m / w h o did
not compose, among his other works, a sort of heraldic description
of his own fam ily. ^
In the East, genealogy or fam ily history w as cultivated b y those
personally interested in it, b y rulers, members of fam ous families,
A lids, and some historians who were interested in the history of
the Qurasites, or Hasimites, or in the A rab tribes which had settled
in their particular part of the world in the early years of the Muslim
conquest. The histories of later rulers of Bedouin origin, such as
the various T u rk rulers and the Mongols, usually contained some
ethnic-genealogical introduction and proceeded then according to
the ordinary biographical scheme.
The tabular form of presenting genealogical relationships, the
fam ily tree, p robably was known to literate A rabs in pre-Islam ic
times, and it w ould be idle to attem pt to establish its earliest
occurrence in Muslim literature. However, the Fihrist has no
indication th a t any of the genealogical works mentioned in it
w as in tree form, unless the Kitdb al-M usajjar of Muhammad b.
H abib ^ contained genealogical tables. F or the older genealogists,
the tabular form w as p robably not y e t acceptable as literature.
L ater on, we find, for instance, quotations from a M usajjar b y
Ibn Maymun, a M usajjar b y Jam al-ad-din A b u 1-Fadl A hm ad b.
' Al-Istt^db f t ansdb (maSdhtr) ahl al-Andalus, cf. al-H um aydJ, Jadwat al-Muqtabis,
Bodleian ms. or. H unt. 464 (Uri 783), fol. 45a; 'ly a d , M addrik, Ms. Cairo T a rih 2293,
fols. 3b, 129b.
* Kitdb al-Ansdb f i ma^rifat al-asfidb, cf. E . L ^ : v i - P r o v e n ? a l , Documents inedits d histoire
almohade, 18-49 (Paris 1928, Textes ar. relatifs d Ihistoire de I'Occident musulman, i).
* Cf. K . V o L L E R S , Fragmente aus dem Mugrib des Ibn SaHd, X (1894, Semitistische
Studien, 1. Erganzungsheft zur ZA) .
* Cf. E . L 6 v i - P r o v e n 9 A l , Les Historiens des Chorfa, 48 (Paris 1922). Cf. also R. B a s s e t ,
Les Genealogistes berbhes, in Les Archives Berberes, I, 3-11 (1915).
F ihrist, i5 5 n (Cairo 1348 = 106 F l u g e l ) .
* Ibn a s-S a'i, Ahbdr al-hulafd^, Ms. Cairo T a y m u r T a rih 2293, fol. 129b (ed. B u laq 1309,
R o s e n t h a l , H istory of Muslim H istoriography

98

T H E BA SIC FORMS OF M USLIM H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

M uhamm ad b. al-M uhanna/and a Kitdb al-Far^ wa-s-sajar b y A bu

1-H asan Muhammad b. al-Qasim at-Tamimi,^ which, according to
the title, m ay have contained tables (although the quotations do
not indicate this), and the tree form became popular. A certain
i ah author, Taj-ad-din b. Muhammad,^ in the introduction to his
Gay at al-ihtisdr f i ahbdr al-huyutdt aWAlawiyah, adm itted of two
kinds of presentation for genealogical information, the tree form
{musajjar) and the plain one {mahsut). Finally, the history of the
whole world could be presented in genealogical trees. It is interesting
to note th at the author of such a w ork from the year 602/1205-6,
Fahr-ad-din M ubarak Sah, in his Persian Sajamh-i-ansdh, got the
idea for his w ork when he w orked on his own Qurasite genealogy.^
A ltogether, however, genealogy had little influence upon the forms
of Mushm historical writing. On a minor scale, it made some
contributions to the contents of histories, as will be explained.
p. n o ) . Cf. also p. 124 of the edition where Ibn M aym uii, who lived in the th irteenth cen tury,
is said to h ave rebuffed someone who wished to be entered in his M usajjar as a H asanid.
1
He was one of the authorities of Ibn al-F u w ati who quotes him freq u en tly in his Talhts
Majma'- al-dddb, IV , I, 104, 256, 2 91, 323, 330, 355, 385, 533, 577, IV , II, 94 8, 1 10 3 , 118 0 ,
cf. also IV , I I I , 550 J a w A d (Dam ascus 1962-65).
Ibn al-'A dim , Bugyat at-talab, Paris ms. ar. 2138, fol. 155b (Hfe of a l-A s'a t b. Qays).
^ Odyat al-ihtisdr, 5 ff. (B ulaq 13 10 ), cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 59 1. Th e passage is cited
in the in troduction to the edition, N a ja f 13 8 1/19 6 1, of Ibn <^Inabahs W m dat at-tdlib.
T aj-ad -d in w rote in the early eighth/fourteenth cen tury. He refers to a s- a fi'i as the alleged
in ven tor of the m usajjar b u t says th at he him self is undecided about its origins. A uthors
of musajjar works nam ed b y Taj-ad -d in are 'A b d -al-H am id b. 'A b d allah b. U sam ah a l-K u fi
and Ibn 'A b d -a s-S am i' al-H atib an-N assabah. T he la tte r is quoted as 'A b d -a s-S am i' b.
'A b d -as-S am ad al-H ashim i in Ibn al-F u w ati, T a M s Majma'^ al-dddb, IV , I I I , 12 J a w a d .
Cf. E . D. R o ss, The Genealogies of Fakhr-ud-din, Mubarak Shah, in A Volume of Oriental
Studies presented to E . G. Browne, 392-413 (Cambridge 1922). Cf. also Ibn I^Jalduns '^Ibar.

CH APTER FOUR

THE C O NTEN TS OF HISTORICAL WORKS

The elem entary forms of Muslim historiography were all developed
at a very early date. T h ey did not undergo any further developm ent
properly speaking during the whole course of Muslim historical
writing. No new forms of any consequence, w ith the very unimpor
tan t exception of poetical histories, were created. Developm ent in
M uslim historical w riting consisted of the m ixture of the different
historical forms and, in particular, of the incorporation of disciplines
th a t were not strictly historical into the fram ework of historiog
raphy. The varying emphasis which was placed upon the different
aspects of hum an intellectual endeavor considered w orthy of
preservation for posterity was the main cause of variations in
historical w riting in Islam.
I

GEN EALOGY

The interest in genealogy existed when Muslim historiography

came into being. Genealogical lore m ay have been put into writing
before history proper.^ The two subjects were recognized as being
different from each other. This fact is illustrated b y the story of
an encounter of az-Z u bayr b. B ak kar w ith Ishaq b. Ibrahim alMawsili. The latter teased az-Zubayr in a friendly w ay b y saying
th at az-Zubayr had w ritten a book on genealogy which, in fact,
was a book on history {ahbdr). A z-Z u b ayr retorted th at Ishaqs
Book on Songs, in fact, w as a book on the meanings of words and
things {ma'-dni).^ A t the same time, the story m akes it clear that
the close connection between genealogical and historical lore was
realized.
The practical im portance of genealogy has already been stressed.
The political interest in the Qurasites, the sectarian interest in
th e fam ily of Ali, the antiquarian interest in the A rab tribes,
1
Cf. s. D. F. G o i t e i n s introduction to his edition of al-B aladuri, Ansdb, V , 14-24
(Jerusalem 1936).
^ A l-H atib a l-B a g d ^ i, T B , V II I , 469.

100

T H E C O NTENTS OF H ISTO RICAL W O RK S

the pride of rulers and distinguished men in their ancestors, all this
never ceased and was instrum ental in the production of a steady
flow of books on these subjects. Similar works were w ritten on
animals, such as horses or pigeons, and, according to al-Jahiz,
were even m ore numerous than genealogical works dealing with
hum an beings.^ The animal books possessed m ainly philological
and lexicographical interest.
A s has been stated, genealogy influenced historical w riting on
a larger scale in the Ansdh w ork of al-Baladuri, whose contents
was exploited b y later historians such as Ibn al-Atir in his Kam il,
and in the genealogical literature of western Islam. Minor traces
of the great interest in genealogy are encountered everywhere in
M uslim historiography. W herever possible, long pedigrees are given.
There are lists of the w ives and children of rulers. The ethnic origin
of rulers is often discussed, as in the case of the D aylam ite Buyids,
the Mongol rulers, or the Berber dynasties in the W est. More im
portant than all this was the universal retention of the genealogical
view of hum an relations as the driving force in history and the fact
th at the prim itive interest in genealogy w as soon transform ed in
Islam into a deep concern w ith biography.
2 B IO G R A P H Y
The definition of history which guides us in our investigation ^
m akes allowance for biography as a part of historical literature. W e
m ay also refer to F. J a c o b y s great collection of the fragm ents of
Greek historians, which, as the author stated in his introduction,^
was intended to include both biography and geography. It would
therefore hardly be indicated, even if it were possible, to om it a
brief reference to these disciplines from a treatm ent of Muslim
historiography.
B iography w ould seem to be the most durable of all forms of
historical expression. In a sense, it preceded them, as we m ay
infer from the personal character of the royal inscriptions of the
ancient Near E ast. A nd a highly developed historical hterature
* A l-Jahiz, Kitdb al-Hayawdn, III , 64 f. (Cairo 1323-25).
* Cf. above, p. 10 and p. 17.
A m odern philosophers opinion concerning the relationship of history and b iograph y,
though h ard ly a v e ry helpful one from a practical point of view , is th at of W . D i l t h e y ,
Der Aufbau der geschichtlichen Welt in den Geisteswissenschaften, in his Gesammelte Schriften,
V II , 246 (Leipzig-B erlin 1927).
D ie Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, I, p. V (Berlin 1923).

BIOGRAPHY

lO I

alw ays shows a m arked tendency to revert to the biographical

aspect of it. In Rom an historical literature, for instance, the
influence of biography upon historiography became more and more
pronounced, while the sort of influence of historiography upon biog
raphy th at appears in T acitu s Agricola remained unique (sporadic ?
vereinzelt). ^ B iograph y had a share in Muslim historiography
from the very beginning, and it eventually achieved a dom inating
position in it. In the Muslim environment there are a number of
special reasons for th at. The biography of Muhammad constituted
the quarry from which the m aterials for the construction of the
m ighty edifice of Islam were derived. ^ The transmission of the
details of the P rophets life depended on individuals, and the
accep tability of w hat th ey transm itted hinged on the data of their
lives. The dogm atic struggle in Islam was to a large part waged
in the name of personalities and individual merits or demerits.
B iography thus becam e a necessary subject for theologians and gave
historians their greatest opportunity for being practically useful
and em ployable w ithin the social organization of Islam. The
w orldly connections of historians, on their part, also drew them
into biography. Caliphs and rulers and officials and the mass of the
educated found the best models of ethical behavior in the circum
stances of the lives of the great men of the past. W riting their
biographies and m aking history center around their lives, therefore,
satisfied the demands which th a t im portant group of readers of
historical works made upon the historian. In addition, all Muslims
shared in the firm conviction th at all pohtics w as the w ork of
individuals and understandable in the light of their personal quali
ties and experiences. In m any Muslim minds, history thus became
almost synonym ous w ith biography. Under the influence of theolo
gy, even the history of the various branches of learning was con
ceived as a collection of biographies of outstanding scholars. In
the histories of some of the sciences, as, for instance, medicine
or the com parative history of religion, pre-Islam ic medicine or
religions were accorded precedence in the presentation, but aside
^ F. L e o , D ie griechisch-rdmische Biographic, 234 (Leipzig rg o i).
^ One m ay, how ever, com pare C. H. B e c k e r s opinion concerning the origin of the
Si*ah (Islamstudien, I, 527, Leipzig 1924), in order to realize th at it is d oubtful w hether
the h istory of M uham m ads life was m ain ly responsible for the form ation of certain aspects
of theology and jurisprudence, or w hether those tw o disciplines were m ainly instrum ental
in creating the P roph ets biography.
As-Safadi, W aft, I, 55 R i t t e r , chose the right words to characterize the vastness of
the biographical literature which had developed in connection w ith the science of traditions.

102

TH E C O NTENTS OF HISTO RICAL W ORKS

from that, no other historical principle was applied. The bio

graphical arrangement predominated, or, as in the case of the
com parative history of religions, it was not the biographies of the
individuals but something similar, th at is, the dogm atic beliefs
of the sects, which determined the arrangement, and again no
chronological or historical principle. It m ay be added, however,
th at the biographical principle was appHed only in the large
monograph treatm ents of the history of science and learning. There
also existed very brief and incidental but tru ly historical surveys
of the developm ent of some branches of learning. ^
The form and contents of Muslim biographies varied considerably
according to the subject treated and the point of view from which
the author approached his subject. The one common element which
can be expected to be found in all biographies except in the oldest
times is the date of death of the subject of the biography. This
date was usually known or could be inferred. It was the fixed date
in a persons life. His date of birth, except in the cases of the well
born, and often not even then, was rarely known. A s a rule, it was
known only if it was supplied b y the subject himself; consequently,
its appearance presupposed the existence of an interest in biography
which, in turn, resulted from the existence of a very developed
biographical Hterature. The biographical interest and, w ith it,
the interest in the dates of birth existed since the beginnings of
Mushm scholarship, but it was only at the end of the tw elfth
century th at the point was reached where ad-Dahabi, in the History
of Islam, was able to indicate with a certain regularity the names
of those who were born in each particular y e a r . ^
It is the normal procedure of biographers to begin w ith the
birth of their subject and to conclude his biography with his death.
This is the usual order in Muslim biography. It is, for instance,
quite regularly found in the biographies of the History of Bagdad
b y al-H atib al-Bagdadi. Occasionally, the dates of birth and death
were m entioned next to each other in the beginning of the biog
raphy. This probably resulted from the fact that the knowledge of
^ Cf. F. R o s e n t h a l , The Technique and Approach o f M uslim Scholarship, 68 f. (Rome
1947, Analecta Orientalia, 24); idem, Al-Asturldbt and as-Samaw^al on Scientific Progress,
in Osiris, IX , 562 f. (1950).
E xcep tion al non-biographical histories of sciences, such as as-Sahaw is IHdn, were little
concerned w ith a n y historical arrangem ent or argum entation, b u t cf. also the studies
referred to above, p. 80, n. 2.
2
Cf. below, p. 149. For the percentages of the dates of birth and death in e arly bio
graph ical collections, cf. above, p. 14.

BIO G R A PH Y

103

the dates of death in general antedated th at of the dates of birth

and that historians were used to give biographical inform ation
about a person in connection w ith the year in which he died. In
the case of persons of notew orthy ancestry, a genealogical note,
sometimes in the form of a long excursus as in the biography of
Muhammad or in the biographies of rulers of foreign origin, m ay
m ake the beginning. A philological note as to the correct form of
the names of the subject m ay also find its occasional place in the
biography. The rest of the contents varied. E xcep t for occasional
instances from the biographies of rulers and politicians, the
external events of life received com paratively little attention.
In the case of theologians and scholars, it was the story of their
education, the teachers under whom th ey studied, the places they
visited, or the traditions th ey transm itted, th at occupied most of
the space. W ith poets and men of letters, the accent la y on the
interesting anecdotes of their careers and on their poetic and
literary achievem ents. Bibliographies of the published works of
scholars and scientists were quite regularly inserted near the end
of the biography, though, in the case of theological biographies,
the bibliographies were often greatly curtailed. A p retty general
feature of all kinds of biographies (almost as general as the reference
to the dates of death) were descriptions of ethical or intellectual
qualities. T h ey were either expressly stated or indicated b y
characteristic stories and anecdotes. The physical features were
also often mentioned.
The overwhelm ing m ajority of Muslim biographies were parts
of larger collections, th at is, exclusive collections of biographies,
historical works of the dynastic form, or annalistic works in which
biographical notices were inserted in connection w ith the year,
in which a particular individual had died. The length of those
biographies varied from a few lines to sometimes over a hundred
(printed) pages. As independent works, biographies were published
in steadily increasing numbers beginning w ith the biography of
Muhammad at the start of Muslim pubhshing activity. T he early
works on A lids such as al-H usayn and Z ayd b. 'A ll were, to
judge from their titles, m ainly concerned not w ith the biography
of their heroes but w ith a description of their m artyrdom , the
crowning and historically most significant event of their lives.
The same hesitation to accept early works w ith biographical titles
as full-fledged biographies would seem to be advisable in most

104

105

T H E CO N TE N TS OF H ISTO RICAL W O R K S

BIO G R A PH Y

cases. Y et, the titles which in the hst of al-M adainis books are
enumerated as works on individual Qurasites ^ probably contained
all the necessary elements of biographical monographs. 2 The desire
of rulers to see the memory of their deeds preserved for posterity
in the most durable form as yet devised b y m ankind resulted in
the composition of biographies w ritten at their instigation. How,
for instance, al-M utadid w atched over the preparation of his
official biography b y his friend T ab it b. Qurrah and the la tters son
Sinan, we are told b y the author, Sinan, himself. Although the fact
that such biographies were commissioned b y the rulers them selves
was no secret ,3 th at particular biography was to appear in an
entirely unofficial form, nam ely, as an epistle w ritten b y the
author to a friend upon the latters request.^
The dividing line between the biography of a ruler or statesm an
and an authors memoirs of his time is often not clearly definable. A
w ork such as Ibn Saddads an-Nawddir as-sultdniyah wa-l-mahdsin
al-Yusufiyah can on the one hand be considered a w ork of memoirs,
but it also is a true biography of Salah-ad-din. A lthough other
Muslim rulers in great periods of history were the subjects of
similar im portant works, Ibn Saddads Nawddir is the outstanding
exam ple of its type. O nly the first tenth of the w ork is devoted to
the early biography of Salah-ad-din. He is depicted as the ideal
Muslim ruler in a rather unrealistic fashion, but then, throughout
the long narrative of his wars up to his death, w ith all the pedantic
if useful data and details, he remains in the center of action, and
his hum an personality conveys itself to the reader w ith sufficient
clarity. The outstanding historical character of Ibn S ad d ad s
biographical w ork becomes especially clear if it is compared w ith
later products, such as, for instance, the biography of the E gyp tian
ruler al-M uayyad, entitled as-Sayf al-muhannad f t ta^rlh al-M alik
al-M u'ayyad, b y the famed historian al-'A yni. In order to build
up the proper background for his subject, al-A yn i starts w ith the
distribution of m ankind and describes the Turkish and Circassian
tribes and al-M u a y y a d s fam ily descent. Curiosities, such as the
excellence of the persons who bore the same names as al-M ua yy a d ,

the significance of his being the ninth Turkish ruler in E gyp t,

and the significance of the date of his accession, together w ith
a description of al-Mu a y y a d s qualifications as a ruler, m ake up
a large part of the work. Then, there follows an annahstic presen
tation of the events th at occurred during al-Mua y y a d s rule.
The whole is m erely a conglom eration of often very insignificant
facts which are not held together b y any attem pt at biographical or
historical characterization. i The unsatisfactory result m ay be due
less to the inability of the historian than to the irrelevance of the
subject, but it remains an unfortunate fact that works of this type
were more frequently w ritten than works such as the biography of
Salah-ad-din. 2
Another group of biographies date back to a very early period
of Muslim literature, but th ey actually need not be considered here.
These are the biographies of poets. A s their title as a rule would
indicate, th ey are ahhdr, th at is, collections of anecdotes centering
around the poems of a particular poet. Thus, th ey are no biographies

' Fihrist, 148 (Cairo 1348 = l o i F lx ig e l) .

^Awanahs Biography of Mu^dwiyah and the Umayyads was rather in the nature of
a historical collection of U m ayyad biographies, see above, p. 89 f.
^ For the case of al-Mu^tadid, cf. C. L a n g , MuHadid als Prin z und Regent, ein historisches
Heldendicht von Ibn el MuHazz in Z D M G , X L , 593 (1886).
Cf. above, p. 48, n. 4. F or the docum entary b iograph y of a politician, cf. below, p. 120.
n. 2.

in the historical sense of the term.

The biographers of scholars turned to the monograph form no
later than the tenth century. A personal acquaintance of A bu
Z a y d al-Balhi, for instance, a certain al-Hasan b. Muhammad alW azin , w rote a book on the events [ahhdr) of A bu Z a y d s life.
This book mentioned conventional traits such as the physical
appearance of A bii Zayd, but also included such psychological
insights as the great scholars deep love for his home town. In
the biographies of scholars and m ystics, Muslim m onograph biog
raphy even tually achieved its ultim ate development, even if in
the process, it lost nearly all the stylistic brilliance and powers of
characterization which were in such a large measure possessed b y
tenth-century biographers such as al-W aziri and, especially, A bu
H ayyan at-Tawhidi. It took several centuries for the art of w riting
m onograph biographies of scholars and saints to develop beyond
the collection of chance episodes tow ard an attem pt to present a
^ I used the Paris ms. ar. 1723 of the work.
2 Th e A rab ic T a M h al-6dzdnt b y Fadlallah Rasid-ad-din (d. 718/1318) is a fam ily
h istory according to the sam e plan, dealing with Jingizhan and his fam ily. It w as provided
w ith such attraction s as pictures of the Mongol Hans (see below, p. 176, n. i), b u t in spite
of his proven a b ility as a historian, the author was unable to m aster his m aterial in this
case. I consulted the Phot. Cairo Ta^'rih 1889. For editions of the original Persian te x t,
cf. below , p. 148, n. i.
3 Y a q u t, IrSdd, III , 71 and 69 (Cairo = I, 147 and 144 M a r g o l i o u t h ). Although he does
n ot say so expressly, Y a q u t appears to be indebted to al-W aziri (whom he quotes indirectly)
also for the la tter passage.

io 6

107

TH E CONTENTS OF H ISTO RICAL W ORKS

G EO G R A PH Y A N D COSM OGRAPHY

coherent picture of a persons life and achievements. A splendid

exam ple of the perfection finally reached and of the glaring short
comings never overcome is as-Sahaw is long biography of his
teacher Ibn Hajar.^ It is a well organized and very com plete recital
of the outward course of Ibn H ajars hfe and of his scholarly
accomplishments, but it lacks any trace of psychological penetration
and m akes no attem pt to place the hfe of the individual in the
proper historical setting.

On the part of the historians, there were obvious points of contact

w ith geography. Soon, geographical data which occurred in the
biography of M uhammad were no longer generally understood
and required an explanation. The widening of the geographical
horizon as the result of the Muslim conquests also directed the
historians attention to geography. Occasional explanations of a
geographical nature can be found, for instance, in early works such
as al-Baladuris Conquests of the Regions} The need for clarification
of geographical data proved an effective stim ulant for the develop
ment of Mushm geography and to a large degree determined its
course, but it did not affect historiography in an y appreciable
measure. The conquest literature, of which al-Baladuri was a
representative, offered m any opportunities for going into geo
graphical questions, but no consistent effort was made in this
direction. Occasionally, later authors of conquest works, such as
the fifteenth-century a l-B iq a i, in his Ahbdr al-jildd f i futuh albildd,^ can be found quoting a geographical work.
Another more effective inroad of geography into historiography
cam e through the medium of local histories.^ As a rule, local
histories were concerned w ith topographical details, buildings,
monuments, and antiquities, but with men like Ibn a l-Adim ,
whose History of Aleppo contains a special book on the geography
of northern Syria, Ibn S a d d M (d. 684/1285, not the biographer of
Salah-ad-din), who wrote the history of northern Syria and
Mesopotamia according to their regional divisions, and the historians
of E gyp t, local histories became valuable as geographical textbooks.
The hterature of the B eginning, th at is, the description of the
creation of the world, was even more significant for the future
com bination of both geography and cosm ography with history.
Originally, discussions of the Beginning were based entirely upon
tradition and not at all prepared for the admission of scientific
infoim ation. B u t when the age of the geographer-historian arrived,
the traditional story of the creation of the world provided him with
an entering wedge. This happened at the end of the ninth and
the beginning of the tenth century.
The author who to our knowledge was the first to combine

3 G E O G R A P H Y A N D C O SM O G R A P H Y
Much less im portant than the contribution of biography to histo
riography but not entirely insignificant w as that of geography. 2
The historian and geographer al-Y a 'q u b i describes how he collected
m aterial for his geographical work. He travelled extensively and
asked everybody he met for inform ation about his particular
country. He wrote down what his inform ants told him and took
notes on the history of the (Muslim) conquests as well as the ad
m inistrative and economic history and present situation of each
region.^ Other contem porary authors of geographical works, under
the continued influence of the spirit of classical A n tiq uity, no doubt
proceeded sim ilarly in the collection of m aterial which th ey were
not able to find in the w ritten sources. Alm ost every geographical
w ork contains at least some historical data. Descriptions of lesser
known regions, such as the tenth-century History {ahbdr) of the
Nubians b y A bdallah b. Ahm ad b. Sulaym al-Aswani,^ probably
contained as m uch historical inform ation as their authors were able
to get hold of. The historical interest of geographers persisted, or
rather increased, when geography, in the wake of the rapid develop
ment of Muslim civihzation, was codified in large reference works
th at were arranged alphabetically according to geographical names.
B y then, it was the biographical aspect of Muslim historiography
and the theological interest in the correct form of the gentilics of
religious scholars which affected geographers. The geographical
dictionary of Y a q iit seldom fails to include short biographies of the
most distinguished individuals born in a particular locality.
Cf. below, p. 455.
F or the historians w ho concerned them selves with geography, cf. the great posthum ous
w ork b y I. Y . K r a c h k o v s k y , Arabskaya Geographicheskaya Literatura, in his Izbrann ie
Sochineniya, IV (M oscow-Leniugrad 1957).
^ Kitdb al-Bulddn, 232 D e G o e j e (Leiden 1892, Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum, 7).
* Cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 410. Cf. also M . M . M u s ' a d , al-Isldm wa-n-Nubah (Cairo i960).

' H ow ever, it is not on account of the geographical interest of al-B aladuri th at his w ork
w as exten sively quoted in Y a q u t s Mu'-jam (cf. F. J. H e e r , D ie historischen und geographischen Quellen in Jdqut's Geographischem Worterbuch, 4 5 -87, Strassburg 1898).
^ I consulted the Paris ms. ar. 5862, a modern copy.
* Cf. below, p. 150 ff.

io 8

TH E C O NTENTS OF H ISTO RICAL W ORKS

history and scientific geography in the grand style was al-Mas"udi.

A l-Y a 'q u b i had still kept his geographical and historical works
separate. A l-M asudi, on the other hand, before going into the
historical narrative in his history, described the form of the earth,
the cities, the notew orthy geographical phenomena, the oceans,
mountains, rivers, islands, lakes, buildings, the physical trans
formations which the earth had undergone, and similar topics.i
According to the famous passage in the Tanbih, in which alM as'udi described the historical works b y Christian authors know n
to him, it would seem that the same combination of geography and
history was practiced by contem porary and earher Christians. ^
Agapius (Mahbub) b. Qustantin al-M anbiji indeed has a thorough
geographical chapter in his world history. However, al-M asudis
description of the Christian works is obviously influenced b y his
own concept of w hat a historical w ork should be like, and should
not be interpreted too hterally. Y et, it serves as a reminder th at
(Graeco-) Syrian Christian scholarship contributed much to the
developm ent of the scientific attitude in Islam which al-M asudi
applied to history.
In the opening chapter of the M uruj, which deals with the be
ginnings and cosmography and geography, al-M asudi also made it
quite clear b y implication th at he was approaching a scientific
subject which m ight even be in contradiction to the religious
precepts of Islam.^ Al-M asudis exam ple was not able to sw ay the
authors who followed the historical tradition of at-Tabari, such as
M iskawayh, Ibn al-Atir, and, presum ably, the continuators of atTabari, although even among them there was the one or the other
who would consider geographical works [ahhdr al-hulddn) as form ing
a special group of sources to be used b y the historian.^ In general,
Th e M uru j is the on ly preserved w ork of al-M as'udi, in which we find the com bination
of geography and h istory. According to the introduction of the M uruj, al-M as'udis Ahbdr
az-zamdn contained geographical inform ation of the character described. The published
Ahbdr az-zamdn (Cairo 1357) which is preserved in m an y m anuscripts under the nam e of
al-Mas'^udi, does in fact contain geographical inform ation b u t apart from the alleged
h istory of the Pharaohs, has no other historical inform ation. Cf. the references to the w ork
in al-M as'ud is Tanbih.
^ Al-Mas^udi Tanbih, 154 f. D e G o e j e (Leiden 1894, Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum, 8), cf., especially, the reference to the M aronite historian w ho w rote under al-M uktafi
(289-95/902-8).
For A gapius, cf. also G . G r a f , Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatnr, II, 39-41
(Citta del V atican o 1947, Studi e Testi, 133).
M uruj I, 54 f. Paris ed. = I, 17 (Cairo 1346).
*
M iskaw ayh, Tajdrib al-umam, introduction, I, i C a e t a n i (Leiden-London 1909,
E . J . W. Gibb M em. Series, 7).

G EO G R A PH Y

AND

COSM OGRAPHY

109

however, wherever the first part of their works is preserved so that

we are in the position to form an opinion,^ the later world historians
followed the w ay al-M as'udi had shown them. It is also not surprising
to see th at a similar use of geographical knowledge was made in
the tenth-century Beginning and History of al-Mutahhar. Ibn
al-Jaw zi's Muntazam contained geographical inform ation as we
know from the Muntazam s abridgm ent, Sudur al-^uqud.^ T he Sibt
Ibn al-Jaw zis Mir^dt az-zamdn which made frequent use of alM asudi can be assumed to have also borrowed his geographical
d i s c u s s i o n . 2a The scientific spirit once aroused showed itself aston
ishingly hardy and not easily subdued b y theology. It is only
necessary to read the brief chapter on rivers and oceans in the
beginning of Ibn K a tir s Biddyah,^ in order to realize how m uch
this chapter, w ith its references to Ibn Sina and Ptolem y, deviates
from the traditional description of the creation of the world that
surrounds it. Before Ibn K atir, Ibn ad-Dawadari, in the K anz
ad-durar, and after him a l-A yn i, in the 'Iqd al-jumdn, and alMaqrizi, in al-Habar ^an al-basar, offer good exam ples for the per
sistence of the scientific geographical introduction of world histories.
Of special interest is the extension of the cosm ographical remarks to
the description of the planets, fixed stars, the other heavenly bodies,
and the atmospheric phenomena which we still find in the ''Iqd
al-jumdn.^
It should not be left unnoticed th at the appearance of geographers-historians such as al-M as'udi in their tim e was not due
to chance. Readers of a l- Y a qubis introductory words in his
Geography will be reminded of the traveling seekers after knowledge,
IcTopiT], such as H ekataeus and Herodotus, and of the close con
nection of the beginnings of Greek historiography w ith geography
and the interest in foreign peoples and countries. Muslim scholars
of the ninth and tenth centuries naturally were not aware of these
historical circumstances, b ut th ey were m otivated b y a parallel
W hen a Persian author of the tw elfth cen tury, who w rote in the chronographical
tradition of H am zah al-Isfahani, fe lt the need for im parting som e inform ation about
geography and holy topography, he sim ply added th at inform ation at the end of his work,
cf. the M u jm il at-tawdrih, according to J. M o h l , in J A , III, 11, 144 (1841).
^ Cf. below , p. 144.
I failed to ascertain w hether this is so when I stu died the Istan bu l m anuscript of
the w ork.
I, 22 ff.
Ms. Cairo T a rih 71 m, p. 12 ff.
A table of contents of the ^Iqd is in O. S p i e s , Beitrage zur arabischen Literaturgeschichte,
91 ff. (Leipzig 1932, A K M , X I X , 3).

III

T H E C O NTENTS OF H ISTO RICAL W ORKS

ASTROLOGY

intellectu al situation. The transmission of Greek science, and, in

this particular case, Graeco-Rom an geography inspired the Mushms
w ith the same desire to see for them selves and to widen their own
political horizon b y learning about foreign peoples which anim ated
the Ionian scholars of over thirteen hundred years ago. In ninthcen tu ry Islam, in contrast to early Greece, there already existed a
h igh ly developed historiography, and it was, therefore, hardly
possible for an entirely new form of historiography to arise out
of the new spirit. Geography loosely attached itself to the existing
forms of historiography in the manner described. It need hardly
be said th at in general, history and geography remained, and were
felt to be separate sciences in their own right,^ even if the one or
the other author of a geographical compilation would consider the
adm ixture of historical and otherwise entertaining m aterial in his
w ork as decisive for its value as a literary product.^

or a constellation possessed particular historical significance.^

Y e t, the scientific curiosity of the historians of the ninth and tenth
centuries did not entirely by-pass this m uch disputed branch of
knowledge. Thus, we fm d a l-Y a qubi indicating the astrological
constellation th at existed at the beginning of each reign,^ and
later local histories sometimes indicate the astrological constellation
w hich prevailed at the founding of a given city.^
Astrologers, on their part, were very much interested at th at tim e
in cultural and historical inform ation about the past. Such inform a
tion m ay have occasionally been contained in some of the ninth
an d tenth-century works on nativities published under the title
of Tahwil sini al-^dlam {al-mawdlid) R evolution of the years of the
world (nativities), ^ which, however, were principally concerned
w ith the annual occurrences of famine and disease, etc. W e know
as a fact th at m uch historical m aterial was contained in the Kitdb
al-U lu f of A bu M a'sar, which was, therefore, used b y the historians
al-M asudi and H am zah al-Isfahani.
Astrologers, according to the Ihw an as-safa , ought to have a
good knowledge of dates [ta^nhdt).^ And, for the same authors,
the a ctiv ity of the astrologers {munajjimun) has bearing upon
seven points, which read like the listing of the contents of an annahstic history. These seven points concern i) the religious groups
[milal) and dynasties, 2) the transfer of power {mamlakah) from one
nation to the other or from one country to the other, 3) the changes
of individual rulers and the wars and disturbances which take place
in connection w ith that, 4) the events th at take place each year.

n o

4 A S T R O L O G Y
A strology, w ith its ephemeral or long-range predictions, exercised
a greater influence on m edieval history than on m edieval historiog
raphy. Historians, true to their vocation of reporting the past,
adopted the calculations of the astronomers concerning the age of
the world and pre-Islamic history.^ In this manner, a considerable
am ount of im portant historical m aterial became available to
early Muslim historians. However, th ey paid little attention to
astrological predictions, except when th ey were able to call a t
tention to the curious coincidence th at a prediction had materialized^
1
Cf. al-M arrakusi, Mu'-jib, 252 D o z y (Leiden 1847, 1881); trans A. H u ic i M i r a n d a ,
Coleccidn de crdnicas drabes de la reconquista, IV , 285 (Tetuan 1955), quoted b y J. H.
K r a m e r s , article D iu shrd fivd . in the Supplem ent V olum e of the E l .
^ Cf. the introduction of the fifteen th -cen tu ry Rawd al-miHdr, ed. . L ^ v i - P r o v e n ^ a l ,
La Peninsule Iberique au Moyen-Age, X I X , te xt h (Leiden 1938).
C f., fo r in s ta n c e , th e History o f H a m z a h a l-Is fa h a n i. H a m z a h s a y s t h a t fo r th e h is to r y
o f th e C o p ts h is o n ly so u rce o f in fo rm a tio n w a s th e zijdt (I, 82 G o t t w a l d t , S t . P e te rs b u rg L e ip z ig 1844-48). F o r th e ztj lite ra tu re in g en era l, cf. E . S . K e n n e d y , A Survey of Islam ic
Astronomical Tables, in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, N .S . X L V I ,
12 3 -7 7 (1956). F o r th e c a le n d a rs fro m a s tro lo g ic a l w o rk s as a so u rce o f O tto m a n h is to ric a l
w r itin g , cf. H . I n a l c i k an d V . L . M e n a g e , in B . L e w i s a n d P . M. H o l t , Historians of the
M iddle East, 15 7 f., 1 7 0 f.

*
'A li b. Y a h y a al-M unajjim once read to al-M utaw akkil from a book on predictions
(maldhim) and cam e to a passage th at said th at the tenth caliph would be killed in his
reception hall. A l-M utaw akkil did not refer the prediction to himself b u t it was fulfilled
through him, cf. at-Tabari, Ta^rih, III, 1463 D e G o e j e and others, anno 247. Sim ilar stories,
as well as success stories predicted b y astrology, are v e ry frequent. H am zah al-Isfahani,
History, I, 191 G o t t w a l d t , noted the occurrence of a drought instead of the predicted
deluge. Cf. also at-T ab ari, T a M h , III, 1364.
Predictions concerning the duration of Islam were accepted into al-M utahhars Beginning

and History, II, 155 ff. H u a r t (Paris 1899-1919, Publ. de l cole des langues or. viv., IV e
Serie, V ol. 16-18, 21-23), and H am zah al-Isfah an is History, I, 153-55Cf. M iskaw ayh, Tajdrib al-umam, in D. S. M a r g o l i o u t h and H . F. A m e d r o z , The
Eclipse of the ^Abbasid Caliphate, II, 239 f. (Oxford 1920-21).
^ Cf. above, p. 87, and b elow ,p . i3 3 f. Cf. also Ibn M uyassar, Annates dgypte, 34 M a s s ^;
(Cairo 1919). A strological d ata for the accession of caliphs are also to be found in astrological
treatises such as those ascribed to a l-B a ttan i and the Indian K an kalah (Ms. Ism ail Saib
[Ankara] 1/199, fols. 27a-77a). Cf., in particular, D. P i n g r e e , Historical Horoscopes, in
J A O S , L X X X I I , 487-502 (1962).
^ Cf. Ibn as-Sihnah, ad-Durr al-muntahab f t taM h mamlakat Halab, 19 (Beirut 1909),
follow ing Ibn Saddad, al-AHdq al-hattrah, who, in turn, quotes an ancient b ook which
speaks about the decipherm ent of a G reek inscription givin g the horoscope of Aleppo. Cf.
also below, p. 125.
^ Cf. F ihrist, 382-87 (Cairo 1348 213-17 FLtioEL).
^ Cf. J. L i p p e r t , Abu Ma^sar's Kitdb al-U luf, in W Z K M , I X , 351-58 (1895); H am zah
al-Isfahani, History, I, 79 f. G o t t w a l d t . For the Kitdb al-U luf, cf. also Ibn Ju lju ls Tabaqdt
al-atibbd^, and above, p. 78, n. 4.
RasdHl Ihwan as-safd^, IV , 364 (Cairo 1347/1928). Ashdb at-tawdrth means astrologers
in the Arabian Nights, I, 108 M a c n a g h t e n . For astrology and h istory in China and m edieval
E urope, cf. H . F r a n k e , in Oriens, III , 117 (1950)-

112

113

TH E C O NTENTS OF H ISTO RICAL W ORKS

P H IL O SO PH Y

nam ely, rising and falling prices, fertility and sterility, pestilence,
death, and drought, diseases and illnesses, and accidents and safety
(well-being), 5) the daily events, m onth b y m onth and d ay b y day,
6) the nativities of each hum an being, and 7) the indication of
obscure details, such as concealed or stolen objects, as well as the
discovery of secret m atters and of answers to queries on the basis
of horoscopes. 1 Thus, astrologers were concerned w ith everything
th at was of interest to historians, and a little more.
T h ey also knew the value of historical knowledge as a convincing
background for their predictions of the future. W hen a certain
DaniyM i, who was so named because he was a speciaUst in predic
tions ascribed to the biblical Daniel, was asked for his help in ef
fecting the appointm ent of a pohtician to the w azirate, he forged a
book in the name of Daniel which cryp tically referred to events of the
past and to things which had not y e t happened.^ Thus, apparently,
when D aniels predictions concerning things th at had happened in
the m eantim e were found to be true, the other predictions were
accepted w ith greater confidence.
On the other hand, there w as the argument from history against
the valid ity of the claim s of astrologers. A s Ibn H azm put it, em
pirical confirm ation of the possible soundness of astrology requires a
continuity of astronom ical observations far beyond the life span of
individuals and even nations. The m ost remote historical in
form ation available comes from the Torah, and it does not go back
more than 3000 years . . . . Of Persian history, w e have ample and
well-documented inform ation only from Sasanian times, and this
means, for less than a thousand years. The same applies to Greek
{Rum) history. Today, there is no trace left of the history of the
Copts, the Syrians, the Edomites, the Amm onites, the M oabites,
and all the other n a tio n s . . . . A bout the Indians and the Chinese
we do not have as much inform ation as we might wish. T h ey m ay
possess a store of ancient astronom ical observations, for their
realms h ave lasted unscathed through the ages. It is true th a t the
Chinese are craftsm en and not at all interested in the sciences, but
there m a y be astronomical observations preserved in India. If this

should not be the case, we can be certain th at such observations

do not exist anywhere in the w orld. ^
In such small w ays, astrology came into contact w ith historiogra
p h y, w ith the result of some minor give-and-take between
these two different approaches of man in his quest for the under

^ op.

cit., I l l , 258. Cf. also above, p. 34, n. 4.

^ Cf. Ibn a l-A tir, Kam il, V I I I , 85 f., anno 319 (Cairo 1301 ). M iskaw ayh, in H . F. A m e d r o z
and D . S. M a r g o l i o u t h , The E clipse of the ^Abbasid Caliphate, I, 2 15-17 (Oxford 1920),
som ew hat differs in the relevan t details. Cf. also Ibn Ila ld u n s chapter on astrology and
h istory (Muqaddimah, II, 176 ff. Paris).

standing of the world.

5 P H IL O S O P H Y
Philosophy, more than any of the previously mentioned disciplines,
would have been in a position to solve the great problems of history,
but it was never effectively used b y Muslim historians for this
purpose. The basic question of the reliability of historical inform ation
and its relationship to reahty, th at is, the question of w hat con
stitutes historical truth, troubled the historians (above, p. 60), but
true to their determ ination of reporting facts, th ey do not speak
m uch about it in historical works. Religious scholars who were
also historians, such as the H atib al-Bagdadi, ^ discussed the
problem inasmuch as it concerned Muslim law and theology and
al-Iji, finally, placed it in the center of the m ethodology of histo
riography. Ibn H aldun was more reticent and looked at it not from
a philosophical or religious but rather a pragm atic point oi view.
According to him, the historian needs a diversified knowledge and
good judgm ent, if he w ants to avoid errors, since historical infor
m ation as handed down is often m isleading unless it is checked against
the general background of custom, politics, and social science and
compared w ith other parallel and better known material.^ A reflex of
Muslim speculation on the reliability of historical reporting again
appears in J. B o d i n s M ethodus; . . . the Turks, who are said to have
no m emory for an tiq uity and to have abandoned interest in it
because th ey believe th at a reliable account cannot be written b y
men who foUow hearsay, much less b y writers who were present or
1 Cf. Ibn H azm , Mardtib al-'^ulum, in RasdHl Ibn Hazm, 69 I h s a n ^Abbas (Cairo n .y.
[1954]). Cf. also his Risdlah f t muddwdt an-nufus, ibid., 169, on the p a u city of the available

knowledge from pre-lslam ic times.

Th e argum ent from h istory is also b riefly referred to b y Ibn Q ayyim al-Jaw ziyah, M iftdh
ddr as-sa^ddah, II, 134 (Cairo n .y.).
2 Cf. his Kifdyah, 16 ff. (H yderabad 1357). Cf. also al-Biruni, India, trans. E . S a c h a u ,
1 , 3 f. (London 1910), and id., al-Atdr al-bdqiyah, 8I19, 8219ff. S a c h a u (Leipzig 1878, 1923),
a n d the rem arks in F. R o s e n t h a l , The Technique and Approach of M uslim Scholarship,
57-59 (Rome 1947, Analecta Orientalia, 24).
^ Ibn H aldun Muqaddimah, I, 8 f. Paris. For a philosophers view on historiography,
cf. also above, p. 37 f.
R o se n th a l,

History of Muslim Historiography

115

TH E C O NTENTS OF HISTO RICAL W ORKS

POLITICAL A N D SOCIAL SC IE N C E

had comm and of events, since th ey Ue about themselves in m any

respects or are influenced to deviate from the truth b y fear, or
bribes, or hate of princes. ^
Popular wisdom of the fiirstenspiegel typ e came to Muslim his
torians together w ith Persian historiography.^ Biographical w orks in
the classical tradition were filled w ith popular philosophy ex
pressed in wise sayings. Speaking about A lexander and his death,
authors, such as a t-T a Mibi in the Gurar,^ did not leave aside
the philosophical embroidery which had alw ays belonged to the
Alexander novel. Wise sayings often constituted an im portant part
of biographies to be found in historical works. A nd popular philo
sophical themes, such as the b revity of life and the short duration
of w orldly glory, were considered b y Muslims as constituting one
of the keynotes of historical investigation.
The inclusion of Greek and Indian history into world histories in
the ninth century was accompanied b y references to Greek and
Indian philosophical ideas. The same period also saw some attem pts
to give philosophy a special and distinguished position in the
treatm ent of history. The History of Sinan b. Tabit, which, it is
true, appears to have been largely biographical, was introduced,
we are told, b y a discussion of Platonic ethics and politics.^ T he
closest approach to subordinating history to philosophy, at least
superficially, was made b y al-M utahhar b. Tah ir al-Maqdisi in the
Bad"" wa-t-ta'nh which he wrote in 355/966. The introductory
chapter of the Beginning and History contains a theoretical discus
sion of knowledge and the intellect and thus shows the authors in
tention to view the whole universe and its history under the aspect
of philosophy. In the course of the w ork which follows the ordinary
arrangement from the creation of the world to M uhammad and his
history, the men around him and the dynastic history of the U m ayyads and Abbasids, he stresses such subjects as the attributes

of the Creator, the cultural and philosophical significance of the preIslam ic rehgions, and the dogm atic differences between Muslim
sects, and tries to convey wherever possible scientific and philo
sophical information. However, he does not in the least succeed
in creating an integrated picture of history as a function of intellec
tual processes. The philosophical remarks are, one m ight say, purple
patches pasted almost at random to various sections of the work,
but it remains for us to acknowledge the authors genuine desire
to effect a union of philosophy in the widest sense with history.
U nfortunately, to our knowledge, he found no successor who m ight
have intensified and deepened the inquiry into history in his spirit.^

114

1
Method for the E asy Comprehension of History, traus. R . R e y n o l d s , 42 (New Y o rk
1945). The author m ay have ascribed to the T u rk s w hat he hesitated to say about his
own, environm ent.
^ Cf. G. R i c h t e r , Studien zur Geschichte der dlteren arabischen Fiirstenspiegel (Leipzig 1932,
Leipziger Semitistische Studien, N .F ., 3), for instance, p. 54 f. B ut cf. also above, p. 74, and
below, p. 115, II. 2.
^ Cf. F . R o s e n t h a l , i n O LZ , X L , c o l . 6 2 7 (1 9 3 7 ) .
*
Histoire des rois des Perses {Ourar), ed. Zotenberg (Paris 1900); traiis. F. R o s e n t h a l ,
Das Fortleben der A ntike im Islam , 168 ff. (Z iirieh -Stuttgart 1965).
^ Cf. above, p. 88, 11. i.
The title Dahd^ir al-'^ulum wa-md kdn f i sd lif ad-duhur of a work b y al-MasH'idi suggests
a content sim ilar to th at of the Beginning and History.

6 P O L IT IC A L A N D SO C IA L S C IE N C E
Mushm political science drew quite extensively on the Persian
fiirstenspiegel literature ^ and on certain aspects of Greek ethics.
In this manner, as has just been pointed out, it came into some
contact w ith historiography. It also was instrum ental in shaping
the ideal picture of the Muslim ruler, as exemplified in biographical
works or in the alw ays popular literature of the mandqih or faddSl,
the political and moral virtues of rulers, especially, the early rulers
of Islam. Short excerpts from the Persian fiirstenspiegel literature
were considered a suitable introduction to a historical w ork already
b y al-Jahsiyari in the first half of the tenth century. A com plete
fiirstenspiegel was prefixed b y Ibn at-T iqtaqa to his Fahri in the
late thirteenth century; his description of the ideal Muslim ruler
was enlivened b y a few examples derived from personal experience.
In the early years of the same century, Ibn Isfandiyar added a
fiirstenspiegel to his History of Tabaristdn, owing to special circum
stances th at made such an addition seem most appropriate.^ The
fiirstenspiegel literature, in turn, absorbed a good deal of historical
information, and, at one time, reached the point where summaries
of Mushm history were included in fiirstenspiegeh^ However, the
^ Cf. also Abd-al-Jabbars historical poem, below, p. 184.
^ There is considerable doubt as to how genuinely Persian this literature a ctu a lly is.
Muslim scholars considered it as being of Persian origin since at least the eighth century,
and w h atever its u ltim ate origin, it evid en tly reached them through Persian, interm ediaries.
^ The fiirstenspiegel was in the form of a lett(>r addressed t(.> the king of Tabaristan. It was
translated b y J. D a r m e s t e t e r , in ] A , IX , 3, 185-250 and 502-55 (1894).
^ Th e only work I can m ention in this connection is one referred to b y G A L , II, 446,
which dates from the year 936/1529. There presum ably e.\isted earlier ones.

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PO LITICAL A N D SOCIAL SC IE N C E

essential aspects of the Muslim theory of the state and its political
constitution were associated w ith legal practice and theological
speculation. The events upon which the Muslim theory of caliphal
succession was based were mentioned in historical works, but th ey
were not subjected to any theoretical scrutiny. Political science
as a m atter of theoretical speculation did not enter Muslim historiog
raphy until Ibn Haldun.
Social science was represented in Islam b y Greek economics.
It was either dealt w ith in m onograph works of Greek origin or
incorporated in encyclopedias. ^ Some of these encyclopedias
also had sections on history, but no connection was made betw een
the treatm ent of history and th at of social science. Financial and
taxation m atters were often treated b y historians as im portant
events. The history and changes of coinage found wide attention
among them.^ The historical value of economic statistics was recog
nized, and such statistics were occasionally taken over into historical
works, especially secular local histories, such as the ninth-century
histories of B agdad and late Persian or E gyp tian secular local
histories.^ Their proper place, however, was in the literature on
adm inistration, the works on the land-tax {hardj) and on govern
ment adm inistration such as Ibn M amm M is Qawdnin ad-dawdwin.'^
It is in this typ e of literature th at we find, in the tenth century, a
rem arkable instance of the penetration of historical and social
thinking into Muslim economic theory, the hardj w ork of Qudamah
b. J a far. In contrast to the older hardj works of Judge A bu Y u su f
and Y a h y a b. Adam , or the w ork on financial adm inistration
{Kitdb al-A mwdl) b y A bu U b ayd b. Sallam, Qudamah has a special,
long chapter on the history of the Muslim conquests. The conquests

furnished the legal basis for the Muslim system of taxation, and
wherever necessary the evidence of the conquests was adduced
b y authors dealing w ith the problems of taxation. However, the
integral treatm ent of the conquests within a hardj work was a different
proposition. In the case of Qudamah, it clearly m eant th a t he in
tended to widen the historical basis of the discussion of taxation
through a process of am algam ation quite similar to th a t which,
for instance, led to the com bination of geography and historiog
raphy at about the same time. Qudamah not only added a chapter
on the conquests, but he also included a fiirstenspiegel in his w ork
(ch. 8, par. 9) containing all the traditional inform ation on Aristotle,
Alexander, Anusarwan, etc. He furthermore included a system atic
presentation of social and political science (ch. 8). In this connection,
he speaks about the reasons w hy human beings need food, clothing,
sexual intercourse, cities w ith their social organization, money,
an d kings and leaders who m ust have specific quahfications, follow
a specific policy, and be provided wHh a specific group of political
advisers.^
There was no direct road leading from Qudam ah in the tenth
century to Ibn H aldiin in the last quarter of the fourteenth century.
Ib n H aldun was the first to attem pt the utihzation of those com
bined disciplines in the service of historiography. His great w ork
w as m uch admired and dihgently studied b y later generations,
especially among Turkish statesm en and scholars. Ibn H aldun also
appears to have sparked the historical renaissance in fifteenthcentury E gyp t. However, he found no true successor among Mushm
historians to take up his line of investigation. The search for an
im m ediate model of Ibn H aldiins thought has so far remained
u n s u c c e s s f u l . 2 The possibility remains th at in the N orthwest A frican
and Spanish environment, ideas such as his were discussed before
him in some rudim entary fashion. However, his fundam ental origi
n ality would seem incontestable. There is his own strong pronounce
ment as to the originality of his work, whose sincerity is supported
b y an evident display of modesty.^ W e also have no reason to distrust

1 Cf. M. P l e s s n e r , Der O IK O N O M IK O S des Nenpythagoreers Bryson und sein E in flu ss a u f die islamische Wissenschaft (H eidelberg 1928, Orient und Antike, 5).
2 For instance, the introduction of Muslim coinage under ^Abd-al-Malik, or the chapter
on m intage in an-N arsahi, History of Buhdrd, 34-36 S c h e f e r (Paris 1892, Publ. del'E cole des
langues or. viv., I l l , 13); trans. R. N. F r y e , 35-37 (Cambridge, Mass., 1954)^ Cf. F. R o s e n t h a l , Ahm ad b. at-Tayyib as-Sarahsi, 80 (New H aven 1943, American
Oriental Series, 26). Cf. also the lists of revenues in Ibn Isfandiyar, History of Tabaristdn,
p. 29 of E. G. B r o w n e s abridged translation of the w ork (Leiden-London 1905, E . J . W.
Gibb M em. Series, 2); Ibn W asil, M ufarrij al-kurub, 273 ff. a s - S a y y a l (Cairo 1953); Ibn
H aldun, Muqaddimah, I, 321 ff. Paris; trans. F. R o s e n t h a l , I, 361 ff- (New Y o rk 1958);
and, above all, the com plete statistics of Fez which Ibn A b i Zar*^ (25 f., trans. 37 f. T o r n b e r g , Uppsala 1843-46) copied from an official docum ent (zimdm).
T h e inclusion of a table of the dates of the Persian new year in H am zah a l-Isfah an is
History is due to the im portance of these dates in fiscal m atters. H ow to squeeze high taxes
out of the population m ight be learned from historical works, according to Ibn a t-T iq taq a,
above, p. 51, n. 7 E d . -A. S u ry al 'A tiy a h , Cairo 1943.

^ I used the Paris ms. ar. 5907. a modern copy of an Istan b u l m anuscript. (Arabic text,
below , p. 543 f.). Cf. A . B e n S h e m e s h , Taxation in Islam , II (Leiden 1965).
^ Cf. H. A . R. G i b b , The Islam ic Background of Ibn K haldun's Political Theory, in B S O S
V II , 23-31 (1933), reprinted in his Studies on the Civilization of Islam , 166-75 (Boston 1962).
Cf. also m y introduction to the translation of the Muqaddimah (New Y o rk 1958, Bollingen
Series X L II I ) .
^ Muqaddimah, I, 62 f. Paris.

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TH E C O NTENTS OF H ISTO RICAL W ORKS

Ibn H aldun when he says th at his sources of inspiration were the

science of the fimclamental principles of jurisprudence and the
fiirstenspiegel Hterature.^ W e know not only the older w orks he
used, but also contem porary fiirstenspiegeh from N orthwestern
A frica, such as the Suhub al-ldmi'^ah of Ibn H alduns friend, A b u
1-Qasim b. Ridwan, and the Wdsitat as-suluk b y one of the A bdal-W M id rulers of Tlemcen. These works do not show the slightest
trace of the thinking we find in Ibn H alduns w ork; thus, his
inspiration cannot h ave come from this direction. On the other
hand, social and economic problems were the daily bread of law yers
and jurists. From them and their practical outlook, Ibn Haldun
m ight have received the decisive inspiration. His great achievem ent
was the construction of a system, the application of scattered
political and sociological ideas to history which he recognized as a
hving force joining the past w ith the present in one continuous
process. Man and environment, individual effort and group organi
zation are the raw m aterial of history according to Ibn H aldiins
keen, if sometimes arbitrary, analysis. His views are alw ays ex
plainable from the authors Muslim background, but after all
factors have been considered, the final judgm ent on the M uqaddimah as a product of Muslim historiography must be th at it
was more in the nature of a unique interruption than an ordinary
stop on the prescribed course of Muslim historical activity.
7 T H E U S E O F D O CU M EN TS, IN S C R IP T IO N S, A N D CO IN S
For modern W estern historiography, the use of non-literary
evidence in historical research is a question of m ethodology. As
such it is intim ately connected with the pecuhar developm ent
historical w riting has taken in modern times. A ll previous histori
ography did not progress to the stage where the im portance of a
m ethodical use of such evidence was realized. ^ The contents of
historical works did include incidental references to non-literary
evidence, and in Muslim historiography, such references were not
infrequent. T h e y throw some interesting sidelights on cultural
attitudes.
The continued existence of the great architectural monuments
* Muqaddimah, I, 63 ff. Paris.
^ T'or the attitu d e of W estern m edieval historians tow ard couteniporary historical docu
ments, rf. M . R i t t e r , Die I-'.nhi'icklung der GeschichtsiHssenschaft, 1 1 7 (Munich-]3erliu 1 9 1 9 ) .
Cf. also H . R i c h t e r ,
Gcschichtschreibcr, 19 , 72 (Berlin 19 38 ).

D O C U M E N T S, IN SC R IP T IO N S, A N D CO INS

119

of the past was occasionally noted b y the historians, but it was

reserved to Ibn H aldun to draw historical conclusions from it.^ On
the other hand, the use of documents, letters, governm ent papers,
official declarations, speeches, and related m aterial was well-nigh
universal in Muslim historical hterature. E ven where documents
of this typ e were not directly quoted, th ey were extensively used b y
historians who held positions of political influence, when th ey wrote
the history of their period. The existence of letters of Muhammad in
which he allegedly tried to win the adherence of various political
units inside (and outside) the Arabian peninsula gave early Mushm
historians an opportunity to show their appreciation of historically
valuable documents.^ W hether or not these documents were genuine
does not m ake much of a difference in this connection, if only
the genuine or false documents them selves once existed.
Letters of all kinds were so frequently quoted b y historians th at a
few exam ples will suffice here. In al-Baladuris Ansdb, we find the
alleged letter b y Utm an to the E gyptian s who had come to protest
his rule, as well as other letters b y less prominent men.=^ A l- Y a qubi
devoted a special chapter in his History to the correspondence of
M uhammad and th at of the early cahphs. Letters from foreign
potentates were especially interesting. Those from the B yzantines
were im portant enough to be quoted.^ The letter which the E thiopic
ruler Y a g b e a Seyon sent to the E thiopic com m unity in Jerusalem
in 689/1290 was preserved b y a historian.^ W hen the original doc
ument was w ritten in a language other than A rabic and had to be
translated for purposes of quotation, this fact was not left unmen
tioned. International treaties were occasionally quoted.^ Im portant
documents of internal politics, such as documents appointing the
presum ptive successor to the ruling caliph or other high officials,
' Muqaddimah, I, 317 f. Paris.
^ Cf. J. S p e r b e r , D ie Schreiben Muhammads an die Stdm>ne Arabiens, in Mitteilungen
des Seminars fiir orientalische Sprachen, Westasiatische Studicn, X I X , 1-93 (1916); M.
H a m i d u l l a h , Documents sur la diplomatie nmsnlmane (Paris 1 9 3 5 ) .
^ A l-B alad u ri, Ansdb, V, 64, 222 f. G o i t e i n (Jerusalem 1936).
Cf., for instance, Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, V I, 293, anno 326 (H yderabad 1357-58).
Cf. K . C e r u l l i , E tio p i in Palestina, I, 88 f. (Rom e 1 9 4 3 ) , a i ' d the edition of Ibn ^Abdaz-Zahir, T a srif al-ayydm u'a-l-^usilr f t sirat al-M alik al-M ansur, 1 7 0 - 7 3 M u r a d K a m i l
(Cairo 1961). Ibn 'A b d -a z-Z a h irs w ork is particu larly distinguished b y its extensive
reporting of international treaties and m an y other documents.
Cf. al-H am aw i, at-T aM h al-M an sun, fol. 176b, 187b G r y a z n e v i c h (Moscow i960),
or ar-R asid b. az-Z u b ayr, ad-DahdHr wa-t-tuhaf, 50 f. H a m i d u l l a h (K u w ait 1 9 5 9 ) For instance, the peace tre a ty between 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. Musa b. N usayr and Theodem ir
cf. the references in K. L e v i - P r o v e n (;a l , La Peninsule iberique, 79 (Leiden 1938).
Cf., for instance, Ibn al-Jaw zi, op. cit., V II, 64, anno 363.

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D O C U M E N T S, IN SC R IP T IO N S, A N D COINS

or al-M utadids edict against the U m ayyad s which was never

made p ub h c/ were faithfully quoted b y historians. Docum ents
also constituted the principal m aterial for the establishm ent of the
biography of a pohtical figure. A rem arkable exam ple of this sort
has come down to us from Fatim id times in the biography of U stad
Jaw dar (or Jiidar, d. 362/972) which was compiled b y his secretary,
Mansur. This biography consists m ainly of letters b y F atim id
caliphs addressed to Jawdar, letters th at were serving as political
or adm inistrative documents.^ There must have been other Muslim
authors who w rote biographical works along these or similar hnes
in periods other than that of the early Fatim ids where, it is true,
there existed an unusual chm ate of intellectual experim entation.
It is, however, understandable if little of the sort was preserved
b y later generations. For such works were too specialized and,
therefore, of minor interest for men who had to struggle constantly
w ith the lim itations imposed b y the difficulty of producing enough
m anuscripts to preserve the growing heritage of the centuries.
Speeches in the fiirstenspiegel tradition and, especially, speeches
of the religio-ascetic hom iletic typ e were frequently incorporated in
historical works. It need hardly be said th at they were usually
fictitious. Their invention, however, was not m otivated b y the
Thucydidean idea of historical characterization,^ except, perhaps,
inasmuch as th ey were to characterize the speakei as living up to
Muslim religious ideals. W hen the Tm ad al-Isfahani made A lp
Arslan, who was killed in 465/1072, on his deathbed give a speech
on the subject th at man should never be over-confident, th at speech
was composed throughout in the best rhym ed prose. ^ The Tm ad
in a w ay m arked the culmination of the Muslim historians use of
documents. His great annalistically arranged memoirs, al-Barq
as-Sa^mi, were largely made up from documents, letters, official
adm inistrative orders (mansur), and similar material. Most of the
documents were composed b y the author himself in the course

of his official duties. T h ey have some bearing on the histoiical events

but are often quite superfluous for their understanding. It was the
exhibition of his styhstic perfection th at was uppermost in the
authors mind when he included the documents in his work, and
not the docum entation of historical happenings.^ Y et, such
documents as we find in the Barq are the exact equivalent of the
official papers of modern foreign ministries. Reading them gave the
contem porary Muslim student the same insight into history-in-them aking at his tim e which the modern student is wont to expect
in the docum ented memoirs of one of the statesmen of our time.
The use of documents in Muslim historical works was circumsciibed b y the fact th at the acquaintance w ith a particular document
was nearly alw ays restricted to contemporaries (or near-contem po
raries) . L ater historians who quoted documents of a past period can be
expected to have used not the original documents but literary sources.
The original documents were no longer available to them, nor did
th ey try to search for them.^ Under these circumstances, the occa
sional 01 even frequent use of documents would not have been able
to give rise to a specific m ethod of historical criticism.
Original documents were actually consulted. W e learn this, for
instance, from a passage in the History of M osul b y A bu Z a k a riya
al-Azdi (d. 334/945-46). A l-A zd i mentions th at he found a letter
of al-Mansiir among the old papers [kutuh) of the Mosul judge
al-H arit b. al-Jarud, which one of the la tte rs children had made
available to him. This historical document was incorporated b y
al-Azdi in his work. A n even better exam ple for the use of docu
m ents in the w riting of history comes to us from near the end of
the creative developm ent of m edieval Muslim historiography.
W hen Salih b. Y a h y a wrote his History of Beirut and the Fam ily of
Buhtur, he delved into the fam ily archives and came up w ith a
number of documents concerning the appointm ent of members of
the B uhtur fam ily to various positions.^ W e m ay assume th at earher

1 Cf. at-Tabari, T a M h , III , 2165 ff. D e G o e j e and others, anno 284. Cf., further, H. A. R.
The F iscal Rescript of ^Umar I I , iu Arabica, II, 1-16 (1955). For the docum ents
appointing successors to the caliphate from at-Tabari, cf. A . C h e j n e , Succession to the Rule
in Islam (Lahore i960).
2 Cf. the French translation b y M. Canard, Vie de I Ustadh Jaudhar (Algiers 1958).
^ B u t cf., possibly, at-Tabari, Ta^rth III, 1793 f.
^ A l-^Imad alT sfah an i, Nusrat al-fitrah, cf. the abridgm ent of the w ork b y a l - B u n d a r i ,
published under the title of Ta^rih dawlat as-Saljuq, 45 (Cairo 1318/1900).
I used the Bodleian mss. or. Bruce 11 and Marsh 425, containing, resp ectively, part 3
(years 5 7 3-7 5 ) and part 5 (years 578-70) of the Barq. Cf. H. A. R. C.iiii;, in W Z K M . I.IT,
G ib b ,

93-115

1 9 5 3 )-

121

Cf. H a jji H alifah s rem arks concerning al-W assafs Persian h istory, iu K a sf az-zunun,
II, 156 f. F l u g e l .
^ This applies to a n y system atic search for historical docum ents. It m ay, however, v ery
w ell be th at historians were m uch more aware of the im portance of docum ents and also
m ight have m ade more frequent attem pts to get acccss to them than the available literary
references indicate. Cf. at-Tabari, Ta^rth, III, 326; Ibn H aldun, Muqaddimah, II, 296 Paris.
For a m odern M oroccan historian, cf. E. L e v i - P r o v e n c a l , Les Historiens des Chorfa, 192
(Paris, 1922).
Phot. Cairo T a rih 2475 (also Taym vir T a rih 2303), p. 187. Th e original m anuscript is
now iu the Chester B e a tty Collection in Dublin, Ireland. Cf. below, p. 153.
*
Hisioire de Beyrouth, ed. L. C i i e i k h o , 2nd cd., 45 ff. (Beirut 1927). Cf. also E. D.
Ross, in A Volume of Or. Studies presented to E. G. Browne, 40<) (Cambridiic u)22).

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TH E CO NTENTS OF H ISTO RICAL W ORKS

authors of fam ily histories, such as Ibn a l-A dim who wrote on his
fam ily, the Banu Jaradah of Aleppo,^ or, in the early tenth century,
A hm ad b. Y a h y a b. al-Munajjim, who wrote on the history and
pedigree of his family,^ made a similar use of fam ily archives. A nd
when T abit b. Sinan incorporated in his History a document of the
w azir A li b. Isa concerning the estabhshment of m edical care
for the inm ates of the coun trys prisons during a year of much
illness, he p robably had access to and knowledge of the document
only because it had been addressed to his father, then superinten
dent of B agdad's hospitals.^*
The preservation of documents was usually due to very concrete
motives, such as the fact that a certain document was a letter
bestowing privileges upon the recipient. Thus, we hear about an
alleged letter of the Prophet in which he granted some villages in
Syria to one of his followers. This letter was preserved b y the de
scendants of that man. E ventually, it was bought b y the caliph
al-M ustanjid for his library in Bagdad.^ L iterary criticism entered
the picture when the necessity arose to refute claims concerning
privileges made in a document.^ The keeping of files of documents
was especially im portant in the adm inistration of justice. Oc
casionally, legal theory had recourse to documents of historical
importance. In the Kitdb al-Amwdl, A bu U bayd b. Sallam tells
about the request for a legal opinion which General 'Abd-al-M alik
b. Salih (d. 196/812) had addressed to several famous jurists of the
time and in which he had asked whether it was legally permissible
for Cyprians and other people in Asia Minor to p ay tribute to both
the Muslims and the Byzantines. He then went on to say; I found
^ Cf. G A L Supplement I, 568. In the liugyat at-talab, Ibn, al-'-Aclim quoted a waqf deed of
one of liis ancestors, cf. phot. Cairo T a rih 1566, p. 265.
^ Cf. I''ihrist, 206 (Cairo 1348 = 144 I'Y u g e l).
" Cf. Ibn A b i Usaybi'^ah, I, 221 M i j l l e r (Konigsberg-Cairo 1882-84).
Cf.
\\ usTENFELD, Register zu den gencalogischen I'abellen der arabischen Stdinine und
Fam ilien, 441 f. ((iottiugen 1853); J. S p e r b e r , op. cit., 66. Th e M ustanjid episode is not
mentioned b y F. K r e n k o w , The (Want of Land by Muhammad to Tamim ad-Dari, in Islamica,
I, 529-32 (1923), and C h . D. . M a t t h e w s , M aqrizls Treatise Dau^ as-sdrt on the Tam im t
W aqf in Hebron, in Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society, X I X , 147-79 (1939-40).
As sacn-d relics, such letters, none of them genuine, have been preser\ ed down to modern
times, cf., for instance, .A.. C r o h m a n n , in E l, s.v. al-Miikawkas.
Alleged letters o f the Prophet were ahvays treasured and preserved as holy relics, cf.
A hm ad b. Abi la h ir . History of Bagdad, I, 271 K e l l e r (Leipzig 1908); at-Tabari, Ta^rth,
III, 1142 f. D e G o e j e and others, anno 218.
^ For al-H atib al-B agdadi and the Jew s of H ayb ar, cf. F. R o s e n t h a l , The Technique
and Approach of M uslim Scholarship, 47b (Rome 1947, Analecta Orientalia, 24). As-Safadi
(al-Oayt al-viusajjam, II, 66, Cairo 1305) considered this one incident sufficient proof for the
usefulness of historical studies.

D O C U M E N T S, IN SC R IP T IO N S, A N D COINS

123

the replies which the jurists had sent to Abd-al-M alik. T h ey had
been discovered in his office (files, iistuhrijat min diwdrdh). I ab
stracted the gist of them. The opinions of the jurists differed, but
the number of those who advised a peaceful settlement, even if it
would entail some irregularities, was larger than th at of those who
counseled w ar. A bu U b ayd then proceeded to quote excerpts
from the documents.^ Historians as a rule, however, did not suffi
cien tly avail them selves of the great opportunities which the
existence of legal archives offered them.^
W hile w ith the use of documents, the historian entered the legal
and adm inistrative domain, w ith the use of inscriptions he came
into contact w ith novelistic tradition and popular fancy. Long
before Islam , the esoteric character of w riting and its early monu
m ental use had inspired stories of mysterious discoveries of m yste
rious w ritten documents which when deciphered revealed deep
philosophical or rehgious insights. In the Muslim environment,
the h eavenly prototype of the Q ur an is a good exam ple of the v a
rious forms in which this tradition was able to survive. The cir
culation of fanciful stories concerning inscriptions was greatly
stim ulated b y the m any m onum ental relics of foreign writings which
the Muslims came across from the early years of the conquests on
and which did not fail to attract their attention. The products of
a semi-learned im agination inspired b y strange inscriptions were often
credited to the authorship of W ahb b. Munabbih. Legend has it th at
a Greek inscription from the Mosque of Damascus which he d e
ciphered was interpreted b y him as a sermon from the days of
Solomon. His translation was in perfect A rabic rhym ed prose.^
V ery often, the translator remained anonymous, v/hich added an
other good novelistic element of m ystification. On a beautiful
tapestry, al-Muntasir observed a circular Persian inscription which
surrounded the representation of a horseman w ith a crown upon
his head. Nobody was able to read the inscription. E ventually,
someone whose identity is not revealed was found who was able to
read it. He hesitated to comm unicate to the caliph the ominous
words he savv% and only the cahphs incipient w rath made him reveal
the dire words: T am Siroyah b. Hosraw b. Hurmuz. I killed m y
^ Kitdb al-Amn'dl, 171-75 (Cairo 1 3 5 3 ) h'or statistical docum ents, see above, p. 116, n. 3.
* Al-M as'udi, M uruj. V, 361-62, Paris ed. - II, 152 (Cairo 1346). Ibu '^Asakir, Ta^rih
DimaSq, I, 197 (Damascus 1329 ff.); al-\'azidi, A malt, 72 (H yderabad 1948). Cf. (i. h. von
G ru n eb au m , Medieval Islam, 242 (Chicago 1946).

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TH E CONTENTS OF H ISTORICAL W ORKS

father, and therefore, I had only six months to enjoy m y royal

pow er. 1
The more sober-minded appreciated alleged economic-historical
inform ation in strange inscriptions, such as an E gyp tian tom b
inscription from the S a id, written in the Upper E gyp tian {saHdi)
language," which yielded a list of Pharaonic ta x receipts.^ W here
history was clearly fiction as in the Nihdyat al-arab f i ahbdr alFurs wa-l-'-Arab, it was almost necessary to have a H im yaritic
inscription and a man from S a n a ' who was able to interpret the
A rabic verses it contained, but the political interest of the early
Muslims m ay have been instrum ental in the discovery of a Himyarite inscription in Samarqand.^ Travellers in B ibhcal territory
expected to find strange inscriptions which spoke about Moses
and the like>
W hen scholars and writers left the realm of fiction, th ey often
had to confess, unless they w anted to exploit the credulous disposi
tion created b y the novelistic tradition,^ th at th ey could not read
the strange writing. A Muslim historian who wanted to w rite on the
histo ry of China and was told, on w hat must have appeared to him
good authority, th at people who knew the country and its language
had found historical inform ation in inscriptions on stone, on city
gates and in temples,** was in no position to judge w hat he heard.
It was the same in m atters concerning E gyp t. Al-Biruni quoted a
report about the discovery of an ancient E gyp tian m onum ent in
Upper E gyp t. Its walls contained, in three horizontal bands, sculp
tured trees, animals, and representations of hum an beings. E v e ry
thing was accom panied b y an inscription 'to which one now does not
have the k e y ." ^ Cuneiform inscriptions were known to the Mushms,
^ A l-H atib al-B agdadi, T B , II, 120 f . ; al-H usri, Jam'- al-jawdhir, 170 f. (Cairo 1353).
^ Cf. Ibn Zulaq (cf. below, p. 154), iu Paris ms. ar. 4727, fol. 205b.
^ Cf. ms. Cairo T a ^ h 4505, fol. 22b-23a, see above p. 58, and W . B a r t h o l d , Turkestan
down to the Mongol Invasion, 87 (London 1927, E . J . W. Gibb Mem. Series, N .S ., 5).
* Cf., for instance, al-M aqrizi, Hitat, I, 188 (B ulaq 1270).
The secretary All b. as-Sari al-K arh i who in 344/955 read the inscriptions on the
m onum ents of Persepolis when ^Adud-ad-dawlah visited the c ity m ust have m ade ample
use of his fan cy, bu t the feat was com m em orated in inscriptions, cf. G . W i e t - E . C o m b e J. S a u v a g e t , Repertoire chronol. d'epigraphie arabe, IV , 135 f. (Caire 1933); G . E . v o n
G r u n e b a u m , loo. cit.
For a d iscovery and decipherm ent of m anuscripts in an unknow n w riting, cf. H am zah
al-Ifahani, History, I, 197 G o t t w a l d t ( S t . P etersburg-Leipzig 1844-48), and al-Biruni,
al-Atar al-bdqiyah, 24io_i2, S a c h a u (Leipzig 1878, 1923).
A l-Y a 'q u b i, History, I, 146 (N ajaf 1358 = I, 205 H o u t s m a ) . F or Central Asian
inscriptions, cf. the rep o it given b y al-Juw ayni, Ta^rih-i-jahdngusdy, trans. J. A. B o y l e ,
54 f. (Manchester 1958).
A l-B fn m i, Kitdb al-Jamdhir f i ma'-rifat al-jawdhir, 166 (H yderabad 1355).

D O C U M E N T S, IN SC R IP T IO N S, A N D CO INS

125

who also had the tradition th at clay was the earhest w riting m a
terial. ^ The adm ittedly unknown w riting on a tablet which was
found b y chance in an ancient grave certainly was a cuneiform
document. 2
It is not surprising th at Muslim scholars were not able to do
anything w ith hieroglyphic and cuneiform inscriptions. T h ey could
also hardly be expected to understand South A rabian inscriptions,
even if the inhabitants of southern A rabia still knew the alphabet
and were able to m ake out some gram m atical features of the lan
guage of the inscriptions.^ The knowledge of their highly technical
contents and language probably did not survive the end of South
A rabian autonom y. It also comes as no surprise that H ebrew
inscriptions were never correctly interpreted, for, in most cases,
those inscriptions were certainly not w ritten in H ebrew but, among
other possibilities, in N abataean, Palm yrenian, or some Iranian
language. Genuine Syriac inscriptions were of no interest to Muslim
historians. It is, however, somewhat disconcerting to meet w ith an
apparent complete inability to decipher Greek inscriptions. Some
of these inscriptions m ay indeed have been very difficult to read
and to interpret, but it w ould seem th at it was the novelistic tradition,
and not philological incompetence, which doomed to failure any
attem pts to achieve a reasonable interpretation of Greek inscriptions.
Rulers or scholars whose curiosity had been aroused b y the dis
covery of an inscription wished to find some extraordinary in
form ation in it, and the men who offered them selves to decipher
the inscription were only too willing to comply. The closest approach
to the correct reading of a Greek inscription is found in connection
w ith an ancient monument of marble, or rather alabaster, in Aleppo.
It was considered to be a pagan altar and, in the thirteenth century,
was preserved in Aleppo's H alaw iyah College. A scholar who had
grown up in th at College told Ibn al-'A dim th at Nur-ad-dm had
brought the monument from Apam ea. He had heard someone
decipher its inscription. It started w ith: This was made for K ing
D iocletian, and after that, there followed the astrological constel
lation which prevailed at the time the monument was made.'*
1 Cf. F ih rist, 6 (Cairo 1348 ^ 4 F l u g e l ).
2 Ibn al-Jaw zi, Mimtazam, V, 100, anno 276 (H yderabad 1357-58)= Cf. al-H am dani, IhlU, Vol. \ II, cd. and trans. N. A . 1'a r is , 122 f. (72 f.) (Princeton
1940 and 193 8). Cf. also H. S t . J . B . P ii u . b y , The Background of Islam, 127-40 (Alexandria
194 7). T h e fact th at a related idiom was spoken certainly was no real help in the decipher
m ent of the inscriptions.
^ Ibn al-'A dim , Bugyat at-talab, Phot. Cairo T a rih 1566, I, 85. Cf. above, p. i n , n. 3- This

126

TH E CO NTENTS OF H ISTO RICAL W ORKS

The inscription m ay indeed have contained something like the

name of Diocletian. However, already al-Q udai reported that a
m onk from the F ayyu m who deciphered the ancient Coptic
inscriptions on a m um my wrapping found the name of D iocletian
in th em / apparently, since it was the name of an ancient emperor
com paratively well-known to the Muslims. A nd elsewhere, an in
telligent man such as Ibn al-'A dim did not refrain from adopting
entirely fantastic interpretations of Greek inscriptions. From the
Siyar at-tugur of U tm an b. A bdallah at-Tarsusi (d. about 401/
lo io -i),^ he quoted the good adm onitions of a long-lived cousin of
D u 1-qarnayn discovered in a Greek inscription at the Q alam yah
Gate of Tarsiis. Its decipherment had been the work of a local
veterinarian.^
A fter all this entertaining but regrettably unhistorical m aterial,
which could be illustrated b y m any further examples, it is com
forting to be able to refer to a few cases of an accurate and historical
use of inscriptions b y Muslim historians. These cases concern
inscriptions in Arabic. A valuable exam ple in this direction was
set b y the early historian of Mecca, al-Azraqi. He quoted Meccan
building inscriptions which no doubt were genuine and correctly
reproduced.^ The tradition thus inaugurated in connection w ith the
local history of Mecca persisted. In addition to literary sources and
the inform ation received from reliable inform ants as well as the
things seen b y himself, Meccas historian in the early fifteenth
century mentioned as his sources marble and stone m onum ents
and wooden m aterial which have inscriptions and are found in
the places where they b e l o n g . O t h e r local historians also drew
story and other rem arks on inscriptions b y Ibn al-'-Adim w eie taken over b y Ibn H atib anN asiriyah and p a rtly also b y later historians of Aleppo. (Arabic text, below, p. 544.)
S . M. S t e r n , in Bibliotheca Orientalis, X I, 74 (1954), refers to an inscription from the
reign of Justinian . . . read to the F atim id caliph al-M ansur in the neighborhood of T a h art
in 336/947-48.
^ Cf. al-M aqrizi, Hitat, I, 116 (Bulaq 1270). A sim ilar story in great detail. I, 433 f.
^ Cf. Y aq u t, Irsdd, X I I , 128 f. (Cairo = V, 37 f. M a r g o l i o u t h ).
^ Cf. Ibn al-'^Adini, op. cit., yg f., where the author also m entions a H ebrew inscription.
Cf. further, for instance, Ibn Tulun, Luma^dt, 61 (Dam ascus 1348, Rasd^il ta'rthtyah, 4).
The tendency to find wisdom and p iety in ancient inscriptions has persisted into modern
times. N ot only would an Athanasius Kircher in the seventeenth cen tury find the m ost
fan tastic things in lig y p tia n hieroglyphics (cf. A. E r m a n , D ie Hiero^lyplien, 3 f., 2nd ed.,
B erlin -Lcipzig 1923, Sammlims; (idschen; M . L i d z b a r s k i , Handhuch der nordsemitischen
I'.pi^iraphik, 89 ff., W eim ar 1898), but even the translators of A ram aic papyri in the nine
teenth cen tury would obtain some strange results (cf. F. R o s e n t h a l , Die araniaistische
horschuns;,, 26 f., Leiden 1939), and our own age is not immune to this tendency.
^ Cf. I'. W U S T E N F E I . D , D ic ('liromken der Stadt Mekka, 1, 306 ff. (Leipzig 1858).
^ 1 aqi-ad-din al-Fasi, 5 ;/ al-f^ardm, in F. W ' C s t e n f e l d , op. cit., II, 58 (Leipzig 1859);
I, 2 f. (Mecca-Cairo 1956). In order to ascertain the date of a IVIeccan governor of the early

D O C U M E N T S, IN SC R IP T IO N S, A N D COINS

127

occasionally on A rabic inscriptions for exact information, as did

Ibn as-Sihnah who reported th at an inscription on the gate of the
Zahiriyah College in Aleppo declared the College to be a waqftor the
benefit of SM i'ites and Hanafites.^ General historians sometimes
reproduced correct readings of A rabic inscriptions, as, for instance,
the inscription upon a minbar made and sent to Mecca in the
year 470/1078.^ From a building inscription dated in 422/1031,
found underneath the mihrdb of the mosque after an earthquake
had shaken Oazwin in 5i3/Dec.-Jan. 1 120-21 and mentioned b y
a r-R a fii in his History of Qazwtn, Ibn H ajar derived proof for his
dating of the replacement of dawlah titles b y din titles, as reported
b y as-Sahawi in the Jawdhir, the detailed biography of Ibn H ajar.
Am ong the smaller inscribed objects which engaged the attention
of Muslim historians, there were seal inscriptions. T h ey entered
M uslim historical literature from Persian sources.^ A lready alH a y ta m b. A di wrote on the seals of the caliphs.^ The strange
sto ry of the fate of the Prophets simple silver ring with the threeline inscription; Muhammad Rasul Allah, was recounted b y the
h i s t o r i a n s . 5 The fact that seal inscriptions were attributed to
Persian kings and Greek sages shows their connection w ith wisdom
literature. T h ey soon becam e a topic of the entertaining and edify
ing adah literature.
thirteenth century, al-F asi
II, 199) unearthed a docum ent concerning the sale of a
house in Mecca. For as-Sayb is w ork on the cem etery of al-M u'alla and its inscriptions, cf.
G A L , II, 173. A sim ilar w ork p robab ly was th at b y al-A qsahri, cf. IHdn, 130, below, p. 476.
1 Cf. Ibn as-Sihnah, ad-Durr al-muntahab f t taM h mamlakat Halab, 112 (Beirut 1909)
A building inscription in B agdad : al H atib al-Bagdadi, TB , I, 108. Inscriptions on tom b
stones are occasionally referred to in the specialized branch of local historiography th at
deals w ith fam ous burial sites, cf. as-Sahaw i, Tuhfat al-albdb (Cairo 1356/1937)) and the
preceding note.
2 Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, V II I , 311 (H yderabad 1357-58). Cf., further, al-Qadi al-Fadil
al-B aysani, in al-M aqrizi, Hitat, I, 184 (Bulaq 1270); Ibu A b i Zar*" 27, 31, 33 (trans. 39,
44 f., 46) T o r n b e r g (Uppsala 1843-46). For an early exam ple, cf. al-Jahsiyari, VVuzard^,
fol. 40b M zik (Leipzig 1926, Bibl. arabischer Historiker und Geographen, i), cf. G A L Supple
ment, I, 204.
^ Cf. al-Jahsiyari, op. cit., fol. 2a.
*
Cf. Fihrist, 1465 (Cairo 1348 = 10 0 4 F l u g e l ). A l-M ada uu w rote a Kitdb al-Hdtam
wa-r-riisut, cf. Fihrist, 148 (Cairo 1348). Al-M as'udi, Tanbih, regu larly mentions the seal
inscriptions of the caliphs.
^ Cf., for instance, at-Tabari, Ta^rih, I, 2856-58, anno 30; Ibn al-A tir, Kam il, III, 5 4 !.
(Cairo 1301); Ibn H aldun, Muqaddimah, II. 53 f. Paris. Cf. also the references in A. J.
W e n s i n c k , a Handbook of Early Muhammadan Tradition, 211 f. (Leiden 1927); as Suli,
Adab al-kuttdb, 139 (Cairo 1341); L. C a e t a n i , A nnali dell Islam, VTI, 387 f. (Milan 1914)Cf. al-\Vassa , M iiwaski, 162 ff. B r u n n o w (Leiden 1886).
An early and \ ery im perfect attem pt to deal with the subject is J. H a m m e r - P u r g s t a l l s
Abhandlung iiber die Siegel der Araber, Perser und Tiirken, in the phil.-hist. Kl. of the Vienna
A cadem y, 1848.

128

THE CONTENTS OF HISTORICAL WORKS

Coins were not used b y Muslim historians as sources of historical

information. Finds of hoards, however, were occasionally reported,^
as, already accom panied b y a fictional decipherment, in the Ahbdr
al-hulafd^ of the ninth-century al-H arit b. (Muhammad b.) A b i
U s a m a h . 2 Since the issuing of coins often reflected political develop
ments, historians reported on it w ith some frequency. The m inting
of special non-circulating issues was also mentioned o c c a s i o n a l l y . ^
Thus, even coins were not entirely neglected or missing among the
numerous elements which together constituted the contents of
Muslim historical works.
^ Cf. K u rkis 'A w w ad , in Revue de VAcademic arabe de Damas, X X , 143-56 (1945). In
South A rabia, we arc told, gold pieces w eighing one quarter ounce, of non-M uslim coinage,
were found in 910/1504-5, cf. I b n a l - ^ A y d a r u s , an-Nilr as-sdfir, 53 (B a g d M 1353/1934).
^ Died in 282/896 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 258; al-H atib al-Bagdadi, T B , V II I , 218 f.).
H e is quoted b y al-Jah siyari, op. cit., fol. 15 1a ; ar-R asid b. az-Zubayr, ad-Dahd^ir wa-t-tuhaf,
224 f. H a m i d u l l a i i (K u w ait 1959).
A fiction al coin inscription of a Persian queen, in Nihdyat al-arab f t ahbdr al-Furs wa-l^Arab, Ms. Cairo Ta^rih 4505, fol. 56.
Again, it had to be a monk, in this particu lar case a Greek, w ho deciphered the legends
of copper coins found in Qus in 662/1264 (Ibn 'A b d -az-Z ah ir, al-Fadl al-bdhir min strut assultdn al-M alik az-Zdhir, quoted b y al-Y unini, D a y l Mir^dt az-zamdn, I, 556 f., H yd erab ad
1374-80/1954-61; al-M aqrizi, Hitat, I, 236, B u laq 1270). Cf. also H. R i t t e r , in Der Islam ,
V II, 83 f. (1917).
Cf. G. C. M i l e s , A Portrait of the B u y id Prince Rukn al-dawlah, in Am erican Num ism atic
Society, M useum Notes, X I , 283-93 (1964).

C H A P T E R F IV E

THE MIXED FORMS OF HISTORICAL WRITING

i_ t h e

o r ig in s

H aving analyzed the original form elements of historical pre

sentation in Islam and the contributory non-historical branches of
learning, we are now prepared to review the m ixed forms of his
toriography, th at is, the actually existing works. T he early hahar
works and biographies need no longer be discussed. Three large
groups of historical works are under consideration: W orld histories,
local or regional histories, and contem porary histories and memoirs.
However, it m ay be well to pause here for a moment and at
tem pt to draw together the hints and suggestions scattered through
out the previous pages th at have bearing upon the perpetually
fascinating problem of the origins of historical writing in Islam.
The history of Muslim historiography offers innumerable facts and
thousands of concrete documents for study to the historian, and
he knows th at the aw ail, the first beginnings, remain shrouded, at
least for the tim e being, in a darkness im perfectly pierced b y wilful
inferences and guesses, but it is his undeniable task to search for
possible glimmers of light in th at darkness. Of the two questions
concerning all origins, the w h y ? and the how ?, the former, being a
m atter of the mind, usually is the harder to answer. In our case, the
situation is different. The m otivation for w riting history in Islam
is ap p aren t; the technical procedures cannot be described and dated
with sufficient accuracy.
The stress Muhammad placed upon knowledge [Him) and
history, the m any practical uses of historical and biographical
d ata from early Islam ic times, the tremendous events triggered
b y the coming of Islam which deeply impressed those prim arily
responsible for them w ith their historic significance, the ancient
Near E ast tradition of history as the royal science, the existence
of a historical literature and of active historians among the con
quered peoples in view of all these factors, it would be astonishing
R o se n th a l,

History of Muslim Historiography

130

M IX E D FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL W R ITIN G

if no historical w riting had developed in Islam. Pride of place am ong

the activatin g factors must go to the historical element in Muslim
religion. Its influence upon the direction historical w riting took in
Islam m ay not alw ays have been favorable, but w ithout it, the
w orldly powers m ight not have felt inclined to give support to
historical studies, and the long periods of pohtical decay m ight
have put an end to them. A s it was, not even the growth of m ys
ticism, so hostile to the idea of history, was able to smother its
trium phant progress. A s a concrete indication for the prim ary
importance of the religious factor, it m ay be noted th at the early
historians, w ithout exception, were representatives of know ledge
in its wide religious sense. The early, more or less legendary figures
credited w ith representing a combination of literary and historical
inform ation remained (together w ith their more tangible literary
successors, the historical novehsts) as it were on the sidelines of
Muslim historiography.
For the determ ination of the m aterial origins, we are handicapped
b y a num ber of circumstances. In the first place, developm ents
were exceedingly rapid, corresponding to the general tempo of
the form ation of Muslim civilization. Then, as might be expected,
original m anuscripts from the earliest period, that is, from well
before 750 A .D ., are not available.^ Our sources of inform ation,
direct or indirect, are for the most part of a much later date, and
those com paratively close in time give little information. A b o ve
all, these sources labor under a contradictory pair of preconcep
tions. For one, it was desirable to project back the existence of a
civilization based upon writing, which developed during the eighth
century, into the earhest times of Islam. On the other hand, the
oral transmission of knowledge, which must have been preponder
ant in the very early years, acquired a halo of san ctity sufficiently
strong to distort the true situation.
In the three successive generations to which the earliest histo
rians of Islam are most likely to belong, the outstanding names are
Urwah b. az-Zubayr (b. ca. 30/650-51, d. ca. 93-95/711-14 ),2
M uhammad b. Muslim b. Sihab az-Zuhri (b. ca. 50/670, d. ca. 123-25/
1 T he im portant m aterial published b y N. A b b o t t , Studies in Arabic Literary Pa pyri I :
Historical Texts (Chicago 1957), does not go b ack far enough. H ow ever, the auth ors
discussion of the beginnings of Muslinx h istoriography and her strong plea for greater
recognition of the im portance and achievem ents of U m ayyad intellectual life are basic for
the understanding of the problem s facing us here.
It stands to reason th at the dates of birth, uncertain as th ey are, are more im portant
in this connection than the dates of death.

TH E O RIG INS

131

740-43), and Musa b. U qbah (b. ca. ?, d. 141/758-59). U rw ah suppos

edly wrote a w ork on M uhamm ads raids {sannafa al-magdzi).^
A z-Zuhri is pictured as having insisted upon oral transmission, al
though modern scholarship is inclined to consider his purported
aversion to w ritten fixation a reflection of later ideas projected
back into his time.^ The only historical book he is supposed to
have w ritten was a book on the genealogy of his people, but he is
also supposed to have owned m any books on poetry,^ poetry being
a subject relatively so unim portant th at there was no harm in
w riting it down. On the other hand, we have a quotation (direct or
indirect?) from a w ork b y az-Zuhri, written, it seems, for personal
use, about the ages (that is, the length of the reigns) of the ca
liphs.^ Of the w ork of the youngest of the three, Musa b. Uqbah,
the brief preserved fragm ent is not entirely historical in character
and has gone through a later process of transmission difficult
for us to assess as to its literary significance.
A valid deduction from the available evidence as marshaled b y
such scholars as H o r o vit z , A b b o t t , and S ch ac h t , is that books
containing historical inform ation were w ritten in the second half of
th e first century of the hijrah. It would seem likely th at all the
form elements of later Muslim historiography already appeared
in them. There is no proof for the assumption th at these books
enjoyed any kind of public circulation. It would seem th at their
circulation was largely restricted to friends and students who
at times m ay have included caliphs and other high officials.
W hen the interest in historical works, one or tw o generations
later, becam e widespread enough to m ake them part of the rapidly
growing literary output, some were published b y students of them
in their own recensions. These recensions m ight have constituted
an accurate reporting of the contents of the early works, or the
latter m ight have been augmented and rearranged. From later
^ Cf. ad-D ahab i, T a M h al-Isldm, IV , 31, quoted b y as-Su yu ti in his awa^il w ork, 115
(Bagdad 1369/1950). Cf. also above, p. 69, n. 2.
^ Cf. ^Ab d - a l -'^Az i z a d - D u r i , Baht f t naPat ^ilm at-ta'^rth, 24 (Beirut i960). A d - D u r i s
w ork deals in great detail w ith the men m entioned here and w ith their role in early Muslim
historiography.
^ Ad-D ahabi, op. cit., V , 143, 145. His books in general: Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, IX , 344;
a d - D u r i , op. cit., l o i .
*
Cf. at-T ab ari Ta^rth, II, 428, 1269, cited b y J. H o r o v i t z , in Islam ic Culture, II, 49
(1928). A reconstruction of az-Zuhris w ork w as undertaken b y a d - D u r i , in B S O A S , X I X ,
1-12 (1957), who sees in him the first serious student of the biograph y of the Prophet
according to tradition ist scholarship as cu ltiv ated in Medina. Cf. also E. L. P e t e r s e n ,
op. cit. (above, p. 63).
^ Cf. J. S c h a c h t s im portant contribution cited above, p. 69, n. 2, and below, p. 393, n. 6.

132

W O RLD H IST O R IES

M IX E D FORMS OF H IST O R IC A L W R IT IN G

periods of Muslim literature, we are used to finding m anuscripts of

works provided w ith a chain of transm itters of which the last is
the one responsible for the actual m anuscript (or an earlier copy
of it). In these cases, we do not hesitate to ascribe authorship of
the work, in the form we find it, to the first member of the chain.
Such a procedure, however, is not justified for the earliest stages
of historical writing.
Some day, a lu cky find m ay restore to us one of the earliest
Mushm historical books, and this would indeed be an even t of
the utm ost importance. However, it seems h ardly h kely th at such a
find could signify th at more than the barest beginnings of a histori
cal literature existed in the Muslim world around the year 700. T h e
strongest argument against the existence of a flourishing historical
literature of published works at that time lies, after all, in the fact
th at the ninth-century historians whose works have been preserved
seem to know practically nothing about it. If we look at the hst
of works used b y a l- Y a qubi ^ we find th at he m akes no direct use
even of authors such as Miisa b. U qbah or Ibn I s h ^ . H e m ay have
preferred later works because th ey embodied the substance of the
earlier ones and, in addition, were more comprehensive. B u t it
seems quite likely th at neither he (nor his contemporaries) had
access to the very earhest original works. Now, it m ay be th at the
library holdings of U m ayyad times perished in their entirety, or
were deliberately destroyed, under the im pact of the A bbasid
revolution and th at this, in particular, affected historical works as
their contents was considered subversive; there is nothing to indi
cate th at this was actually the case. Or the old m anuscripts m ay h ave
been all discarded because of their obsolete writing and the m aterials
upon which th ey were w ritten; this would only be a further argu
ment for the assumption th at the number of pubhshed copies,
wherever such existed, was very small.
A n argument ex silentio is alw ays uncertain. B u t everything
considered, it remains suggestive in this case. H istorical w riting
in Islam started in the second half of the seventh century (if not
before!). It began to capture its strong position in organized Mus
lim literary hfe during the eighth century. Of this production,
little has been preserved or as yet been recovered. However, its
general sim ilarity in form and character to the works preserved
seems quite certain.
^ C f. b e lo w , p. 134 , n. 2.

133

2 W O R L D H IS T O R IE S
As a rule, only those works which are preserved constitute a
satisfactory m aterial for our investigation. Moreover, it is preferable
to have carefully edited texts of complete works or, at least, of
characteristic portions. This, unfortunately, is frequently not the
case. W e can, however, be certain th at more m aterial, if it were
known, m ight to some degree change the emphasis b u t not the essence
of the picture here presented.
W ith the beginning of the tenth century, we meet three different
types of world histories. T h ey were preceded b y ad-D inaw aris Ahbdr
at-tiwdl} a synchronized presentation of Biblical, Persian, and preIslam ic A rabic history, followed b y an early Islam ic history which,
like the whole work, is essentially interested in Persian affairs.
T h e h istory of the caliphs is briefly treated according to their
reigns. M uhamm ad and his history is passed over in complete
silence.
T he first of the three types of universal historiography is the
History of a l- Y a qubi. The authors introductory remarks, including
th e story of the creation of the world, have fallen victim to a gap in
th e m anuscript. The first part of the w ork is devoted to pre-Islam ic
h istory, beginning w ith B iblical history. A s usual, the chronological
succession of individuals (prophets, kings, etc.) provides a simple
principle of arrangement. Then, there is a description of the four
Gospels, replacing pohtical history w ith cultural history. A l- Y a qubi followed the same procedure wherever there existed no inform a
tion, or no sufficient inform ation, on political history, as in the case
of the Greeks, the Indians, and the pre-Islam ic Arabs. Topics such
as the works of A ristotle and H ippocrates, the introduction of chess,
and the pre-Islam ic poets are discussed. A l- Y a qubi went back to the
original sources as far as th ey were available to him. W ith regard
to the history of the Old and New Testam ent period, he was not
satisfied w ith Muslim tradition but, w ith the help of inform ants,
had recourse to the original writings and in this w ay achieved a
rare accuracy. The cultural interest of the author continued into
the second part of the w ork which deals w ith Muslim history. It
begins w ith wise saws on the im portance of knowledge. A li b. A bi
^ G A L , I, 123. T h e w o rk w a s re p rin te d , w ith o u t d a te , in th e M atba'^at 'A b d - a l- H a m id
A . H a n a fi, C a iro , a t th e e x p e n se o f th e M a k ta b a h a l-'-A ra b iy a h in B a g d a d . A m ore re c e n t
e d itio n is t h a t b y ' A b d -a l -M u n ' im ' A m ir a n d J a m a l - a d - d in a s -S a y y a l (C airo i9 6 0 )
(n o t seen).

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W O RLD H IST O R IES

Talib is conspicuously quoted in this connection. The S i'ah per

suasion of the author further shows itself in the preference shown for
i ah versions of the events of the first century of the hijrah and in
the biographical notices devoted to the T w elver imams which stress
their contributions to wisdom.^ The sources used b y a l- Y a qubi,
who had at his disposal a rich historical literature of which only a
few fragm ents are preserved, are indicated in a bibliography.^
The history of the Prophet follows the usual pattern. It consists of a
series of hahars. T h ey are classified as pre-Islam ic activities, raids,
etc., and, as far as possible, arranged chronologically. Topics which
do not adm it of a chronological arrangement, such as the list of
M uhamm ads wives or his sermons, are put at the end of the Pro
phetical history but, in this particular case, before the reports on
M uhamm ads last pilgrim age and death. The remainder of the
w ork is a straight history of the reigns of the individual caliphs.
E ach reign is treated as a unit. It is introduced b y the date and
horoscope of the caHphs accession.^ It is concluded b y a character
ization of the caliph and b y lists of his civihans officials (jurists),
the leaders of the annual pilgrimages during his reign, and the
m ih tary expeditions undertaken in his tim e and the men who headed
them. The bulk of the section devoted to each caliph is made up of
individual hahars. There are few exact dates, although annalistic
coordination of events through in the same year occurs occa
sionally.^ The Syrian m onth corresponding to a given m onth of the
hijrah is alw ays indicated; surprisingly enough, this feature re
occurs in the early eighth/fourteenth-century history of Ibn alJazari.

jurist, and the insight into political affairs of the practicing lawyerpohtician. A ll these were qualities which commanded enduring
and ever-increasing respect in the intellectual circles of orthodox
Islam. It was therefore only natural th at his historical w ork never
ceased to exercise a tremendous influence upon future historians
as a model of how history should be written. Its pre-Islam ic history
is restricted to a synchronized presentation of Islam ized Bibhcal
history, A rab history, and Persian history. No notice is taken of
the widening of the historical and cultural horizon which had
taken place during at-T ab aris hfetime. The story of Muhammad
follows the sirah pattern. However, w ith the hijrah, the annahstic
presentation sets in and is then continued w ithout the slightest
deviation. The events of the individual years are presented in
hahar form, w ith the careful indication of sources and chains of
transm itters. W here there were different reports about the same
event which at-T abari thought worth preserving, he took them
over and placed them n ext to each other in his work. A ccuracy
and faithfulness to the transm itted text, even to the extent of
including foreign-language quotations, such as Persian verses,^
are the rule. The more im portant events are, it seems, given first
place in their respective years. The ruler division is only ligh tly
superimposed upon the annalistic division. It is m arked m ainly
b y extensive biographies of the caliphs at the end of their reigns.
L ists of officials seem to have appeared less im portant to the theolo
gian at-Tabari than to more worldly-m inded historians. The authors
point of view when he approaches his own time is strictly Bagdadian and reflects the attitude of the central governm ent, as we
would expect. This fact becomes evident wherever we can compare
at-T ab aris presentation w ith th at of authors possessing a different
outlook, as is possible, for instance, in the case of Tulunid history.
D etails unfavorable to the Abbasids seem occasionally to have been
om itted .2 O bituary notices were kept out of the History, unless it
was the case of persons of historical significance. A special work,
entitled D ayl al-mudayyal, took care of the biographies of early

134

A t-T ab a ris world history was incom parably more im portant

than a l- Y a qubi who was soon all but forgotten. A t-T ab ari brought
to his w ork the scrupulousness and indefatigable longwindedness
of the theologian, the accuracy and love of order of the scholarly
' See above, p. 64 f.
^ T h e bib liograph y of sources was an in tegral p a rt of Muslim scholarly research. Its
existence or non-existence in a w ork indicated the degree of scholarship the author laid
claim to. In the course of the centuries, the bibliographies in histories as w ell as any other
type of works becam e more and more detailed.
^ Cf. above, p. i n . Th e source certainly was Masa^llahs Nativities, m entioned b y alY a 'q u b i, H istory II, 3 (N ajaf 1358 = II, 4 H o u t s m a ) , as one of the works used b y him.
T he w ork b y M uham m ad b. Musa al-H uw arizm i, which is m entioned ibid., m ay have been
his Ta^rth, and not an astrological work. H ow ever, the inform ation we find in a l-Y a 'q u b i
in connection w ith M uham m ads birth is not the same th at occurs in al-Biruni (above,
p. 73. n. 2).
* A l-Y a 'q u b i, History, II, 128 (N ajaf 1358 = II, 159 H o u t s m a ) .
Cf. below, p. 493, n. i. Cf. also at-Tabari, Ta?rth, III , 916.

Muslims.
The third great historical w ork of the period is al-Masudis
M uruj, which belonged to a series of apparently quite similar
1 A t-T ab ari, Ta^rth, II, 1606 f., anno 119. Cf. also III , 50, 65, 1539.
*
Cf. H. K e l l e r , in the introduction to his edition of the sixth volum e of A hm ad b. A b i
T a h ir s History of Bagdad (Leipzig 1908). K e l l e r s characterization of the relationship of
a t-T a b ari to his author is, how ever, h ard ly acceptable.

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M IX E D FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL W R IT IN G

historical works b y the same author. i A l-M asudis brief Kitdh

at~TanUh, w ith its constant references to other parts of the series
of pubhcations, m akes it fully evident th at it was the object of
that series to treat all m aterial phenomena of the world under the
aspect of history. A playful flourish, such as the indication of the
date of the composition of the Tanbih at the end of the work ac
cording to different eras, is significant as the expression of a truly
world-historical outlook. E ven more so than a l- Y a qubi can alM as'udi be considered the characteristic representative of the
universal cultural interpretation of history. In the M uruj, the story
of the creation of the world is followed b y a physical description
of the earth. The treatm ent of pre-Islam ic Arabs which stresses the
cultural elements in their history is combined with a discussion of
all foreign nations known to the Muslims of the tenth century.
This comprises almost one-half of the whole work. V ery httle space
is given to the history of the Prophet it is true, though, that
al-M as'M i refers to another w ork of his in which the sir ah is said to
have been dealt w ith in detail. The stress here is on briefly narrating
M uham m ads life in chronological order, using the years of Muham
m ads hfe as the principle of arrangement for the time before the
hijrah. E vents concerning A ll are given much more attention
than the biography of the Prophet. The history of the caliphs is
treated according to the reigns of the individual rulers. Poetical,
hterary, and otherwise entertaining notes and anecdotes are the
main concern of the author. Some theologico-philosophical infor
m ation is also included. A brief sum m ary of the dates of caliphs
and the length of their reigns and an enumeration of the leaders of
the annual pilgrim age conclude the work.
W hile the works of a l-Y a qiibi, at-Tabari, and al-M asudi are
typ ical of the Muslim universal history of the period, th ey were b y
no means the only forms that grew in the fertile soil of tenthcentury Islam. Al-M utahhars Beginning and History has already
been described as a historical w ork w ritten from a philosophical
point of view. 2 Philosophical, theological, and scientific discussions
obscure the historical character of the w ork and leave only little
room for the Islam ic history. Contem porary with the Beginning and
History is H am zah al-Isfahanis History, which, for us, is an ex
trem ely valuable source of cultural information. It is, however,
' Cf. above, p. io f .
- Cf. above, p. 1 14 f.

W O R LD H IST O R IES

137

largely modeled after the treatm ent given to historical data in the
works of astronomers and shows greater sim ilarity to al-Birim is
w ork on Chronology (for which H am zah was a principal source)
than to historical works.^ The authors intention was to present the
chronology of the various nations known to him, th at is, the Per
sians, Rom ans, Greeks, Copts, Israelites, Lahm ids, CTassanids,
Yem enites, K indah, and Muslims. This involved ascertaining the
length of the reigns of the individual rulers and, occasionally,
attem pting synchronizations between the various nations. E ven
in the case of the caliphs, H am zahs inform ation is largely restricted
to the length of their reigns. Some little space is given to the events,
such as earthquakes or pestilences. M any pages, on the other hand,
are occupied b y such inform ation as the dates of the Persian new
year according to the Muslim calendar.^ Particular sections are
devoted to the history of H urasan and Tabaristan which, in the
auth ors opinion, played an especially im portant part in the history
of Islam, because of H urasans A bu Muslim and the B uyids of
T ab aristan .3 ^11 in all, a rather defective w ay of treating world
history, in spite of the authors admirable scholarly qualifications.
From the same tenth century,^ a Christian world history is
preserved in the w ork of A gapius (Mahbiib) b. Q ustantin al-Manbiji.
It is m arked b y a quite scientific approach in its geographical de
scription of the world and b y its full use of inform ation custom arily
found in B yzantine chronicles, th at is, Biblical history synchronized
w ith Greek m ythology and cultural history, and Hellenistic, Rom an,
and Near Eastern political history.
Another Christian world history was th at of A gap ius contem
porary, E utychius (Sa'id) b. Bitriq. The authors introductory words
raise great expectations. He starts out b y saying th a t everyone
1 For the distinction of chronological and historical works, one m ay compare al-B irun is
statem ent, in his Atdr al-bdqiyah, loO j, S a c h a u (Leipzig 1878, 1923), th at he w as occupied
w ith estabhshing the historical dates {tawdrih) and not w ith evalu atin g the historical
inform ation {ahbdr).
2 Cf. above, p. 116, n. 3^ Cf. H am zah al-Isfahani, History, I 216 G o t t w a l d t (St. Petersburg-Leipzig 1844-48).
S alm a w ayh s/Joo^ of the Dynasty [Fihrist, 156, Cairo 1348 = 107 F l u g e l ) paid considerable
atten tion to H urasan. It is quoted b y al-M as'udi, Tanbih, 65 D e G o e j e , under the title of
Book on the 'Abbdsid Dynasty and the A m irs of Hurdsdn.
*
G . G r a f , Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur, II, 122 (Citta del V aticano
1947, Studi e Testi, 133): A church and pohtical h istory {k. at-TaM h) in Sb ath , F ihrist,
2427 (13th cent.), and a universal h istory {k. al-Azm ina Book of T im es ), ibid. 2428 (from
the year 1397), are said to h ave as their respective authors each an unnam ed N estorian of
the ninth ce n tu ry. Xo com m ent on this statem ent is as y et possible.
Cf. also the M as'udi passage, referred to above, p. 108.

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M IX E D FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL W R IT IN G

who does not w ant to build on sand must know the basis {ad) of his
particular science. He refers to Plato and A ristotle as the authors
who in their books on logic had stressed the need for such knowl
edge of basic principles. It thus comes as a great disappointm ent
when E utychius has nothing more to say about the basis of his
toriography than th at it is the Torah and similar sound books. ^
The work, however, contains a skilfully synchronized pre-Islam ic
history which is circumscribed b y the Christian outlook of the
author (Biblical history, Alexander, the Diadochi, Romans, Chris
tianity, Byzantines, and Persians). His religious interest expresses
itself in excursuses against the Manichaeans and Nestorians as well
as references to events of significance in the history of the Church,
such as synods and appointments of ecclesiastic dignitaries.
Strangely enough, the hijrah constitutes a division of history for
the Christian author, but nothing is said about the life of Mu
hammad. The arrangement of later history strictly follows the
reigns of the caliphs, whose biographies do not differ in form from
w hat is found in Muslim histories. The m ain substance of the his
torical narrative, however, is provided b y Church history or b y
events concerning the Christians. R arely do we find a reference to
rem arkable natural phenomena or to a political event th at did
not im m ediately concern the authors coreligionists. The contin
uation of E utychius b y Y a h y a b. S a 'id al-Antaki, about a hun
dred years later, closely followed E utychiu s' w ork but showed
much more interest in and understanding of general history,
especially in its treatm ent of the Fatimids.^
It is worth noting that, if we except A gapius tendency to use the
in this year' of annalistic historiography, these Christian authors
did not use the annalistic arrangement. Nor do we find it in later
Christian historians, such as B utrus ar-Rahib (thirteenth century)
who treated B iblical history, the history of the Romans, MusHms,
U m ayyads, Abbasids, Fatim ids, and, at the end, the history of the
Patriarchs of A lexandria in a series of very brief biographies w ith
a synchronistic hst of dates in the margin. B ar Hebraeus, too, who
in his A rabic History of Dynasties displayed an interest in cultural
questions and did not refrain from including a biography of Mu
hammad, shows only a few instances of the annalistic coordination
1 E d . L . C h e ik h o , in CSCO , Scriptores Arabici, Series III , to m u s V I, i , 4 f. (BeirutParis 1905-6).
2 A l-A n ta k is w ork (cf. G A L Supplement I, 228) ended with the year 458/1065-66, cf.
C . C a h e n , L a Chrcnique abregee d al-^Azmn, in J A , C C X X X , 353 ff. (1938).

W O R LD H IST O R IES

139

through fi-hd in his treatm ent of the caliphs. Although the inspira
tion for using the annalistic form m ay have come to the Mushms
from Christian sources,^ Christian historical w riting in A rabic ante
dated the victo ry of the annahstic form in Muslim historiography
and conservatively retained a preference for a form of presentation
that was older and more genuinely Arabic. Moreover, as long as
Oriental Christianity remained strong, Christian writers hardly
cherished the thought of using the Muslim era in their historical
works. The form influence, however, could not entirely be avoided,
and when an author hke Michael Syrus, in his Syriac history,
arrived at Muslim history, his presentation becam e strongly an
nalistic. E ventu ally, also Christian A rabic writers, such as al-Makin,^
em ployed the annahstic principle of arranging historical data.
From the tenth century, we also have some references to a world
history w ritten b y a Jewish author. The Ta^rih of Sa'ad yah Gaon is
said to have comprised the period from God's creation of heaven
and earth to our days and to have been based upon the historical
inform ation of the Israelites .3 However, if S a ad yah s lost w ork is
adequately represented b y the tw elfth-century Oxford Anonymous,^
it was b y no means a full-fledged history. It was hardly more than
an expanded version of Jewish calendar chronology in the style
best known from the Seder ''61dm, which, incidentally, was also used
b y Muslim scholars in some form or other possibly from th e early
ninth century on.^ The Anonymous is restricted to historical events
1 Cf. above, p. 74 f f .
^ Cf. G . G r a f , Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur, II, 348 ff. (Citta del V aticano
1947, Studi e Testi, 133). F or al-M akins continuator, al-M ufaddal b. A b i 1-Fada^il, cf.
ibid., 450.
3 Cf. A . M a r x , in Revue des Etudes Juives, L V I II , 299-301 (1909)*
Cf. A. N e u b a u e r . Medieval Jewish Chronicles, II, 89-110 (Oxford 1895, Anecdota
Oxoniensia).
^ Cf. al-Biruni, al-Atdr al-bdqiyah, 75 and 78 S a c h a u (Leipzig 1878, 1 9 2 3 ) , and Istanbul
ms. ^Uiniimi 4667, p. 127.
A n anonym ous chronicle (supposedly of the ninth or tenth century) contains repeated
references to a Jewish chronicle in the sty le of the Christian Chronikon which dealt w ith
the h istory of the world, the great events, and the religious festivals. Its A ram aic title,
which is corrupt in the source, m ay have been Husbdn dlmd. It has been suggested th at
this w ork was identical w ith (?, rather, sim ilar to) the Seder 'oldm, and its translator th at
A h m ad b. ^Abdallah b. Sallam (Salam ?) who is known from the Fihrist, 33 (Cairo 1348 = 22
F l u g e l ) . T his w ould place the translation of the w ork in the time of Harrin ar-R asid (?).
Cf. G . R o t h s t e i n , Der Kanon der biblischen BUcher bei den babylonischen Nestorianern im
9./10. Jhdt., in Z D M G , L V I I I , 658 (1904), and W . B a c h e r , ibid., 774 f- A ll this, including
th e early date of the w ork, how ever, is v ery uncertain.
F or another, unidentified w ork on Jew ish h istory which w as used b y H am zah al-Isfahani
and whose author is said to have been a certain Finhas b. B a ta ( ? ) al-'Ib rani, cf. E .
M i t t w o c h , D ie literarische Tdtigkeit Hamza al-Isbahdnts, in M itteilungen des Seminars
fiir orientalische Sprachen, Westas. Studien, X I I , 124, n. 6 (1909).

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M IX E D FORMS OF HISTO RICAL W R IT IN G

of im m ediate Jewish interest and devotes m ost of its space to the

period from the creation of the world to the end of Jewish poUtical
hfe. L ittle more than one page is needed to deal w ith the last
Jewish kings in the ^Iraq, w ith the inclusion of the names of some
Jewish kings in Syria-Palestine, the Diadochi, Rom ans, Persian
kings, and Res galutas. A nd just one-quarter of a page is considered
sufficient to give all the necessary inform ation about the remaining
Persian kings, to refer briefly to the Arabs, and to m ention some
more Res galutas of the most recent years.
It seems a fact that the Jews in the m edieval Mushm environ
m ent did not produce any substantial historical works. And, to some
degree, this statem ent is also true w ith regard to m edieval Jew s in
Christian territory. M. S t e in s c h n e id e r , in the introduction of his
Geschichtsliteratur der Ju den} realized the necessity of m aking a
distinction betw'een historical w orks and historical sources. N ever
theless, most of the books he m entions in his work belong to the
latter category. The number of real historical works is very small, and
subsequent research has not changed, and will not change the picture.
The Anonymous, as insignificant a com pilation as it is, m ay help to
explain the lack of a historical literature among m edieval Jews. It
fades out as soon as the historical presentation reaches the end of
Jewish political independence. The existence of an active interest in
historical production among Jews depended upon their having a
share in political life. The Christian historical literature in A rabic
points to the identical phenomenon. O nly because Christians as a
group enjoyed considerable political independence at certain times
and in certain Muslim regions, much more so than the num erically
g reatly inferior Jews, do we find a Christian historical literature
which then m ostly deals w ith Christian affairs. Muslim histories
were read b y Jews and found their w ay into Jewish libraries,^ but
Jewish historical consciousness in Islam, lacking the nourishment
of political independence, remained restricted to the proud m emory
^ F raukfu rt a.M. 1905. Cf. also idem, D ie arabische Literatur der Juden, X X f. (F rankfurt
a.M. 1 9 02 ) . S t e i n s c h n e i d e r referred to Maimon,icles low opiuiou of A ra b ic historical,
genealogical, and other adab works. M aim onides judgm ent, however, reflects the attitu d e
of the philosopher and theologian rather than th at of the Jew .
^ Cf. the History of al-M ahdt and the History of the ^Abbdsids and Barmecides, in a ca ta
logue of books published b y J. M a n n , Text and Studies in Jewish History and Literature,
I, 652, 658 (Cincinnati 1931). T h e
of Alexander (op. cit., I, 654) m ay be another sign
of Jewish interest in m oralizing history. Th e existence of a Turkish fragm ent of an ancient
O ttom an anonym ous chronicle in Spanish H ebrew script is interesting, b u t the scribe
m ay not have been en tirely the product of a Muslim environm ent, cf. F . B a b i n g e r , in
Archil' Orientdlni IV , 108-11 {1932). Cf. also below, p. 180, n. 2.

W O RLD H IST O R IES

141

of the past and some occasional sad reflections about the sufferings
of the present. A t times, it lost itself in the adm iration of the his
torical greatness of Islam.^
The intellectual developm ent of the tenth century led to the
trium ph of a typ e of thinking which found its m ost characteristic
expression in Ism a'ilism but, as a religion of the educated, probably
extended far beyond the active adherents of the political theories
of the extrem ist i ah. In the series of great Muslim world histories,
th at typ e of thinking is best represented b y the Tajdrib al~mnam
of the Persian nationalist philosopher M iskawayh. H e states th a t
he found the historical sources to be full of inform ation w hich
w as like entertaining stories and idle ta lk [hurdfdt], which had no
use except m aking one fall asleep. ^ M iskawayh w anted the ex
periences of the nations to serve as examples for the reader. Thus,
he had to ehminate such idle ta lk .' W hat he m eant b y it becomes
clear on the following page of his w ork: I am beginning w ith
reporting the historical inform ation about the tim e after the Deluge,
because the inform ation about earlier events can be little trusted,
and also because th at inform ation is in no w ay useful for accom plish
ing the professed purpose of the w ork (namely, to mention experi
ences th at m ight serve as examples). For the very same reason,
we did not undertake to report the miracles and political achieve
ments of the prophets, because the people of our time can gain
experience for the tasks th ey will face in the future only from hum an
behavior th at is unconnected w ith anything m iraculous. For this
reason, the idle ta lk of the prophets one cannot fail to be
reminded of the supposedly extrem ist Si'ah literature on the char
latanry of the Prophets which tried to destroy the belief in prophethood and revealed religion was barred from M iskaw ayhs history.
A nd not only the history of the pre-Islam ic prophets but also the
religious history of Muhammad w as entirely om itted. H is political
history is briefly treated like a rather insignificant incident in
w orld history. The oldest recorded history, according to the author,
is th at of the Persian kings. Therefore, he starts w ith them and
w ith evident enthusiasm for his subject m atter leads their history
1 Cf. above, p. 46 f. It is a confirm ation of the above statem ent th at some Jewish converts
to Islam becam e fam ous historians, especially Fadlallah Kasid-ad-din (cf. W . F i s c h e l ,
tiher Kaschid ad-Daulas ji'ulischen Urspriing, in Monatsschrift fUr Geschichte und Wissenschaft
des Judentums, L X X X I , 1 4 5 - 5 3 , i Q 3 7 )2 M iskaw ayh, Tajdrib al-umam. I, 4 C a e t a n i (Leiden-London 1909, A'. / . W. Gibb Mem.
Series, 7).

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M IX E D FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL W R ITIN G

down to the end of the Persian empire. Rem arks about the B a b y
lonians, Greeks, Christians, Byzantines, and pre-Islam ic A rabs
are occasionally interspersed whenever the course of Persian history
seemed to require it. The authors flair for the interesting in litera
ture did not fail him when he came to Islam ic history. If he re
stricted himself to abridge the te x t of at-T abaris History b y dis
carding the chains of transm itters and shortening the n arrative,
as a modern scholar maintains, ^ he deserves praise rather than
censure. For the early years of Islam, he also did the sensible
thing and dispensed w ith the annahstic division. 2 H is narrative
of the events of the first seventy years of the fourth century of the
hijrah, due to his own merit or b y virtue of the sources he used,
represents the highw ater m ark for historical w riting in annahstic
form.=^ U nim portant m atters are h ardly ever considered. Miskaw ayh displays a keen grasp of w hat is historically essential, and the
im portant events are intelligently and coherently presented.
A t-T a Mibis ^Gurar f i siyar al-muluk wa-ahbdrihim was probably
quite similar in some respects to the Tajdrib of his contem porary,
M iskawayh. A t-T a ahbi certainly did not have the historical insight
and the feeling for history which distinguished M iskawayh. H ow
ever, the Gurar is preserved in too fragm entary a fashion to allow
a definite judgm ent concerning its historical quahty. The Islam ic
history down to the early Abbasids was, among other sources,
based upon at-Tabari, although the annalistic arrangement was
not used and a division according to the reigns of the caliphs was
followed, w ith special subsections devoted to the characterization
of wazirs and some other great men of the time. The narratives
which are m ainly concerned with the east of the A bbasid empire
are coherent and interesting. The cultural interest of the author,
which is indicated in the title, dominates his treatm ent of preIslam ic history. Wise sayings of caliphs and other outstanding
individuals as well as edifying and instructive stories are care
fully noted.
1 E . B l o c h e t , in J R A S , 1912, 1128.

^ S in ce th e p a r t o f th e w o rk fro m th e b a tt le o f Siffin, to th e y e a r 199 o f th e h ijra h is

n o t y e t p ubU sh ed , it is n o t p o ssib le to s a y w h en th e a n n a lis tic d ivisio n sets in.

Cf. M iskaw ayh s statem ent {anno 340) as to the sources of his inform ation. It explains
w h y his w ork tends to be a local h isto ry of M esopotam ia and Iran rather than a true
universal history.
*
Cf. above, p. 92, n. 2. In addition to Z o t e n b e r g s edition and the Paris m anuscript
on which th at edition is based, I consulted the O xford m anuscript, Bodleian ms. or. D O rv.
X , 2 (542) (Uri 130).

W O RLD H IST O R IES

143

The appearance for a brief moment in Islam of w hat m ight be

called true historiography is explained b y the fact th a t during the
tenth century a class of men, such as, for instance, the Sabis,
who embodied the cultural progress achieved during the preceding
century, became the leading element in political life and had a true
inside knowledge of the historical processes they were w riting about.
These men were also fortunate in th at th ey hved in a time where the
vestiges of Islam s political greatness were still visible in the crum
bling A bbasid realm. It is tem pting though idle to speculate that,
if men of their cultural background and position in pohtics had been
possible in the first century of the Abbasids, a truly great his
toriography m ight have arisen in Islam.
W ith the early eleventh century, the period of historiographical
experim entation came to an end. The downfall was rather sudden
though not unexpected. A great change had taken place in the
cultural clim ate through the introduction of the madrasah system
as a means of re-establishing the predominance of orthodox Islam
over secularizing and S iah tendencies. i The next of the preserved
great A rabic world histories, Ibn al-Jaw zis Muntazam, reached the
lowest level to which Muslim historiography, in its main represen
tatives,^ ever sank. The Muntazam represents a transitional stage
in which theology Ibn al-Jaw zis m etier had not y et fully
estabhshed its hold over historical writing, though the political
interest was waning. Ibn al-Jaw zi introduced a sharp division
between events and obituary notices. H e placed the latter after
the events of each year and arranged them alphabetically. H is
separation of the obituary notices from the historical contents
was nothing basically new. O bituary notices had originally been
a historical subject to be treated b y itself, and we have, for instance,
annalistically arranged obituaries placed at the end of the descrip
tion of each cahphal reign in Ahm ad b. A bi T ah irs History of Bag
dad.^ However, the consistent treatm ent of the biographies in this
particular manner seems to be Ibn al-Jaw zis merit. Biographies
intended to serve the purpose of theological personahty criticism ^
were the authors m ain concern. E ven when he reached his own
^ Cf. H. A. R. G i b b , in Cahiers dHistoire Mondiale, I, 54 ff. ( i 953 54)2 It is. of course, not d ifficult to find m uch poorer products am ong minor historical
com pilations.
3 I, 348 f. K e l l e r (Leipzig 1908), for the reign of al-M a mun.
*
Cf. the introduction of the Muntazam, reproduced b y O. S p i e s , Beitrdge zur arabischen
Literaturgeschichte, 61 f. (Leipzig 1932, A K M , ig, 3).

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W O RLD H IST O R IES

M IX E D FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL W R IT IN G

time in the historical presentation, insignificant events, such as

extraordinary natural phenomena, are prevalent, and the more
im portant happenings are given rather scant attention. Strangely
enough, Ibn al-Jaw zi himself labored under the illusion th at he
was reporting only im portant m atters, while other historians had
filled their books w ith m aterial which it would have been better
to disregard. 1
Ibn al-Jaw zis pre-Islam ic history, to judge from the Sudur
al-*-uqud,^ was largely concerned w ith cosmography, geography and
Bibhcal history down to Jesus. It continued w ith a brief section on
the Persian kings and a bare reference to the existence of other
non-Muslim nations. A strict annalistic arrangement governs the
later history, counting the years from M uhamm ads birth to the
hijrah, and then the hijrah years. A m onthly arrangement w ithin
the years is attempted.^ That, in spite of everything, Ibn al-Jaw zi
was receptive to the significance of historical forces is shown b y
the fact th at he realized the importance of Ism a'ilism in his tim e
and therefore went beyond at-Tabari in his rather detailed descrip
tion of the Qarm atians in connection w ith the year 278/891-92, in
which he first m entions them.^ It m ay be noted that his great ad
m iration for historical knowledge also shows itself in his Kitdh alM udhiL This w ork contains a chapter on basic historical data
{^uyun at-tawdrih), starting w ith remarks on geography. In Ibn
al-Jaw zis estimation, this chapter ranks w ith the basic data on the
Q ur an, Muhammad, the early Muslim scholars, and the A rabic
language. L ike them, historical knowledge provides the necessary
learned preparation for the composition of sermons on the va n ity
of the world and the deceptive character of human ambitions.^
W ith Ibn al-Jawzi, we also encounter the skeleton-like handbook
of history th at gave all the inform ation desired to those who did
not have the tim e or patience to stu d y the original sources. The
Sudur aUHtqud, Ibn al-Jaw zis own abridgm ent of the Muntazam,
is such a handbook. B rev ity is the keynote. H ardly more than one
happening is mentioned for each year. E vents of real historical
importance find only very sporadic attention. W hat counts in the
1 Cf. S p i e s , loc. cit.

^ Cf. a l s o S p i e s , loc. cit.

^ Cf. J. UE So.MOGYi, in J R A S , 1032, 59 f.
^ Cf. Muntazam, V, 2, i i o - i q (H yderabad 1357-58). A t-T ab ari, Ta^rth, III, 2124-30.
A l-M u d his, 57-70 (Bagdad 1348). Cf., further, J. S o m o g y i , Ibn al-Jau'zVs School of
Historiography, in Acta Or. Academiae Scientiarmn Himgaricae, V I, 207-14 (1956).

145

opinion of the author is such news as the demise of famous per

sonalities, religious developm ents, including measures concerning
Christians and Jews, strange births, earthquakes, diseases, the
opening of a new hospital, a severe unseasonal cold, the eruption
of a star, a great fire, the appearance of the D aylam Turks, fam
ines, the deaths and successions of caliphs, the bigam y of a
woman, and cases of inflation and deflation. A rapid survey of
pre-Islam ic history m akes the beginning, rounding out a picture of
history propagated b y m any mediocre reference works and b y
occasional reference works of a better quality, such as ad-D ahabis
abridgm ent of his History of Islam, entitled Duwal al-Isldm. B rief
outlines of world history m ay also function as introductions to
detailed histories of their authors own times, in the intention of
placing contem porary history, as it were, in the proper perspective.
In the early thirteenth century, al-H am awi thus prefaced his
preserved history (which was preceded b y a longer version not
preserved) w ith a list of pre-Islam ic prophets, as required b y the
Muslim view , ^ a few remarks about Muhammad, and hsts of the
U m ayyad , Abbasid, and F atim id caliphs, followed b y an annal
istic survey beginning w ith the first year of the hijrah, which be
comes grad u ally more and more detailed on approaching the time
of the author.
In this connection, another developm ent in the writing of univer
sal history m ay be mentioned, th at is, the use of tables as a form
of historical presentation [taqwim). This device was alw ays used
b y chronographers and astronomers and taken over into the scientif
ic discussion of chronology, as we find it in al-Birunis Atdr albdqiyah. Its practical educational value cannot have long remained
concealed to historians. However, the earliest available historical
taqwim dates from as late as the fourteenth century.^ Its sixteen
folios deal w ith the rulers of Islam. In separate columns, we find
inform ation about each rulers father and mother, his patronym ic,
surname, year of birth, appointm ent as heir to the throne, length
^ At-Ta^rth al-M ansuri, fol. 3b G r y a z n e v i c h ( M o s c o w i 9 6 0 ) , im m ed iately before a
la c u n a in the m anuscript.
^ W . B a r t h o l d , Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion, 24 (London 1928, E . J . W. Gibb
M em. Series, N .S ., 5), refers to a.Ta^rth-i-mujadifal b y a certain A b u 1-Qasim M uham m ad b.
'A li al-4 madi, who m ay have lived at the beginning of the tw elfth century, if not earlier,
and who certainly was earlier than the thirteenth century. According to the title, this m ust
have been a h istory in tabu lar form.
For the gen ealogical-tabu lar representation of universal history, sec above, p. 9 7 f.
Cf. also Ibn Farigun, A rab ic texts, below, p. 459. For O ttom an calendars, cf. above,
p. n o , n. 3.
R o se n th a l,

H istory of Muslim Historiography

10

146

M IX E D FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL W R IT IN G

of life, date of death, length of reign, cause of death, and place of

burial.1 Another, later instance of the transposition of annalistic
w orld historiography into tabular form can be seen in a Turkish
taqwim b y H ajji Halifah. It starts out w ith a discussion of the various
eras, followed b y a presentation in the form of tables of universal
history, first according to the years of the w orld and then accord
ing to the years of the hijrah. The years are further grouped in
decades (following ad-D ahabi?), and, for each year, the most
im portant event is reported. ^
Ibn al-Jaw zis grandson wrote the Mir''at az-zamdn, a universal
history, which in its pre-Islamic part reflects the richness and
cultural curiosity of al-Masudi, and in its Islam ic part gives much
fuller historical inform ation than Ibn al-Jawzi. A t the same time,
the w ork which among the ordinary annahstic treatm ents of
world history in Islam deserves to be called the best was in the
m aking, the K am il f i t-ta^rih b y Ibn al-Atir. For the vast ground
it covers, the K am il is rem arkably well balanced. The pre-Islam ic
h istory deals w ith the creation of the world, Bibhcal history (which
is synchronized w ith that of the Persians), and the stories of
Christians, saints, and pre-Islam ic Arabs. The life of Muhammad
is quite long but not unproportionately so, as it occupies roughly
somewhat less than one-twentieth of the whole work. The author
expresses his regret th at someone in Mosul must necessarily miss
up on events of the remote regions of east and w est. ^ E ven w ithout
this express statem ent, it is fully obvious th at at least he tried
hard to strike an even balance between events from all parts of the
Muslim world, even if he was not uniform ly successful in this
respect. In addition, he tried to do justice to strange happenings
and the biographies of im portant individuals, while not putting
undue stress on them.
Ibn al-A tirs historical treatm ent gets more detailed when he
reaches his own time, but again he keeps w ithin the proper limits.
He occasionally if rarely shows ghmpses of true historical insight.
For instance, he describes the capture of Antioch b y the Crusaders
1 Ms. Cairo T a rih 86 m. In the m anuscript, the taqwim is followed b y A bu 1-F id a s
Tibr al-masbuk. B oth works seem to have been composed b y the same author, b u t the
question of their authorship needs closer investigation. Th e Tibr ends ten years after Abu
1-F id a s death.
2 Paris ms. persan suppl. 1739 ( B l o c h e t 2293); cf. G A L , II, 248; Supplement II, 636;
S t o r e y , Persian Literature, II, 128 f . ; K dtip Qelebi, hayati ve eserleri hakkinda incelemeler,
48 ff., lo i ff. (A nkara 1 9 3 7 ) 3 Kam il, I, 3 (Cairo 1301).

W O R LD H IST O R IES

147

in 491/1098 as p a it of a three-pronged a tta ck of the Christian

world against Islam : in Spain, in Sicily, and now in the heartland
of Islam.^ Or he ventures an explanation of the observation th at
the founders of dynasties usually are not succeeded b y their own
o f f s p r i n g . 2 A t another time, he reflects, as do other historians,
upon the greatness of the calam ity of the T atar invasion.^ In this
connection, he was surpassed in historical and psychological in
sight b y Ibn A b i U saybi'ah , who knew that there alw ays was a
greater calam ity, a bigger even t. ^ On one occasion, Ibn al-A tir
even defies the annalistic arrangement, in order to give a coherent
report on four years of crusader trouble which began with the year
614/1217-18.^ H owever, in some essential respects, he, too, does not
rise above the ordinary level of the annalistic compiler. H e often
relies exclusively upon one source. In the case of inform ation derived
from at-Tabari, he tries to m ake up deficiencies from other works.
On some rare occasions, he expressly mentions his use of more than
one source. He often shortens hs particular source in a rather
neghgent and subjective m anner. On the whole, the Kam il, in
form ative as it is, is not very rehable, but it remains a great and
rem arkable achievem ent.
T h e world-wide repercussions of the rise of the Mongols brought
an increased interest in the history of non-Muslim peoples as well
as the opportunity to satisfy it. The m ost original w ork in this re
spect w as done b y Fadlallah Rasid-ad-din. In his Jdmi^ at-tawdrih,
he included sketches of Chinese, Jewish, Indian, and W estern Euro
pean history, the last one being based on a L atin chronicle close to or
identical w ith that of M artinus Oppaviensis (Polonus) (d. 1278);
while M artinus treated first the Popes and then the Emperors down
to his own time, the two lists were merged b y the Persian author.
A n up-to-date presentation of the geographical features of W estern
^ o p . cit., X , 112.
Op. cit., X I , 154 f., anno 564, quoted b y B a yb a rs al-M ansuri, Zubdat al-fikrah, cf.
B odleian ms. Pocock 324 (Uri 704), anno 564.
Op. cit., X I I , 164, anno 617.
*
Ibu A b i Usaybi'^ah, I, 233 M u l l e r . Th e author was b elitthn g the com plaints which
the physician SaMd b. Bisr had m ade about conditions in the tenth/eleventh century. On
the fallacious concept of the good old d a y s, cf. also al-M aqrizis Igdtat al-ummah. ed.
M . M. Z i Y A D A H and J. a s - S a y y a l (2nd ed., Cairo 1957).
K a m il, X l l , 147.
Op. cit., X I , 170, anno 568.
F or Ibn al-A tirs lelation to at-T ab ari, cf. C. B r o c k e l m a n n , Das Verhdltnis von Ibnal-A tirs K a m il fit-ta^rih zu Tabaris Ahbdr er rusul U'al muluk. D issertation Strasbourg 1890
(not seen); for his relation to Ibn al-Qalanisi, cf. H. A. R. G ibb, Notes on the History of the
E a rly Crusades in B S O S , V II , 739-54 (1933-35). Cf. G i b b , in Speculum X X V 49-72 (1950).

148

M IX E D FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL W R IT IN G

Europe precedes the historical outline. In this w ay, Rasid-ad-din

produced a true world history. 1
From the thirteenth century on, there was a steady flow of A rab ic
and Persian universal histories. Most of them were distinguished
m erely b y the different emphasis th ey placed upon the one or other
of the various components of Muslim world historiography. W her
ever the theological interest dom inated h istoiical writing, a quite
notable developm ent took place. Pre-Islam ic history becam e pre
dom inantly a collection of Mushm traditions concerning the creation
of the world and B iblical history. The biography of M uhammad,
the treatm ent of which can serve, as has been shown, as an indica
tion of the historian's intellectual outlook, was expanded beyond
any reasonable limits. A typical representative of this tendency is
Ibn K a tir s Biddy ah wa-n-nihdyah.^ Or another w ay was found.
Pre-Islam ic history was unim portant for theology, and the biog
raphy of Muhammad was a sacred subject to be treated b y itself.
The result was works such as the History of Ibn A b i d-dam (d.
642/1244),^ a l-K u tu b is (d. 764/1363) '"Uyun at-Tawdnh, or alY M i'is (d. 768/1367) Mif^dt al-jandn, all of which begin w ith year
one of the hijrah. There also were comprehensive dynastic histories
which started w ith the first caliph, such as Ibn D uqm aqs (d. 809/
1407) Jawhar at-tamin f i strut al-hulafd^ wa-s-saldtin. These works
m ight be called truncated world histories. There also existed
occasional sham world histories, th at is, works deahng w ith
some hm ited historical subject but provided w ith world historical
introductions.^
1 Cf. K . J a h n , Histoire Universelle de Rastd al-dtn . . . I, H istoire des Francs (Leiden 1951),
and above, p. 81. Pu blication of Rasid-ad-dins w ork has been undertaken in m an y different
places. Cf. S t o r e y , Persian Literature, Section II, 72 ff., 1231 f. For the first p art, the
Ta^rih-i-Odzdnt (above, p. 105, n. 2), cf. the references in K . J a h n s p a rtia l edition (The
H ague 1957), covering pp. 739-838 of the edition Teheran 1338/1959. O ther sections have
been edited b y A. A x e s , such as the section on the Saljuq s (A nkara i960). A m odern A rab ic
translation of Q u a t r e m e r e s edition, covering pp. 1-20 and 677-838 of the Teheran edition,
was published in Cairo, n. y. A n oth er edition began to appear in the U S S R in 1965. Cf.
also K . J a h n , Rashid a l-D in s History of India (The H ague 1965), the source of which
was the B a ksh i Karnalashri.
2 A lthough the even ts of the Resurrection were alw ays considered b y Muslims part of
history and were, therefore, included in historical works such as al-M utahhars Beginning
and History, the addition of a special second part dealing w ith the E n d {nihdyah) was a
sign of growing theological influence. Th e publication of the N ihdyah which was announced
at the end of the fourteenth part of the Cairo edition of the Biddyah apparently has not yet
m aterialized. F or m anuscripts of that part in Istanbul, cf. O. S p i e s , Beitrdge zur arabischen
Literaturgeschichte, 79 (Leipzig 1932, A K M , 19, 3).
^ Ibn A b i d-dains preserved w ork (Bodleian ms. Marsh 60 [Uri 728]) is a brief annalistic
history startin g w ith the life of the Prophet and going down to the y ear 628/1230, cf.
G A L , I, 346, and L I , 2nd ed., s.v. Ibn A b i 1-Dam.
^ B u t cf. also above, p. 145. The scheme of universal historiography was occasionally

W O R LD H IST O R IES

149

In addition to this tw ofold m ark which theology impressed upon

the pre-Islam ic and early Islam ic part of universal histories, theolog
ical influence also showed itself in the treatm ent of later Muslim
history. The preponderance of biographies becam e more and more
pronounced. In both Ibn K a tir and ad-Dahabi, th ey occupy a large
part of the contents. Ibn K a tir did not adopt the alphabetical
arrangem ent of the biographies which he found in one of his main
sources, the Muntazam, and he avoided to some degree the pedantic
separation of events from biographies. Ad-D ahabi, on the other
hand, alw ays kept the tw o subjects strictly apart. If the O xford
m anuscripts of the History of Islam represent the authors inten
tion,^ he showed some vacillation in the manner in which he arranged
events and biographies in his work. In the first decades, ^ the
biographies precede the events. Later, all biographies, alphabeti
cally arranged, are placed at the end of each decade. Again, we
find the events of a fifty-year period treated together and followed
b y the biographies for the whole period. These biographies are then
arranged annahstically and, within the individual years, alphabeti
cally. Moreover, there is a superimposed arrangement according to
decades and, at the end of each decade, there follow obituary notices
of men whose exact date of death w ithin the particular decade is not
known. From the end of the tw elfth century on, the events of each
year are followed b y a list of those born in th at particular year.^ A nd
for the last decades of the seventh/thirteenth century, the History o f
Islam, as we know it, contains only biographies. It is not only the
large number of biographies which is so conspicuous but also their
length, especially in the case of persons who seemed im portant
from the religious point of view.
transferred to litera ry sub jects th at had on ly a slight relationship w ith history. T h e awd^il,
the first in ventors or the things in ven ted or done first, alw ays had a certain historical
interest (we find them , for instance, m entioned, in al-Q uda4 , ^Uyun al-ma^drif, Bodleian
ms. or. Pocock 270, Uri 865, fol. 54a, and already in our earliest historians, such as alB alad u ris Ansdb, life of Y a z id II). Therefore, it is not surprising to find the scheme of
universal h istory applied to a w ork on the firsts, the M ahdsin al-wasd^il b y as-ibli.
The w ork starts w ith the awa^il of creation, the awa^il of M ecca and the Ka'-bah, then those
from A d am down to A braham and Isma'^il, those of prophets, kings, and A rab lords, of
M uham m ad and the men around him , the awd^il of Islam and the Islam ic religious law , of
nam es and governorships, of chess, of the U m ayyad s and 'A b b asids, and, after some u n
classified awa^il, those of the L ast D a y and the w orld to come (Phot. Cairo T a rih 5 557,
fol. 11 a). V ice versa, the awd^il of each ruler of the past constitute the introduction of the
annalistic h istory of more m odern times in al-M aqrizis Suluk (Vol. I, Cairo 1934)1
For the Istan bul autograph of the w ork, cf. O. S p i e s , op. cit., 70. F or the O xford mss.,
below , p. 445, n. 4. (The w ork is now in course of publication, Cairo 1367 ff.)
* Cf. above, p. 85.
^ Cf. above, p. 102.

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LOCAL H IST O R IES

M IX E D FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL W R IT IN G

U niversal historiography thus lost the power to give a wellrounded picture of the world which it had possessed for m any cen
turies and which was curtailed only b y the circum stance th at for
most of the tim e the historians knowledge of events of the
non-Muslim p art of the world w as extrem ely scant. T he Muslim
approach to the w riting of universal history alw ays offered m any
inducements to historians to be superficial, to copy their sources
m echanically, to prefer quantity to quality. B u t it also represented
a kind of universal historical consciousness which is one of the
first necessary stages on the road tow ard a tru ly hum an concept of
the world.
3 L O C A L H IS T O R IE S
The occupation w ith local history ^has at all times been a favorite
literary expression of group consciousness. The strong attachm ent
th a t binds hum an beings to the place where th ey were born was
felt and expressed b y all the various population groups which
inhabited the Muslim realm. A good part of the eariiest local
historiography in Islam grew out of theologico-juridical consider
ations. Nevertheless, local pride was behind the discussions of the
scholars. Non-existence of works on local history was considered as
much a disgrace b y as-Sallami in H urasan ^as it was b y Ibn H azm in
Spain,^ and it remained axiom atic th at an author should not
neglect the history of his own country while writing about another
one.^ L ove for ones c ity as the incentive to w rite a w ork on local
history was expressly mentioned for the first time in al-M afarruhis
Mahdsin Ishahdn in eleventh-century Iran.^ From then on, this
is a recurrent m otif in local histories.
Successive authors on the history of a particular locality in m any
cases followed almost slavishly the earhest standard w ork that
dealt w ith th at locality. B u t apart from this, local historiography
left considerable freedom to the individual inclinations of the
historian and presents a greater va riety of form and contents
^ F or some additional inform ation, cf. iH dn 121-35, below, p. 457 ff.
^ Cf. IHdn, 39 f., below, p. 322.
Cf. Ibn H azm s re p ly to the letter which al-H asan b. M uham m ad b. A h m ad b. ar-R abib
al-Q ayraw an i had addressed to Ibn H azm s cousin, A b u 1-Mugirah ^Abd-al-Wahhab b.
A hm ad, and in which he com plained about the lack of historical works b y Spaniards dealing
with Spain, in al-M aqqari, Analectes, II, 108-21 D o z y and others (Leiden 1855-61);
C. P e l l a t , in Al-A ndalus, X I X . 53-102 (1954).
*
T aqi-ad-din al-Fasi, al-'-Iqd at-tamin, introduction, with regard to Q utb-ad-din alQ astallan is w ork on the h istory of the Y em en.
W ritten near the end of the century, cf. H. R i t t e r , in Oriens, IV , 191 (1951).

151

than annalistic historiography. There were m an y minor variations.

Genetically, however, two main strains of local or regional historical
writing can be distinguished. T h ey will be briefly referred to as
secular local historiography and theological local historiography.
Secular local historiography in Islam had some pre-Islam ic
antecedents. T h ey came from an area which, in view of its geo
graphical and cultural situation, m ight have served as the m eeting
ground where Muslims could have become acquainted w ith this typ e
of hterature. Thus, we find th at loannes Malalas had at his disposal
a history of Antioch. He also seems to have used a history of Con
stantinople. ^ Syriac literature knows a brief history of the foun
dation of Rom e ascribed to the historian D iodes, who lived in the
third century B. C.^ A rabic literature has some local histories of
Eastern Christian origin. A m ong them, there is a fantastic descrip
tion of Rom e ^ and a history of the foundation of Antioch. The
latter includes an account of the buildings, pagan temples, sources,
etc., of the city and its history in the time of Jesus and the Apostles.'*
A H istory of Antioch b y some Christian was copied b y the sarif
Idris b. Hasan b. A li al-Idrisi, the historian, in whose m anuscript
Ibn al-A dim read it. The w ork appears to have been a truly
historical treatm ent of the subject, but the tim e of its composition
and its authorship are entirely uncertain. A description of Con
stantinople, which is preserved in m anuscript, was certainly no
detailed history of the city. Such a history did not exist as late
as the seventeenth century, and it probably was never written,
^ Cf. A .

F r e u n d ,

Beitrdge zur antiochenischen und zur konstantinopolitanischen Stadt-

chronik (Jena 1882).

^ Cf. A. B a u m s t a k k , Geschichte der syrischen Literatur, 171 (Bonn 1922). Cf. also
W . H. P. H a t c h , A n Album o f Dated Syriac M anuscripts, pi. L X V I (Boston 1946).
^ Cf. I. G u i d i , L'E uropa occidentale negli antichi geografi arabi, in Florilegium M . de
VogUe, 263-69 (Paris 1909).
*
I used the tw o Bodleian m anuscripts of the w ork, ms. or. Selden super. 30 (Uri 432),
fols. 54a-7ob, and Laud or. 30 (Uri 870). F or other m anuscripts of the descriptions of Rome,
A ntioch, and Constantinople, cf. G . L e v i d e l l a V i d a , Elenco dei manoscritti arabi Islam ici
della Biblioteca Vaticana, uo. 286 (Citta del V aticano 1935, Studi e Testi, 67); G . G r a f ,
Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur, III , 155-57. T he h istory of A n tioch w as
published from the V atican m anuscript b y I. G u i d i , in Rendiconti, R. Accad. dei Lincei,
Cl. di scienze mor., stor. efilo L , V , V I (1897), 137-61. D. S. M a r g o l i o u t h com pared the v ery
different m anuscript Laud. or. 30. in J R A S , 1898, 157-69; cf. also the unpublished doctoral
dissertation (Yale U n iversity, 1932) b y W . F. S t i n e s p r i n g .
^ Bugyat at-talab, phot. Cairo Ta^rih 1566, pp. 158 and 160. F or the 5 a rf/al-Id risi, cf. also
a l-'Im a d al-Isfahani, Haridat al-qasr (E gyptian poets). I, 190, 201, 212 (Cairo 1370/1951);
A b u Sam ah, Rau'datayn, I, 130 ff. (Paris 1898, Recueil des historiens des Croisades, Historiens
or., 4). His w ork is also quoted in Ibn Saddad, al-AHdq al-hattrah, ms. Topkapu saray, R evan
K osk 1564, fol. 12b, from Ibn al-'-Adim.
Cf. H a jji H alifah, K a sf, II, 116 F l u g e l . Th e author informs us th at he knew a fifteenthcen tury Persian translation of a h istory of A y a S ofya and a Turkish translation made from

152

M IX E D FORMS OF HISTO RICAL W R IT IN G

at least not in the traditional form. A Syriac w ork entitled TasHt

(that is, Syriac tasHtd story, h istory ) containing inform ation
on (Christian) M ayyafariqin was used b y Ibn al-Azraq (twelfth
century) for his History of Mayydfdriqin.^ He had the w ork trans
lated for him (orally, it seems) b y a Christian.
The legendary histories of Rom e and A ntioch as well as the A rabic
description of Constantinople would not seem to be v e ry ancient.
Th ey are preserved only in quite recent manuscripts. This, of course,
would not prove recent origin of the works. T h ey m ay have been
compiled, or translated into A rabic, at a com paratively early date.
This, however, cannot have been so early th a t these w orks m ight
be assumed to have inspired the creation of Muslim local historiog
raphy. Moreover, the preserved Christian Arabic local histories of
this type, as well as the Syriac and Greek works, show no real
sim ilarity in either form or contents w ith later Mushm works. One
more consideration would seem to speak against linking Muslim
secular local histories to Christian models
The earliest known
M uslim w orks h ad their origin in Mesopotamia, and this typ e of
local historiography seems to have originated there, and not in
Syria, as one would expect in the case of Christian influence.
According to their form and contents, Muslim secular local histories
seem to have originated as a specialized form of general historiog
raphy. In their later development, th ey were influenced in some
w ay or other b y theological local historiography and b y m any
different regional and cultural considerations.
From the Mesopotamia of the ninth and tenth centuries, large
parts of only two secular local histories are preserved,^ the History
o f Bagdad b y A hm ad b. A bi Tahir T ayfu r, which w as continued b y
the Persian translation.
Th e Turkish texts dealing w ith the h isto ry of Constantinople and A y a S o fya which
H ajji H alifah had in mind, were based upon B yzan tin e sources and, apparently, have
n othing to do w ith the A rab ic w ork, cf. J. H. M o r d t m a n n , in his review of F . K r a e l i t z
and P. W i T T E K (editors), M itteilungen zur osmanischen Geschichte (Vienna 1921-22), in Der
Islam , X I I I , 159 ff. (1923). Cf. also E l , 2nd ed., s.v. A y a Sofya.
1 Cf. the p artial edition of the w ork under the title Ta^rth al-Fdriqi b y B . 'A . "^Iw a d
(A w a d ), 15 f. (Cairo 1379/1959). I do not know w hether the quotation(s) would perm it any
dating of the Syriac work.
2 I t m ay be added here th at the origin of theological local h istoriography in Islam , to be
described later on, precludes a n y thought of an influence b y these Christian works upon
th at branch of local historiography.
3 For the History o f al-Basrah b y Z a k a riy a b. Y a h y a as-Saji (below, p. 436, n. 5) which
seems to have contained predom inantly political and geographical inform ation, cf. V aq u t,
Mu'-jam, index W u s t e n f e l d , and F. J. H e e r , Die historischen mui ^eographischen Q udlen
in Jdqfit's GeoiiraphiscJiein Wortcrbuch, 32 f. (Strassburg 1S98).

LOCAL H IST O R IES

153

the authors son Ubaydallah,^ and the History of M osul b y A bu

Z a k a riya ' al-Azdi. A hm ad b. A bi Tah irs w ork was intended to be
a history of the 'A bbasid caliphs th a t centered around their capital.
A s such, it was w^ell suited to take the place of a general history of
the Muslim empire.^ A topographical chapter was added to the
historical presentation, for we are told th at the Spaniard Ahm ad
b. M uhammad ar-R azi wrote a description of Cordoba dealing
w ith the sections {hitat) of the c ity and the residences of its distin
guished inhabitants in the manner originated b y Ahm ad b. A bi
Tahir in the History {ahbdr) o f Bagdad. ^ The description of B agdad
m ay have drawn h eavily on cultural and economic statistics. An
approxim ate idea of the character of th at typ e of inform ation
m ay be gained from the preserved fragm ents of the works in praise
of B agdad b y tw o other authors of the ninth century, A hm ad b.
a t-T ayyib as-Sarahsi and Y azd ja rd b. M ahbundad al-Kisrawi.^
W hile there has never been any doubt about the secular character
of Ibn A b i T ah irs work, al-A zd is History o f M osul is generally
described as a w ork on the hadit experts of th at city. Quo
tations in other authors would seem to bear out the correctness
of this description.^ However, the preserved part of the w ork
tells another story. It contains an excellent annalistic history
th at comprises the years 101-224
the hijrah. This history m ay
have constituted a separate part of one larger work, or it m ay have
been an independent w ork to which the Tabaqdt o f Hadit Scholars
was the biographical companion volum e. The political events
dealt w ith are of a general nature but th ey do have some con
nection with Mosul. Particular attention is paid to the governors
of the city and their exploits as well as the dates of death of scholars,
among whom there are not only Mawsilis. A l-A zdi displays a certain
understanding for the importance of economic factors in history
^ Cf. below, p. 462, n. 2.
Cf. above, p. 81.
^ Cf. al-H um aydi, Jadwat al-Muqtabis, Bodleian ms. or. H unt. 464 (Uri 783), fol. 45a.
* Cf. above, p. 116, n. 3, and M. ^Awwad, in Revue de VAcademie arabe de Danias, X I X ,
322-31 (1944). ^Awwad prefers M ahm andar to M ahbundad. W e are not in a position to state
how m uch historical inform ation these works contained and precisely in w hat form it w as
presented. T h e im portant fragm ent of Y a z d ja r d s Fadd^il Bagdad in H ilal b. al-M uhassin
as-Sabi^s Rusum ddr al-hildfah, 18 ff. M. 'A w w a d (Bagdad 1383/1964), has been treated
b y M. "^Awwad in a separate publication (B agd ad 1962).
Cf. below, p. 482, n. 3, ad iHdn, 133.
* I used the phot. Cairo Ta^rih 2475 (also T a ym u r T a M h 2303). T h e m anuscript was
w ritten b y Ibrahim b. Jama'-ah b. 'A ll in 654/1256. Cf. above, p. 121.
On p. 258 f. of the Cairo ms., the author sa y s; W e gave a fu ll account of the h istory
[ahbdr] of al-M u'afa (b. 'Im ran) in the KUdh Tabaqdt al-mttha.dditin.''

154

M IX E D FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL W R IT IN G

when he describes, for instance, the black m arket operations which

took place during a famine in the year 207/822-23.^ Some of the
information, it seems, has no obvious bearing upon Mosul, but there
is little of th at and closer scrutiny m ay show th at it is necessary
background m aterial for the history of the city. According to the
author, he was the first to compile a history of Mosul. He explains
his inability to check the correctness of the statem ent that al-Mahdi
had appointed A hm ad b. Ism a'il b. A li governor of Mosul in 167/
783-84, in these words: I did not compose this history from a
readily available special work which I could have used for the
affairs of Mosul, but I collected (my material) from various books.
I m entioned w hat I found, and did not deviate from the tru th . ^
The History of M osul b y the two H alidi brothers m ay have been
similar to A bu Zakariya^s work. To judge from a preserved frag
ment, the authors-poets placed Mosul in a wider geographical con
text, and thus they probably also included historical inform ation
from beyond the confines of the city and its im m ediate surround
ings.^ The same is likely to have been in the case w ith the eleventhcentury History of M osul b y Muhammad b. A li as-Simsati.^ Ibn
al-A tirs History of Mosul, which was not completed, followed
the great tradition of politically oriented local historiography.^
A bout half a century before him, Ibn al-Azraq wrote his History of
M ayydfdriqin which presented the history of the city from pre-Islam ic times to the time of the author as forming part of the general
history of the region politically and culturally.
In Mesopotamia, the glorious Muslim present overshadowed the
great pre-Islam ic past of the country. In E gyp t, on the other hand,
consciousness of and pride in its pre-Islam ic history were alive and
found expression in a number of works on local history. Ibn Zulaq
wrote a History and Praise of Egypt. The m anuscripts we have
contain m erely an excerpt of the authors original v/ork, and the
^ o p . cit., p. 308.
^ Op. cit., p. 216 f.
^ Cf. below, p. 482, n. 4, ad IHdn, 133.

Cf. Ibn al-A zraq s History of M ayydfdriqin (above, p. 152, n. i), 27 (Eugl.) and 17 (Ar.).
Cf. below, p. 482. T he w ork is ob viously identical w ith the Histoire des Atabecs de M osul,
which was edited in the Recueil des historiens des Croisades, Historiens or., II, 2 (Paris 1876),
and, more recently, b y ' A b d - a l - Q a d i r A . T u l a y m a t (Cairo 1963).
* Cf. above, n. 4.
I used the m anuscript Paris ar. 4727, fols. i8 6b -2i2 a. T he m anuscript is dated in Safar
988/March-April 1580. It is said to have been copied from a m anuscript d ated K a b i' I,
608/August-Septcm ber 12 11, which, in turn, was copied from a m anuscript th at w as copied
from the autograph of the author. Th e works which Brockelm ann, in G A L , I, 149 and
Supplement I, 230, enum erates as nos. 1-4 of Ibn Z iilaq s works seem all identical or n early

LOCAL H IST O R IES

155

authen ticity of the preserved tex t in general has been doubted.^

Since Ibn Zulaq wrote in the tenth century, we would expect to
find a much better organization of the contents and fuller inform a
tion on classical A n tiq uity, if the w ork was in fact w ritten b y him.
A s it is, a tw elfth-century date is more likely but not absolutely
certain. The w ork starts out, as any theological local history would,
with references to E g y p t from the Q uran and the traditions, but
it then goes on to discuss oriental-Hellenistic inform ation about
E g y p t as the home of Greek philosophy and science. This discussion
is followed b y the history of E g y p t in pre-Islam ic days down to the
Muslim conquest. Thereafter, E g y p ts Si'ah families and other
prominent E gyp tian Muslims are enumerated, and finally there are
notes on the topography of E gyp t, its agricultural and industrial
products, and the calendar used there.
The tradition of secular local historiography in E g y p t was
continued b y such authors as al-Musabbihi and Ibn Muyassar.
A curious city history of A lexandria was w ritten b y M uhammad
b. Qasim an-Nuwayri. The w^ork centers around an event of the
year 767/1365-66 and was inspired b y the struggle with the E uro
pean Christians, as w as the case also w ith such works as the T m ad s
history of the conquest of Jerusalem, al-Fath al-Qussi, or A hm ad
b. A bdallah b. A m irahs w ork on the conquest of Majorca, which
is said to have been fashioned after th at of the ImM.^ The w ork on
A lexandria contains a long account of the history of A lexander
and Aristotle and deals w ith m any other m atters of no historical
im port and of no particular connection w ith Alexandria.
W ith the approach of the fifteenth century, the tradition of
secular local historiography in E gyp t led to the composition of
reference works th at present a wealth of topographical, cultural,
historical, and economic inform ation neatly arranged and classified.
The most celebrated w ork of the kind is al-M aqrizis Hitat. It
shows the authors wide interests and encyclopaedic reading and
probably is much more comprehensive than the apparently very
similar works of his predecessors, such as M uhammad b. A s ad
al-Jaw w ani (d. 588/1192) and M uhyi-ad-din A bdallah b. Abd-azidentical. Cf. R. G o t t h e i l , in J A O S , X X V I I , 226, n. 2 (1907).
^ Cf. G o t t h e i l , loc. cit.
^ Cf. al-M aqqari, Analectes, I, 201 D o z y and others (Leiden 1855-61). Ibn ^Amirah died
in 658/1260, cf. also P o n s B o i g u e s , E nsayo, 288 f.; Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, I, 203. M uham m ad
b. al-H alaf as-Sadafi (d. 509/1116) sim ilarly w rote on the capture of V alencia b y the
Christians, cf. Ibn al-A bbar 146, no. 514 Codera (Madrid 1886-89, Bibliotheca ArabicoHispana, 6).

156

M IX E D FORMS OF HISTO RICAL W R ITIN G

Zahir (d. 692/1293). The universal outlook of world histories is

reflected in the Hitat in the brief discussion of the world and the
earth with which the work starts. W riting on the history of E g y p t
did not stop w ith al-Maqrizi. A fter him, there were works such as,
for instance, the Durr al-manzum fi-m d warad f i M isr min mawjud
wa-ma'^dum b y A li b. D awud al-Jawhari.^ A remarkable though
little satisfactory achievem ent was as-Suyutis Husn al-muhddamh.
H istorical m ethodology, as devised b y fifteenth-century historians,
determined the plan of the work, and the scholar and theologian
in as-Suyuti prom pted him to la y great stress on biographical
information. The result was a handbook full of inform ation, a
useful reference work, which, however, can no longer be called a
history.
In Syria, secular local and regional historiography m ade its
appearance in the tw elfth century. The character of the histories of
D am ascus w ritten in the tenth century b y Ibn A bi l-A ja iz and
A b u 1-H usayn ar-R azi ^ remains as yet undetermined. Ibn alQ alanisis (d. 555/1160) annalistic history centered around D a
m ascus. In the thirteenth century, Ibn a l-Adim, whose m agnum
opus was a biographical history of Aleppo,^ wrote the c ity s political
history in the well-informed Zubdat al-halah f t ta^nh Halah. Before
Ibn a l-Adim, secular histories of Aleppo were w ritten b y alA zim i ^ and, it seems, Ibn al-Munla.^ The invigorating influence
which the historical experience of the Crusades exercised upon
intellectual life in Syria showed itself in another product of Syrian
local historiography, Ibn Saddads AHdq al-hatimh on the History
of the Governors and Rulers of Syria and Northern Mesopotamia. As
the title indicates, the w ork is a regional history. Dow n to the year
302/914-15, the history of the whole area is treated as a unit. From
then on, as there no longer existed any political unity, the different
sovereign regions are dealt with independently. A description of the
geographical or topographical features of each section m akes the
beginning. It is followed b y the respective political history down
^ Cf. above, p. 84. I consulted the ms. Cairo T a rih 863, dated 1031/1622.
* Cf. S. a l - M u n a ] J I d , al-Mu?arrihun ad-Dimasqlyun (above, p. 5). F or the fadd'^il w ork
of ar-Raba*^!, see below p. 469, n. i. Cf. also the su rvey of Syrian local histories b y S. D a h a n ,
in B. L e w i s and P. M. H o l t , Historians of the M iddle East, 108 ff.
Cf. below, p. 170.
* Cf. G A L Supplement I, 586, and '^Abbas al 'A zzaw i, in Revue de VAcademic arahe de
Damas, X V I I I , 199-209 (1943).
^ H is w ork seems to have been a special history of A leppo rather than a general h istor
ical work.

LOCAL H IST O R IES

157

to the T atar invasion.^ It m ay be mentioned in this connection

th at a similar com bination of geographical description w ith annalistically arranged political history (and other elements of annal
istic historiography, such as the discussion of the introduction
of the Muslim era) is also found in the Yem en. Ibn a d -D a y b a s
(d. 944/1537) Bugyat al-mustafid f i ahhdr madinat ZaU d is a repre
sentative of this typ e of local history.^
A rem arkable w ork from M amluk Syria is the p artly preserved
chronicle of Dam ascus (1389-97) {ad-Durrah al-mudi^'ah f i d-dawlah
az-Zdhiriyah) b y an an otherwise unknown M uhammad b. Mu
ham m ad b. Sasra.^ The w ork was not intended to be a local history
of Damascus. However, the city was the authors residence and cen
ter of experience and he is almost exclusively concerned with
events th at took place there. The historical exposition is inter
spersed w ith m oral reflections and bolstered b y verses and edifying
stories, thus exem plifying the accepted purpose of historiography
as a m orality p lay and an exhortation to a god-fearing life. A lthough
Ibn Sasra tells us th at he w rote another history, he can probably
be considered an am ateur historian whose outlook on life somehow
differed from th a t of professional historians and who therefore
holds for us the special attraction of a non-conformist attitude
which is so rarely found in Muslim intellectual endeavors.
The same kind of attraction attaches to another type of Syrian
secular local history, representing a combination of a fam ily history
with the history of the city th at was the central seat of th at particu
lar fam ily. This is Salih b. Y a h y a s History of Beirut and the F am ily
of Buhtur.'^ The author deals w ith the Muslim conquest of B eiru t
and describes the ruins which testify to the c ity s former greatness.
The Christian legends connected w ith it and its high antiquity
which antedates Christianity are discussed, and the geographical
location of the c ity is described. Some notices about famous Mus
lims, such as al-A w zai, who lived in Beirut, and a very few and
very brief remarks about the Muslim history of the city before the
^ The description of the contents of the AHdq is based upon J. H o r o v i t z , in Mitteilungen
des Seminars fiir or. Sprachen, Westas. Studien, X 30 f. (1907). Th e part dealing w ith
Dam ascus has been published b y S. a d - D a h h a n (Damascus 1375/1956).
^ I used the ms. Cairo T a rih 11 m,
^ E d. and trans. W . M. B r i n n e r (B erkeley and Los Angeles 1963).

* J. S a u v a g e t , Corrections au texte imprime de I'Histoire de Beyrouth de Salih b. Yahyd,

in B ulletin d'etudes or., Institut frangais de Damas, V H - V n i, 65-81 (1937-38), announced his
intention to translate the w ork. Cf. above, p. 57. 1 have no inform ation on tlie related w ork
b y the sixteen th -cen tu ry Ibn A sb a t (Sibat) {GAL Supplement II, 42; A . PI. H o u r a n i , in
B. L e w i s and P. M. H o l t , Historians of the M iddle East, 229).

158

LOCAL H IST O R IES

M IX E D FORMS OF HISTO RICAL W R IT IN G

Crusades are added. The treatm ent of the histor}^ of B eiru t during
the Crusades is com paratively long, but most of the w ork is filled
w ith the well-documented history of the Banu B uhtur. The more
recent generations of the fam ily are divided into three classes
{tahaqdt), and the individual biographies of the members of each
class are presented in their historical setting and in chronological
sequence.
The great privilege of local historiography to express the p articu
lar needs and aspirations of a given environment was nowhere
more eagerly claimed in the Muslim world than in southwest
Arabia. The proud memory of the past, which since the earliest
days of Islam had stim ulated the grow th of something akin to
nationalism in th at part of the Arabian peninsula, fathered a typ e
of local historiography that was a combination of topography,
cultural history, and genealog}^^ Al-H am dani (d. 334/945-46) was
not the first as he was not the last ^ representative of th at spirit,
but his fam ous Ik lil was its most prominent expression. The con
tents of the Ik lil leans h eavily tow ard the antiquarian and geo
graphical side, and its descriptive title refers to it as a w ork on
inform ation about the Yem en and its remarkable features as
well as rem arkable facts concerning its inhabitants. Y e t, the
essentially historical character of the Iklil, in the sense of the works
here discussed, cannot be denied. The contents of all ten books of
the work was adequately described b y al-Qifti in his History of
Grammarians: i) The beginning of creation and the genealogy of
the descendants of M alik b. H im yar, 2) the genealogy of and anec
dotes about the descendants of al-H am aysa who belongs to the
descendants of H im yar, 3) the praise of the Yem en and the qualities
of Qahtan, 4) the first H im yarite history (?, sir ah), 5) the inter
m ediate H im yarite history, 6) the last H im yarite history down to the
tim e of Islam, 7) the old w ay of life (?, as-sirah al-qadimah) and
impossible, untrue historical inform ation, 8) grave stories ^ and
rem arkable things found in the graves of the Yem en, and the poetry
of A lqam ah b. Di Jadan and A s ad T u b b a', 9) H im yarite speeches,
wise sayings, and experiences, which were transm itted in their
own native language, and 10) inform ation about H am dan and
their genealogy and some historical notes about them.^ A lready

159

al-Qifti knew only some books of the work, the first, fourth (not
quite complete), sixth, tenth, and eighth; these had been acquired
b y his father in the Y em en and constituted one-half of the whole.
The Ik lils rarity and fragm entary preservation were attributed b y
al-Qifti to the action of members of tribes who had not been favor
ab ly treated in the w ork and sought to prevent its circulation b y
destroying all copies w ithin reach. The fate of al-H am danis w ork
was, we are told, duplicated b y another Y em enite local history
which m ay have been quite similar to the Iklil, the History of
ZaU d b y J a yya s b. N ajah. One explanation given for the great
rarity of the History of Zabid in former times (and its complete
loss for modern scholarship) is th at the author exposed false claims
to A rab descent m ade b y a number of people, and those people
then tried to suppress his work. Another explanation says th at a
group of people about whom the author had said m any unfriendly
things bought all the copies th ey could lay their hands on for
v e r y high prices and destroyed them.^
The political history of the Y em en was cultivated b y Yem enite
authors in direct proportion to the growing isolation of the country
w ith regard to the rest of the Muslim world. ^ The resulting works
were histories dealing w ith a practically self-contained region. T h ey
can no longer be considered as representatives of local historiog
raphy, but th ey belong to the m ainstream of historical writing.
The Yem enite local historian par excellence was the afore-mentioned
Ibn a d -D ayb a, who combined the history of his c ity Zabid w ith
th at of the whole region. In one of his m any variations on the same
subject, he dealt, for instance, w ith the excellence {fadl) of the
Yem en, its Islam ization, its governors under the U m ayyads and
Abbasids, the Qarm atians in the Yem en, and the successive dy
nasties in San a and Aden. Then, he discussed Zabid, its amirs
and politicians, together w ith a chapter on building activities in the
c ity and similar memorable happenings.^
In the far west of the Mushm world, we find secular local his
toriography represented in works such as the lost History of Cordoba

^ q u b u r iy d t b y i t s e l f m e a n s t h i n g s f o u n d in g r a v e s .

B ook I of the I k lil began to appear in U ppsala 1954 (Bibl. Ekmaniana, 58 : i). A l-H am d an is
critical attitu d e vis-a-vis certain genealogical inform ation is given expression at the
beginning of the work.
^ Cf. O . L o f g r e n , loc. cit. (above, p. 56, n. i) ; H. C. K a y , Yam an X I I (London 1892).
^ For m anuscripts on Yem en ite history, cf. below, p. 484, n. 4.
Ibn ad-Dayba*^, Qurrat al-~uyun f t ahbdr al-Yavian al-maymun. I used the ms. Cairo

A l-Q ifti, I n b d h a r -r u u 'd h , I, 282 f. ( C a i r o 1 3 6 9 - 7 4 / 1 9 5 0 - 5 5 ) . O . L o f g r e n s e d i t i o n o f

T a rih 1355.

^ For southw est A ra b ia as the setting of h istorical novels, cf. below, p. 187, n. i.
2 Cf. Cx. L e v i u e l l a V i d a , in Orientalia, N .S ., IX , 16 4 (19 40) .

i6 o

LOCAL H IST O R IES

M IX E D FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL W R IT IN G

b y A hm ad b. M uhammad a r-R a zi/ b ut the theological (or, at any

rate, the biographical) form appears to have been p revalen t. Here,
the loss of the older local histories m akes itself felt w ith particular
severity. A s the political history of the Magrib and o f Spain was
largely divorced from that of the rest of Islam, it was discussed b y
itself in numerous annalistic or dynastic w orks of general history.
The setback Islam suffered at the hands of the Christians in Spain
gave rise to m uch soul-searching reflection, even as late as the
fifteenth century when A bu Y a h y a b. A b i B akr b. A sim tried to
explain the historical reality of Christian suprem acy as due to
Muslim disunity. ^
The Iranian east, on the other hand, possessed a flourishing
secular local historiography, an impressive monument to Iranian
patriotism . The praise of B alh and Hurasan was sung b y scholars of
Persian descent in whom the love of their native country was burn
ing.^ Their works m ay have been more geographical and cultural
than historical. A History of Isfahan was written b y Ham zah alIsfahani. It probably was not of the ordinary theological type,"^
even though the w ork itself as well as its continuation b y Ibn
M ardaw ayh was quoted b y later authors for its biographical in
formation. The author referred elsewhere to his History o f Isfahan
as a w ork containing m any even ts, ^ and it was described b y
al-Qifti as a useful book of an adm irable composition and con
taining m any remarkable things, a description which would
hardly have been applied to a purely theological w ork such as
A b u N u a ym s History of the same city. W e are on safer ground
w ith an-N arsahis History of Buhdrd, although its tenth-century
A rabic original no longer exists and we have to be satisfied w ith a
later Persian translation. A fter an introductory chapter on the
judges of Buhara, historical, topographical, and economic m atters
are used to illustrate the c ity s history.'^ The History of Qumm b y
Hasan b. M uhammad al-Qummi was w ritten only three decades
1 Cf. above, p. 153, n. 3.
2 From Ibn 'A siin, Jannat ar-rida f t tasltm li-md qaddara Allah wa-qadd, as cited b y alM aqqari, Azhdr ar-riydd, I, 50 ff., 162 f. (Cairo 1358/1939 ff.).
^ Cf. below, p. 467, n. 4, and pp. 473 f. and 476 f. F or an Ahbdr al- Jabal (?) b y A hm ad b. alF ad l an-Nu'^aymi (d. 413/1024), cf. as-Sahmi, Ta^rth Jiirjdn, 82 (H yderabad 1950).
^ A s E . M i t t w o c h assumed, i u Mitteilungen des Seminars fiir or. Sprachen, Westas.
Studien, X I I , 131 (1909).
^ H am zah al-Isfahani, History, I, 187 G o t t w a l d t (St. Petersburg-Leipzig 1844-48).
' Inbdh, I, 336 (Cairo 1369-74/1950-55).
Cf. G A L Supplement I, 2 1 1 ; III, 119 7; English trans. b y R . N . F r y e (Cambridge,
Mass., 1954)-

161

later and has suffered the same fate as the History o f Buhdrd.
A fter topographical and economic notes, the w ork goes into a
discussion of the A rab settlers of Qumm, especially the descendants
of A b u TMib. It m ay h ave concentrated on the history of individ
uals to a greater degree than the History of Buhdrd.^
A n eleventh-century history of Isfahan, the M ahdsin Isbahdn b y
M ufaddal al-MMarruhi, represents a strongly individualistic trans
form ation of ordinary theological local history. It is not a political
history b ut nevertheless exhibits a predom inantly secular character.
A fter praising the healthful location and rem arkable features of
Isfahan, the author hsts prominent Isfahanis from pre-Islam ic and
Islam ic times. T h ey are grouped according to professions and,
w ithin the professions, according to the ancient and the modern
representatives of each profession. The list starts w ith the theolo
gians, but leads through all kinds of professions down to the muhannatiin of Isfahan, who are described as especially w itty. Topo
graphical notes, economic statistics, cultural remarks (e.g., on Isfahan!
songs and music), and poetical quotations are rich ly represented.^
Sim ilarly, the History of Bayhaq b y A li b. Z ayd al-B ayhaqi,
dating from the middle of the tw elfth century, relies upon the
comm on scheme of theological local history. It includes a chapter
on the men around M uhammad who came to B ayhaq. In connection
w ith some biographies, the Prophetical traditions transm itted b y
their subjects are quoted. However, the author was a historian
who considered the science of history as belonging to both re
ligious knowledge and natural science and for whom historical
works were the storehouses of the secrets of affairs. ^ H e begins
w ith a general discussion of the value of history, presents briefly the
general history of the region, and ends with reporting im portant
happenings concerning B ayh aq (referring, for instance, among other
m atters, to two trees in the vicin ity believed to go back to the time
of Zoroaster) and adding some moralistic-philosophical reflections
on the corruptness of the world. A s a man proud of his own A rab
descent who also wrote an autobiography , he groups the im
portant men of the area in families (mostly of A rab descent, treating
w ith especial deference the 'A lid nobility). Often, he injects references
^ Cf. G A L Supplement I, 2 1 1 ; S t o r e y , Persian literature, II, 348 f., 1291.
Cf. G A L Supplement I, 571, 875, and above, p. 150, n. 5.
Ta^rlh-i-Bayhaq, 7 (Teheran i^iyjig ^ g ). A copy of the w ork was m ade available to me
through the kindness of C. A. I ' e r g u s o n . Cf. also Q. S. K . H u s a i n i , in Islam ic Culture,
X X X I I I , 188-202 (1959).
R o s e n t h a l , H istory of Muslim H istoriography

11

62

M IX E D FORMS OF H ISTO RICAL W R ITIN G

to his own fam ily. Finally, as a h ighly accomplished litterateur

and author of a history of philosophers and scientists, he shows,
following al-Jahiz, considerable interest in geographical data, in
the biographies of physicians, and in the biographies of B ayhaqis
who w rote Persian poetry. The History of Bayhaq is a rich w ork not
easily classified.
Am ong later Persian works, one m ay compare Ibn Isfan diyars
History of Taharistdn, which was composed in the early thirteenth
century.^ The w ork begins w ith a fiirstenspiegel, and although
it largely revolves around personalities, political figures and political
history are preponderant. Or, from the fifteenth century, one m ay
compare Zahir-ad-din al-M arasis History of Tabaristdn, Ruydn,
and Mdzandardn, which is strictly pohtical and arranged according
to the succession of individual rulers.^
B efore we turn to theological local historiography, a few words
m ust be said about a specialized form of secular local histories,
th a t is, the history of the political and legal officials of a given
locality. The origin of this type of works is not to be sought pri
m arily in local historiography. W e do find special sections on judges
and governors in al-Fakihis History of Mecca, Ibn A bd-al-H ak a m s Conquest of Egypt, or an-N arsahis History of Buhdrd. H ow
ever, the m onograph treatm ent of the history of officials w ith
reference to a particular locality would seem to have been inspired
b y the exam ple of general biographical histories of high officials
which began to be w ritten in the ninth century. Subjects such as
the Governors o f al-Kufah or the ftidges of al-KHfah and al-Basrah,
and even such speciahzed groups as the Police Prefects of the Am irs
of the ^Irdq, were already treated b y al-H aytam b. Adi.^ Outside
the heartland of the A bbasid empire, such works appear to have
developed in regions in which governors and judges were the highest
representatives of the central power, and in a period when those
regions were not yet practically independent, that is, the early
tenth century. The earliest historical monographs of this kind
date from this period. They are the two books b y the E gyp tian
K indi, one on the fudges and the other on the Governors of Egypt.
1 Ed. 'A b b a s

(Teheran 1320/1942). Abridged translation b y E . G . B r o w n e

(Leiden-London 1905, E . J. W . Gibb Mem. Series, 2).
2 E d. B. D o r n (St. Petersburg 1850). For Ibn -i-Zarku b-i-irazis History of Sirdz {Pars)
cf. S t o r e y , Persian Literature, II, 351.
Th e fo urteen th-cen tury History of Herat b y S a y f b. M uham m ad al-H araw i was edited b y
M. Z. SiDDiQi (Calcutta 1944).
3 Cf. Pihrist, 146 (Cairo 1348 = 100 F l u g e l ). Cf. also 'U m ar b. Sabbah.
Eghbal

LOCAL H IST O R IES

163

The History of the Governors of Hurdsdn b y as-Sallami, of which a

number of fragm ents is preserved, dates from around 950.1
later centuries, the history of local officials was made the subject of
didactic verses. The rulers of E gyp t were versified b y al-Jazzar in
the thirteenth century.^ The history of E gyp tian judges was the
subject of several authors, among them Ibn D aniyal, whose poem
on judges formed the basis of Ibn H ajars Raf" al-isr on the fudges of
Egypt,^ Ibn Jama'ah,^ and al-Kinani.^ Ibn Ja m a ah also composed
a poem on the judges of Damascus. The history of the caliphs,
princes, and governors who had been in contact w ith that city was
put into verse in the fourteenth century b y as-Safadi who states
th at he followed the alphabetically arranged w ork of Ibn Asakir,
apparently the la tte rs famous History of Damascus. In as-Safadis
w ork entitled Tuhfat dawi al-albdb, the rajaz verses are interspersed
w ith long prose sections which, among other m aterial, contain histor
ical inform ation and poems. Another treatm ent of the same subject
concerning E g y p t was, for instance, the Dahirah of the seventeenthcentury Gumri.
A historical topic which m ight have contributed to the great
v a rie ty of the forms of local historiography but did so only to a
lim ited extent was the Muslim conquests. If this topic found the
attention of early scholars, it was for the p ractical reason th at the
history of the Muslim conquests provided jurists w ith precedents
enabling them to determine the fiscal and adm inistrative status
of a particular area. In addition, however, the subject involved a
certain amount of geographical and historical information. A ll
th at was necessary to transform the h istory of the Muslim conquests
into local history was to select the m aterial relevant to one particu
lar area and to add historical inform ation on pre-Islam ic times as
well as an adm inistrative and political history of th at area beyond
the tim e of its conquest. This step was taken in the ninth century
in Ibn A bd-al-H akam s Conquest of Egypt and the West, a product
of regional historiography which has no true parallel elsewhere
in the preserved literature, although the subject was taken up
1 Cf. below, p. 321, n. 7. Cf. also above, p. 1 3 7 , n. 3. F or al-B asanis History of the
Governors of Herat, cf. below , p. 483, n. 6. F or the histories of N isabur, cf. R . N. F r y e
(below, p. 483, nn. i and 2).
2 Cf. G A L Supplement I, 574. I used the Paris ms. ar. 1816, fol. 45b-49a, and 1608,
fol. 200b-202b. A supplem ent b y as-Suyuti, ibid., fol. 202b-203b.
3 Cf. G A L Supplement II, i f.
^ Cf. G A L Supplement II, 80 f.
Cf. G A L Supplement II, 5 7 .
Cf. G A L , II, 297, and above p. 49.
In w riting about The Colonization [nuzul] of Hurdsdn and the Sawdd by the Arabs

164

MIXED FORMS OF HISTORICAL WRITING

b y subsequent Spanish and E gyp tian historians. It can be assumed

th at M uham m ad b. Musa ar-R azis (ninth century) lost Kitdb
ar-Rdydt, the history of the conquest of Spain, ^ and possibly other
conquest works, sim ilarly went into pre- and post-conquest history.
The history of local historiography under the influence of theology
was not as colorful as that of its secular counterpart, but it also
was not com pletely one-sided. Its first representatives were
at the same time the oldest local histories in Islam. H owever,
th ey did not yet em ploy the form soon to become predom inant.
These were the histories of Mecca b y al-Azraqi and al-Fakihi. T h ey
did not have the word ta^rih in their titles 2 and were quite properly
called ahhdf. D ates and biographies were not their real concern. Their
purpose w as to provide MusHms w ith a knowledge of the holy
history of their sacred city. Over three-fourths of al-A zraqis
w ork is taken up b y the stories which since pre-Islamic tim es had
grown around the main sanctuary of Mecca, and b y the description
of the rites connected w ith it. The remainder dealt w ith other holy
places in Mecca, the conditions governing the ihrdm, and references
to M uham m ad and his Meccan contemporaries as well as the to
pography of the c ity and its environs.
Old histories of Medina m ay have been rather similar to those
of Mecca. T h ey appear to have contained very httle, if any, bio
graphical m aterial. This is the conclusion suggested b y the lack
of quotations from Medinese city histories in later biographers.
Moreover, even a thirteenth-century author such as Ibn an-N ajjar,
who was thoroughly fam iliar w ith the biographical tradition of
local historiography, filled his History of M edina with topography
and holy history to the exclusion of everything else.^ H is work, in
cidentally, was w ritten for a purpose which was characteristic of
m any Meccan and Medinese c ity histories (as well as some of the
works dealing w ith Jerusalem and Hebron) and which set them
apart from other local histories. These works were to stim ulate visits
to the holy cities and to serve as guidebooks for pilgrims. Th ey
{Fihrist, 1 4 5 , Cairo 1 3 48 = 99 F l u g e l ), al-H aytam b. ^Adi m ay already have m oved in
the same direction, b u t it is uncertain how far he went.
* Cf. E . L e v i - P r o v e n q a l , in E l , s.v. al-R azi.
^ Th e appearance of the word in the title of the Leiden m anuscript of al-F akih i (cf. E l ,
2nd ed.) would seem to be secondary.
^ In the introduction of the work, Ibn an-N ajjar reports th at when he stayed in Medina,
the Medinese requested him to write the h istory of their city, and he com plied with their
request in spite of the fa ct th at being w itho ut his lib rary, he had to rely upon his
m em ory, cf. p. 321 of the edition of Taqi-ad-diti al-Fasi, Sif(P (M ecca-Cairo 1 9 5 6 ), where
Ibn a n -N ajja rs w ork is published as an appendix.

LOCAL HISTORIES

165

were a com bination of travelers guides and propaganda pamphlets.

For m any centuries, the histories of Mecca and Medina seem to
h ave remained free from the overgrowth of biographical history.^
M eccas prominent historian of the fourteenth/fifteenth century,
Taqi-ad-din al-Fasi, said in the introduction of the ""Iqd at-tamin
th at he had no predecessors w ith respect to the biographical section
of his work. The only histories of Mecca he knew were those of alA zraqi and al-Fakihi. T h ey provided him m erely w ith the intro
ductory chapters of the ""Iqd. In addition, he had heard about the
existence of a history of Mecca b y the sarif Z a y d b. H asim alM urtada al-Hasani. His inform ation was derived from a rem ark in
the Jawdhir of a l - M a y u r a q i , ^ which, however, was not sufficient
to prove (though al-Fasi is inclined to assume it to be true) that
Z a y d s w ork contained biographies and inform ation on the secular
h istory of Mecca.^ In another of his works, the Sifd^ al-gardm,
which in its first part m oves entirely along the lines of al-Azraqi
and al-Fakihi, al-Fasi also referred to the lack of predecessors and
to his efforts to bring al-A zraqis and al-Fakih is historical and
topographical inform ation up to date. H e decribed, for instance,
in detail the contem porary condition of the c ity s walls and gates
and tried to clarify the history of some of the changes th at had
taken place in the course of time. The w ork also contains a discus
sion of M eccas pre-Islam ic history, a chronological detailed hst
of its governors and rulers, and a number of chapters on historical
events such as incidents connected w ith the pilgrimage, inundations,
and the c ity s economic history. A ll of this is based upon extensive
research in the general historical literature.^ It is true, though, that
there existed m any more earlier works on M eccas history, as
al-Fasi himself realized from references to them. A n d if scholars
such as A bu S a 'id b. a l-A rabi and Abd-ar-R ahm an b. Mandah
actually wrote histories of Mecca, as w as stated b y as-Sahawi,^
In their particu lar case, biographical tradition w ould h ave ju stified the inclusion of the
v ast m ajo rity of all Muslims of distinction, considering th at the religious d u ty of the
pilgrim age b rought m an y Muslims to the h o ly cities at least once in their life.
Cf. below, p. 304, n. i.
A l-F asi, al-'-lqd at-tamin. I used the four-volum e cop y of the w ork, T a ym u r T a rih 849,
of which the first volum e is an old m anuscript. No edition of the w ork (cf. G A L Supplement
I I, 221) w as available. In the S ifP , I, 5 (Mecca-Cairo 1956), al-Fasi repeats this inform ation
and ibid., II, 272, he cites Z ayd through al-M ayuraqi for an even t from the year 676/1277-78.
Cf. also below, p. 481, n. 2.
*
E d. F. W u s T E N F E L D , D ie Chroniken der Stadt Mekka, II, 66 ff. (Leipzig 1859). A modern
edition appeared in M ecca-Cairo in 1956. Cf. also above, p. 126.
I^ldn 133, below, p. 481.

i6 6

LOCAL HISTORIES

M IXED FORMS OF HISTORICAL WRITING

their histories are almost certain to have contained biographical

m aterial; however, as-Sahawi is not supported b y some more
reliable evidence.
E xcep t for Meccan and Medinese histories, theological local
historiography used one characteristic form peculiar to it. It con
sisted of a topographical introduction which was followed b y an
enumeration of the men (and women) who were born or had settled
in, or had some other kind of contact w ith, a particular locality.
Originally, the persons listed had to be religious scholars, but soon
all kinds of scholars, litterateurs, statesmen, and even a sprinkling
of w ealth y businessmen were adm itted. T he topographical intro
duction, on the other hand, was capable of being greatly reduced
in size.
This form of local historiography grew out of the need for ad
ditional protection against the invention of spurious traditions b y
determ ining the residence of transm itters. Its grow th was favored
b y the pohtical rivalry between the various centers and schools of
hadit transm itters who had settled in the cities of the Muslim empire.
It w as politically inspired school riv a lry rather than educational
expediency which caused a scholar to m ake a statem ent such as
this, reported in the name of the author of the Tahaqdt al-Ha~
maddniyin, Salih b. Ahm ad: W hen religious scholarship has been
cultivated in a place and scholars have lived there in ancient and
modern times, the students of traditions there and all those
interested in traditions should begin w ith a thorough stud y of the
hadit of their home town and w ith the acquisition of solid know l
edge concerning the representatives of the science of tradition there.
A fter the student has come to know w hat is sound and w hat is
unsound in their traditions and has become com pletely acquainted
w ith the hadit scholars in his city and their conditions, he m ay occu
p y himself w ith the traditions of other places and with traveling
in search of traditions. ^
B ah sals late ninth-century History of Wdsit is the oldest pre
served w ork of this type. The original form and concept are well
represented in it. The History of Wdsit has come down to us in
only one incomplete manuscript in which, moreover, a number of
leaves are disarranged.^ It goes rather briefly into a discussion of the

early history of the city and its surroundings, and then deals
w ith those of its religious scholars who were connected w ith the
author b y an uninterrupted chain of transmitters. The scholars are
grouped together according to their generation {qarn, instead
of tabaqah which was comm only used in this sense later on). The
first generation are the men around M uhammad those who
served him, saw him, transm itted his hadit, and heard him speak
who came to the c ity of W asit. ^ T he individual biographies
contain very h ttle inform ation. A s a rule, th ey m erely mention
the name of the transm itter, his tradition(s), and those who trans
m itted on his auth ority as well as their tradition(s). The purpose
of quoting the tradition(s) which was (were) connected w ith the
name of a particular transm itter was to have every personalitys
position (in scholarship and the degree of his reliability) made
know n. ^
The following tenth century saw a widening of the professional
groups which qualified for inclusion in local histories. T he result
w as a relaxation of the condition th at each biography was to contain
a t least one tradition which had been transm itted b y its subject.
A nother result was the addition of a greater am ount of biographical
information. This process was very slow in certain places. A genera
tion after Bahsal, Muhammad b. S a'id al-Qusayri, in his History
of ar-Raqqah, still followed the old custom.^ Tow ard the end of the
century, however, the process was nearly completed. A t the sam e
time, the alphabetical arrangement of biographies made its ap
pearance. It m ay have been used much earlier in local historiogra
phy. U nfortunately, bibliographical references and quotations do
not help very much. The word ta^rih in the title of a local history
m ay as well refer to a tahaqdt work. O nly the express statem ent
th at a particular history was arranged alphabetically or according
to tahaqdt permits a classification. According to as-Sahawi, Ibn
Y a s in s (?) History of Herdt was alphabetically arranged, and Ibn
Y asin is said to have lived in the first half of the ninth century.^
A t about the same time, al-Buhari used an alphabetical arrange
m ent in his History, and local historians m ight have conceived the
idea of arranging their biographies alphabetically already at th at
early date. However, the passage in as-Sahawi is corrupt, and
op. cit., fol. 56b, which belongs after fol. 7b.
^ Op. cit., fol. i i b .
Cf. below , p. 469, n. 8.
IHdn, 133, below, p. 483, nn. 4 and 5.

1 Cf. al-H atib a l-B a gd M i, T B , I, 214.

^ Ms. Cairo T a ym u r T a rih 1483, written in 629/December 123 1; K . ^Awwad, in Sumer,
X I I I , 50 ( 1 9 5 7 ) . Cf. below, p. 484, n. 2.

167

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MIXED FORMS OF HISTORICAL WRITING

further confirm ation of his statem ent is needed before an y reliance

can be placed upon it. For most of the older local histories down to
the end of the tenth cen tu ry/ our inform ation is insufficient. This
applies, for instance, to the works of A hm ad b. S a yya r (Marw)
which, however, was called ahhdr and, therefore, m ay not have
contained alphabetically arranged biographies; A hm ad b. Mu
ham m ad b. Isa (Emesa); al-H uraqani (Marw); A bu Arubah
(Jazirah); Ibn Yunus (Egypt); the Anonym ous (Ishaq b. Salam ah
al-Q ayni?) on the personalities of M alaga; M uhammad b. Y u su f
al-W arraq (Ifriqiyah) whose N orth A frican city histories, however,
are called ahhdr] HMid b. S a 'd al-Qurtubi (d. 352/963), on the
personahties of Spain Salih b. A hm ad (Hamadan); M uhammad
b. Salih al-M aMiri al-Qahtani (Spain); A bu s-Sayh (Isfahan); Ibn
ar-Raqiq (al-Q ayraw an); Muhammad b. J a 'fa r at-Tam im i (alK M a h ); al-H akim (HurLsan, Nisabur) whose History of Nisdbur,
however, was a tabaqdt work;^ and al-Idrisi (Samarqand, A starabad). A good m any of these works, especially in the second half
of the list, m ay have been alphabetically arranged. A n alphabetical
arrangement was indicated b y as-Sahawi for the History of Balh b y
a certain A bii Ishaq who is said to have lived in the early fourth/
tenth century, and the History of Marw b y Ahm ad b. S a id alM a'dani (d. 375/986).^ The oldest preserved local history w ith an
alphabetical arrangement of its biographies is Ibn al-Faradis
(d. 403/1013) History of Spanish Scholars. For the sake of b revity,
Ibn al-Faradi w rote alphabetically arranged biographies instead
of a collection of historical notes and anecdotes concerning the
various Spanish cities. The alphabetical arrangement in Ibn
al-Faradi was quite rudim entary (and was retained in this form
b y most of his Spanish successors). It took into account only the
given names of the subjects of the biographies. Still, even in this
form, it made for easier reference, as A bu N u 'aym (d. 430/1038),

' Cf. IHdn, 121 ff., below , p. 457 ff. O nly works th at can be d ated approxim ately through
knowledge of the lifetim e of their authors are considered here.
^ Cf. Ibn al-Faradi, I, 113 f., no. 396 C o d e r a (Madrid 1890-1902, Bibliotheca ArabicoH ispana, 8).
Cf. H a jji H alifah, K a s f az-zunun, II, 155 f. F l u g e l . B u t, apparently, there was a
ru d im en tary alph ab etical arrangem ent w ithin the tabaqdt, cf. R. N. F r y e (below, p. 483,
nn. I and 2).
A b d -al-Jab b ar al H aw lan is History of Ddrayyd (near Damascus) (ed. S A 'iu a l A f g a n I, Dam ascus 1950) has no alphabetical arrangem ent.
^ I, 5 C O D E R A .

LOCAL HISTORIES

169

who cam e next among the authors of preserved alphabetical local

histories, said in his History of Isfahdn}
The scholar who through his use of an alphabetical arrangement
accom plished the final break with the tabaqdt {qarn) arrangement
was the H atib al-Bagdadi in the eleventh century.2 A lphabetization
of the given name of a person and of the name of his father was
the system adopted b y the H atib, although, in the form in which the
History of Bagdad has come down to us, it is not consistently and
logically apphed. Persons known under their patronym ics ^ and
notew orthy women follow alphabetically at the end of the work.
In its choice of individuals to be mentioned, the History of Bagddd
is all-inclusive. H owever, preference is still given to religious scholars.
Their biographies are much more extensive than those of anybody
else. T he contents of all biographies remains largely concerned w ith
traditions. The religious side of the activities of the persons listed,
including those who were not prim arily religious scholars, is stressed.
The men around Muhammad, of course, did not live to see the foun
dation of B a g d M proper, but some of them were reported to have
visited its neighborhood. Their biographies precede all other biog
raphies. This was a relic of the tabaqdt arrangement, but the system
was re-interpreted b y the authors of alphabetically arranged works
as a sign of respect for the exalted position of the sahdbah and as
a means of m aking it easy for the reader to learn their names.^
Preceding the biographies is a long section dealing w ith topograph
ical, cultural, and historical inform ation concerning Bagdad, its
suburbs, and the story of its foundation. The high q uality of this
section of the w ork is due to the authors use of the research that
had gone into the earlier secular histories of the city.
The H atib s History of Bagddd remained the model not only
for all later histories of B a g d M , but also for the m ajority of the
numerous local histories of the following centuries, and there was
no part of the Muslim world in which this typ e of theological local
history (which, at times, severed all its ties w ith rehgious scholar
ship) was not represented. The History of Bagddd was surpassed
in size b y Ibn A sak irs History of Damascus. Ibn A sak irs introduc^ I, I D e d e r i n g (Leiden 1931-34).
Cf. T B , I, 213 f.

T h is w rong translation of kunyah has been adopted in this book. H yionym ic or

paidonymic w ould be the proper word, if the thing had been known to the Greeks.
*
Cf. A b u N u 'a ym , History of Isfahan, I, 43 D e d e r i n g . Th e custom persisted, cf., for
instance, a r-R a fi'is Tadu'tn f t dikr ahhdr Qazwtn.
^ C f. J. L a s s n e r , in J A O S , L X X X I I T , 458-69 (1963).

170

M IXED FORMS OF HISTORICAL WRITING

tion was m ainly concerned w ith the relations between Dam ascus
and M uhammad and the early Muslims. Item s borrowed from an
nalistic historiography, such as the story of the introduction of the
Muslim era, seemed more im portant to the author than a factual
topographical description such as we find it in the History of
Bagdad.
Another Syrian historian, Ibn a l-Adim , who has already been
m entioned as the author of a secular history of Aleppo,^ also wrote
a biographical history of the typ e of the History of Bagdad.
Its title is Bugyat at-talab f i ta^rih Halah. Ibn a l-A dim deserves
m ention not so m uch on account of the historical quahties of some
of his biographies ^ as because of the fact th at in his hands the topo
graphical introduction became a substantial volum e on the geog
rap h y of northern Syria presented according to the best sources
and w ith a w ealth of cultural information. ^ A later continuation
of the Bugyah, Ibn H atib an-N asiriyahs Durr al-muntahab f i
takmilat Ta'rih Halah, gives a brief outline of the Bugyahs intro
duction. A ccording to that outline, this introduction was divided
into five chapters of the following contents: i) The different names
and the construction of Aleppo, 2) the location of the city, its
extension, and its suburbs, 3) its excellence and rem arkable features,
including a description of the influence of political events upon the
physical appearance of the city down to the tim e of the author, 4)
the Muslim conquest of Aleppo, and 5) its w aterw ays, historical
relics, mosques, and sanctuaries.^
Ibn a l-A dim gave future historians of Aleppo a good start,
whose effects were felt well into the fifteenth century. The continuator of Ibn H atib an-Nasiriyah, Sibt Ibn a l-A jam i (d. 884/1480),
in his K iinuz ad-dahab f i ta^rih Halah, was still capable of presenting
a highly readable description of Aleppo and its history. The things
he had to say about some of the mosques of Aleppo would seem to
be as complete an art historical description as one m ight expect
from an author w riting in the m edieval tradition. W ith the help of
' Cf. above, p. 156.
^ Cf. the specim ens printed in Vol. I l l of the Recueil des historiens des Croisades, Historiens
or., pp. 695-732 (Paris 1884).
^ For a brief su rvey of the sources of the Rugyah, see M. C a n a r d , inAnnales dc V lnstitut
d Etudes Or., Faculte des Lettres de I Univ. d'Alger, X V , 41-53 (1957). C f. also F. R o s e n t h a l ,
in J A O S , L X X I , 136-41 (1951).
F or the m anuscript of Ibn H atib an-N asiriyah used here, cf. below, p. 445, n. i.
I used the incom plete ms. Cairo (Taynu'ir?) T a rih 837. The description of m onum ents
was the task of geographers whose data were occasionally used b y historians. An ou tstanding
exam ple is the description of the famous mosque of Cordoba.

LOCAL HISTORIES

171

m aterials derived from Ibn Saddad and other Aleppo historians,

Ibn al-A dim s introduction also served as the basis for Ibn asSihnahs compilation of the history of Aleppo, ad-Durr al-muntahab
f i ta^rih mamlakat Halah. This w ork omits all biographical inform a
tion and has only little historical information, but it shows the
authors predilection for dates of buildings and monuments as well
as statem ents verified either b y himself or his sources.
Scholars who were not born in a particular c ity or region but
lived and taught there alw ays found special attention in local
histories, but it was a peculiarity of E gyp tian theological histori
ography th at it produced a large work devoted exclusively to for
eigners, th at is, religious scholars who were not born in E g y p t but
made their home there for some time. This was the Gurahd^ of A bu
S a 'id b. Y u n u s.i The great attraction which the valley of the Nile
has exercised for foreigners through the millennia made such a
w ork possible. Another minor variation of theological local his
toriography is attested in connection with E gyp t, a collection and
annalistic presentation of the dates of death of contem porary
E gyp tian s (among whom a few non-Egyptians were included).^
A s a truncated form of theological local historiography, the
fadd^il works in praise of a given locality m ay find a place here.
D ow n to the eleventh century, the words faddHl or hawass (praise
w orth y qualities and properties, respectively) in connection w ith a
c ity or region indicated works that contained only a lim ited amount
of historical inform ation and dealt with the praisew orthy physical
and geographical features of th at city or region and the excellence
of its in h ab itan ts; the literary topic of rivalry between two localities
as to their respective merits and draw backs was also frequently
treated.^ L ater on, the title fadd^il usually denoted monograph
collections of quotations from the Qur^an, the traditions, and
related sources in praise of a particular locality, the same typ e of
m aterial we also find in the introductions of local histories, both
secular and theological. This then can no longer be considered as
^ Cf. below, p. 477, n. 9. Ibn al-F arad i im itated Ibu Y u n us b y adding the foreigners, if
there were any, after each name.
^ Cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 572 (al-H abbal d. 482/1089-90); Y . al-'-Iss, F ihris mahtutdt Ddr
al-Kutiib az-Zdhiriyah, 151 (Damascus 1366/1947). The w ork of al-Jazzar (above, p. 54 ,n. 3)
was presum ably of a sim ilar type, and so were, in a sense, the centennial histories (above,
p. 86).
^ Cf., for instance, J. S c i i a c i i t and M. M e y e r h o f , The M edico-Philosophical Controversy
hetiveen Ibn Butlan of Baghdad and Ibn Kidwan of Cairo, 89 ff. (Cairo 1937, Publications of
the Faculty o f Arts of the Egyptian University, 13), or the fourteenth-century com parison of
D am ascus and Cairo, in al-M aqrizi, H itat I, 368 (Bulaq 1270). Cf. also below, p. 473, n. 6.

172

MIXED FORMS OF HISTORICAL WRITING

representing a branch of historical writing. However, it remains

another m anifestation of the devotion to regional divisions which
often influenced the course of Muslim history w ith not too h appy
results but contributed to Muslim historiography one of its m ost
productive branches.
4 C O N T E M P O R A R Y H IS T O R Y A N D M E M O IR S
A ll Mushm historical works were keyed to the time of their
individual authors. S trictly antiquarian history was confined to
occasional monographs on events of the early years of Islam and
on the oldest Muslim leaders. The tendency in these works was
theological rather than historical. E ven rarer were the occasions
on which a w riter recalled the glorious old days as th ey were, for
instance, personified in the Barmecides. ^ Here, literature and biog
rap h y greatly outweighed history. Biography, in general, was not
oriented tow ard the contem porary scene as inexorably as w as history.
In all genuinely historical production, the author would use past
history m erely as a background for the present. The result was, on
the one hand, th at all historical w orks contained inform ation on
contem porary history, and, on the other, that all contem porary
historiography did not differ in its form and contents from general
histories. In w riting the history of their own times, Muslim his
torians could not avoid reflecting the intellectual interests of their
respective periods, but they made no specific contribution to the
developm ent of the forms and contents of historiography other than
th at which found its expression in general historical works. There
fore, not m uch needs to be said about the w riting of contem porary
history in Islam.
The most common monograph treatm ents of contem porary
history were those undertaken upon orders of the ruling sovereign
who wished to see his deeds (and often also those of his dynasty)
or the one or other outstanding event of his reign im m ortalized in
writing. It seems to be true th at the greatness of the ruler and
the im print he left upon the history of his tim e are paralleled b y the
q u an tity and q u ality of his contem porary biographers (Mahmud
of C^aznah, Salah-ad-din, Sulaym an the Magnificent). Official
historians often held high positions in the adm inistration. In the
tenth century, this produced a Suli who, w ith all his literary genius,
his brilliant style, and the w ealth of inform ation he had to offer,
* Cf. below, p. 429, n. 3.

CONTEMPORARY HISTORY AND MEMOIRS

173

was hardly able to conceal his predilection for court ceremonial ^

and court chitchat. More im portant, it also led to the adoption
of the artificial flow ery style of the bureaucracy for w riting the
biography of the ruler. 2 F or fla ttery and indirection th at style was
unsurpassed, and it retained its hold over works of this type. B y
virtue of the official position of the historian, his w ork not infre
quen tly assumed the character of memoirs. A t one point of his
biography of Salah-ad-din, Ibn M d a d describes how this came to
pass. This is w hat he says: T have come to love Salah-ad-din since
I first saw him and noticed his love for the jihad. I loved him on
account of that, and I was in his service since the beginning of
J u m M a I of the year (5)84/ June 2 8 ,1188, when he came to northern
Syria. A ll m y inform ation on the tim e before th a t date was derived
from eyewitnesses whom I trust. From th at date on, I put down
only things which I witnessed personally or about which persons
whom I trust had informed me in a w ay comparable to personal
observation. Thus, for the last five years of Salah-ad-din's reign
which cover three-fourths of Ibn Saddads work, biography turns
into memoirs.
Two authors of memoirs, both of whom lived in the tw elfth
century, were distinguished b y the fresh approach th ey brought
to their task, the South A rabian Um arah al-H akam i, in an-Nukat
al-'^asnyah f i ahbdr al-wuzard^ al-M isriyah, and Usam ah b. Munqid,
in his famous IHihdr. The former starts w ith his autobiography,
leading it down to the tim e when he settled in E gyp t. The history
of the E gyp tian wazirs promised b y the title then sets in, but it
develops into a display of U m arahs proficiency as a poet. Usamah,
in turn, deals with m any of his personal experiences which reveal
him as a good observer and a thoroughly hum an personality. It is
clear, however, th at in Um arah, the literary, and in Usamah, the
popular philosophical element was stronger than the historical one.
The basic m aterial for memoirs are notes or diaries. M any a
^ The court cerem onial of the 'A b b asid s continued the Persian tradition, b u t con
tem porary B yzan tiu m was the shining m odel w ith which one had to com pete. A certain
A b u 1-H usayn A h m ad b. al-H usayn al-A hw azi w rote a w ork on the B yzan tin es which
was based upon personal observation and which, am ong other things, d ealt w ith the
ecclesiastical ranks in the B yzan tin e Em pire, cf. al-Biruni, al-Atdr al-bdqiyah, 289 f., 293
S a c h a u (Leipzig 1878, 1923). F or the 'A b b asid court, cf. the relevan t chapters in H ilal b.
al-M uhassin as-Sabi^ Rusum ddr al-hildfah, ed. M. A w w a u (B agd ad 1383/1964). For
as-Siili, cf. also above, p. 48 f.
^ Cf. below, p. 177.
^ An-Xaw ddir as-sultdniyah, 7 1 (Cairo 1 3 1 7 ) . Cf. also M iskaw ayh, Tajdrib al-umam,
anno 340.

174

175

M IXED FORMS OF HISTORICAL WRITING

CONTEMPORARY HISTORY AND MEMOIRS

Muslim occupying a place of distinction in his com m unity m ay have

kept notes about his activities. B u t whether there were m any who
dared to entrust their intim ate thoughts to regularly kept diaries
seems doubtful, considering the political clim ate of the Middle Ages
which made such an undertaking rather dangerous. Y et, diaries
were kept b y some officials, probably from the beginning w ith a
view to their later publication. Memoirs such as were composed
b y the wazir Ibn Masarjis in the ninth century ^ or b y the Im ad
al-Isfahani, in his voluminous Barq as-Sa'mi, in the tw elfth century,
were based on the notes of a lifetime and m ay have been based on
regular diaries. W hen Ahm ad b. a t-T ayyib as-Sarahsi accom panied
the future caliph al-M utadid on a m ilitary expedition to Palestine
in the year 884-85, he kept a careful diary of the trip, presum ably
upon official request. His observations were m ainly geographical
and m ilitary.2

A nother diary of historical im port was th at of the secretary

whose pen rather than the sword of his m aster Salah-ad-din was,
w ith some exaggeration, said to have been responsible for the latters success,^ the Qadi al-Fadil al-Baysani (d. 596/January 25,
1200 2). The quotations from his w ork are headed b y the A rabic
word for diary, muydwamdt, or, as a rule, b y the title News [mutajaddiddt) of the year n . ^ A l-B aysani was concerned with Sal,had-dins naval expedition to A ylah and other m ilitary operations,
w ith the destruction of the palm trees of a l-Aris b y the Crusaders,
w ith establishing the date of the construction of a minaret, but
above all w ith m atters of adm inistrative importance, such as the
unseasonal increase of the Nile, the fiefs, the distribution of the
charity taxes, the Coptic new year celebration, the equalization of
fiscal w ith lunar years, the treasures left b y the last Fatim id,
a l-Adid, the income of the various districts, the high prices in a
certain year, or the inauguration of a new hospital. A ll this was
carefully noted w ith the day, month, and year of its occurrence.
H is w ork is especially significant in th at it shows w hat excellent
materials historians of the period had to w ork with. Am ong PersianTurkish historians we encounter the use of diaries ^ in historical
w riting and m any memoirs, but it m ay not be entirely b y chance
th at most of the examples of this brief chapter date from the time
of the Crusades. A t no other tim e in the history of the central
region of Islam did the rhythm of the change from fear to hope and
from hope to fear m ake contem porary happenings appear so w orth y
of the attention of the historian as it did then.

A s the title of a book, the word diary, in its Persian form

Yuzndmajah, appears among the works of the Sahib Ibn A b bad
(d. 385/995). H is Diary is preserved in a number of fragm ents^
which show th at it was not concerned w ith m atters of historical
interest, but w ith literary and philological inform ation of the typ e
known from the Am dli as well as general adah works and a certain
form of Mu'-jam. Ibn al-Banna s afore-mentioned work, ^ if it
ever had a title, was probably not called d iary b y its author,
but it does qualify as such. L ivin g in B agd M , Ibn al-Banna*
m ainly noted events affecting this city. A s a H anbalite, he was
particularly interested in the affairs of his colleagues. A n d his per
sonal predilection was the recording of his own m eaningful dreams.
A ll of this m aterial was suitable for easy transform ation into a
full-fledged history.
^ Cf. above, p. 51. T h e volum e of rem iniscences of the reign of the caliph al-M u'tam id
b y the poet A hm ad b. J a 'fa r Jahzah (224-324/838(3g)-936) m ay have been in the style of
as-Sulis h istory of the caliphs (cf. Y a q u t, Irsdd, II, 243 Cairo = I, 384 M a r g o l i o u t h ).
^ Cf. F. R o s e n t h a l , Ahm ad b. at-Tayyib as-Sarahst, 62 ff. (New H aven 1943. American
Oriental Series 26), and J A O S , L X X I , 138 ff. (1951).
G oing on the pilgrim age from A d arb ayjan one m ight w ell keep a d iary for the instruction
of his children, as was done b y a certain M uham m ad b. A hm ad b. al-H asan al-K atib , whose
Ruzndmaj w as used b y Ibn al-'A dim , Bugyat at-talab, Ph ot. Cairo T a rih 1566, p. 209.
^ Cf. G A L Supplement I, 199; II, 28. Further quotations: at-Ta'-alibi, Yattmat ad-dahr, II,
I I (Dam ascus 1304); idem, A bu t-Tayyib al-Mutanabbt, 62 (second ed., Cairo 1343/1925);
idem, H ass al-hdss, 42 (Cairo 1326); idem, I'-jdz, 241 (Cairo 1897); al-A zdi, Badd^i^ albadd^ih, II, 21 (Cairo 1316); Y a q u t, IrSdd, X V , 112 ff., 116 ff. (Cairo = V , 440 ff. M a r g o
l i o u t h ). Cf. also M. H. A l Y a s i n , as-Sdhib Ibn ^Abbdd, 243 f. (Bagdad 1376/1957), and
A l Y a s i n s collection of the preserved fragm ents (B agd ad 1966). For another litera ry d iary,
cf. al-B ayh aq i, Ta^rth-i-Bayhaq, 192 (Teheran 1317).
Cf. above, p. 83.

^ As-Safadi, W dfi, Bodleian ms. or. Seld. Arch. A . 26, fol. 150a.
* Cf. Ibn K atir, Biddyah, X I I I , 25, where the d ay of the w eek is indicated.
Cf. A . R . G u e s t , in J R A S , 1902, n o , and C. H . B e c k e r , Beitrdge zur Geschichte
Agyptens unter dem Islam , I, 24 f. (Strasbourg 1902), where the quotations in al-M aqrizis
H itat are enum erated. The w ork also appears to have been quoted in Ibn al-'A dim , Bugyat
at-talab, cf. C . C a h e n , L a Syrie du Nord, 53, n. i (Paris 1940).
F or other possible diaries, cf. also Ibn H allikan, IV , 143 trans. D e S l a n e .
* Cf., for instance, K eb ir Q adizadehs History of the Conquest of Egypt b y Selim I, w rittei
upon the order of the emir Sadruddin M uham m ad, after notes taken during the cam paign
in which he had participated, cf. F. T a u e r , in Archiv Orientdlni, IV , 98 ff. (1932).

THE USE OF RHYMED PROSE

C H A P T E R S IX

AR TISTIC FORMS OF HISTORICAL WRITING

I T H E U S E O F R H Y M E D P R O S E {SA / )
H istorical w riting on the whole successfully w ithstood the on
slaught of the rhym ed prose m ania which did so m uch m ore h arm
than good to Mushm literature. A number of factors con trib u ted
to bring about this healthy situation. For one, historiography w as
not w holly belles-lettres but in m any respects a scientific p u rsu it
and as such able to offer some resistance to literary fashions. Its
concern w ith concrete data and observations from daily life b rou gh t
1 Such childish nonsense as Ibn al-Muqri^s h istory of the Rasulids of the Yem en which
consists of a colum n of letters read vertically in an elem entary treatise on jurisprudence
(cf. G A L , II, 190 f. The L ib rary of Congress in W ashington has an edition of the w ork,
Cairo 1309) cannot be called an artistic approach to h istorical presentation. B u t a word
m ay be said here a bo u t illu strated histories:
W hen Islam appeared on the scene, illum inated editions of historical texts had a lon g
and varied history behind them (wich, how ever, is n o t quite tan gib le for us). Such illu m in ated
histories were known both in the Greek and, presum ably, the Persian orbit. For the form er,
of., especially, A . B a u e r -J. S t r z y g o w s k y , E in e Alexandrinische Weltchronik, in Denkschriften der k. Akad. d. W iss. zu Wien, phil.-hist. K l., L I, 2 (1905); H. L i e t z m a n n , E in
Blatt aus einer antiken Weltchronik, in Quantulacumque, Studies presented to K . Lake, 339-48
(London 1937); K . W e i t z m a n n , m Byzantion, X V I , 87-134 (1944).
O n ly little of th at found acceptance in Islam . The Muslims knew of books w ith the pictures
of Sasanian rulers, as an often quoted passage of al-M as'udi informs us {Tanbih, 106 f. D e
G o e j e ; trans. H . H . S c i i a e d e r , in Jahrbuch der Preuszischen Kunstsammlungen, L V II,
231 f., 1936). Pictu res of G reek philosophers appeared in the histories of philosophers b y
H nnayn and al-M ubassir (for the latter, where the illustrations m ay be a later addition [ ?],
cf, the Istan b u l m anuscript T o pkapu saray, A h m et III , 3206, discussed b y R . E t t i n g h a u s e n , Arab Paintinf;, 74 ff. [Lausanne-Paris 1962], and the crude draw ings of the Berlin
m anuscript or. 785 quarto reproduced b y J . K r a e m e r , in Z D M G , C V I, 289 [1956]).
Th e appearance of illustrated historical works in Persia later on seems to be a new depar
ture, follow ing the precedent of the epical literature. W e have illustrated m anuscripts of
the Persian translation of at-T abari (cf. E . KtJHNEL, in A . U . P o p e , A Survey of Persian
Art, III , 1853, 1855, N ew Y o rk 1939, cf. also plates 8 i6b, 880); of Fadlallah R asid-ad-dins
Jdmi'^ at-tawdrth (op. cit., I l l , 1835 ff. and plates 827-29, 845, 847-50, cf. also above, p. 105,
n. 2, and the report of Ibn al-Fuw ati, TalMs Majma'^ al-dddb, IV , I, 528 J a w a d [Dam ascus
1962], to the effect th at in 705/1305-6 he m et an artist in A rran who w as engaged in illu strat
ing the w o rk ); of al-Ju\vaynis Ta^rih-i-jahdngusay (op. cit., I l l , 1843)!
quite com m only,
of historical works of the M ugal period. (The references to illum inated Islan^ic m anuscripts
in this paragraph have been selected from the long b ibliograph y on the su bject w ith which
Dr. R. E t t i n g h a u s e n in W ashington most kin dly provided me.)
F o r tenuous relations between m edieval W estern illustrations of historical works and
Muslim book illum ination, cf. H. B u c h t h a l , M iniature Painting in the Latin Kingdom of
Jerusalem, 85, 100 ff. (Oxford 1957).

177

w ith it a factu al and concrete form of linguistic expression. A n d

the historian was under the obligation to reproduce his sources
literally and to avoid any arbitrary tam pering w ith them, w ith the
result th a t the history of the past was usually w ritten in the sober
style of the early authors. The use of saj^ becam e obligatory in the
introduction of histories. It was also used as an escape into a less
pedestrian presentation of the m aterial, especially, when the w riters
emotions were involved. ^
A s a dom inant stylistic device, the use of rhym ed prose entered
historical w riting through the panegyrical biographies which high
officials devoted to their masters. In these works, th ey felt dutibound to exhibit their virtu osity in the rhymed-prose office style.
A t the beginning, the literary ta ct and skill of the authors, as well
as their deep understanding of the genius of the A rabic language,
did indeed m ake their works masterpieces. The stylistic briUiance
displayed in these works reconciled the reader to the difficulties he
encountered in tryin g to figure out their meaning. T act and skill
and linguistic ability, however, were rare qualities. Especially in
later Persian and Turkish works, these qualities were conspicuously
absent. Ibrahim b. H ilal as-Sabi" (d. 384/994) possessed them in the
fullest measure and made use of them in his fam ous encomium of
Adud-ad-dawlah and the Biiyids, the Tdji.'^ His use of rh5rmed
prose in this w ork w as p robably as sparing as th a t of al-U tb i in
his Yam ini, a panegyric of (Yam in-ad-dawlah) Mahmud of Gaznah,
in which he followed as-Sabi as his model.
The m aster of the art who w rote his historical works throughout
in a rhym ed prose verbose but not h eav y was the Im&,d alIsfahani. Occasionally, he handled the rhym e quite freely. In the
History o f the Saljuqs, Tugrilbek was perm itted to relate a dream
^ This was the case, for instance, when a writer related the end of the 'Abbasid caliphate,
cf. M ugultays ISdrah ild strut al-M ustafd wa-dtdr man ba^dahu min al-hulafd^, for which
I consulted the Bodleian ms. or. Sale 56, in the absence of the edition (Cairo 1326, cf. G A L

Supplem ent II, 48).

Cf. G A L , I, 96 {Supplement I, 153 f.), and above, pp. 51 and 59; D. S . M a r g o l i o u t h ,
in Islam ica, II, 388, n. 4 (1927), and idem, Lectures on Arabic Historians, 134 (Calcutta
1930). For references to the Td jt, cf., further, al-Birum, al-Atdr al-bdqiyah, 38 S a c h a u ;
aI- Utbi, a l-Y am ini, I, 47 f., 106 (Cairo 1286), cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 547; at-Ta'alibi,
Yattmat ad-dahr, II, 3, 9 f., 26 f.; I l l , 3 (Damascus 1304); Ibn Hassul, T a fdil al-Atrdk,
introduction, cf. G A L Supplement, I, 553, III, 1216; Ibn Isfandiyar, History of Tabaristdn,
90, 223 B r o w n e (Leiden-London 1905, E . J . W. Gibb M em. Series, 2); Ibn y a llik in , I,
213; II, 263; III, 261 f. trans. D e S l a n e ; an-Nuwayri, N ihdyat al-arab, Paris ms. ar. 1576
foL 23a. The work was used b y aI- Azim i (above, p. 156, n. 4), cf. C. C a h e n , L a Chronique
abrdgee d'al-A^tmt, in J A , C C X X X , 355 (1938). For a brief abridgment of part of the T d ji
from a manuscript in the Yemen, cf. M . S . K h a n , in Arabica, X I I, 27 ff. (1965) ;
W. M a d e l u n g , in J N E S , X X V I , 17-57 (1967).
R o s e n th a l,

History of Muslim Historiography

12

178

ARTISTIC FORMS OF HISTORICAL WRITING

in ordinary prose. ^ On the other hand, A lp Arslan on his death

bed used perfect saj\'^ In his abridgm ent of the Im ads work,
al-Fath al-Bundari, a generation after him, complained th a t the
author as usual had given free rein to his pen and th at his rhym ed
prose made it difficult to understand w hat he intended to say.
A l-Bundari, however, did not m ake an y changes w hatsoever in
the Im ads style. T h at he, the A rabic translator of F ird aw sis
Sdhndmah, occupied himself w ith the Im ads w ork m ay in itself
be a compliment to its high stylistic quality. It m ay, however,
be added th at a more historically and less artistically inclined
author, A b u Samah, in his Rawdatayn, objected to the *Imads
style and pruned it severely.^
In less gifted authors, the constant use of rhym ed prose was a
source of serious shortcomings. The fourteenth-century Ibn H abib
al-Halabi, for example, wrote the Durr at al-asldk f i dawlat al-Atrdk
and a general history, Juhaynat al-ahbdr, in a typ e of saj'^ in which
alw ays two, and no more, cola rhym ed w ith each other. Thus, we
read in the Durrah:
Their king, al-Faransis, tumbled,
and the foundation of the building which he had
constructed w ith so much care crumbled.
A bout 30,000 of them were captured or killed,
and b y about a hundred Muslims the m artyrdom
was fulfilled,
while short cola prevail in the Juhaynat al-ahbdr:
A baga b. H ulagu: He lit w ars flame,
like his father, a m an of crime and shame.
He continued to shun of right guidance the w ay,
until, after sixteen (years), he saw his last d a y .
It is obvious th at bare facts and concise descriptions could not
be pressed into this form. Indeed, the rhym ed prose style alw ays
1 Nusrat al-fitrah, Paris ms. ar. 2145, fol. 22b. A l-B u n dari, Ta^rth dawlat as-SaljHq, 26
(Cairo 1318/1900).
Cf. above, p. 120.
A l-B un dari, op. cit., 3.
C f . B . L e w i s , i n B S O ^ S , X V I I , 16 9 , n . 2 ( 1 9 5 5 ) .

L ite rally ; w as seized. In a n y evaluation of the rh ym ed prose style, it should not be

forgotten th at the num ber of rhym ing words and endings in A rab ic is v a s tly larger than
in E nglish.
* Durrat al-asldk, B odleian ms. or. M arsh 223 (Uri 750), fol. 4a.
Juhaynat al-ahbdr, ms. Cairo T a ri^ 1610.

THE USE OF VERSE

179

showed a considerable disinclination for facts and conciseness.

In order to produce the rhyme, a line which as a rule was m erely
repetitious and rarely contributed to a better characterization of
a personality or an event had to be added. Much of the space which
m ight otherwise have been devoted to factual inform ation was thus
taken. Instead of giving a full bibhography in his scholarly biogra
phies, Ibn H abib al-H alabi restricted himself to an average of one
title. The m ain rehc of factual inform ation in his w ork is the indi
cation of the date of the death and, if it w as known, the age of
the deceased person as well as a genealogy in the beginning of the
obituary notices. A ll in all, w hatever attractiveness the use of
rhym ed prose m ay have added to historical literature in the eyes
of the cultured reader,^ it made no contribution to a deepening of
the historical understanding, nor did it produce an essentially new
form of historical presentation.
2 T H E U S E O F V E R S E
The technique of the prose rhym e as such was hardly suited for
a tru ly artistic treatm ent of history. The traditional medium of
poetical expression, the verse, could alone fulfil the task of trans
form ing history into poetry. There was no intrinsic reason why, in
the languages of Islam, poetry, being itself feigned h istory, ^
could not have, in turn, served to sublim ate the description of
actual happenings. However, in Islam, poetry was only once called
upon to render this service to historiography, and th at was on
Iranian soil in the cause of Iranian nationahsm.
The m agnificent epic of Firdawsi (born between 933 and 936,
died between 1020 and 1025) had its more modest predecessors.
A certain M as'udi wrote a poem on Persian history, of which a few
verses are preserved. The Persians are said to have held th at poem
in the highest esteem and to have considered it a true history (or
chronology, ka-ta^rih) of theirs. Considering the preserved verses,
one would hardly venture to assert th at it was more than a rather
prosaic and rather brief enumeration of the m ythical and historical
rulers of ancient Iran. The larger, incomplete w ork upon which
^ A long m arginal note in the Bodleian m anuscript of the Durrat al-asldk (above, p. 178,
n. 6), fol. 24b, concerning the conquest of B agdad b y H ulagu w ould seem to indicate th at
readers objected to the lack of fa ctu a l inform ation.
* F r a n c i s B a c o n , The Advancement of Learning, in speaking about poetry.
Cf. al-M utahhar, Beginning and History, III, 138 and 173 (trans. 143 and 176) H u a r t
(Paris 1899-1919, Publications de l cole des langues or. vivantes, IV e Serie, Vols. 16-18,
21-23). Cf. also at-T a 'alib i, L histoire des rois des Perses [Ourar), 388 Z o t e n b e r g (Paris 1900).

181

ARTISTIC FORMS OF HISTORICAL WRITING

THE USE OF VERSE

Firdawsi based himself was th at of D aqiqi (wrote between 960 and

980). If D aqiqi was a Zoroastrian, as one has occasionally assumed,
his place would not be among Muslim historians, but one m ay also
doubt the propriety of placing the Sdhndmah itself into the con
te x t of Muslim historiography, since its sole purpose was to exalt
the heroism and grandeur of pre-Islam ic Iran. However, Firdaw si
wrote and felt as a Muslim, no less than did, for example, a historian
such as M iskaw ayh.i T he history of the past came to him as legend,
and it was not his task to uncover the reahstic traits it m ight have
contained. V aliant heroes of superhum an strength and chaste
women of great beauty, base traitors and faithful warriors, drawn
w ith a few stereotype yet lifehke strokes, populate his work. The
tragedy of m an and the b eauty of the world, the inexorable doom
which guilt brings into the historical process, are the subject of
the m any dram atic episodes loosely strung together b y the poet into
a gigantic composition.
The Sdhndmah was often im itated in its own country. Its form
was used for a va rie ty of novelistic topics b ut also occasionally,
in the eastern part of the Muslim world, for a presentation of
Mushm h istory.2 Its greatness and popularity was grudgingly ad
m itted b y A rab writers,^ but the rest of the Muslim world never
produced anything comparable to it.
The epical treatm ent of history in verses remained unknown to
A rabic literature; at least, the few attem pts at poetical historiog
raphy m ade in the ninth century (see below) never led to an y true
epical poetry.^ A knowledge of history was considered as an adorn-

ment of poetical products but no more so than the sayings of the

sages of the past.^ Im portant contem porary events often constituted
the m aterial for poems. A glorious m ihtary happening m ight inspire
the poet when he hoped for a m aterial reward in some form or other
from the person who had played a leading role in th a t happening.
H istorical events could be m ade the topic of biting vituperative
poems, which, hke the hijd'' of old, were im portant weapons in the
struggle between two contesting parties. ^ The im pact of history
upon the contem porary scene could be celebrated in poems, or
mourned, depending upon circumstances.^ A ll these poems are
valuable for our understanding of the history of their time, but in
no w ay do th ey form part of historiography. Unless a comprehen
sive study, which would be highly desirable, should lead to different
results, it seems evident th a t the historical im port of the events
w ith which the poets dealt was of little or no concern to most of them.
The value which a Muslim poet would most surely find in a rapid
review of world history was historys lesson of the instability of
all hum an greatness. The Uhi-sunt m otif would be in the mind of the
poet who looked at history, no m atter whether he lived in the Spain
of the early tw elfth century hke Ibn Abdun,^ or later in the same
century in the Y em en like N aswan b. S a id, the author of the famous

i8 o

^ F or the conflict between Muslim and Persian ideas in F ird aw sis concept of h istory, cf.
G . E . VON GR t)N EBA UM , in Melanges F u ad Kdpriilu, 177-93 (Istanbul 1953), reprinted in his

Islam , Essays in the Nature and Growth of a Cultural Tradition, 168-84 (Menasha, W ise., 1955).
^ F or H am dallah al-M ustaw fis Zafarndmah, which was com pleted in 735/1334-35, cf.
S t o r e y , Persian Literature, II, 81 ff., or, for the h istory of the Muslims in India en titled
Futuh as-saldttn b y 'Isam i, cf. P. H a r d y , Historians of M edieval India, 94 ff. (London i960).
Th e form w as so popular th at also a seven teen th -centu ry Jewish author, B^ bay, could use
it, cf. W . B a c h e r , in Revue des ^t. Juives, L I - L I I I (igo6 f.).
Th e Q u r an of the com mon people, cf. D iy a -ad-din Ibn al-A tir, al-M atal as-sd^ir,
503 (B ulaq 1282), quoted b y I. G o l d z i h e r , Muhammedanische Studien, I, 173, n. 2 (Halle
1889-90).
*
G. VON G r u n e b a u m has pointed ou t th at the form of rhym e em ployed in them m ight
have been borrow ed from Persian sources {On the Origin and Early Development o f Arabic
M uzdaw ij Poetry, in J N E S , III , 9-13, 1944)- Som e predecessors of F ird aw sis Sdhndmah
m ay h ave influenced the historical attem pts of the A rab ic poets. In this connection, it m ay
be of some significance th at the historian al-B aladu ri translated the Covenant o f ArdaUr in
(with) poetry (?), according to the F ihrist, 164 (Cairo 1348 = 113 F l u g e l ) . Cf. above
p. 36, n. I, as well as the activities in the sam e d irection of A ban a l-L ah iq i {G A L
Supplem ent I, 239). It m ay also be noted th at early versifications of astronom ical lore
originated under foreign (Indian) influence and used a peculiar form of rhym e, cf. the

Himyarite Poem.^
In the golden age of A rabic hterature, some reluctant attem pts
were made b y great poets to try their skill on historical subjects.
A yajaz poem on the conquest of Spain said to have been w ritten
b y Y a h y a b. H akam al-Gazal in the first half of the ninth century
quotations in al-Biruni, Ifrdd al-maqdl f i amr az-zildl, 142-44 (H yderabad 1367/1948), and
idem, Tamhtd al-mustaqarr li-tahqiq ma^nd al-mamarr, 26 {ibidem).
1 Cf. al-Husri, Zahr al-dddb. I, 96 (Cairo 1305, in the m argin of Ibn 'A b d rab b ih , ^Iqd).
* Cf., for instance, al-Q affals poem against Nicephoros Phocas (cf. the literature quoted
b y B r o c k e l m a n n , G A L Supplement I, 307 and III , 1200), or a m inor exam ple from the
Crusades in al-M aqrizi, Hitat, I, 223 (Bulaq 1270).
Cf., for instance, J. d e S o m o g y i , A Qastda on the Destruction of Baghdad by the Mongols,
in B S O S , V II , 41-48 (1933-35), concerning a poem b y A b u 1-Y u sr Ism a 'il b. Ibrahim {GAL
Supplement, I, 458). Th e m odern historians of Muslim Spain, in particular, have recognized
the im portance of these poems as historical sources and d evoted to them a num ber of studies,
cf. E . G a r c I a G o m e z , La Qastda MaqsHra del Qartajanni (d. 684/1285), in Al-Andalus,
I, 81-103 (1933); E. L 6 v i - P r o v e n 9AL, Un Z a y a l hispanique sur Vexpedition aragonaise
de 1309 contre Alm eria, in Al-A ndalus, V I, 377-99 ( i 9 4 i)* For his fam ous poem , cf. G A L , I, 271, Supplement I, 480, and A. R. N y k l , HispanoArabic Poetry, 176 ff. (Baltim ore 1946). T he A rab ic te xt also appears on pp. 299-302 of the
Cairo edition (1340) of Ibn B adru n s com m entary, Kimdmat az-zahr.
Cf., for instance, R. B a s s e t , La Qasidah Himyarite (Alger 1914), or I. G o l d z i h e r ,
apud C. H. B e c k e r , Islamstudien, I, 519 (Leipzig 1924).
Cf. G A L Supplement I, 148; al-M aqqari, Analectes, I, 178; II, 123 D o z y and others
(Leiden 1855-61); . L e v i - P r o v e n ^a l , Islam d'Occident, 91 ff. (Paris 1948).

82

ARTISTIC FORMS OF HISTORICAL WRITING

is not preserved, and there is no indication to show whether the

poetical genius of its author asserted itself in it. The poem of A b u
Firas in which he praised the achievem ents of his ancestors was
hardly m otivated b y historical considerations of any kind.^ Ibn
al-M uta zz biography of al-M utadid, on the other hand, was a
very interesting attem pt to apply the custom ary forms of A rab ic
poetry to a large historical composition of 419 verses. Ibn al-M utazz was conscious of the fact th at his enterprise was different
from ordinary poetry as practiced b y the Arabs. He was not able
to free himself from the conventionalities of prose literature. Thus,
the first verses contain the hasmalah and htitbah which introduce
all prose works. The ending, which was added after the poem was
finished, is restricted to two prosaic lines, of which one indicates
the date of al-M utadids death and the other comments upon the
instability of hum an life. The m ain contents describes the troubled
conditions before al-M utadid, his greatness, and the viciousness
of his enemies. This is done in a num ber of skilful specimens of
laudatory and vituperative poetry. These specimens are units b y
themselves. T h ey are not welded together b y any internal logic,
nor are al-M u'tadids character and career explained through his
activities and the events of his time,^ which, however, is something
one looks for in vain also in ordinary prose histories. It w as Ib n alM u 'tazz merit to have chosen for the versification of the traditional
typ e of historical inform ation those poetical forms which were
most suitable for the task, the madih and the hija . This w as a
highly intelligent choice and a considerable achievem ent. The poet
executed his design w ith his custom ary m asterly craftsm anship,
as far as the choice of words and figures of speech were concerned.
It was, however, an unfortunate idea to use the pedestrian rajaz
metre w ith internal rhym e of the tw o half-verses. Since it alw ays
was the tendency of A rabic poetry to consider the rhym e word
the conclusion of a unit of thought and expression, the units now
becam e much too short to express a coherent idea. The whole poem
alm ost dissolves into hackneyed, overbrief sentences, whose agglom
eration has a rather tiresome effect.
It is hardly possible to assume th a t Ibn al-M utazz selected th is
1 G A L Supplement I, 144. Cf. also D. S. M a r g o l i o u t h s com parison of A b u Firms poem
with M iskaw ayh, in his valuable chapter on poetry as a vehicle of h istory {Lectures on
M uslim Historians, 59-81, C alcu tta 1930).
Cf, C. L a n g s rem arks in his edition and translation of Ibn al-Mu'^tazz poem, in Z D M G ,
X L , 563-611 (1886), and X L I, 232-79 (1887).

THE USE OF VERSE

183

form because of the practical im possibility to continue one rhym e

letter through hundreds of verses (anticipating the conclusion of
later literary critics th at long poems of necessity alw ays contain
m any bad verses^). This m ight have been a secondary consideration.
Unless we are willing to believe in an influence exercised b y Persian
rhym ed histories, ^ it would seem th at the simple metre and rhym e
chosen here recommended them selves for an essentially prosaic
subject. T he jingling effect made this typ e of verse stick in the
m em ory and caused it to become the favorite form of didactic
and mnemonic rhymes. Its use b y Ibn al-Mu*^tazz is evident proof,
if such were needed, th at the later rhym ed histories were, like the
later histories in rhym ed prose, degenerated versions of legitim ate
older attem pts to give a certain artistic form to the m aterial
contained in historical works.
Quite a number of years before Ibn al-M utazz, another great
poet, *Ali b. al-Jahm , w rote a rajaz poem on world history down to
his own time.^ Some verses from a continuation of Ibn al-Jahm s
poem w ritten a few decades later b y Ahm ad b. Muhammad alA nbari ^ had already shown th at the poem was a dry enumeration
of the various caliphs much inferior to Ibn aI-Muta z z work, and
quite unw orthy of so gifted a lyrical poet as A li b. al-Jahm. Other
previously known lines from the beginning of Ibn al-Jahm s poem
also m arked it as a mediocre product. T h ey run about like
this;
T h ey then procreated, and offspring he desired.
A nd E ve was pregnant b y him w ith a child.
She bore a son, and th ey called him Cain,
A n d th ey saw him attain w hat he did attain.

1 Cf. D iy a -ad-din Ibn al-A tir, loc. cit. (above, p. 180, n. 3).
Cf. above, p. i8o, n. 4.
* Published as a special appendix to y a l i l M ardam B e y s edition of Ibn al-Jahm s Diwdn,
228-50 (Dam ascus 1369/1949).
* Cf. Y A q ilt, Ir^dd, IV , 197 f. (Cairo = I I, 62 M a r g o l i o u t h ), according to whom the
author of the continuation of 'A li b. Jahm is identical w ith A h m ad b. M uham m ad b.
S ayh . T his id entification needs corroboration from independent sources. Ibn S ayh died in
307/919, according to al-H atib al-B agd ad i, T B , V , 42 f., and not in 320, as Y a q u t (cf.
G A L Supplement I, 123) assumed on the basis of a rather daring identification.
* Cf. al-M utahhar, Beginning and History, II, 85 f. (transl. 75 f.) H u a r t . A l-M as'udi,
M uru j, I, 19 (Cairo 1346) quotes a slig h tly different version of the last verse and adds
another one:
Thus A b el grew up, and so did Cain.
A n d no difference w as betw een the twain.

184

ARTISTIC FORMS OF HISTORICAL WRITING

The complete te x t does nothing to im prove the negative impression

as to the artistic m erits of the w ork gained from the occasional
quotations of individual verses.
U sually, however, the poetical histories of the ninth and tenth
centuries seem to have retained a certain dignity which lifted them
above the level of mere mnemonic exercises. The early w ork on the
history of Spain b y Tam m am b. Am ir b. Alqam ah has unfor
tu n ately left no trace. 1 The long rajaz poem, in which Ibn *Abdrabbih described the reign of Abd-ar-Rahm an III of Spain and
his m ilitary expeditions, was an attem pt to convey full inform ation
in an appropriate literary, if not poetical, language. In it, the author
followed an annalistic arrangement m arked b y interm ediate lines
in prose.2 If Ibn A bdrabbih is compared w ith Ibn al-M utazz,
however, the great difference between the form ers prosaic rhym es
and the latte rs use of genuine poetical forms for a prosaic subject
becomes at once evident. The eleventh-century historical rajaz
poem b y *Abd-al-Jabbar al-M utanabbi from A lcira also is no great
poetry and is reminiscent of Ibn al-Jahm , but, with its philosophical
introduction, it is as sensible a product of versified historiography
as one m ight expect to encounter.^
The flood of rhym ed histories was loosened in the thirteenth
century and has never since been stemmed. The thirteenth century
was the time when the physician Sadid-ad-din b. Raqiqah (d. 635/
1237-38), an adept rhym ester of the better sort, impressed his
colleague Ibn A bi U sayb i'ah with his ab ility to turn any m edical
w ork into rajaz verses more quickly than any other physician of
the time. In addition to the speed of his poetical production,
he expressed himself well and was able to retain in his versifications
the whole contents of the works he versified.^ H istorians of the
same proficiency were certainly not wanting. The didactic purpose
of versified prose histories is obvious, even if an author occasionally
states th at he w as induced b y the conciseness of the m etrical form
to m ake use of it. A t times, the verses were interrupted b y com
m ents in prose. This simplified the rather difficult task of squeezing
exact data into a m etrical form. The Raqm al-hulal f i nazm adduwal b y Ibn al-H atib, which deals w ith prophets and caliphs but
* Cf. G A L Supplement I, 148, 233.
Cf. ^Iqd, I I, 288-302 (Cairo 1305).
Cf. Ibn, Bassara, Dahirah, I, 2, 404-31 (Cairo 1361/1942).
* Ibn A b i U say b i'ah , II, 220 M u l l e r .
Ibn D an iyal, cf, as-Suyuti, H usn al-muhddarah, II, 139 (Cairo 1299).

THE USE OF VERSE

185

devotes most of its contents to the western dynasties, is a w ork of

this type. It also is a good illustration of the fact th at even men of
literary taste and historical understanding were no longer able to
im prove the form of rhym ed histories. Their contents usually
consisted of a bare list of names and some factu al data, and the
whole was well suited for memorizing. The introduction never
failed to be the exact rephca of the corresponding typ e of prose
works. 1 The common praise of the importance of history was not
omitted.^ E ven the sources on which a particular poem w as based
were described in verse. The poetical quality of later rhym ed his
tories is indicated in the translated specimens from a l-B a um,^
although it m ust be said th at the English translation does more
than justice to the original. N ot m any of them have been printed,
and few ever will. Some are known from the context of larger his
torical works, such as a brief rajaz poem on the Abbasids inserted
b y Ibn K a tir in his Nihdyah,^ or Ibn D an iyals poem on the judges
of E g y p t which was taken over b y as-Suyuti in his Husn al-muhddarah^ and which m ay also be found in Ibn H ajars Raf^ al-isr."^
1 Cf. a lread y Ibn al-M u 'tazz, above, p. 182 f.
^ Cf. Ibn al-Ij[atib, Raqm al-hulal, Paris m,s. ar. 5026, fol. 2a (the edition, Tunis 1316,
cf. G A L , II, 262, w as not at h a n d ); a l-B a 'u n i, in as-Sahaw i, iHdn 15 and 95, below , pp. 286
and 409; al-C u m ri, op. cit. (p. 49, n. 6).
=> Cf. as-Safadi, Tuhfah, used in the Paris ms. ar. 5827 (phot. ms. Cairo T a ym u r TaMl>
2102), see above, p. 163; al-G um ri, op. cit. In his poem on the creation of the world, A li b.
al-Jahm alread y referred at some len gth to his sources characterized b y him as reliable
transm itters . Cf. also 'A b d -a l-Jab b a r, loc. cit. A specim en is to be found below , p .5 4 6 .
* Below , p. 409.
X I I I , 206 ff., anno 656.
I I, 138-42, and supplem ent b y as-Su yu ti, 142 f. (Cairo 1299).
Ed. H A m i d ' A b d - a l - M a j i d and I b r a h i m a l - I b y a r i , 2 ff. (Cairo 1957-61).
For rh ym ed biographies of the P rophet, cf. below , p. 398.

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL

CH APTER SEVEN

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL

It is a most significant fact th at the novel (or romance) in A rabic
literature is largely represented b y historical novels. E ducated
Muslims alw ays looked down upon these historical novels and other
works of fiction as inferior products. In fact, th ey are greatly in
ferior to the best products of Muslim literature, both in their artistic
form and in the intellectual level of their contents.^ B u t their very
existence and popularity are indicative of a strong historical con
sciousness in the Muslim masses. It was through these novels that
history filtered deep down into the hearts of the people. Through
them, children learned to understand Islam as a historical phe
nomenon. The illiterate could get a glimpse of Muslim history
when th ey listened to the storytellers in the streets. Am ong those
who were able to read and to b u y books, novels were the most
w idely read and bought of all A rabic books, w ith the sole exception
of the Quran. A rabic historiography would have been no less
rem arkable as an expression of intellectual curiosity w ithout the
existence of its low ly sister, the historical novel, but it would have
been much less of an instrum ent for m aking history a part of every
Muslims intellectual experience.
N otw ithstanding the existence of a large Persian historical
literature which was known to the Muslims and soon recognized
as fiction,2 the Muslim historical novel was in its origin a product
*
T h is statem ent is n ot to be m odified on account of the fa ct that these works are for
us in valu able sources for the understanding of the psych ology and aspirations of the
com mon m an in Islam . T he inherent value of a w ork of literature m ust not be confounded
with its valu e as a source of inform ation entirely unconnected w ith its original destination.
For a brief su rv ey of the A rab ic historical novel down to modern times, cf. H. P e r^ s, in
Annales de I'lnstitu t d'tudes Or., Faculte des Lettres de I Univ. d'Alger, X V , 5-39 (1957);
X V I , 5-40 (1958).
2
Cf. the ch apter on works of fiction, in F ihrist, 422 ff. (Cairo 1348 = 304 ff. F l O g e l ) .
It is d oubtful w hether the G raeco-B yzan tine titles of novels, lumped together in the F ihrist,
4 2 5 ( = 3 0 5 f- F l x ) g e l ) , under the subtitle of novels and histories , were known to the
Muslims before the third/ninth century. Their appearance in A rabic took place, it w ould
seem, about a cen tury later than th at of the corresponding Persian literature. F or the
passage of the F ihrist on asmdr and tawdrth, cf. B. E. P e r r y , in Byzantinische Zeitschrift,
L I V , 12 ff. (1961), and F . R o s e n t h a l , in Oriens, X V , 37 f. (1962).

187

of Arabia. Its oldest stage antedates the consolidation of Muslim

scholarship and hterature. This typ e of historical novel existed
when Muslim literature was first w ritten down, and it became a
part of historical Hterature. It was no longer transm itted exclusively
b y storytellers but b y the ordinary processes of w ritten or oral
scholarly transmission, and its novelistic origin was no longer
reahzed. The subj ect m atter of these novels was the legendary history
of pre-Islamic southwestern Arabia. Through them, th at part of the
A rabian peninsula becam e firm ly established in Muslim fiction as
the favorite setting for novels. The Yem enite saga," in its origin,
perhaps, a non-Yem enite echo of Yem enite nationalist feeling,^
w as attached to such names as W ahb b. Munabbih,^ who m ay in
fact have functioned as a transm itter of some inform ation about
southwestern A rab ia to early historians, and the much less his
torical A bid b. Saryah and Ibn Qirriyah.^ The name of Am ir
a s- a bi, the early transm itter whom later legend made the paragon
of MusHm scholarship, was also used in this connection. Am ong
the literary figures under whose names m aterial of this typ e was
published, we find al-A sm a'i as the authority for philological in
formation, and Ibn Hisam as th at for historical information. E ven
Ibn al-M uqaffa was not omitted.^ A ll this m aterial which to a large
part existed already in the ninth century, though later additions
to it were not unknown, was generally accepted as history and
transm itted as such, together w ith the rest of the pre-Islam ic history
of southwestern Arabia. The historicity of it was much less sus
pect than th at of the conquest [futuh) novels and the ascription
of their authorship to al-W aqidi.
1 G. L e v i d e l l a V i d a , in calling m y attention to the fact th at he had occupied him self
w ith the Paris m anuscripts of P seudo-A sm a'i m entioned in J A O S , L X I X , 90 ff. ( i 949 )>
cf. Orientalia, N .S ., I X , 164, n. 2 (1940), m aintains the theory th at the origin of the Y em enite
pseudo-historical literature should be sought in the Y em en where th at literature w as
popular as evidenced b y the Yem en ite provenience of m anuscripts dealing with it.
^ Cf. below , p. 335.
For A b id , cf, G A L Supplement I, 100; new ed., I, 63 f., as well as above, p. 50, n. i,
and p, 64, n. i. Th e d ata availab le for him would seem to indicate th at his appearance in
literature as a historical novelist does not antedate the early eighth century. A s a sage and
longevous mu^ammarhe m ight h ave been know n m uch earlier. It is not certain w hether his
nam e is to be read 'A b id o r 'U b a y d . For the form Saryah , cf. the verse cited in O. L o f g r e n ,
E in H am dani-Fund, 24 (Uppsala Universitets Arsskrift, i 9 3 5 > no. 7); al-H am dani, IkUl,
6 L o f g r e n (U ppsala 1954, Bibliotheca Ekmaniana, 58: i).
F or Ibn al-Q irriyah, cf. H. M. L e o n , in Islam ic Culture, II, 3 4 7 - 5 9 (1928).
*
For Pseu d o-al-A sn ia'is (or al-W assas?) M uluk al-'-Arab, cf. J A O S , L X I X , 90 f.
(1949), and above, p. 58, n. 5. Ibn H isam s Kitdb at-Tijdn was published in H yderabad 1347*
Ib n al-M uqaffa' figures in the Nihdyat al-arab.
B u t cf. al-M as'udi, M uruj, IV , 89, Paris ed.

i8 8

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL

W hile this oldest historical novel lost its id en tity in general

history, the second stage of historical fiction has preserved its charac
ter to the present day. It is represented b y two groups of w orks:
the futuhdt just mentioned which describe the early Muslim con
quests (or magdzi raids ), and the siyar which deal w ith the
novelistic biography of historical or pseudo-historical heroes or
peoples. 1 The steady flow of novehstic creativity reached its largest
dimensions in the time of the Crusades. It was still vigorous in the
colorful E g y p t of the fourteenth/fifteenth century where, for in
stance, such novels as the sir ah of B ay b ars and th at of S ayf b.
D i Y aza n originated,2 but slow ly ran out w ith the decay of Hterary
and pohtical v ita lity in the Mushm world tow ard the end of the
Middle Ages. The passive interest in historical novels, however,
has alw ays remained aHve. This is indicated, for instance, b y the
fact th at ancient m anuscripts of the novels appear to be very rare.
T h ey were no collectors items. T h ey were read, worn out, and
replaced. The m anuscripts of S p r e n g e r s collection in Berlin date
from the seventeenth, and in the m ajority of cases from the eight
eenth and nineteenth centuries. N othing older was apparently to be
found in S p r e n g e r s days.^ In our time, the m any cheap editions of
the futuh works or the success of a film version of the *Antar novel
testify to the continued popularity of the novehstic tradition.
The roots of this tradition are inextricably connected w ith the
beginnings of Muslim historiography. Modern historical criticism
has recognized th at the early historians of the conquests, such as
S ayf b. 'U m ar and A bu H udayfah, prepared the ground for futuh
novels and, incidentally, b y their colorful novelistic presentation
of events caused historians like at-T abari to give more credence
to their works than th ey deserved. W ith the beginning of the second
millennium, the existence of novels such as the Sirat A n tar is ex1 T he references in G A L , I, 136 , and II, 62 (new edition I, 142, and II, 74), Supplement
I, 208, 6 1 6 ; II, 63-65, furnish m uch of the bibliographical help needed as far as A rabic
works are concerned. There also exist such novels origin ally w ritten in Persian and Turkish.
* F o r the former, cf. H. W a n g e l i n s stu d y (S tu ttga rt 1936) and G. S c h r e g l e , D ie
Sultanin von Agypten, 9 7-122 (W iesbaden 19 6 1), and for the d ate of the latter, cf. R . P a r e t ,
S a if ibn D hi Jazan, ein arabischer Volksroman (H annover 1924).
C f. R . P a r e t , D ie Geschichte des I slams in der arabischen Volksliteratur, 20 f. (T iib in gen
192 7, Philosophie und Geschichte, 13).
* Cf. the indications in W . A h l w a r d t , Verzeichniss der arabischen Handschriften, V ol.
V I I I (Berlin i8 g 6 . D ie Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der kdniglichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, 20).
Cf. also R . P a r e t , D ie legenddre Maghdzi-Literatur (Tiibingen 1930). On p. 124, P a r e t
dubiously refers to a m anuscript in Cairo which, according to the Cairo catalogue, w as
copied in 846/1442.
Cf. alsoj^above, p. 4 7, n. i.

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL

189

pressly attested.^ E xcep t for works th at indicate a terminus post

quern b y their historical setting, such as the Sirat Baybars, only a
thorough literary analysis of the preserved works could give us a
better insight into the early history of the novels, unless A rabic
hterature should yield some day exact indications as to an existence
of those works in earlier times and as to the form th ey had then.
It would, however, be dangerous to assume a specific and very
early date for certain handpicked elements of the contents,^ since
the novelists derived their m aterial in part from the historical
hterature .3 The extraordinary length attained b y m any novels
was due to a process of continuous accretion which took longer
for the futuh works than for those novels which dealt w ith more
recent heroes. The date when a novel reached the form in which
we read it tod ay m ay, perhaps, be approxim ately determined b y a
careful collection and comparison of all the existing m anuscripts
and b y the study of variations occurring in their texts. In view of
the recent date of most manuscripts, results m ay, however, not
alw ays be forthcom ing in this manner.
The form elements which m ake up the contents of the historical
novel are the same as in habar historiography. The individual
episodes seem, however, to flow much more sm oothly into each
other than in historical w orks; in fact, as in any effective thriller,
ancient or modern, there never seems to be a pause or stop, and
the end seems never to be in sight. The speeches are longer and
m uch more frequent. B attles are more ferocious than in real his
tories but hardly as v iv id ly described. Descriptions of locale are
held in very general terms. A fabulous building has just everything.
It is furnished w ith all kinds of carpets. Garm ents are composed of
all colors. Trees have all kinds of fruit.^ The narrator relied on
his fancy, which often failed him. The fictitious chain of trans
m itters indicating the supposed historicity of a particular habar
w as w idely preserved, but there also appeared a sum m ary indication
of sources in which, in typ ica lly novelistic fashion, all kinds of
historians from different periods were lum ped together. The out1 Cf. G A L Supplement I I, 63.
Cf. R . P a r e t , op. cit. (p. 188, n. 3), 9 f., who is h ard ly convincing.
On the m utual relationship betw een the novel and historical works, cf. the instructive
discussion in connection w ith ajarat-ad-d urr b y G. S c h r e g l e , op. cit.
*
Cf. Futuh Bahnasd (Paris ms. ar. 1690, fols. 23b-24a); F utuh al-Yam an (Paris ms. ar.
1816, fol. 54a).
Cf. F utuh Bahnasd, I I, 138 (in the edition of the F utuh aS-Sa^m, Cairo i 354/i9 3 5 )*

I go

standing ingredient of the historical novel is poetry. The frequency

of poetical insertions often m arks a w ork as fiction. The verses
occurring in novels are characterized b y a simple language which, in
contrast to A rabic poetry in general, needs no philological training
and acumen for its understanding. Their sim plicity often m akes
them very appealing to the modern reader, if much less so to the
educated Muslim. It was even permissible to use local dialects.^
The use of rhym ed prose was strongly favored, as we would expect.
It took on such childish forms as found in the following conversation
between M uhammad and A li:
M uhammad: W here is m y uncles son,
W ho disperses all m y sorrows and leaves not one!
A li:

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL

A t your command, at your command!

Before you here I stand.
G ods blessings upon you I demand. ^

Stock phrases, such as: A nd the Messenger of God stood up,

standing on his feet, were often repeated. The description of the
same recurrent situation, such as the coming of mornings and
evenings ,2 was never om itted from the story. A s a typ ical device
of epical narrators, such repetitions are known to us from Homer
and the U garitic epics to Firdawsi and down through history.
The contents of the novels, as in all popular fiction, was heroism
in the futuhdt, and heroism and some love in the siyar.^ A ll evil
is conquered b y the shining goodness of the hero. No danger is
too great for the hero to face, and he alw ays overcomes it w ith
little effort. The element which distinguishes Muslim historical
novels from other novels of old is the predom inant interest in
religion which finds expression in nearly all of them,^ and makes
them documents of religious history ^ more than anything else.
Heroism in history, to the simple mind, revealed itself in wars.
W ars, according to Muslim theory, could only be w aged against
infidels. In fact, the momentous wars in Islam which engaged the
^ Cf. Ibn. y^aldun, Muqaddimah, III, 362 ff.
the sto ry of the B an u H ilal, in J A , I X , 19,
1 ,3 11-6 6 (1903).
* Cf. the Futuh al-Yaman.
* The proportion betw een h istory and love in
historical and other fiction.
R. P a r e t , op. cit. (p. 188, n. 3), 7, refers
Islam plays no role at all.
Cf. R. P a r e t , op. cit. (p. 18 8, n. 4), 1 6 7 .

Paris, and A . B e l s edition, of a poenj, from

289-347 (1902), 20, 169-236 (1902), and X ,

Muslim novels m arks the distinction between

to the n ovel of Zir Zalim as one in which

191

fan cy of the common people were directed against infidels, whether

one thinks of the early conquests of Islam, the continuous struggle
w ith the Byzantines, or the defense against the Crusaders. It
would, however, be wrong to see in the prevalence of religion in
the historical novel m erely the m echanical consequence of historicalpolitical circumstances. It was in the religious element th at life
and fiction met. W ithout it, the novels would have seemed pointless
and w holly unrealistic to the ordinary Muslim. It was thus necessary
to turn pre-Islam ic figures into precursors of the Muslim jihdd.
Am ong Mushms, a position of preeminence was accorded to A li b.
A b i T ilib . W ith him as the glorious hero, the public felt th at here
was the conduct th at their Muslim upbringing could approve as
exem plary. W hen the infidels pronounced the Muslim confession
of faith, it was the only really h appy ending which the heros
adventures could find.
A brief description of the contents of the first part of the Futuh alYaman, which w as ascribed to a certain A bu 1-H asan al-Bakri
who enjoyed the reputation of a proverbial liar,i m ay serve as
an illustration of the basic tenor of the historical novel in Islam.
The Futuh al-Yaman begins w ith a m an called Urfudah ^ telling
the Prophet about the accursed H addam b. al-Jahhaf (Jahhaf?).
O nly A li b. A b i T ah b would have a chance to defeat him. The
archangel Gabriel tells the Prophet th at A li would indeed succeed.
Reassured, M uhammad calls Ali. The people are assembled and
harangued. A bdallah b. U nays is ordered to describe the heresy of
Haddam. H e reports th at H addam had made for himself an idol
which is suspended in the air b y means of magnets. This affair and
the buildings of H addam are described. The gold, silver, and marble
used in the construction of the buildings, the beautiful slave girls
there, everything is mentioned, also, th at H addam has established
the worship of his own person. W hen the Prophet hears this story,
he prostrates himself. W ith his eyes full of tears,^ he asks Ibn
1 Cf. E I , 2nd ed., s. V. a l-B a kri; G A L Supplement I, 616; al-Q alqaandi, Subh al-aHd, I,
454 (Cairo 1331/1913-1338/1919); G. L e v i d e l l a V i d a , in Collectanea Vaticana, II, 167 f.
(Citta del V aticano 1962, Studi e Testi, 219-20), w ho is inclined to believe in the h istoricity
of the indication th at the original al-B akri w as an a u th o rity of the nin th-cen tu ry Um arah
b. W atim ah and thus lived in and before the tim e of the latter. T h e older Sibt b. a l-'A ja m i
(d. 841/1438, cf. G A L , II, 67), N ur an-nibrds, Paris ms. ar. 1968, fol. 2, warns em phatically
against him, w ith reference to ad-D ahabi, M izdn, I, 53 (Cairo 1325).
* = 'U rfu tah .
E m otional situations were greatly favored in these novels. Cf., for instance, the scene
of y a i id b. S a 'id standing a t the grave of his son, in the Futuh aS-Sa^m, I, 12 f. (Cairo

1354/1935)-

IQ2

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL

U nays where Hadd^m is living. In the Yem en, is the answer, far
from civilization in the W adi of the Idol this is a good opportunity
to exhibit some superficial knowledge and enumerate the names
of wadis in the Yemen.^ The kings of the Yem en, the tu bb a's, the
offspring of the Am alekites, the heroes of the H im yar, all of them
are powerless against H ad dim who has an immense arm y. The
Prophet just smiles: 0 Ibn Unays, you w ill see something th at
w ill m ake you glad, if God wills. The help of God, He is exalted, for
His friends is close. There is no m ight and strength except w ith
God, the High, the G reat. Then, he calls A ll who forthw ith appears.
The Prophet smiles broadly and embraces him. Then, he comm ands
A ll to go on the expedition against Haddam. A li reflects for a
long while, then looks up, w ith his cheeks flushed. Then, again,
he reflects (the repetition serves to add to the suspense of readers
and listeners). The Muslims show concern, and the hypocrites are
jubilant, because th ey think that A li is afraid. B ut, of course, he
is not. A sked b y Muhammad w hy he does not say anything, A li
declares th at since Gabriel had stated th at H addam would be de
feated with the help of God, he should rely on no other help but
on God alone. He would, therefore, go all b y himself. The Prophets
face and those of the Muslims light up. The faces of the hypocrites
change. Muhammad writes a letter to Haddam. Jam il b. K a tir
volunteers to go. He is sent in advance. The Prophet weeps again.
A ll fasts, prays, washes, puts on his armor, kisses his sons, says
good-bye to his wife Fatim ah, and takes leave from the Prophet.
He is accompanied b y all the inhabitants of Medina and kissed
and exhorted b y the Prophet outside the city. Then, he fin ally
gets off. A hypocrite, W araqah, offers A li his services as a guide.
A fter much hesitation, A li eventually takes him on, although he
is aware of his evil intentions. The trip is filled w ith dangerous
adventures which result from the presence of the hypocrite. W hen
they come close to their destination, tw o lions a tta ck them. A li
kills both of them. One of them is split b y him into tw o parts. This
is a good opportunity also to split the hypocrite in two, as his evil
intentions had become fully evident in the lion episode. The negro
[al-aswad) who had watched A li fight the lions becomes a Muslim.
A ll sends him to Muhammad. Needless to say, inspite of all this

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL

193

excitem ent, A li find the time to pause every few moments to

recite poems of his own composition. . . .
It was m ainly in this manner that Muslim historiography ful
filled its destiny as a living force which helped to shape the history
of Islam.

' A certain relationship of the novel w ith local historiography in the choice of m aterial
is evident, cf. the traditions in praise of Bahnas^, in the Fut'Uh Bahnasd.
R o s e n th a l,

History of Muslim Historiography

13

EVALUATION OF MUSLIM HISTORIOGRAPHY

C H A P T E R E IG H T

AN EVALUATION OF MUSLIM HISTORIOGRAPHY

H istorical works constitute a large percentage of the literature
of the various Muslim peoples. The question poses itself w hether
historiography influenced Muslim intellectual life to a degree com
mensurable w ith its quantitative importance, or: W hat place did
Muslim historiography occupy in the whole of Muslim civili
zation ?
H istoriography, adm ittedly, never was one of the determ ining
factors of the currents of Muslim intellectual life. In its beginnings
around 700, when, like all other Muslim scholarship, it still was
entirely in the service of Muslim law and religion, it absorbed
B yzantine and, perhaps, Iranian influences and strove, w ith partial
success, q uickly to become a w orldly political and educational
subject. In the golden age of the Abbasids, historical works becam e
the mirror of the most progressive phases of the Muslim renaissance,^
the experim ental ground on which constantly new m ethods were
tried out in order to present as m any of the results of contem porary
science and learning as possible to men of general education, in a
manner which would be understandable to them. During the time
of the Crusades and, it seems, during the whole lifetim e of Spanish
Muslim literature, historiography h esitatingly entered the service
of the forces in the individual which wished to proclaim the im por
tance of the here-and-now and which were usually suppressed in
Islam. In fourteenth and fifteenth-century E gyp t, it was subjected
to the searching criticism of sociology and juridical m ethodology.
Am ong the non-Arab Muslim peoples, such as the Persians and the
^ A . M e z , in his fam ous w ork, was n ot the first to use this expression w hich con veys to
the m odern W estern reader the real significance of the cu ltu ral process in ninth/tenthcen tury Islam as well as any single word is able to do. L . L e c l e r c used it in his Histoire
de la medicine arabe, I, 139, 323 (Paris 1876). S im ultaneously w ith M e z , T . J. d e B o e r
com pared the eternal w isdom concept of ar-R azi w ith the ideas of the hum anists of the
European Renaissance, cf. De M edicina mentis van den arts Rdzi, 8 f. (Am sterdam 1922,
Mededeel. d. k. Akad. van Wetenschappen, A fd . Letterkunde, deel 53, ser. A . D e B o e r s
contribution a lread y appeared in 1920. M e z had died in 1917, five years before the pu b lica
tion of his book).

195

Turks, and in some areas of the A rabic speaking world, historical

works were the forem ost products of intellectual activity, almost
the only ones if one discounts theology as serving, as a rule, practical
purposes. Nevertheless, it could not be said that historiography
ever originated an intellectual m ovem ent in Islam. It alw ays oc
cupied the more modest position of a means for preserving and
reflecting the achievem ents of the Muslim mind.
In this capacity, it fulfilled a number of im portant functions.
Second only to the customs and practices of religious life, historiog
raphy was instrum ental in firm ly planting into the hearts of a large
number of Muslims the ideals and aspirations of Islam , an eminent
ly historical religion both in its origin and later development. A t the
same time, historiography also served to keep alive the m em ory
of the significance of their distinctive national heritage for the
various nations of Islam. Furthermore, it alw ays m aintained a
position in which it was able to stim ulate a certain interest in va l
uable aspects of cultural a ctiv ity which were in danger of being
entirely elim inated from Muslim life. Its never broken continuity of
literary production was in itself a sort of intellectual life insurance
which supported the existence of w orldly' knowledge long after
the scholarly urge to cultivate it had largely been suppressed.
A bove all, in its close association w ith biography, historiography
was the only effective vehicle in Islam for concrete self-expression
and for the factual observation of life, for looking at life as it was
and for analyzing if one m ay use this word to designate the ru
diments of psychology th at existed in m edieval Islam m an and
his aspirations as the sole source of cultural development.
A fter the position of Muslim historiography in its own cultural
environment has thus been briefly described, another question
demands an answer, nam ely, w hat position did Muslim historiogra
phy occupy in the history of W estern civilization and, in particular,
w hat contribution, if any, did it m ake to modern W estern historiog
raphy. If we were dealing, for instance, w ith medicine or philoso
phy, this question would certainly be of fundam ental importance.
In the particular case of historiography, however, it means com pa
ratively little. No research will be able to discover that Muslim
historiography ever reached the depth of penetration and artistic
expression of classical Greek or Rom an historiography, although it
even tually achieved a definite advance beyond previous historical
w riting in the sociological understanding of history and the scientific

196

EVALUATION OF MUSLIM HISTORIOGRAPHY

system atization of historiography. The size of Muslim historical

literature was conspicuous. B yzantine chronicles were closely related
to their Muslim counterparts, but w ith regard to them, Muslim
historiography had the advantage of its great va riety and its vast
volume. Indeed, it m ay be doubted whether anywhere in earlier
history, there existed so large a historical literature as we find in
Islam. The Greek and L atin historical production m ay have been
equally large, but there certainly w as nothing to be compared w ith
it in sheer bulk in m edieval B yzantine, European, or even Far
Eastern literature. Its prominent place in Muslim literary a ctiv ity
cannot have remained concealed to m edieval W estern scholars
who had contact w ith the Arabs. B u t those scholars were interested
in science, philosophy, and theology. L ike their average Muslim
colleague, th ey would not stoop so low as to adm it to any knowledge
of the existence of a historical literature.^ A t any rate, how much
or how little th ey m ight have known of Muslim historiography, their
knowledge was not comm unicated to an y wider group of people.
The political situation in thirteenth-century Christian Spain stim
ulated a certain interest also in Muslim history. Nevertheless, it
can safely be said th at inform ation about Muslim history (including
even the historical facts of the life of M uhammad which were not
infrequently related in some detail
was p ractically non-existent
or p itifu lly inaccurate in the W est, and there are no signs of any
influence of the forms and contents of Muslim historiography
upon historical w riting in m edieval Europe. Modern historiography
drew its inspiration from W estern spiritual antecedents. Thus, the
cultural value of Muslim historiography rests on its significance as a
Muslim phenomenon. O nly in as much as it formed part of Muslim
1 W illiam of T y re certainly knew A rab ic h istorical works, cf., for instance, C. C a h e n ,
L a Syrie du Nord, 17 (Paris 1940). W hen Jacob of V itry , in the early thirteenth cen tury,
boasted of h avin g consulted Latin , Greek, and A rab ic historical sources (cf. U . M o n n e r e t
DE V i L L A R D , Lo studio dell Islam in Europa nel X I I e nel X I I I secolo, 25 f., C itta del V aticano 1944, Studi e Testi, n o ) , this could be interpreted as evidence th at at least he knew
about the existence of such som ces. A careful perusal of the W estern m edieval literature
concerning Muslim affairs m ay y e t yield the one or other express reference to the existence
of a Muslim h istorical literature. S . M. S t e r n , in Bibliotheca Orientalis, X I , 75 (1954), refers
to A lfonso the Sage and C. E . D u b l e r , in Vox Romanica, 1951-52, 120 ff., in connection
w ith the situation in m edieval Spain.
It is p robab ly of no significance th at the eleventh or tw elfth -cen tu ry Spanish Glossarium
latino-arabicum, 224 S e v b o l d (W eim ar-Berlin 1898-1900, Semitistische Studien, 15-17,
Ergdnzungsheft zur Z A ), has no A rab ic equivalents for a n y of the three entries; historia
narratio rei geste preterite-, historicus qui instoriam scribit; historiografus historic auctor.
^ Cf. the life of M uham m ad from the h istory of the late tw elfth -cen tu ry G eoffrey of
V iterbo, which is unusually rich in its inform ation (E. C e r u l l i , II L ibro della Scala ,
427, 552, C itta del V atica n o 1949, Studi e Testi, 150).

EVALUATION OF MUSLIM HISTORIOGRAPHY

197

intellectual a ctiv ity as a whole did it indirectly h ave its niche in the
great com plex of E ast-W est cultural continuity.
For the later developm ent of W estern historiography, it m ay
not have been entirely insignificant that in Mushm literature there
existed so large an am ount of historical information. The mere
fact that such inform ation was readily available for everybody
who took the trouble of learning A rabic m ay have hastened the
slow progress of W estern historiography tow ard a tru ly universal
outlook on history. The developm ent of modern historical writing
seems to have gained considerably in speed and substance through
the utilization of a Muslim historical literature which enabled
W estern historians, from the seventeenth century on,i to see a large
section of the world through foreign eyes. Muslim historiography
also contributed to the picture of Islam which inspired the historical
view s of men such as D. H u m e , T h . W a r t o n , and, through them,
J. G. H e r d e r ,2 and thus, it helped indirectly and m odestly to
shape present-day historical thinking.
Modern historiography as a whole has clearly outdistanced any
thing achieved in the field of historical w riting in Islam. L ittle
could be said about Muslim historiography if one would apply to it
a scheme such as J. G. D r o y s e n ' s Grundriss der Historik.^ For
m any centuries, Muslim historiography was superior to contem pora
ry non-Muslim works. Then, the changed concept of history, the
va stly widened modern experience in m any fields th at are more
or less closely related to history, and the general intensification and
diffusion of research th at was brought about b y the invention
of printing largely replaced the forms of Muslim historiography.
It remains an adm irable and im m ortal giant monument of the
searching m edieval Muslim mind. It also is a vast storehouse of
factu al inform ation and historical insights which up to now has
only in part been exploited. A nd if there is a basic truth which
Muslim historiography could teach us after all historiographical
efforts, would it not be th at the simple approach to history as a
source of facts and examples, both useful and inform ative, m ight
still be the best key to historical understanding ?
^ Cf. the brief su rvey b y P . M. H o l t , The Study of Arabic Historians in Seventeenth
Century England, in B S O ^ S , X I X , 444-55 ( i 957 ) A ccording to F . M e i n e c k e , D ie Entstehung des Historismus, II, 459 (M unich-Berlin
1936).
In J. G . D r o v s e n , Historik. Vorlesungen Uber Enzyklopddie und Methodologie der
Geschichte, ed. R. H O b n e r , 360 ff. (M unich-Berlin i 937 )-

P A R T TWO

C H A P T E R N IN E

A L -lJ i S TUHFAH i
I I n t r o d u c t io n

A. Z e k i V e l i d i T o g a n was the first to draw the attention of

scholars to an apparently unique m anuscript in the Siileym aniye
L ib ra ry in Istanbul, in the collection H atice Turhan Valide Sultan,
No. 231. It contains the oldest large-scale theoretical discussion
of historiography th at has so far become known from the Muslim
world,^ if one excepts the Muqaddimah of Ibn Haldun, the original
version of which was finished four years earlier. The Muqaddimah
was treated as a separate w ork already during the lifetime of its
author who called the subject dealt w ith in the first book of his
historical w ork an independent discipline. However, it was intended
^ T h e annotation to this and the follow ing translations m ight have been expanded
ad infinitum . It has been kep t as brief as possible. Individuals have as a rule been identified
at their first occurrence in as-Sahaw is IHdn. For all other occurrences, the index m ust be
consulted. E x cep t for the men whom I did not succeed in identifying, on ly caliphs and some
other rulers easily traced in such reference w orks as the Encyclopaedia of Islam are left
unidentified.
W herever possible, no other reference than one to G A L has been given. References are
as a rule to the original first edition, although the Supplement often provides the more
im portant inform ation. B ibliographical inform ation contained in G A L has as a rule n ot
been repeated here.
F or the Prophetical traditions, a reference to A . J. W e n s i n c k , J. P. M e n s i n g , and
others. Concordance and Indices de la tradition musuhnane (Leiden 1936 ff.), has often been
considered sufficient. N ot all the passages indicated in the Concordance for a given en try
agree, in certain cases, w ith the te x t as quoted in the w orks translated here.
Q uotations from the Q u r an are according to the num bering of the verses in the E gyp tian
edition, w ith the num ber of the verse in F l u g e l s edition added in brackets.
Som e freq u en tly quoted w orks; A l-B u hari, Ta^rih (H yderabad 13 6 0 - 7 8 ) ; al-H atib alB agdad i, T{a^rih) B{agddd) (Cairo 1 3 4 9 / 1 9 3 1 ) ; Ibn H ajar, Tahdib (H yderabad 1 3 2 5 - 2 7 ) ;
idem, Lisdn (H yderabad 1 3 2 9 - 3 1 ) ; idem, Durar (H yderabad 1 3 4 8 - 5 0 ) ; Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam (H yderabad 1 3 5 7 - 5 9 ) ; Ibn K a tir, Biddyah (Cairo 1 3 5 1 - 5 8 ) ; as-Sahaw i, Daw (Cairo

1353-55).
^ Cf. Proceedings of the Twenty Second Congress of Orientalists (Istanbul 1 9 5 3 ) , I, 82,
and Islam Tetkikleri EnstitiisU Dergisi, I, 4 3 -4 9 ( 1 9 5 4 ). D uring m y sta y in Istan bu l in the
sum m er of i 9 6 0 , Professor T o g a n expressed to me the hope th at the m anuscript m ight some
d ay be reproduced m echanically, as this w ould seem to be the m ost suitable form of pu b li
cation. He also kin dly allow ed me to m ake use of a l-Ijis w ork in this publication. I h ave
refrained from publishing the A rab ic te x t of the translated sections, b u t I have added a
larger than usual am ount of transliterated A rab ic terms. M y sincere th an ks go to the lib ra ry
authorities in Istan bul who, w ith their custom ary courtesy, let me have a m icrofilm of the
m anuscript.
* Muqaddimah, I, 61 Paris.

202

IN TR OD UCTION

A L - f j i s TUH FA H

to be the introduction to a world history, and it was concerned w ith

history, and only indirectly w ith the w riting of history. A l- ljis
Tuhfah, like the works to be discussed later b y al-K M iyaji and asS ah iw i, is concerned with the m ethodology of historiography.^
The full title of a l-ljis work is Tuhfat al-faqir ild sdhih as-sarir.
The nam e of the author, M uhammad b. Ibrahim al-lji, is new to
Muslim literary history. A l-lji composed his w ork in 783/1381-82
(fol. 79b). The scribe of the m anuscript was a certain P ir A li
al-Hafiz, known as JUl, who com pleted his task on Tuesday,
al-Muharram i , 800/September 24, 1397.
The author gives us some inform ation about himself in the work.
He w as a student of the well-known philosopher, *Adud-ad-din
a l-lji (d. 756/1355). He had mastered, it seems, the full curriculum
of religious studies and had intensively occupied himself w ith the
stu d y of the hadit. However, presum ably as a result of his contact
w ith Adud-ad-din, he was drawn to the forbidden fruits of phi
losophy and the stud y of non-Muslim religions. Although he con
stan tly stresses the dangers inherent in these subjects, he uses
every occasion to defend the right to study and discuss them. His
concept of history is th at of the religious philosopher or, perhaps,
the cultural historian. For a l-lji, history has as its proper object
the stud y of all natural and supernatural phenomena, the data of
physics, geography, and m etaphysics. A bove all, history deals
with man and, in particular, with outstanding Individuals, among
whom the most effective agents of history were the founders of
religions as well as the scholars and thinkers. P olitical history
is of much lesser m oment in the eyes of a l-lji. This basic conviction
of his finds its expression in the fact th at the number of pages
devoted to political history is less than half th at devoted to re
ligious and cultural history.
U nlike his western contem porary Ibn H aldun who was concerned
w ith political and social forces and tried to understand their his
torical setting, or the later E gyp tian historians who im bibed his
torical thought from the intellectual clim ate that surrounded them,
a l- ljis m ind w as attuned prim arily to religious and philosophical
ideas. 2 It is hard to see how he came to w rite on history in the first
1 H ow ever, a l-ljis discussion is in a w ay a prelude to his historical presentation and
sim ilar in this respect to the Muqaddimah, if on a m uch sm aller scale. The honor of h avin g
w ritten the oldest Muslim m onograph on the th eory of h istoriography know n to us m ust,
therefore, still go to al-K M iyaji.
* In this respect, a l-lji rem inds us of the m uch earlier M utahhar b. T a h ir al-M aqdisi

203

place. This does not mean th at historical works were not w ritten
or appreciated in a l-ljis circle or th at his education left him entirel)^
unprepared for an interest in history. However, the environm ental
stimulus was much weaker in his case than the one th at existed in
the Mamluk realm and the Mamluk sphere of cultural influence.
Thus, the fact th a t he turned his attention to history must be con
sidered an original m ove on his part. It was the result of his desire
to test the philosophical and theological presuppositions he had
been taught to accept on the realities of this world. The tools he
used in his approach to the problems of history were borrowed
from the disciplines in which he had been trained. He relied upon
the criteria developed b y hadit scholars for the critical evaluation
of traditions and upon the principles developed b y jurists on the
basis of form al logic for the determ ination of truth and falsehood.
H e was convinced th at these criteria and principles were applicable
to the study of history and, in fact, to every item of information,
no m atter w hat its subject. It w as natural for him to use the term
habar ^ to include every conceivable kind of information. As he
saw it, there was no fundam ental difference between the criteria
to be applied to a habar th at concerned a fact of geography or
physics, an event of recent history, a miraculous happening, or a
statem ent b y a religious authority.
The great weakness of a l-lji is th at he does not consider it nec
essary to prove the correctness of his approach. He merely states
th at his principles, based as th ey are on the religious sciences and
the principles of jurisprudence, are generally applicable to historical
inform ation. He does not bother to give exam ples and to show in
detail how these principles could be used in connection w ith indi
vidual cases. N ot unlike Ibn Haldiin, he probably assumed that
his historical presentation later on would bear out the soundness
of his views, w ithout any further explanation or comment. Those
responsive to the philosophical approach will, I believe, see the
authors point right aw ay and agree with him th at recognition of
the tru th in history must be based upon some generally valid
philosophical principles. On the other hand, historians who cannot
help noticing the gap between lo fty principles and their assured
applicability to hum ble facts are justified in feeling somewhat
shortchanged.
(above, p. 114 f.), who, how ever, w rote in a v e r y different age.
Cf. below , p. 266. In long stretch es of a l-ljis w ork, the historical relevance of habar,

204

205

A L -ijls TUHFAH

INTRODUCTION

A l-K afiya ji, like al-lji, relied upon the methods evolved b y the
science of hadit and the principles of jurisprudence, and there are
sim ilarities betw een his w ork on historiography and a l-ljis Tuhfah.
T h is w e w ould expect to result from the use of common sources.
In fact, both authors state th a t th ey used the Muntazam of Ibn
al-Jawzi. Elsewhere, dependence upon a common source can be
safely inferred, as in the case of the various definitions of ta^'nh
cited in the identical sequence in both works (again, on the basis
of Ibn a\-]a.wzVs M untazam}). H owever, a l-K afiya ji cannot be
assumed to h ave known al-Ijis work. His independence from a l-lji
is confirm ed, for instance, b y the treatm ent of the various classes
of tru th and falsehood. B oth authors, following their sources, give
their num ber as five b u t define them in a rather different manner.
As-Sahaw i shows no acquaintance w ith al-Iji.
A l-lji seems to have been proud of his fluent knowledge of A ra
bic, and with some justification. Y e t, style and language are not
his strong points. The technical term inology forming the backbone of
his exposition is transformed into literature b y an outpouring of
all the tired cliches of A rabic diction, strung together almost me
chanically.^ A l- lji makes a very extensive use of rhym ed prose, and
he tends to be verbose. The intellectual stature of an author w riting
in A rabic can be measured b y the kind of use he m akes of all those
obligatory synonym s and the inevitable parallelismus membrorum.
If there is additional meaning, however slight, in the seeming
repetitions, he is a m aster not only of style but also of thought.
A l- ljis repetitions add m erely words.

been uniform ly consistent in this respect. The possible use of dif

ferent term s in connection w ith a l-lji does not b y itself im ply
repudiation of the terms used in the other translations. There
usually are m any possibilities of translating a given A rabic expres
sion, all of them equally accurate or inaccurate,

The following translation tries to give the essential argum ent of

a l-Ijis discussion. I feel that it deserves the space devoted to it,
although I h ave h ad initial, and persistent, m isgivings on this
score. Practicing historians w ill strain at the excessive theorizing,
and th ey w ill be w ell advised to skip the pages dealing w ith al-lji.
The reader should keep in m ind th at the translation of the Tuhfah
was done m any years after those of the works of al-K M iyaji and
as-Sahawi, which were already contained in the first edition of
the present work. I have attem pted some harmonizing, th at is,
I have tried to use the same English expressions for the same
A rabic ones wherever this was indicated. However, I have not
atar, a a d sim ilar term s is u su ally less obvious th an in a l-K a fiy a ji and as-Sahawi.
^ In these cases, the follow ing translation u su ally dispenses w ith artificial literalness in
fa vo r of b rin gin g ou t the intended nieaning.

2 T R A N S L A T IO N
E n d of the auth ors in troduction (fol. 1 2 b ):

Thus, let it be known to you th a t historiography {Him at-ta^rih)

is the acquaintance w ith conditions of the world th at have been
transm itted provided w ith (an indication of) the times (when th ey
took place), inasfar as th ey constitute items of inform ation {habar md).
Its object is the things created, in (13a) particular, hum an beings
and the effects [dtdr] of their activities, inasfar as th ey are the sub
ject {muhbar 'anhd) of some item of information.
Its purpose is the study of the conditions of outstanding individ
uals [a'-ydn) in the world and the different kinds of hum an beings,
as transm itted.
Its usefulness is too great for exhaustive description. One of its
useful aspects is th at it provides proof of the createdness of the
world and the w orlds need for a creator and adm inistrator who
is knowing, powerful, wise, living, enduring, prim eval, whose essence
is too exalted for the blemishes of createdness and disintegration.
This is the greatest usefulness of historiography. W e shall mention
details in the chapter devoted to the subject (cf. the fourth chapter).
The principles {mabddi^) of historiography th at is, the basis
on which it rests are the oral transmission {naql) from authorities
through listening (to their lecturing) and a w ritten tradition (nwdyah) of assured continu ity {bi-t-tatabbu^). T he process of trans
mission {riwdyah) has its particular w ays and m ethods which h ave
been adequately explained b y the leading hadit scholars. These
can, however, only rarely be observed in all the other kinds of
transm itted inform ation. I have tried hard to collect all (the rules)
th a t are to be observed b y an author in connection w ith the trans
mission of (historical) inform ation {ahbdr) and which he should
use as criteria for the criticism of reports {dtdr). I have devoted a
special chapter, the sixth, to bringing together all the necessary
inform ation on this subject. God leads to the path of right guid
ance. ^
^ Sim ilarly, Q u r an x l 29 (30 FI.), 38 (41 FI.).

2o 6

TRANSLATION

A L - f j i s TUHFAH

F ir s t

Ch apter

This chapter (fols. i3 a -i7 a ) deals w ith the division of the sciences. T h e y are classified as
fo llo w s;
1. T he sciences of the religious law {as-sarHyah).
II. Th e philosophical sciences {al-hikmtyah).
III . T h e lite ra ry sciences (al-adaMyah).
T h e third group is su bdivid ed as follow s;
A . Disciplines concerned w ith in dividual words.
B. Disciplines concerned w ith com posite statem ents.
The subdivision o f B proceeds as follow s:
r. Disciplines coucprned w ith the accidcnts th a t go w ith com posite statem ents as such
(as, for instance, litera ry criticism , prosody, etc.).
2. Disciplines concerned w ith the outstan din g topics {a'-ydn) of com posite statem ents in
as m uch as th ey indicate m eanings d escrip tively (that is, the science of conversation con
cerned w ith the tellin g of stories, proverbs, or poetry).
Th e second catego ry is further subdivided as fo llo w s:
a. E ve ry th in g th at is concerned with the preservation of p oetry {an-nazm al-muttaba^,
th at is, the factu al knowledge [Him] of poems).
b. E ve ry th in g th a t is c o rc e m e d w ith th e (re)produrtion of p oetry [an-nazm al-muhtara^,
th at is, the knowledge of the recitation and com position of p oetry, al-inSdd wa-qard a f-siV ),
c. E ve ry th in g th at is concerned with the production of prose (an-natr al-muhtara^, th at
is, litera ry com position as practiced b y the w riters of official com m unications and papers,
al-insd' ).
d. E ve ry th in g th at is concerned w ith the preservation of prose [an-natr al-muttaha^).
This last subdivision, fin ally, includes three categories:
a. Prose preserved litera lly * [al-muttaba^ bi-hasab al-lafz, th at is, the knowledge of
proverbs).
p. Prose preserved not litera lly b u t w ith regard to its m eaning [md ttubi^a bi-hasabi
l-ma^nd duna l-lafzi, th at is, historiography).
y . Prose preserved both litera lly and w ith regard to its m eaning [an-natr al-muttaba^
lafzan wa-ma^ndn, th at is, the knowledge of the sayings and statem ents of prophets, saints,
scholars, sages, kings, w azirs, litterateu rs, etc.).
T he subdivision of h istoriography (III, B , 2, d, (B) is explained in the follow ing passage
(tols. i6 b -i7 a ):

The second category is prose preserved not literally but w ith

regard to its meaning. This is the science of (historical) inform ation
{^ilm al-ahbdr) which reports on the conditions of created things
m ainly human beings and only rarely others , their actions, their
pedigrees, their dwelling places, their countries w ith their roads
and rem arkable phenomena, and the remaining (visible) effects
(monuments, dtdr) of their activities. E ach (part of this science)
has its own name.
(The part) concerned with the conditions of hum an beings in
former times and among the nations of the past and in connection
with events th at happened, (if the reports are) accom panied b y
^ T h a t is, only or m ain ly for its litera ry form . T ak en up (critically) or adopted,
adop tio n m ay be a m ore litera l renderm g for w h at has here been translated preserved,
preservation .

207

a fixation of the periods of time, expressed in m onths and years,

th at h ave elapsed between those conditions and (certain) m ajor
happenings, is called historiography [Him at-ta^rih).
(The part) concerned w ith the condition of a specific outstanding
individual is called biography [Him as-siyar).
(The part) concerned w ith individuals all of whom share one
and the same aspect,^ is called Him al-qisas (which refers to the
stories of the prophets and similar works of collected biographies
of persons sharing the same vocation).
(The part) concerned w ith pedigrees is called genealogy [Him alansdb).
(The part) concerned w ith wars is called Him al-maldhim (re
ferring to the prediction poems which often deal w ith w ar and
similar m atters).
(The part) concerned w ith countries is called the science of mon
um ents (relics, dtdr), roads, and provinces.
Strange and laughable stories are called wonders (of creation).
Anecdotes and fictional reports concerning dumb creatures (17a)
and (dangerous) unknown places are called stories.^
T he preceding eight disciplines constitute the science of (histori
cal) inform ation [Him al-ahbdr).
Second Ch apter
T h is chapter (fols. i7 a -i9 b ) contains a long discussion of tim e and tim e units, introduced
as follow s:

Linguistically, ta^rih is the indication of time. It is derived from

a Persian expression, nam ely, mdh u roz, th at is, month and day.
It was arabicized and changed to mu^arrah, from which ta^rih and
other derivatives were formed. W henever the A rabs use a foreign
word, th ey m ix it up b ad ly until it fits into their kind of speech.
A s a technical term, ta^rih is the fixation of tim e for the purpose
of relating to it a time-section th at comes later.
A ccording to another definition, ta^rih is the indication of time
b y relating it to the first occurrence of a m atter of wide concern,
T h e m anuscript h as jihatun whdh, the last w ord n o t being clear and apparently cor
rected b y the scribe, read wdhidatun.
^ T h e A rab ic te xt of the last three paragraphs runs; wa-bi-l-bildd Him al-dtdr wa-lmasdlik wa-l-mamdlik wa-l-gard^ib wa-l-maddhik summiya bi-l-'-aja^ib wa-n-nawddir wa-lmawdu^dt ^an al-^ajmdwdt wa-l-majdhil bi-l-hikdydt. I believe th at I have broken up this
ju m ble correctly. H ow ever, in order to be on the safe side I have added the original te x t
here.

208

a l -!j

Is

TRANSLATION

tuhfah

such as the appearance of a religion, or a dynasty, or the happening

of a terrifying event (17b) such as a deluge.
According to another definition, it is a know n stretch of tim e
between the occurrence of an obvious m atter (of importance) and
other events.^
According to still another definition, it is the fixation of a d ay
on which there appeared something of wide (concern) for the pur
pose of knowing (the tim e th at has elapsed) between it and the
times of events (of the past) and of future m atters whose dates have
to be established, such as contracts drawn up to take effect at some
later date {al-'-uqud al-mu^ajjalah).
Thus, ta^rih is a known and delimited time-section, divided
according to years, months, days, and hours. One of its lim its is
the time fixed b y the happening of an obvious m atter (of im por
tance) th a t has been made a starting point [mabda^] for earlier or
later events to be measured on it. The other lim it is the other event
th at one w ants to delimit.
The first definition (of ta^rih as a technical term) is derived from
the beginning; the second, from the end; the third, from w hat is
in betw een ; and the fourth, from all of th a t together.
Ta^rih was then em ployed in some special custom ary usage and
used for the science th at deals w ith the events considered suitable
to be a starting point for the ta^rih and w ith the (historical) infor
m ation {ahbdr) fixed b y it. Everyw here, the time-section (zamdn)
is considered an essential part of the definition. Zamdn, in the
opinion of the philosophers, is. . . .
T h ird C h a pte r
This chapter (fols. 2oa-28b) treats the various ancient eras and the era of the h ijrah and
subsequent M uslim system s of time reckoning. T h e sto ry of the introduction of the Muslim
era is reported on fols. 24b-2sa.

F ourth C h a p t e r
The Uses of H istoriography
L et it be known to you that the extraordinary usefulness and
im portance and the far-reaching influence of historiography are
something th at is no secret to intelligent and learned men. H is
toriography is a discipline very difficult to handle, which yields
itself to the student only after long and skilful work. Persistent
T h e preceding rem arks all reappear in a l-K a fiy a ji, cf. below, p. 249.

209

reading is required in order to m aster it, and only constant and

penetrating discussion (on the basis of information) derived from
the best and most skilful transm itters can yield a thorough knowl
edge of (historical) inform ation and help to capture its meaning.
Its uses are manifold, and the profit one can derive from it im
measurable. A t this time, I wish to indicate ten of its general fea
tures.
1 Learning about G ods m ighty works, perfect power, m ar
velous creations, and hidden wisdom. This provides some sort of
(legal) necessity (for the stu d y of history), as a premise for achieving
the knowledge about {ma'^rifah) God which is something necessary
for all responsible (Muslims, mukallaf). Therefore, H e commanded
them in H is noble book to stu d y and reflect on the various kinds of
created things and m entioned the clear signs b y which H e can be
recognized. I shall refer to some of this when I get to the proof for
H is existence.
2 Becom ing acquainted w ith the condition of the cream of
hum anity th at is, the prophets and messengers who explained the
religious laws and clarified the w ays (of moral behavior) , with
the tribulations th ey suffered while promoting the cause and help
ing the religion of God, and w ith the m anifold experiences th ey
had as the result of the m anipulations of G ods enemies, until
th ey were able to remove corruption from the earth, to spread
right guidance on it, to secure for the truth v icto ry over falsehood,
even though this took some time, to estabhsh firm ly the rule of
religion, and then, to realize the promise (29b) God gave them with
regard to the other world and to be sure of success for the remainder
of their days in this world.
3 Gaining a more accurate appreciation of the verses of the
Q uran through the knowledge of how the (historical) inform ation
about the past contained in it agrees w ith th at which was revealed
in all the other scriptures of the founders of religions, although it
came from an illiterate inform ant [muhhir) who w as unschooled in
the sciences and in history [ahbdr) and had never in his life visited
remote places.
4 A cquiring full knowledge of the conditions of various kinds
of nations, whether th ey were religious or political groupings.
This shows the superiority of Islam over all other religions and
reveals the superior qualities of the Muslim caliphs and sultans as
com pared to the rulers of all other periods of the past. It proves th at
R o s e n th a l,

History of Muslim Historiography

14

210

A L -tjI S TUHFAH

the religio-legislative activities of the scholars of Islam rank w ith

the revelations of the prophets of the Israelites and th at Muslim
theologians outweigh the most outstanding of the pillars (asdtin)
of Greek philosophy.
5 K now ing about the condition of the pious and the righteous
in this world, how th ey were scattered w idely, lived long ago,
left no posterity, and were held captive b y their adversaries.^
This encourages rulers to practice justice, to acquire a good rep
utation, and to give ample rewards, and it discourages obstinate
tyran ts from com m itting their pestilential, oppressive misdeeds.
This is tru ly a great advantage for everybody at every time.
6 Planting in the minds of men the seeds for the proper handling
of m atters th at m ay happen, and alerting prudent (hdzim), wide
awake persons to (the potentialities of) the thoughts ^ th at m ay
come to them. The story of the life (30a) of a prudent man and the
description of the results he achieved can teach m any an intelligent
person the good m anagem ent and prudent handling of his own
affairs. On the other hand, the story of the life of an imm oderate
person and the description of the end he found can cause m any
an intelligent m an to avoid imm oderate aspirations. This, then,
is an education for the powerful and a lesson for the thoughtful,
im plying a sharpening ^ of dulled intellects.
7 Encountering wondrous affairs, the changes of dynasties,
the vicissitudes of destiny, which is a relaxation for the souls and
a consolation for the hearts of both the ruler and the ruled. It also
encourages patience in the face of (untoward) happenings and
conditions and stills worries b y creating hope.
8 G iving a person the delight and the intellectual pleasure of
learning about rem arkable and wondrous m atters which he had
not known or heard of before. It has been reported on the auth ority
of A bu l-A la al-M aarri {sic) th at a man had grown very old and
no pleasure was left to him. He w as asked whether he would not
prefer to die. N o , he replied, and when asked w hat pleasure was
left to him, he said: I am still able to listen to wondrous stories. ^
^ Wa-l-asr f t aydt husamdHhim, rather (with al-asr corresponding to ad-darb), and how
the hands of their adversaries were stayed (?).

^ Ms. mh^r [leg. majdri) az-zunun.

^ Leg. Sahd.
*
The preceding three paragraphs are based, in part literally, on Ibn al-Jaw zis M untazam ,
m,entioned by al-lji as his basic source (below, p. 243). The same text is cited also b y asSahawi, cf. below, p. 295 f., where the name of the old man appears more appropriately as
A.bu 'Am r b. al-'A la.

TRANSLATION

211

g Obtaining knowledge of the precious statem ents in prose

and verse made b y outstanding men, such as prophets, sages,
scholars, and, in particular, kings, whose sayings, according to the
proverb, are the kings of sayings. A ll this will be found in this
w ork inserted in the narrative hke gems in signets, or pearls in
jew elry, as the most precious gifts from the noblest souls and minds,
deserving to be w ritten w ith gold upon the eyes rather than with
ink upon paper. Those who act in accordance w ith (the precepts)
contained in those sayings in both verse and prose will obtain
happiness and leadership in both this world and the next.
10 {30b) Finding th at most of the religious sciences are based
upon historical knowledge and in m any cases require it:
The science of the Qur^dn needs it in three of its subdivisions:
In theology [al-ildUydt), it is needed in connection w ith the
proofs for the existence of the Creator and the establishm ent of
His attributes, for these proofs are based upon the proper apprecia
tion of His activities as the creator of the essences of the various
species and the different and rem arkable forms and shapes of
individual creations. In this connection, it is further needed for
the argum ents for the createdness of the world, because these ar
gum ents are derived from the changes th at take place in the sub
stances and accidents found in the world, and from the occurrence
of corruption {haU) and decay th at affects the basic and individual
(features of this world, arkdnihi wa-aVddihi).
In (Qur^nic) prophetology [an-nubuwdt), historical knowledge
is needed to explain the miracles th at disrupt the ordinary course
(of events) and to infer the truth of the claims of the prophets (to
divine inspiration) from such miracles, from the condition and char
acter qualities of the prophets, and from the fact th at their pre
dictions as to w hat was to happen to their friends and enemies
were fulfilled.
In traditional m atters based on the Q ur an {as-samHydt), it is
needed in connection w ith questions concerning the im am ate and
caliphate and the orthodox sects and the various kinds of unortho
dox innovators.
The science of Qur'^dn interpretation needs historical knowledge
in connection w ith the circum stances of the revelation, the abro
gating and abrogated verses, and the explanation of the stories of
prophets and the generations, nations, and peoples of the past.
The science of hadit needs historical knowledge for the personality

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TRANSLATION

A L - f j t s TUHFAH

criticism th at is needed in order to ascertain the conditions and the

methods of giving inform ation of the men around M uhamm ad and
the men of the second generation who transm itted traditions (on
the authority of the Prophet), and of the men who, in turn, trans
m itted on their authority. It is also needed in order to ascertain the
dates when th ey were born, how long th ey lived, when th ey died,
who their contemporaries were, in w hat countries th ey traveled,
and w ith whom th ey m ay have had contact, things th at show w heth
er a given tradition is reliable or unrehable or a fraudulent fab
rication.
Jurisprudence {fiqh) needs historical knowledge in order to as
certain consensus and differences of opinion as well as the classes
of leading scholars of independent judgm ent, (31a) authorities
who m ake highly regarded statem ents {ashdb al-wujuh wa-l-aqwdl),
men whose statem ents and legal decisions are relied upon in theory
and practice [al-ahkdm wa-l~a^mdl)}
M ysticism needs historical inform ation in order to ascertain
the various classes of saints and m ystics and the ranks of the leading
heads of Sufi orders and of the m ystics who have achieved union,
so th at one can be sure of the va lid ity of the cloak {hirqah) and of
the permission to practice the dikr received from them and can
confidently follow their m ethod of m ystical exercises and of cleans
ing the soul of sinful desires and adorning it w ith virtuous habits.
For preaching {al-wa'-z wa-t-tadkir), historical inform ation con
stitutes an integral part, or, rather, preaching entirely revolves
around it. ^
Y o u should realize that some historical and biographical works
{kutub at-tawdrih wa-l-ahhdr wa-s-siyar wa-l-dtdr) possess all these
useful aspects. Others do not possess all of them but choose eyes
th at see and pearls th at shine(?), Others again combine valuable
and worthless inform ation, like jet throw n together w ith precious
pearls. Others are loaded w ith husks and waste i^l-srf ?) and lack
substance and grace
?). This situation results from the differ
ent ambitions and purposes of authors and from their varyin g degree
of learning and scholarship in intellectual and traditional m atters.
1 Ahkdm is often used b y the author in the narrower meaning of the five degrees of
legal classification, which is sometimes applicable even in passages where the present
translation employs more general terms.
This is the end of the discussion of the ten uses of history dealt with b y the author.
Ms. wa-minhd md fdza min mryth {leg. hiydzitihd ?) bi-qutrayhd fa-ftalada min-a-l-

^uyuni n-nawdziri wa-dtara min [del. ?) ad-durari z-zawdhiri.

213

I
hope th at God will enable me to bring this book to a successful
conclusion in the w ay I h ave envisioned it, nam ely as containing
all these useful aspects of history, as being free from all those draw
backs, as comprising the (historical) inform ation about all nations
and peoples, as giving an adequate explanation of the condition
of m ost groups of hum an beings, and as being elegantly and sol
id ly organized. The (historical ) inform ation presented in it I
envision as being critically sifted according to the criteria of tra
dition and reason, as being protected against contradiction and
incoherence, as being fortified b y the evidence of (monumental)
relics and signs {al-dtdr wa-l-dydt), as being adorned with precious
saws (31b) and verses, as containing practical problems and scien
tific opinions, as being a successful collection of transm itted m ate
rial {riwdydt), and as being a thorough presentation of the stories
dealt with. Help and success come from God. He can be expected
to m ake hum an hopes come true.
F

if t h

h apte r

This chapter (fols. 3ib-4oa) deals in detail with the divisions of the natural and super
natural worlds and the means of knowing about them. On fol. 38a, we read:

Further, let it be known to you th at giving inform ation on all

the other kinds of possibilia in historiography is something par
asitic. The basic purpose and general object (of historiography)
is the most noble of species, th at is, man, of whom there are
m an y different single specimens and numerous distinct kinds.
S

ix t h

c h a pter

The Principles of H istoriography and the Criteria of H istorical

Criticism (fols. 4oa~7ob)
This chapter contains valuable investigations of a unique useful
ness, such as are rarely produced b y the minds of students and con
sidered w orth collecting even b y the most skilful of transm itters of
(historical) inform ation. W ith the help of divine guidance and the
beneficent support {maydmin) of (our) splendid ruler [ad-dawlah
al-garrd"' as-suUdniyah)} I have succeeded in undertaking these
original (investigations), and I have thus laid a foundation for this
discipline {li-hddd al-Hlm). I have arranged them in an introduction
and tw elve sections.
^ This seems, in fact, to refer to the financial support received or hoped for b y the author.

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215

A L - t j i s TUHFAH

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

firstly, to speech th at is part of a declarative sentence {jumlah

habariyah), whether predicate {musnad) or subject {musnad ilayhi).
F or instance: The servant who belongs to Z a y d did such-and-such
a th ing. E ach one of the tw o parts (of this sentence) is speech, but
it is not a habar, because it does not indicate anything b y itself.
Secondly, (it is) inapplicable to insd^ (wishes, commands), because,
according to the definition of al-Maydani,^ inm^ is speech in which
the words are the cause of a relationship th at is not preceded b y
another relationship. Now, although the words of a hahar are the
cause of a relationship which results in speech, it is a relationship
th a t is preceded b y another one which it tells about. Thus, if the
tw o conform to each other, the hahar is true; if not, it is false.
Insd^, on the other hand, has only (41a) the relationship expressed
in the words of the speaker and no other outside relationship but,
in fact, is seeking to establish another relationship. Therefore, it
does not tolerate (the judgm ent of) true or false, for (true or false)
are identical w ith conform ity and non-conform ity, and (either)

L et it be known to you th at the student of intellectual problems

involving both general and definite concrete notions ^ m ust of
necessity investigate their species, subdivisions, rules {sarait) and
laws {ahkdm),^ and the w ays {turuq) leading up to them, such as
explanatory statem ents and obscure or clear arguments. E ach
of them has its own qualities [kayfiydt) ^ th at characterize it, and
is divided into species [anwd^) and classes {asndf).
Thus, the student and transm itter of (historical) inform ation has
to follow specific w ays and established methods which enable him
to grasp intellectual and concrete m atters {ma'-quldt-masnu'^dt) and
which h ave their own peculiar qualities {kayfiyah) th at provide
them w ith a certain number of classes and rules [sardHt). These
are (40b) known among transm itters and serve as a p ivo t for their
considerations and as the base for their criticism of (historical)
inform ation and its (possible) condemnation as spurious. T h ey
m ay be contradictory in (their application to) the hahar text which,
on the basis of them, can be subdivided into categories, each of
which possesses its own rank and standing. Thus, (the student)
must know the w ays th at enable him to establish degrees of pref
erability [turuq at-tardjih) and to put everything into its proper
place and decide whether it is sound. (The contents of habars
m ay contradict the requirements and conclusions of reason. Thus,
it is absolutely necessary to know on w hat (basis) one of tw o {habars)
can be established as preferable to the other after thorough study,
or how th ey can be combined successfully. The thorough historian
must p ay attention to all of this, so th at he and the m aterial he
transm its can be considered authoritative. The m atter can be
explained in a number of sections containing the basic principles.
First Section
The definition of hahar and the basis of its true character which
serves to explain all its subdivisions
Hahar is speech th at b y itself indicates a relationship of some
thing to some other thing outside. (This definition) is inapplicable,
1 Cf. below, p. 256, n. 2.
Cf. above, n. 212, n. i.
^ Th at is, the how, the manner in which something takes place, occasionally to be
translated procedure, process.
* The suffix iu yu^driduhd is most likely to refer to au implied ahbdr.

can result only among two things.

A hahar, further, consists of matn (text), sanad, isndd, and irsdl
(terms dealing w ith the transmission or the chains of transm itters of
traditions), the meaning of which must be known, because the most
im portant aspects (of the study of habars) depend on it.
An explanation of these terms and of the classification of traditions, on the basis of their
transmission and chains of transmitters, as sound {sahth), good {hasan), and weak \daHf).

Transmission of a w eak tradition, w ithout an explanation of

its weakness, and la x ity w ith regard to its isndd are permissible, as
is acting in accordance w ith w eak traditions in, for instance, moral
and ethical m atters [ka-l-mawdHz wa-faddHl al-a^mdl), but not in
m atters concerning w hat is allowed or forbidden or m atters con
cerning the divine attributes. M any hadit scholars permit the trans
mission of traditions on the authority of all except those trans
m itters who b y general agreement should be left alone. Accordingly,
the historian is perm itted to report (historical) inform ation while
om itting the isndd and being lax about it, to transm it m aterial
on the auth ority of men who are little known [majdhil), and to be
content (42a) w ith the use of w ritten m aterials w ithout the support
^ Ahm ad b. Muhammad (d. 519/1124, cf. G A L , I, 289), who is best known for his collec
tion of proverbs. I have not been able to trace the quotation in the works of al-Maydani
available to me, but most of the above paragraph appears verbatim in at-Tibis H uldsah f t
ma'-rifat al-hadit (Ms. Istanbul, Kopriilii 230, fol. 2a). A t-T ibi is mentioned b y al-lji later on,
below, p. 225. Al-M aydanis name does not occur among the stated sources of at-Tibi.

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217

A L - f j i s TUHFAH

INTRODUCTION

of oral tradition, ^ since all this is possible in connection w ith the

transmission of Prophetical traditions, and there is so much more
leew ay in connection w ith other material.

(falls into three categories). Some of it is accepted b y those who

hear it, and adjudged true b y reason. Some of it is sim ply and nat
urally rejected. A nd some of it seems reasonable to some minds and
is rejected b y others, considered w orthy of attention b y some and

From God there comes the protection against m istakes and

loquaciousness.
Second Section
The m ethods b y which inform ation [ahhdr) becomes established
These, on the basis of inductive reasoning, are several things:
1 Personal observation [musdhadah), as is, for instance, in
dicated b y the men around M uhammad when th ey sa y : I have
seen the Messenger of God do such-and-such a thing. . . . .
2 H earing {samd^) a tradition in the words of a speaker or a
sayh who transm its it. It does not m atter whether this involves
dictation {imW) or lecturing {tahdit), w hether (the sayh) uses his
m em ory or his book (written notes).........
3 Reading {qird^ah) to a sayh, a procedure called b y early
scholars 'ard. It makes no difference whether he himself reads
or someone else while he is listening; whether he saw the sayh or did
not see him, b u t his presence was known. It m ay be from a book or
from m e m o r y ...
4 The ijdzah, th at is, granting the right to and perm itting
transmission (of the m aterial studied).
H ere, nine kin ds of ijdzah are enum erated, including the procedures called munawalah,
kitdbah, iHdm, and wijddah. Th e wijddah th at is, the use of w ritten sources not certified
b y a n y sor^ ot oral tradition* ^raises, am ong other things, the problem of how to deal
w ith books of d ou btfu l authorship. Since it is considered perm issible, the author says,
this (point o f view) h as been considered a u th o ritative b y m e in connection w ith th e m aterial
used in this book, and I have relied upon the inform ation found in the (written) w orks of
fellow writers (ashdb), a fter conridering it c ritic a lly .

Third Section
Causes of and laws [ahkdm) governing rejection
and acceptance, and the various kinds
and categories of (historical)
inform ation
L et it be known to you th at the inform ation on rem arkable
events set down in the pages of books which is unconfirmed b y
personal observation and rests upon the m ethod of transmission
* The text appears to be al-qand^ah 'aid l-wijddah (for wijddah, cf. below , n. 2), H ow
ever, the use of the preposition ^ald, instead of hi-, is strange.
* For a discussion of wijddah, cf. A b u l - Y u s r ' A b i d i n , in R A A D , X X X V I , 58-67 (1961).

demolished (as untrue) b y others.

This is because the reasons for rejection and acceptance va ry
and because students differ in their (experience of) data provided b y
tradition and reason. M any a heart is fam iliar w ith m atters w ithin
its own (experience) and considers anything else unacceptable and
absurd. M any a free m ind is ready to take in w hatever (information)
an inform ant m ay pour into it, saying (with the poet):
L ove for her came to me before I knew w hat love was.
It found m y heart free and took over. ^
(44a) Thus, it is absolutely necessary to investigate all the reasons
for and characteristics of accep tability and to stu d y all the categories
and classes of rejection and acceptance, to find out w hat is to be
classified as unreliable and w hat is to be considered authoritative,
and to uncover and explain w hat constitutes a sound basis for
considering (items of historical information) true and w hat seems to
be fictitious [awhdm) and m ust be disregarded after thorough study.
It is no secret th a t the causes and reasons th at im ply differences
(in acceptability) have reference to the condition of the speakerinform ant {muhhir), the meaning of the subject {al-muhbar '-anhu),
or the item -of-inform ation {habar) itself, and, further, to the con
dition of the student {sdmi^), since a habars power, or the lack of it,
to p urvey knowledge [Him), probability {zann), doubt {sakk), or
fictitious inform ation [wahm) does not go beyond any of these.
In view of these circum stances, a habar falls into several catego
ries, each of which differs w ith regard to rejection and acceptance.
Consideration of the condition of the inform ant {muhhir) leads to
(a tw ofold conclusion): H e either attributes his habar to himself or
to someone else. In either case, classification {hukm) depends on the
(informants) condition w ith respect to his known, unknown, or
doubtful faultlessness {Hsmah) and reliability or unreliability. The
pitfalls in this respect have been rem oved b y the scholars of the
principles (of jurisprudence) and of the hadit. In their books ancient
' Cf. Dtwdn M ajnUn Layla, 282 F a r r A j (Cairo, n.y. [1958?]), where further references
are given. Cf. also Ibn Q ayyim al-Jaw ziyah , Rawdat al-muhibbtn, 138 'U b a y d (Cairo

1375/1956).

2i 8

219

A L - f j i s TUH FA H

INTRODUCTION

and modern, th ey h ave mentioned rules {hukm) applying to this

situation as far as m atters of the religious law are concerned. Now,
owing to the long tim e that has gone by, the transm itters of in
form ation {ahbdr) find it difficult to observe the rules {sardHt)
governing it. Therefore, they have come to consider as auth oritative
the musnad, sunan, and ahkdm works composed b y the leading
Muslim scholars. In (information) other th an Prophetical traditions,
the chain of transmission has become interrupted because men who
are little kown {majdhil) have entered into it, so th at the gap has
become too wide for right-m inded people to bridge. Thus, there
exists no desire (on the part of modern scholars) to clarify the sit
uation and to verify the condition of transmitters.
Consideration of the conditions [ahwdl) th at refer to the subject
of a habar {al-muhbar 'anhu) must proceed from the assumption
th at (the subject) m ay be absurd and not possibly true, or theoret
ically true, or theoretically possible [mumkin ma^qul), or observable
b y the senses and fam iliar as either something custom ary or some
thing extraordinary, as something th at is observed repeatedly
or something th a t rarely happens.

receives) deserves preference and thus be firm ly decided upon ac

ceptance of the opposite ^ because of some knowledge he possesses
or because of his trust in tradition {taqlid), because of bias and ob
stinacy {^asabiyah m a i) , fiction and iajicy {wahm haydl), weaknes and stupidity, or deceitfulness (jarbazah) and shrewdness. A ll
these qualities m ay cause the student in question to accept or to
reject w hat comes to him and is put before him, regardless of w heth
er it is in itself false or true and in contradiction or conform ity

(44b) Consideration of the conditions th at refer to the habar (as a

whole) must proceed, as far as the habar as such is concerned, from
the assum ption th a t its meaning [daldlah) m ay be definite [maqtu^]
or probable [maznun], that it m ay be a tex t (nass) or an obvious
im plication {zdhir) or something requiring interpretation [mu*awwal) w hether it be ambiguous {mujmal) or clear [mubayyan).
As far as the sanad is concerned, consideration must proceed from
the assumption th at it m ay go back to m any authorities [mutawdtir) or to one [dhad]} that it m ay be generally known [mustafid)
or not, th at it m ay skip the first transm itter on M uham m ads
authority [mursal) or lead back to the Prophet {musnad), th at
it m ay be uninterrupted [muttasil) or lacking one link {munqati'-),
and so on, things th at have been adequately explained b y the
leading scholars of the hadit and the principles of jurisprudence.
Consideration of the conditions th at refer to the student {Sami')
must proceed from the assumption th at he m ay have a free m ind
or be seeking (something), that he m ay be doubting or disapprov
ing, as he m ay believe that the opposite of (the inform ation he
1 More correctly, less than three, according to the definition of habar al-wdhid accepted
b y the author (below, p. 222). According to al-6 azzali, M ustasfd, I, 93 (Cairo 1356/1937),
the number m ay be as high as five or six. For the occasional distinction between habar
al-wdhid and dhdd, cf. J. R o b s o n , in Jou rn al o f Sem itic Studies, IX , 327-40 (1964).

to reality {md f i l-wdqi').

L et us explain in detail the(se) parts of the habar b y considering
the reasons th at decide the question of certainty {qat"-), probability
{zann), or doubt {sakk), and the causes th at require acceptance,
rejection, or withholding a decision {waqf), for the guidance of
those who seek to exercise habar criticism. The remaining parts we
shall reserve for the other ^ section later on. L et us also distinguish
w hat is w orthy of attention from th at which is not. Thus, I say;
A habar qua habar, if no consideration is given to the particulars
connected (hususiyah) w ith the inform ant {muhbir), m ay be true or
false. If consideration is given to the pillars it rests on th at is,
the inform ant {muhbir) and the subject {al-muhbar 'anhu) , it
m ay be divided into five (45a) categories;
1 Know n to be true.
2 Know n to be false.
3 Possibly either true or false. This falls into the three categories
of (a) probably true, (b) probably false, or (c) doubtful either w ay,
th at is, it is equally possible th at it is either true or false, be
cause of the equivalence of indications in either direction {li-ta'^ddul
amdratihimd). If either truth or falsehood seems to preponderate
on one side, the other side is fictitious {mawhum).
L et us discuss these categories together w ith the legal classifi
cation {ahkdm) applicable to each, inasmuch as th ey are connected
w ith the purpose of the present work, but om itting the details
required for an exhaustive treatm ent of legal classification {ahkdm).
F irst category: Inform ation known to be true th at must be ac-

* Ms. li-H im ddi (read li-Hiqddi] hildfihi Hiqddan rdjihan musirran jdzim an ^ald hildfiht.
Perhaps, we should translate: . . . decided upon opposing it.
* Ms. al-fasl at-tdn(, apparently referring to the fifth and following sections.

220

A L - t j f s TUHFAH

TR A N SL A T IO N

cepted. According to the fundam entalists {usuliyun)} there are

seven kinds:
1 Inform ation whose existence is known ^ of necessity, such as
prim ary data [awwaliydt), things observable b y the senses, m atters
transm itted b y m any authorities [mutawdtirdt), m atters proven b y
experience {mujarrabdt), and m atters based upon (intuitive) con
jecture {hadsiydt). Or (information) which is known through de
ductive reasoning, such as, for instance, data based upon argu
m entation {burhdniydt), th at is, syllogisms {adillah) composed of
necessary (propositions) {daruriydt) or leading up to them.
2 The inform ation {hahar) of God, such as the Quran and
the revealed scriptures th at are protected against alteration.
3 The inform ation of the prophets, because it is confirm ed b y
the proof of miracles. It becomes known only to those who hear
it or obtain it through transmission b y m any authorities.
4 The inform ation of the entire (Muslim) nation, because gen
eral consensus is decisive proof.
5 The inform ation of a large num ber of people concerning
their own conditions, whether th ey are m atters observable b y
the senses or, rather, m atters of, for instance, internal observation
(wijddniydt).^
6 Inform ation surrounded b y propositions th at lend them
selves to conclusions [qarain), for indications [amdrdt) th at support
each other give (a hahar) the status of necessity.
7 Inform ation reported b y m any authorities, where the trans
m itters are so m any that custom (ary experience) precludes the
assumption th a t th ey m ight have happened to agree upon some
thing untrue. The Sum aniyah (Buddhists) held a contrary opinion
in this respect. T h ey did not acknowledge (the possibility) th at know l
edge could be obtained in this manner, nor did th ey acknowledge
(the possibility of) obtaining knowledge through speculation
{nazar). Their opinion is similar to th at of the Sophists.^
I.e., the scholars versed in the principles of (religion and) jurisprudence. I t is hoped
that the use of fundamentalists will not give rise to misunderstandings.
* Ms. md ^ulima wujit-du niuhbariht. The consonants m ight suggest m uljbiriM infor
m ant, that is, the source of which is known to exist. However, the required vocalization
is niuhbariht, which is seemingly identical with the more common muhhar ^anku. The same
muhbar {md ^ulima naqtd muhbariht) occurs in connection with the first paragraph of the
second category.
^ Cf., for instance, 'Adud-ad-din al-Iji, M aw dqif, 38 (Cairo [?] 1 3 5 7 ) , in connection with
the muqaddamdt q a fiy a h .
* Cf. Ibu Haldun, M uqaddim ah, trans. F. R o s e n t h a l ,

I, 19 8, n. 277 (New York 19 5 8 ) .

221

(45b) Second category: Inform ation known to be false th at must

be rejected. There are two kinds;
1 Inform ation, the contrary of which is known ^ (to be true)
of necessity or through deductive reasoning.
2 Inform ation that, if it {madlul) were correct, would be trans
m itted b y m any authorities in view of its having ample claim
to being transm itted, because it is im portant or remarkable. The
inform ation ascribed to the prophets contains m uch of the sort.
Inasm uch as it is ascribed to Muhammad, there is his statem ent:
Falsehoods will be ascribed to me {sa-yukdabu '-alayya). In
asmuch as it is ascribed to the Israelite prophets, there is the
statem ent of the Q uran: T h ey alter words and remove them from
their places. ^ The one prophetical scripture definitely protected
against alteration is the noble Q uran, as God has said: Falsehood
will not come to it from before it or from behind it, ^ for He
guarded it w ith His essence {bi-ddtihi) and did not entrust (it) to
anyone else, saying: W e revealed the reminder, and W e are guard
ing it. ^
The reason for ascribing false inform ation to God and the Prophet
is twofold. The lesser of the two reasons is oversight, forgetfulness,
and negligence. The most frequent one is (pure) invention {wad"-).
This is done either b y heretical {zindiq) innovators and disbehevers,
in order to scare intelligent men aw ay from the true religions or
in order to circulate their own falsehoods and innovations. Or it
is done b y ignorant persons such as storytellers and related (profes
sions) like would-be preachers. T h ey frequently invent moral and
ethical traditions, for Satan caused them to slip and led them astray from the even road and deceived them b y causing them to
approve of (such a) procedure as something pleasing to God. T h e y
were deceived and invented false and disapproved statem ents.
T h ey w ent astray and led others astray and joined those who
were the greatest losers (46a) in w hat th ey did, whose efforts went

1 For the Sophists, cf. al-lji, M aw dqif, 20 f., where, however, nothing is said about the
Sumaniyah. T h ey are often mentioned in other works on the principles, such as al-Amidi,
Ihkdm , I, 151 (Cairo 1347), or al-'Allam ah al-Hilli, A n w ar al-m alakut, 5 Najm i-Zanjani
(Teheran 1338). Cf. also, for instance, E. S a c h a u s translation of al-Birunis work on
India, II, 261.
* Cf. above, p. 220, n. 2.
Quran iv 46 (48 FI.) and v 13, 41 (1 6 , 45 FI-)* QurSn xli 42 (42 FI.).
Quran XV 9 (9 FI.).

223

A L - ! jf s TUHFAH

TRANSLATION

astray in the life of this world while th ey thought th at th ey did

w ell." 1

4 A ccuracy and lack of indifference, because negligence and

indifference do not perm it placing reliance upon statem ents made.
In this category, probable (truthfulness) can be assumed only
where there is no decisive evidence to the contrary or where an
interpretation is acceptable.

222

Since such fabrications occur so frequently in traditions and

stories, I have dwelled on the subject at some length, so th at the
reader of the book who comes across something of the sort and is
sure that he is confronted w ith invented m aterial can elim inate
it. I have no responsibility for it. The responsibility for avoiding
such (material) rests upon the one who invents it {wada^ahd).^
Third category: Inform ation th at is probably true. This is in
form ation coming from a reliable person {hahar a/-aifZ) which has
not reached the status of having been transm itted b y m any
authorities {tawdtur). If there are fewer than three transm itters
(for a habar), it is known to the fundam entalists {usuliyun) as
habar al-wdhid; if there are more, it is known as mustafid. B oth in
dicate probable (truthfulness), even though they do not fulfill the
conditions {sardit) laid down in connection with the first category.
Characteristics referring to the inform ant {muhbir) th at suggest
probability are five: ^
1 (Legal) responsibihty {takUf), because someone who is not
responsible {mukallaf) does not fear the taint of falsehood and sin.
2 Religion, because the religious person fears the consequences
of (spreading) falsehoods. In m atters of the religious law, he must
be a Muslim, because unbelievers caim ot be trusted w ith regard to
Muslims.
3 P robity {^addlah), which is a habit in the soul that prevents it
from com m itting m ajor sins or doing w hat is bad, (if) permissible.
Transmission b y a wicked man (fdsiq) does not produce probability
(for the m aterial he transmits), because in the fondness he shows
for wickedness, he is as a rule quite ready to (transmit) falsehoods.
(The existence of) probity (in a transmitter) is known through
a declaration (by qualified scholars) of reliability {tazkiyah) and
also through the fact th at there is widespread knowledge (of him
as a transm itter, suhrah). The absence of probity is known through
negative personality criticism.
* Quran xviii 103-4 (103-4 FI-)- The preceding lines contain allusions to Qur Snic
phrases, cf. Quran v 77 (81 FI.).
* Possibly, the student who sets it down. However, the author presumably had in
nund the first inventor as the guilty party.
Only four are enumerated here and again referred to in connection with the fourth
category.

Fourth category. (Information) th at is probably false, which

is of necessity fancied to be true {mawhum as-sidq). The character
istics (46b) th at suggest the probability of untruthfulness are
the opposites of those four (mentioned in connection w ith the third
category): Absence of (legal) responsibility, unbelief, wickedness,
and indifference and lack of accuracy, because these qualities
preclude any trust in statem ents made b y men possessing them in
the case of legal m atters [al-ahkdm as-sarHyah). However, in other
matters, greater tolerance is indicated, especially in connection
w ith persons who believe th at untruthfulness is forbidden (in gener
al) or who are upstanding and prominent people.
F ifth category. D oubtful inform ation. T h at is inform ation coming
from a person about whose condition w ith respect to characteristics
(46b) th at m ight suggest either truthfulness or falsehood (for the
inform ation he transmits) little is known {majhul).
*
* *
Now, let it be known to you th a t this book contains different
kinds of inform ation {ahbdr). (Inform ation in it) known to be true
is the inform ation transm itted from the prophets, the heavenly
scriptures, and the divine revelation enounced b y the Q uran
and b y (Prophetical) traditions ^ transm itted b y m any authorities.
(Information) known to be false is the inform ation coming from
pseudo-prophets and ignorant unbelievers concerning their beliefs
affecting God, the divine attributes, and the beginning of creation,
as, for instance, the statem ents coming from Magians, Manichaeans,
the altered passages of the Torah and the allegorical interpretation
of the Gospel, the beliefs of the Christians w ith regard to the Mes
siah, and the statem ents of Indian and Chinese eternahsts {dahriyah)
w ith regard to the beginning of creation, and the statem ents of
the Sabians w ith regard to the stars and the heavenly bodies.
1 Its seems reasonably certain that the above translation represents the intent of the
author. He does not mean: . . ., the divine revelation enounced b y the Qur^an, and (Pro
phetical) traditions . . .

224

TRANSLATION

A L -fjI s TUHFAH

There is no harm in transm itting such (information) on their author

ity. For the transmission of falsehood is not (in itself) falsehood,
just as the transmission of unbelief is not (in itself) unbelief. The
purpose in transm itting such (information) is to learn about (the
degree of) nonsense which owing to the m achinations of Satan th ey
have obtained. It is the task of the transm itter to transm it every
item of inform ation as it has come down, and to send on {irsdl)
any statem ent so as to express the tenets held b y the person who
made it (J-ald muHaqad al-qail), be it true or false. The criticism
(of information) and its condemnation as spurious are left to others.
(Information) th at is probably true constitutes much or, indeed,
m ost of the contents of this book. It also contains inform ation th at
is probably false (47a) but only little of it, such as statem ents trans
m itted on the authority of other than religious persons not definitely
established as false. The absence of religious com m itm ent {tadayyun)
and the com bination of individual (opinions, fard) w ith generally
accepted ones [al-'-dmm al-aglah) are w hat makes preferable the
assumption th at (a given item of information) is false, except,
of course, in the case of people who believe th at untruthfulness is
forbidden (in general), or in m atters th at are no concern of theirs
and in which th ey have no stake. Then, (only) doubt is created.
The fifth category that is, doubtful inform ation transm itted
on the auth ority of men who are little known {majdhil) is w idely
represented in the (historical) inform ation about the first age
dealing w ith the conditions of all the (pre-Islamic) nations, while
very little of it is found in the second (Muslim) age where every
(information) is, in fact, either definitely or p robably true.
In the former case, the reason is the great an tiq uity and dis
appearance (of the nations and individuals concerned) and the lack
of sources for knowing {inqitd'- asbdb al-Hlm) the conditions of
the transm itters of inform ation concerning them. The inform ation
th at has reached us has passed through tw o channels [min tanqayn) :
I The inform ation of the prophets coming from the heavenly
scriptures, which is restricted to the conditions of peoples among
whom the Q uran was revealed and about whom the Prophet has
given proven and clear inform ation [hi-^-sarh wa-l-haydn), saying,
Messengers about whom W e have told you before, and messengers
about whom we did not tell. ^
1 Qur^aii iv 164 (162 FI.), conflated with Qur^w xl 78 (78 FI.).

225

2 Stories {anbd^) of Jewish rabbis and Christian bishops who

converted to Islam, which th ey found in ^ the books of their proph
ets and which came to them from persons whose m aterial {binaqlihim wa-anbdHhim
th ey trusted. A ll their other m aterial is
suspect of having been altered, falsified, or freely invented. More
over, every sect accused the other of purveying false and fictitious
(information). Their opinions on the beginning and the end of the
world [al-ihtida* wa-l-intiha*) contradicted each other. M any dif
ferent subsects arose which held different opinions and possessed
diam etrically opposed inform ation {ahhdr). W e have therefore
restricted ourselves to (information) th at has reached us in w ays
{turuq) considered (worthy of attention) b y men versed in m any
disciplines {mutafanninun), and have paid no attention to infor
m ation assailed b y historians.
The inform ation {ahbdr) of the second age concerning the con
ditions of the Prophet, the righ tly guided caliphs, the men around
Muhammad, and the leaders of Islam and rulers of men has been
exh au stively sifted, explained, and verified (47b) b y the early
Muslims. A ll the transm itters are authoritative. Men who are
little known {majdhil) are rarely found in between, except, of
course, in the later generations {al-awdhir). (The later generations)
have neglected to observe this m ethod {tanqah), and the chain of
transmission {silsilat al-isndd) is, in fact, broken, even if some faint,
nominal traces are left. Reliance m ust (now) be placed upon books
and upon the m aterial transm itted b y the ancients, and not upon
the m aterial stored in the minds [mahfuz) of the later generations.
A t-T ib i ^ said: In these times, people p a y no attention to any
of the conditions [smut) governing the transmission. A s far as ^ the
probity ['addlah) of a transm itter is concerned, th ey are satisfied
when he does not show any weaknesses (mastur al-^adddlah), and
as far as his accuracy is concerned, th ey are satisfied if his samd"
is found confirmed b y a reliable signature [hatt) and his transm is
sion [riwdyah) comes from a m anuscript {asl) th at agrees w ith th at
of his sayh. Now, if the science of hadit, one of the bases of the
religious law, has come to such a pass, w hat do you think about
^ The preposition f t is to be supplied.
2 H ardly, wa-inbdHhim whom they trusted as transmitters and narrators.
Al-H usayn b. Abdallah at-Tibi died in 743/1343, cf. G A L , II, 64. His Huldsah appar
ently does not contain the above quotation. Other works of his could not be consulted.
* Leg. m in (instead of 'an).
I. e., the fact of his participation in lectures on the material in question.
R o se n th a l,

History of Muslim Historiography

15

226

227

A L - tjt s TUHFAH

TRANSLATION

historical and biographical inform ation {al-ahhdr wa-s-siyar) of the

distant past! Thus, do not desire to have everything verified and
accept w hat I give you, which is the appropriate thing to do under
the circumstances. A nd ask God for guidance and success.

( i ) Its being fam iliar, occurring repeatedly, and being du

plicated, according to custom ary experience, b y similar events, as,
for instance, (historical) inform ation on the change of dynasties.
2 Its belonging to m atters observable b y the senses, such as
inform ation on topographical conditions {ahwdl al-bildd) and the
remaining traces {al-dtdr al-hdqiyah) of former kings, for the soul,
because of its fam iliarity w ith (such m atters), welcomes them more
than anything else.
3 Its belonging to concepts {ma'-nd) im agined and given form
to b y the im agination {wahm haydl), such as inform ation given
{ihbdr) b y m athem aticians on the shape of the heavenly bodies,
for, even if it is not definite, since, as th ey have said, it is (always)
permissible to assume the contrary, the probability is th at it is as
(they say).
4 Its conform ing to ethical requirements, such as biographical
inform ation on noble representatives of the early generations, be
cause the soul judges th a t it m ust be acceptable.
(48b) 5 Its conforming to the requirements of generally known
propositions derived from religious laws {sardH'-) and educational
ideas {dddb), adjudged b y reason to be valid because of a general
interest or a weakness or fervent emotion in their favor.^
6 Its being useful on account of its comprising some theoretical
or practical wisdom {hikmah), instruction {adah), or experience
bound up w ith virtue whose acquisition is the natural (purpose)
of noble men.
7 Its being (commonly) known as and having ample claim
for itself and the conditions connected w ith it to be known.
8 The habar being transm itted from men whose statem ents
are accepted w ith m uch faith, because th ey possess much know l
edge or religion or (act under a) divine command, such as the m a
terial transm itted from scholars, ascetics, and excellent and god
fearing men.
9 Its agreeing w ith and being conform to the belief and purpose
of the student {sdmi^), because he (then) considers it a m atter to
be taken for granted b y reason {min musallamdt al-''uqul) and
accepts it.
10 Its belonging to m atters com m only and w idely known
among (various) people which are not reported to have been dis
approved b y anyone of those who(se opinions) count.

Fourth Section
The reasons th at call for the acceptance or rejection
of inform ation {ahhdr), and the m atters th at
m ake it attractive {mayl an-nafs) or unattractive
L et it be known to you that the afore-mentioned reasons, though
th ey do suggest, in the w ay we have mentioned, (definitive) know l
edge, probability, doubt, or fictitiousness (affecting a given item of
information) on the basis of reason and tradition and also indicate
the characteristics as we have detailed them th at are to be taken
into consideration, (do not exhaust the problem,) b ut whether
(historical) inform ation is rejected or accepted often depends on
how the m ind of the student (sdmi^) judges the m atter (48a) on
account of accidental circumstances, on his departure from the
required classification {hukm) in a given case, and on situations
{ahwdl) arising from other characteristics {sifdt) not considered b y
fundam entalist {usuli) and hadit scholars as necessitating action
in accordance w ith them but which are influential in causing accept
ance or rejection. Frequently, something looking like a weakness
[Hlal) is m istaken for one and turns the person who hears a particular
item of inform ation [sdmi'- al-hahar) from the right direction. He
does not p ay the least attention to something th at deserves to be
accepted, and he carefully listens to w hat ought to be rejected.
This is because the mirror of his reason {'aql) has become rusty
through the souls desires and the fact th at the soul is attracted
tow ard m atters th at agree with the claims of nature and im agination
[wahm) :
N ature is a ruler (slavishly) obeyed.
A nd how m any tricks does im agination have readily available.
L et us mention part of this, so th at it m ay serve as a base for
comparison. Reasons referring to the subject of a hahar {al-muhbar
'anhu), provided it is something possible, th at call for acceptance
are:

^ Ms. m im -m d hakama l-^aqlu biha (?) li-maslahatin 'dmmatin aw riqqatin aw hamtyatin.

228

229

A L - ij t s TUHFAH

TRANSLATION

These are ten reasons which compel attention to (historical)

inform ation and require to welcom e it (iqbdl), and which in most
cases are considered adequate.

cidental characteristics {a'rdd) of (the prevailing) religious or po

litical leadership th at imbues them w ith th at (attitude),1 or other

The reasons for shunning (historical information) are also ten:

1 The subject {al-muhbar '^anhu) being rare, strange, and of
sporadic occurrence, such as a deluge. The soul dislikes to accept
unfam iliar facts, unless it is forced to do so b y evidence. N ever
theless, it feels attracted to hearing about them, because it pas
sionately enjoys learning unknown, new data.
2 Its belonging to intelligihilia whose q u an tity reason cannot
perceive {yatasawwaru) and whose q u a lity it cannot depict {yusawwiru), such as inform ation about m atters connected w ith the
other world which are beyond observation b y the senses and (49a)
the perception of weak intellects, especially if th ey are dom inated
b y the power of im agination {vis aestimativa, al-quwah al-wahmiyah).
3 Its belonging to pure, abstract intelligihilia which the power
of im agination is unable to perceive or to imagine. (Such information)
is therefore adjudged unacceptable, unless the judgm ent of reason
compels acceptance. E ven so, it is considered unsatisfactory and a
thing to be avoided, such as, for instance, the giving of inform ation
(ihbdr) on theological m atters {al-umur aL-ildhiyah).
4 Its belonging to m atters that cannot be verified b y reasoning
{al-^uqul al-fiknyah), because th ey belong to the world of the super
natural {'dlam al-gayb). T h ey are, in fact, perceived b y perfect
souls aided b y the h oly power, b y inform ation from heaven, b y
divine inspiration and intuitional knowledge [al-'-uliim al-mawhibiyah). Those who were eager to acquire intellectual knowledge
{al-'-uliim al-fikriyah) but were unable to m aster those (supernatural)
m atters were quick in rejecting them. It is enough of a loss for them
to be deprived of (the knowledge of) them and to have to be satisfied
w ith (the restricted knowledge) th ey have!
5 (Its being presented to) a student {sdmi^) who is fettered
b y blind adherence to tradition {taqlid) and holds (preconceived)
different notions, for if the mind is impressed with (notions) con
trary to (those contained in the inform ation presented to it), it
shuns acceptance. This is an incurable disease which affects m any
school members {ahl al-maddhib) for various reasons which have
their origin in one's immediate fam ily {dba) and relatives, in ones
contact w ith professors and teachers and other outsiders, in ac

things.
5 Its being repetitious for the student, because similar and
related (matters) have occurred to his mind several times. Frequent
occurrence makes them something ordinary {ka-l-mu'-dd) and thus
unattractive. This does not contradict the earlier statem ent th at
fam iliar m atters are more easily accepted.^ R epetition {takrdr)
means th at the pleasure of acquiring new knowledge is absent,
because purpose and intent remain the same, even if the subject
{al-muhbar 'anhu) is different. The earher statem ent refers to know
ing similar m atters (in general), (49b) and not as individual instances
{ma'rifatu mitlihi jumlatan Id bi-''aynihi). W hen some inform a
tion is heard for the first time, it produces the pleasure of knowing
(al-ma^rifah), but when it is repeated, it produces no longer any
pleasure, except after a long period when it has been somehow for
gotten. Individual repetition {at-takrdr bi-hasab as-sahs) necessitates
the dishke and boredom th at go w ith w hat is ordinary. Generic rep
etition {bi-hasab an-naw') necessitates attention and is welcomed
{at-tawajjuh wa-l-iqbdlr).
y Its being little known {majhul), because such inform ation
is rarely of interest to the soul, unless a given item {habar) contains
some additional attractive aspect, such as strangeness, because this
produces the pleasure of a new, previously not experienced percep
tion {tasawwur). Inform ation about something (commonly) known
is frequently of no interest either, because it involves repetition.
8 Its being impossible. Thus, it is known to be false. B u t (such
information) is often found a ttractive and pleasurable, because
giving inform ation {ihbdr) about it in a w ay means transform ing
it from im possibihty to possibility, and the soul finds it strange and,
therefore, pleasurable.
9 Its being well known as something th at does occur, because
giving such inform ation {ihbdr) is useless, since the use of any
inform ation {habar) consists in m aking (new) knowledge available.
10 Its contradicting m atters attested b y sound tradition and
pure reason. This is (information) to which no attention is and
should be paid.

Ms. hamalahum, leg. hamalathum.

* Of. above, p. 227.

231

A L -t jt s TUHFAH

TRANSLATION

D etails of these reasons that ju stify the expression of preference

for either rejection or acceptance can be learned through inductive
reasoning {istiqrd^) verified b y ones own exam ination, because it
is something th at is not unknown [mim-md Id yunkaru).
Now, knowing the foundations laid and the edifice erected b y
us and being fully acquainted w ith the reasons and causes and the
things th at rem ove the veil of doubt w hatever inform ation you
m ay obtain (orally) or read in books, you should strip ^ of all
accidents and free from the qualities and purposes 2 th at envelop
it. Y o u should weigh it in the scales of attentive study {iHihdr)
and exam ine it according to the critera fixed b y us, distinguish
between the true (50a) and the false, and assign to (each item) its
proper place and rank. Then you should go over it again once
more and keep nicely a w a y ^ from w hatever seems tarnished b y
the doubt of disapproval {subhat al-inkdr), so th at someone who
m ight be inclined to disapprove will not find a w ay to reject it.
N ot everything th at is true m ust be transm itted. Not everyth in g
th at conforms m ust be followed and accepted. L eave the things
th at puzzle you for those which do not puzzle y o u . ^ Throw off
the burden (boredom) of m atters which occur frequently in sim ilar
form, and do not w eave the embroidered garm ent of your dis
cussion on their loom, since this is of h ttle use and unprofitable for
the student [Sami'-). (Repetitious m aterial of) this sort is frequent in
histories and has brought censure upon its transm itter.
Y o u should leave it to those qualified to give inform ation [ihhdr]
on m atters connected w ith the other world. Y o u should not con
cern yourself w ith it in any w ay. For the historian is spared this
h e av y and dangerous commitment. Beware of dipping into the churn
ing w aters of the discussion of pure intelligihilia and be satisfied
w ith (those of the intelligihilia) th at are connected w ith the sensibilia, the images of which are engraved upon the tablet of the
things fancied [mawhumdt). Y o u should go after the most w idely
useful, most readily acceptable, most intellectually impressive,
and, for the purposes of the reader and hearer, most helpful and
profitable historical information, and you should not p a y any
attention to anyones rejection resulting from ignorant or uninformed

disapproval or obstreperous and m isled haughtiness. The truth

deserves most to be followed. ^ O nly inform ation th at is (simply)
invented should be rejected, and not w hat is (merely) strange and
novel. I t is not wrong for you ^ to report interesting and strange
happenings and rare and rem arkable cases, even if things of th at
sort rarely happen and the interesting conditions surrounding them
are considered astonishing, as long as possibility does not turn
into im possibility. For such inform ation is considered attractive
(50b) and agreeable. G ods power is wide and His wisdom as regards
H is interesting creations extensive.
Y o u should test w hat you say, and guard it against contradiction
and incoherence from beginning to end. Y o u should keep your
pen from transm itting and giving wide currency to evil deeds of
wickedness. This is a crime, even if the transmission is (technically)
sound. Im prudent persons [futtdk) m ight im itate (such deeds)
and be guided b y their erroneous example. T h e y m ight m ake light
of their own bad quahties which entrain the suspicion of evil deeds,^
and you m ight be held to some degree responsible for the trouble
and harm caused. If the discussion leads to something of the sort,
you should call attention to the damage to his position and property
suffered b y the evildoer in question. This will serve as an excuse
for you and as a warning for those who are not (hopelessly) negligent
and perplexed. B e careful not to report any stories about (actions
of) unjust ancient rulers called b y them statesm anship [siydsah)
and considered a credit to themselves [faddil), w ithout stressing
the delusion th a t lurks in such interesting reports. This covers
various kinds of injustice [zulm) which (the ancient rulers) prom oted
b y using the w ork ( statesm anship ) and for which th ey had no
basis in the religious law. A p proval (of this so-called statesmanship)
as something b etter than and preferable to the religious law is
w hat has often pushed ignorant persons into unbelief. Thus, th ey
contract an incurable disease. The transm itter of (information on
such unjust activities) faces dire consequences. For b y reporting
them he has revived them and is culpable as m uch as the person

230

^ Ms. fa-jarrid an-nafs 'an . . . wa-^arrihd. Obviously, nafs refers to the information, and
not to the reader, as all the following suffixes {-hd) are best explained as referring to ahbdr.
^ The manuscript has a^rdd twice, apparently b y mistake.
Cf. Qur an Ixxiii lo (lo FI.).
* or: this hadit, cf. below, p. 259, n. 5.

who did them.

Y ou should report m an y stories about good and noble quahties as
such, because these are the m asters of customs (51a) and the cus^ Cf. below, pp. 250, n. 2, 350, n. 4, and 375, n. 2.
^ Ms. Id 'alayka, leg. Id <.ba?sa> 'alaykal
3
Ms. al-muqtarifah bi-sH^ al-fa^dl. Perhaps, the author meant to say: which entrain
the commission {U-) of evil deeds.

232

A L -tj ts TUHFAH

toms of m asters {sadat al-^dddt wa-^dddt us-sdddt), and th ey are

most helpful w ith respect to the acquisition of pleasing habits and
a good, acceptable behavior, since th ey are concealed in the center
of the minds and natures of noble men and are sparked into being
b y repeated reference to and discussion of them, as fire concealed
in the stone is kindled only b y contact w ith flints. Therefore was
the chosen Prophet commanded as follows in G ods clear book:
Remind, for being reminded is useful for the behevers. ^ This
was then followed b y references to the evil deeds of those credited
with the opposite quahties, the vices, and to the great m isfortunes
th ey experienced in this world. Things become clear through their
opposites. W ithout darkness, the perfection of the full moon would
not be apparent. This is the excuse for m entioning evil persons
and stories about them together w ith the inform ation on good men.
M ay God inform us about our own faults and give us success b y
means of H is excellence and generosity.
F ifth Section
A n explanation of inform ation {ahhdr) contradictory in
significance, of conflicts between tradition and rea
son, and of the general rules applicable here
in finding (items of information) equivalent
or the one preferable to the other {wa-hukmihi al-kulU Hnd at-ta'-ddul
wa-t-tarjih)
Contradiction {ta^'dfud) means th at tw o habafs differ in meaning.
It cannot take place in the case of tw o definite(ly true habars),^
because this would in fact require th at tw o contradictory or oppo
site (statements) be combined. It also cannot happen in the case
of something definite(ly known to be true, maqtu^) and something
else, (51b) because adoption of w hat is definite(ly known to be true)
is (obligatory as a) fixed (principle). It can happen only in the case
of {habars) supposed (to be true).
W henever habars contradict each other or differ from one another,
th ey m ay h ave either equally strong or w eak evidence (in their
favor), as far as the sanad or the matn are concerned, or th ey m ay
not. In the former case, the one of them m ay be reconciled w ith the
1 Q u r an li 55 (55 FI.).
* Cf., for instance, al-G azzali, Mustasfd, II, 126 f. (Cairo 1356/1937).

T R A N SLA TIO N

233

other through interpretation, or it m ay not. This, then, are three

categories. It is a fixed (principle) th at the {habar) w ith the stronger
(evidence in its favor) m ust be taken into account. One that adm its
of interpretation m ust be interpreted, and the two [habars] be
combined according to all possible m ethods of combination, in
order to guard against the terrible m istake of attributing untruth
fulness to a transm itter, whereas everything else m ust of necessity
be rejected. W hen there is equah ty and an interpretation unaccept
able, it m ay be said to be a case of incoherence (tasdqut) and con
fusion {tahayyur). It is better to m ake a distinction between re
ligious and w orldly m atters (in such cases). In connection with
religious m atters, the more cautious (solution, al-ahwat) should be
adopted, and in w orldly m atters, the more beneficial one {al-aslah).
In cases of conflict between tradition and reason {ma^qul manqul), if the inform ation based on reason is definite(]y known to be
true), the one based on tradition is subjected to interpretation, in
case it adm its of th a t; w hatever does not adm it of interpretation
is rejected. Reason is basic, and tradition secondary. The former
cannot be invalidated b y the latter, even if it is not definite(ly
known to be true). If the inform ation based on tradition is definite(ly known to be true), it is accepted, and the inform ation based
on reason is interpreted or rejected. If both are cases of probable
(truth), one looks for things estabhshing preferabihty and adopts
(the information) found to possess greater probabihty. If th ey are
equal, com bination as much as possible (is required). If not, the
inform ation based on tradition should be accepted in religious m at
ters, and the one based on reason in other m atters. There is room for
m aking a choice (tahyir).
This is w hat appears evident to me. Critical minds have looked
beyond it, and judgm ent concerning it can be entrusted to them.
If you are acquainted w ith that, you should know th at after ob
serving the rules [sardit] governing the inform ation th at comes to
you, you should em ploy speculation and reflection concerning it.
Now, if the inform ation refers to the supernatural world th at is
outside and above sense perception and the grasp of the imagination,
to something the principles of which are < n o t > perceivable
b y reason and rational arguments (52a), something where the pro
cedures [kayfiydt] and the details of its particulars can be under
stood only b y prophets and saints through in tu itive reason {^aql
mawhibi) and instruction coming from heaven and divine inspiration,

A L -tjt'S TUHFAH

TRANSLATION

in this case you should trust in and consider authoritative the

sound traditional inform ation of (those prophets and saints) th at
has been given in com pletely clear terms. Through divine power,
th ey perceived the spiritualities of the supernatural world {''dlam
al-malakut) in their special forms and gave inform ation based upon
personal observation [Hydn). Thus, we m ust consider such (infor
mation) true and entrust m atters to them w ith regard to w hat th ey
willed {fi-md arddu), as reported on the auth ority of a s-a fii
al-M u ttalibi: I believe in God and in w hat has come from God,
and I believe in the Messenger of God and in w hat has come from
the Messenger of God as willed b y {'^ald murdd) the Messenger of
G od.
The unnecessary use of interpretation is never free from inven
tion and the dangerous risk of innovation. Exam ples of such in
form ation {ahbdr) are the unsuccessful speculations and conclu
sions of physicists and m athem aticians. Their intellects grew
w eary from measuring the extent of the external world {'dlam
as-sahddah), and th ey were unable to penetrate the worlds of the
supernatural. W henever th ey approached the vanguard of the
supernatural world, th ey lost their bearings and had to turn back.
Betw een the world of sense perception {dlam al-mahsus) and the
supernatural w orld {'-dlam al-malakut), there is a stage [rutbah)
w ith tw o sides, one extending tow ard the supernatural world,
and the other tow ard the world of sense perception. Here, the Greek
sages, the Indian philosophers, and the Persian scholars are active.
This is their frontier, and th ey are unable to go beyond it to the
supernatural world. Therefore, the train of their thoughts w as in
terrupted and their vision (stopped and) reflected. B y applying
to their eyes a light from the supernatural world, th ey perceived
w hat (52 b) the common people were not able to perceive. A s the
intellects of the common people did not have the cap acity of the
intellects of the sages, and (the common people) therefore consid
ered the inform ation given b y the sages about the m agnitude {kammiydt) and position {awdd') of the h eavenly bodies improbable and
in their ignorance often felt th ey were lying and m aking things up
and thus received w hat they said w ith disapproval and skepti
cism, so are the sages in turn common people as compared to those
who give inform ation about the supernatural world. Now, if th ey
grant (the truth of) it, since their reason considers it possible and
permissible, since tradition hints at it both openly and m etaphori

cally, since the ancients and the m odem s have agreed upon it,
and since there have been ample warnings against an y disapproval
of it, th ey follow a prudent and cautious course. If th ey disapprove
and reject those (who give inform ation about the supernatural), the
only thing th ey can expect in this world is loss, and in the other
world, the punishm ent of Hell. It has been said truthfully b y the
prince of religion and the knight of certainty, m ay God ennoble

234

235

his face: ^
B oth astrologer and physician think
T h at there is no resurrection of bodies. I said: Go away!
If w hat you say is true, I do not lose anything.
B u t if w hat I say is true, you are the losers.
This is not m eant to express doubt b ut belongs to the rhetorical
figure called fair speech and the feigning of ignorance b y one who
know s [al-kaldm al-m unsif wa-tajdhul aU^drif),'^ something com
parable to m aking some concessions when one w ants to silence ones
opponent. Rem em ber this principle, for it w ill save you from the
untruthfulness of fanciful interpretation {at-tahyil wa-t-ta'wil) and
rescue you from the morass of confusion in m atters of the divine
attributes {at-tamtU wa-t-taHU).
Sixth Section
The w ays and aspects of establishing preferability {tarjih)
in the case of contradictory inform ation {ahbdr)
Tarjih means declaring one of two hahars stronger than the other
(53a) in the case of contradiction [ta^drud), so as to be justified in
adopting it. A habar per se, according to the hadit scholars, does
not possess strength or weakness but acquires the one or the other
from outside, either from the characteristics of the transm itters as
reliable and accurate or suspect and fumbling, or from the pro
cedure {kayfiyah) of transmission which m ay be musnad, mursal,
munqaU'', muttasil, and so on.
In connection w ith establishing preferability, the fundam en
talists [usuUyun) considered these two points as well as m atters
1 T h at is, 'A ll ? The verses cited anonymously b y Ibn 'Arabi, al-FutUhdt al-M akkiyah, I,
312 (Cairo 1329/1911), are by Abu l-'A la al-Ma'arri (cf. al-Gazzali, Ih y d ' , IV, 52).
^ For references to this rhetorical figure, cf. G . E. v o n G r u n e b a u m , A Tenth-Century
Document of Arabic Literary Theory and Criticism, 118 (Chicago 1950).
Cf. above, p. 218.

236

a l - ! j i s t u h f a h

derived from other aspects. T he various notions (they developed)

amount to seven ty items that can be classified under seven aspects
as follows:
F irst aspect: Establishing preferability w ith reference to the
conditions of transm itters, which, according to the m ajority, in
cludes several m a tte rs: (i) Their number. (2) The small number of
intermediaries. (3) The transm itters knowledge, th at is, juris
prudence and A rabic philology. (4) H is greater distinction in both.
(5) His orthodoxy and his being untouched b y innovation. (6) H is
being a participant in the happening. (7) His being counted among
the transm itters. (8) His being a man of independent judgm ent.
(9) His being considered reliable b y m an y {katir al-muzakkm). (10)
His being considered reliable b y a scholar who has done much
more research or is b etter acquainted w ith the conditions of trans
m itters (than the transm itter in question). (11) His being considered
so reliable th at his hahar is accepted as a basis for action. (12) His
being described as possessing m uch memorized knowledge and
great accuracy. (13) His being well known and of well-known
descent. (14) The existence of no confusion regarding his name.
(15) The time when he became a Muslim.^ A n d (16) His being
free and male, something taken into account b y some people.
Second aspect: Establishing preferability w ith reference to the
time of taking on the transmission of inform ation [tahammul). If
this is done when a person is m ature, it is preferable to his doing
so as a child. This aspect has been restricted b y (the usuliyun) to
this one point. Precedence of those who take on the transmission
of inform ation as Muslims, over those who do so as unbelievers is
something th at should be counted as belonging to this aspect,
although th ey count it as belonging to another one.
Third aspect: Establishing preferability w ith reference to the
procedure [kayfiyah) of transmission, which m akes certain kinds
of hahars preferable to their counterparts: (i) Th at which, it is
agreed, goes b ack to the Prophet {marfu^) is considered preferable
to th at about which there exist different opinions (as to w hether it
is marju'-). (53b) (2) T h a t which is provided w ith a reason [sahah]
is considered preferable to th at which is not. (3) T h at which is
transm itted literally in the nam e of M uhammad is considered pref
erable to th a t w hich is transm itted only according to the sense. A nd
Ms. ta^ahhur Isldm iht <w a -ta qqad u m ihi> .

TRANSLATION

237

(4) th at which is not disapproved b y the first transm itter is

considered preferable to th at which is {md Id yunkiru rdwi
l-awwali ^ald ma ankarahu) (?).
Fourth aspect: EstabHshing p referability according to the cir
cumstances under which the hahar is reported, which makes certain
kinds of hahars preferable: (i) Medinese [habars) are considered
preferable to Meccan ones. (2) T h at which indicates the exalted
role of the Prophet is considered preferable to th a t which does not.
(3) T h at which indicates leniency is considered preferable to that
which indicates severity (in questions of law and ritual). (4) Th at
which is dated precisely is considered preferable to th at which is
not dated. (5) T h at which is not dated is considered preferable to
th at which is dated imprecisely. The establishm ent of preferability
in these cases reverts to (the principle of) giving preference to the
later (event or injunction) over the earlier one {taqdim al-mutaahhir 'aid al-mutaqaddim).
F ifth aspect: E stablishing preferability w ith reference to the
hahar^ wording, which makes certain kinds of hahars preferable:
(i) T h at which is clearly expressed (fasih) is considered preferable
to th at which is not. (2) A te x t (nass) is considered preferable to
obvious im plication {zdhir). (3) General (apphcability) is considered
preferable to special (applicability). (4) General (apphcability) that
is not specialized is considered preferable to th at which is not. (5)
R ea h ty [haqiqah] is considered preferable to m etaphor {majdz).
(6) M etaphor th a t is closer to reality is preferable to m etaphor less
close to it. (7) Legal reality is considered preferable to custom ary
or verbal reality, a m atter detailed b y the Imam.^ (8) T h at which does
not require silent assumptions {idmdr) and middle (terms, wasat)
in m aking a point {daldlah) is considered preferable to that which does.
(9) Th at which m akes a point [ad-ddll) from two directions [min wajhayn) is considered preferable to th at which does from one only. (10)
T h at which is conjoined w ith contrary (statements, mu'-drid) is consid
ered preferable to th a tw h ich is not. (11) T h at w hichis connected with
threats [tahdid) and emphasis [mu^akkad) is considered preferable to
other [hahars). A n d (12) th at which contains a statem ent of the
causa legis [kalimat al-Hllah) is considered preferable to th at which
does not.
Sixth aspect: EstabHshing preferabihty w ith reference to the
legal classification {hukm), which makes certain kinds of hahars
* That is, Fahr-ad-din ar-Razi, rather than al-Gazzali.

238

TRANSLATION

A L - ij f s TUHFAH

preferable; (i) T h a t which preserves the law of the basic principle

{hukm al-asl) th at is, basic freedom (from obligation, al-haraah
al-asUyah) is considered preferable to th at which removes (it,
an-ndqil)?- (2) T h at which makes something forbidden is considered
preferable to th at which makes something perm itted. (3) T h at which
asserts divorce and manumission is considered preferable to th a t
which denies them. A nd (4) (54a) th at which denies a legal p enalty
is considered preferable to th a t which asserts it {^dfi l-hadd
'aid muthitihi).
Seventh aspect: Establishing preferability through something
outside the given hahar and all th a t belongs to it, such as establish
ing preferability on the basis of the fact th at most of the ancients
acted in accordance w ith th at particular hahar. It would not be
far-fetched to count as belonging to this aspect the establishm ent
of preferability on the basis of the existence of the transmission
of another hahar which agrees w ith the first one as belonging to
the establishm ent of preferability on the basis of the existence of a
large nim iber of indications {katrat al-adillah).
These are fifty ^ items m aking for preferability which were con
sidered b y the fundam entalists {usuUyun) in connection w ith
establishing p referability among Prophetical hahars and other
hahars which either belong to them or are close to them.
In connection w ith general inform ation {al-ahhdr al-'-dmmah)
intended for the stud y of the conditions of the world in general
and those of noble human beings in particular, there is much leeway.
I have discussed previously some of the aspects and causes of
rejection and acceptance as criteria for the critical approach to tra
ditional inform ation. W ere all of th a t transferred to this place and
combined w ith the detailed rules {ahkdm) just given, the reader
would be in the possession of a complete knowledge of the various
aspects th at go w ith the estabhshment of preferability, and he
would know w hat to reject and w hat to consider correct. He would
find th at the sources used b y the fundam entalists for establishing
preferability exist quite sim ilarly for all other item s of historical
inform ation {ahhdr siyar dtdr). T h ey can be applied to them in
exactly the same manner, and the fundam entals of reasoning and
the evidence of tradition as well as his trust in his own perfect in
telligence and reliance upon his own insight w ill guide the reader
1 Cf. R. Brunschvig, in E l , 2nd ed., s.v. barda.
In fact, not quite that many.

239

tow ard them, so th at no lengthy repetition of details and examples

is necessary.
W here there is contradiction [ta^drud], the main thing is adopting
w hatever is more lik ely and more to the point, more in keeping
w ith the circum stances of the subject {al-muhbar 'anhu), truer
to the picture form ed b y reason, and more readily acceptable.
Then, there is (the problem of) establishing preferability on the
basis of quan tity [kammiyah] over quality [kayfiyah), or vice versa.
Here it is up to the critic to decide which side deserves preference.
Likewise, when there are several aspects m aking for preferability
on both sides, it is up to him to compare each one of them and to
balance everything,^ (54^) until it becomes clear th at one is prefer
able to the other {at-tarjih wa-l-maziyah) or th at both are equivalent
and irreconcilable {at-ta'-ddul wa-t-tasdqut). W hatever [hahar) is
found to contain one of the elements referred to in part in the chap
ter on the uses of historiography (ch. IV), or something similar to
them the more intensively, generally, and com prehensively useful
it is for the student and the more lasting the impression it makes,
the more does it deserve consideration and study. In the same
manner, the more clearly (a hahar) proves the perfection of the
w ork of the Creator, the more attention should be paid to it.
Seventh Section
The preferability of traditional inform ation {naql\ on
supernatural m atters inaccessible to sense percep
tion wherever reason [al-qdti' al-'-aqli) does
not oppose it
This section (fols. 54b-56b) contains a polemic against the philosophers {al-faldsifah addahrlyah wa-t-tabtHyah) and their Muslim followers who do not accept the prophetical

information about the supernatural as attested b y Muslim dogma. The argumentation

centers around the distinction between the acquired reason {^aql mustafdd) of ordinary
human beings and the intuitive reason { aql mawhibi) of prophets and saints, as similarly
above, p. 233 f. The author quotes as-Suhrawardis R asf, that is, K a f al-fadd^ilf, al-Y un dn tya h
wa-raSf an-nasdHh al-tm dniyah.

Eighth Section
The preferability of (information confirm ed by) reason
in natural m atters [ahkdm 'dlam al-mulk) th at can
be proved b y (reason)
This section (fols. 57a-5ga) continues the preceding section and argues, on the basis of
statements b y al-Gazzali and as-Suhrawardi, that acceptance of the data of physical science
must not undermine the belief in the revealed religion.
*
Ms. tarhu kullin bi-md yu'-driduhu, apparently an arithmetical metaphor with the
approximate literal meaning of to divide everything b y that which contradicts it.

240

A L - I j t s TUHFAH

TRANSLATION

N inth Section

celestial and terrestrial occurrences, the interesting effects of

tahsmans, and the like is not to be considered im probable, according
to the theologians {mutakallimun) on the basis of the general extent
of the power and the firmness of the vohtion of God, and according
to the sages on the basis of the influence exercised b y the natures,
the va riety of reasons {asbdb), the occurrence of strange positions
[awdd^) among the heavenly bodies {falakiydt), and the differences
th at exist in preparedness (for reception) b y (the matters) th at
receive (strange phenomena, th at is, th at act as substrata for them ).
This leads to differences in the influence of the causes and the ap

Habar criticism and the com bination of reason and

tradition in considering (information)
A fte r continuing at first the preceding discussion, this section concludes w ith the follow ing
rem ark s;

The available inform ation on the conditions of individuals

and generations of the past, as far as it concerns the first period,^
because of its great antiquity and the fact th at the chain of trans
mission is largely broken, is rarely free from discrepancies and
uncertainties which m ake it necessary to avoid most of it. The only
authoritative source for it is the People of the Book, as the only
w ay to obtain it is through the inform ation {ihbdr) God gave His
prophets and messengers and through the tradition of the (Chris
tians and Jews) among the men around M uhammad who became
Muslims. It is to be considered as authoritative and as probably
true, because it (can be classified as) belonging to traditions trans
m itted b y one transm itter (ahdd).^ E veryth in g else, and historical
works are full of it, presents truth m ixed inextricably w ith falsehood
and belongs into the doubtful category. From among transm itters
who are little known, the careful reporter must give preference to
the one who is most accurate, thus joining the select group of
those who listen to w hat is being said and follow the best of it. ^
He should adopt (the information) th at is most appropriate and
most indicative of the perfection of the w ork of God Omnipotent.
The inform ation definite(ly accepted as true) b y reason [al-ma'-qul
al-maqtu'-) is the one th at rehes upon verified reason or upon tra
dition confirm ed as sound. ^ E veryth in g else remains (at best)
in the realm of the possible. One should adopt the m ost appro
priate, and take into consideration the most likely, subject {almuhhar 'anhu). W here doubtful inform ation is m orally and ethi
cally edifying and stim ulating (6ib), (it is allright, and) it is not
necessary to refrain from the invention of stories about animals
and inanim ate objects that talk, which serve the purpose of de
picting proper attitudes and behavior and of showing the results
obtained through using those (attitudes and behavior).
The inform ation available on the wonders of creation, rem arkable
^ Cf. above, p. 224.
Cf. above, pp. 218 and 222.
Qur^an x x x ix 18 (19 FL).
T h e active participles muhaqqiq reason th at verifies (it) and musahhih tradition
th at confirm s (its) correctness m ay be preferable.

241

pearance of the things caused.

The inform ation referring to celestial and terrestrial angels,
to jin n and human beings, and to Satans (is to be considered pos
sible, since) all this is possible in the power of God, and reason
cannot prove it false, nor is there any evidence for denying them
corporeality. D efinite statem ents {qawdti") transm itted b y tradition
indicate their existence, and it has been confirm ed b y inform ation
attested b y m any authorities and derived from actual observation
of these (beings), so th at no allegorical interpretation would be
acceptable. E ven though, like traditions transm itted b y one trans
m itter [bi-hasab al-dhdd), this (information) is not transm itted b y
m any authorities, all (the information) taken together comes close
to having the same force of proving the common denominator
th at is, the existence of these kinds (of beings) as attestation b y
m any authorities would have. H ow could this be considered im
probable, seeing th at the sages spoke about m atters th at reason
considered even more improbable, such as, for instance, the Platonic
ideas and the perfect nature. T ab it b. Qurrah ^ often mentions th at
he had seen the spirituality of the stars and conversed w ith (the
perfect nature). H e says, in direct quotation {ft hikdyah): M y
perfect nature gave me such-and-such inform ation. The existence
of angels and jin n is a definitely established fact, the denial of
which cannot be reconciled w ith belief in the Scriptures and the
messengers. The disapproval (62a) of the M u'tazilah smells of the
discussions of the philosophers, a smell th at clung to them and b y
sticking to their doctrines led them astray.
1 Ms. al-Qurrah. Cf. Ibn H aldun, Muqaddimah, trans. F. R o s e n t h a l , I, 213, n. 311, and,
especially, the translation of P icatrix Das Z iel des Weisen von Pseudo-Ma^rUt b y
H . R i t t e r and M. P l e s s n e r , 198, n. i, and 205 (London 1962). In the last m entioned
passage, we find a statem ent ascribed to Socrates corresponding rather closely to w hat is
said here about T a b it b. Qurrah.
R osenth al,

History of Muslim Historiography

16

242

A L - l j f ' s TUHFAH

TRANSLATION

This is a proven principle which I h ave explained here. If the

reader follows it, it will be easy for him to be critical in his collec
tion and arrangement of the historical and biographical inform ation
on the good men of the past and to be an authoritative critic ex
pected and able to m ake the (right) choice.
The discussion of this im portant subject here has become longwinded, and m uch ink has been used up to blacken w hite paper.
Lengthiness is rarely free from repetition. However, laying down
soHd principles requires much explanation, especially if new and
useful ideas are involved to be added to the existing foundation.
M ay God enable us to use our minds and thoughts constantly.

individual transm itters or titles of books. This would lead to boring

length, and the student would miss out on the purpose (of the book).
In this book, therefore, we have, for the sake of simplification,
dropped the chains of transm itters of the (historical) inform ation
presented, as is considered permissible b y haMt scholars in the
case of traditions th a t belong into the w eak category. B u t we shall
mention enough of it to give the reader (66a) and student author
ita tiv e and reliable guidance and to acquaint (him) w ith the w ays
and chains of transmission used b y me {naqli riwdyati).

Tenth Section
A refutation of those who deny the occurrence of longevity
In this section (fols. 62a-65a), the author takes issue w ith those who do n ot believe th at
people in other periods of h istory en joyed a longer life. H is argurnents rest upon the
om nipotence of G od and the observable changes in the ph ysical features of anim als and the
in anim ate world. H e also discusses, m ain ly on the basis of al-Biruni, al-Atdr al-bdqiyah,
8 i f. S a c h a u , the beliefs of astrologers and biologists. H e concludes w ith a statem ent from
the com m entary on the KulUydt of Ibn S in a s Qdnun b y the pole of the firm am ent of
perfection (apparently, Fa^r-ad-din ar-R azi, b u t cf. also G A L Suppl. I, 824, no. 82 f.)
th a t the w ell-know n opinion th at the exten t of n atu ral life is 120 years is one of the wellknow n opinions th a t are false. ^

Eleventh Section
A refutation of those vile ignoramuses who deny the
occurrence of giantism
T h is section (fol. 65) and the preceding section are p a rticu la rly interesting in connection
w ith the Muqaddimah of Ibn H aldun, the a u th ors contem porary, who argues for the
opposite thesis. T h e su b ject w as ob viously considered as one of param ount im portance for
ju dging the trustw orthiness of the entire corpus of B ib lical legends w hich represented a
large p a rt of the M uslim knowledge of pre-Islam ic h istory. T he debate is an excellent
exam ple for the difficulties th at confronted a m edieval scholar, historian, or scien tist who
a ttem pted to get a t the tru th and was confronted w ith an immense accum ulation of con
tra d ictory evidence laid dow n in w orks he had to th ink of as representing the best
availab le thought and inform ation.

Twelfth Section
The chain of transmission (sanad) of the m aterial
reported from transm itters and books in this
w ork
The preceding discussion has shown th at it is absolutely necessary
to ascribe every habar to a truthful inform ant or an inform ative
book {kitdb ndtiq). It would obviously be difficult to list fu lly all
^ Cf. F.

R o s e n t h a l , in B ulletin of the H istory of M edicine,

X L , 240, 242 (1966).

243

T h e author then m entions his teachers and their authorities, and the works he studied
and for w hich he obtained ijdzahs. These are the fam ous hadit collections and other works
on hadit, jurisprudence, and theology. A ll this has nothing to do w ith h istoriography as we
understand it. The on ly historical title m entioned is the K a m il of Ibn al-A tir. T h e
author also studied the works of ar-R afi'i, b u t he does n ot sa y w hether th ey included arR a fi'is History o f Qazwtn. H e concludes w ith an indication of the sources used in the
present work.

This w ork is based upon the Kitdb al-Muntazam b y the Helper

of the Hadit, Sayh A b u 1-Faraj Abd-ar-Rahm an b. al-Jawzi, m ay
God show m ercy unto him, for he spent m uch effort on verifying the
(historical) inform ation, and he selected the inform ation upon which
the m ajority of historians agreed. Of other works, I used as the
basis for m y inform ation on the Prophet the books on siyar and
b y Muhammad b. Ishaq b. Jarir ^ (at-Tabari), al-W aqidi,
and other, later authors. For the statem ents {dtdr) of and (historical)
inform ation [ahbdr) on the men of the following generations [atbd^],
I used the hadit w ork b y the hadit expert, A b u N u 'a y m al-Isfahani ,2 the Ma^rifat as-sahdbah b y the hadit expert Ibn Mandah
al-Isfahani,^ and the Siyar as-salaf b y the hadit expert Ism a'il
al-Isfahani.^ For the historical eras {tawdrih al-waqdH*-), the length
of human life, and strange conditions, I used the Kitdb al-Atdr
al-bdqiyah b y Professor A b u Rayh.n (al-Biruni). For the history
of the Persians, I used the Kitdb Tajdrib al-umam b y A bu A li
Miskawayh. F or genealogy, I used the Muntahab Diwdn an-nasab
and the Kitdb al-Ansdb, put out {tahrij) b y J a far b. Ibrahim asSkw y. For reports on religions and sects, I used the Kitab al-M ilal
wa-n-niJml b y as-Sahrastani and the Risdlat Tahsil al-haqq b y the
1 Ms. al-Jarir.
Cf. below , p. 400, n. 5. Th e reference seems to be to his MaWifat as-sahdbah.
Cf. below , p. 400, n. 4* T h a t is, A b u 1-Qasim at-T aym i, cf. below , pp. 394, n. 3, and 400.
^ Ms. al-Miskawayh.
A s-Saku n i, as-Su kkari, as-Sadusi ? I do n ot know the id e n tity of this author.

244

A L - I j i s T U H FA H

Im am and great scholar, Fahr-al-m illah wa-d-din ar-R azi.i These

books contain the basic material.^ For details of all sorts and wise
and entertaining remarks ^ and for inform ation concerned w ith
the description of geographical zones (70b), the shape of the spheres,
the location of oceans, and the routes of provinces {masdlik al~
mamdlik [sic]), books dealing w ith these disciplines were used, such
as the Nihdyat al-idrdk,^ the Tuhfah as-sdhiyah,^ the Qdnun alMas'-udi (by al-Biruni), the M awdqif al-'-Adudiyah as-Siddiqiyah alIjiyaJi,^ and other works, even if at the time of writing, no page
or line of the books mentioned was available.
God knows best the true state of affairs. From Him is the be
ginning and to H im is (the return at) the Resurrection.
S e v e n th C h a p t e r
T h is chapter (fols. 7ob-86a) deals w ith the different kiuds of nations and the peoples of
the in h abited quarter of the earth, Arabs and non-Arabs, and includes a rather lengthygeographical discussion. It starts ou t b y stressing again the fa ct th at hum an
individuals, in their m anifold v ariety , are the proper su bject of historiography.

E ighth C h a p t e r
T his ch apter (fols. 86b-92b) b riefly discusses genealogy along fam iliar lines.

N in th C h a pte r
T h e ninth and la st ch apter (fols. g3a-295a) contains the historical presentation, introduced
as follow s:

The preceding discussion has m ade it clear that the general and
basic objective of historiography and of w riting historical works is
(to give) historical inform ation on the best nations and (to study)
the conditions of the noblest representatives of the A rabs and the
non-Arabs. This is the highest goal (of the historian). A n yth in g else
th at is m entioned is mentioned as either something introductory
or something supplem entary. The more noble a hum an being is,
the more im portant and appropriate does it become to stud y his
condition. It is no secret th at prophets occupy the m ost exalted
rank. . . .
O f the follow ing 202 folios, over tw o-thirds are devoted to religious and cu ltu ral h istory,
th at is, such subjects as religion, prophecy, the prophets, scholars, m ystics, sects, pseudo
prophets, heretics, philosophers, and sages. O n ly some s ix ty folios (fols. 231b ff.) deal with
political history.
1 His TahsU al-haqq f t l-kaldm is m entioned b y H a jji H alifah, II, 216, no. 2510 F l u g e l .
2 Th e te xt is uncertain.
^ Th e te xt seems to be defective here.
B y M ahmud b. Mas'^ud as-Sirazi, cf. below, p. 384.
A n other w ork b y as-irazi.
' T h a t is, the fam ous w ork of the auth ors teacher, 'Adud-ad-din al-lji.

CH A PTER TEN
a l - k A f i y a j I s

sh o rt w ork

on

h is t o r io g r a p h y

IN T R O D U C T IO N

The short treatise b y a l-K afiy a ji entitled al-Muhtasar f i Him

a t-ta n h The Short Work on H isto riog ra p h y ^ of which the follow
ing pages contain a resume, was w ritten in 867/1463. In spite of
its com paratively recent date and the com petition offered b y a l-lji
and Ibn H aldun , it can still claim the honor of being the oldest
Muslim monograph on the theory of historiography known to us.
A l-K a fiy a ji attem pted to w rite a w ork concerned exclusively w ith
the theoretical treatm ent of tarih. It m ay be said at once th at he
did not succeed in his purpose. The second half of the tw enty folios
of the E gyp tian m anuscript of the w ork is taken up b y mere stories.
Those stories were intended to be illustrations of the theoretical
discussion. H owever, th ey are m erely the ordinary run of fanciful,
unhistorical tales about angels and prophets, w ith a few historical
data added at the end. W hile the second half of the w ork is filled
w ith absolutely worthless m aterial, the first half fu lly compensates
for the shortcom ings of the second.
M uhyi-ad-din M uhamm ad b. Sulaym an al-K M iyaji, a native of
K o k ja k i 2 in A natolia, w as born apparently according to his own
statem ent which m ight have exaggerated his age in 788/1386-87.
He died in 879/1474.^ The frequency w ith which his name occurs
in the biographies of persons from the ninth/fifteenth century in
as-Sahaw is Daw"* suggests th at he was a popular teacher. His pub
lications were quite numerous. Most of them, however, were short.
None of them has been published. In addition to the w ork on his
toriography, the E gyp tian L ib rary in Cairo preserves, among the
m anuscripts of a l-K a fiy a ji consulted b y me a com m entary on a gram
m atical w ork b y Ibn H isam and two collections of his minor trea^ T he title-pages of the Istan b u l m anuscripts and, its seems, also th at of the T a l'a t
m anuscript in the E g y p tia n L ib rary add al-muftd The Instructive Short Work . .
^ For the correct form , cf. J. S c h a c h t , in Oriens, V II , 154, n. i (1954).
Cf. G A L , II, 114 f.

246

INTRODUCTION

a l - k A f i y a j I s s h o r t w o r k o n h i s t o r i o g r a p h y

tises.i The subjects of these treatises are v ery indifferent, b ut it

seems th at a l-K a fiy a ji handled them w ith considerable originality.
The present Short Work on Historiography is likewise rem arkable
for its seem ingly original approach and execution. It follows the
common scheme of scientific definition which goes back to A risto
telian philosophy.2 The authors im m ediate source of inspiration
in this respect was the m ethodology of jurisprudence.^ The ques
tions about the character (t o t i ) of his science, its object, purpose,
and use are more or less briefly answered, A l-K a fiy a ji devotes more
space to the problems growing out of the am biguity of the A rabic
word ta'rih (history, era) and the position of history in Muslim re
ligious scholarship.
A l-K a fiy a ji was no professional historian, nor does he seem to
have been p articularly interested in history. In addition to the
present work, he occupied himself w ith historical problems in the
Kitdh an-Nasr al-qdhir wa-l-fath az-zdhir.^ In his time, he was con
sidered a great auth ority on the non-traditional, non-religious
disciplines. A modest acquaintance w ith philosophy and the sciences
is apparent in his w ork on historiography, but like his younger
contem porary as-Sahawi and like every other scholar of the period,
he was above all a religious scholar. More than he him self m ight
have liked to adm it, his occupation w ith history was incidental to
his studies of traditions and religious law.
A l-K M iy a jis ideas about history, as expressed in the present
work, greatly influenced as-Sahawi. W ithout the Short Work on
Historiography, as-Sahaw is Open Denunciation {IHdn) would not
have been possible. The problems, and to some degree their pres
entation, are the same in both works, and there is no reason to
assume the existence of a common source for them. H owever, it
would be wrong to condemn as-Sahawi for his lack of appreciation
of the w ork of his predecessor. As-Sahaw i constantly tried to give
^ Mss. Cairo 'Ilm. an-nahw, 1140 (cf. also 240, 241, 440, 46111), and M ajam iS 392 and 395.
T he desire to be original seems to be present in all the numerous treatises from his pen
preserved in the various m anuscripts collections, am ong which those in Istan b u l are as
usual p a rticu la rly rich.
* A s-S a fa d ls introduction to the W aft, on the other hand, shows the philological approach
(cf. the translation b y . A m a r , Prolegomdnes d Ietude des historians arabes par K h a lil
Ibn Aibak as-Safadt, in J A , X , 17, 251-308, 465-531, X , 18, 5-48, X , 19, 243-97, i g ii- 1 2 ) ,
bu t it should be noted th at al-M aqrizis H itat starts ou t w ith the eight A ristotelian
problem s th at govern the com position of a litera ry work.
* Cf., for instance, 'A ll b. A b i A li al-A m idi, Ifikdm al-hukkdm, I, 6 (Cairo 1914).
* Cf. W . A h l w a r d t , Verzeichniss der arabischen Handschriften, V II , 495a, ad no. 8507
(Berlin 1895, D ie Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der koniglichen Bibliothek zu Berlin, 19).

247

new solutions to the problems raised b y a l-K afiyaji. He was explicit

where a l-K a fiy a jis exposition was m ost sketchy. A nd he filled a
great gap in a l-K a fiy a jis w ork b y giving full bibliographical in
form ation on all aspects of Muslim historiography.
U nfortunately, a l-K M iy ajis originality was not m atched b y his
talent for hterary expression. H is remarks appear to be notes of
lectures given to an audience of law students. There are occasional
references to previous discussions w ith which we are not familiar.
A fte r ample allowance is m ade for the intricate technical (mainly
legal) language of the period, the exact m eaning of the text occasion
ally remains obscure. This is due m ainly to the authors inab ility
to express himself clearly. However, his ideas, too, are vague. M any
of them appear not to h ave had tim e to m ature in the authors
mind.
A ll these factors combine to compHcate the task of the translator.
The translation of al-K M iyaji was approached in the same spirit
as th at of as-Sahawi, and the rem arks in the introduction to the
translation of the IHdn should be compared (below, pp. 266-68).
A n occasional need for greater literalness w as felt. In the IHdn,
the expression Him at-ta^rih has as a rule been translated b y the
simple h istory, and not b y the often aw kw ard historiography,
nor b y science of h istory, a translation which m ight easily evoke
wrong associations in the m ind of the modern reader. Here, the
more literal translation historiography was chosen. A w ord like
tadwin, for which system atic-theoretical treatm en t would have
been an accurate translation, has been rendered b y the artificial
codification.
The m anuscript of the Short Work on Historiography on which
this translation is based is the one preserved in the E gyp tian
L ib ra ry .1 It was finished just eight days after the completion of
the w ork in 867/1463. T he scribe was one of a l-K a fiy a jis famuh,
A li b. D aw ud al-Jawhari, the historian, who w as bom in 819/1416
and who died in 900/1495, As-Sahawi, in the Daw\ it m ay be said
in passing, gave him a v ery bad n a m e , ^
A n autograph cop y of the w ork from the year 868 is in the

^ Ms. Cairo T a riji, 528, cf, V , 145 of the old, and V , 335 of the new, catalogue of the
A rab ic books and m anuscripts of the E g y p tia n L ibrary.
* Cf.
V , 2 17-19 ; Ib n ly a s ,
II, 288 ( B u liq 1311/1893-94, see above, p. 84);
G A L , I I, 43, Supplement II, 41, new edition II, 53.

248

a l - k A f i y a j ! s s h o r t w o r k

on

h is to r io g r a p h y

T R A N S L A T IO N

2 T R A N S L A T IO N

T a l'a t collection of the E gyp tian L ibrary, T a rih 1814.1 It has not
been consulted.
There are tw o more m anuscripts of the w ork in Istanbul, A y a
Sofya 3402 and 3403. W hen I originally inquired about them w ith
H. R it t e r , who was in Istanbul at the time, he kindly informed
me, in a letter dated March 28th, 1948, th at only one of the two
m anuscripts was accessible, the other being in its w artim e hideout
in A natoha. W hen both m anuscripts were again in Istanbul, I
received photostats of them through the m ost courteous cooperation
of the Turkish authorities both in this country and in Turkey, and
through the great kindness of Dr. M u st a f a K o y m e n , then director
of the Istanbul libraries, and Dr. J. K . B irg e of Istanbul. B oth
m anuscripts were w ritten b y one and the same person, Y a h y a b.
Muhammad ad-Damsisi. Ad-Dam sisi, who was born in 833/1430,
was another pupil of al-K M iyaji. In contrast to al-Jawhari, he
remained on good terms with as-Sahawi. W hen the latter w rote his
Daw'^, ad-Dam sisi was still alive and came in for a good deal of high
praise. 2
The m anuscript A y a Sofya 3402 was finished on Thursday,
a ban 23rd, of the year . . . (I w as unable to decipher the rest
of the subscription; it m ay be the year in which the w ork was
w ritten. The tw enty-third day of S a'b an of the year 867/May 13th,
1463, was a Friday. In 868, which appears to be the more
lik e ly reading, the corresponding date [May is t, 1464] was a
W ednesday).
The m anuscript A y a Sofya 3403 was finished on R am adan 28th,
868/June 4th, 1464. It has a few m arginal notes not found in the
other manuscripts.
W hile al-Jaw haris m anuscript was evidently w ritten for his per
sonal use, as shown b y its bad handwriting, ad-D am sisis copies
were produced on behalf of the respective libraries of Q aitb ay, the
future Sultan, and a certain Mahmud Basa. Therefore, th ey were
copied in a hand of studied legibility. In this case, a bad hand
w riting does not mean a good text. A l-J aw h a iis copy is inferior
to the w ork of ad-Damsisi.
The A rabic te x t of al-K M iyajis w ork w ill be found below, pp.
547-580.

^ Cf. Fu^ad S a y y id , in Revue de I'Institut des M anuscrits arabes, I I I , 204 (1957).

* Cf. Daw^, X , 251 f.

249

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the

Merciful
Praised be God W ho created earth and heaven and all th at is
in them as a lesson for the intelligent. G ods prayer and blessing
upon H is beloved Prophet Muhammad, the bearer of the revelation
and guidance, and upon his fam ily, the men around him, and those
who followed them , all of whom are lodestars to be followed.
[The following passage is quoted in I Han, 36j8-375 below, p.
318.]
. . . I hope th at God will give me a good m em ory in this world
and ample reward in the other world. He has the power to do every
thing, and He can be expected to respond to prayers.
I divided the w ork into three chapters.
F IR S T C H A P T E R
T H E P R IN C IP L E S O F H IS T O R IO G R A P H Y

Linguistically, ta^rih is the indication of time.

According to custom ary usage and as a technical term, ta^nh is the
general fixation of tim e for the purpose of relating to it a time-section, either of the past, the present, or the future.
According to another definition, ta^rih is the indication of time
b y relating it to the first occurrence of a m atter of wide concern,
such as the appearance of a religion, or the happening of a terrifying
event, th at is, a deluge, a big earthquake, or some similar celestial
or terrestrial sign and phenomenon.
A ccording to another definition, ta^rih is a known stretch of
time between the occurrence of an obvious m atter and the times
of other events.^
E ach one of these (definitions of ta^rih as a) technical term has
something in its favor. The most appealing (definition) m ay,
therefore, be selected. (The existence of various definitions) shows
th at ta^rih, as a technical term, is a word of m any m e a n i n g s , ^
^ Cf. a l-lji, above p. 207 f.
*
Th e preceding definitions of ta^rth, though in general quite coramon (cf. also, for instance,
al-M aqrizi, H itat, I, 250, B u laq 1270), were derived b y a l-K a fiy a ji, w ith some changes, from
al-S irazi, N ihdyat al-idrdk, cf. below , p. 384, n. 2. A l-B istam i, al-FawdHk al-miskiyah, Ms.
A y a S o fya 4160, fol. 13a, defines ta^Hh as a known d a y to which is referred a tim e-section
th a t follow s upon it [yaHi ^alayhil).

250

A L -K A F IY A jt s SHORT WORK ON HISTORIOGRAPHY

such as 'ayn (eye, source, etc.). There is nothing wrong w ith that.
Technical terms m ay be freely chosen b y anybody for anything,
provided th at there is a sound purpose behind it and th at one
avoids frivolity. E v e ry reader can te stify th at books are full of
th at (sort of thing). E very group is pleased w ith its own (posses
sions, opinions). ^ (2b)
[Further elaboration of the theme th at everybody has the right
to his own opinion, but the truth should be followed. The verses
quoted in this connection are again referred to b y al-K M iyaji in his
Kitdh al-Farah wa-s-surur f i haydn al-maddhih, B rit. Mus. ms. ar.
322 (Or. 3109), fol. 5 a. 2]
The expression ta'^rih is thus determ ined b y traditional usage
just like other traditional (concepts) of religious law or custom ary
usage, such as, for instance, faith , or prayer , and the like, or,
for instance, beast of burden , and the like. The question m ay be
asked w hat difference there is between ta rih in its linguistic meaning
and ta 'n h as a technical term. The answer is th at it is a difference
of range. Linguistically, td^Yih has a wider m eaning than it has as a
technical term, in the sense in which anim al has a wider meaning
than m an .
H istoriography is a branch of learning which investigates timesections and the circum stances prevailing in them, as well as the
circum stances which are connected w ith those time-sections, (3a)
with a view to their fixation as to time.
Now, linguistically, (the words) time-section [zamdn) and tim e
i;waqt) are identical. Tim e is a generally known (concept). (The
word) miqdt (derived from waqt tim e ) has a wider range than
time. The tim e appointed for a certain a ctiv ity, such as the tim e
of the pilgrimage, or of prayer, and so on, is called miqdt. In ad
dition, miqdt is used for the place designated for something. The
miqdt of the Syrians is the point where th ey have to enter into the
ihrdm, th at is, al-Juhfah; the miqdt of the Yem enites is Y alam lam ;
th at of the Iraqians D at al-irq, and so on.
[Other uses of the root wqt.]
1 Q u r an XXX 32 (31 FI.).
* Cf. also as-S akkaki, M iftdh al-^ulum, 244 (Cairo 1356/1937), and al-iji, above, p. 231.
Cf. a l-B u h ari, Sahih, I, 386 ff. K r e h l ; idem, Ta^rih, II, i , 400; a l-^ a tib al-Bagd^di,
Kifdyah, 73 f. (H yderabad 1357); Y a q u t, Mu^jam, II, 35 f., IV , 1025 f. W u s t e n f e l d ;
E l , s.v. Ihrdm, etc.

T R A N S LA T IO N

251

According to a w idely accepted opinion, a time-section, in custom

a ry usage, is the measure of m ovem ent. The knowledge of it is
needed b y the historians. According to another opinion, a timesection, in custom ary usage, is something coming up new th at is
used as a measure for something else th at is coming up new (3b).
[Explanation of solar year and lunar year and other tim e units.]
The expression ta^rih is an arabicized loan word from (Persian)
mdh Yoz.
Ta^rih originated when A bu Musa al-A sari w rote to Um ar b.
al-H attab : W e are receiving letters from the Caliph, and we do
not know which we should follow. W e had an I.O .U . ^ payable in
Sa'ban, and we do not know which a ban, the past one, or the
coming one. A nother version reads: A n I.O .U . payable in Sa'ban
was presented to Um ar, and he asked which S a ban was m eant,
the present one, or the coming one.
[The following passage, including the quotation from as-irazi,
Nihdyat al-idrdk f i dirdyat al-afldk, is quoted in IHdn, 8i8-82u,
below, pp. 383 f., w ith only very minor changes.]
. . .T h is era {ta^rih) is called the era of the hijrah. Now th at the
m eaning of ta^rih is known, it should be said th at the eras which are
w idely used in our tim e are those of the hijrah, the Byzantines, the
Persians, the M aliki era,^ and the eras of the Jews and the Turks.
The hijrah year is a lunar year, and the B yzantine year is a solar
year. The meaning of lunar year and solar year was explained above.
Since historiography (5b) is a codified branch of knowledge, it
m ust have its problems and its object. It m ay be asked w hat are its
problems, and w hat is its object. Its problems w ill be explained
in detail in the second chapter.
Its object is rem arkable happenings which are of interest, which
create a desire (for good actions) and constitute a warning (against
evil deeds), which engender energy (to do good deeds) and which
are a hindrance (in the w ay of doing evil), which give advice and
contain instruction, which are enjoyable and impressive. The
1 For the assum ption th at the docum ent was a docum ent of indebtedness rather than
a draft or check, cf. below , p. 381, n. 7*
The era introduced b y M alikah betw een 467/1074-75 and 471/1079, cf. H . S u t e r , in
E l s.v. Djaldlt', at-T ah an aw i, KaSSdf istildhdt al-funun, 59 (C alcu tta 1862. Bibliotheca
Indica); S . H. T a q i z a d e h , in B S O S , X , 108-17 (1940-42), and idem, in E l , 2nd. ed., s.v.
Djaldlt.
Cf. IHdn, 42, below , p. 326.

252

AL-K AFIY AJI'S SHORT WORK ON HISTORIOGRAPHY

condition is th at those happenings are clearly defined and their

time established and that th ey are then carefully set down for a
sound purpose. Happenings of this kind are the occurrences ex
perienced b y the prophets,
[Qur^an xii i i i ( i i i FI. ) and xii 3 (3 FI.) quoted from a l-K afiy a ji
in IHdn, 387.9, below, p. 320.]
and other celestial and terrestrial events, such as the new form ation
of a rehgion, the appearance of a dynasty, an earthquake, deluge,
pestilence, and other im portant and terrifying affairs. Investigations
in the field of history which do not observe the condition (just)
mentioned in connection with the definition of the object of history
are undertaken as a completion of and supplement to (the task of
the historian), and for calling to m ind some particular purpose.
This is done sim ilarly in the other codified branches of learning.
The reservation here expressed is made only in the assumption
th at the problems (of history) are dealt w ith in their plain meaning.
If the fundam ental facts of historiography are to be evolved from
(their meaning), an y reservation is superfluous. The problems of
any branch of learning are more generally realized than the fun
dam ental facts. This (fact) was expounded in its proper place.
H istory is a branch learning just like the other codified branches
of learning, such as jurisprudence, gram mar, h terary criticism,
and so on. It is, therefore, needed just hke the other branches of
learning. Like (the knowledge of) them, the knowledge of history
is necessary as a com m unity d u ty ,i because ^ it presents the best
available m ethod of establishing the chronology of the whole course
of human affairs, including the other life.
(6a) T h at the ancients were able to dispense w ith a codification of
history casts no suspicion upon its necessary character. The neces
sary character of the other branches of learning is also not suspect
(on account of the fact th at th ey were not codified b y the ancients).
The ancients lived in a time of truthfulness and trust. T h ey knew
the m atters and occurrences th at came to their attention. T h ey
were thus able to dispense w ith the codification of jurisprudence,
let alone th at of something else. In th at time, the events were few.
T h ey h ave become very numerous in our time. A comprehensive,
well-organized treatm ent of them was therefore called for. Such
1 (Fard) al-kifayah. Fard al-^ayn has here been translated in d ivid u al d u ty .
* O r : in order to . . . ?

TRANSLATION

253

well-organized treatm ent is provided b y historiography. Its per

fection and perpetuation is accom phshed only through codification.
Codification (of history) is, therefore, as necessary as th at of
any other branch of learning.
It is known th at the laws depend for their existence or non
existence on the changing interests {masdlih). Jurisprudence is built
entirely upon this fundam ental rule. Muhammad referred to it when
he said; T f Musa were ahve, he would have no choice but to follow
m e. 1 In this sense, jurists say: This is a difference according
to (the changed) time. It is no difference in the legal situation
{burhdn). ^
Um ar said: Give the people an era {ta^rih) which they can use
in business and which permits them an exact indication of the date
in all their m utual dealings. The other men around Muhammad
approved (of his idea) and agreed to it.^ Now, the question m ay be
asked: Does all this indicate th at the codification (of history) is
necessary (from the legal point of view) ? The answer is yes. In
fact, it is an express proof of its necessity for all who get the idea.
I t m ight be said th at historiography as heretofore described
does not im part the knowledge of any one particular occurrence in
the first place, let alone th at of m any. It would, therefore, be like
a tree th at bears no fruit. The occupation with it would be a sort
of trifling, and, as an irrelevant and unim portant m atter, it should
be avoided, according to the requirements of the religious law.
God said: Do you think th at we created you trifh n g ly ? ^ The
answer to all this is th at it just is not correct. In fact, the useful
aspects of history are innumerable. This noble branch of learning,
for instance, comprises all individual events in a well-organized
manner (6b). W ith ou t it, people who discuss those events would
have to do it in a haphazard manner. T h ey would not be able
to m ake a distinction between sound and corrupt (information).
T h ey would m ove com pletely in the dark and be like the (prover
bial) gatherers of wood in the night. H istoriography is the yardstick
^ Cf. Ibn *^Abd-al-Barr, Jdmi^ baydn al-Hlm, I I, 42 (Cairo n y.); Ibn ^Arabi, Kiidb alFand^, in Ras. Ibn ^Arabi, 6 (H yderabad 1367); Ibn H aldun, Muqaddimah, II, 387 Paris.
2
Cf. The Technique and Approach of M uslim Scholarship, 68a, n. 4 (Rome 1947, Analecta
Orientalia, 24), where I erroneously suggested th at the incorporation of this principle in
the O ttom an M ajallah m ight have been due to W estern influence.
^ Ci. I'^ldn, 81, below , p. 383 f.
^ Qur^an x xiii 115 (117 FI.).
^ Ulughani, Zafar al-wdlih bi-M uzaffar wa-dlih, II, 784 R o ss (London 1910-28), also
applies this phrase to the historians.

254

A L -K lF I Y A jts SHORT WORK ON HISTORIOGRAPHY

and standard of events. Measured on it, they take on the right

proportions and become acceptable to the thoughtful. A ll codified
branches of learning, such as, for instance, jurisprudence, (its)
basic principles, grammar, and h terary criticism , follow the same
pattern. None of them is concerned w ith im parting the knowledge
of any one particular detail. In the same w ay, it can be observed
th at God talks to His servants in generalities. The scholars noted
th at none of the men around M uhamm ad was m entioned in the
Q ur'an w ith the express indication of his name except Z a y d ,i
according to the soundest opinion. A statem ent hke this obviously
somehow alludes to things such as have just been mentioned here.
The principal foundations of gram m ar are the three vow el end
ings which serve for the expression of subject, object, and genitive,
and their corresponding forms. It was thus transm itted from the
caliph, A ll, as is well known, and codified in m any works. The
situation is similar regarding religious philosophy {kaldm). In the
Kitdh Abkdr al-afkdr, ar-Razi made it clear th at religious philosophy
has eight p r o b l e m s . 2 The codification of all other branches of learn
ing follows the same lines.
Now, historiography comprises m any fundam ental facts and
principles. This will be explained in the second chapter.
[The following passage is quoted in IHdn 375-10, below, p. 318]
The same four qualifications which are required for transm itters
of traditions are also required for the historian. He is required to be
intelligent, accurate, a good Mushm, and fair. (In the possession of
these qualifications) both the historian and the transm itter of
traditions will be reliable in religious m atters and trustw orthy.
The w ork of the historian will thus be more desirable. A n
increased wariness of (baseless) expansion {mujdzafah) and in
vention (of stories, or traditions) will be the result. The
historian w ill thus also be protected from wrong and m isleading
statements.
The question m ay be asked w hether the historian is perm itted
to include a doubtful story in his work. The answer is yes.^ He is
1 Q u r an x x x iii, 37 (37 FI.).
A r-R a zi ob viously is m eant to be Fahr-ad-din. H ow ever, a w ork of the title m entioned
is not attribu ted to him, nor w as I able to find a reference to the eight problem s of kaldm in
his works, as far as th ey were available to me. A correction of a r-R azi to ('A li b. A b i 'A li)
al-A m idi seems indicated. T he above statem ent is found in the beginning of al-A m id is
fam ous Abkdr al-afkdr.
Cf. al-B ayh aq i, Ta^rth-i-Bayhaq, 16 f. (Teheran 1317).

255

TRANSLATION

perm itted to do this on condition th at a story of that kind serves

the purpose of creating a desire (for good actions) and a fear (of
evil deeds) (in the reader) and also serves to instruct him. (The
reader) m ust also be warned of the doubtful character of the story.
The historian is not perm itted to report doubtful statem ents re
garding the essence and attributes of the Creator or the laws. The
situation is ex a ctly the same w ith regard to the transmission of
w eak traditions, according to the detailed explanation mentioned.
In his work, the historian needs an auth ority upon which he can
rely. A uth ority, in this sense, m ay be defined as th at which gives the
historian the justification to transm it w hatever he transmits, and
makes his m aterial acceptable (to others). W ithout an authority,
the historian is legally not justified (to transm it any m aterial nor
is th at m aterial acceptable to others). The historian obtains such
authority through various forms of direct and indirect instruction
b y a qualified scholar. This was explained in detail in its proper place.

SECOND CH APTER

TH E

B A S IC

P R IN C IP L E S

AND

PROBLEM S

OF

H IS T O R IO G R A P H Y

A ll existent things are either prim eval or created. Or th ey are

neither prim eval nor created and then do not interest us here. God
and his attributes are prim eval. Religious philosophy investigates
the essence and attribu tes of God, and related (problems). It is
not the task of the historian to devote himself to such investigations
according to the m ethod of religious philosophy. Nor is it his task
to devote himself to research in jurisprudence, (its) basic principles,
and other branches of learning. This has nothing to do w ith his
particular task. H owever, in as far as it is necessary for the delimi
tation of m aterial and time, he m ay devote himself to such investi
gations.
The created things are either celestial or terrestrial. Now, the
objective of the historian is twofold. It is either a basic intentional
objective, or a secondary accidental objective. The basic objective
here is the accurate, w ell-organized treatm ent of m an (7b).
There are three classes and ranks of men, the high class, the
middle class, and the low class. The high class is th at of the prophets.
The middle class is th at of saints, independent scholars, and good
men. The low class comprises all others. The restriction of all classes

256

AL-K AFIYAJI S SHORT WORK ON HISTORIOGRAPHY

(of men) to (these) three becomes obvious upon the sHghtest reflec
tion and consideration.!
Now, it is a well-estabhshed fact th at the classification of a thing
depends on the prior acquisition of a general concrete notion about
i t .2 Now, the general character of each one of these three classes
is known. Also each particular (species) of each of these classes is
somehow known. However, the knowledge of each individual (rep
resentative) of each of these classes is something absolutely im
possible to attain. In the search for it, countless generations of men
have suffered great pain and expended great efforts w ith little
noticeable success. God said: Y o u could (otherwise) have reached
it only b y exerting yourselves. ^ A similar idea was expressed b y
the poet who said:
O her house at the mountain slope th at is very near !
Y e t, the visit of which is barred b y danger and fear.^
If these things are clear, I say: The historian who w ants to write
about one individual (representative) of any of these classes, such
as, for instance, Adam , will acquire in the process (the knowledge
of) certain notions {iHihdrdt) and conditions which are thinkable
and theoretically possible. It does not m atter w hether th ey do, or
do not, occur in actual fact, nor w hether th ey can, or
cannot, occur simultaneously. Som ething like that is, for some
purpose or other, perm itted b y the religious law, reason, custom,
habit, and nature. Books are full of th at (sort of thing). It very fre
quently occurs in discussions and debates. God said: If there had
been (other) gods except God in the two of them, th ey both would
have perished. ^ He further said (8a): Say: If the M erciful One
^ Th e translation, depends upon the sy n tactic position of hddd as in dicated in the A rab ic
text, below , p. 557. It does not seem im possible to read, how ever, wa-ta^ammal hddd.
^ Tasawwur, perception, general concrete notion , cf. H. A . W o l f s o n , The Terms
Tasawwur and Tasdtq in Arabic Philosophy, in The Moslem World, X X X I I I , 114-28 (1943).
T he terms were also adopted b y the term inology of jurisprudence. K dna yatasawwaru
aqwdlahum apprehend, grasp the logical im plications (of their argum ents) occurs in
Ibn T agribirdi, N ujum , V I, p. X X X I X P o p p e r (B erkeley-Leiden 1920-23). Tasdtq ju d g
m ent, apperception has later on been translated definite concrete notion .
Qur^an x v i 7 {7 FI.).
T h is is a freq u en tly quoted verse b y A b u l- 'A la al-M a^arri, cf. Y a q u t, Irsdd, I I I , 138
Cairo = I, 176 M a r g o l i o u t h . Cf. also H a l i l M a r d a m s edition of the Diwdn of Ali b.
al-Jahm , 142 n. (Dam ascus 1369/1949); Ibn al-Jaw zi, M ud hil, 299 (B agdad 1348); Ibn
Q ayyim al-J aw ziyah , Badd^i'- al-fawdHd, III , 219 (Cairo, n .y.); W . P o p p e r , History of
Egypt, trans. Ibn Taghrt Birdt, IV , 145; V II , 11, 44 (B erkeley and Los A ngeles 1958, i960).
M any localities in A ra b ia were supposedly known as a l-H a yf ( m ountain slope ). H ow ever,
since the poet is not from A rabia, he hard ly has a definite place in mind, unless he is quoting
from some other poet.
Q u r an x x i 22 (22 FL).

TRANSLATION

257

had a child, I would be the first worshiper. ^ There are other

verses of the Q uran as well as traditions to this effect. Am ong
other similar popular statem ents, the following one is well k n ow n :
If three were an even number, it could be divided into tw o even
(parts). Statem ents of this kind very frequently occur in conversa
tions and debates.
The notions acquired b y a historian who intends to w rite about
one individual (representative) of any class are five theoretical
possibilities (for each class), or altogether fifteen aspects. T h ey
are the result of a contem plation of the universal and general
structure of the three classes. The contem plation of each individual
(representative) of each of the three classes w ould yield an in
determ inable number of aspects. The restriction of the notions to
five is the result of reasoning in the direction of the greatest prob
ability.
Once the m ethod of learning about the fifteen aspects is known
w ith regard to the classes of the human species, analogy ought to
teach the (corresponding) fifteen aspects of all the other classes,
th at is, all species of animals, plants, and minerals, and all other
kinds of terrestrial, celestial, and other phenomena. A s a result,
so m any aspects will be known th at th ey can hardly be counted
in their relationship to species, let alone units and individuals.
These are the notions to be acquired b y the historian who w ants
to w rite about something:
1 The notion of being present and seeing w ith his own eyes.
2 The notion of certain knowledge.
3 The notion of probability (8b).
4 The notion of contradiction w ithout the possibility of giving
preference to one (case) or another.
5 A notion th at differs from the four preceding ones.
A d I . The first notion is the best one. God mentioned th at
Ibrahim said: B u t I would like to be reassured. ^ Cf., further,
the statem ent: He who lost a sense lost a know ledge ^ (Another
sta tem en t:) This story is widespread among experienced antiquari1 Q u r an xliii 8 i (8i FI.).
^ Q u r an ii 260 (262 FL).
Cf. A ristotle, A nal, post., 8 ia 38 f., quoted, for instance, b y al-Farabi, Philosophische
Abhandlungen, ed. F. D i e t e r i c i , 20 (Leiden 1890, D ie Philosophie der Araber im I X . und
X . Jahrh. n. Chr., 14); Ibn Sina, Sifd^, Burhdn, 158, 162 B a d a w i (Cairo 1954); H ibatallah
a l-B agd ad i, MuHabar, I, 230 f. (H yderabad 1357); Fahr-ad-din ar-R azi, M uhassal, 13
(Cairo 1323); Ibn H aldun, Lubdb, 7 (Tetuan 1952); G. V a j d a , Recherches sur la philosophie
et la Qabbale, 123 (Paris and The H ague 1962).
R o sen th al,

History of Muslim Historiography

i7

258

A L -K A F IY A jtS SHORT WORK ON HISTORIOGRAPHY

ans, but a story is not like seeing things w ith ones own eyes.^ God
m entioned th at Musa said: O Lord, let me see so th at I m ay be
hold you. He said: Y o u shall not see m e. ^ God further said:
Faces then (will be) shining, beholding their L ord . The historian
who w ants to w rite about a person representing a case of the first
notion m ust spend the greatest care upon his w ork and jo yfu lly seize
the offered precious opportunity and high distinction. This could not
be different since his task is interesting, useful, and a lesson for
the th oughtful. ^ God said: T h a t should be the object of the
am bitious. He further said: T h ey should be glad about that.
It is better than w hat they have been collecting. For something
like th at one should w ork.
A d 2 . The historian who intends to w rite about a person rep
resenting a case of the second notion m ust likewise do his w ork
very well, because his task is interesting, stim ulating, instructive,
and in m any respects helpful.
Ad
The historian who intends to w rite about a person (rep
resenting a case of the third notion) m ust execute his intention
because his task is instructive, and also interesting and useful from
the religious point of view.
Ad
The historian m ay w rite about a person representing a
case of the fourth notion, while calling attention to the existence
of different opinions. No sides should be taken wherever there is no
certainty as to which side deserves preference. If preference is
expressed for one side, or one side (better) known than the other
(9a), the historian faces the same situation as in the cases of the
second and third notions. The question m ay be asked w hether there
is an y use in w riting about (representatives of) the fourth notion
if no preference for one side is expressed. The answer is yes. It is
useful in connection w ith the law and the public interest and
m ay be instructive. If not now, preference for one side m ay pos
sibly be expressed later on. It gives an opportunity to stud y the
^ F or the last part of the sentence, cf. Concordance, I I, 5a; al-M ufaddal, F dhir, 205 S t o r e y
(Leiden 1 9 1 5 ); as-Sahm l, Ta^rth Jurjdn, 33, 461 (H yderab ad 1950); T B , I II , 200, 360, V I , 56,
V I I I , 12, 28; al-M aw ardi, Adab al-waztr, 39 (Cairo 1348/1929, Ar-RasdHl an-nddirah, 5);
Ibn H aja r, Durar, IV , 94.
* Qur^an vii 143 (139 FL).

^ Q u r an
* Q u r an
Q u r an
* Q u r an

Ix x v 22-23 (22-23 FI.).

x ii i i i ( m FI.).
Ixx x iii 26 (26 FI.).
x 58 (59 FI.).

Qur an xxx vii 61 (59 FI.).

TRANSLATION

259

m aterial. For this reason, scholarly books deal w ith the different
school opinions and their m utually contradictory arguments. Books
are full of th at (sort thing). Their readers will confirm this from
their own observation.
N ote: Through the history of a representative of the fourth
notion, the historian and others acquire some general concrete
notions, though th ey do not acquire any definite concrete notion.
General concrete notions somehow constitute a kind of knowledge,
and knowledge no doubt is alw ays useful. A cquire knowledge, for
man is helped b y his knowledge. God said: A nd say: 0 Lord,
give me more know ledge. ^ It is known th at efforts tow ard in
dependent scholarship are circum scribed b y the scholars personal
capacity. It is also known th at something which cannot be attained
in its entirety should, therefore, not be entirely given up. The re
m arks of any man, except for special cases (Muhammad), are
p artly acceptable, and p a rtly not.^ The denial of the possibility
of having a definite concrete notion of some particular aspect in
this case does not m ake it obligatory to deny the possibility of
having a definite concrete notion in a general w ay and certainly
does not preclude having a general concrete notion.
Ad
The historian should not w rite about a case in which the
fifth notion is involved. He should be silent and not say a word
of either denial or confirmation. God said: O nly God knows those
after them . ^ M uhammad said: Leave the things th at puzzle
you for those which do not puzzle y o u . (The observance of silence
in these cases) also serves to avoid stabs in the dark, (unfounded)
guesses, and slander. The historian who writes about such a case
should confess th at his subject is not known to him. H e should
adm it his inadequateness and state (9b) th at the knowledge of the
case rests w ith G o d . . . . The question w hether anything useful can
be expected from w riting about such a case m ay be answered
in the affirm ative. If a stu d y of the case m ay not be possible under
the prevailing circumstances, it m ay often be possible later on. Cf.
^ Qiur an x x 114 (113 FI.).
^ C f./'Zan , 61, below, p. 355 f; a l-K a fiy a ji, below , p. 564; ad-D ahabi, Siyar an-nubaW ,
I, 18 a l - A f g A n i (below, p. 492, n. 6).
Cf. above, p. 256, n. 2.
* Q ur an x iv 9 (9-10 F L).
' Cf. Concordance, II, 322b. Further, al-Jah iz, B u h a W , 173 and 184 (Cairo 1948); A bu
N u 'a y m , History o f Isfahan, I, 45 D e d e r i n g (Leiden 1931-34); al-M awardi, al-Ahkdm assuUdntyah, 417 E n g e r (Bonn 1853); T B , II, 220, 387; ad-D ahabi, Baydn zagal al-Hlm, 15
(Dam ascus 1347); a l-lji, above, p. 230, n. 4, etc.

26o

A L -K A F I Y A jiS SHO RT W ORK ON H IST O R IO G R A PH Y

the remarks made in connection w ith the explanation of the fourth

notion.
A ll (the preceding remarks) are concerned w ith the first species,
th at is, man. A n alogy should enable us to undertake a comprehen
sive, well-organized, and instructive stud y along general lines of the
second species, that is, everything but man.
If all this introductory m atter is clear, we shall begin to establish
the basic principles and fundam ental facts of historiography. W e
say: The rule laid down in describing the first notion should be
applied in w riting the history of an y aspect of any (representative
of the) first notion. The rule laid down in presenting the second
notion should be applied in w riting the history of any aspect of
any (representative of the) second notion. The rule laid down in
establishing the third notion should be applied in w riting the
history of any (representative of the) third notion. The history
of any aspect of any (representative of the) fourth notion should
be w ritten in analogy to the remarks made in explanation of the
fourth notion. The history of any aspect (involving) the fifth notion
should be w ritten in accordance w ith the specifications given in
presenting the fifth notion.
The preceding remarks have made it clear th at historiography
is founded upon five basic principles, each of which includes m any
particulars. The (historical) particulars in the first place are quite
obviously derived from the fundam ental principles in e xa ctly the
same manner in which particulars are derived from the fundam ental
principles in other branches of learning, such as religious philosophy,
the basic principles (of jurisprudence), and others.
Lengthiness easily gets boring. If this danger did not exist, we
w ould m ention here m any rem arkable things (loa) for the enjoy
m ent of the thoughtful. B u t the aforem entioned remarks suffice
for a sound and alert mind, and th ey constitute safe guidance for
a straightforw ard and critical nature.
W e have finished establishing the fundam ental facts and basic
principles. W e shall now begin to exem plify them w ith (the history
of) the individuals of the three classes, in a very concise, index-like
manner. W e shall start with the prophets.

261

T R A N SLA TIO N

[On the prophets in general; Q uran xl 78 (78 FI.) and xi 120

(121 FI.); proofs of prophecy; a verse b y Labid^; Jabal Qaf, the
foundation of the earth; verses, quoted in IHdn, 42, below, p. 326;
the jinn\ Iblis; the Angel of D eath; the spirit entering A dam ;
A dam s death; interpretation of the tradition; Tim e was already
revolving in its usual m anner", etc., cf. IHdn, 13, below, p. 283; the
age of the w o rld ; N u h ; M uham m ad; a verse in praise of M uhammad
which is ascribed to al-A 'sa^ ; the first four caliphs; the great
respect due to the men around M uhammad; A bu H anifah; M alik
b. A nas; a s-a fii; Ibn H anbal . . . ]
T H IR D C H A P T E R
TH E

N O B IL IT Y

OF

SCH O LARS,

TH E

EXCELLENCE

OF

S C H O L A R S H IP ,

A N D T H E IN S T R U C T IV E N E S S O F R E C O R D IN G A N D
P O N D E R I N G (t h e L E S S O N S O F H I S T O R Y )

This chapter deals w ith a number of points.

First point: The Q uran, the traditions of the Prophet, the tra
ditions of the early Muslims, and reasoning prove the nobility of
scholars (and scholarship).
[Quotation of relevant passages and arguments.]
Second point: The "anqd^ (Phoenix) explained.
[When the ^anqd^ expressed to Sulaym an doubt in predestination,
Sulaym an bade her to keep apart a b oy and a girl who had ju st
been bom in different parts of the world and were destined to be
united. She did not s u c c e e d ... .]
Third point: The source of life.
[Dii 1-qarnayns search for the source of life. Al-Hidr, who was
in D u 1-qarnayns com pany, reached it, but D u 1-qarnayn himself
did not. During his travels, it was dem onstrated to D u 1-qarnayn
th at man is never s a tis fie d .. . . ]
Fourth p o in t: E veryb o d y will be transferred from the world of the
body to the divine world of the spirit. The traces (of his a ctiv ity in
the world) will live on, and his m em ory will remain in this world
through history and tales.
Cf. h is Dtwdn no. 41, verse 9 H u b e r t - B r o c k e l m a n n (Leiden 1891).
*
The verse is ascribed to H assan b. T a b it b y al-Q alqasandi, Subh, II, 288 (Cairo 1331/
1913), b u t it is n ot included in the edition of H asslins Dtwdn. Cf. also a l-lji, Tulifah, fol.
126b; al-M aqqari, Analectes, I, 36 D o zy and others (Leiden 1855-61).

262

a l - k A f i y a j I s s h o r t w o r k

o n h is t o r io g r a p h y

N othing endures. B e therefore a tale

T h at w ill be remembered w ith pleasure. The world is a tale.^
[The following passage is quoted in I Han, 37io-38g, below, p.
318 f .........]

CH APTER ELEVEN

F ifth p o in t:
[Praise of E g y p t ^__ ]
. . . The author of the w ork M ay God grant him a long life
for the benefit of all the living sa id : The composition of the Short
Work on Historiography was finished in the morning of Tuesday,
R a jab 8th, 867/March 29th, 1463, in Cairo May God protect
(city and country) from calamities, earthquakes, damage, and
m isfortune. . . .
1 Cf. at-T u rtu si, Sird-j, 129 (Cairo 1289).
^ T h is su b ject seems to h ave been v ery dear to a l-K a fiy a jis heart. W ith it he also con
cludes another w ork o f his, al-Uns al-ants f t ma^rifat sa^n an-nafs an-nafis, w hich w as
com posed in 873/1469, cf. B rit. Mus. ms. ar. 433 (5719 Rich), fols. 47a-48a.

a s - s a h A w I*s p l a n

I IN T R O D U C T IO N
The following pages contain an English translation of al-IHdn bit-tawMh li-man damma ahl at-tawrih, th at is, Th& Open Denunciation^
o f the Adverse Critics of the Historians, b y as-Sahawi (831-902/142797). 2 In the I Han, the author has erected a w orthy monument
to A rabic historiography. A s the title indicates, the w ork was of
an apologetic character. It was w ritten in order to defend the
stud y of history as an au xiliary subject in the curriculum of re
ligious studies. H istory, in this sense, preferably referred to the
discussion of certain aspects of the biography of religious scholars.
In fact, the w ork was w ritten entirely from the point of view of
the religious disciplines. H owever, at the same time, it w as w ritten
b y a m an who was possessed b y a passion for collecting details and
who m arked the end of a great era of research on the problems of
the w riting of history. The result was a w ork which constitutes a
comprehensive and often briUiant exposition of Muslim historiog
raphy.
W e m ight hesitate to call the I Han a history of Muslim historiog
raphy. A s an apology, the w ork is v e ry largely concerned w ith the
w ritings and opinions of the authors contemporaries or nearcontemporaries. Much less attention is paid to the beginnings of
Muslim historiography and its early products. A p art from the
attem pted chronological arrangement of the quotations from his
torical works on the usefulness of history, no historical principle
is followed in the arrangement of the m aterial and in the biblio
graphical data, in which ancient and recent authors, works known
to as-Sahawi directly or indirectly, works whose existence is well
established or dubious, are enum erated together. The historical
^ More lite ra lly: Th e publication of the blam ew orthiness . . .
^ Cf. G A L , I I, 34 f., Supplement I I, 31-3. H e w as born Dec. 1427-Jan. 1428. Cf. also, for
instance, A . J. A r b e r r y , Sakhawiana (London 1951); W . P o p p e r , Sakhdwi's Criticism
of Ibn Taghrt B irdi, in Studi Orientalistici G. Levi della Vida, II, 371-89 (Rom e 1956).

264

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A S -S A H lw fS I LA N

INTRODUCTION

perspective is thus not preserved. Y e t, as-Sahawis book remains

a fine survey of Muslim historiography and for those who know
how to read it of its aspirations and problems. It is an accurate
picture of its final achievem ents and failures. On the whole, it is a
picture th at is little cheerful. W e m ay be inclined to console our
selves w ith the thought that as-Sah&,wis age was one of intellectual
decadence and th at the historiography of earlier centuries was not
th at exclusively concerned w ith the quarrels of very unim portant
personalities. In doing so, we would deceive ourselves. W e must
not lose sight of the fact that, although there was, in the ninth/
tenth century, a period of infinite promise and although there
were occasional im portant exceptions, all the w ays which led to
as-Sahawi started w ith the very first beginnings of Mushm his
toriography.

local histories, the repeated statem ent th at further checking would

be necessary ^ show th at as-Sahawi did not consider his w ork com
pletely ready for final publication. E xcep t for details, however, the
I Han is exa ctly as its author had planned it, and its unrevised state
is no sufficient excuse for its lack of order and clarity. The reason
for this is to be sought in the m ental m ake-up of the author and the
scholarly trend prevailing in his period.^
As-Sahaw i was deeply convinced of the param ount im portance
of everything concerned w ith traditions and religious law. A t
any moment, therefore, he made excursions into those subjects
which had little or nothing to do w ith the subject of his work.
In one place,^ as-Sahawi himself rem arked th at he was straying
from his subject, b ut th at was in connection w ith literary, and not
religious, m aterial. A n excursus into the religious disciplines would
have never seemed out of place to him. He felt no compunction
about enumerating works on com parative religion, although, he says,
th ey have nothing to do w ith the subject of history.^ The insertion
of extraneous m aterial often disorganizes the text. One of those
excursuses concerns the distribution, at different periods, of re
ligious scholars upon the various cities of the Muslim world. It was
derived from a m onograph b y ad-Dahabi, w ith only a few changes
b y as-Sahawi, and obviously entered the IHdn as an afterthought
of its author in connection w ith the list of local histories. It has so
ve ry little to do w ith historiography even as as-Sahawi understood
it th at it was om itted from the translation (but the proper names
occurring in it have been listed in the index).
A s-Sahaw i possessed a pronounced tendency to prolixity and
repetitiousness, and the editorial technique of the age was also
not favorable to the cure of such bad habits. There were no foot
notes into which the excursuses m ight have been relegated. There
also were no cross references which m ight have elim inated repeti
tions. However, as-Sahawi did at times m ake an honest effort to

A s-Sahaw is bibliographical inform ation is quite extensive, but,

of course, nowhere anything hke complete. It often is not firsthand.
In books, such as those b y his teacher, Ibn H ajar, and m an y other
scholars, a great m any titles of historical works were easily available.
There is a great num ber of indirect quotations in the I Han. There
m ay be more of them than it is at present possible to tell. The
author is b etter informed about theologico-historical titles than
titles of general history. W herever his indications do not agree
w ith those from other sources, it is m ost likely he th at is wrong
(though sometimes the fault m ay lie w ith the modern editor of his
w ork).
As-Sahawi, as the author of works of thousands and thousands
of pages, was not free from the curse of superficiality, which is the
unavoidable result of a long and fertile literary tradition. There
was so much m aterial, so m any books to m ake more books from
th at just picking at random some m aterial here, some m aterial
there, would m ake a large, instructive, and in a sense extrem ely
useful work. H ad authors of his typ e seriously tried to assimilate
one of the subjects w ith which th ey dealt, their literary output
would not have been more than a small part of w hat it actu ally was.
The most disturbing aspect of the I Han is the lack of organization
of its contents, in spite of the system atic character of its general
plan which was derived from al-Kafiyaji.^ It m ay be said th at
w hat we have before us is not the final form of the work. Certain
gaps which could not have been difficult to fill and, in the list of
Cf. above, p. 246.

1 I^ldn, 128, below , p. 472 f.

A secondary reason m,ay be the fact th at as-Sahaw i conabined the system atic approach
of a l-K a fiy a ji w ith the philological approach which m ay, for instance, be found in as-Safadis
W dft (cf. above, p. 246, n. 2). T h is m ay have caused some disorganization.
I^ldn, 35, below , p. 315.
* IHdn, 107, below , p. 431.
IHdn, 1364-1448.
F or some tim e, I considered rem oving such m aterial from the b o d y of the translation
and p u ttin g it into footnotes. Such a procedure, how ever, m ight easily have increased the
existin g confusion and was, therefore, n ot adopted.

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A S -S A H A W ts I l A n

avoid repetitions. In comparing his alphabetical list of historians ^

w ith al-M asudi, one notices th at those of al-M asudis comments
on historians and their works which as-Sahawi had quoted on
previous occasions were as a rule not repeated.
The translator of an A rabic te x t will alw ays feel th at the partic
ular te x t w ith which he is dealing at the m oment is of all A rabic
texts the one most difficult to translate. In the case of the present
work, such a feeling would not seem to be entirely unjustified. AsSahawi stands at the end of a very long developm ent and combines
the cultural and linguistic influences of m any different periods.
He often gives quotations and refers to m atters w ith which his
colleagues and students were fully fam iliar, so th at he could restrict
himself to brief allusions. A correct understanding of the te x t at
times requires m uch snooping into the p e tty jealousies of the schol
ars of the period an uninspiring business. Then, the language of
the author is extrem ely technical. T he technical terms he uses
belong to disciplines peculiar to Islam. E ven in cases in which there
is a concise w ay of rendering one of these technical terms b y an
English expression, this English expression still lacks the aJl-important element of being a technical term. In similar situations,
classical philologists have evinced a growing tendency to retain
their untranslatable words in the original Greek. This procedure,
however, is neither desirable nor, as far as A rabic is concerned,
practicable, but it cannot be entirely avoided.
The word ta^nh is a case in point.^ A s often as possible, and in
doubtful cases, ta^rih is translated h istory . B u t w henever the
A rabic had to be translated b y era, date, chronology, or the
like, the A rabic word has been added in brackets. In addition,
there are other A rabic words, such as, for instance, ahbdr, which
frequently m ay be best translated h istory. In order to avoid
a confusion between ta^nh and ahbdr, the latter word is often
translated historical inform ation , and only in rare cases h istory.
In both instances, the Arabic term has been added in brackets.
Difficulties of this kind abound in the present text. E ven words
that look very harmless, such as dtdr, present considerable difficul
ties, on account of the great m any different shades of meaning
th ey m ay convey. A uniform rendering b y one and the same English
^ IHan, 153 ff-. cf. below , p. 501, n. 4.
* C f. also the discussion of ta'^rth and habar, above, p. 11 ff.

INTRODUCTION

267

word in each instance is impossible. In this case, this is not as un

fortunate as it w ould be if we were dealing, for instance, w ith a
philosophical text. Nevertheless, an attem pt has been made to
render one A rabic expression through one or as few as possible
English expressions.
A s-Sahaw is numerous quotations from other works constitute
another problem. These quotations originated at very different
times, and th ey are b y authors who approached the problem of
history from different angles. This is one difficulty. There is another:
Although as-Sahawi, as a rule, was quite accurate in quoting, the
w ay in which he lifted quotations out of their context, retained
pronouns which had now lost their antecedents, and changed
from direct to indirect quotation and vice versa, is rather confusing.
Moreover, as-Sahawi often abandoned the habit of A rabic authors
to quote their sources as th ey came. Instead, he rearranged the
te x t of his source in the w ay he saw fit, as, for instance, in the quo
tations from al-M asudi, Judge ly a d , and al-Kafiyaji.^ Frequently,
therefore, only a comparison w ith the original te x t guarantees
a correct understanding of the quotation. Such checking of quotation
and original was therefore undertaken wherever possible. AsSahawi occasionally gave some details about historical works.
H is remarks in these cases, too, often presuppose an acquaintance
w ith the works in question.
The most difficult task of all which a translator from the Arabic
m ust face is the accurate rendition of the stylistic quality of a
given passage. The simplest English prose m ay suggest itself for
the most artificial Arabic. The opposite case is much more frequent.
E very-d a y A rabic language often sounds picturesque and quaint
in translation. The present translation has certainly not gone far
enough tow ard avoiding such stylistic mistranslations. O nly oc
casional attem pts were made to do justice to the problem. The
custom ary formulas of benediction which according to Muslim reUgious usage were applied b y as-Sahawi w ith complete regularity
are om itted in the translation. The phrase our teacher has been
replaced b y Ibn H ajar. W hether al-kdtib, al-qddi, al-hdzin, etc.
are part of a name rather than an indication of the profession of a
person is sometimes difficult to decide. Certain terms, such as
al-qddi, al-Jidfiz, al-muhaddit, etc., are alw ays translated, because it
1 IHdn, 36 f., 100, and 145, below, pp. 318-20, 417 f-, and 489 f. Cf. also the quotations
from the five fatwds, IHdn, 53 f., below , pp. 343-47.

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A S -S A H lw ts I LAN

seems desirable to leave as little A rabic words in the tex t as pos

sible. These translations are often clumsy. Therefore, in the cases
of the epithets th at occur less frequently, it was thought advisable
to consider them part of the name and as a rule leave them un
translated. It was more disturbing b u t unavoidable to leave the
titles of books untranslated.
Phrases such as a w ork which could heal the sick and dispel
all grief were often translated in accordance w ith their meaning,
in this particular case: a com pletely satisfactory w ork. ^ A
reader who does not know A rabic m ay wonder about the meaning
of a literal translation such as: L et God protect her from th a t,
and I hope th at no Arabist w ill object when this phrase appears
in the translation as: H eaven forbid, w hat an idea. ^ B ut, of
course, literal translations were chosen when the m eaning appeared
to be transparent, or when a suitable paraphrase would have taken
more space than seemed justified. Synonym s are occasionally
rendered b y but one Enghsh expression. Clarifying additions will
not infrequently be found. T hey are inserted in the text in brackets.
Y et, all this m ight have been done on a much larger scale than
is actually the case.
The Arabic te x t was edited in Dam ascus 1349/1930-31. The
edition is very poor. The editor states th at he derived his te xt from
two m anuscripts of the collection of A hm ad Taym ur Pasha, now in
the E gyp tian L ib rary in Cairo. Their present catalogue numbers
are Ms. Cairo Taym u r T a'rih 704 and 2047. The latter m anuscript,
which was w ritten in 1115/1703, also exists in a photostat cop y
in the E gyp tian Library, Ms. Cairo T a rih 1846. In a note on a
separate slip, ad p. 92 of the A rabic text, which is not found in all
copies, the editor states that M. R a g ib a t -T a b b a h compared the
edition w ith the A hm adiyah m anuscript in Aleppo and noted
th at that m anuscript had the same lacunae as the Cairo manuscripts.
The editor indicates no variant readings. Occasional checks of
the edition w ith the photostat m anuscript of the E gyp tian L ib rary
showed complete identity of the printed text w ith th at of the m anu
script. However, certain passages, as, for instance, the additional
note at the end of the I Han, are missing in the m anuscript. T h ey
appear to have been contained in the Ms. Cairo Taym iir T a rih 704,
which I did not consult. I did, however, m ake attem pts to see the
* P la n , 5, below , p. 270.
IHdn, 64, below , p. 360.

INTRODUCTION

269

m anuscript from which the Ms. Cairo T aym u r T a rih 704 was
copied and which was w ritten in 900/1495. A ccording to a footnote
at the end of the edition of the IHdn, th at m anuscript is preserved
in the library of the Turkish House of al-Azhar. N otw ithstanding
the kind efforts of m y E gyp tian friends, however, it was not possible
for me to gain access to the m anuscript while I was in Cairo.
The Leiden m anuscript of the IHdn (No. 746 of the printed cata
logue, Ms. or. W arner 677 was w ritten b y a certain AJi b. Ibrahim
al-Yam ani al-Hanafi. The phrases which would indicate th at asSahawi was still alive when the m anuscript was w ritten have been
retained in it. However, the m anuscript gives the impression
of dating from the (early) eleventh/seventeenth century. Its
te x t shows no real divergences from the printed text, except
occasional m istakes and frequent omissions. The few cases in which
the Leiden m anuscript has the b etter reading appear as a rule to
concern misprints of the edition. M any omissions, including th at of
the additional note at the end, are no m echanical mistakes.
However, before the entire m anuscript m aterial is available, it is
not advisable to discuss the problems raised b y the existence of
these omissions (or additions).
2 T R A N S L A T IO N
(5) In the name of God, the Compassionate, the
Merciful.
Our teacher, the religious leader and great scholar, the ayh-alIslam, the standard-bearer of the sunnah of the lord of m ankind
(Muhammad), the final expert ^ in the knowledge and transmission
of traditions, the conqueror of corrupt teachers and innovators,
A bu 1-H ayr Muhammad ams-ad-din, the son of the Q uran com
m entator and reader a yh Zayn-ad-din Abd-ar-Rahm an b. Mu
ham m ad b. A b i B ak r b. U tm an as-Sahawi al-Qahiri as-Safii
m ay God m ake us and all Muslims profit from his learning and
partake in his blessings. A m en! thus said:
Praised be God W ho causes days and nights to follow upon each
other; W ho gives his servants much inform ation about happen1 Cf. p . V O O R H O E V E , Handlist of Arabic M anuscripts, 127 (Leiden 1957)== A s-Sah aw is understanding of the term hdfiz, which is here translated b y hadit e x p e rt,
is len gth ily explained b y him in the Jawdhir wa-d-durar, his biograph y of Ibn H ajar,
P a ris ms. ar. 2105, fols. 8b-i3a.
Ms. Leiden: the sainted.

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A S -S A H A W is I ' l A n

ings in past ages and bygone tim es; W ho, in all m onths and
years, honors this (Muslim) nation through perfect, uninterrupt
ed accuracy (in religious tradition ); W ho teaches intellectual and
traditional knowledge, such as is more precious than jewels and
pearls, to w hom ever H e w ants to teach; W ho, through excellent
explanation and superb instruction th at revives decaying corpses,
m akes persons w ith keen minds recognize the well attested w ay of
short lines of transm itters to be followed in learning about man and
time!
G ods prayer and blessing upon the noblest creature (Muhammad)
to whom there was revealed (the verse of the Q uran): W e shall
tell you all the stories of the messengers (of old) through which we
shall steady your h eart
th at is, the sincere friend of both those
who keep aloof and those who turn tow ard him ! God p ray for him,
his fam ily, the men around him, the following generation, m asters
and clients!
The occupation w ith history is one of the m ost rewarding tasks of
(religious) scholars. H istory is indeed one of the necessary branches
of learning. Persons in the right fram e of m ind recognize th a t
it falls under all five degrees of classification (of the Muslim religious
law, from necessary down to forbidden things). Y et, I have never
seen a com pletely satisfactory w ork on the virtues of history. Con
sequently, it has happened th at some w retched people who have
difficulties w ith obvious, let alone obscure, problems, h ave found
fault w ith history and the historians. I wish, therefore, to present
to scholarly experts and those desirous to learn (6) all th at is ab
solutely necessary to know about the subject. A t the same time, I
wish to show its proven instructiveness and to m ake it clear th a t it
is recognized as a fundam ental branch of learning.
I shall begin b y giving a definition of history (I) both linguisti
cally and (H) as a technical term. I shall then discuss (HI) the
object of history, (IV) its fruitful instructiveness, and (V) its goal.
I shall further discuss (VI) how history should be classified, w hether
as necessary, or desirable, or permissible. Then, there will be men
tioned (VII) the unequivocal evidence in its favor from the Q uran,
the sunnah, and other sources. N ext, (V III) the blameworthiness
of those persons, w anting in piety, who adversely criticize history
w ill be discussed. Then, (IX) the necessary qualifications required
of those who occupy themselves w ith history will be enumerated.
^ Qur^an xi 120 (121 FI.).

TRANSLATION

271

Then, there will follow a discussion (X) of who first instituted the
(Muslim) era [ta^rih) and when, in the course of m onths and epochs,
it began, in w hat m onth and whether w ith the hijrah. Then, I shall
mention (XI) the works I know in the field of history, on persons,
trends, and m anifold other subjects, w ith all their great variety
of purposes. I shall then mention (X II) the authors of historical
works. F inally, I shall likewise mention (X III) the chief represen
tatives of personality criticism, although no completeness can
be attained in this respect, even if we were to give much more
space to the investigation of and research on th a t subject. These
are ten, or rather more than ten, subjects. Their discussion blocks
the gate leading to darkness.
I have called this book The Open Denunciation of the Adverse
Critics of the Historians. I am asking God th at H e m ay protect us
from the ignorance of the ignorant and th at wherever forgiveness
is required in the past, present, and future H e m ay help us out with
H is kindness and generosity.
( l A L I N G U I S T I C D E F I N I T I O N O F ta ^ r ih )

Linguistically, ta^rih means inform ation regarding time. One

s a y s ; arrahtu, or warrahtu al-kitdha, th at i s : I m ade clear the time
of w riting of the book (document).
Al-Jaw hari said: Ta^rih is the indication of time. Tawrih means
the same. One sdjys: arrahtu, or warrahtu. Tawrih is said to have been
derived from arh, irh, th at is, < the young one of > a w ild cow, because
it is something th at is new, like the young (animal) is something
new . ^ Al-Asm a*i m ade a distinction between arraha and warraha.
According to him, the B anu Tam im say: warrahtu l-kitdha tawrihan,
whereas the Q ays say : arrahtuhu ta^rihan.'^
This would confirm the genuine A rabic origin of the word. Others
say th at it is not pure Arabic, b ut an A rabicized loan word, from
Persian mdh roz, mdh in Persian meaning moon, and roz day, with
night and daytim e constituting a day.
In the Kitdh al-Mu'-arrab min al-kaldm al-a'-jami, A bu Mansur
al-Jaw aliqi said: The com m only used tawrih is said to be not pure
1 Israa'il b. H am m ad al-Jaw h ari (d. end of fourth/beginning eleventh century, cf.
G A L , I, 128 f.), Sihdlj,, I, 200 (B ulaq 1282). Cf. also M aw hub b. A h m ad al-Jaw aliqi (d.
539/1144, cf. G A L , I, 280), Mu^arrab, 39 f. S a c h a u (Leipzig 1867), and Lisdn al-'^Arab,
I I I , 481 (B ulaq 1300-8).
'A bd -al-M alik b. Q urayb al-Asm,a'i, d. 215/830-31, or 216, or 217 (cf. G A L , I, 104 f.).
F o r the d ialectal distinction, cf. ilso as-Suli, Adah al-kuttdb, 180 (Cairo 1341).

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AS-SAH AW !s I LAN

A rabic but to have been derived b y the Mushms from the ahl
al-kitdb. The ta^nh of the Muslims was reckoned from the year of
the hijrah. It was put down in w riting during the caliphate of
Umar, and thus became ta'^rih (and has remained in use) down to
this d a y .' ^
(7)
In the Kitdh al-Hardj, A bu 1-Faraj Qudamah b. J a far alK a tib says: "T h e ta^'rih of each thing is its end. The tim e in which
memorable events took place is taken as (the epoch of) an era. 2
Sim ilarly, as-Siili said: The ta^rih of each thing is its goal and
its final time. Someone m ay thus be called the ta^rih of his people. ^
This expression signifies either, as stated b y al-Mutarrizi, th at he
is the final culm ination of the glory of his people
in view of the
fact th at great deeds of generosity or prowess or the like are connect
ed with his person. Or it signifies th at he talks about historical
events and related matters. One of those who were called the ta^rih
of his people was A bu 1-B arakat Muhammad b. S a d b. S a 'id alBagdadi a l-AssM al-Hanbali, the Q uran reader, who died in the
year 509/1116.
1 Mu^arrab, loc. cit.
*
Q udam ah lived around 900 (cf. G A L , I, 228; Y a q u t, Irsdd, X V I I , 12 f. Cairo = V I ,
203-5 M a r g o l i o u t h ). For a discussion, of some of the m an y problem s connected w ith his
biograph y, cf. S. A . B o n e b a k k e r , The Kitdb Naqd al-Si'^r, 1 ff. (Leiden 1956). I could not
find this q uotation either in the published e xtracts of the Kitdb al-Hardj or in the Paris
ms. ar. 5907. Cf., how ever, Ta^rih Dim aiq, I, 18 (Dam ascus 1329 ff.), where the quotation
is said to have been derived from Q udam ahs H istory, this m ight be the Zahr ar-rabt^,
m entioned as a w ork b y Qudam ah in al-M as'udi, M uru j (see IHdn, 156, below , p. 506),
and Y aq tit, Irsdd, X V I I , 13 (Cairo = V I, 204 M a r g o l i o u t h ), b u t n ot in F ihrist, 188 (Cairo
1348 = 130 F l u g e l ).
B o th al-Jaw h ari and Q udam ah were also quoted b y Ibn ad-D aw adari, K anz ad-durar,
Phot. Cairo T a M h 2578, I, 81 f. Qudam ah alone w as quoted b y 'A b d allah b. al-Fadl
al-Lahm i, Wdsitat al-dddb, Paris ms. ar. 6493, fol. 14 b.
A s-S ah aw is im m ediate source for m ost of the above inform ation w as p robab ly S ib t
Ibn al-Jaw zi who quotes al-Jawahqi, al-Jaw hari, al-Asma*^!, and Q udam ah (in this order)
in the beginning of the Mir^dh (Ms. Istan bul, T o p kap u saray, A hm et I II , 2907, fol. 3b).
^ M uham m ad b. Y a h y a as-Suli (d. 335/9 4 6-4 7 , or 336, cf. G A L , I, 143), Adab al-kuttdb,
178 (Cairo 1341).
^ N asir b. 'A b d -a s-S ayyid , d. 610/1213 (G AL, I, 293 f.), al-Mugrib, I, 13 (H yderabad
1328), where as-Suli is quoted.
^ Cf. Ibn al-*^Imad, Sadardt, IV , 26 (Cairo 1350-51). 'A li b. 'A b d -a l-'A ziz al-Jurjan i {GAL
Suppl. I, 199) w as declared a ta'^rlh in literary excellence b y at-T a'M ibi, Y atim ah , III ,
243 ff. (Dam ascus 1304), who then proceeded to quote at length from al-J u rjan is w ork
on Tahdtb at-taMh. 'A li b. M uham m ad at-Tan u hi was described as the ta^rth of w itty men,
cf. as-Sarisi, Sarh al-Maqdmdt al-Harirtyah, I, 68 (Cairo 1306), quoting at-Ta'^Mibis Yatimah.
Y a h y a b. 'A li b. 'A b d -a l-L a tif al-M a'arri was called the ta'^rih of Syria, cf. as-Silafi, Mu^jam,
Phot. Cairo Ta^rih 3942, 468. Sadaqah b. M ansur w as the taM h of the A rabs in n ob ility
(d. 501/1108, cf. Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, I X , 159; Ibn A b i d-dam , Short History, Bodleian
Ms. or. M arsh 60). Cf. also Ibn al-M u'tazz, Diwdn, I I, 133 (Cairo 1891); T B , IV , 15017. The
expression of a sto ry becom ing a ta^rih among the people appears in Ibn A b i U sayb i'ah ,
II, 818 M u l l e r .

TRANSLATION

273

(11 A D E F I N I T I O N O F tO ^ Y lk A S A T E C H N I C A L T E R M )

A s a technical term, ta^rih is the indication of tim e th at serves

for an accurate estabhshm ent of circum stances affecting transm it
ters of traditions and religious leaders. It indicates the dates of
their birth and death, their soundness of m ind and body, their
travels and pilgrimages, their accuracy and knowledge of traditions,
the degree of reliability and unrehabihty ascribed to them, and sim
ilar m atters. A ll of this has reference to research concerning their
circum stances throughout their entire careers.
Im portant events and occurrences th at happen to take place
are added to this. Such events are the appearance of a religion, the
imposition of new (rehgious) duties, events concerning caliphs and
wazirs, raids, battles, and wars, conquests of countries and their
hberation from usurpers, and changes of dynasties. The term
td'rih is also often extended to include the beginning of creation,
the stories of the prophets, and the affairs of nations of the past as
well as the circum stances of the Resurrection and the events pre
ceding it which will take place in the future. It m ay also be extended
to minor m atters such as the construction of mosques, schools,
bridges, paved roads, and similar objects of general usefulness,
m atters th at are well-known, observable, or obscure happenings,
celestial ones, such as the appearance of locusts and eclipses of the
sun and moon, or terrestrial ones, such as earthquakes, conflagra
tions, inundations, floods, droughts, pestilences, epidemics, and
similar great signs and big m arvels.
In sum, the term ta 'n h signifies a branch of learning th at is con
cerned w ith research regarding the occurrences which take place
in time, in the intention of establishing their character and their
place in time. In fact, it is concerned w ith everything th at was
(and is) in the world.
( i l l T H E O B J E C T O F H IS T O R Y )

The object of history is man and time. The problems w ith which
history is concerned are the circumstances of man and time broken
down to details within the general fram ework of the accidental
circum stances th at exist for m an and in time.
( i v T H E U S E F U L N E S S O F H IS T O R Y )

The instructiveness of history consists in the knowledge of

m atters as th ey actually are. Am ong other things, history is most
R o s e n t h a l , H istory of Muslim H istoriography

18

274

a s - s a h A w I s i l A n

TRANSLATION

275

useful in th at it constitutes one of the w ays of learning how to

elim inate one of tw o m utually contradictory traditions which are
difficult to reconcile with each other. This m ay be done b y
(recognizing th a t one of the traditions) refers to a later time, such
as: I saw him a year before his death, (8) or something similar, or
to a later auth ority among the men around Muhammad.
The transm itter m ay expressly state (the later date of a certain
tradition), as, for instance, in this statem ent: The later of the two
things which the Prophet did was the omission (instead of the
performance) of the ablution in connection w ith (food) touched
b y fire. ^ A nother instance, among others, is the statem ent of
A isah th at before the conquest of Mecca, M uhammad did not
wash if he had no em ission; later on, he did wash, and comm anded
(the Muslims) to adopt this practice.^
In the case of m aterial transm itted through a scholar who (later
in his life) becam e confused, the distinction of his old traditions
(from the tim e before he became confused and which, therefore,
are considered reliable) from the recent ones is achieved b y history.
In the case of transm itters who did not meet the person on whose
authority th ey transm itted traditions, either because th ey were
lying or because th ey jum ped some links in the chain of transm itters ,3 those facts are brought out b y history, in th at knowledge of
the different types of breaks in the chain of transm itters ^ results
from it.

of a l-L a y t,i because (Yunus and al-Layt) hved in different coun

tries. H e therefore suspected a break in the chain of transm itters
between the two. Al-M izzi, however, said: Perhaps, he m et him on
the pilgrim age. Then, he said: Or rather in B a g d M when al-L ayt

H istory shows, for instance, th at a transm itter was no contem po

rary of the person on whose auth ority he handed down a certain
tradition; or th at he was his contem porary but did not meet him,
because the tw o men lived in different countries and none of them
visited the country of the other, nor did th ey meet on the pil
grim age or the hke, in addition to the fact th at the transm itter had
no (written) permission ^ or the like from his authority.
A certain hadU expert found it difficult th at Yunus b. M uhammad
al-M uaddib should have transm itted traditions on the authority

was still alive ?

The hadit expert 'Abd-al-Cani stated in the Kam dl that Jabir
b. Nuh al-Hammani died in the year 203/818-ig. Al-M izzi considered

^ Cf. A . J. W e n s i n c k , a Handbook o f Early Muhammadan Tradition, 260 (Leiden 1927);

T B , IV , 14; Ibn as-Salah, Muqaddimah, ch. 34, p. 239 in the edition of M. R agib at-T ab b ah
(Aleppo 1350/1931).
^ T h is tradition is n ot m,entioned in the musnad of 'A^isah in Ibn H anbal. Cf. also the
references in W e n s i n c k , op. cit., 8 6 a ; Ibn H anbal, M usnad, V , 1 1 5 f. (Cairo 1 3 1 3 ) .
^ Th e technical term s in this passage cannot be translated, and it is superfluous for the
understanding of the co n text to explain them in detail.
* Personal con tact w as no longer necessary to obtain an ijdzah.
D. 208/823 {TB, IV , 350 f.).

came there on a m ission. ^

It is strange th at al-H atib mentioned Abd-al-M ahk b. H abib
among the transm itters of traditions on the authority of Malik.
It was th irty years after the death of Malik th a t Abd-al-M alik
traveled in quest of knowledge. In fact, he was born after M aliks
death.
A similar case is Ibn an-N ajjars confusion of M uhammad b.
al-Jahm as-Susi and Muhammad b. al-Jahm as-Sami. He mentioned
as-Susi as the transm itter of a story which as-Susi (allegedly) had
heard from al-Muhtadi bi-llah b. al-W atiq (who said) th at he had
been w ith his father while he w as cah p h ----- Ibn H ajar said:
This is a gross error. As-Sam i heard th at story about th irty years
after the death of as-Susi, and al-M uhtadis father, al-W atiq, died
about tw enty years after as-Susis death. ^
In Ibn as-Sam anis Ansdb, it is mentioned under al-Qaddahi
that after the death of Ism ail b. J a 'fa r as-SM iq, A bdallah b.
M aymun al-Qaddah claimed to be Ism ails son. Ibn as-Sam ani
was contradicted b y Ibn a]-Atir who remarked th at Ism ail died
while his father, J a far as-SM iq, was still ahve. Thus, how could
al-Qaddah have claimed to be Ism ails son while Ism a'ils father

1 A l- L a y t b. S a'd , an E gyp tian , d. i 75/7 9 i {TB, X I I I , 3 f.). T B , X I I I , 313 m entions

Y u n u s as one of a l-L a y ts students while the latter w as in B a g d M .
2 Y u s u f b. 'A bd -ar-R ah m an al-M izzi, d. 742/1341 (cf. G A L , II, 64). His Tahdtb al-Kamdl
which certa in ly was the source of the quotation was not available for checking.
3 'A b d -al-M alik b. H abib, d. 238/853, o r 239 (cf. G A L , I, 149 f -; M a h m u d M a k k i , in
Revista del Instituto Egipcio de Estudios Isldmicos, V , 189 ff., 221 ff. [ i 957], where the date
of his birth is given as 174/790). M alik b. Anas, d . 179/795 (cf- G A L , I, 175 f.). A l-H atib alB a g d M i, A bu B akr A hm ad b. 'A li, was born in 392/ 1002 and died in 463/1071 (cf. G A L , I,
392). I did not succeed in locating the above statem ent in his works.
Cf. A hm ad b. 'A li b. H ajar (773-852/ i372- i 4 4 9 > cf. G A L , II, 67-70), Lisdn, V , 109 f.
The first M uham m ad b. al-Jahm is b etter known as al-B arm aki, the latter one as the brother
of the poet A li b. al-Jahm . M uham m ad b. M ahm ud b. an-N ajjar (d. 643/1245, cf. G A L ,
I, 360), D ayl T a M h Bagdad, is the probable source of Ibn H ajar.
^ 'A b d -al-K arim b. M uham m ad (Ibn) as-Sam ^ani (d. 562/1167, cf. G A L , I, j,2gt.), Ansdb,
fol. 449a; Ibn al-A tir, the author of the K am il, 'A ll b. M uham m ad (d. 630/1233, cf. G A L , I,
345 f.), Luhdb, II, 245 (Cairo 1357-69) 'A b d -al-G an i b. 'A bd -al-W ah id al-J am m a'ili al-M aqdisi (d. 600/1203, cf. G A L , I, 356),
Kam dl, Ms. Cairo M ust, al-hadit 55, fol. 28a-b. C f. also TB , V II, 237 f-, where Jab irs death

276

A S - S A H A W i s I LA N

this a m istake and sa id : In fact, he diedin 183/799-800. (9) Ibn H ajar

contradicted al-Mizzi and said th at it was one of the m ost curious
errors which al-Mizzi com m itted in his book. In support of A bdal-Gani, he quoted a statem ent b y az-Zuhri concerning ^ A hm ad
b. Hanbal,^ one of the transm itters of traditions on the authority
of al-Ham m ani, to the effect th at it was only after the year (1)86/802
th at A hm ad b. Hanbal traveled in quest of knowledge. Moreover,
Judge A hm ad b. B u d ayl ^ and Muhammad b. Tarif al-B ajali ^ are
transm itters of traditions on the authority of al-Hamm ani, and
both men did not stud y until after the nineties. ^All this makes the
statem ent of the author of the Kam dl appear to be the more likely
one.
A number of scholars gave the year 160/776-77 as the date of the
death of M ujam m i' b. Y a 'q u b b. M ujam m i' b. Y a zid b. Jariyah
al-Ansari. A d-D ahabi was hesitant to accept this date, because
Q utaybah who did not travel in quest of knowledge until after
the seventies was one of the transm itters of traditions on the
auth ority of M ujam m i . However, the fact that Q utaybah trans
m itted traditions on Mujammi^s auth ority needs verification.
Sufyan at-Tawri^ said: W hen the transm itters em ployed lies,
we em ployed history in deaUng w ith them ."
Hassan b. Zayd^o is said to have stated th at as a protection
is placed in 203. 'A b d -a l-G a u is a u th ority for the date of J a b irs death is M utayyaii. Th e
a u th o rity of T B is M uham m ad b. 'A b d allah al-H adram i. The same H ad ram i, stran gely
enough, is al-M izzis a u th o rity for the earlier date, of. Tahdtb al-Kam dl, Ms. Cairo M ust,
al-h adit 25, s.v. Ja b ir b. N uh.
1 Sic Ms. Leiden. I do not know which Zuhri could be m eant here. The nam e is probably
n ot correct.
2 A h m ad b. M uham m ad b. H anbal, 164-241/780-855 (cf. G A L , I, 181-83). Ibn H an bal
could, of course, have studied w ith Jab ir in B agdad at an earher date, as he is also said
to have been a stu den t of Ibrahim, b. Sa'^d az-Zuhri who died between 183 and 185, cf
V I, 81-86.
D. 258/871-72 (Ibn H ajar, Tahdtb, I, 17 f.).
* D. around 240/854-55 (Ibn H ajar, Tahdtb, I X , 235 f. ?).
A ll these points of criticism are found together in a m arginal note w ritten b y the scribe
of the Cairo m anuscript of al-M izzi (p. 275, n. 6), who lived in Dam ascus in 741/1341.
" He and his grandfather are m entioned b y al-B uhari, T a M h , IV , i, 408-10.
Q u tayb ah b. S a 'id , d. 240/855, or 241 (Ibn H aja r, Tahdtb, V I I I , 358-61).
M uham m ad b. A hm ad ad-D ahabi (673-748/1274-1348, cf. G A L , II, 46-48). Cf. Ibn
H ajar, Tahdtb, X , 49.
S u fyan b. Sa'^id at-T aw ri, d. 161/777-78, or 162 (TB , IX , 151 ff.).
T h is and the follow ing three sayings are found together in as-Sibli, M ahdsin al-wasd^il.
Phot. Cairo Ta^rih 5 5 5 7, fol. 95b. A ll of them , w ith the exception of th at ascribed to Hassan
b. Z ayd, are m entioned b y Ibn as-Salah, Muqaddimah, ch. 60. S u fy a n s fam iliar sayin g
is also quoted b y al-H atib al-B agdadi, K ifdyah, 119 (H yderabad 1357); Ibn al-Jazari
(below, p. 421, n. 2), Muhtasar Ta^rih al-Isldm (by ad-D ahabi), a w ork which the author
finished in R ajab 7g8/April 1396, Ms. A lexan d ria Ta^rih 2o72d, p. 3.
Cf. T B , V II, 357. Ibn ^Asakir, according to as-Sibli, loc. cit., suggested a correction to

TRANSLATION

277

against liars nothing is as effective as history. If upon being asked

a sayh indicates the date of his birth and we know the date of the
death of his authority, we know whether he speaks the truth or
w hether he is a har.
Judge H afs b. C iy a t ^ is said to have stated; If you suspect
(the veracity of) an au th oiity, question him about the tw o ages,
th at is, his own age and the age of his authorities.
Ism ail b. A y y a s ^ dehberately ^ asked a m an: In which year
did you stud y w ith HMid b. M a 'd a n ? W hen he told him, In the
year 113/731-32, Ism a'il said: So, you profess to have studied
w ith him seven years after his death .
Suhayl b. D akw an A bu s-Sindi transm itted traditions on the
auth ority of A isah, professing th at he had m et her in W asit.
Thus, the he comes out, for the death of A isah took place some
tim e before a l-H a jja js estabhshment of W asit as a colony.^
In this connection, (one m ay also quote) the statem ent of Ibn
al-Munadi ^ th at a l-A mas held the stirrup of A bu B akrah at-Taqafi, and the following rem ark of Ibn H ajar regarding th at state
m ent; This is an ugly mistake. A l-A mas was born in either
61/680-1 or 59/678, and A b u B akrah died either in 51/671 or 52/672.
H ow could a l-A mas have held the stirrup of someone who died
ten years or so before his b irth ! Ibn H ajar said further; W ith
considerable hesitation, one m ight suggest th at a l-A mas held the
stirrup of the son of A b u B akrah. The word son m ay have been
H am m ad b. Z ayd , against the te x t of T B available to him . Cf. also as-Su yu ti, Samdrih, 8
S e y b o l d (Leiden 1894).
1 D. 195/810-11, or 196 (TB , V I I I , 188 ff.). F or the sayin g, cf. also al-H atib al-B agdadi,
K ifdy a h, 119 f.
2 D . 182/798-99 (T B , V I, 221 ff.).
3 Th e w ord ihtiydran here replaces the introduction th at goes w ith this sayin g in the
other sources. A h m ad T a ym u r, according to the edition of the IHdn 171, th ought th at
ihtiydr was the d ialect w ord for old: . . . asked an old m an . T h is is unlikely. T h e m eaning
appears to be th at he asked in order to find o u t. (A correction of ihtiydran to ihtibdran
w ould not be necessary.) Cf. also as-Safadi, W aft, I, 45 R i t t e r ; as-Suyuti, Nazm al-Hqydn,
6 H i t t i (New Y o rk 1927). H alid b. M a'a n s death is placed betw een 203/818-19 and 205/
820-21.
* Ibn H ajar, L isd n , I I I , 124 f., probab ly is the im m ediate source of as-Sahaw i.
'A isah died in 58/678. W asit w as settled b y a l-H a jjaj b. Y u su f (d. 95/714) betw een 83
and 86/702-5. S u h a yl is m entioned, w ithout a date, in al-Buhari, T a M h , II, 2, 105.
A p p aren tly, A h m ad b. J a 'fa r, d. 336/947 {TB, IV , 69 f.). H is Kitdb al-Hdfiz is quoted
b y Ibn al- Adim , Bugyat at-talab. Ph ot. Cairo T a M h 1566, 179 and 428; Ibn Saddad, alAHdq al-hatirah, ms. T o p kap u saray, R evan K osk 1564, fol. 96a. H is Afw dj al-qurrd^ is
q uoted in T B , V , 41, and as-Sam 'an i, Ansdb, fol. 351a. H is Kitdb al-M aldhim is quoted in
T B , X , 107, and, rather exten sively, it seems, in Ibn al-B arizi (above, p. 88, n. 2), fols.
2ib -3 6a, 44b.
Su laym an b. M ihran, d. 147/764-65, or 148/765 (TB , I X , 3 ff.).
N u fa y ' b . al-H arit (an-Naw aw i, Biographical Dictionary, 677 f. W O s t e n f e l d ).

278

a s - s a h Aw

1 s

TRANSLATION

i l A n

om itted from the rest. Ibn H a jar was am azed th at (the anachro
nism involved in Ibn al-Munadis statement) should have escaped
al-Mizzi, in spite of his knowledge and critical attitude.^
In the introduction of Muslim, it is stated th at al-Mu*alla b.
Urfan^ said: A b u WaMP told us (10): Ibn Mas'ud^ went out
against us at Siffin. A bu N u aym th at is, al-Fadl b. D u k ay n

who told the story on the auth ority of al-M ualla said: D o you
think th at Ibn M asud was brought to life again after death
The im plication is th at Ibn M asud died in 32/652-53 or 33/653-54,
three years before the end of the caliphate of 'U tm an, and the
b attle of Siffin took place in the caliphate of A li two years after the
end of U tm an s cahphate. Ibn M as'ud, therefore, could not have
gone against them at Siffin.
Another similar instance of the usefulness of history is found
in connection w ith a certain scholars characterization of Ibrahim
b. Y a 'q u b al-Juzajani as a Jariri, a follower of the juridical school
of M uhamm ad b. Jarir at-T abari. Ibrahim belongs to the class of
Ibn Jarirs teachers. This fact is clear from the dates (ta^rih) of the
birth and the death of the two men. Ibrahim s nishah is not Jariri,
but H arizi, after H ariz b. Utman.
H istory is also useful in that it constitutes one of the tw o w ays to
find out about errors regarding persons w ith identical nam es in
cases in which something referring to one of them is (wrongly)
ascribed to the other. This can be done b y establishing th at the
one was born after the death of the other. A case of this kind is that
of A hm ad b. Nasr b. Z iy M al-Ham adani. He died in 317/929-30,
and it was suggested that he was identical w ith A hm ad b. Nasr
ad-D^wudi who died in 402/1011-12. There are m any such instances.

Cf. Ibn H ajar, Tahdtb, IV , 223 and 225 f.

* Cf. al-Bul>iri,
IV , i , 390; Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, V I, 64.
* gaqiq b. Salim ah, d. 79/698-99 (al-Buhari,
II, 2, 2 4 6 !.: T B , I X , 368 ff.; anN aw aw i, Biographical Dictionary, 318 W u s t e n f e l d ).
'A b d allah b. M a s 'M (Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, V I I , 162 f.).
D . 219/834 {TB , X I I , 346 f f .; his b iograph y from the Kam dl of 'A b d -al-G an i al-Jam in E . S a c h a u , Studien zur altesten Geschichtsiiberlieferung der Araber, in Mitteilungen
des Seminars fUr or. Sprachen, Westas. Studien, V I I , 189 ff., 1904; E l , 2nd ed., s.v. A b u
Nu'aym ,). A b u N u 'a y m w as a prom inent a u th o rity for the historians, of., for instance, alB u h a ris Ta^rth where a num,ber of dates are m entioned on his a uth ority.
Cf. MusUm b. a l-H a jjaj (d. 261/875, cf. G A L , I, 160 f.), Sahth I, 152 f. (B ulaq 1304.
M argin of a l-Q a stallin i, IrSdd).
T h e fam ous historian, 224 or 225-310/839-923 (cf. G A L , I, 142 f.).
D . 162/778-89, or 163 or 168/784-85 {TB, V I I I , 265 ff.).
* A M a iik ite ju rist who lived in Tripoli and Tlem cen, cf. ad-D ahabi, T a M h al-Isldm, anno

279

H istory often helps to discover falsifications in documents and

the Hke. It m ay show th at the judge before whom the deposition
(in a case) was made, or the witness, or some other participant
in a case, or the like, died prior to the date (ta^nh) of the document.
For instance, some Jew presented a document which, he claimed,
was a letter of M uhammad exem pting the (Jewish) inhabitants
of H aybar from the paym ent of the poll tax. The document was
signed b y witnesses from among the men around Muhammad.
A m ong the signatures, it is said, was th at of *Ali. In 447/1055-56,
this document was brought before the chief governm ent official,
A b u 1-Qasim A li,i the w azir of al-Q aim. *Ali subm itted it to the
great auth ority in the rehgious sciences, A b u B ak r al-H atib A lH atib studied it and declared it to be a falsification. A sked upon
w hat he based his opinion, he said: The conquest of H aybar took
place in the year 7/628-29, and the document contains the signature
of M uaw iyah who becam e a Muslim only in the year of the Conquest
(of Mecca in the year 8/629-30). It also contains the signature of
S a 'd b. M uad, who had died on the D a y of the B anu Qurayzah,
tw o years before the conquest of H aybar. A ll fully approved of
this (argumentation) of al-H atib and based the decision in the
m atter upon it. The Jews were not granted the ta x exem ption
which was stipulated in the document, because it had become clear
th at it was a falsification.^
In ar-R M ii ,3 ^ jg stated: Ibn Surayj ^ was asked about the claim
of the Jews of H aybar (11) th at A ll had w ritten them a letter
exem pting them from the paym ent of (the poll ta x ). He replied th at
this was not based upon an y Muslim source.
W hen al-H atib had proved his point, the afore-mentioned chief
governm ent official composed a pam phlet statin g th at the docu
m ent was invahd. The religious leaders A b u t-T a yy ib at-Tabari,
402 (Ms. ar. Y a le U n iversity L-162 [ N e m o y 1176]); U. R i z z i t a n o , in RSO , X X X I I , 536 f*

(1957).
^ A ll b. al-H asan, d. 450/105 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, M untazam, V I I I , 200 f.).
T h e fam ous sto ry of the FJatibs exposure of the H ayb a r frau d is often quoted, cf.
the references in F . R o s e n t h a l , The Technique and Approach of M uslim Scholarship, 4 7 b
(Rom e 1 9 4 7 , Analecta Orientalia, 24). Cf. also aS-Sibli, loc. cit. (p. 2 7 6 , n. 9).
T h is m ay be the author of the History o f Qazwtn, 'A b d -a l-K a rim b. M uham m ad,
d. 623/1226 (cf. G A L , I, 393). Th e te x t from here on to the end of the S a fi'i sto ry is om itted
in Ms. Leiden.
*
T h e id e n tity of this person eludes me. 'A li w ould seem to be A li b. A b i T alib , and
not the w azir. S till, Ibn Su rayj could h ard ly be the fam ous A h m ad b. Um ar, d. 306/918
{TB, IV , 287 ff.; G A L Supplement I, 306 f.), or his son Um ar, because it seems dou btfu l
th a t this paragraph could refer to a d ate previous to the ^ a tib episode.
T^hir b. A b d aliah , 348-450/959 (96o)-io58 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, V I I I , 198).

28o

AS-SAHAW ts I ' l A n

A b u Nasr b. as-S abb ag/ M uhammad b. M uhammad al-Baydawi,^

M uhammad b. A li ad-Damagani, and others endorsed it.
In the sixty-fourth session" of the Jalis, a]-Muafa b. Z a k a riy a
an-Nahrawani 4 reported through ^ M am ar b. Sabib b. Saybah
th at the latter had heard al-M amun say: I exam ined as-M ii
in every respect and found him perfect. O nly one q uality remains
to be investigated: I shall p ly him w ith wine {nabid) enough to
overpower a m an of the highest intelligence. Al-M a'm un, accord
ingly, invited as-S afii and plied him (with wine). It appeared that
his m ind remained com pletely uninfluenced, and he continued his
argument. A l-M u afa added that the soundness of the story was
doubtful. Ibn H ajar rem arked to this story in the Lisdn: "N ob od y
who has the slightest knowledge of history wil] fail to recognize
th at the story is not true. As-afi"i cam e to E g y p t at the beginning
of the third century. A t that time, al-M am un was in Hurasan.
A s- a fii then died in E g y p t in the year in which al-M amun went
from Hurasan to the Iraq, th at is, in the year 204/819-20.
A s-S a fii and al-M amun never met while the latter was caliph.
A nd how could one believe th at as-M ii would have done such
a thing! It was he who said: If it were unbecom ing for me to drink
cold w ater, I would drink nothing but w arm w ater.
H istory m ay also be helpful to obtain for a deserving man w hat
is due to him. This happened, for instance, to Sayh ams-ad-din b.
A m m ar al-Maliki. He was installed as professor of M ahki juris
prudence in the M usallam iyah College in the Suyuriyin quarter
in Cairo. However, objections were made to his appointm ent on
the ground th at the person who had endowed the chair had stip
ulated th at the incum bent should be in his forties. ams-ad-dm

^ 'A b d -a s-S ay y id b. M uham m ad, 400-477/1009 (io io )-io 8 4 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, I X ,
12 f.).
392-468/1001 ( i o o 2 ) - i o 7 6 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, M untazam, V I I I , 300).
* 398-478/1007-85 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, M w n team , I X , 22 ff.).
D . 390/1000 (cf. G A L , I, 184; A . D i e t r i c h , in Z D M G , C V , 271-86 [1955]). Ms. or.
Princeton 1369 = 705 H includes the beginning of the sixty-fou rth session b u t does not have
the sto ry cited above.
Th e w ord th rou gh w as chosen as the translation of min tartq through the specific
chain of transm itters w hich leads through . . . .
M uham m ad b. Idris, 150-204/767-820 (cf. G A L , I, 178-80).
T h e whole paragraph is derived from Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, V I, 67.
8 M uham m ad b. 'A m m ar, 768 -844/1367-1441 (D aw \ V I I I , 232-34). In the D aw \ Ibn
H aja r is quoted as referring to the a ffid avit which placed the birth of Ibn 'A m m a r in
758/1357) b u t a p p a ren tly as-Sahaw i gave no credence to it.
Cf. al-M aqrizi, H itat, II, 401 (B ulaq 1270).

TRANSLATION

281

established through an affidavit that he was just then forty-five

years old.
Badr-ad-din b. al-Q attan ^ deprived Z ayn -al-Abidin b. as-arafi
(Saraf-ad-din) aJ-Munawi ^ of the piofessoiship in the H ariibiyah,
while the father of Z ayn -al-Abidin was still ahve and after his
separation from the judgeship in the days of al-Asraf In^l.^ The
person who had endowed the chair had stipulated th at its incum bent
should be over fo ity years of age, and Zayn-al-Abidin was not y e t
forty.
On the other hand, in the first part of the Notes {fawdHd) of alHalabi,^ we find the following statem ent transm itted through
A b u Ism a il at-Tirm idi who said: I heard al-B u w ayti say:
A s - a fii was asked how old he was or in w hat year he w as bom ,
and he replied: It is unbecom ing for (12) a m an to tell his age.
A b u Ism ail is also the source for the statem ent th at he heard Abda l-A ziz al-U w aysi say: Someone asked M alik: O A bu Abdallah,
how old are y o u ?, and M alik replied: Mind your own business.
These stories are directed against (prying into a persons age)
which is unnecessary unless there is a serious purpose behind it.
This particularly applies to a person who despite his youth has
already achieved something, because set ^ old people especially
like to pick on (the fact of his) youth.
Y a h y a b. A ktam noticed such an intention on the part of
someone who asked him about his age at the tim e he becam e a
judge. H e was (then) only about tw en ty years old. Therefore, he
replied: I am older than A tta b b. Asid^ when M uham m ad ap
pointed him governor of Mecca according to al-Waqidi,^^ A tta b
w as at th a t tim e (just) over tw en ty years old ; older than M uad
1 M uham m ad b. M uham m ad, 814-879/1412 (Jan. ist)-75 (Daw^, I X , 248-52).
M uham m ad b. Y a h y a b. M uham m ad, 829-873/1426-69 {Daw^, X I , 173 f.). His father
w as born in 798/1396, and he died in 871/1467 {Daw^, X , 254-57)- Cf. Daw^, I X , 250.
^ R uled 857-865/1453-61 {Daw^, II, 328 f.).
* I w as not able to a uth en ticate this statem ent.
* M uham m ad b. Ism a 'il, d. 280/893 (TB , II, 42 ff.).
* Y u su f b . Y a h y a , d. 231/845-46, or 232 (T B , X I V , 299 ff.).
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. A b d allah , d. about 220/835 (cf. L. C a e t a n i , Onomasticon Arahicum
161, Rom e 1915).
* I t w as excep tional th at a scholar such as ad-D ahabi had a sense of hum or, and was
free from the set sta te of m ind and dull stubbornness of hadtt scholars and transm itters,
cf. Ibn H ajar, Durar, III , 337.
* D . at the end of 242/847 or in the beginning of 243 {TB, X I V , 191 ff.). T B , X I V , 198 f.,
has tw o versions of the above story. Cf. also al-G azzali, Ihyd^, I, 128 (Cairo 1334); a l-'A m ili,
KaSkM , I, 388 f. (Cairo 1380/1961), quoting T B .
D. 13/634 (an-Naw aw i, Biographical Dictionary, 405 W u s t e n f e l d ).
M uham m ad b. 'U m ar 130-207/747-823 (cf. G A L , I, 135 f.).

282

a s - s a h Aw

1 s

i l An

b. Jabal ^ when M uhammad sent him as a judge to the Yem en, and
older than K a b b. Sur ^ when Um ar sent him as a judge to alB asrah. Som ething similar happened to our teacher, Kam^l-ad-din
b. Humam-ad-din. W hen al-Asraf B a r s b iy appointed him head of
his College, people m ade critical rem arks to al-Asraf about K am alad-din because of his youth. Therefore, when al-Asraf received
K am al-ad-din in order to invest him, he asked him about hi? age.
K am al-ad-din replied: I am older than A tta b , and so-and-so,
or something like this. He did not expressly tell him his age, but
anyhow, both Y a h y a b. A ktam and K am al-ad-din thus indicated
the date of their birth.
In fact, when a l-A bbas ^ was asked who was older/greater, he
or Muhammad, he rep lied: I am more advanced in years than he,
but he is older/greater than I ." Our teacher, Zayn-ad-din R i d w a n ,
made a similar reply, when he was asked who was older, he or the
Sayh-al-Islam Ibn H ajar.
H istory also affords proof of the accuracy of a transm itter
when he says regarding the m aterial transm itted b y him : A n d
this is the first thing I learned from him .' Or: So-and-so was the
last person to transm it traditions on the auth ority of so-and-so.
Or: I saw him on Thursday doing such-and-such a th ing. Or:
I studied w ith him before he introduced his innovations. Or:
...b e fo r e he becam e confused. There is much of this sort in
the te x t of the traditions. For instance: The first beginning of
M uhammad(s prophecy) was the true dream. Or: The first
{surah) to be revealed of the Q uran was such-and-such. Or:
The first mosque to be constructed, (Muhammad) replied, was the
M asjid al-haram (in Mecca) and the M asjid al-aqsa (in Jerusalem ),
and he indicated the tim e interval between the construction of the
^ D. 18/639 (an-N aw aw i, op. cit., 559-61).
D. 36/656 (Ibn SaM , Tabaqdt, V II, i , 65 f. S a c h a u and others).
Muham,nxad b. 'A b d -al-W ah id , about 790-861/1388-1457 (Daw^, V I I I , 127-32). He
w as appointed in B a rsb a y s College in 829/1426 (Daw^, V I I I , 130).
* A l-'A b b a s b. 'A b d -al-M u ttalib , the P ro p h ets uncle, d. 32/652-53, or 34 (an-N aw aw i,
op. cit., 330-32). Cf. A b ii Z u r'ah ad-Dim,aqi, H istory, Istan b u l ms. F atih 4210, fol. io 8 b ;
al-Hakim, an-N isaburi, Mustadrak, III, 320 (H yderabad 1334-42/1915-23); P. A . G r y a z n e v iC H , Arabskiy Anonim X I veka, fol. 238a (Moscow i960); Usam ah b. M unqid, al-Badt^ f t
naqd aS-Si'-r, 285 (Cairo 1380/1960). The p la y on the double m eaning of akbar m eaning both
older and greater is, of course, lost on us.
R idw an b. M uham m ad, 769-852/1368-1448 {Daw\ I I I , 226-29; G A L , II, 77).
Cf., e.g., Ibn HiSam, Strah, 151 W t) s x E N F E L D ; al-Buhari, Sahth, I, 4 f. K r e h l ; aSibli, M ahdsin al-wasdHl, Phot. Cairo T a ^ h 5 5 5 7 , fol. 42a.
Cf., e.g., Y a q u t, Mu^jam, IV , 592 W O s t e n f e l d ; Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, I I, 298, where
reference is m ade to the tw o Safiihs.

TRANSLATION

283

tw o mosques. Or: The first child to be born in Islam ic times,

th at is, in Medina, w as A bdallah b. az-Zu bayr. ^ Or: The last
(thing) th at happened was such-and-such, as was mentioned
above.2 Further statem ents of historical significance are the rem ark
concerning M onday: A n d th at is (13) the d ay on which I was
bom , e t c __ Or W e used to do such-and-such a thing when
w e went to A b yssin ia. Or: Such-and-such a thing was forbidden
on the D a y of H ayb ar. There are similar remarks, such as, for
instance, the phrase: Before there was revealed to him . Because
of the frequency of this (type of historical information), a number
of ancient scholars, and also some more recent ones, wrote special
works on the first things. A b u Z a k a riya b. Mandah ^ wrote on
the Last of the men around Muhammad to die. Some recent scholars
w rote on the last things exclusively.^ Because of the frequency
of such remarks in the tex t of traditions, al-Bulqini wrote a
special monograph on them.
H istory m ay concern either the chain of transm itters or the text
of the traditions. < Instances for the helpfulness of history with
regard to the chain of transm itters have been mentioned. There
are also cases in which history affects > both the chains of trans
m itters and the te x t of the traditions, as happens in the various
cases of m anipulation of the connection between tex t and chain
of transmitters.'^ Or the tex t of the traditions (alone) m ay be
affected b y historical references such as: Tim e w as already revolv
ing in its usual m anner on the d a y on which God created heaven
and earth, the year consisting of tw elve m onths. "W hoever
fasts during the m onth of Ram adan and continues his fast for six
days in the m onth of SawwM .
The best fast after th at of the
1 Cf., e.g., as-ibli, op. cit., fol. 105 b ; I^ldn, 80, below , p. 382.
Cf. IHdn, 8, above, p. 274.
Y a h y a b. 'A b d -al-W ah h ab , a grandson of A b u 'A b d a lla h b. M andah, d. 512/1119
(Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, I X , 204), or 511/1118 (Ibn R a jab , D a y l tabaqdt al-Handbilah, I,
154-66 a d - D a h h a n and L a o u s t [Dam ascus 1370/1951); Ibn H allikan , IV , 57 trans. D e
S l a n e ). T h e date 484 for his birth , w hich we find in the M untazam, is, of course, a m istake,
since Y a h y a s father 'A b d -al-W ah h ab died in 475/^082 {Muntazam, I X , 5)- Y a h y a was born
in 434/1043* Cf., for instance, Ibn al-L u bu d i {Daw^, I, 293).
T h is m ay be <^Abd-ar-Rahman b. '^Umar, d. 824/1421 (cf. G A L , I I, 112), b u t neither
for him nor for the other tw o prom inent m em bers of his fam ily does the Daw^ list a w ork
of the kind described.
Th e suggested reconstruction of the te x t is not certain.
For the terms mudtarib and maqlub, cf., for instance, Ibn as-Salah, Muqaddimah,
chs. 19 and 22.
* Cf. Concordance, I I, 158a.
Cf. Concordance, I, 261b.

284

AS-SAH AW IS I LAN

m onth of R am adan is (in) the m onth of al-Muharram, the fast of

ta su a" and a su ra \ and the opinion of Ibn A bbas ^ th at ta s u 'a
was the tenth (of al-Muharram). A m onth consists of th irty and
tw enty-nine (days). ^ ,,F asting is com m anded on the white
d a y s , and forbidden on the Id festival, and on Saturday, except
in connection w ith a d a y before or after it . ^ There is an unlim ited
number of similar statements. F or instance: The pilgrim age is
(fulfilled only if it includes the sojourn at) A ra fa h . ^ God
created the earth on Saturday, the m ountains on Sunday, the trees
on M onday, darkness on Tuesday, ligh t on W ednesday, the beasts
of burden on Thursday, and A dam on F rid a y .
M uham m ad's
statem ent near the end of his life: In a hundred years, nobody
w ill be left of those who w alk on earth to d a y .
A ll this shows the need for a knowledge of history or constitutes
one of its useful aspects. Thus, as will presently be mentioned,
it has been stated on the authority of Ibn A bbas th at God men
tioned history in the Q u ran in the verse: T h ey will ask you about
the new moons. Tell them : T h ey are fixed dates for men and the
pilgrim age. On the authority of Qatadah, this verse was ex
plained as follows: God made the new moons fixed dates for the
fasts, the breaking of the fasts, and the pilgrim ages of the Muslims,
as well as for the Hddah periods of their wives.
A great gift of obvious usefulness is the inform ation which history
m ay give about the prophets and their habits {sunnah), together
w ith the inform ation about scholars and their schools, sages and
their sayings, ascetic and devout men and their sermons. This
serves to prepare man better for the life after death and for his
religion. It helps him to improve his religious convictions and his
approach to religious m atters as well as his approach to the practical
problems of this world (14).
G reat usefulness and much instructiveness are also to be found
in the historical inform ation about kings and their politics, about
* 'A b d allah b. A b b as, the P roph ets cousin, d. 68/787-88, or 69, or 70.
^ Cf. Concordance, I, 272b, 298b.
Cf. Concordance, I, 243b, and II, 390a.
Cf. Concordance, I, 420b. Cf. also al-B uhar!, Ta^rth, I, 2, i i i , e tc.; Ibn S a 'd , Tabaqdt,
V I I , 2, 104 S a c h a u and others.
^ Cf. Concordance, I I , 390. Cf. also a l-K a fiy a ji, below , p . 563.
Cf. Concordance, I, 207a. Cf. also, e.g., al-B uhari, Sahih, I, 150 f. K r e h l .
Q u r an ii 189 (185 FI.). Cf. S ib t Ibn al-Jaw zi, Ms. T o pkapu saray, A h m et I I I , 2907,
fols. 3b-4a.
Q a tM a h b. D i'am ah , d. 117/735 (Y a q u t, IrSdd, X V I I , 9 f. Cairo = V I, 202 M a r g o l io u t h

).

TRANSLATION

285

the reasons for the form ation of dynasties, their success as well as
the reason for their dissolution, about the adm inistration of affairs b y
m ilitary men and wazirs, and about related circum stances which in a
similar fashion recur continually in the world.^ He who knows
this aspect of history is like a m an who has lived through all ages,
has experienced everything, and has personally tried out all those
circumstances. His m ind grows. He becomes experienced and free
from all ignorance and inexperience. This idea has been expressed
in a verse which will be m entioned below. ^
A certain auth ority v e ry ap tly rem arked: There are tw o in
tellects, the one (given) b y nature, and the other (acquired) b y
studying. The latter is of no use where the former is lacking. ^
H istorical reports about fine, generous, faithful, virtuous, brave,
or chivalrous men are also h igh ly instructive and very useful. The
enjoym ent w hich high-m inded and gifted persons fee] when th ey
stu d y those stories molds their natures. T h ey become inclined to
follow and im itate the heroes of those stories, because th ey wish to
partake in th at fame and glory to which the elite of m ankind
aspires. God thus stated w ith regard to the most pious Ibrahim,
His friend, th at he said: A nd prepare for me truthful speech
among p osterity. ^ God further said graciously regarding several
of His prophets: W e preserved something about them among
p osterity. ^ A nd regarding His choicest creature (Muhammad),
He said: W e exalted your m em ory for yo u .
Behold, it is
a m em ory for you and your people.
The extraordinary desire of noble-minded men for histor(ical
fame) finds expression in the following rem ark of the author of
the Risdlat as-Sukut and other works, A b u A li al-Hasan b. Ahm ad
b. A bdallah b. al-B ann a al-Qurasi al-H anbali: I wish that alH atib al-Bagdadi had mentioned me in his History, even if it
had been as an untruthful [hadit scholar).
1

Cf. al-B ayh aq i, Ta^rih-i-Bayhaq, 8 (Teheran 13 17): There is no even t w hich did not

occur sim ilarly before.

^ The reference is to the verse b y a l-B a ^uni (IHdn, 15 and 95, below , pp. 286 and 409).
^ T h is extrem ely com m on statem ent is often a ttrib u ted to 'A li b. A b i Talib. It is quoted
again I'^ldn, 24, below , p. 299. A s-Sah aw i here seems to think of an ^Alid as its author.
In the nam e of 'A li, the statem ent is quoted, for instance, b y al-(^azzali, Ihyd^, I, 76;
I I I , 14 (Cairo 1346).
* Qur^an x x v i 84 (84 FL).
^ Qur^an x x x v ii 78, 108, 119, and 129 (76, 108, 119, and 129 FL).
Q u r an xciv 4 (4 FI.).
Q u r an xliii 44 (43 FI.).
Cf. al-Q ifti, Inbdh ar-ruwdh. I, 276 (Cairo 1369/1950 ), quoted in a footnote b y the

286

TRANSLATION

A S -SA h 1 w I s I LAN

A person who thought th at I would restrict m yself to biographies

of deceased persons sim ilarly sa id : W ould th at I died in the lifetim e
of as-Sahawi, so th a t he would w rite m y biography.
A ll this indubitable usefulness and laten t advantage of history
which we have mentioned expressly and im plicitly has come to
the attention of m an y well-known religious leaders, and the reali
zation of it determ ined them to propagate (the knowledge of)
history among men. If there are ignorant persons who dislike history,
th ey m ight thus be checked, and (on the other hand) all h igh ly
qualified men m ight get the benefit of historical knowledge. Our
greatest rehgious leader (15) and chief authority, as-afii, made the
following statem ent, as reported b y the religious leader am s-ad-din
M uhammad b. ihab-ad-din a l-B a uni, who endorsed the statem ent
as authentic:
The knowledge of history increases m ans
intellectual capacity.^
It w ill be quoted again later.
The verse of the Q uran: W e made night and day two signs.
W e darkened the sign of the night, and we made the sign of the
d a y luminous, so th at you m ight desire excellence from your Lord
and know the number of years and (time-)reckoning. W e have
everything divided system atically, ^ was comm ented upon b y the
religious leader A b u J a 'fa r b. Jarir at-Tabari, along the following
general lines: Men should acquire through history a knowledge
of the various time (-units), such as the hours of night and day, the
months and years, at which their religious obligations, such as
prayers, ch arity taxes, the pilgrimage, fasts, and other obligations
m ust be discharged and at which their debts m ust be paid and col
lected. God thus said: T h ey will ask you about the new moons.
Tell them : th ey are fixed dates for men and the pilgrim age, ^
and again: It is He who made the sun a lum inary, and
editors of Y a q u t, Irsdd, V II , 265 f. (Cairo); Yaqiat, IrSdd, V II , 268 (Cairo = III , 25 M a r g o l i o u t h ). A l-Q iftis source appears to h ave been as-S a in 'an is Supplement to the History
o f Bagdad.
For Ibu a l-B an u a (369-47i/ioo5(6)-io78), cf. above, pp. 83 and 174.
^ M uham m ad b. A h m ad a l-B a 'u n i (d. 871/1465, cf. G A L , I I , 4 1 ; Daw^, V II , 114), Tuhfat
az-zurafd^, Paris ms. ar. 1615, fols. 2b-sa, and Paris ms. ar. 3412, fol. 75b. Three more verses
from al-Ba'^uni are quoted I'^ldn, 95, below, p. 409. T he verse also appears in Ibn a d -D ayb aS
Bugyat al-mustafid, Ms. Cairo T a rih iim , fol. la , and al-G um ri, Dahtrah, Ms. Cairo T a M h
104, fol. 2a.
2 Q u r an x v ii 12 (13 FI.).
^ Q u r an ii 189 (185 FI.).

287

the moon a Ught, and who made fixed stations for the moon, so
th at you m ight know the number of years and (time-)reckoning.
God created this for a good reason, establishing distinct signs for
people who are understanding. Indeed, the change of night and
d a y and the things which God created in heaven and upon earth
are signs for people who fear G od. ^ God did all th at out of kindness
to His creatures, and as a favor and boun ty granted t h e m. .
^
and so on, in a t-T ab aris original and instructive manner.
Indeed, there is a tradition on the authority of Ibn Abbas,
saying th a t God m entioned history in the Q uran. M uad b. Jabal
asked M uhamm ad w h y the moon appeared thin like a line, then
w axed and grow ing bigger and bigger becam e a semicircle and
a circle, then waned and becoming thinner and thinner finally
returned to its first condition. In reply, there was revealed
(the verse of the Q ura n ): T h ey will ask you about the new moons
{ahillah, plural of hildl new m oon). Tell them : T h ey are fixed dates
for m en. This means (that th ey are to indicate the dates of) their
religious (observances), their fasts and the breaking of them , the
duration of the Hddah period and pregnancy of their wives, the
paym ent of their debts, and the paym ent of the wages of their
hired men, and similar conditions, until a well-known term, m ature
wisdom, and patent bounties are reached.^
According to Q atM ah , the expression new moons must be
interpreted in the sense th at God appointed them as fixed dates
for the fasts, the breaking of the fasts, the pilgrimages, and the
devotional exercises of the Muslims as well as the Hddah periods
of their wives, and so on. God knows better w hat is best for His
creatures.
In fact, there is the clear statem ent of the tw o Sahihs on
au th ority of Ibn Umar. He said: W hen the new moon
mentioned in the presence (i6) of Muhammad, he said: Do
fast until you see it, and do not break the fast until you see it. If

the
was
not
you

^ Q u r an x 5 f, (5 f. FI.).
Cf. at-Tabari, Ta^rih, I, 3 f. D e G o e j e and others.
Q u r an ii 189 (185 FI.).
* T he tradition of Ibn 'A b b a s is quoted in a shortened form b y Ibn ad-D aw ad an , K a n z
ad-durar, Phot. Cairo T a rih 2578, I, 81 f. A lread y H alifah b. H a y y a t, at the beginning
of his Ta^rih, explained the significance of ta^rih in a sim ilar m anner.
Cf. P la n , 13, above, p. 284.
* 'A b d allah b. 'U m ar b. al-H a ttab , d. 73/692-93, or 74 (Ibn S a 'd , Tabaqdt, IV , i , 105-38
S achau

and others).

288

TRANSLATION

AS-SAH AW ts I LAN

cannot see it, count the m onth of a ban com plete w ith thirtydays, and thereafter begin the fast. ^
In the introduction of his History, al-Janadi reported the fol
lowing tradition which was transm itted b y a thorough scholar:
God revealed in the Torah a special book containing (information
about) the conditions of past peoples and the respective length of
their lifetim e. ^
In fact, God, in the Q uran, told m any stories w hich contain
a good deal of inform ation {ahbdr) about the peoples of the past,
such as the people of Niih and Hud, M adyan, and Tam ud. There
further are stories about Musa, Harun, Fir'aw n , and Qarun,
about the Sevensleepers, and about Nam rud and Ibrahim . God
said, and w hat H e says is the truth: W e shall tell you all the sto
ries of the messengers (of old) through which we shall steady your
heart. Y o u will find in them the truth, and an exhortation, and
something to be remembered for the believers. An interpretation
which finds a reference to history in the verse: A nd He gave him
added excellence of knowledge and b o d y, ^ is ascribed to a certain
Q ur an comm entator. This is debatable.
A ll this is sufficient proof of the great excellence of history and
the eminent position and qualification of the historian.
A b u Ishaq A hm ad b. M uhammad b. Ibrahim at-Ta*^labi said
th at G ods wisdom in telling Muhammad the stories of the prophets
of the past and of bygone peoples had several aspects:
( i These stories) are a clear indication and proof of Muham
m ad's prophetical vocation. Muhammad was illiterate. He had no
tutor or teacher. He never left his coun try long enough to go to a
scholar from whom he m ight have learned these stories. M uham
m ads acquaintance w ith these stories became known. Those among
his com patriots who were intelligent thought about it, and they
1
Cf. Concordance, II, 202a; T B , V II, 210. T he reference apparently is to Muslim, Sahth,
V , 50 ff. (B ulaq 1304. Margin of al-Q astallani, Irsdd).
Th e preceding three paragraphs appear in the same sequence in S ib t Ibn al-Jaw zi (Ms.
T o pkapu saray, A h m et III, 2907, fol. 4a), p robably the im m ediate source of as-Sahaw i, cf.
above, p. 272, n. 2.
^ M uham m ad b. Y a 'q u b b. Y u su f al-Jan adi (d. 732/1332, cf. G A L , II, 184), Suluk,
Ph ot. Cairo Ta^rih 996, p. 3. Cf. V ldn , 134 , b elow , p. 4 84; iHdn, 29, below , p. 306, where
the nam e of the author is M uham m ad b. Y u su f b. Ya'^qub. Th e Cairo ph otostat and H a jji
H alifah, K a^f az-zunun. III , 6 13 F l u g e l , have Y u su f b. Y a 'q u b (w ithout M uham m ad b.).
Cf., further, Diya^-ad-din b. al-A tir, al-W asy al-marqum, 66 (Beirut 1298).
^ Qur^an x i 120 (121 FL).

289

reahzed th at it was the result of divine revelation. T h ey therefore

believed in M uhammad and trusted him. It was one of the miracles
which confirm ed his prophetical vocation. Before it, he was
ignored and rejected out of en v y and spitefulness.^
(2 These stories) serve as an incentive (for the reader) to im itate
their heroes in all those things for which th ey found G ods praise,
and, on the other hand, th ey serve as a warning against the actions
which God censured.
(3 These stories) serve to confirm M uham m ad(s position) and
to m ake known his glory and th at of his people. He and his people
were spared m any afflictions which those before them had suffered.
(God) gave them less severe religious laws and singled them out
for acts of divine grace which th ey alone experienced. The verse
of the Q uran: A nd he liberally bestowed upon them open and
concealed favors, ^ has been interpreted in the sense (17) th at
open favors refers to the imposing of less severe religious laws
and concealed favors refers to the doubled (reward) for good deeds.
(4 These stories) serve to im prove and educate M uhamm ads
people. This was indicated in the following verse of the Q uran:
Signs for those who ask.^ A n d a lesson for the understanding. ^
A nd an exhortation for those who fear G od. In this sense,
as-Sibli used to say regarding these verses: The common people
occupy them selves w ith listening to stories, the elite, on the other
hand, w ith learning from them .
(5 These stories) serve to keep alive the m em ory and the deeds
of their heroes. This constitutes a stimulus for the righteous to
increase their activities, since th ey m ay hope for a speedy reward
and the perpetuation of their m em ory and good deeds. Such was
the desire of the Friend of G od, Ibrahim, when he said: A nd
prepare for me truthful speech among p osterity.
People are ( = liv e on as) tales. It was thus said: No one is dead
whom m emory keeps a live, and: The kings and the rich spent
m oney on buildings, fortresses, and castles only for the perpetuation
of their m em ory.
^ For the gram m ar of the passage, cf. the te x t of at-T a 'la b i.
^ Q u r an x x x i 20 (19 FI.).
Q u r an xii 7 (7 FL).
* Q u r an xii i i i ( i n FL).
^ Q u r an ii 62 (66 FL), iii 138 (132), v 46 (50), and x x iv 34 (34).
F v id e n tly , the fam ous Siifi, A b u B akr, d. 334, or beg. 335/946 (cf. G A L , I, 199 f.).
Q ur an x x v i 84 (84 FL).

Q u r an ii 247 (248 F L).

The follow ing passage, down to the verse on p. 290, is an abb reviated version of the
introduction of the Qisas al-anbiya^ b y a t-T a 'la b i (d. 427/1035, cf. G A L , I, 350).
R

o senth al

History of Muslim Historiography

19

290

AS-SAH AW IS I LAN

A tale is all a person leaves behind.

Strive th at your tale be known as good and kind. ^
I say: L ook at the traditions, and you will find in them m any
instances th a t illustrate the afore-m entioned (remarks of at-Ta'^labi).
For instance: M ay God show m ercy unto Musa, he suffered greater
dam age than that.^ Consolation and the like: O God, let those
be for them years like the years of Y u su f. ^ "O God, Ibrahim ,
your servant and friend, prayed to you for Mecca, and I shall
p ray to you for M edina. Im itation and consolation: If there
were not the prayer of m y brother, Sulaym an. ^ Castigation, which
does not leave out men of high positions; in fact, he said: God
will show m ercy unto Musa, if he were p atien t, and told us the
story of the tw o. A isah also found consolation in these stories.
She said: The only example I can find for m yself and for you is
the father of Y usu f who in the Q ur'an is stated to have said:
Therefore, patience is good, and God must be invoked for help
against (the calam ity) which you describe.
A b u 1-H asan "Ali b. al-H usayn b. A li al-M as'udi as-M ii said:
H istory is a branch of knowledge enjoyed b y both scholars and
ignorant persons and relished b y both the stupid and the intelli
gent. E veryth in g remarkable becomes known through history.
E ve ry m arvel achieves appreciation through it. Noble and sublime
character qualities are derived from it. (Our) knowledge of the
political wisdom of kings and others is based on it. H istory collects
for you (information on) the first and the last (of persons and
things), insufficiency and abundance, nomadic life and city life,
(persons and) things of the present and of the past. M any judgm ents
(regarding the moral and legal character of things) are based upon
history. The knowledge of it is considered an asset in any gathering
and statio n. (Al-M as'udi continued that) his incentive to w rite
works on history [ta^rih) and world events [ahhdr) was the desire
^ The verse is taken from the Maqsurah of M uham m ad b. al-H asan b. D u rayd (d. 321/
933, cf. G A L , I, I I I f.), cf. the edition Coustantiuople 1300, 115 (verse 180 in the edition of
A g g a e u s H a i t s m a , 1773, and verse 171 in th at of E v e r a r d u s S c h e i d i u s , 1786). Cf. Ibn
Isfandiyar, Ta^rih Tabaristdn, I, 13 Ab b a s E g h b a l (Teheran 1320/1942);
M ix o v i,
Tansars Epistle, 2 (Teheran 1311/1932).
^ Cf. al-]?uhari,
II, 358 K r e h l ; Concordance, I, 49a.
^ Cf. al-Buhari, op. cit.. I, 255; IV, 158.
* Cf. (Concordance, II, 134.
^ Cf. Concordance, II, 235 b; al-Buhari, op. cit., II, 358.
Q u r an xii 18 (18 M.). The statem ent was made in connection with the story of the
necl<lace, cf. Ibn I.lanbal, M usnad, V I, 197 (Cairo 1313).

TRANSLATION

291

to follow the aim (i8) aspired to and followed after b y scholars

and sages, and the wish to leave in the world a praiseworthy^ memory
and ready, well-arranged know ledge. ^
In the introduction of the Agdni, A bu 1-Faraj A ll b. al-H usayn
b. Muhammad al-Isbahani al-K M ib said: The reader who studies
the ideas and the like contained in this w ork will constant
ly progress from one instructive passage to the other. He will find
a m ixture of the serious and the humorous, reports on notew orthy
things {dtdr) and events {ahbdr), biographies {siyar), poems on the
famous battle days of the A rabs and the memorable events con
nected w ith them, and stories of the pre-Islam ic kings and the
caliphs of Islam. The knowledge of these things is esteemed b y
all educated persons. It must be acquired b y young people, though
their elders are not beyond learning a certain amount of it. The
m aterial presented constitutes a selection of the very best historical
inform ation and has been gathered from experts. ^
A rem arkable story is th at of a certain member of the tribe of
Juhaynah, one of the boon-companions of al-Muhallabi.^ H e used
to talk m uch nonsense. Once conversation was about the mint plant.
The Juhani said th at in such-and-such a country there existed a
m int plant which grows to be a tree, and ladders are made from
its wood. A bu 1-Faraj grew im patient when he heard this story and
said: Indeed, there are m any m arvelous things in the world. This
is not improbable. E veryth in g is possible. However, I know a story
which is even more remarkable. I take two eggs of a pigeon aw ay
from it and put in their place a w eight of one hundred and a w^eight
of fifty. W hen the hatching period is over, the weights break open,
and a basin and pitcher come out. The people who were present
laughed, and the Juhani realized th at A bu 1-Faraj intended to
m ake fun of him. In consequence, he refrained a good deal from
telling his stories.
I say: Som ething similar happened to a person whom we sus
pected of (baselessly) expanding (his stories). W hile we were
together w ith Ibn H ajar, that person told us th at in Aleppo th ey
had a man who had forty male children who participated w ith
him in his business trips. One of our colleagues who was present
^ A l-M as'udi (d. 345/936, or 346, cf. G A L , I, 143-45), M uruj, I, 9 Paris ed. = I, 4 (Cairo
1346). A new edition and translation of the w ork b y C. P ellat is in the course of publication.
^ A b u 1-Faraj (d. 356/967, cf. G A L , I, 146), Agdni, I, 2 (Bulaq 1285).
^ A l-H asan b. M uham m ad, d. 352/963 (cf. E l , s.v. al-M uhallabi).

2 Q2

AS-SAH AW IS 1 l A n

TRANSLATION

293

w as just starting to say: "E v e n more rem arkable than this is. .
when Ibn H ajar smiled, broke up the gathering, and started to
pray. I was (later on) often together w ith th at other man, and
strangely enough, it happened several times that when I asked him
w hat story he had intended to tell he was somehow interrupted.
A b u A bdallah M uhammad b. Salam ah b. J a far al-Q udai asM ii, the E gyp tian judge, said th at he collected a certain am ount
of m aterial on the stories {anhd^) of the prophets, the history of the
caliphs, and the reigns of princes and am irs, down to the year (19)
422/1031 " B r e v ity has been observed. Thus, whoever so desires
can easily m aster the contents of the work. Its contents th a t
is, its usefulness, if it is com pletely m astered, consists in the fact
th at it "is am ply sufficient for entertainm ent and conversation.
In his Supplement to the History of Ibn Jarir, M uhammad b.
A bd-al-M alik b. Ibrahim al-H am adani (Hamdani ?) al-Faradi
as-SM ii said th at "h istory was eagerly studied b y the leaders of
peoples and tribes and b y men of praisew orthy and excellent quali
ties, such as the 'A bbasids and others, no doubt . . . "T h e in
stances of success recorded in history serve as a m emento of (divine)
favors, and the instances of trouble observed in it serve as an aw ak
ening and a warning. It has been reported that when someone
m entioned to S a'id b. al-M usayyab ^ th at he saw the Prophet in
his sleep, S a id said: 'H ey you, God sent His Prophet to encourage
and to warn (mankind). He encourages those who act righteously,
and tells them to increase their activities. H e cautions those who
do evil, and tells them to repent. The stud y of history [ahbdr an-nds)
is a mirror for the observer. It tells the truth and thus arouses in
him the desire for good deeds and m akes him afraid of evil ones.
It serves to im prove men of insight and natural qualifications. His
tory is the means through which G od keeps alive the m em ory of
those of His servants who in His opinion merit that and deserve
His fine reward and com pensation.

In the year 538/1143-44, A bii 1-Qasim Muhammad b. Y u su f

al-Madani al-Hanafi, a resident of B alh and the author of the Ndfi*^
on H anafi jurisprudence,^ composed a History o f Balh. H e wrote
this history as a semi-popular [mutawassit) work, because of the
little interest and feeble understanding of the public, and kept it
down to the level of his readers, using a language which th ey would
understand. A t the end, he added his autobiography and a list of
his writings. Concerning the usefulness of his History he m ade the
following remarks (which are quoted here) w ith the addition of some
words in a number of passages: " I t keeps alive the m emory of the
early and recent scholars of B alh and those who came there from
abroad Rem em bering is (giving) new life, and restoring this (new
life ?) is like reviving all mankind.^ It also revives the impression
th ey made, the acquaintance w ith their actions, their asceticism,
their austerity {wara^), their religiosity, their aversion to and con
tem pt of the world, and their patient trust in God in the face of great
trials and tribulations. Their character qualities w ill be adopted b y
those who look (at their history). The circum stances of their life
will deeply impress those who hear (about them). N ature is docile,
and m an a slave to custom. A t times, the ear falls in love before
the eye. The reason of salvation is straightforwardness in ones life
(20) and activities. In order to achieve it, a certain stimulus and
guide is needed, such as the com pany of pious men or when it
is difficult to enjoy their personal company, the stud y of their life
and accomplishments. The soul can thus picture for itself their
essential qualities and gain an idea of their teachings.
Of actual vision nothing remains but a m em ory in the mind.
Therefore, hearing and seeing are equivalent, and the report (of a
third person) is equivalent to actual vision although in reality there
is a great difference between them.* If there is no downpour, there is
(at least) dew. The m em ory of pious men is a source of (divine)
m ercy, an instructive memento for later generations. W ithout

^ A l-Q u d a 'i (d. 454/1062, cf. G A L , I, 343), ^Uyun al-ma^drif, Bodleian ms. Maresc. 37,
introduction. Th e te x t is sligh tly different in the Bodleian rns. Pocock 270, fol. 3b.
2 D. around 100/718-19 (al-Buhari, Ta^rth, II, i, 467 f.; ad-D ahabi, Ta^rth al-Isldm, IV ,
4-7, Cairo 1367 ff.; Ibn H allikan , I, 568 f. trans. D e S l a n e ).
3 A l-H am adani (d. 521/1127, cf. G A L , I, 142), Tafanilah, i K a n ' a n (Beirut 1961).
Ibn H allikan, in addition to al-H am adanis h istory of w azirs (cf. below, p. 412, n. 6), also
quotes a continuation of M iskaw ayh s Tajdrib al-umam (?, Ibn H allikan, I, 464 trans. D e
S l a n e , in fact, a supplem ent to A bu Suja^s supplem ent to M iskaw ayh, cf. below, p . 489
and a s-S a fa d i, W afi, IV , 38 D e d e r i n g [D am ascus-W iesbaden 1959], and another historical
w ork, al-Ma'^drif al-muta^ahhirah (Ibn H allikan, I, 280, 399).

^ A ccordin g to G A L , I, 381, the author of the Ndfi^ died in 656/1258 and is different
from, his nam esake G A L , I, 413, w ho died in 556/1161. Cf. also IHdn, 124, below , p. 463.
^ Cf. IHdn, 28, below , p. 304 f.
= Cf. Agdnt, III , 67 (B ulaq 1285).
Th e re strictiv e afterth ou gh t is due to the fact th at the Prophetical tradition states th at
the report of a third person is no( like actual observation, cf. a l-K a fiy a ji, above, p. 258, n. i.
Cf. also IHdn, 28 and 50, below , pp. 305 and 338. In IHdn, 32, below, p. 311, and
'ly a d , M addrik, Ms. Cairo Ta^rih 2293, fol. 4b, this sayin g is quoted in the nam e of Su fyan
b. 'U y a y n a h (d. 198/814, cf. T B , I X , 174 ff.), whereas Ibn *^Abd-al-Barr, Jdmi^ baydn alHlni, I I, 162 (Cairo, n.y.) ascribes it to (Sufyan) at-T aw ri. Cf. also fi. L e v i- P r o v e n 9 A l,
Les Historiens des Chorfa, 46, n. 2 (Paris 1922).

294

a s-sa h a w

! s

i 'l A n

books, most historical inform ation [al-ahhdr wa-l-ahwdl) would

be forgotten. A fter a short while, the m emory of any human
being, w hatever his condition, would be lost. A cherished pearl and
treasured jewel is the science of traditions. It is the foundation of
Islam, the basis of the laws, the science which decides w hat is per
m itted and w hat is forbidden, the model to be followed b y both
the elite and the common people, the explanation of the ambiguous
statem ents of the Q uran, and the center of truth and correctness.
T h at is, the author goes on to say th at this branch of learning
(history) leads to the science of traditions and serves to solve those
of its problems which are referred to it for their solution . The au
thor further explained that one of the reasons w hy he wrote the
History of Balh was th a t he needed a rest from his w ork on the
Kitdb at-Tahqiq al-jdmi^ usul masdHl al-fiqh al-jalU minhu wa-ddaqiq and to this end occupied himself w ith that interesting, en
joyable, and h ighly useful branch of learning "w ith which I had
been fam iliar in m y early manhood and upon which I based m y
efforts to achieve accuracy. Another reason for w riting the History
of Balh was the wish to recompense, as far as it was in m y w eak
power to do so, the people of B alh for the kindness shown to me
when I first settled there. A third reason was m y great zeal for the
trusted scholars of the Muslim nation. Much of the historical
inform ation [ahbdr) about them is disappearing. Their very names
and (the knowledge of) their noble accomplishments are being lost.
The author (then stated that) in the work, (he) drew upon books
which he m entioned and upon (information from) contem porary
authorities, outstanding and influential men who knew (Balh?)
and had inform ation about it. He nam ed a number of them. H e
also mentioned young and m iddle-aged men, because if a t the time
they were young and unimportant, they m ight in another generation
become im portant.
He undertook to compose his w ork because he was afraid th at
difficulties m ight come up and because he wanted to preserve
(religious) scholarship from the disappearance and decay which
were caused b y the death of the inform ants who were conspicuous
through their comprehensive scholarly activity. Um ar b. Abd-alA ziz had written to the people of Medina: Look for the extant
traditions of the Prophet and w rite them down, for I am afraid
that scholarship m ay disappear and scholars pass a w a y . If such
was the fear in the days when Islam was young and fresh, its

TRANSLATION

295

champions astonishingly zealous, and the time one of noble vigor,

must one not have the same fear in our tim e (21), a tim e of
retrogression in zeal and persistence ^? The author also mentioned
the graves of the religious leaders and the places where th ey had
lived and slept, because their bodies and forms serve as a cure for
terrible afflictions and diseases, for God endowed th at body with a
special quality which serves as a cure for afflictions, and through it,
whether it is alive or dead, there is blessing (tabdraka ?) in the
world. (The fact of the miraculous qualities of the saints) is Gods
greatest kindness and gift. Proof of it is found in the tradition of
B uraydah, according to which Muhammad said: 'On the D a y of
Resurrection, each of the men around me will be the leader and light
of the people of the place where he died. ^ W e pray that through
Islam and the strength of evident truth, God m ay keep us and that
He m ay preserve for us truthful speech am ong posterity. ^ He
has the power to do w hatever He w ants to do, and He can be
expected to grant any request.
In the introduction of the Muntazam, the hadit expert, A bu
1-Faraj b. al-Jaw zi ^ said; Biographies (siyar) and histories are
v ery useful, especially in two respects:
1 The story of the life of a prudent man and the description
of the result he achieved will lead to the good m anagem ent and
prudent handling of ones own affairs. On the other hand, the story
of the life of an imm oderate person and the description of the end
he found will generate a fear of immoderation. This, then, is an
education for the powerful and a lesson for the thoughtful. It im
plies a sharpening of the intellect. It is a garden for pleasure seekers
in the realm of traditional knowledge.
2 The student of history becomes acquainted w ith wondrous
affairs, the changes of time, the vicissitudes of destiny, and (the
enjoym ent of) listening to stories [ahbdr). A bii A m r b. a l-A la
asked a man of (the tribe of) B akr b. W a il who had become so
old that he could no longer enjoy the pleasures of eating, drinking,
and sexual intercourse, whether he would not like to die. No, he
' Tabdtind, as suggested b y Ms. Leiden.
^ B u raydah b. H usayb al-A slaini, d. betw een 60-64/680-83, cf. al-Buhari, Ta^rih, I, 2,
140 f., where the tradition is quoted, on the a u tlio rity of B u ra yd a h s son, 'A b d allah .
Cf. also I B , I, 128; al-B ayh aq i, Ta^rth-i-Bayhaq, 22 (Teheran 1317).
^ Q u r an x x v i 84 (84 FL).
Th e beginning of tlie Muntazam of 'A b d -ar-R ah m an b. A li b. al-Jaw zi (d. 597/1200,
cl. G A L , I, 499-506; 'A b d -a l-H a m id a l - 'A l u j i , M w aZ/fl/ai Ibn al-Jawzi, B a gd a d 1385/1965)
has not y e t been published. Cf. above, pp. 143 f. and 210.

2 Q6

AS-SAHAW IS I'LAN

replied, and when asked w hat pleasure was left to him, he said;
I am still able to listen to wondrous stories. ^
Ibn al-Jaw zi further said in the beginning of the Sudur al-Hiqud
f i ta^rih al-'-uhud, his own abridgm ent of the Muntazam: "H istories
and biographies are a relaxation for the mind and a diversion as
well as an intellectual stimulus. The story of the m arvels of creation
shows the greatness of the Maker. The explanation of the biography
of a prudent person leads to the good m anagem ent of ones own
affairs. Telling the story of an imm oderate person generates a fear
of the w ant of prudence. The description of the life of a w it provokes
amazement at the acts of destiny and constitutes an entertainm ent
similar to th at of entertaining evening causeries. ^
In the Fath al-Qudsi, the history of the conquest of Jerusalem
b y Salah-ad-din A bu 1-Muzaffar Y u su f b. A yyu b , starting with
the year 583/1187, 'Imad-ad-din M uhammad b. Muhammad
b. H am id al-Isbahani as-SM ii al-K M ib ^ said; (22) Histories
custom arily start with the beginning of creation or with some
dynasty. There is no nation or dyn asty without a history/era
{ta^nh) to which reference m ay be had. It is transm itted from
generation to generation, from the men of the past (who had con
nections w ith a certain dynasty) to those of the present. It holds fast
the fleeting events of the day, and it clearly shows the significance
of notew orthy men. If this were not the case, connections would be
interrupted. No knowledge of (past) dynasties would exist. The
m em ory of men of the past would be dead in the days of later gen
erations. Hum an beings would not realize th at th ey are deeply
rooted in the soil,^ that they are drops th at come from the dark
recesses of the spine in a long process, th at their lives begin in the
remote past of Adam , and that the Lord took their progeny out
of their backs to let them have as much preeminence as He before
hand w anted them to have. L et it thus be known to man (through
1 A b u 'A m r died betw een 154/771 and 159/775-76, cf. G A L , I, gg.
^ The passage is found in the Phot. Cairo Ta^rih, 994, p. 3.
Th e correct form of the name of the ^Imad (d. 597/1201, cf. G A L , I, 314-6) is found
in M s . Leiden. Cf. C. L a n d b e r g s edition of the A rab ic text, pp. 3-5 (Leiden 1888. Th e
edition Cairo 1322 is a mere reprint of L an db ergs text). L a n d b e r g announced his future
translation of the w ork, b u t this exceedingly difficult enterprise appears n ot to h ave been
executed. A French translation has been announced b y H . M a s s e , and another edition
h a s been published in Cairo 1965.
^ Cf. Lisdn al-^Arab, X I I , 114 (Bulaq 1300-8), w ith reference to a verse b y Imru^ul-qays.
The te xt of the I^ldn which was followed in the translation is more difficult bu t m ay
be b etter than th at of the edition (cf., how ever, a phrase such as th at used b y a l-B a d i' alH am adani, according to al-Q alqasandi, Subh al-a'^sd. I, 459: wa-n-nds li-Adam wa-in kdn
al-'-ahd qad taqddam). T h e Q u r anic reference is to siira/i vii 172 (171 FI.).

TRANSLATION

297

history) th a t there is as little room for him before the end of his life
and before he descends into this grave, as there is between a fold
and its opening, and let him have in one (life) time the experience
of ten. He traversed one life after the other and traveled through
one age after the other (through history). H e was laid to rest and
resuscitated in a thousand graves. He was m aking his appearance at
night until he became visible at dawn (??). W ithout history, the
efforts of the representatives of good pohcies would be lost. There
would be no praise to distinguish between them and the represen
tatives of bad policies. It would be difficult to learn from the good and
bad outcom e of events. The fact th at easy times follow upon difficult
ones, and vice versa, would remain unknown. The author then
m entioned the short-lived eras of m any (peoples) of the past, such
as the (era of the) deluge, the inundation, and astronom ical obser
vations. He stated th a t the era [ta^rih] of the hijrah abolished
every previous era and destroyed all the (sins) which were not re
pented in it 1 b y those who com m itted them. It, therefore, gives
reliable inform ation about and protection against adopting the
discrepancies (which occur in the eras) of bygone people. Tim e
was already revolving in its usual manner on the d ay God created
heaven and earth. ^ God commanded His servants to spend the
possessions He had assigned to them and even their lives in the
anticipation of a tw ofold recompensation for w hat they would
g iv e , and so on, in the authors fine, poetic style.
In the Ahbdr ad-duwal al-Isldmiyah, Jam al-ad-din A bu 1-Hasan
^Ali b. A b i 1-Mansur Zafir b. H usayn al-Azdi al-Misri al-Maliki
said: " I f the usefulness of history were to consist only in the lesson
it contains th at tim e does not stand still and th at change is its
only persistent quality, it would be enough to fulfil all expectations.
H owever, the various aspects of its usefulness and unique (in
structiveness) are innumerable. The student of history combines
instruction (23) extracted from its lessons w ith enjoym ent obtained
from its rich contents. The author then enumerated the different
dynasties and referred to them at length.

^ The last half of the sentence is not contained in the edition of the Fath.
^ Cf. IHdn, 13, above, p. 283, n. 8.
T h e G otha m anuscript of al-A zd is (d. 613/1216, cf. G A L , I, 321) Duival al-munqati^ah,
which I consulted in the ph otostat copy of the Fondazione Caetani in Rom e, does n ot
contain the beginning of the work.

298

AS-SA H A W l'S I'LAN

In the Tadwin, Imam-ad-din A bu 1-Qasim A b d-al-K arim b.

Muhammad b. A bd-al-K arim ar-R M ii said: ^
(Blank space in the m anuscript left b y the author for the later
insertion of the quotation).
In the Kam il, Izz-ad-din A bu 1-H asan A li b. Muhammad b.
M uhammad b. A bd-al-K arim b. al-Atir^ said: The instructiveness
of history has m any aspects and its usefulness, both in this world
and the other world, is very great. Here, we shall m ention only
as much of th at as we see fit. W e shall leave it to the natural in
telligence of the student of history to m ake himself acquainted
w ith the rest.
As to the usefulness of history for this world, for instance, it is
no secret that human beings like to remain alive and prefer to be
among the living. W ould that I knew w hat difference there is
between things seen or heard yesterd ay and things read in books
which contain historical inform ation about the men of the past.
Reading about them is like being their contem porary, and knowing
events is like being present when they took place.
Furthermore, kings and persons in auth ority m ay find the biog
raphies of oppressors and tyrants treated in books which circulate
among the people and which are transm itted from generation to
generation. T h ey look at the ill fame and disgrace th a t were the
consequence of oppression and tyran ny, the resulting destruction
of countries and human lives, the financial loss and the general
corruption. Thus, they come to disapprove of and avoid practices
of oppression and injustice. Likewise, th ey m ay see the biographies
of just governors. T h ey read about the good reputation th at survived
them after their death, and the developm ent and financial pros
perity of their countries and realms. Thus, they come to approve
of their exam ple and to desire to practice perm anently w hat th ey did
as well as to omit all that works to the contrary. Kings and persons
in authority derive an additional advantage from the stud y of
history. T h ey learn through history about the wise counsels that
served (their predecessors) to avert dam age at the hands of enemies,
to escape disasters, and to protect (?) rich cities and great realms.
1
The Phot. Cairo T a rih 2648 of the work is incom,plete in the begiiiuing as is the Istanbul
m anuscript V ch b i K f. 1058 (which is presum ablv the original of the Cairo photostat). T h e
incipit from Ms. Laleli 2010 is cited b y H . R i t t e r , in Oriens, I I I , 76 f. (1950)as-Suyuti,
Nazm al-'^iqydn, 8 H i t t i (New Y o rk 1927).
^ 555-630/1160-1233 (cf. G A L , I, 345 f.). The q uotation from the Kam il, I, 4-6 (Cairo
1301), exten d s to p. 300, line 23. Th e second M uham m ad in his genealogy did n ot exist,
according to II. R i t t e r , in Oriens, V I, 73 {1953).

TRANSLATION

299

If such were to be the only useful aspect of histor}^ it would be

glorious enough. In addition, history gives man experience and a
knowledge of events and their outcome. It also teaches him that
nothing can happen to him which did not happen before, or some
thing similar to which did not happen before. His intelligence in
creases, and he becomes w orthy of im itation. It was righ tly said: (24)
I found th at there are tw o intellects.
The one (given) b y nature, and the other (acquired) b y
The latter is of no use
[studying.
W hen the former is lacking. ^
The intellect (given) b y nature refers to the natural intellect
which God created for man, and the 'intellect (acquired) b y stu d y
ing' refers to the grow th of the natural intellect through experience.
This increase (of intellectual capacity) is called a second intellect,
in order to extend and stress its importance, though it m erely is
additional to the first intellect.
A ll this is referred to in the following tradition, according to
which Muhammad said: " I f you are told th at a man strayed from
his nature, do not believe it. ^
(Another aspect of the usefulness of history) is the fact th at
in parties and gatherings, it is very becoming for a person to mention
some historical inform ation and to tell some interesting anecdotes.
A ll ears can be observed listening to him and all eyes looking at
him, and everyone w ants to hear all he has to say and is very
appreciative of his remarks.
A s to the usefulness of history for the other world, there is, for
instance, (the following asp ect): T ru ly intelligent persons who
reflect about (the lessons of history) will notice that the world
turns its people up and down and plays havoc w ith its most promi
nent inhabitants. It takes aw ay their lives and treasures and an
nihilates the young as well as the old. It spares neither the great
nor the humble, and neither the rich nor the poor are safe from its
misfortunes. Intelligent persons (who realize all that) will become
ascetics and turn aw ay from the world. T h ey will proceed to using
this world for preparing their journey to the other world. T h ey will
feel a desire for a home which is free from all those (worldly) pe
culiarities and whose people are safe from those shortcomings.
^ Cf. IHdn 14, above, p. 285, a. 3.
^ The tradition forms no part of the quotation from Ibn al-A tir.

300

AS-SAHAW IS I'LAN

Someone m ight object th at nobody ever saw a student of history

who became an ascetic and turned to the other world and
felt a desire for its glorious heights. I would like to ask the
person (who m akes this objection) how m any people he has observed
reading the Q uran, the most powerful and eloquent (book of)
exhortation, yet, still searching for a little w orldly gain. M ankind
does have a passionate love for this passing world.
Furtherm ore, the study of history leads to the acquisition of
two very good quahties, patience and resignation (lit. consolation).
Intelligent persons who notice th a t no noble prophet or m igh ty
king, in fact, not a single human being, was safe from the evils
of the world will realize that th ey them selves m ay experience the
same m isfortunes and adversities which the other experienced.
Just one of the tribe of C aziyah I am.
W ith them led astray, led aright w ith them.^
F or the same reason, stories were included in the Q u ran; T h at
is a reminder for a person who has feeling, or is able to listen,
being present as an o b s e r v e r .I f th at person who objects (to m y
statements) thinks th at God intended the stories to serve as en
tertainm ent, he just shares the essence of (25) the argum ent of
those doubters who are upon the brink of a w eak undermined
sand dune ^ concerning these stories who said; (These are) the
fables of the ancients which he copied.' ^
In the introduction of the History of Mdlaqah {Malaga), A bu B ak r
M uhamm ad b. M uhamm ad b. A li b. Hamis said; "N e x t to the Qur
an and the sunnah, the most deserving subjects of assiduous study are
h istory and biography. The}/ serve to remind (man) of the fact that
tim e turns its children up and down. T h ey show the rem arkable
events [anhd^) which happened in former times. T h ey call attention
to the (religious) scholars whose activities must be foUowed and
whose qualities and stories [ahbdr) m ust be w ritten down. These
scholars will thus be (as fam iliar to you) as if they were standing
before you together with other (living) men, were in contact w ith
1 This is a verse b y D u rayd b. as-Sim,m,ah (cf. G A L Supplement, I, 938), cf. Agdnt,
I X , 4 f. (B ulaq 1285); al-H uw arizm i, Kasd^il, 168 (Stam bul 1297); Lisdn al-^Arab, X I X , 361
(Bulaq 1300-8); Ibn Bassam,, Dahirah, I, 2, 141 (Cairo 1361/1942).
2 Q u r an 1 37 (36 FL).
3 Q u r an ix 109 ( n o FI.), not in the Kam il.
^ Q ur an x x v 5 (6 FI.). Cf. above, p. 28.
D. after 636/1239, cf. IHdn, 129, below, p. 474.

TRANSLATION

301

you and spoke to you, and were known to be e x a ctly as th ey are

said to be. Those who never saw them personally will read their mes
sage. Those whose age did not permit them to see them will witness
their good actions. Their rank and position will thus be known. It
will be known who among them was conversant w ith the knowledge
acquired through tradition and understanding and who excelled
in the knowledge acquired through observation and through books.
It will become clear who was well educated and equipped for leader
ship. G reat zeal w ill be displayed, in order to reach them and share
their status.
A bu Ishaq Ibrahim b. A bdallah b. 'Abd-al-M umin b. A b i
d-dam al-Faqih a s-a fii, the Judge of Hamah,^ said; The useful
ness of Muslim history, in addition to (the fact th at it is) closest
to accuracy, lies in the fact th at it is concerned w ith the scholars
of this M uhammadan nation and reports their good actions and
qualities, their knowledge, sermons, wise sayings, and their w ay
of life. The biography (of Muslim scholars) serves active people
as a guide in their own affairs and as an object of reflection and
m editation. These people will thus benefit from the sayings, as
pirations, and the good actions and qualities reported of scholars,
both in this world and in the other w o rld . . . . This branch of learn
ing (history) is like a superstructure on top of the religio-legal
sciences which are the basis of our (study), and the different fields
of traditional and intellectual learning which we pursue.
ams-ad-din A b u 1-M uzaffar Y u su f b. Qizoglu al-H anafi Sibt
Ibn al-Jaw zi 2 said: (People of a) sound disposition and straight
forward mind strive eagerly to obtain a knowledge of the origins
and the causes of growth. B y pondering the currents of destiny
and the origins of night and day, th ey come to be like persons
who them selves lived in the times and experienced the events
(which th ey have been studying). God, through Muhammad, re
ferred to (history) in the Q uran and said, and w hat He says is the
truth; In fact, we shall tell you . . . for the believers .^ H e further
^ The Bodleian m anuscript of Ibn A b i d-dam (d. 612/1244, cf. G A L I, 346, see above,
p. 148, n. 3) does n ot contain the quoted passage. Th e q uotation m ay have been derived
from his large biographical Ta?rih al-M uzaffari.
^ Th e first volum e of S ib t Ibn al-Jaw zi (d. 654/1257, cf. G A L , I, 347 f.; the correct
arabicized pronunciation of his fa th e rs name is said to be Q uzugli, cf. Ibn K afiS Muntaljab
al-muhtdr [Ta^rih ^idamd'^ Bagdad] 237, B agdad 1357/1938) is not included in the Kopriilli
m anuscript (Phot. Cairo T a rih 551) which I used originally, b u t the passage quoted appears
in the Ms. T o pkapu saray, A h m et I II , 2907, fols. ib-2b.
Q u r an xi 120 (121 FL).

302

AS-SAH AW tS I LAN

said: (26) T h is belongs to the news of the villages. W e shall tell it to

you. Some of them still stand and (others) are mown dow n.i
(He w ent on) in very m any verses. It was a favor of God to give
Muhammad (historical) inform ation {ahbdr) about the nations of
past ages. People follow different purposes in their occupation
with history, according to the varyin g habits of preference they
have. Some prefer to read the biographies of the ancients and the
sages. Others are inchned to study the stories {anbd^) of the prophets,
caliphs, kings, wazirs, htterateurs, and poets. Others again choose
to read the biographies [siyar) of virtuous men, ascetics, pious
persons, and servants of God.^ The purpose of some is to become
acquainted w ith the biographies of either prudent or incom petent
persons, respectively, in order to learn the good m anagem ent of
affairs or to learn thoroughly how to avoid incompetence.^ Herein
hes the real significance of biography for those who know and un
derstand w hat it is about. The author further said; Histories
as a rule are a hodgepodge of miscellaneous (information) and pre
sent a useless repetition of an amount of m aterial of unmanageable
proportions. Therefore, with God's permission, I (composed this
w ork), and so on.
A t the beginning of his alphabetically arranged edition of Ibn
as-Salah s draft of the Tahaqdt a l-fitq a h d ^ M uhyi-ad-din A bu
Z a k a riya Y a h y a b. Saraf an-N awawi said: The knowledge of
the details of the life {ahwdl) of (rehgious) scholars graces students
and scholars, and ignorance of them disgraces them. A ll those who
are (intellectually) awake know th at the knowledge of this subject
leads to greatly im proved standards, while ignorance in this respect
is one of the reasons of baleful incompetence. These scholars are
the keepers of religion which is the foundation of enduring hap
piness. T hey are the transm itters of the science (of traditions) which
leads up to high rank (in the other world). The perfection of one of
these scholars gives perfection to his scholarly production, and his
1 Qur^an xi lo o (102 FL).
^ a . l^ldn, 51 and 162, below, pp. 339 f. and 515.
^ Cf. I -ldn, 21, above, p. 295.
^ Th e introduction of "Utm an b. 'A b d -ar-R ah m an b. as-Salah (d. 643/1245, cf. G A L , I,
358-60) breaks off w ith the statem ent th at he had arranged his w ork according to classes
when he realized th at an alphabetical arrangem ent would be better. A t this point, an-N aw
awi (d. 676/1277, cf. G A L , I, 394-97) sets in with an explan ation of his alphabetical arrange
m ent. Ih e m anuscript of the w ork, Ms. Cairo Ta^rih 2021, which I consulted, was finished
on \\ eduesday, Ram adan 20th, 742/February 27th, 1342, b u t the first tw en ty folios have been
replaced b y a copy in a poor modern hand. The quotation is found on fols. ib -2a of the
n;anuscript. Cf. also I ^ldn, 98, below, p. 415.

TRANSLATION

303

confusion leaves a heritage of confusion and distortion. An acquaint

ance w ith these scholars is an acquaintance w ith models most
w orthy of im itation. [Hadit) students who do not know them will
be asked about the large and small details of their life in the case
of a difference of opinion among them, and th ey will not be able
to distinguish between true and false. In this connection, the
following story was transm itted on the auth ority of Muslim, the
author of the Sahih. He said: The first requirem ent for friends
and students of the science (of tradition) is to get acquainted with
the different quality and degree of authoritativeness of hadit schol
ars. A n acquaintance w ith the elite estabhshes a kind of relation
ship between them and those who know them. On the D a y of
Resurrection, such a relationship will be helpful in securing their
intercession. Now, the relationship of a scholar to (27) his pupil
is hke the relationship between father and son, in fact, it is some
thing more sacred.^ A pupil who does not know his teacher is hke the
son who does not know his father, in fact, he is even more wrong. A
jurist who is asked, for instance, about al-Muzani ^ and al-Gazzali
and does not know the interval of time between them and the dis
tance between the places where they lived certainly reveals a truly
disquahfying lack of knowledge. Concerning the transm itters of
traditions, the hadit scholars have long appreciated the truth of
this and drawn the consequence: T h ey have w ritten monographs
on personality criticism, and they have also dealt w ith this subject
in the works which go under the title of History. The jurists, on
the other hand, have ceased to realize (the im portance of) this sub
ject. Thus, their previous awareness of the different degrees of
accuracy and accom plishm ent among their leaders, and experts
ceased to exist. Since the days of m y youth, I have continuously
occupied m yself with this subject. I have searched for it in promi
nent and obscure places. I have hunted for unusual facts and col
lected stray notices. I have derived m aterial from the histories b y
hadit scholars of the main cities of east and west w ith their compre
hensive inform ation about the prominent native inhabitants of
those cities and their settlers from abroad. I have further derived
m aterial from numerous mu'-jams concerning the names of the
teachers of hadit scholars, from catalogues (lists) and some histories
^ On this topic, cf. F . R o s e n t h a l , in Orientalia, N .S . X X V I I , 42 (1958).
2 Isma<^il b. Y a h y a , d. 264/878 (cf. G A L , I, 180).
3 M uham m ad b. M uham m ad, d. 505/1111 (cf. G A L , I, 419-26). A n -X aw aw is w ork
contains an interesting biography of al-C azzali.

304

TRANSLATION

AS-SAH AW IS I LAN

b y hadit scholars. I have also derived some occasional m aterial

on jurists from works on jurists. There are few such works, and
th ey contain little and unim portant (information). O nly the mis
takes and unrehable statem ents they contain are not few. The hand
books on jurisprudence and m any diverse, not further specified,
recondite sources from which I have derived m aterial, and so on.
In the A ^mdl al-ihtimdl which I believe to be the title of a book
A bu 1- A bbas Ahm ad b. A li b. A b i B ak r b. Isa b. M uhammad
b. Z iy M al-M ayuraqi ^ said: The author who in a historical w ork
writes about a saint of God as an expression of his love of God
will share the rank of that saint w ith him on the D a y of Resurrection.
The person who reads the name of a saint in a history as an expres
sion of love of Him is Hke one who visited ^ that saint. God forgives
all the sins of a person who visited one of His saints, provided th at
his visit did not cause harm to him, or indirectly to any Muslim,
because such harm would cancel (the merit of the visit). Muhammad
said; He who loves something mentions it frequently. Man (is
kept) together w ith those whom he loves, and he will be resurrected
together w ith those whom he loves.

305

him. Restoring this (new life?) is like reviving all mankind.

Through visiting a saint, one assures oneself of Gods kindness
in Paradise. The person who receives a visit must needs honor the
visitor. Another tradition: Speaking of pious men who are deceased
is (like) m ercy shown to dear ones who are alive. The person who
records the story of the life {arraha) of a number of men m ay hope
th at the blessed among them w ill intercede for the unfortunate.
A tradition says: To each of them (a reward is given) according to
his intention. Actions (are judged) b y in te n tio n s .S o m e version
reads: The m em ory of God is a source of (divine) pleasure. The
m em ory of Muhammad is a source of (divine) love. The memory
of pious men is a source of (divine) mercy. In the happiness (of
the other world) th ey will keep com pany w ith those who spoke of
them. H e who loves something mentions it frequently. Man (is kept
together with) those whom he loves. To him (a reward is given)

(28) A nother ^ tradition: W riting the history of the life [warraha)

of a Muslim is like reviving him. Reading his history is like visiting

according to his intention.

Taj-ad-din A b u Talib A ll b. A n jab al-H azin * said: The most
restful subject for the tired m ind to read about and to study,
the most useful and instructive means to chase aw ay outside
worries, the best entertainm ent and m ost pleasant inform ation
(ought to) be something th at is a sermon and a lesson, and th at is
the knowledge of history. H istory also shows the shifts of dynasties
and how quickly th ey take place, and how their end comes about.
The same author said in the Ahbdr al-wuzard^ f i duwal al-aHmmah
al-hulafd^ th at he considered this to be the most instructive, prof
itable, impressive, pleasant, entertaining, and fruitful (aspect of)
works on history. (Historical works) are an incentive to practice
virtue and to shun evil. The catastrophes of prominent men, of
the favorite children of time and the owners of great property,
contain a lesson for the receptive and an experience for the thought
ful. Upon becoming aware of them, intelligent persons approve
of noble character qualities, despise evil action, see the rewards
of virtue, and shun the results of evil. High-minded and spirited

^ D. in or before 678/1279-80, according to a m arginal note in Ms. Leiden. He is

m entioned in T aq i-ad -d in s Sifd^ and ' - I q d (in the introduction and the b iograph y of Ibn
Sab'^in). Cf. above, p. 165, and below, p. 481, n. 2; G A L S u p p l e m e n t I, 635.
^ I.e., made the pilgrim age to his tom b or another place sacred to him.
^ The second of the three sentences is quoted in al-Bnhari, S a h t h , I V , 5 K r e h l ; Muslim,
S a h t h , X , 68 (Bulaq 1304. Margin of al-Q astallani, I r s d d ) ] T B , II, 16 (biography of alBuhari), IV , 250; X I , 227; X I I I , 86, 455; A b u Sam ah, R a u ' d a t a y n , 7 (Paris 1898, R e c u e i l
d e s h i s t , d e s C r o i s a d e s , H i s t . O r . , 4). Cf. also below, pp. 305 and 426.
^ T he collection of traditions appears to have been derived from the same work.

1 Cf. I ' ^ l d n , 19, above, p. 293.

^ The fam ous second sentence, according to A bu D aw ud one of the four m ost im portant
traditions ( T B , IX , 57), is con stan tly quoted, cf., for instance, Usam ah b. M unqid, L u b d b
a l - d d d b , 333 (Cairo 1354 /19 35); 1 ^ l d n , 46 f. and 56, below , pp. 332 and 347; I. G o l d z i h e r ,
M u h a m m e d a n i s c h e S t i u l i e n , II, 178 ff. (Halle 1889-90).
Cf. above, p. 304, n. 3, and H. as-Sandubi, R a s . a l - J d h i z , 304 f. (Cairo 1352).
Also known as Ibn as-S a'i, 593-674/1197-1276 (cf. G A L S u p p l e m e n t I, 590, and the
introduction of M u s t a f a J a w a d to his edition of Ibn as-Sa is N i s d ' ^ a l - h u l a f d ^ [Cairo, n. y.]).

Record the story of their lives.

Y o u r gain will then be handsome.
Religion, awe, and saintliness
A re but to understand them.
I t s happiness for any man
To find love in his Master,
W hile w rath in Him is sure to spell
For m ankinds state disaster.

osenth al

History of Muslim Historiography

20

3 o6

A S-SA H A W lS I LAN

men have alw ays studied good historical m aterial (ahbdr), in order
to use it for the entertainm ent of their minds, the sharpening
of their understanding, the stim ulation of their thinking, and the
training of their inteUigence. The contem plation of history leads
to the recognition of the oneness and uniqueness of the Creator,
because reflection about the currents of destiny, the shifts of pe
riods, the change of night and day, the continuous succession
and rotation of nations and dynasties (29) contain an exhortation
for the receptive and earnest advice for the negligent. God said:
W e shall cause those days to take turns among m en.^ If the only
aspect of the usefulness of history were to be a diminished con
fidence in this passing world and an increased desire for the lasting
other world, it would suffice for the good deeds which conscience
urgently desires (man) to practice.
In the History of al-Qayrawdn, A bu Z ayd A bd-ar-Rahm an b.
M uhammad b. A li al-Ansari al-Qayraw ani ^ said that he restricted
himself to the religious scholars and pious servants of God. This
is more (than anything else) fitting, beautiful, distinguished, perfect,
and effective in obtaining a great reward and bountiful compen
sation (in the other world). Their m em ory is a source of abundant
blessings and a means to attract m any (divine) favors. The mem
ory of pious men is a source of (divine) m ercy.
A statem ent of B a h a -ad-din A b u A bdallah M uhamm ad b.
Y u su f b. Y a 'q u b al-Janadi has been mentioned before in connection
w ith a passage from Ibn Jarir.^
Alam -ad-din A b u Muhammad al-Qasim b. M uhammad alBirzMi said: H istory is one of the best and most desirable
branches of learning, one of the most useful and splendid objects of
study, and one of the most perfect and brilliant topics of con
versation. It is a w ay to instruction and a path leading to insight.
It is a precious gift th at makes one actually see the nations of the

TRANSLATION

307

past. It is a relaxation which cheers the heart of the reader and

loosens his tongue.
In the introduction of the TdW as-saHd, KamM -ad-din J a 'fa r
al-Udfuw i ^ said: H istory is a necessary branch of learning, and
there is no w ay of getting around it. H istory acquaints later gener
ations w ith the details of the life {ahwdl) of the men of the past. It
teaches them how to distinguish (the scholars of the past) who deserve
honor and praise from those who are most unim portant and in
significant, as well as how to distinguish those who are adjudged
reliable from those who are adjudged unreliable. H istory also shows
the methods th ey used, the character qualities they possessed,
and the truths th ey found for mankind. Furthermore, history
is most helpful for the smooth preservation of genealogical lines.
E xp ert scholars and (intellectually) awake religious leaders wrote
historical works as numerous as the stars of heaven. Some arranged
their works chronologically, others alphabetically, so th at they
m ight be grander and more exalted.^ Some chose a particular
country, others dealt w ith all regions and groups. ^
The following statem ent was made b y M uhammad b. Ibrahim
b. Sa'id b. al-Akfani in the valuable IrM d al-qdsid ild asnd (30)
al-maqdsid'^ Books on history afford the opportunity to study
the history [ahhdr) of kings, scholars, prominent men, and the m ani
fold events of the past. This is a relaxation for the mind and a lesson
for the thoughtful. The best history to be found in our tim e is that
compiled b y Ibn al-Atir al-Jazari. Some works combine the most im
portant historical inform ation w ith (excerpts from) the best poetry,
which makes them fine literary products. Such works are, for in
stance, the Tadkirah of Ibn Hamdun,^ the Rayhdnat al-adah b y

^ J a 'fa r b. T a^ ab (?) al-U dfuw i (d. 748/1347, cf. G A L , II, 31), at-Tdli^ as-saHd, 4 (Cairo

1333/1914).
1 Q u r an iii 140 (134 FL).
2 T he Ma^dlim al-iman (Tunis 1320-25), Ibn an -N ajis edition of the w ork of al-Q ayra
w ani (d. 696/1297, cf. G A L Supplement II, 337) apparently docs not contain the passage
quoted. A l-A n saris w ork on m ystical love, MaSdriq anwdr al-qulub, has been edited b y
H. R i t t e r (B eirut 1379/1959).
^ For the last sentence, cf. above, p. 293, n. 5.
* Cf. above, p. 288.
* 665-739/1267-1339 (cf. G A L , II, 36, to be corrected and supplem ented b y E l , 2nd ed.,
s . V. al-Birzali). T he passage appears at the beginning of al-B irzalis History in the twovolum e copy in Istan bu l, To pkapu saray, A hm et III , 2951 (written in 1321 b y Ibn al-H ububi
[d. 722/1322, cf. Ibn H ajar, Durar, IV , 198 f.] and collated w ith the author).

^ The A rab ic te x t here has an ingenious and not in frequ ently used play on words.
At-TdW- as-saHd has a more lik e ly w ad is, instead of groups.
^ A l-A k fa n i (d. 749/1348, cf. G A L , II, 137), Irsdd, 15 (Cairo 1318/1900). Cf. also the fatwd
of 'Izz-ad -d in al-K inan i, ed. F. S a y y i d , in Revue de Iln stitut des Manuscrits Arabes, II,

1746-9(1375/1956).
M uham m ad b. al-H asan b. Ham dun, d. 562/1167 (cf. G A L , I, 280 f.). The section on
history is to be found in the forty-n in th chapter of the Tadkirah (Vol. X I I , fols. ib -i8 8 b ,
I96a-205a of the Ms. T o pkapu saray, A h m et III , 2948). The author says that, since h istory,
the best exh ortation [maiv^izah] for m an, is here on ly part of a larger w ork, he has been
brief. The treatm ent of pre-Islam ic h istory is follow ed b y th at of M uham m ad and the caliphs
to the end of the U m ayya d d y n a sty. There follows an annalistic h istory down to the year
553/1158, which is interrupted, anno 132, b y a coherent treatm ent of the 'A b b asid d yn asty.

3 o8

AS-SAH AW tS I "LAN

Ibn S a id / the 'Iqd b y Ibn Abdrabbih,^ the Fast al-hitdh b y

at-Tifasi, the Natr ad-durar b y a l-A b i/ and others.
I
found the following statem ent in the Kitdh ad-Dm r an-nazim
f i l-Hlm wa-t-taHim, (the work) of some (unknown author, based)
upon b. al-Akfani;^ Books on history afford the opportunity to
study the history {ahhdr) of scholars and intelligent men, the hap
penings th at concerned them, the m anifold events (of the past),
the biographies [siyar] of people, and their virtues and vices which
time perm itted to live on after they themselves were dead.
Afif-ad-din a l-Y a fii, the famous saint, called his history, which
is chronologically arranged according to the years of the hijrah,
M ir'at al-jandn wa-'-ahardt al-yaqzdn, On the knowledge of instructive
events, the shifting circumstances of human beings, and the dates of
some very prominent men. In the beginning of the work, a l-Y a fii
has the following verses:

TRANSLATION

309

The never ceasing change of days b y one so wise.

So fair to His creation, not unfair.
H ow m any lessons history contains for him
W ho w ants to learn, is cautious, circumspect.
W hom constant change of time taught prudent abstinence
From m atters which concern another one,
W ho is content w ith w hat H e-that-knows-all decreed.
Abiding b y His judgm ent, free from grudge! (31)
O Lord, protect us from calam ity and sin
In a world so full of sinners of all sorts.

A book which will not irk you, friends of history.

Through too great brevity, or tiresome length.

A bout to drown in its ocean m any reached the shoreW hat shall he do to whom no shore is left ?

Here you will find it, keeping to the middle path.

W hich, as the proverb says, is best of all.

In the Nasihat al-musdwir wa-ta^ziyat al-mujdwir, Badr-ad-din

A bu Muhammad A bdallah b. M uhammad b. Farhun al-Madani
al-Mahki refuted those who disapproved of (the custom of ) putting
up a stone or the like in the Prophets Mosque (in Medina), in order
to m ark the place where a judge, m ufti, or scholar sat (in the
exercise of his functions). He spoke in his w ork of a number of his
contemporaries and their divinely inspired deeds. In this manner,
their m em ory would be kept alive, and their learning would be
spread. The author further added some good things from the
histories of (data about) previous reliable (scholars). T h ey can here
be found, he said, b y the student who enjoyed them but was not
sure of the correctness of the transm itted text. A person in the right
frame of mind m ight notice these (stories), and thereby come to
adopt the sublime character qualities of those scholars and to
reach their high level of education. ^ He (further) said: God
increased the reward of the scholars on account of the ignorant
persons who dom inated them , ^ especially those who thought

Here yo u ll encounter brilliant poems, anecdotes,

A nd stories, fit to mention or to drop.
Of precious, w itty saws those which are meaningful.
Of fine remarks the choicest to be found.
It is a lesson for the student who beholds
Tim e which lifts human beings up and lets them down,
^ 'A l i b . Musa b. Sa'^id, seventh/thirteenth cen tury (cf. G A L , I, 336 f.). Cf. H a jji H alifah,
K a s f az-zunun, III , 524 F l u g e l . The te x t of the I'^ldn, stran gely enough, has Tajdrib
al-iimam, the title of M iskaw ayh s famous h istory. Th e correct title appears in IHdn, 162,
below , p. 516, and in al-A kfan i. Th e last tw o item s of a l-A k fa n is list also are corrupt in
the te x t of the I'^ldn. T h e y are here corrected in accordance w ith the te x t of al-A kfani.
Since the same corruptions appear IHdn, 162, below, p. 516, as-Sahaw i either used a fa u lty
copy of the Irsdd, or his lim ited knowledge of adab w orks misled him.
^ A hm ad b. M uham m ad, d. 328/940 (cf. G A L , I, 154 f.).
A h m ad b. Y u su f, d. 651/1253 (cf. G A L Supplement, I, 904).
* Mansur b. al-H usayn, d. 421/1030 (cf. G A L , I, 351).
5 C t.G A L , II, 137.
* For the last sentence, cf. I'-ldn, 38 f., below, p. 32of.
'A b d allah b. A s 'a d (d. 768/1367, cf. G A L , II, 176 f.), Mir^dt al-jandn, I, 3 f. (H yderabad
1337-39). G A L reads wa-'^ibrat, instead of laa-'^abardt.
* A l- Y a fi'i; al-halq.

^ Ibn Farhun (cf. G A L Supplement II, 221), Nasihat al-musdwir, Ms. Cairo T a rih 6s,
p. 3. Accordin g to Ibn H aja r, Durar, I I, 300, an 'A b d allah b. M uham m ad b. Farhun died
in 769/1368, b u t according to the m anuscript, the w ork w as finished on R am adan 21st,
777/February 13th, 1376 {GAL Supplement II, 221: 774/1372). Th e Cairo m anuscript was
w ritten in 1093/1682, b u t its first h alf is a later addition.
This part of the quotation appears on p. i of the Cairo m anuscript.

310

AS-SAH AW ts I LAN

that th ey were qualified for the high position (of scholars) in the
repulsion of doubtful (opinions) while in fact th ey fell far behind
it. MMik said very correctly; It is not a good sign if someone
thinks th at he (ought to) occupy a position for which people do
not consider him qualified. I never sat down in the mosque (in
order to teach), unless seventy learned sayhs testified to m y qual
ification (to occupy a certain place). ^
In the Tahaqdt al-Hanafiyah, M uhyi-ad-din A bii M uhamm ad
Abd-al-Q adir al-Qurasi al-H anafi ^ said w hat is quoted here in a
shortened form ; It is very instructive and extrem ely im portant
for a number of reasons to discuss the biographies of (religious)
scholars w ith the details of their life, their qualities, the times in
which they lived, and their position (in scholarship). One of the
reasons, for instance, is that it gives one confidence in himself.
The verse of the Q uran; Does not the m em ory of God give con
fidence ?,3 was interpreted b y a number of ancient scholars as re
ferring to the m em ory of the men around Muhammad. This is
well possible. These men were distinguished above all others b y the
privilege of having seen the Prophet, b y the fact that th ey were
his faithful followers, and b y the fact th at they (alone) were in the
possession of the knowledge (of the Prophetical traditions). A nother
reason is that (the discussion of the biographies of religious scholars)
enables the student to reach the educational level of those (scholars)
and to learn from their good actions and qualities. Furtherm ore,
it serves to put every (scholar) in his proper place and to avoid
assigning inferior positions to im portant (authorities) or elevating
others beyond their proper positions. He is more learned than any
scholar.^ Muhammad referred to this in the tradition; L et the
patient and intelligent men among you be close to m e.^ A further
reason is th at (the discussion of the biographies of religious scholars)
enables the student to rely in the case of contradictory opinions
upon the most learned and austere (authorities). Furthermore, it
gives inform ation about (32) their publications and helps to evaluate
their usefulness. L astly, it stops any criticism directed against some
1 T h is part of the quotation, appears on, p. 2.
2 'A b d -al-Q ad ir b. M uham m ad (d. 775/1373, cf. G A L , II, 80), al-Jawdhir al-mudiyah
f t tahaqdt al-H anafiyah, I, 3 aud 6 (H yderabad 1332).
3 Q u r an xiii 28 (28 FI.).
Q u r an xii 76 (76 FI.).
Cf. T B , I X , 281; X I , 192; X I I , 150; A b u 'A w a n a h , M usnad, II, 41 f. (H yderabad
1362-63); Taskdpriizadeh, M iftdh, 1, 67 (H yderabad 1328-56). Ms. Leiden has the correct text.

TRANSLATION

311

one on account of the obscurity of his authorities, as well as any

attem pt b y others to consider them little known.^
Sufyan b. U yayn ah said; The m em ory of pious men is a source
of (divine) mercy.
A bu H anifah said; I like stories about scholars and their good
quahties and actions better than a good deal of jurisprudence.
Those stories educate the people.
Inform ation on the tribulations suffered b y some (scholars),
which m ay be found mentioned, is a consolation in tribulations
(which one m ight suffer oneself) and an indication of their firm
position within (the ranks of) pious men.
Inform ation about the countries in which the (religious) scholars
lived and were at home is also very useful.
In the introduction [hutbah) of the Tahaqdt al-M dlikiyah, Burhanad-din A bu Ishaq Ibrahim b. A li b. Farhun,^ a nephew of the
afore-mentioned Ibn Farhun, said; The noble character of the
knowledge of this field (history) ^ is well-known, and ignorance
of it is subject to blame. It is not a branch of knowledge to which
the (proverbial) saying m ight be applied; To know it is of no use,
and not to know it does no harm. It has indeed been applied to
genealogy, a field which is different from h istory.
H owever, genealogy should not be neglected. It is very useful.
Ibn A bd-al-Barr spoke of it, and Sihab-ad-din al-Qalqasandi
has most of it in his work.
W ali-ad-din Ibn H aldun al-Mahki said in his H istory:
(Blank space in the m anuscript left b y the author for the
later insertion of the quotation).
1
Istijhdl, to majhul, for w hich technical term cf. al-H atib al-Bagdadi, K ifdyah, 88 f.
(H yderabad 1357). T he last sentence does not appear in the printed te x t of the Jawdhir.
^ Cf. P la n 20, above, p. 293, n. 5 " A b u H anifah an-N u'm an b. T a b it, d. 150/767-68, or 151 (cf. G A L , I, 169-71). The
statem ent is quoted b y A b u B a k r ij. a l-'A rab i (cf. G A L , I, 412 f., and Supplement I, 632 f.,
663, 732 f.), Mardqt az-zulfd, in Ibn al-H ajj al-'A bd ari, M udhal (madhal) as-sar'^ as-sarif. I,
56 f. (Cairo 1320).
D. 799/1397 (cf. G A L , II, 175 f.). Cf. his Tahaqdt al-M dliktyah, 2 (Fes 1316).
Ibn Farhu n : al-fann.
Y u su f b. 'A b d allah (d. 463/1071, cf. G A L , I, 367 f.) defines genealogy as a knowledge
w hich to know is of no use and which not to know does no harm , cf. his Jdmi'^ baydn al-Hlm,
II, 23 (Cairo, n.y.) and his Inbdh, 43 (Cairo 1350). He follow ed a prophetical tradition, cf.
also Ibn H azm , Jamharah, 3, 5 (Cairo 1948); as-Sam 'aui, Ansdh, fols. 3b-4a; al-G azzali,
Ihyd^, I, 27 (Cairo 1334); Ibn H aldun, Muqaddimah, I, 236 Paris; Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, III, 104.
A hm ad b. '"Ali, d. 821/1418 (cf. G A L , II, 134). The w ork referred to m ay be the
Subh al-a'^sd which has a chapter on the ansdh al--Arah, unless al-Q alqasandis w ork on the
A rab tribes (cf. iHdn, 109, below, p. 434) is m eant.
*
'A b d -ar-R ah m an b. M uham m ad, 732-808/1332-1406 (cf. G A L , II, 242-45). As-Sahaw i
p robab ly intended to quote from the first pages of the Muqaddimah.

312

AS-SAHAW IS I'LAN

TRANSLATION

The following statem ent was made b y Muwaffaq-ad-din A bu

1-Hasan A li b. al-Hasan b. A bi B ak r al-H azraji ^in the introduction
of the History of the Yemen: 1 was m oved to compile this History
b y m y observations concerning the prevailing indifference tow ard
history. (This indifference exists) in spite of the fact th at there is
much need for historical knowledge. In m any m atters, one ought
to have reference to historical inform ation, and there is a need
for the edifying and literary m aterial and the detailed inform ation
about com plicated genealogical relationships which are contained
in historical works. W ithout a knowledge of h istory, the author said,
no inform ation would exist about former generations in later
ones. It would not be possible to tell superior individuals (of the
past) from inferior ones and to distinguish well-known men from
little known persons.
ams-ad-din Muhammad b. Am m ar al-Misri al-Maliki ^ said:
If the only instructive aspect of history were the critical exam ina
tion of old stories and uninterrupted traditions, (it would suffice),
for distress about the evil that reigns in this sad time is alleviated
b y the realization (gained from such a critical exam ination of his
tory) that disappointm ents are an old story.
In the Tuhfah, Professor A bu (33) A bdallah b. al-Abbar, the
Spanish litterateur,^ told the following story: On one of the ex
peditions of the Am ir Tam im b. Y usu f b. Tasfin,^ his entourage in
cluded M aymun al-Hawwari, a jurist and dignitary of Cordoba,
and the judge A bu 1-Walid, the real power among them.
They stopped outside Murcia where th ey were met b y A bu
Muhammad b. A b i Ja'far. A t their gathering, they discussed the
question of the respective merit of the form ulas: There is no God
but G od and Praised be G od. A bu 1-W alid preferred the former
formula, and A bii Muhammad the latter. On this occasion, M aym un
1 D. 812/1409 (cf. G A L , II, 184 f.).
^ It would seem, th at the quotatiou from, Ibn 'Am.mar (cf. above, p. 280) extends to p. 315,
line 17.
M uham m ad b. ^Abdallah, d. 658/1260 (cf. G A L , I, 340 f.; ' A

b d -a l - ' A ziz

'^Ab d - a l -

M a j I d , Ibn al-Abbdr, haydtuh wa-kutubuh [Tetuan 1373/1954]; and the introduction b y

S A lih a l - A s t a r to his edition of Ibn a l-A b b a rs IHdb al-kuttdb [Damascus 1280/1961]).

Ibn al-A bbar refers to this sto ry in the brief notice d evoted to M aym un al-H aw w ari,
in the Takmilah, 3 9 5 C o d e r a (Madrid 1 8 8 9 , Bibl. Arabico-Hispana, 6 ) . It appears in his
Tuhfat al-qddim, cf. al-Masriq, X L I , 3 4 1 f. (1947); al-Muqtadab min Kitdb Tuhfat al-qddim,
3 4 a l - I b y a r i (Cairo 1957).

* D. 520/1126 (cf. Ibn A b i Zar*-, 106, trans. 145 T o r n b e r g , Uppsala 1843-46).

M uham m ad b. A lnnad, the grandfather of the fam ous philosopher, d. 520/1126 (cf.
G A L , I, 384).
Unidentified.

313

wrote to A bu Muhammad the following verses in which he chided

him:
Consider again the things you wrote, and you better dont
Begin w ithout proper preparation and arms the fight.
Y o u are not prepared to teach a true scholar anything.
To follow behind him in his steps is for you just right.
Y o u thought, Ibn R usd was like the others you met before!
Y o u ll find, he is stronger than a lion w ith all his might.
A bii J a far b. W addah ^ repUed for A bu Muhammad, in the
same metre and rhym e:
Go slow, you are certainly not causing a stir round here.
W h y do you not learn, if you are able to see the light!
If learning were given just to those who are fit for it.
Y ou would not rely upon the points made to win your fight.
If we were together in one room for the argument.
W e would give you deadly poison quickly to end your p ligh t.
Ibn Am m ar also told this story in a different connection, but
b y telling it here, I w anted to show how perfectly well one m ay
rely on (history), in order to find consolation. He (further) said:
No doubt (also) in former times, non-scholars participated in
scholarship. I do not mean b y participating th at they competed
w ith scholars in the zeal for serious stud y as a means to reach
the heights of true scholarship. No, b y m aking unfair use of their
rank and wealth, th ey forced their w ay into the positions which
of right belonged to real scholars, and donned scholarly robes and
(wore the) ends of turbans (as scholars did). If th ey were exposed
to the light of truth, they would be found to have assumed an ap
pearance which was not theirs ^ and to have clothed themselves
w ith the garm ents of falsehood and fraud. T h ey would become the
butt of the scornful and the laughingstock of observers. In fact,
1 A hm ad b. M aslamah, died about 530/1135-36, cf. E . L e v i - P r o v e n ^ a l , La Peninsule
Iberique, 32, n. 2 (Leiden 1938). Th e last of Ibn W ad d ah s verses apparently refers to
d e a d ly argum ents.
2 Th e reading of the Ms. Leiden; tasabba'-u th ey gorged on things w hich were not theirs ,
m a y be preferable.

314

AS-SAH AW IS I ' l A n

th ey would become a frequently quoted and very effective histor(ical

example, ta'rih). In ancient and recent tim es, he said, frauds
were practiced on people, and they actu ally died although th ey lived
on (34) in books and stories. Sibaw ayh, the foremost gram m arian
who evolved A rabic gram mar from oral inform ation received b y him
from Bedouins and the outstanding expert in the sciences which he
chose to m aster was killed b y a fraud and the intrigues of his rival
a l-K isa i. In the presence of the Barm ecides, a l-K isa i asked Si
baw ayh about the question of the wasp.^ Sibaw ayh gave the correct
answer, (citing the phrase) which conformed to the nature and
speech of the Bedouins. Al-Kisa^i, however, did not w an t it
(to be true) and used his influential position at ar-Rasid(s court)
as a weapon. Bedouins were brought in, in order to decide who of
the two was correct. Out of regard for al-K isai s position, or
possibly because th ey had been bribed, they just stated th at the
w ay a l-K isa i said it was correct (but did not pronounce the phrase
itself). T h ey would have been unable to pronounce the (incorrect)
gram m atical form which a l-K isa i suggested. Sibaw ayh, (knowing
that), said to Y a h y a b. HMid al-Barmaki;^ Tell them to pronounce
it, and their tongues will not be able to . This affair left Sibaw ayh
no choice b ut to leave al-Basrah for Persia (Fars) against his will as
the victim of a fraud, and he staid there until he died. In his Gram
matical Poem, Ibn H azim al-Andalusi ^ mentioned the affair in
connection w ith the problem of the w asp. (Ibn Ammar) here
quoted Ibn H azim s verses.
Jam al-ad-din b. Malik, the transm itter of all the gram m atical
and lexicographical knowledge of Arabia,^ died of late the victim of
a fraud. In spite of his great qualities and the fact th at he was in
great need and reduced circumstances, his position as a preacher
in one of the suburbs of Damascus was contested and taken aw ay
from him b y a local ignoramus. H e nearly died, especially when
he attended the F rid ay prayer and asked that ignoramus after the
service about the articulation of the (sound) alif. The man became
^ F o r the fam ous gram,marians of the second/eighth cen tury, 'A m r b. ^Utman Sib aw ayh
(cf. G A L , I, 100-2) and 'A ll b. H am zah al-Kisa^i (cf. G A L , I, 115), and for the question of
the wasp, cf. A . F i s c h e r , D ie Mas^ala Zunburija, in A Volume of Oriental Studies presented
to E. G. Browne, 150-56 (Cam bridge 1922); idem, in Islam ica, V , 211 ff. (1931); J. B l a u , in
Journal of Sem itic Studies, V I I I , 42-51 (1963).
2 D. 189/805.
^ H azim b. M uham m ad, d. 684/1285 (cf. G A L , I, 269). The poem is quoted b y Ibn Hi.sam,
M ugni al-labib. I, 75 f. (Cairo 1317).
* A p p aren tly, M uham m ad b. 'A b d allah , the author of the A lfiyah, d. 672/1274 (cf. G A L ,
I, 298-300).

TRANSLATION

315

confused and thought th at Ibn MMik had talked to him in a foreign

language. H e enum erated the letters of the alphabet from beginning
to end. The audience, all partisans of him, w ildly applauded him.
He had given tw enty-nine answers to (but) one question! JamM-addin found nobody to take his side. Hum iliated, he died a few days
later.
Ibn A m m ar told m any such stories at great length. H e thus
said: For all his greatness, Ibn a r-R a fah ^ did not even become
a tutor, let alone a professor. Ignorant persons become professors
through m oney or b y m ixing w ith contem ptible office seekers.
The best position which Ibn al-H ajib ^ could find in Cairo and
A lexandria after his return from Damascus was th at of an official
witness, although (he was a great scholar) according to the following
statem ent of Ibn Hallikan in his History. He cam e to me several
times to register depositions, and I asked him about (35) difficult
problems of the A rabic language, and he was able to answer them
m ost exhaustively, w ith great calmness and com plete firm ness.
Ibn A m m ar m entioned much of that. It has altogether nothing
to do w ith our subject here, but a discussion leads from one thing
to the other. ^ Moreover, there is a detailed treatm ent of these
and similar m atters in another publication of mine entitled al-Furjah.^
Taqi-ad-din al-Maqrizi said: Know ledge in general falls into
the tw o parts of intellectual and traditional knowledge. A fter the
acquisition of a sufficiently thorough understanding of both of
them, one should take tim e out to study history and to ponder its
lessons. Through such study, a person whose blindness of heart
and vision was rem oved b y God will learn about the destruction
and final disappearance which fell to the lot of his fellow-men
after the handling of w ealth and m ilitary power. He will come to
^ A p p aren tly, A hm ad b. M uham m ad, d. 710/1310 (cf. G A L , II, 133 f.). He was, how ever,
a v e ry successful man.
^ ^Utman b. 'U m ar, d. 646/1249 (cf. G A L , I, 303-6).
^ A hm ad b. M uham m ad b. H allikan (d. 681/1282, cf. G A L , I, 326-28), Wafaydt, II, 194
trans. D e S l a n e .
*
For this proverb, cf., for instance. L a n e , 1509b, s. rad. sjn, or ^Umarah al-H akam i,
an-Niikat al-'-asriyah, 6 D e r e n b o u r g (Paris 1897, Publ. de VEcole des langues or. viv.,
IV e Serie, V ol. 10).
W ith its full title: al-Furjah bi-kd^inat al-Kdm iliyah allatt laysa fihd li-l-m u-drid
hujjah {Daw^, V I I I , 17, line 24 f.).
Al-fand^, according to the te xt of the Hitat.
A h m ad b. 'A li al-M aqrizi, 766-845/1364-1442 (cf. G A L , II, 38-41). Up to this point,
the q uotation agrees w ith H itat, I, 4 (Bulaq 1270).

3i 6

AS-SAHAW IS I LAN

abstain from this world and to wish for the other w orld. Then,
al-Maqrizi said; How bad does it look if a person, who is considered
a scholar and who thinks of himself as an educated and learned
man, is able to answer a question about G ods prophets, in whom
he is to believe, b y m erely giving their names, b ut does not know
w hat those names im ply. How bad does it look if a man who under
takes to teach and give fatwds or to function as a judge does not
know the details of M uhamm ads life, his genealogy, his beautiful
w ay of life, his exalted position, and his essential and accidental
virtues, things which every believer m ust know and everyone who
is considered a scholar must have studied. Such a person would
surely h ave to reply to the question of the two exam iners after
death ^ concerning his opinion about th at m an (M uham m ad): I do
not know. I heard people say, and I repeated^ . . . . M ay God
preserve us from th a t!
The outstanding gram marian and lexicographer, A b u 1-H usayn
b. Faris,^ said; E v e ry Muslim ought to h ave a knowledge of this.
Shame upon the person who thinks of himself as a scholar and does
not know who the earliest em igrants w e re ; who cannot distinguish
betw een those who contributed and fought before the Conquest
(of Mecca), and those who contributed after it; who does not know
who those fighters at B adr were, concerning whom it w as said:
Do w hatever you want. I have forgiven y o u who does not know
who those participants in the oath of allegiance and agreement
(at H udaybiyah) were whom the F ire w ill not touch; and who
does not know who those men of Medina were, of whom we are to
reward those who do good and leave unpunished those who do
evil, and whom to love is (true) believing.
Al-M aqrizi said in a statem ent in his handw riting transm itted
b y Najm -ad-din b. F a h d ; The historian (of the past) m akes the
days (of the past) part of his own life, and the historian of his own
period (36) m akes those future (generations) who are not of his
^ I.e., the tw o angels M unkar and N akir, cf. Lisdn al-'^Arab, X V I I , 197 (Bulaq 1300-8).
2
T h is is the re p ly given b y sinners a t the ^addb al-qabr, cf. al-G azzali, Ihya?, IV , 427
(Cairo 1352/1933); Concordance, II, 537ag; I -ldn, 47, below , p. 333.
A hm ad b. Faris, d. a fter 390/999-1000 (cf. G A L , I, 130). Cf. IHan, 47, below , p. 333.
T he quotation m ay have come to as-Sahaw i through al-M aqrizi.
* C f. I b n H isam , Strah, 8 1 0 W u s t e n f e l d .
* F or the hay'-at ar-ridu'dn, cf. Ibn Hisam , Strah, 746 W i j s t e n f e l d .
Cf. Concordance, I, 401a; al-Buhari, Sahih, III , 9, 6 K r e h l ; T B , I, 295; Ibn H azm ,
Jamharah, 3 (Cairo 1948); Ibn H aldun, Muqaddimah, I, 350 Paris.
U m ar b. M uham m ad, 812-885/1409-80 (cf. G A L , II, 175 ; Daw^, V I, 126-31).

TRANSLATION

317

own time witness it. He presents the virtuous men (of the future)
with (other) lives and prepares for their ears and eyes places to
live in which had not been their places.^
I failed to see those houses with m y eye.
M ay-be, F ll see them w ith m y ears (through tales).^
Praise is due to Him who is alw ays in power.
In the preface of the 'JJqud al-fandah, (al-Maqrizi) said; God
organized m ankind so th at one generation would come after the
other and each group follow in the footsteps of the former. The
first ones would thus leave their stories to those after them as an
exhortation and example, and the later ones would keep ahve the
m em ory and spread the fam e of their predecessors. As a result,
intelligent persons will be deterred from doing things which evoke
criticism and which are recognized as evil. The educated will go
after the best and finest character qualities, and so on.
Taqi-ad-din b. Qadi Suhbah ^ said th at he spoke of (the
history of the past) for the benefit of future (generations). T h ey
would thus be able to study the historical inform ation [ahhdr) about
(the men of the past). (Otherwise), their biographies are difficult
to find. This, then, would be one aspect of the usefulness of (history).
In the beginning of the Tuhfat az-zaman f t ta^nh sdddt al-Yaman,
Badr-ad-din H usayn al-Ahdal ^ said; H istory is a useful branch
of learning. Through it, later generations acquire inform ation about
former ones. It becomes possible to distinguish between w orthy
and useless people. The student acquires insight and a knowledge
of the minds of the ancients. M any proofs (of the truth of Islam)
become clear. W ithout history, (past) conditions [ahwdl], dynasties,
genealogies, and causes would not be known. No distinction could
be made between ignorant and thinking people. It was said that
God revealed in the Torah a special book containing (information
^ Lahum , added b y an-N ahraw ali (see n. 2).
^ T h is is a verse b y as-Sarif ar-R ad i M uham m ad b. al-H usayn (d. 406/1015, cf. G A L , 1,82).
Cf. his Dtwdn, II, 82 (Cairo 1306) = 500 (Beirut 1310); Ibn al-Jaw zi, M udhis, 170 (Bagdad
1348); a l-K u tu b i, Fawdt, I I, 161 (Bulaq 1299); as-Safadi, W dfi, I, 190 R i t t e r ; Muham m ad
b. Ahm ad an-N ahrawtdi (d. around 990/1582), History of Mecca, in F. W i j s t e n f e l d ,
D ie Chroniken der Stadt M ekka, I I I , 4 (Leipzig 1857); Ibn Bassam , Dahtrah, IV , i, 194
(Cairo 1945); Ibn al-Jaw zi, Adkiyd^, 2 (Cairo 1306).
^ A b u B a k r b. A h m ad , d. 851/1448 (cf. G A L , II, 51). T he q uotation m ay be from his
IHdm bi-ta^rih ahl al-Isldm.
A l-H u sayn b. 'A b d -ar-R ah m an , d. 855/1451 (cf. G A L , II, 185).

3i 8

A S - S A H A w i s I'LAN

about) the conditions [ahwdl] of past peoples and the respective

length of their lifetim e, as well as an exposition of their genealogical
relationships. ^
M uhyi-ad-din a l-K afiya ji al-H anafi ^ the same who was kind
enough to say th at I was the most learned man of the tim e in both
intellectual and traditional knowledge sent me a w ork of his
on the subject (of history), which he had finished in the m onth of
R a jab of the year (8)67/March 1463. He started out b y saying that
h istory is a useful branch of learning which comprises the whole
range of hum an affairs including the other life. " I t is, he said,
instructive and remarkable in innumerable respects. It is an
ocean of pearls and corals. Its m any useful aspects cannot be fully
defined or explained. It includes the m arvels of the natural {mulk)
and supernatural world [malakut). It leads near to (37) the Truth,
the M ighty and Powerful One. H owever, history has been like
pearls which are dispersed in the deep waters of the rolling (?)
sea (of Um an ? ?) and not strung up on the string of fundam ental
facts and clear exposition. Therefore, m y friendly interest in sm art
and cultured people caused me to collect (the facts about) history
according to the rules of scientific accuracy, as much as this was
in m y power, although I am far from qualified to confront such a
w eighty problem. I composed this Short Work on Historiography
as a gift from me to m y friends, comparable to the g ift of the ant
to Sulaym ^n. ^ The author then explained th at history "fu lly
deserved codification that is, because works on history have a
very wide circulation. Therefore, he said, he "codified history in
a fine and easily understandable manner. It m ight thus reach all
classes of people; endure in the passing of days and years; be
spoken of and be preserved in the heart; become a memento and
incentive to undertake something similar (to the things m entioned
in historical works) in every place and a t every tim e; and stress
the truth of the w idely known adage: E very line which is not
w ritten down on paper is lost, and every secret which passes the
two (hps) is no longer a secret. ^ "H isto ry is an im portant subject.
It is welcom ed b y all. In a well-organized manner it contains ideas
1 Cf. also above, p. 288, and below, p. 320.
2 See above, p. 245 ff.
A l-K a fiy a ji, below , p. 547. T h e rem ark about Su laym au and the ant refers to Q ur an
x x v ii 18 f. (18 f. FI.).
A l-K a fiy a ji below, p. 556. For the adage of keeping secrets, cf. the verse of Q ays b.
al-H atim , Diwdn, No. 12, line i K o w a l s k i (Leipzig 1914).

TRANSLATION

319

and lessons and includes interesting m aterial on good actions and

qualities. W ithout history, no inform ation about or trace of the
past would reach us. H istory is a nourishment for the spirit and the
imagination. It is a treasury of inform ation about peoples and men.
I t is a mine of wonderful and rem arkable things, traditions, and
proverbs. It adorns sm art men and sustains the thoughtful. It aids
hadit scholars and enriches the educated. Kings, wazirs, discerning
m ilitary leaders, and other persons in im portant positions need (a
knowledge of) history. It teaches kings the lesson of dynasties and
nations of the past. It teaches wazirs the lesson of the actions of
previous masters of the sword and the pen. It shows m ilitary leaders
war ruses and tactics (used in the wars of the past). To all others,
history comes in the form of entertainm ent. A s a result, the w ay
is open to them for all kinds of good actions and closed for all the
things th at should not be done. It was, therefore, said: K ings ought
to follow the exam ple of their predecessors. T h ey ought to do w hat
their predecessors did as far as good actions are concerned, but not
as far as those actions are concerned which constituted a m atter
of regret for former kings. T h ey also ought to read the w ritten
exhortations and testam ents of their predecessors. Th ey ought to
look at their judgm ents and legal decisions. The kings of the past
possessed greater experience and insight. Secretly and openly,
th ey were as a rule more discerning than those who came after them.
T h e y (38) knew how to distinguish between good and bad, and
th ey could tell m anifest phenomena from obscure ones. Anusarwan,
in sp ite of his exem plary conduct, used to read the books of the
ancients and tried to learn their stories and to follow their example.
Thus, one cannot do w ithout history. The occupation with it and the
literary fixation and transmission of histor(ical material) are neces
sary, One m ust, however, beware of expansions (of the transm itted
material) and of stabs in the dark
H istory should be treated in
accordance w ith the afore-mentioned (principles, enumerated in a
previous passage of a l-K a fiy a jis work). Consider the following
statem ent from the writings of one of the proph ets: An intelligent
person should apply himself to his affairs, know the people of his
time, and w atch his tongue.^ In this respect, Muhammad said:
Guard this (the tongue) w ell!
"Verses of the Q uran: The
'Cf. Q u r an x v iii 22 (21 FI.).
^ The prophet from, whose w ritin gs the quotation was derived was Ibrahim , according
to al-K afiya ji.
Cf. Concordance, V I, 26a, 11. 2 and 24. A l-K a fiy a ji, below , p. 578 f.

320

AS-SAH AW IS I'LAN

thoughtful have found instruction in their stories; it was not an

invented story but a verification of the facts before him, a specifica
tion of everything, a guidance, and m ercy for faithful people.
W e shall tel] you the most beautiful story in that we revealed to
you this chapter. ^ Am ong them, there are those about whom
we told you, and those about whom we did not tell yo u . We
shall tell you all the stories of the messengers (of old) through which
we shall steady your heart. ^ The quotation (from al-K M iyaji)
has been slightly rearranged.
Our colleague, from whom we have also learned much, the
expert and auth ority (in the religious sciences), Najm -ad-din U m ar
b. Fahd al-Hasim i al-Makki, made the following statem ent in the
introduction of the Durr al-kamin hi-dayl al-"Iqd at-tamin f i ta'rih
al-halad al-amin, a supplement to the w ork of his teacher, the
hadit expert Taqi-ad-din al-Fasi:^ H istory is a good and useful
branch of learning. It is earnest advice th at is firm and constant.
H istory teaches later generations the conditions [ahwdl) of those
of the past. W ithout history, they would not be known. No distinc
tion could be made between scholars and ignorant men. A t all
times, people have been in agreement concerning (the value of)
history and have written all kinds of historical works. It was said
that God revealed in the Torah a special book containing (informa
tion about) the conditions [ahwdl) of past peoples and the respective
length of their lifetime, as well as an exposition of their
genealogical relationships. ^The author then quoted the rem arks of
Ibn al-Akfani in the Durr an-nazim,^ and those of Izz-ad-din alH anbali in his Fatwd.^
Najm -ad-din further said in the introduction {huthah) of his book
on the history [hawddit) of Mecca entitled Ithdf al-ward bi-ahhdr
Umm al-Qurd\ There can be no doubt about the great value
and im portance of history. It is useful to study the events of
(past) times, the biographies [siyar) of people, and the historical
inform ation about them which tim e peim itted to live on (39)

^ Q ur an xii i i i ( m FI.) and xii 3 (3 TL), from a l-K a fiya ji, below , p . 553.
^ Q u r an xl 78 (78 FI.) and xi 120 (121 FI.), from, a l-K a fiy a ji, below, p. 561 f.
3
M uh am m adb. A hm ad, 775-832/1373-1429 (cf. G A L , II, 172 f.). For Ibn Fahd, cf. above,
p. 316, n. 7 Cf. I^lan, 16, above, p. 288.
Cf. above, p. 307.
*
A hm ad b. Ibrahim al-K inan i, d. 876/1471 (cf. G A L , II, 57). Th e reference is to the
fatu'd quoted below , pp. 345-47.

TRANSLATION

321

after they themselves were dead.^ In addition, history imparts

instruction to the receptive, serious advice to the thoughtful, an
acquaintance w ith the men of the past, and the realization that
the inhabitants of this world are engaged in a journey. The great
importance and instructiveness of the annalistic fixation of history
were in the m ind of Um ar and the men around M uhammad when
th ey invented the era (te'n/i). The author then quoted the short
statem ent of his teacher, al-Maqrizi, which we have mentioned
above following the long one.^
There ^ were other historians, among them A bu A li Ahm ad
b. Muhammad b. Y a 'q u b ar-R azi M iskawayh who said th at his
critical investigation of the historical inform ation [ahhdr) about
nations and the biographies of kings and his stud y of the historical
inform ation about countries and of the works on history [tawdrih]
gave him a useful experience in m atters th at will alw ays repeat
themselves and in a similar form can alw ays be expected to recur.
He, therefore, composed the four-volume Tajdrib [Experiences]
al-uniam wa- "-awdqih al-kimam.^ A supplement to it was written b y
the wazh al-hadratayn, A bu S u ja M uhammad b. al-Husayn b.
A bdallah al-BagdM i.^
A nother (historian) was A bii 1-F ath Ahm ad b. M utarrif alKinani. He said th at he extracted (?) from his works a monograph
on specific clearly established historical dates [tawdrih], things
which (religious) scholars should know well and should not be
ignorant of and which are needed b y scholars who occupy them
selves with the (history of) religions and biography and b y all
those who know the vicissitudes of time.
A nother (historian) was A bii 1-H usayn A li b. A hm ad as-Sallam i.
1 Cf. IHdn, 30, above, p. 308, and iHdn, 44, below, p. 330.
Cf. above, p. 316 f.
3 Th e follow ing quotations, down to p. 325, m ay be indirect ones.
Cf. the in troduction of M iskaw ayh s (d. 421/1030, cf. G A L , I, 342 f.) work.
^ D. 488/1095 (cf. G A L Supplement, I, 583; Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, I X , 90-94).
He m ay be identical w ith the w riter who died in 413/1022-23, cf. Y a q u t, Irsdd, V, 63 f.
(Cairo = II, 1 1 5 ! . M a r g o l i o u t h ) .
He lived around 950, cf. G A L Supplement, I, 571, to be supplem ented through W .
B a r t h o l d , Turkestan doivn to the Mongol Invasion, 11 and 21 (London 1928, E . J . W. Gibb
M em. Series, N .S . 5). B a r t h o l d recognized as-Sallam i as the source of the relevan t sections
of al-G ardizi, Zayn al-aJjbdr (cf. M. N a z i m s edition of the sections on the B u n d s, Sam anids,
and C azn aw id s, Berhn 1928, E. G. Browne Mem. Series, i), and Ibn al-A tir, Kdm il.
Th e correct form of his nam,e is A b u 'A li al-H usayn b. A hm ad as-Sallam i. A l-B a y h a q i,
Ta^rih-i-Bayhaq, 154 (Teheran 1317), quotes the historian himself for the form of his nisbah
as-Sallam i w ith two /s. At-Ta'^^libi, Yatiniat ad-dahr, IV , 29 (Dam ascus 1304), has m erely
A b u 'A li as-Sallam i, b u t the full form also appears in Y a q u t, Irsdd, III, 16 (Cairo = I,
R

o sen th al

History of Muslim Historiography

21

322

a s-s a h

A w I s

TRANSLATION

i 'l a n

E xcerpts from his History {ahhdr) of the Governors of Hurdsdn were

made b y the hadit expert Jam al-ad-din A b u 1-Mahasin al-Y agm uri.i From w hat he wrote, I am quoting as follows: There are
m any different sorts and kinds and m ethods of learning. E veryb od y
who is considered educated should choose one field, in which
he should compete w ith others and (try to) gain distinction. One
of the principal branches of learning is history. H istory leads to
the acquaintance w ith the great men of all times. It explains the
events, the news, and influential occurrences that happened at all
times. H istory gives the student a knowledge of the dates of ori
gins and of the details of the hves of great men of all times and
periods. H istorical knowledge is a safeguard against m istakes and
against the accusation of having made m istakes in statem ents
about great men. People can be observed telhng things whose dates
th ey do not know. E vents are dated either too early or (40) too late.
This applies especially to the people of Hurasan. Y et, Hurasanians,
more than others, had a hand in m any im portant events. ^ It is,
(therefore,) the du ty of Hurasanian scholars to know and to preserve
the history {anbd^ ay yam) of their country and its amirs. N othing
could be more disgraceful for them than to ignore the history
{ahhdr) of their own country, while, perhaps, th ey m ay be engaged
in the study of the history of other countries. T h at would be like
fulfilling supererogatory duties instead of the obligatory ones.
118 M a r g o l i o u t h ) . Of. also W . B a r t h o l d , in Orientalistische Studien Th. Ndldeke, I,
174 f. (Giessen 1906); G. B e r g s t r a s s e r , in Z D M G , L X V , 803 ( i g n ) ; at-T aw hidi, Ahldq
al-waztrayn, 403 I b n T a w i t a t - T a n j i (Dam ascus 1385/1965).
Of as-Sallam is other works, only his N utaf at-turaf (al-B ayhaqi: an-nutaf wa-t-turaf)
is som etimes quoted, of. a t-T a 'alib i, Tim dr al-qulub, 487 (Cairo 1326/1908); idetn, anNihdyah f i t-ta'-rtd, 47 (Mecca 1301); Y a q u t, Irsdd (see G. B e r g s t r a s s e r , D ie Quellen von
Jdqut's Irsdd, in Zeitschrift fu r Sem itistik, I I, 205, 1924); idem, Mu'^jam, IV , 203, W u s t e n f e l d ; al-(ju zuli, Matdli'-, I, 12 (Cairo 1299-1300).
T he passage from the M u -jam was adduced b y E . S a c h a u in connection w ith a S alam i
who is quoted b y al-Biriini, al-Atdr al-bdqiyah, 332 (Leipzig 1878, 1923). The Ms. Istanbul
^Umum.i 4667, pp. 370 and 372, shows th at as-Salam is w ork was entitled Kitdb at-Ta^rth
and dealt w ith dates concerning M uham m ad and the b irth d a y of al-H asan (al-Husayn)
b. ^Ali. It would be tem pting to ascribe this History (Chronology) to the author of the
History of the Governors of Hurdsdn, but as long as there is no more positive evidence for an
identification than the id en tity of a not uncom,mon nisbah, this is very uncertain. T B , X ,
148 f., has a hadit scholar, historian, and poet as-Salam i, A b u 1-Hasan 'A b d allah b. Musa
(d. 374/984). He could be the Salam i of al-Biruni, who, how ever, m ight have been an
astronom er.
The quotation, which is om itted in Ms. Leiden, m ay have stopped w ith the facetious
verses, below, p. 323, b u t it could also have included the verses of the three ancient poets.
1
\ usuf b. A hm ad, d. 673/1274-75 (cf. ad-D ahabi, History of Islam, Bodleian ms. or.
Laud. 279, fol. 80a, and R . S e l l h e i m , in the introduction to his edition of the K ur al-qabas
[below, p. 422, n. 7]). See also IHdn, 126, below, p. 467.
The first al-wdpb of the te x t m ust be replaced b y some word m eaning e v e n t.

323

In this connection, some verses m ay be quoted. T h ey were addressed

to a postm aster general (an office which at the same time was that
of chief of the intelligence service) whose girl had gone out, osten
sibly in order to take a bath, in fact, however, in order to visit a
friend of hers about whom he knew nothing;
N u m said: I ll take a bath, and cheated you.
Her w ay led her into her lovers arms.^
W hat happens in your own home is concealed to you.
How, then, can you control postal affairs?
The same idea is expressed in the verses of Ibn Harmah:^
H ow could I refrain from being
generous as the noblest are!
H ow could I strike w ith m y own hand
fhnts from which no fire comes!
tw ould mean being like an ostrich
who, deserting her own eggs,
Hatches underneath her wings the
eggs another ostrich laid.
This is said to be a sign of the enormous stupidity of the ostrich.
There even is a proverb: More stupid than an ostrich. ^ A n
ostrich often leaves her eggs while she looks for food. Coming
upon the eggs of another ostrich, she hatches them and neglects
her own eggs, so th at th ey perish. (This habit of) the ostrich gave
rise to the expression: Country that is, desert egg. A r -R a i ^
said:
Q udaah disclaims any relationship with you.
A nd so do the tw ain sons of Nizar. Y ou are a country egg.
1 For the situation , cf. also F. R o s e n t h a l , Ahmad b. at-Tayyib as-Sarahsi, 96 (New
H aven 1943, American Oriental Series, 26).
2 Ibrahim b. H arm ah, eighth cen tury (cf. O. R e s c h e r , Abriss der arabischen Litieraturgeschichte, I, 296 f., K on stan tin opel-P era 1925). For the verses, cf., for instance, A b u A hm ad
al-'Askari, M asun, 110 ^ A b d - a s - S a l a m M. H a r u n (K u w ait i960); A b u H ilal al-'Askari,
Sind^atavn, 109 (Cairo 1320); Ibn Q u tayb ah , Ma^dnt as-si^r, I, 213, 359 (H yderabad
1368/1949); Lisd n al-^Arab, III , 326 (Bulaq 1300-8).
=> A n illustration of the proverb m ay be seen in O. L o f g r e n , Ambrosian fragments of
an illuminated manuscript containing the Zoology of al-Gdhiz, pi. X \ I (U ppsala-Leipzig
1946, Uppsala Univ. Arsskrift, 1945, 5).
*
'A bid ( U b a yd ?) b. H usayn, a seven th-cen tury poet (cf. O. R e s c h e r , op. cit.. I, 166 f.),
F or the verses, cf. at-Ta"alibi, Tim dr al-qulub, 392 (Cairo 1326/1908); Lisdn al-^Arab,
V I I I , 394 (Bulaq 1300-8).

324

A S-SA H A W lS I ' l A n

The expression: Y ou are a country egg, signifies th at neither

th ey them selves nor their father were (of) known (origin), just as
it is not known (which ostrich laid) the eggs found neglected in
the desert. Such an egg is called tankah, in the sense of the passive
participle (deserted), pi. tardHk. A l- A sa ^ said:
Y a h m a a desert where wild asses stray
A nd where fine (ostrich) eggs deserted lie.
Another (historian) was al-Misri, the author of the Book of the
Two Dynasties, entitles Zuhrat al-'-uyun wa-jaW al-quluh.^ He said
in this book: H istorical and related inform ation is a sure guide to
the most im portant m atters and the noblest character quahties
(41) and actions. It is a deterrent to meanness and ughness, a
challenge to (exercise a) correct adm inistration, good judgm ent, and
smooth policies, and an enlightenment for the educated, a memento
for sm art people, for all others an education, and a recreation for
kings. H istory enlivens gatherings in serious and humorous m atters.
H istorical exam ples clarify arguments. H istory helps one to achieve
very easily w hat he wants. It gives the student a m astery of the
affairs (of the past) as if he had seen them with his own eyes. A li
said: H earts are fatigued just as bodies are. Therefore, procure
for them choice bits of wisdom . ^ A good book can take the place
of friend, storyteller, and companion. It is a help for the thoughtful
and a memento for the educated. It is stated on the auth ority of
Ibn A bbas th at he used to say when his companions entered into
a conversation after (the occupation with) the Q uran and its
interpretation: Ahmidu, th at is, ta lk about poetry and other
things.^ A tradition of some (au th ority): Hearts get rusty, just
as iron does. Therefore, polish them w ith the m em ory (of G od).
A tradition of A bu d-D arda :I refresh m y heart w ith some light
' M aym un b. Q ays (cf. G A L , I, 37), Dtwdn, 65, No. 1 1 , verse 5 G e y e r (London 1928,
E . J . W. Gibb M em. Series, N .S . 6). In the Dtwdn, as w ell as in Lisdn al-'^Arab, X I I ,
286 (Bulaq 1300-8), the te x t of the first hem istich differs considerably from the te x t of the
IHdn.
Cf. G A L Supplement I, 587; IHdn, 159, below , p. 5 1 1 , from al-M as'udi.
Cf. K a h j al-baldgah, II, 181 (Cairo, n .y .) ; al-K ulini, K d ft (ch. on fadilat al-Hlm) ; al-JMiiz,
M ufdharat al-jaudri iva-l-gilmdn, 9 P e l l a t (B eirut 1957), in the nam e of as-Sa'^bi; Ibn ^Abdal-B arr, Jdmi'- baydn al-Hlm, I, 105 (Cairo, n .y.); Ibn al-Jaw zi, Ahbdr al-hamqd, 10 f. (Cairo
1347); A hm ad b. M uham m ad a l-A s^ari, Luhh al-lubdb, beg. (Ms. or. Princeton 242 = 366B);
F. R o s e n t h a l , Humor in Early Islam, 5 (Leiden 1956).
^ Cf. Lisdn al-^Arab, V II I , 410 (Bulaq 1300-8).
^ Cf. T B , X I, 85; Ibn 'A ra b i, al-Futuhdt al-M akkiyah, I, 91 (Cairo 1329/1911).
A b u d -D ard a (^Uwaymir b. Zayd), d. about 34/654-55 (al-Buhari, T a M h , IV , i, 76 f.).
Cf. al-H usri, Zahr al-dddb, I, 157 (Cairo T305, in the m argin of the '^Iqd). A slightly different
version appears in al-Jahiz, Buhald^, 170 (Cairo 1948); idem, Mufdkarah, loc. cit.

TRANSLATION

325

entertainm ent, in order to be strengthened for the tru th . This

is the end of the quotation from al-Misri. (His remarks are) em
phasized b y the further aspects of the usefulness of history reported
b y us.
Another (historian) was a scholar whom A bu 1- A bbas al-M ayuraqi credits w ith rehgiosity and learning. He said: The occupation
w ith the dissemination of historical inform ation {ahbdr) about
the outstanding men of the age, even if it is concerned (only)
w ith the dates of their lives {tawdrih), indicates a state of happiness
in this world and in the other world. These men are Gods witnesses
on earth. If th ey are hated, it is because of a hatred of God. L oving
God is loving them. The hatred of evildoers indicates th at God
hates them.
M ay God show m ercy and kindness to these men, whether they
liv ed in the past or in recent years, and m ay He bless them and
forgive them . ^
Other (historians) were our teachers al-QayM ,^ Ibn H ajar,
a l-A y n i ,3 Ibn ad-Dayri,^ and Tzz-ad-din al-Hanbali, whose state
m ents I shall report later on in a separate paragraph. ^
In fact, all the authors of historical works or representatives of
personality criticism, m an y of whom I shall discuss, would not have
bothered w ith (history) if th ey had not known its usefulness in this
world and in the other world. It is clear th at history leads to the
acquaintance w ith most m atters of relevance. Professor A bu
1-Qasim al-Junayd said th at stories are one of G ods armies through
which H e steadies the hearts of His saints. Abked about the basis
for this statem ent, he quoted the verse of the Q ur an: W e shall
tell you all the stories of the messengers (of old) through which we
shall steady your h eart.
The annalistic fixation of history is useful (42) in m any respects.
It shows the period of the va lid ity of privileges, the changes in

1
It is n ot clear w hether the last paragraph belongs to the quotation, or is an addition
b y as-Sahaw i.
^ M uham m ad b. 'A li, 785-850/1383 (i384)-i446 (cf. Daw^, V I I I , 212-14).
^ M ah m M b. A hm ad, 762-855/1361-1451 (cf. G A L , II, 52 f.).
*
Sa'^d b. M uham m ad, 766 (767, 768)-867/i367-i463 (Jan. ist) (G A L Supplement, II,
144; Daw^, I II , 253).
IHdn, 54 ff., below , pp. 343-47.
T h e fam ous m ystic, al-J u n ayd b. M uham m ad, d. 298/910-T1 (cf. G A L , I, 199; A . H.
A b d e l - K a d e r , The L ife, Personality and Writings of al-Junayd [London 1962, E . J. W.
Gibb Memorial Series, N .S ., 22]).
Q u r an xi 120 (121 FI.).

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TRANSLATION

A S-SA H A W lS I LAN

coinage, and the term s of waqf donations.^ Furthermore, it makes

the student acquainted with the best generations {qarn), as indi
cated in the following statem ent of M uhamm ad: The best people
are m y generation; then, those who im m ediately follow (my gen
eration) ; then, those who im m ediately follow (that second gen
eration). 2 Using this (him = M uhamm ad?) as guidance dis
tinguishes a person from all others, even if in practical details
he does not live up to all requirements,^ and the m erit, therefore,
results from the consideration of the whole picture. (Annalistic
historiography is also useful in that) it shows the end of the period
of the first four caliphs whose exam ple we are to follow. It clarifies
the dates of (religious) innovations and news {hawddit). There are
m an y more aspects to the usefulness of history than can be enu
m erated. In the words of a l-'A yn i, which will be quoted below:
T he instructive aspects of history would fill volum es. ^
H istory, then, creates a desire (for good actions) and a fear
(of evil deeds). It engenders energy (to do good deeds) and stim ulates
im itation. It im parts earnest advice and instruction. It gives com
fort and consolation, counsel and success. It m akes one feel ill and
(at another time) healthy. These effects (of the study of history)
cannot be nulhfied b y the lim ited num beis of those who care to
learn its lessons. This situation reminds one of the following verses
b y an ancient poet:
H ad you called one of the living.
He would hear your call.
B u t the m an whom you are calling
Has no hfe at all.

32 7

There must alw ays be someone who wishes to learn, to investigate,

and to be enlightened. M ay God give us an understanding heart
and a truthful, inquisitive tongue. M ay H e help us to speak and
act righteously, and m ay He, at the end, grant us the desired
(reward in the other world)
Hereafter, we s a y : W e have mentioned th at the merits of history
are innumerable. B u t, in addition, th ey do not only concern (re
ligious) scholars. (All) learned and intelligent men share w ith the
speciahsts in the exploitation of the precious jewels of h istorys
mine. N ot only scholars but also others such as kings and courtiers
are desirous to know history. The com pany of historians is
sought b y m ystics (?) and debaters. A ll of them go to read his
torical works or to attend (the lectures of) historians. T h ey show
their respect for historians b y referring to them, even regarding the
most obvious and simplest m atters. W henever the great and original
scholar Taqi-ad-din b. D aqiq-al-id ^ was tired after his lectures, he
said to his pupil, the hadit expert Ibn Sayyid-an-nas;^ O Sayh
Fath-ad-din, entertain us with the biographies of those m asters.
According to a story of unproven authenticity, Judge (43) A bu
Yusuf, notw ithstanding his great knowledge (in religious matters),
was an expert in the stories of the raids and b attle days of the
Arabs, and similar historical facts. He once went to attend, or give,
lectures on the b attle days, and for some days his regular sessions
were disorganized. W hen he (finally) came, someone asked him:
W ho was the standard-bearer of G o h a th ? A bu Y usu f realized
th at he was being teased. He got angry and replied: Y o u better
refrain from such remarks, or I shall ask you in front of everybody
about the first rencontre at Badr or Uhud. Y o u would not know
that, although it is one of the easiest historical questions.

B low into the fire and w atch how

B right its glow will be.
Y o u blow into ashes. Surely,
No fire you w ill see.
^ Cf. IHdn, 44, below , p. 329.
2 Cf. Concordance, II, 96b. Cf. al-H atib al-B agdadi, K ifdyah, 47 (H yderabad 1357);
al-H um aydi, Jadw'at al-Muqtabis, Bodleian ms. or. H unt. 464, fol. 2 b.
3 O r: even if some individuals, in practice, do not , . . (? ) .
^ IHdn, 55, below , p. 345.
^ Cf. a l-K a fiy a ji, above, p. 251.
Cf. at-T ab ari, II, 930; Ibu Bassam , Dahirah, I, i, 115 (Cairo 1939); Ibn ^Abd-al-Barr,
Jdmi'^ baydn al-Hlm, II, 173 (Cairo, n .y .); W . P o p p e r , History of Egypt, trans. Ibn Taghrt
B irdi, V I, i i i (B erkeley and Los A ngeles i960); ' ^ A b d - a s - S a t t a r A . F a r r a j , Ahbdr Juhd,

71 (Cairo, n. y. [1954]); M iskaw ayh, Jdwiddn Hirad, ed. B a d a w i , intro, p. 6 i (Cairo 1952).
In connection with the quotation of the verses in the Arabskiy Anonim X I veka, 186, n. 479
(Moscow i960), P. A . G r y a z n e v i c i i refers, am ong other sources, to the Dtwdn of K u ta y y ir.
Agdni, X I I I , 153 (Bulaq 1285), and as-Safadi, al-6ayt al-musajjam, II, 70 (Cairo 1305),
ascribe the verses to 'A b d -a r-R ah m an b. al-H akam {GAL Supplement I, 84), whereas arR agib al-Isfahani, Muhddardt, I, 345 (Cairo 1287), speaks of Bassar b. Burd.
1 M uham m ad b. 'A ll, 625-702/1228-1302 (cf. G A L , II, 63).
*
Fath-ad-din M uham m ad b. M uham m ad b. M uham m ad, 671-734/1273-1334 (cf. G A L ,
I I , 71 f.). A ccording to Ibn H ajar, Durar, IV , 210, Ibn Daqiq-al-'-id, in class, relied upon
the biographical knowledge of Ibn Sayyid-an-nas, w henever the need arose. For historical
works in the lib rary of Ibn Sayyid-an-nas, cf. a l-K u tu b i, Fawdt, II, 345 (Cairo 1951).
T he fam ous H anafite Y a 'q u b b. Ibrahim , d. 182/798 (cf. G A L , I, 171). For his historical
know ledge, cf. T B , X I V , 246 f. T h is is indeed a strange story to tell about a person of the
second/eighth century.

328

TR A N SLA T IO N

AS-SAHAW IS I LAN

The Am ir Sanjar ad-D aw adari ^ happened to ask the hadit expert

araf-ad-din ad-Dimyati,^ who certainly was a great scholar, about
the date of the death of al-Buhari, and ad-D im yati just was not
able to produce the answer. Then, Ibn Sayyid-an-nas came, and
Sanjar asked him the same question. Ibn Sayyid-an-nas answered
it right away, w hereby he greatly gained in the esteem of Sanjar and
was given a position of greater honor at the court.
Judge Jalal-ad-din al-Bulqini once w ent out and told one of
his com pany in public to go to Taqi-ad-din al-Maqrizi and ask him
about some historical question. This was a great honor for alMaqrizi coming from a scholar of such standing. An even greater
honor was Ibn Ha ja r s repeated visits to Taqi-ad-din. He went to
his home, in order to converse w ith him, although al-Maqrizi owed
much in scholarly m atters to^ Ibn H ajar. B oth had good reasons
for w hat they did.
Ibn H ajar told us th at az-Zahir T atar had told him th a t the night
al-M ua yy a d died, he (az-Zahir) was financially in a v ery tight
spot. He did not even have five dinars to p ay a m an for the food
he brought him, and he had nobody to lend him th at much. Y e t,
az-Zahir succeeded faster than any one else in becoming ruler of
the realm and its treasures. Az-Zahir then ordered Ibn H ajar to
insert this rem arkable story in his history.^
Our teacher Badr-ad-din a l-A yn i used to lecture on history
and related subjects before al-Asraf B arsb ay and others. (His
lectures impressed) al-Asraf so m uch th at he made something like
the following statem ent; Islam is known only through h im .
A l-A yn i and others, such as Ibn Nahid and others, com piled
biographies for (of) the kings (the Mamhik rulers of E gyp t), since
th ey knew th at th ey liked to have it done.
The elder D awadar, the jurist Y asb a k al-M u"ayyadi, who was
^ D. 699/1299-1300 (ad-Dahabi, Duwal, II, 156, second edition, H yd erab ad 1364).
T he Mam,luk title dawdddr corresponds approxim ately to M inister of the Interior.
^ 'A b d -a l-M u W n b. H alaf, 613-705/1217-1306 (cf. G A L , II, 73 f.; G . V a j d a , in E l , 2nd
ed., s.v. al-D irnyati). Muhamrnad b. Ism a 'il al-B u h an , d. 256/870 (cf. G A L , I, 157 ff.).
^ O r; had freq u en tly atten d ed the classes of . . . ? .
A l-M u a y y a d died a t the beginning, and T a ta r near the end of 824/1421. The story is also
quoted in Datej^, IV , 8.
Cf. Ibn Tagrib irdi, N ujiim , V I, 774 f. P o p p e r (B erkeley 1 9 1 5 ff., trans. b y the sanae,
History of Egypt, IV , 1 5 7 f., B erkeley and Los A ngeles 195 8): W ithout Judge a l-'A y n i, we
would not be a good Muslim, and would n ot know how to h an d le the realm . T h is shows th at
the pronoun in the te xt of the IHdn refers to him, (al-'A yn i), and not to h isto ry .
M uham m ad b. N ahid, w ho died in 841/1438 (Daw^, X , 67), wrote a b iograp h y of alMu^ayyad.
Y a s b a k min Salm an Sah, d. 878/1473

(Daw^, X , 270-72).

329

an excellent and great am ir and a student of mme, kindly asked

me to do for az-Zahir Husqadam ^ w hat a l-A yn i had done for
others. However, I did not com ply w ith his wish. The Daw'M ar
after him, Y asb ak min Mahdi Azim-ad-dawlah,^ who had consider
able taste especially in this respect, (later on) asked me (44) to
w rite for him a supplement to al-M aqrizis Suluk. A fter much
dehberation and consultation, I com plied w ith his request and
compiled the Tihr al-masbuk. Y asb a k was very h appy w ith the work.
He took (the parts) that had reached him along w ith him on his
travels. H e made his com pany read the book and showed how
proud he was of it to courtiers, chiefs, and even more highly placed
persons, who were interested in being praised and gaining for
themselves a good m em ory and who would draw to themselves
those who, th ey suspected, would report on them in detail (in
histories ?). A ll this is a thing of the past. Nothing now remains but
stupidity, boorishness, and an interest in w orldly trifles.
In the introduction of the Tibr, I made the following remarks:
"H isto ry forms part of the science of Prophetical traditions. The
occupation with it, according to correct and sober methods, is an
honor and a pleasure. H istory occupies an im portant position in
religio(us scholarship). It definitely is useful for the religious law.
A s this is well known, no further explanation is needed. H istory
enables great scholars to tell abrogated (traditions) from those
th at took their place. It exposes fraudulent claims of personal
acquaintance as well as irregularities in the chains of transm itters
b y showing, for instance, th at a transm itters alleged authority
died before the transm itter himself was born, th at his authority
became deranged or confused, or never left his place which, in turn,
the transm itter never visited. H istory, correctly applied and under
stood, also serves to preserve (the knowledge of) genealogical lines
which determine the degrees of relationship, the shares of inherit
ance, and all m atrim onial equality.^ H istory also serves to indicate
the period of the va lid ity of privileges, the changes in coinage, and
the stipulated terms of waqf documents.* Furthermore, it is useful
for the study of the inform ation {ahhdr) about (rehgious) scholars,
^ D. 872/1467
I l l , 175 f.).
*
D. 885/1480 {Datv^, X , 272-74; M. W e i s w e i l e r , Der islamische Bucheinband des Mittelalters, 83 [W iesbaden 1962]). A n oth er m anuscript from his lib ra ry is a philosophical w ork
b y Ibn Sab'^in, in the Istan bul m anuscript B agdath Vehbi E f. 833.
F or a brief stu d y of kafd^ah, see F. J. Z i a d e h , in The American Journal o f Comparative
Law, Ml, 503-17 (1957).
Cf. above, p. 325 f.

330

TRANSLATION

AS-SA H A W is I l A n

ascetics, outstanding men, caliphs, kings, amirs, and nobles, as well

as for the study of their biographies, their achievem ents in
war and peace, their virtues and vices which time perm itted to live
on after their n ovelty had worn off and the men themselves were
dead.i Their good activities will be im itated. F acts about them th at
are repulsive to critical minds will not be hstened to. (Historical
works with) their useful exhortations and instructive anecdotes,
their scholarly research problems, and their poems, which constitute
the m ain m aterial for literary disciplines such as lexicography,
semantics,^ and the A rabic language, offer constructive recreation
for curious souls. Therefore, quite a few (45) qualified legal authori
ties have stated th at (the study of) history is a com m unity d u ty
which, however, comes close to the higher status of an individual
duty, since its fulfilm ent defends others against (possible) accusa
tions leveled against them. Indeed, history has often been the ju rists
only and specific means to show him who was in the clear. In ad
dition, it is part of his field and belongs to his required subjects of
study.^ I know of excellent poems in praise of history. I like
m any of the verses which show the desirability of an unrelenting oc
cupation w ith history. The clearest are those of Judge al-Arrajani.^
T h ey are original both in form and in contents:
A man who knows the record of the past
Seems to have alw ays Jived, since time began.
His hfe will last as long as time will last,
For he preserved the noble deeds of man.

SaJiih, whose chapters he wrote alternately at M uhamm ads grave

and the pulpit (of the Mosque of Medina) and for each of which he
prayed two rak'-ahs.^ (Even disregarding this fact,) I would say
th at the equal im portance of history and the science of traditions
is obvious. H istory alone decides (the accuracy and significance of)
traditions.
Moreover, history im parts inform ation which rather belongs to
other fields of learning, such as political science which is concerned
w ith the different types of governm ent, political leadership, and
social organizations, the ideal ones and the corrupt ones, and related
(m atters); or ethics which deals with the various virtues and vices
and the possibilities of their acquisition and avoid an ce; or econom
ics which deals w ith the proper relationship between the husband
and his wife, children, and servants.
W e have heard th at one of the boon-companions of al-Asraf
B arsb ay praised the latter because, w ith the construction of a
college in Cairo, in the desert, and in the Hanqah, etc.,^ he had done
more for the jurists than m any of his predecessors. A l-Asraf B arsbay
replied: Since the jurists of our predecessors did not ^ agree with
them, they did little for them. Our jurists, on the other hand, do
not contradict us. Therefore, the least we can do for them is to
provide them with such w orldly trifles. Those times are gone.
Nowadays, there still are agreement (46) and subservience but no
more w orldly trifles. ^ The rulers of tod ay even try to infringe
upon the income that was prepared for the jurists b y their predeces
sors.

The good and kind and men of knowledge vast

For ever live. Gain thus lifes longest span. ^
It is an indication of the im portance of history that al-Buhari
composed his History in Medina at M uham m ads grave. He wrote
it in m oonlit nights. He put the History on the same level as the
^ Cf. above, p. 320 f.
^ F or
al-ma'^dm, cf. Ibn H aldun, Muqaddimah, trails. F.
(New Y o rk 1958).

331

R o sen th al,

I I I , 399

^ Th e parenthetic passage is n ot found hi the Tibr and is alm ost certain to be an addition
in the I'-ldn, and not one of the m any omissions in the edition of the Tibr.
A h m ad b. M uham m ad, d. 5 4 4 / 1 1 4 9 - 5 0 (ef. G A L , I, 253 f.). T h e verses are quoted b y
as-Safadi, W dfi, I, 4 R i t t e r . T he first verse also appears in Ibn a d - D a y b a S Bugyat almustafid, Ms. Cairo T a rih i im , fol. la .
^ A s-Sahaw i, Tibr, 2 f. (BCilaq 1315).

Tw o additional notes:
I ^Izz-ad-din b. Jama'^ah said: One m ust know, though it is difficult, the
difference betw een (annalistic) histor(iography) and tabaqdt (historiography), and
the difference in the ob ject and purpose of the tw o kinds (of historiography). I am
con vinced , he said, th at essentially both are the same, b u t in the m anner of presen
tation the difference betw een them becomes n oticeable. I sa y: T h ey are identical,
and su perficially different. B oth agree on the use of transm itters. The difference is
th at (annalistic) histor(iography) is concerned w ith events, while tabaqdt (historiography
1 T B , II, 9 shows th at in the relative clause, the reference cannot be to the biographies
of the Ta'^rth, as one m ight exp ect, but to the chapters of the Saluh.
2 The reference is to the College of B arsb ay, his m ausoleum in the desert, and his mosque
in the H anqah Siryaqus, w ell-know n m onum ents of a n tiq u ity in the Cairo of today. Cf.
Daw^, III , 9. The anonym ous boon-com panion was, according to the Daw^, the historian
a l-'A yiii.
Th e negation is on iitted in the edition of the T)ait<^.
* The A rab ic te x t here has a p la y on words.
He w ould be ^Abd-al-'Aziz b. M uham m ad (d. 767/1366, cf. G A L , II, 72) rather than
M uham m ad b. A b i B akr (d. 819/1416, cf. G A L , II, 94).
Som ew hat more litera lly: w ith regard to w hat is considered.

332

A S-SA H A W lS I LAN
does not observe the chronological sequence of events, but) if, for instance, a person
who participated in the b attle of B adr died later than sonieone who did not participate
in it, he w ould, in a tabaqdt work, still have to be m entioned before. T h is is the under
ly in g principle. H ow ever, most la ter authors of, for instance, Tabaqdt of S afi'ites
deviated from it. W ithin each tahaqah, th ey paid atten tion to the p ro xim ity of the
dates of death (of the scholars mentioned). I t happens often th at someone in a tahaqah
is lum ped together^ w ith those m entioned in it because he died early, even if his scholar
ly career was less significant than theirs (as he had a later sta rt and m ore recent
teachers). A recent author distinguished betw een (annalistic) and tabaqdt histor(iography) b y saying, th at the former is concerned essentially w ith the dates of the birth
and the death (of scholars and great men), and on ly in cid en tally w ith conditions
[ahwdl), while w ith the la tte r it was ju st the opposite. H ow ever, the first opinion is the
m ore lik e ly one.
2 For he who d ied, one has the choice betw een the passive participle mutaivaffd
and the active participle mutawafft. Mutawafft is he who com pletes the duration of
his life. T h is explanation is based upon the verse of the Qur^an: A n d those of you
who die (yutaw affaivna.)^ according to the reading of 'A lt, which is yatawaffawna
com plete their term s. On the other hand, there is the sto ry of A b u 1-Asw ad adDu^ali^ who w as asked b y someone at a funeral: W ho is the d eceased ? (Th at m an
used the active participle mutawafft. Thus,) ad-Du^ali (understanding the expression
to m ean: He who takes to him self ) replied: G od . T h is is said to h ave been one of
the reasons w h y 'A li ordered ad-Du^ali (to set down the rules of) gram m ar. In order
to be able to assume th at this story (which contrasts w ith the aforem entioned rem ark
th at 'A ll considered the use of the active in the in tran sitive sense as correct) is correct,
one m ust think of the statem ent th at (ad-Du^ali) had to restrict him self to w h at he
(apparently the som eone at the funeral, or ad-Du^ali?) was able to grasp and under
stand. It w as he (apparen tly 'A li) who said: T e ll the people w hat th ey can under
sta n d .
*

( V T H E G O A L O F T H E O C C U P A T I O N W IT H H I S T O R Y )

The goal of (the occupation with) history is hope for G ods

kindness. God will not fail to reward those who did something w^ell.
A ctions (are judged) (47) b y intentions.^
( v i T H E L E G A L O F C L A S S IF IC A T IO N O F H IS T O R Y )

The classification of history varies.

Some of its aspects are classified as necessary, nam ely, inasmuch
as history turns out to be a means to ascertain the continuity
and so on (of the chain of transmitters) of a tra d itio n ; to become
1 Leg. yalt.
^ Qur^an ii 234 (234 FI.) and 240 (241).
^ T h e nam e of ad-Du\'ili, who supposedly died in 69/688-89 (cf. G A L , I, 42), is uncertain.
The m ost comruon form seems to be Zahm b. *^Amr, cf. Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, V I I I , 312.
W ith o u t reference to ad-Du^ali, the story occurs in Ibn al-Jaw zi, Ahbdr al-hamqd, 106
(Cairo 1347/1928); as-Safadi, W dfi, I, 44 R i t t e r . For ad-Du^ali, cf. also J. F u c k , in E l ,
2nd ed., s.v. A b u 1-Asw ad al-Du^ali, and the edition of his alleged Diwdn b y M. H. A l
Y a s i n , Nau'ddir al-mahtiUdt, II, 5-51 (Bagdad 1373/1954), which appeared sim ultaneously
w ith another edition of the w ork b y ' A b d - a l - K a r i m a d - D u j a v l i .
This statem ent is attribu ted to M uham m ad in P la n , 64, below, p. 360. Cf. Concordance,
I, 434a.
* Cf. above, p. 305, n. 2.
* H ardly: and the doubts concerning the co n tin u ity .

TRANSLATION

333

acquainted w ith the abrogation and substitution of traditions;

and to learn about genealogical relationships which determine
h ereditary succession and all m atrim onial equality. This is the
reason w hy some scholar has declared th at it is history which
determines (under which of) the five degrees of classification
(something falls). Quite a few scholars have declared th at history is a
com m unity duty. Another scholar has stated th at history is a m ust.
However, not all of them ^ belong exclusively to the necessary
category. Depending on rank and transmission, part of them belong
to the desirable category. H istory is (also) often applied to the per
missible category.
A l-H atib devoted a special chapter to the subject th at it is
necessary to expose the details of the life {ahwdl) of fraudulent
(transmitters) and to disavow them and denounce them to the
authorities. ^ H e (?) told the story of the religious leader, Ahm ad
(b. Hanbal), and his preoccupation w ith history. W hen he said
good-bye to A bu A li al-Hasan b. ar-Rabi',^ he sat down w ith him,
took out his notebooks, and asked him to tell him the date
of the death of Ibn al-Mubarak,^ which he did. Ibn al-M ubaraks
death took place in the year (1)81/797. A sked w hy he w anted to
know this, A hm ad said something like: 'T w ant to know about
fraudulent (transm itters).
A s was mentioned above, A bu 1-H usayn b. Faris said; E very
Muslim ought to have a v e ry thorough knowledge of the biography
of M uhammad in all its details. ^ This statem ent is confirmed b y
the following rem ark: It is to be feared th at a person who does
not know the biography of Muhammad would have to reply to the
question concerning his opinion about th at man (M uhammad):
T do not know. I heard people say something, and I repeated it.
M ay God preserve us from th a t. ^A corresponding idea is expressed
in the statem ent th at the faith of a person who depends on w hat
he is told is not the right kind of faith.
The following statem ent of A bu M uhammad b. Hazm, in the
Mardtih al-'-ulum,^ is fu lly acceptable: Seven different branches
' A s-Sah aw i appears to think of the degrees of classification of history.
^ The reference m ay be to the H a tib s Jdmi'-.
D. abou t 220/835 { T B , VTI, 307).
^Abdalkih b. al-M ubarak { T B , X , 152 ff.; G A L Supplement I, 256). His Kitdb ar-RaqdHq
exists in A lexan d ria 7314, a m anuscript from the year 466. The story appears T B , VTI, 308.
^ Cf. IHdn, 35, above, p. 316.
^Ali b. A hm ad, d. 456/1064 (cf. G A L , I, 399 f.). A s-S aM w i did not quote Ibn H azm

334

AS-SAH AW IS I'LAN

of learning are cultivated tod ay b y each nation and in every place

and at every tim e: The religious law, the relevant historical infor
mation {ahbdr) this includes history , and the relevant linguistic
science. . . . Ibn H azm then m entioned the remaining branches of
learning, as was necessary.
In the QawdHd, Izz-ad-din b. Abd-as-Salam ^mentioned person
a lity criticism as an exam ple of a necessary innovation, because it
serves to distinguish sound (traditions) from unsound (traditions).
The fundam ental principles of the religious law im ply th at a
specialized knowledge of the religious law beyond a certain minimum
(which all Muslims m ust know) is a com m unity duty. Such special
ized knowledge can come only from m atters which we have men
tioned. Tzz-ad-din thus included personality criticism among the
innovations. This, however, is not right. (It w as practiced by)
M uhammad (who) said; W hat a good man is A b d allah , ^ and:
B ad is the brother of the group. ^ There are similar expressions
of the extremes of positive and negative personality criticism. (48)
In the //a/, ad-D araqutni ^ reported the following tradition of
Ibn al-M usayyab, on the authority of A bu Hurayrah, according to
which Muhammad said: W hen someone among you knows
something good about his friend, he shall tell it to him. This will
increase his desire to (do) good. A d-D araqutni said th at (the
chain of transm itters of) this tradition was not sound on the author
ity of az-Zuhri.^ I t w as (also) transm itted on the auth ority of Ibn
d irectly b u t through the fatwd of '^Izz-ad-diu al-K iiiaiu , cf. F. S a y y i d , iu Revue de Vlnstitut
des M anuscrits Arabes, II, 174 (1375/1956). Cf. M. A s i n P a l a c i o s , in A l-A n dalus, I I, 51 f.
(1934), and the edition of the Mardtib (above, p. 36, n. 6), 78. Th e quotation is telescoped
and distorted. Ibn Hazm, speaks of the religious law , history, and language of each nation
as three branches of learning th a t differ am ong the variou s nations. T h e A ra b ic suffix,
translated above through relevan t, should refer to n ation , b u t in both the fatwd
and the I H d n , its o n ly possible antecedent is religious la w .
1 ^Abd-al-'^Aziz b. ^Abd-as-Salarn, d. 660/1262 (cf. G A L , I, 430 f . ; R. ^A. N a d w i , Al-^ lzz
b. ^Abd-as-Saldm [Dam ascus i960] [not seen]). It rem ains to be seen w hether the qu otation
is from the large or the sm all Qan'dHd.
^ Cf. an-N aw aw i, Biographical Dictionary, 560 W u s t e n f e l d ; Ibn K a tir, Biddyah,
V II , 113, amto 21.
Cf. Concordance, I, 141a; al-Buhari, Sahth, IV , 121, 126, 142 K r e h l ; a l-H atib alB agdad i, K ifdyah, 39 f. (H yderabad 1357); I'-ldn, 52, below, p. 341. This is considered one
of the basic texts ju stify in g the practice of personality criticism , cf. the fatwds published b y
F, S a y v i d (above, p . 333, n. 6), 166, 172, 176.
* ^Ali b. 'U m ar, d. 385/995 (cf. G A L , I, 165).
^ D . 57/676-77, o r 58.

Cf. Concordance, II, 98b, for a sim ilar tradition.

M uham m ad b. Muslim b. Sihab, d. betw een 123-25/740-43 (al-Buhari, Ta^rih, I, i, 220 f.;
Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, I X , 340-48; Aiio- AL- ^\ ziz a d - D u r i , in B S O A S , X I X , 1 -1 2 [1957],
and idem, B a h tfi naPat 'ihn at-ta^rih, 76-1 02, 1 4 3 - 1 5 1 [B eiru t i 9 6 0 ] ; S . a l - M u n a j j i d [ed.],
Rasd^il -wa-nusus. III , 17 ff. [B eirut 1963], cf. above, p. 130 f.).

TRANSLATION

335

al-M usayyab, with a chain of transm itters stopping w ith a man of

the second generation after Muhammad. A t-T abarani ^ transm itted
a similar tradition, w ith a w eak chain of transm itters on the author
ity of Usam ah b. Zayd, according to which M uhammad said:
W hen a believer is praised, the faith in his heart grow s.
Other aspects of history are classified as forbidden. This is the
case w ith the well-known m aterial of m any ignorant historians
relying m ainly on (authors) who quote from the (alleged) books
of the ancients. One such book is the Mubtada^ of W^ahb b. Munabbih,^ whose author said: I read th irty books which were revealed
to th irty prophets. (He also said) that A bdallah b. Salam and,
after him, Ka'^b al-ahbar ^ were the most learned men of their
times, and th at he collected w hat th ey knew. (The classification
as forbidden also applies to other such) inform ation which is not
better than idle talk but which is presented w ith great assurance
and w ithout any reference to the fact th at it is worthless and that
it is (such) m aterial quoted from the books of the ancients. This
applies, especially, to stories told in connection w ith the biographies
{siyar) of the prophets. Then, there is the inform ation about dis
putes among the men around Muhammad (which is also forbidden),
because the historical inform ants [ahhdri) who report it as a rule
exaggerate and m ix things up.^
The classification of forbidden also applies to the reporting of
meaningless and uninstructive events, which is something odious
to intelligent people. It further applies to reports about kings and
great men who are described as winebibbers and debauchers.
Those things if true are a grave matter.^ The historian (who reports
1 Sulaym an b. A hniad, d. 360/971 (cf. G A L , I, 167).
^ W ahb supposedly died in 114/732 (cf. G A L Supplement I, l o i ; a d - D u r i , Baht, 103-17,
152-58, who considers W ah b s role insignificant for the developm ent of Muslim h istoriog
raph y). His pseudepigraphical Mubtada^ is also quoted b y an-N uw ayri, Nihdyat al-arab,
Paris ms. ar. 1573, fol. 96b ('A b d a lla h b. al-M ubarak, in the Kitdb al-Mubtada^ on W ah b s
auth ority). W ah b s lf,rd^iliyat probab ly are only another name fo r the Mubtada^ (cf.
J. H o r o v i t z , in Islam ic Culture, I, 556); th ey are d irectly a ttested through a m anuscript
of the year 229/843-44, cf. C. H. B e c k e r , Pa pyri Schott-Reinhardt, I, 8 f. (H eidelberg 1906,
Veroffentlichungen cuts der Heidelbergcr Papyrus-Sammlung, 3). Cf. also M. L i d z b a r s k i ,
D e propheticis, quae dicuntur, legendis arabicis (Leipzig 1893).
In the beginning of the Kitdb at-Tijdn (H yderab ad 1347), which is ascribed to Ibn Hisam ,
W ahb is said to have read a much larger num ber of the books revealed to the prophets,
nam ely ninety-three. A tradition which is repeated several times in ar-R azi s History of
San^d^ (Bodleian ms. or. 736, fol. 126b. T h e m anuscript w as w ritten in 980/1572) has
n in ety-tw o, if m y notes are correct.
^ E a rly Jewish converts to Islam and transm itters of traditions of doubtful h istoricity.
Ka'-b is said to have died in 32/652-53, or 34.
* Cf. I'-ldn, 64, below , p. 359.
^ O r: These reports are difficult to v e rify ?

336

TRANSLATION

AS-SAH AW is I LAN

337

such stories) is wrong in either case. If the report is true, he has given
pubhcity to debauchery. If it is not true, he has (com mitted the sin
of) slander.^ Especially, it also implies m aking it easy for other
(kings and great men) who comm it the same errors. H owever,
historical inform ation {ahbdr) is never free from (at least) some such
(bad things).

perpetuated in writing. This applies to remarks such a s Suchand-such a Jew or a Christian was given a robe of honor. The
daily price increased. So-and-so speaking of some criminal
was honored, and so-and-so speaking of a Mushm leader of exem
p lary character was hum iliated. ^ (Mentioning) such (evil prac
tices) m ay cause their application to other cases, as will be men

Rulers and amirs commit one of their greatest m istakes if th ey

look at the policies of their predecessors, act accordingly but w ithout
considering the requirements of the rehgious law, and then call
their actions, which are not in agreement w ith the rehgious law,
policy. The religious law is (the only) policy, and not the arbitrary
actions and opinions of the ruler. Their obvious error lies in the
fact that according to their claim, the religious law does not in
dicate the w ays tow ard a satisfactory policy and therefore, it is
thought that we need something supplem entary. T h ey kill those who
ought not to be killed. T hey do th at which ought not to be done.
A nd that th ey call policy! This is a high-handed use of the religious
law, which is similar to spiteful abuse. It reminds one of the verse
of the Q uran; W e found our fathers in a certain condition, and
we follow in their steps. ^

tioned later. ^
Other aspects of history are classified as permissible, as they are of
no use for this world or for the other world. Thus, the great re
ligious authority, al-Gazzali, declared in the Ihyd^:^ "T h e per
missible sciences are poetry, unless it be frivolous, and history
[tawdrih al-ahbdr), and related m atters. In another passage, al(jazzMi said, and he was followed b y an-Nawawi in the section on
ch arity [sadaqdt) of the Rawdah:^ Books are needed for three
purposes: Teaching, relaxation through reading, and instruction.
R elaxation is not considered a need. This applies to the possession
of books on poetry and history and similar subjects which are of
no use either in this world or in the other world. T h ey (must be)
sold, (in order to pay) for expiation m oney or for the paym ent
of the special ta x due after the end of the fast of Ram adan {zakdt
al-fitr), and their possession excludes (the apphcation of) the label
of p overty (to their owner). Sim ilarly, al-Gazzali said in the first
chapter of the FaddHh al-Bdtiniyah th at he studied the books
on the subject (of the B atiniyah) and found them full of tw o kinds
of m aterial; i. H istory and conditions {ahwdl) of the B atin iyah
from their first beginnings to the time when their erro(neous doc
trine) made its appearance, the names of all their missionaries in
all regions of the world, and an exposition of w hat happened to
them in the past. I consider the occupation w ith this m aterial
equivalent to an occupation w ith entertaining evening causeries.
It should rather be left to the historians/ and so on. He then men
tioned the second kind of m aterial and declared that he (also)
did not think much of the occupation with it. (50) In spite of the

The classification of forbidden applies further to reporting bad

things (49) of this kind concerning im portant men in the guise
of praise and as if those things were signs of nobility and greatness,
with no regard to their unlawful character.
Som ething else which puts historical inform ation into the for
bidden category is unneccessary negative criticism and the failure
to bestow all the praise upon (a person which he deserves).
Other aspects of history are classified as desirable. This applies
to history as leading to the im itation of good qualities and actions
and to the omission of unqualifiable evil deeds, to reflection about
the consequences (of actions and events), and to little assurance
about the life of a relative or friend. There are other such things
to which we have referred in (the chapter on) the usefulness of
history.
Other aspects of history are classified as undesirable. As Ibn al-A tir
said, m any (historians) blackened the paper with unim portant
things which should better be disregarded and should not be
1 C f. H. R i c h t e r , En^lische Geschichtschreiber, 88 (Berlin 1938), with reference
W illiam of M alm esbury, Memorials of St. Dunstan, 252 Stubbs.
^ Q u r an xliii 23 (22 FI.).

to

^ Ibn al-A tir, K am il, I, 2 f. (Cairo 1301), with some variations.

^ Cf. below, p. 369.
^ I, 15 (Cairo 1334, 1346, K i t d h a l - ^ i l m , b d b 2). x\l-Gazzali seems to be at the basis of al^Almawi,
f i a d a b a l - m u f t d t c a - l - n i u s l a f i d , 25 (Dam ascus 1349).
^ Cf. Ihyd^, I, 199 (Cairo 1334, Kitdh asrdir az-zakdh, fast 3).
^ 1. G o l d z i h e r ,
D ie
S treitsc h rift d es G a z d li
^ c g e n d i e I k i t i n i j j a - S e k t e ,
A rab ic text, 3
(Leiden 1916).
R

osenth al

History of Muslim Historiography

22

A S-SA H A W !S I LAN

TRANSLATION

objections against it, the first (kind of material) is thus definitely

considered permissible.

century the usefulness of the science of personality criticism ended.

He and others who did not know w hat they were saying m umbled
something about hadit scholars deserving blam e in this respect.
One of them declared th at the statem ents of m any recent historians
and scholars in related fields, such as ad-D ahabi and, after him,
Ibn H ajar, constituted fault-finding and consequently, in connec
tion w ith hadit scholars, would be pure calum ny. Because of a
disparaging reference to a certain poet, Ibn as-Sam ani was crit
icized b y Taqi-ad-din b. D aqiq-al-id who said: Unless th at dis
paraging reference was transm itted to Ibn as-Sam ani (together
w ith the rest of his m aterial), so th at he was forced to report it,
he was not perm itted (to m ention it).
(5) Others think th at certain historians fell short of their task
and were biased when th ey did not give complete inform ation about
persons whose opinions were divergent from theirs, but om itted
m any lau datory references to them, while th ey had complete and
unabridged reports about all others.
(6) Others are carried aw ay b y sheer stupidity to criticize (the
historians).

338

( v i l T H E E V I D E N C E IN F A V O R O F H I S T O R Y )

The evidence (from the basic religious sources) in favor of history

m ay be gathered from the preceding chapter on the usefulness of
history and from the m aterial soon to be mentioned.
(V III T H E

BLAM EW ORTHINESS

OF

THE

CRITICS

OF

H ISTOR Y)

The critics of history either restrict their criticism to some special

points, or th ey generalize.
(1) The former restrict themselves to criticizing the historians
who filled their books with the inform ation which ought not to
be mentioned and which we have classified as forbidden.
(2) Others generalize. T hey think th at they possess solid knowl
edge and are able to undertake thorough research. T h ey b itterly
malign the works on history and turn aw ay from and repress them
in the belief th at the best th at those works have to offer is stories
and entertaining anecdotes.
(3) Others think th at certain historians fell short of their task
when they did not devote themselves to personality criticism which
is the most useful historical subject, or to the (biographical) in
form ation [ahhdr) about religious leaders, ascetics, and (religious)
scholars, whose memory is a source of (divine) m ercy, ^ or to
the explanation of the legal schools in current use, which is a sub
ject of general interest, but restricted themselves to wars, conquests,
and similar subjects, although all right-thinking persons know that
the knowledge of the year in which a certain country was conquered,
or the knowledge of the strength of a particular arm y, constitutes
no part of (religious) scholarship.
(4) Others think th at historians who in recent times practiced
negative personality criticism did something which m ust be con
sidered forbidden, on account of its leading to calumny. T hey think
that all inform ation that m ight legitim ately be used for personality
criticism is found in (existing) books and that all further efforts
are useless. A bu Am r b. al-Murabit ^ declared himself in favor of
this opinion. He said: "W ith the beginning of the fifth/eleventh
1 Cf. above, p. 293, n. 5.
^ M u h a m m a d b .'U tm a n , 680-752/1281-1351 (Ibn H ajar, Durar, IV , 45).

339

A d ( i ) : (51) Restriction (to such inform ation w ith the exclusion

of other things) is no doubt forbidden. W e have dem onstrated that.^
A d (2): In refuting ^ this opinion, Ibn al-A tir expressed himself
to the effect th at those who restrict themselves to the shell and
neglect the core do not notice the jewels which (historical in
formation) contains, because of their bias. (On the other hand),
all those to whom God gave a sound constitution and whom He
guided on a straight path know th at the instructiveness of history
has m any aspects, and its usefulness both in this world and the
other w orld we quoted this before ^ is very great.
A d (3): Such restriction of the contents per se is no shortcoming.
Historians pursue different purposes. Some restrict themselves to
accounts of the beginning (of creation) or of kings and caliphs.
Those interested in traditions prefer accounts of (rehgious) scholars.
Ascetics love stories of pious men. Litterateurs inchne tow ard
antiquarians/philologists and poets.^ It is well-known that every1 Cf. above, p. 335 f.
^ Ms. Leiden; raddahu.
IHdn, 23, above p. 29? The additional sentences were derived from the same con text
of the Kam il.
* Cf. above, p. 302.

340

A S-SA H A W lS I LAN

thing is worth collecting and all subjects deserve to be appreciated

and pursued. E ve ry one who is interested in a certain subject is
most hkely to stick to it, even though he m ay not be able to m aster
all of it. He is lucky who succeeds in putting his subject in book
form w ithout too m any m istakes and shortcomings. God alone is
perfect.
A d (4): Our reply to the critics is th at the justification of (con
tinued personahty criticism) lies in the fact that it is advice, some
thing not lim ited to the transmission (of traditions). There are
cases in which it is perm itted to state discreditable facts about a
person, and this is not considered calum ny but necessary advice.
For instance, an office holder who does not discharge the duties of
his office in the w ay he should, either because he is not fit for the
office or because he is wicked or negligent or the like, should be
exposed so th at he m ay be rem oved and his place be taken b y a per
son fit for it. A person who is observed frequenting an innovator of
Sufi or other leanings, or some wicked man, for study and guidance,
and who is in danger to suffer harm on account of that, should be
told the truth about the condition (of his mentor). Further cases
(which must be exposed) are those of men who are so accom mo
dating as m uftis, authors, judges, witnesses, transmitters, or preach
ers that they publicly m ake false and untenable statem ents.
There also are men who are accom m odating in m aking statem ents
about (religious) scholars, or in giving and accepting bribes in that
th ey either practice bribery or permit its practice although they
would be able to prevent it, or in appropriating other peoples
possessions through legal tricks and fraud. There are those who
take scholarly books aw ay from their owners, or th ey take them
aw ay from mosques, even inalienable waqjs, and m ake them (their)
personal property. There are other cases of illegal a ctivity. (52)
A ll of that should be exposed, in order to prevent any harm from
arising. Such exposure is either permissible or necessary. It is thus
obvious th at (the practice of) negative personality criticism did
not stop (at a certain moment) and that under the prevailing
conditions, it is necessary advice. Those who dispense it will be
rewarded (in the other world).
A bu Turab an-Xahsabi ^ censured a man whose austerity (fair1 D. 245/859-fio. H is nam e is doubtful, perhaps, ^Askar (b. Muhaiuniad) b. H usayii,
cf. 'I B , X I I , 315-17; as-Saia'aiii, A n sd b , fol. 556b. The story is reported b y al-H atib alB agdadi, K ifd y a h , 45 (H yderabad 1357), and T U , X I I , 316. Cf. also 1. ( S o l d z i i i e k , M u h .
S tu d ien , II, 354 f. (Halle 1888-90).

T R A N S L A T IO N

341

ness) is beyond doubt, the religious leader A hm ad (b. Hanbal),

because of his negative personality criticism. He said to him:
Do not find fault w ith the people (the religious scholars). The
reply was: For heavens sake, this is advice, and not calum ny.
In fact, he said th at negative personahty criticism is better than
fasting and prayer. God said: A nd say: The truth comes from
your L ord . 1 In (another) verse of the Q uran, God stressed the
necessity of full exposure of the affairs of a wicked man: If a
wicked man brings you some news, strive to get clarification. ^
B y w ay of negative personality criticism, Muhammad said: B ad
is the brother of the group, and b y w ay of positive personality
criticism , he said: A bdallah is a pious m an. ^ There are other
sound traditions which contain extrem e expressions of positive
and negative personahty criticism. N egative personahty criticism,
therefore, is excepted from being classified as forbidden calum ny.
A ll Mushms agree th at it is permissible. In fact, it is counted among
the necessary (duties), because it is needed.
This point of view was taken b y an-Nawawi and Izz-ad-din
b. Abd-as-Salam , whose remarks wih be, and in fact have already
been quoted.^ Personahty criticism was practiced b y very austere
(fair) modern scholars, such as the hadit expert Abd-al-Gani
al-Maqdisi. Am ong ancient scholars, it was A hm ad (b. Hanbal),
as w^as just mentioned, and Ibn al-Mubarak, who said: If I had
been given the choice between entering Paradise and meeting A b d
allah b. al-Muharrir,^ I would have chosen to meet him and then
entered Paradise. B u t, when I (actuahy) saw him, I would have
preferred a piece of dung to him . (Among the ancient scholars
who practiced personality criticism , there also was) Ibn M ain,
who, however, used to say: W e are now to talk about people who
rest in Paradise, and al-Buhari, who said: I did not calum niate
anyone, since I learned th at calum ny is forbidden. In his History,
1 Q u r an x viii 29 (28 FL).
^ Q u r an x lix 6 (6 F L ).
C f. a b o v e , p . 334, n n . 3 an d 2.
iH d n , 47, a b o v e , p . 334, a n d iH d n 55, b e lo w , p. 346.
*
D . b e tw e e n 150/767 a n d 160 /776-77, cf. Ib n H a ja r , T a hd ib , V , 389, w h ere th e s to r y is
q u o te d .
Y a h y a b . Ma'^in, d . 233/848 (cf. G A L S u p p lem en t I, 259; T B , X I V , i 77 ff-)- A r ijd l
w o rk lis te d G A L S u p p lem en t I I , 934, u n d e r th e n am e of I b n M a 'in s tr a n s m itte r I b n M u h riz
is cla s s ifie d as a w o rk b y Ib n Ma'^in in Y . a l- 'Is s , F ih r is m aM utdt D d r al-kutub a z-Z d h irty a h ,
231 (D a m a sc u s 1366/1947). T h e s ta te m e n t is q u o te d in th e fativd o f 'I z z - a d - d in a l- K in a n i
(b e lo w , p. 343, n . 5), I75a.
C f. Ib n H a ja r s fatw d (b elow , p. 343, n. 5), 169.

342

AS-SAH AW IS I LAN

TRANSLATION

al-H atib transm itted the following story from B ak r b. Munayyiri^

I heard al-Buhari say: I hope th at when I meet God, He will not
take me to account for possible calum n y. A l-B u h aris copyist,
Muhammad b. A b i H atim , heard him say: I shall h ave no enem y
in the next w orld. Ibn A b i H atim remarked that some people
m ight hold his History against him and say th at it contained calum
ny. A l-B u h ari replied: W e (just) transm itted those (allegedly
calum niatory statements) and did not invent them . (Negative
personality criticism was practiced by) Muhammad (who) said:
B ad is the brother of the group. ^

appeared (to someone) in a dream and w as asked: W hat did God

do to y o u ? He replied: He pardoned me, gave me gifts, and
showed me His favors, married me to three hundred Huris, and
granted me two audiences. W ith reference to Ibn M a'in, it was sa id :

It will be m entioned (below) ^ th at al-Buhari was very careful

and discerning in this respect. He m ostly said: T h ey were silent
about him . H e is disputed. (53) H e w as left o u t, and
similar phrases.^ He rarely said: He is a liar, or a forger.
Instead, he said: So-and-so considered him a liar. So-and-so
accused h im , th a t is, of lying.

It is all the more necessary to expose the person who is known

for some of the things mentioned or the like, since, as we have
explained in more than one place, there are two well-documented
traditions to this effect: A re you refraining from exposing an evil
doer ? Expose him and his evil deeds, so th at m ankind m ay be on
guard against him , ^a n d : There is no calum ny as far as the wicked
are concerned. ^ Exposure is a preventive measure to avoid con
tact w ith them or someone or something similar to them.
Some religious leaders among our colleagues asked for the legal
opinion of a number of our teachers about those w^ho find fault
w ith hadit scholars who practice personality criticism.^ Our teacher
and guide (Ibn Hajar) said: Hadit scholars are roots that branch
out through personality criticism. Those who find fault w ith hadit
scholars who expose a known evildoer or person of the mentioned
qualities are either ignorant or try to cover up something, or th ey share
the qualities of that person and are, therefore, afraid th at th ey will
also be exposed. I say: This (54) is obvious. Most opponents of
the exposure of evildoers have either enough dirt of their own to
conceal, or th ey are afflicted b y jealousy, envy, and similar vices.

I say: T h at is w hy he could say: W e (just) transm itted those

(allegedly calum niatory statements) and did not invent them .
The argument presented in defense of negative personality
criticism is th at it is a means for protecting the religious law and
th a t G ods truth and (that of) His messenger come first. Y a h y a b.
S a 'id al-Qattan, among others, expressed this point of view. Some
one asked him : Are you not afraid th at on the D a y of Resur
rection those men (whom you criticized) will be your enemies
before G o d ? A nd he replied: I prefer to have them as m y ene
mies, and not to have the Prophet as m y enem y for not having
protected his traditions.
A t the death of Ibn M a'in, someone saw (in a dream) the Prophet
and the men around him hold a meeting. He asked for the reason
of their meeting. The Prophet replied: I have come to p ray for
this man who used to protect m y traditions against lies. A t
the bier of Ibn M ain, it was publicly announced that He is the
m an who used to free the Prophet from lies. L ater on, Ibn M a'in
1 Cf. T B , II, 13. The form M uiiayyir (Munir) is found repeated ly in T B in the b iograph y
of al-B uhari, instead of the M unabbih of the te xt of the IHdn.
2 Cf. above, p. 334.
^ IH dn, 69, below , p. 367.
Cf., for exam ple, al-B uhari, Ta^rih, I, i , 64, 232, e tc. I, i , 86, 162, etc. I, 2, 191,
343, etc. a lia r I, 2, 297. Accused him of ly in g II, i, 158.
D.
198/813-14 ( T B , X I V , 135 ff.). The sto ry appears in al-H atib al-B agd ad i, K ifd y a h ,
44 (H yderabad 1357). Cf. also the fativds (below, p. 343, 11. 5), 166, where the id entical
rem ark is cited in the nam e of Y a h y a b. Ma'^in.

343

Gone is he who knew w hat was wrong w ith e v r y traditionist,

A nd who knew each difference in the chains of transmitters,
A n d all doubtful points in tradition (texts), and the problems all
W hich the scholars have tried in vain to solve in the whole world.^

1 Cf. T B , X I V , 187.
^ Cf. T B , X I V , 186; Ibn H allik an , IV , 27 trans. D e s l a n e .
^ This statem ent is a ttribu ted to al-H asan al-Basri (d. 110/728), in IH dn, 56, below,
p. 347. A s a P roph etical tradition, it is quoted in al-H atib al-B agd ad i, K ifd y a h , 42 (H yder
abad 1357); T B , I, 382, III , 188, V II 262 f., 268. Cf. also al-G azzali, Ihyd^, III , 132 (Cairo
1334); al-B ayh aq i, Ta^ rih -i-B ayh a q, 149 (Teheran 1317).
* Cf. al-Buhari, Ta^rih II, 2, 304; al-H atib al-B agdadi, K ifd y a h , 42 f. (H yderabad 1357).
T he question addressed to five em inent authorities w'as w hether in the biographies of
people (religious scholars), the historian m ay m ention all the good and bad inform ation he
has about th em . T he original te x t of both the question and the five answers has been
published b y F u ^ a d S a y y i d from a m aim script in H yderabad, in R evu e de V I n s titu t des
M a n u scrits A ra bes, I I, 162-77 (1375/1956). A s-Sahaw i reproduces the statem ents of alQ a ya ti and Ibn a d -D a yri alm ost verbatim . H e quotes on ly a v e r y sm all part of those of Ibn
H ajar and al-'A y n i. In the case of 'Izz-ad -d in a l-K in a n i, he p a rtly quotes and p a rtly sum m a
rizes his fa tw d . The q uotation ends on p. 347, line 25. Cf. also above, pp. 307, 320, and 325.
* Op. cit., 1691-3.

344

TRANSLATION

AS-SAH AW IS I'LAN

Often, th ey are also unaware of the statem ents of the (rehgious)

scholars regarding personahty criticism or of the fact that it falls
under general advice.
Ibn H ajar was accused of cahm iny in connection w ith a statem ent
about one of his close colleagues, Sadr-ad-din b. al-Adami.^ He
had said: Ibn al-Adam i was m orally unbalanced and know^n for
a behavior not becoming a jurist. H e experienced several m isfor
tunes and reverses. W hen God was generous to him and showered
him w ith His bounty, he did not accept it g ratefu lly, Ibn H aja rs
reply to the accusation of calum ny was: Personality criticism is
not calum ny. He once even said: If the person who considers
this calum ny is (just) ignorant, he should be taught to know better.
If he perseveres, he should be properly admonished, until he desists
from attacking the innocent and protecting the arrogant. He who
practices (personality criticism) M ay God help him w ill be
rewarded for it.
This is an authoritative statement. A l-Q ayati followed Ibn H ajar
in his Fatwd. Personality criticism is advice. He who dispenses it
will be rewarded. He fulfils a com m unity duty. He has done a
necessary thing, through which he has freed someone else from the
sin of non-fulfilm ent. He continued: A nd on this basis it has been
said that the fulfilm ent of a com m unity du ty is more meritorious
than the fulfilm ent of an individual duty.^
Ibn ad-D ayri al-Hanafi said: No disapproval should be expressed
w ith regard to the (critics) who follow the method of thorough
scholars, avoid the (baseless) expansion (of the transm itted material),
and are careful. (Personality criticism), in principle, is a necessary
thing not to be tampered with and a basic requirement to be guarded
and observed. Religious affairs are more im portant than w orldly
ones. W ith regard to property rights, the law prescribes the observ
ance of justice and the maintenance of accepted standards. This
is required to an even greater degree \vith regard to questions of
the religious law, in order to preserve it from alteration and dis
tortion, which it suffers especially at the hands of men dom inated
b y their prejudices [hawd] and led astray b y them from the right
path, such as religious innovators and false propagandists. This
necessitates the precaution of revealing the conditions of the trans1 'A ll b. :\Iuhammad, d. 816/1413 (Daiv^, V I, 8 f.). Accordiria; to the Daw^, Ibn H ajar
made the statem ent in his Mu'^jam. The nisbah Adam? refers to the preparation and sale of
leather goods.
2 Cf. op. cit., 1703.5.

345

m itters of information. One must distinguish between those whose

word can be trusted and whose transm itted m aterial can be relied
upon, and those whose condition (as unreliable transmitters) must
be known. No disapproval should be expressed w ith regard to
those who in their own statem ents rely upon the statem ents of
scholars knowm as careful and free from prejudices {hawd). On the
contrary, such action deserves praise and will be rew^arded, if it
is undertaken w ith honest intentions (55) and straightforward
m ethods. ^
The outstanding historian, al-A yni, said that it was necessary to
punish 2 (not the scholars who use personality criticism but rather)
those who disapprove. ^ He said: A s to the remarks in the more
modern historians, such as al-H atib, Ibn al-Jawzi, his grandson
(Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi), Ibn Asakir,^ and others, it should be stated
th at these men m erely wanted to draw the attention of (religious)
scholars to (the facts of personality criticism), in order to enable
them to distinguish between cases in which the results of personality
criticism are positive, and those in which they are negative. Con
tem porary historians report things which they themselves have
witnessed and seen w ith their own eyes or which th ey have learned
from reliable authorities. There is nothing wrong w ith that. It has
mau}^ instructive aspects which are obvious to the thoughtful
observer and which would fill volum es. ^
Tzz-ad-din al-K inani al-Hanbali, the greatest scholar of his
tim e, said: There can be no doubt as to the importance of history.
It occupies a significant place in religion. It is greatly needed b y the
religious law. The religions dogmas and juridical problems stem
from the statem ents of (Muhammad), the leader from error to the
right path and the giver of vision in blindness and ignorance. The
transm itters of these statem ents are the intermediaries between
him and us. T h ey must, therefore, be investigated. Their condition
m ust be scrutinized. This is generally agreed upon. The branch of
learning charged w ith this task is history. Therefore, history has
been said to be a com m unity duty. There is a difference of opinion
as to whether duties of this kind are more meritorious than individ1

op. cit .,

1709-19-

Lec^. at-ta'-zir.
^ O p. cit., 17213-19. In the question, m ention was m ade of someone who objected to the
im partial use of personality criticism, and called it slander deserving the ta'-ztr punishm ent.
^ ^A.li b. al-H asan, the historian of Dam ascus, 4 9 9 -5 71/110 6 -76 (cf. (iA L , I, 331).
O p. cit., 17213-19.

AS-SAHAW IS I'LAN

T R A N S L A T IO N

ual duties, because in contrast to the latter, one is under no obli

gation to fulfil com m unity duties. ^

one, but a recension going back to Muslim has (instead of: never....
shoulder) :'. . . is a wife beater. A certain (religious) scholar con
sidered this (tradition) a justification for the statem ent of al-Hasan
al-Basri:^ A re you refraining from exposing the evildoer? Expose
him and his evil deeds, so th a t m ankind m ay be on guard
against them . A d vice in religious affairs is more im portant
than advice in w orldly affairs. If the Prophet advised a woman
as to her w orldly affairs, advice in religious affairs is more
im p ortan t. ^ (Ibn Abd-as-Salam ) then m entioned m any passages

346

(Al-Kinani) then mentioned a number of the instructive aspects

of history. He also enum erated those absolutely blameless lum i
naries who w rote historical works. A t the end of his enumeration,
he referred to ad-Dahabi, our teacher Ibn H ajar, and al-'Ayni.^
He then refuted those who say ^ th at (the use of personality criti
cism b y historians) is calumny. A n d supposing th at one would
adm it it to be calum ny, he said, not every calum ny is forbidden. ^
He quoted (the passages) where calum ny is declared permissible:
A n-N aw aw is Riydd,^ Ibn Muflih, and others, whose remarks go
back to the great religious authority, al-Gazzali,'^ as well as the
following statem ent of Izz-ad-din b. Abd-as-Salam in the QawdHd:
Criticism of the transm itters is necessary. It serves to put the
religious law upon a firmer basis. Its omission can be harm ful to
the people in connection with problems of w hat is forbidden and
w hat is perm itted, and other questions of classification. Also,
everything beneficial th at the religious law considers permissible to
rely upon and refer to is necessary. Judges and good adm inistration
consider the exam ination of witnesses necessary. It is of even more
general im portance for the protection of rights in cases of bloodshed
and attacks upon property, commodities, sexual m atters, descent,
and so on. (56) Proof of the fact th at (personality criticism) is
advice is contained in the verse of the Q uran: A nd say: T ru th is
from your L o rd . It has been reported th at Fatim ah, the daughter
of Qays,^ sa id : I came to the Prophet and told him th at A b u Jahm^
as well as M u'aw iyah had asked for m y hand. W hereupon he said:
M u'aw iyah is a beggar who has nothing, and A bii Jahm never takes
the stick from his shoulder. This recension is the generally accepted

347

according to which calum ny is permissible.

Follow ing the quotation from an-Nawawi,^ he (al-Kinam) stated:
Such a historian ^ is considered to be in good shape, since no other
(procedure) has been specified, and thus it is something necessary.
One is to have a good opinion of him. He is best informed concerning
his intention.^ K now ledge of it can come to us only from his di
rection. Thus, there can be no objection, since his procedure is at
least permissible, if not desirable oi necessary. H e deserves reward
and remuneration, if his purpose is to give advice. A ctions (are
judged) b y intentions. Those who consider this branch of learning
as something to be avoided and those who find fault with it deserve
b la m e .H o w could it be proper to find fault w ith a branch of re
ligious learning which, as reported b y Ibn Hazm , has generally
been accepted at all times and in all places, and how could one find
fault w ith the orthodox religious leaders whose fairness and model
character are generally recognized?
A d (5): A d-D ahabi was accused of such bias b y his pupil, Taj-addin as-Subki.^ Now, supposing th at one were to adm it the (fact of
ad-D ah abis bias), his bias would be m uch less pronounced than

1 C f. a b o v e , p. 343, n. 3.
1 op. cit., 1733-10' O p. cit., i 7 4 u - i 7-

^ Referring to the objection m entioned in the question.

^ O p. cit., I7 5 ,.g .
^ C f. b e lo w , p. 347, n. 3.

M u h a rn n iad b, M u flih , d . 763/1362 (cf. G A L , II, 107).

In this particular con text, neither an-N aw aw i nor al-G azzali is m entioned in the
original fatw d.
Q u r an x viii 29 (28 FI.).
*
She was m arried to A b u Amr b. Hafs and then to Usam ah b. Zayd. For the story,
cf., for instance. Concordance, II, 45b; al-H atib al-B agd ad i, K ifd y a h , 39 f. (H yderabad
1357); Jbn H ajar, Isd ba h, IV , 62 f. (Calcutta 1856-73, Bibliotheca In d ica ). The m eaning
of the statem ent concerning A b u Jahm is a m atter of discussion.
T h e nam e of A b u Jahm b. H u dayfah is n ot know n w ith certain ty, cf. Ibn H ajar,
loc. cit.

2 Op. cit., 1759-22^ A n - N a w a w i, R iy d d a^-sdlihin, 538 ff. (C a iro 13 57/19 3 9 ): 2 7 4 (C a iro 1325), a s in d ic a te d
op. cit., 176 , u. 3.
^ In th is p a ra g ra p h , th e d is tin c tio n b e tw e e n th e h is to ria n a n d h is a c t iv it y , w h ic h is
p e r s o n a lity c r itic is m , is n o t a lw a y s b r o u g h t o u t c le a r ly in th e A r a b ic te x t.
^ Ms. L e id e n h a s ahbaru b i-n iy a tih t, as in th e t e x t of th e fativd.
* C f. a b o v e , p. 305, n. 2.
Y u ld m u , as in Ms. L e id e n a n d th e fatw d.
C f. IH dn, 4 7, a b o v e , p. 333 f. In th e e ig h th / fo u rte e n th c e n tu r y , th e re la tio n s b e tw e e n
a n - N a w a w i a n d Ib n H a z m w ere so im p o r ta n t fo r s c h o la rs th a t an a u th o r co u ld d re a m a b o u t
th e m , cf. Ib n K a tir , B id d y a h , X I V , 291.
Op. cit., 17623-177,.
'A b d - a l- W a h h a b b. ^Ali, 7 2 7 (7 2 8 )-7 i/ i3 2 7 (i3 2 8 )-7 o (cf. G A L , I I , 8 9 1.).
T h e s to r y of a s - S u b k is a n d a d - D a h a b is b ia s is le n g th ily d iscu sse d la te r on , cf. IH dn,

76, b e lo w , p. 375 f.

348

AS-SAHAW IS I LAN

that Ugly bias of which Taj-ad-din showed himself guilty. I read

the following rem ark b y him added in his own handw riting to the
biography of the ascetic, Salamah as-Sayyad al-M anbiji; O Mus
lim, be ashamed in the sight of God! H ow much (baseless) expansion
(of the material) you have practiced! H ow greatly yo u have dis
paraged those orthodox Muslims, the A s'arites! W hen did the
H anbalites ever exist, and did they ever have any im portance!
This is the most astonishing expression of bias. Indeed, it is a very
wrong sort of statem ent. Some tim e afterwards, the leading con
tem porary judge and head of the (Hanbalite) school, Izz-ad-din
al-Kinani, wrote the following rem ark underneath the statem ent
of as-S u b k i: Sic\ B y God, those who deny the existence of positive
attributes in God (i.e., the A s'arites, here designated b y a word
which has about the connotation of atheists) never had (57) any
im portance.' Then, he described Taj-ad-din in the following term s:
He is uneducated, unfair, and ignorant of the position of orthodox
Muslims. H is statem ent is proof of th a t.
A d (6); Man is hostile to the things he does not know.^ Ignorant
persons are the enemies of scholars.^ W e have thus seen th at m any
of those who find fault with history are very unimportant.
A certain contem porary leveled a good deal of futile criticism
against a number of biographies in Ibn H ajars Mu^jani. This did
not prevent the Mu^jam from being very m uch in demand and from
being used b y everybody, and it still is. Th ank God, on the con
trary, that criticism brought down the man who published and open
ly spread it. It served to extinguish his m em ory and obscure his
fame. W hen he died, he had become a warning exam ple and was
full of bitter regret.
A d-D ah ab is History and related writings caused A bii 'A m r b.
al-M urabit to revile him. He rejected him altogether and left nothing
bad unsaid about him. (Ad-pahabi) did not care, but (Ibn alM urabits) attitude (toward ad-Dahabi) w^as the reason that he
was considered a liar, attacked, and accused of excessive prejudice,
1 Cf., for instance, A b u H ay y a n at-T aw hkli, Im ta -, II, 17 (Cairo 1939-44), and B a x d 'ir,
1, 307 K e i l a n i (D atn ascu s 1 9 6 4 ); Ib n ' Abd-al-Barr, Jdini'- baydn al-^ilm, I I , 160 (C airo,
n .y .) ; a l- Q ift i, Inhah, I, 336 (C airo 136 9-74 /1950-55); I b n a l- F iiw a ti,
I V , I, 399 Ja w .^ u (D a m a sc u s 1962). T h e re are s lig h t v a r ia tio n s in th e m a n n e r in w h ic h
th is id ea is ex p re ssed .

^ This is a verse which occurs in a poem b y M uham m ad b. ar-Rabi"- al-M awsili (ca. 900)
who, how ever, was ce rta iid y not its originator. It has also been ascribed to 'A h . Cf. 'A b d -a lQ ahir al-Jurjani, A srd r al-bald'^ah, 243 R i t t e r (Istanbul 1954 ), tratis. R i t t e r , D ie G eheim n isse der W ortkim st, 285 (W iesbaden 1954 ); al-G azzali, I h y d ', I, 7 (Cairo 1352/19 33); Ibn
'A ra b i, a l-F u tu h d t a l-M a k k iy a h , ehs. 386 and 580.

T R A N S L A T IO N

349

through which he provoked the w rath of the Lord. R ig h tly so!

The reason for Ibn al-M urabits attitud e tow ard ad-D ahabi is said
to have been his annoyance at (ad-D ahabis) stand in favor of
something which he had declared nonsense. ^
A similar story is th at of ams-ad-din M uhammad b. A hm ad b.
Bashan ad-Dim asqi, the Q uran reader. H e w as angry at adD ahabi because of some of the things the latter had said about him
in his biography. Upon the page in question which was in the hand
w riting of ad-Dahabi, Ibn Bashan wrote in thick letters some v i
tuperative remarks directed against him. This made ad-D ahabis
handwriting for the most part illegible. W hen ad-D ahabi saw
that, he revenged himself b y incorporating a biography of Ibn
Bashan in the Mu'-jam of his teachers. H e described w hat had
happened and concluded: A nd he himself wiped out his name
from the list of Q ur an readers. ^
In the biography of Ibn al-Murabit in the Durar, Ibn H ajar
said th at he came across a publication (of traditions) b y Ibn alM urabit from which one could learn nothing. There was so much
confusion in it, which was caused b y a lack of understanding and of
accuracy.^ H ow can a man of this caliber stand up against a man
(such as ad-Dahabi) who represents the greatest (possible) ex a ct
ness and correctness. Ibn H ajar even expressed the wish, while
drinking the w ater of the Zam zam (fountain in Mecca), th at he
m ight reach ad-D ahabis station and become as intelligent as he

Cf. IHdn, 58, below , p. 351.

Ibn, Bashan (668-743/1269 [i27o]-i343) has biographical notices in the Tabaqdt al-qurrd^,
Phot. Cairo T a M h 1537, p. 223, an d the Mu^jam, Ms. Cairo M ust, al-hadit 65, fol. I 2 ia - b .
As-Safadi, N a k t a l-him yd n , 239-41 (Cairo 1329/1911), quotes most of the inform ation given
in the
T h e form Bashan is assured b y its occurrence in the D ahabi m anuscripts
(although th at of the
fol. 38b, has h ) ; as-Safadi, N a kt, 239; Ibn H ajar, D u ra r, III,
309. Cf. below , pp. 580-82.
Th e sto ry quoted above, w'hich is repeated again in IH dn, 76, below , p. 376, and hi Ibn
H ajar, D u r a r ,I I I , 310 f., is not contained in the Cairo m anuscript of the M u^jam . A clue
to the explan ation of this fa ct m ay be sought in the statem ent, which we find on fol. i9 ia ,
th at ad-D ahabi told 'A b d a lla h b. A hm ad az-Zarandi (d. 749/1348, cf. Ibn H ajar, D u ra r, II,
247), when he studied the Mu'^jam with him, to om it certain m arginal notes concerning
pupils (ashdb) of Ibn al-Buhari. In the sam,e m anner, ad-D ahabi m a y h ave occasionally
suggested to liis students to om it the bitin g ren^ark about Ibn Bashan from the text.
Th e o b je c tio n a b le p a s s a g e in th e Tabaqdt a.l-qurrd^ w a s p r o b a b ly a refe re n ce to th e tro u b le
Ibn Bashful h a d in D a m a sc u s in co n n e ctio n w ith his re a d in g of Q ur an x\'i 8 (8 h'l.), u n less
it is th e s ta te m e n t th a t he w a s fo r a tim e a m e rch a n t in l-^gypt.

Cf. Ibn H ajar, Durar, l \ , 45, where a ]iamphl('t against ad-D ahabi and a very vitu p er
ative biograi-thy of th at scholar is m entioned as well as Bnrhan-ad-din b. Ja in a'a h s m arginal
note of censure dirc'cted against Ibn al-M urabits a tta cks against ad-D ahabi. Cf. also asSahaw i, al-Jaii'dhir lia-d-durar, Paris ms. ar. 2105, fol. 297a, below , p. 605.

350

TRANSLATION

AS-SAH AW IS I'LAN

w as.i (Ibn al-Murabit) was taken to task b y Izz-ad-din al-K inani

for his division of ad-D ahabis History into four parts, of which
one (he said) was pure calumny. A l-K in an i said: Alm ost every
historical w ork has those four parts. Ibn al-M urabits statem ent
that one part is pure (58) calum ny is no correct description of
that part. It has numerous useful aspects. It enables (the reader)
to learn from the conditions of the personalities mentioned, to be
assured of their virtues, and to be w arned of their vices, and so on.
A certain hadit expert w rote a m onograph against the greatest
of them all, A b u B ak r al-H atib, w ith reference to certain passages
in the la tte rs History. T h at m onograph achieved no circulation.
N obody appeared to express agreem ent w ith his views, and nobody
took his side. I t was a w asted and unrewarded effort.
Professor A b ii H ayyan ^ made the following entirely unproven
remarks about the stalw art critic, Y a h y a b. M a'in:
Let Y a h y a as transm itter exist or not exist (?);
T h at Y a h y a has no knowledge for which he will be missed,
E xcep t m ahgning people w ho V e long since passed away.
He will account for all th at when there has come the D ay.
There are more such remarks which it w ould be boring and of
little use to m ention here. A t no tim e did anyone in the least rely
upon them. (Muhammad), the fountain of truth, said: Lies laid
on th ick are ineffective." ^ Truth deserves most to be followed.*
The head of an untruthful person should be kicked, if it is not cut
off. There is general agreement th at one should occupy oneself
w ith h istory and shun those who a tta ck the historians.
^ T he custom of drinking Zam zam w ater and expressing a wish is traditional. A l-H atib
a l-B agd ad i is said to h ave been one of those w ho follow ed it, cf. Y a q u t, Irsdd, IV , i6 ; Ibn
Jama'-ah, Tadkirat as-sdmi'-, 139 (H yderabad 1353). Cf. also I'. R o s e n t h a l , D ie arabische
Autobiographie, 36, n. 2 (Rom e 1937, Analecta Orientalia, 14); I^ldn, 76, below , p. 376;
Ibn H ajar, D urat, I, 92.
2
M uham m ad b. Y u su f, d. 745/1344 (cf. G A L , II, lo g f.), if the te xt is correct and he is
indeed the person m eant here.
Ibn M a'in s sharp rem arks were m entioned b y Ibn '^Abd-al-Barr, Jdmi'- baydn
II, 149 (Cairo, n.y.). Ibn 'A b d -a l-B a rrs source w as the Kitdb ad-Du^afd^ of A b u 1-F ath
al-A zdi (below, p. 406, n. 5).

351

*Izz-ad-dins rebuff of Ibn al-Murabit has been mentioned above. ^

Ibn al-Murabit had criticized ad-D ahabi for his vilification of the
people (the religious scholars) and the recording of their negative
traits. H e had said: This is calum ny which is not permissible.
N egative personality criticism lost its usefulness w ith the beginning
of the fifth/eleventh cen tu ry. Follow ing the passage quoted,
Izz-ad-din said: W h y does he commit the same great sin for which
he criticizes someone else ? If his attitud e is excusable, th a t of
ad-D ahabi would likewise be excusable.
'Izz-ad-din also told us the following story in which he used a
similar argum ent: A n enem y of mine happened to be mentioned
in a conversation I had w ith a certain person. I complained to
th a t person about th a t enem y of mine and m entioned some of
his (bad) qualities. He countered me b y saying th at m y remarks
w ere calum ny. I could not do anything (at the moment) but be
silent. Our conversation continued. E ventu ally, it turned to one
of his enemies, and he began to disparage him. Now, I could counter
him w ith the same rem ark which he had (before) used against m e.
There are, indeed, remarks such as the statem ent of a certain
religious leader: People w ith no faults came to Medina (59) and
talked about the faults of other people. In consequence, people
ascribed invented faults to them. Other people came who had
faults but were silent. In consequence, people were silent regarding
their fau lts. In this sense, a certain poet said:
K eep aw ay from the people if you w ant
To be safe from the ta lk of stupid fools.
He who charges the people w ith faults th ey have
Is charged b y the people w ith faults he has not.
Strangely enough, ad-D aylam i, in his Musnad,^ with his own
chain of transm itters which leads back to Ibn 'U m ar, quoted the
story as a tradition of M uhamm ad: There were people in Medina
who had faults but were silent regarding the faults of other people,
etc.

T h is a p p r o x im a te ly seem s to be th e m e a n in g in w h ic h th e w e ll-k n o w n tr a d itio n is

a p p lie d iu th is c o n te x t. C f. Concordance, I I, 6 b ; L a n e 6 4 7b, s. rad. hml-, T B , X I I I , 405,

^ The phrase is rem iniscent of Qur^an x 35 (36 F I . ) . Cf. also above, pp. 231 and 250
(below, p. 548), as well as I'^ldn 76, below, p. 375; Agdni, X V , 1002 (Bulaq 1285); A b u
H a y y a n at-Taw hidi, al-Isdrdt al-ildhtyah, 42 B a d a w i Cairo (1950).

1 I^ldn, 57, above, p. 348 f.

S iraw ayh b. Sahridar ad-D aylam i (d. 509/1115, cf. G A L , I, 344; cf. IHdn, 82, below ,
p. 385), Firdaivs, Ms. Cairo H ad it 355, s.v. kana. Cf. DawP, I, 106.

353

A S-SAH AW IS I LAN

TRANSLATION

Someone else said; Keep aw ay from evil. Then, evil will keep
aw ay from y o u . ^

b y tw o groups of people, hadit scholars and judges. ^ and the other

b y someone else; W hoever w ants (to do) me evil is m ade b y God
(60) a hadit scholar or a ju d ge. B oth statem ents require some
definite interpretation. In general, in as far as he who makes critical
remarks starts w ith a well-considered and discerning effort, he can
not be accused of a crime in (making his criticisms) but can expect
a reward for it.^ This was previously mentioned b y us on the author

352

A ll such remarks should either be understood as something said

as a joke w ith no sound and legitim ate purpose behind it, or as an
exaggeration that would not be necessary to achieve the purpose.
Likewise, no literal interpretation should be given to the rem ark
th at the flesh of scholars is poisonous,^ as it is well known that
God is in the habit to put to shame those who are unfair to scholars,
and there exists the danger of spiritual death for those who oppose
and slander them.
Ibn 'A sakir ^ put it very well indeed: It is a grave m atter to
atta ck scholars for faults th ey do not have. It is an unhealthy pas
time to defame them fraudulently and deceitfully. It is a nasty habit
to m ake unw^arranted statem ents against those whom God has
chosen to be depositories of knowledge. On the other hand, it is a
fine quality to im itate the attitude which was lauded b y God
of the latecom ers who asked forgiveness for those who preceded
them. God praised them in His book He certainly knows about
good and bad character qualities: Those who came after them
say: Our Lord, forgive us and our brethren who preceded us in
the faith. Do not put into our hearts resentm ent against
those who have become believers. Our Lord, you are kind and
m erciful. ^

ity of the Muslim religious leaders.

There are some (scholars) who had trouble because th ey used
their loose tongues w ithout any basis or grounds for suspicion.
One of them was the religious leader and teacher of an-Nawawi,
Abiji Samah.^ He was a solid scholar in the religious disciplines,
a Qur^an reader, hadit scholar, and gram marian. He wrote a nice,
accurate hand. H e also was modest and unassuming and the author
of m an y works. Nevertheless, he often assailed and reviled scholars,
pious persons, and great men and m entioned their negative traits.
H e himself thought h ighly of this a ctiv ity of his, but as
a result, he lost prestige in the eyes of m any people who knew
about it, and th ey talked (critically) about him. This, finally,
caused the calam ity which befell A bu &.mah. Tw o big men entered
his house in the guise of persons having come to ask for a legal
opinion and gave him a painful beating. H is patience gave out,
but nobody came to help him. H e recited some verses in which he

A hm ad b. Nasr ar-Ruyani, an im aginary transm itter, handed

down the following tradition ascribed to M uhammad on the author
ity of al-Asajj A bu d-dunya,^ on the authority of A li: If a m ans
heart gets accustom ed to turning aw ay from God, God afflicts him
(and the affliction expresses itself) in attacks b y him against pious
persons. This tradition is not sound. If it were, the above-mentioned explanation would apply to it.

asked God for help.

It is m entioned in the biography of ams-ad-din A b u 1-*^A bbas
M uhammad b. Musa b. Sind th at at the end of his life his mind
became confused and he forgot most of the things he knew b y
heart, even the Q uran. This was said to be a d ivin e punishment
for his m any a ttack s against the people (the religious scholars).
T he same thing, however, happened to Burhan-ad-din al-H alabi,

There are two statements, one b y Ibn D aqiq-al-id: The honor

of the Muslims is one of the pits of (Hell) fire, and its rim is occupied
1 C f.

al-M ubassir, M uhtar al-hikam,

n a m e

o f

to A h m a d

Ib n

T a h y m

^ Q u r an
^
a n d

I 't m a n
\ I,

T h a t

(M adrid

I n a l - 'A l r a a w i , a l - M u H d f i a d a h a l - n m f id iv a -l-m iista ftd ,

is a s c r ib e d

B a d a w i

204

T h e

b.

H a n b a l,

w h ile

the

e n tire

p a ssa g e

iu

14

1958)

(Aristotle).

(D a m a scu s

q u o ta tio n

is c i t e d

ia

th e

134

ff.,

'A s a k ir .

ka d ib
lix
b.

10

a l-m u fta ri,

(10

29

(D a m a scu s

1347).

F I.).

a l-H a tta b ,

d.

327/938-39

[T B ,

X I ,

2 9 7 ff.;

Ib n

H a ja r,

376).
n o

1349), this r e m a r k

m a rk s

lite ra l

w h o le

in te rp re ta tio n

p a r a g r a p h

is

is a d m is s i b le .

d e riv ed

fro m

Ib n

I.laja r,

L isd n ,

I,

318.

L isd n ,

IV ,

^ Cf. IHdn, 72, below, p. 370. According to as-Subki, Tabaqdt aS-SdfiHyah, I, 190 (Cairo
1324), the statement goes back to Ibn D aqiq-al-'ids Iqtirdh.
* For the Arabic idiom, cf. L isd n al-^Arab, V II, 145 (Bulaq 1300-8).
Cf. IHdn, 52, 54, 56, above, pp. 342 ff.
* Abd-ar-Rahm an b. Ism a'il, d. 665/1267 (cf. G A L , I, 316 f.).
A bu Samah did not die the first time, but he did not want to complain about the
men who had given him the beating, and recited some verses. He was killed when the
assassins returned another time, cf. Ibn Katir, B iddyah, X I II , 250 f.
* 729-792/1329-90, cf. Ibn Hajar, D urar, IV , 270 f., which is the source of the statement
of the IHdn. The vocalization of the last name is uncertain.
Ibrahim, b. Muhammad, Sibt Ibn aI- Ajam i, 753-841/1352-1438 (cf, G A L , II, 67;
Daw^, I, 138-45; numerous autograph ijdzahs, b y him in Muhammad b. A b i Bakr b. Zurayq
[Daw^, V I I, 169-71], Tabat, Brit. Mus. ms. or. 9792). Nothing is said in the Daw'^ about the
scholars loss of memory.
R osen th al,

History of Muslim Historiography

23

354

355

AS-SAH AW IS I LAN

TRANSLATION

although he never opposed anyone b ut was austere (fair) and ascetic.

However, he recovered from his loss of m em ory before his death.
The situation is similar with regard to the statem ent: Liars lose
their m inds. Others who are not accused of being liars also lose
their minds occasionally.

had a fine voice for the chanting of the Q uran. B u t when he came
to the passage: Behold, God and H is angels p ray for the Prophet, ^
he recited: . . .p ra y for A li, the prophet. He turned mute, got
elephantiasis and leprosy, lost his sight and his ability to walk.

I was told on the authority of JamM-ad-din Muhamm ad b.

A b i B ak r al-Misri ^ th a t he w as present when Judge Jam^l-ad-din
A b u A bdallah Muhammad b. A bdallah b. A b i B a k r ar-R aym i
al-Yam ^ni as-afii ^ died. His tongue was black and hanging
out of his mouth. It was thought th at this was the consequence
of his opposition to and m any attacks against an-Nawawi.
A story on the authority of Sayh A b u Ishaq as-irazi, which
Ibn an-N ajjar tells in the continuation of his (al-H atib al-Bagdadi's)
History, is of a higher order.^ A s-irazi heard Judge A b u t-T a yy ib
at-T abari say: W e were attending a class in the Mosque of alMansur, when a H anafite from Hurasan came and asked for the
proof of the question of (the sale of) animals not m ilked for some
time.^ The lecturer quoted the proof (as provided b y a tradition)
on the auth ority of A b u H urayrah. The Hurasanian, however, said
that A b u H urayrah s traditions were not acceptable. The Judge
said: He had not y e t finished (6i) th at rem ark when a big snake
jum ped down on him from the roof of the mosque. He fled, but the
snake followed him paying no regard to anyone else. One shouted to
him : R epen t/ and he said: T repent. W hereupon the snake dis
appeared, and no trace of it w as seen afterw ards.
Ibn B askuw al reported the following sto ry w ith a chain of
transm itters going back to A hm ad b. M uhammad b. U m ar alY am am i who said: W hen I was in S a n a , I saw a man and people
gathered around him. I asked them w hat it was, and th ey said:
This man used to lead our prayer in the m onth of Ram adan. He
1 D. 820/December 1417

[Daw^, V II, 181 f.).

* D. 792/1389-90, or 791 (Ibn Hajar, D urar, III, 486; G A L Supplement, II, 971, no. 21a).
Ibn lia ja r is the source for as-Sahawis information. The nisbah ar-Raym i is correctly
written in Ms. Leiden.
Ibrahim b. 'Alt, d. 476/1083 (cf. G A L , I, 387 f.).
* The expression used here can hardly have its technical meaning of being connected
with the source of the story b y a small number of transmitters, being closer to the Prophet.
The reference is to the traditions mentioned in Concordance, I, 244a. Cf. also J. S c h a c h t ,
The Origins o f M uham m adan Jurisprudence, 123, 299, 327 (Oxford 1950).
* Cf. also Ibn al-Jawzi, M untazam , IX , 154 f., in the obituary notice for Yusuf b. 'A li
az-Zanjani.

y a la f b. <^Abd-al-Malik, d. 578/1183 (cf. G A L , I, 340).

* Third/ninth century (T B , V , 65 f.; Ibn Hajar, L isd n , I, 282 f.).

There he is now .
There are m any similar stories.
There are also those scholars of great learning, austerity, and
asceticism whom people avoided and whose knowledge th ey were
careful not to utilize, because of their loose tongue and lack of tact,
which caused them to talk and to criticize excessively. Such men
were Ibn H azm and Ibn Taym iyah.^ T h ey were among those who
suffered calam ities and injuries. W ith the exception of M uhamm ads
statem ents (which are fully acceptable), the rem arks of any Muslim
are only p a rtly acceptable, and p a rtly not.^
There are a number of other authors, the value of whose publica
tions has been nullified for the uninformed, not b y the circumstance
just mentioned, but b y their overzealousness in their works to drive
home their point. Such an author is al-Hakim.^ In his Mustadrak,
in which he proposed to use the criteria of al-Buhari and Muslim, or
of one of them (for judging the acceptability of traditions not con
tained in the two Sahihs), he was so lax th at he included not only
w eak but supposititious traditions. A nother exam ple is Ibn al-Jawzi.
In his Mawdu^dt (on supposititious traditions), he widened the
scope of his investigations so far as to include not only w eak tra
ditions but even sound ones. Those two authors represent the
tw o opposite extremes. M ay God show m ercy to all of them and
to us and give us the benefit of their blessings.
In general, historians are like other authors. Their statem ents
are in part leavened, and in part rotten. H ap p y is the man whose
m istakes can be counted and whose errors are unimportant.^
^ Qur dn xxxiii 56 (56 FI.).
* Ahmad b. 'Abd-al-H alim , d. 728/1328 (cf. G A L , II, 100-5).
^ Cf. al-K afiyaji, above, p. 259, n. 2.
* Muhammad b. 'Abdallah, 321-405/933-1014 (cf. G A L , I, 166), M ustadrak (Hyderabad
1334-42). Cf. T B , V , 474; Ibn Hajar, L isdn , V, 233.
This extremely common proverb (cf. also IHdn, 76, below, p. 376) is quoted, with
slight variations, for instance, in al-Jahiz, K itm d n as-sirr, in Majmu^ RasdHl a l-Jdhiz, 38
K r a u s and a l - H a j i r i (Cairo 1943); Ibn Qutaybah, ^Uyun, 273 B r o c k e l m a n n ; al- Askari,
Ta shif, 6 ' A b d - a l - ' A z i z a h m a d (Cairo 1383/1963); at-Ta'alibi, Yaim a/j, I, 79 (Damascus
1304), ibid.. I, 105, in a verse of al-Mutanabbi; idem, I^jaz, 67 (Cairo 1897); idem, A b u
t-Tay y ib al-M utanabbi, 7, 46 (Cairo 1343/1925); al-Iiusri, Zahr al-dddb. I, 59 (Cairo 1316,
in the margin of the ^Iqd)', Ibn Isfandiyar, History o f Tabaristdn, 67 B r o w n e ; Yehudah
hal-Lewi, H a za ri, 42 f. H i r s c h f e l d (Leipzig 1887); as-Suhrawardi, Hikm at al-iSrdq, 10
(Teheran 13 13 -15); Ibn Katir, B iddyah, IX , 193, anno l o i ; Lisan-ad-dm b. a l-y a tib , Mi^ydr

356

AS-SAH AW IS I LAN

TRANSLATION

The rem arks of any man, except for special cases, are p a rtly ac
ceptable, and p a rtly not.^ Here in this world, nothing is perfect.
No w ork (author?) is free from the need for correction. A ccording
to a sound tradition, Muhammad said: God must not lift up some
thing of this world unless He put it down (before). ^ P uttin g
dow n (in this tradition) does not refer to annihilation and destruc
tion b u t to imperfection.

not b y a long shot. T h ey support him, because he follows the same

line (of research) and the same methods (as his predecessors),
especially in th at he uses the same notions and expressions as are
not liked b y a n y sensible person and accepted only b y stupid
fools. This goes so far th at those people esteem his writing more
highly than th at of Ibn H ajar and our other authorities. N ever
theless, since the author whom I have in m ind was very fam ihar
w ith outstanding rulers, amirs, great political figures, and wazirs,
I suspected th at he would have well-considered inform ation on
them, although I knew about his shortcomings in dealing w ith
other types of persons and knew the absolutely incredible nonsense
he spoke. I restricted m yself to taking down the dates of death
which I needed in every case, and briefly quoted events and (daily)
occurrences. A fter his death, I noticed strange things also in this
respect, and I heard those asked about him characterize him as
unusually blam eworthy. Then, I regretted (to h ave used him as a
source). B u t w hat is the use of regret, when I should have investi
gated the inform ation while he was alive, and so much tim e has
elapsed. Perhaps, the good thing in it was th at (I) thus had more
tim e for w hat is m ore im portant, nam ely, the far-flung science
of traditions, which is an ocean w ithout shores, a subject which
nobody can com pletely m aster in its general principles, let alone

Indeed, a great m any defects have become apparent, and reprovable attitudes of the ugliest sort have spread. (62) This noble
branch of learning (that is, history) has been cultivated b y those
who accept misspellings and misreadings, because th ey do not have
an exact knowledge of the rules of transmission and trust
transm itters who are not recognized as trustw orthy and sensible.
T h ey have come to write down both substantial and inconsequen
tial things as well as both proven and shaky, unsound traditions.
If I were here to set down w hat happened to the leading historian,
Taqi-ad-din al-Maqrizi, you would be amazed, and you would
avoid looking for his works. T he same applies to other religious
leaders, our teachers, the cream of hum anity. Ibn H ajar hinted
at some instance of this sort of thing in the preface of the
He restricted himself to m erely intim ating it.
T h ey m ake me feel sad. B u t th ey h ave successors who, even if
th ey tried, would not reach them. This applies especially to one
self-styled historian in this age who has dared to plunge into the
m aze of (historical) methods. One sees people who (merely) on ac
count of th at am ply support him w ith money, clothing, and m any
other desirable things, although he does not reach (his predecessors),
al-ihtiydr, in A. M. a l - ^ A b b a d i , MuSdhaddt Lisdn -ad-din , 70 (Alexandria 1958); al-Ibihi,
M ustatraf, I, 80 (Bulaq 1268). Cf. also al-Mubarrad, K a m il, 477 W r i g h t , and

ya lifah ,

K a f az-zunun, I, 42 F l u g e l .
^ Above, p. 355, n. 3. The reference is to Muhammads correct remarks.
* Cf. Concordance, II, 281a.
* As-Sahawi refers to Ibn Ilajars criticism of al-'A yn i and Ibn Duqmaq. In enumerating
the sources of the Inbd^, Ibn Hajar said (Bodleian ms. or. Hunt. 123):
. . . and the }},adit expert Mahmud al-'A yn i who mentioned the H istory of 'Im 4 d-addin b. Katir as his source. This is so. After Ibn Katir breaks off, his source is the H istory
of Ibn Duqmaq. He literally copied whole pages of Ibn Duqmaq and often blindly followed
him in doubtful information. He even went so far as to copy obvious grammatical mistakes,
such as ahla^a ^ald (instead of hala'^a ^ald to give a robe of honor to). I t is even stranger
that Badr-ad-din al-'A yn i literally copied an event which Ibn Duqmaq had mentioned as
witnessed b y himself personally and which took place in E g y p t at a time when al-'A yn i
was still in 'Antab. However, I did not bother to follow up his mistakes, but copied from
him all the information which I did not have and which I think he observed (personally),
whether we were absent or present when the events in question took place. Cf. below,
p. 582 f.

357

its details.
(In spite of all m y bad experiences, however), would th at that
m an had lasted. H e was no honest scholar, but he was succeeded
b y one of those common people who are known for their stupidity
and intrepidity. His descriptions of the people (the religious scholars)
are lies which deserve to be exploded. He tells ridiculous stories
(63) which must be eradicated. A n austere scholar put it very
well, as he said when th at m an was described to him as a historian;
B y God, he himself is clear h istory. This was an allusion to his
experiences w ith w icked scoundrels.^
It is absolutely certain th at person? of his typ e will not reach
the scholarly heights of exact and pious scholars. His a ctiv ity
will scon come to an end, and it will not be long that he will be
held to account for his statem ents, even if he were to have m any
virtues and not only such a h ttle bit.
^ Elsewhere, as-Sahawi spoke in this vein about the historian *^AK b. Dawud al-Jawhari,
cf. Daw^, V , 218; above, p. 247. In rhymed prose, the idea was well expressed b y Ibn Habib,
in the introduction of his D urrat al-asldk.

358

as-sa h a w

! s

A nother person of the same typ e whom we know well is one of

our contemporaries. He m ade -unconsidered and im m oderate a t
tacks against the people (the religious scholars). He had to leave the
place, and he suffered increasingly painful and unpleasant ex
periences. In spite of it, he did not stop. E ventually, he m ade a
nuisance of himself for everybody. H e soon died, uncured of his
troubles.
There are other (destructive) historians, such as, for instance,
some Jerusalem ians who are known as fellow students and col
leagues of the devil (?), if we m ay say so.
( iX T H E

Q U A L IF IC A T IO N S

TRANSLATION

i 'l A n

R E Q U IR E D

O F H IS T O R IA N S )

The necessary qualifications ^ required of those who occupy

themselves w ith history are fairness, together w ith complete
correctness which generates extraordinary accuracy, and discretion,
especially w ith regard to m any of the statem ents m ade b y the ^
biographers of the prophets. In his Jdmi\^ al-H atib said; T h e y "
th at is, the hadU scholars (should?) also collect traditions
of the ancient Muslims which contain inform ation about the nations
of the past and the stories and biographies of the prophets. We
would consider it desirable if nobody were to devote himself to
such m atters who did not finish his study of the traditions of Muham
m ad. A l-H atib then reported the following statem ent on the
authority of Ibn A y y a s al-Q attan:* W hen I said to A hm ad (b.
Hanbal) th at I w anted to collect the stories of the prophets, he
replied: N ot before you have finished your study of the traditions
of our P rophet. Thus, he and others stated it clearly th at care
fulness is required in connection w ith the literary use of inform ation
about the ancients and derived from ancient books, as well as
inform ation about the events and battles (of the Last D ay). It is
here a question of declaring rejection (of such material) permissible
or m andatory. This apphes, for instance, to the book ascribed to
Daniel. In the case of the expected battles and outlined( ?) troubles
(to come), only th at little m aterial m ay safely be m entioned for
^ In this connection, it is not uninteresting to compare what Lucian had to say about
the qualifications of the historian, in Ilw (; 8 e i l o x o p t a v C T u y Y p a 9 S i . v , 54 f. Cf. also
C i c e r o , D e Oratore, II, 1 5 , 62 f.
^ Ms. Leiden has jum lah, instead of the jahalah of the edition.

3 The Alexandria manuscript of the probably very important work was not available
during my visit to that city.
* Probably, Y ah ya b. 'A yyaS, d. 26 9/882-83 [T B , X IV , 2 1 9 ! . ) ?

359

which we have traditions w ith uninterrupted chains of transm itters

going back to Muhammad.^
Someone asked (64) the religious leader, Malik, about the Psalter
of David.^ M alik rephed: H ow stupid and careless you are! Do
w e not have in the traditions of NMi',^ on the authority of Ibn
Um ar, on the auth ority of our Prophet, enough m aterial to keep
us busy w ith its correctness,^ so th at we do not have time to bother
w ith our relationship to D a vid . Inform ation on th at (story)
can be found in m y book, al~Asl al-osU.^
Most of that, in general, is rather silly. In the Kitdb at-Tawwdbin
of the ayh-al-Islam M uwaffaq-ad-din b. Qudamah, there are
indeed things I wish he would not have mentioned, especially since
the respective chains of transm itters are confused. The same applies
to the opinions he expresses regarding certain cases of trouble
am ong some of the most distinguished and oldest men around
Muhammad. W e h ave been commanded to exercise restraint
w ith regard to incidents am ong them and to interpret those incidents
in a m anner not discreditable to them.
M uhyi-ad-din an-Nawawi, the reorganizer of the (afiite) school,
deserves the divine m ercy for the following statem ent which he
made while praising the m anifold useful aspects of the Isti^db of the
leading hadit expert, A bu U m ar b. A b d -al-B arr: . . .if he only
had not reported the quarrels among the men around Muhammad
and told stories on the authority of historical inform ants {ahbdri)
who as a rule exaggerate and m ix things up.
In the presence of unintelligent people, (a discussion of) this
(type of material) should definitely be avoided, unless the proper
interpretation is added. This was stated with regard to the traditions
on the (divine) attributes and similar traditions. I say: It also
applies to the story of A isahs necklace. A lls statem ent in this
connection requires a special interpretation, as I h ave shown in one
of the Responsa [al-ajwihahl). Also, in view of (A lls) exalted po1 Cf. also as-Sahawis disapproval of the Israelite stories, 1 ldn, 150, below, p. 495 f. The
predictions {maldhim) of Daniel have a long history in Muslim literature, cf. above, p. 112.
* Apparently, the very common Arabic pseudepigraph, cf., for instance, G. L e v i d e l l a
V i d a , Elenco dei manoscritti arabi islam ici della Biblioteca Vaticana, No. 889 (Citta del
Vaticano 1935, Studi e Testi, 67).
* D. 117/735, cf. al-Buhari, Ta^rih, IV , 2, 8 4 !.; Ibn Hajar, Tahdib, X , 412-15.
* Ms. Leiden: tasMhuhH.
Cf. also I'^ldn, 150, below, p. 496. A copy of the work is said to exist in private possession,
cf. P . S b a t h , A l-F ih r is , Supplem ent, 55 (Cairo 1940).
* 'Abdallah b. Ahmad, d. 620/1223 (cf. G A L , I, 398).
Cf. IHdn, 48, above, p. 335.

36o

sition, a certain rem ark which refers to the fact th at he was one of
the blessed ^ B ad r fighters and which is mentioned shortly before
the (book on) Ikrdh in the Sahih of al-Buhari,^ requires special
interpretation and must not be understood literally. (It read s):
I know w hat emboldened your companion that is, A li to
shed blood.
T h e same applies to al-A b b as statem ent to A li when the two
cam e to U m ar in connection w ith the (disposition of the) property
of the B anu Nadir, and to some of the things in the story which
require interpretation unless th ey are accom panied b y proofs.
A ll this is governed b y (the traditions); Tell the people w hat
th ey can understand. W ould you w ant God and His Messenger
to be considered lia rs? ^ Anyone telling people a story which
is above their heads becomes a tem ptation for som e. ^ The re
ligious leader, a l-L a y t b. S a d, p ut it v ery well when he said th a t
a person who hears the tradition: If M uhamm ads daughter,
Fatim ah, com m itted a theft, her hand would be cut off, should
exclaim : H eaven forbid, w hat an idea!
A bu D aw iid reacted very cleverly at the mention of the tradition
in which the Prophet (65) said to his daughter, F atim ah: If you
did that, you w ould not enter Paradise until your fath ers forbear
sees it. H e made the m eaningful rem ark; A nd M uhammad
bolstered his statem ent b y an awful condition.
As-Suhayli said: It is not up to us to say such things about the
parents of M uham m ad, and he gave reasons for this statem ent.
It is m y opinion that it is the correct attitude to m ake neither
positive nor negative statem ents w ith regard to the parents of
Muhammad, unless this should be necessary (and then only) in
the com pany of persons who are firm in their faith. AMsahs

361

TRANSLATION

A S -S A H lw ts I*l A n

statem ent: I renounce but your nam e, ^ gives the right idea of
w hat is m eant b y renunciations (ruptures) among (the men around
Muhammad).
(References to) discussions among religious leaders in debates
and research belong into the same category (of subjects which
should be passed over in silence). There are some statem ents re
garding the merits of certain authoritative religious leaders in the
Kitdh as-Simnah of the hadit expert A bii s-ayh b. H ibban ^ which
I wish he had not made. There are sim ilar statem ents in the K am il
of the hadit expert A bu A hm ad b. Adi,^ the History of Bagdad
of the hadit expert A b u B ak r al-H atib, and in the works of their
predecessors, such as Ibn A bi Sayb ah s Musannaf,^ al-Buhari,
and an-N asai. Y e t, all of them were scholars of independent judg
m ent, and their intentions were good. In this respect, one must
not follow in their steps. Therefore, one of our teachers, a distin
guished judge, reprim anded (a certain scholar) who was supposed
to have discussed such m aterial. W hen we studied al-H araw is
Kitdb Damm al-kaldm w ith Ibn Haj ar, he even forbade us to transm it
traditions on its authority, because it contained such material.
W hen a certain respectable scholar heard the story of H atib
b. A b i B a lta ah,^ he was carried aw ay b y his zeal and disregarded
Ibn A b i B a lta a h s dignity as one of the men around Muhammad.
Because of the unconsidered remarks he m ade on th at occasion,
he was scolded b y one of the audience, and he had to hide one
month. It was a divine punishment. He had previously taken
offence at the biography of one of his friends b y a student of Ibn
H ajar and had attacked th at (student) so violently th at he was
alm ost ruined. He had no other choice but to hide in the Mosque
of A m r a whole month until the affair had quieted down. His

1 Cf. iH dn, 35, above, p. 316, n. 4.

Al-Buhari, SaM h, IV , 33 2 f. K r e h l , c f . a l s o Concordance, II, 14 8 b.
* Cf. I. G o l d z i h e r , M u h . Studien, II, 102 (Halle 1888-90).
* Cf. al-GazzMi, Ihyd^ I, 32 f. (Cairo 1334). For the first half of the tradition, cf. I^ldn,
46, above, p. 330, n. 4.
Cf. al-GazzMi, op. cit., I, 32.
* Cf. Muslim, SaM h, II, 2 1 5 (Calcutta 1 2 6 5 / 1 8 4 9 ) ; Ibn Hanbal, M usnad, V I, 41 (Cairo

1 Cf. al-B u h M , SaM h, IV , 131 K r e h l ; Ibn Hanbal, M usn ad , V I, 61 (Cairo 1313).

^ Abdallah b. Muhammad b. Ja'far, d. 369/979 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 347; Ibn Hajar,
L isd n , V I, 395; A bu N u'aym , H istory o f Isfahdn, II, 90 D e d e r i n g , where we find H ayyan
instead of Hibban).
2 'Abdallah b. 'A d i, d. 365/976 (cf. as-Sahmi, Ta^rih Ju rjd n , 225-27, Hyderabad 1369/

1 3 1 3 ) ; A bu Bakr b. al-'Arabi, 'Aridai al-ahwadt, X , 1 4 9 (Cairo 1350-52/1931-34). Cf. also

1950; G A L , I, 167).
* 'Abdallah b. Muhammad, d. 235/849 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 215).

al-Bayhaqi, al-M ahdsin -wa-l-masdwi, 39 5 f. S c h w a l l y (Giessen 1 9 0 2 ) ; A bu 1-Hasan alAmiri (?), as-Sa^ddah u'a-l-is^dd, 244 f. M i n o v i (Wiesbaden 1957-58); Ibn Katir, B iddyah,
II, 144.

Ahmad b. 'A li, d. 303/915 (cf. G A L , I, 162 f.).

Abdallah b. Muhammad, d. 481/1089 (cf. G A L , I, 433; ad-Dahabi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz,
14th tab., No. 27 W u s t e n f e l d ; S. d e B e a u r e c e u i l , in M el. de I'ln stitu t D om in ica in

^ Sulayman b. al-A at, d. 275/889 (cf. G A L , I, 161).

Cf. Concordance, I, 324a, line 27.
'Abd-ar-Rahm an b. 'Abdallah, d. 581/1185 (cf. G A L , I, 413), Raw'd al-u n uf. I, 113
(Cairo 1332/1914).

d ' t. Or. du Caire I, 9-38, II, 5-70, IV , 95-140, V,

47 - n 4 > V I, 55-122, V II, 1-20, 219-35

[1954 fT.]).
D. 30/650-51 (Ibn Ka.^\v, B iddyah, V II, 156). On his treasonable activities, cf. Ibn HiSam,
Strah, 809 W u s t e n f e l d .

362

AS-SAHAW ts I l A n

TRANSLATION

attacker (who had caused that affair) now had an even more unpleas
ant experience.

(One should be careful w ith remarks about persons) with whom

one is connected b y close ties, such as father or son. W hen Ibn
al-Madini ^ was asked about his father, he replied: A sk someone
else. A nd when he was asked again, he looked down and reflected
for a while. Then, he looked up and said: It is the religion (that

In addition to all this, a person is inclined to prefer those whom

he likes, because th ey are his models, or he is their friend in God,
or (they do him) a favor or the like, as a natural liking is felt for
those who do one a favor,^ which goes so far th at it has been said:
" 0 God, do not let the evildoer bestow a favor upon me which m ight
give him control over m y feelings.
Ibn M ain was extrem ely careful. W hen he came to Harran,
A bu S a id Y a h y a b. Abdallah b. (66) ad-Dahh^k al-B ab lu tti ^
w anted him to visit him, and he sent him a purse w ith gold and
fine food. Ibn Ma^in accepted the food b ut returned the purse.
W hen Ibn M ain was leaving, he was asked about (al-B 4 blutti), and
he said: Indeed, his gift is good, and his food fine, b u t he did not
leam any (tradition) from al-AwzS,*!. ^
Al-A^mas reportedly said when he heard about the appointm ent
of al-Hasan b. Um arah ^ to the (court of) mazdlim (injustices)
of al-K ufah : He who treats us unju stly and who is the son of him
who treats us u n ju stly has been appointed to our (court of) injus
tices. W hen, after a while, al-Hasan b. Um arah provided some
thing for him, a l-A mas reportedly said: He who has our in
terest in mind and who is the son of him who has our interest in
m ind has been appointed to (the adm inistration of) our interests
[masdlih). A sked about this (change of opinion), a l-A mas report
edly m entioned the tradition: A natural liking is felt for ones
benefactor. The whole story, I think, is not correct, especially
since it has been said th at in no salon did rulers, kings and rich
men appear to be more hum ble than in th at of a l-A mas, in spite
of his great need and poverty. W e m ay assume that (al-A m ass
characterization of (al-Hasan b. Umarah) underwent a change
when (the latter) turned to honoring the (religious) scholars. B u t how
could the characterization of his father change ? ........

363

is involved). W ell, he is a w eak transm itter.

The father of W a k i' b. al-Jarrah ^ was a director of finance.
Therefore, W aki*, in his traditions, used to quote a second authority
together w ith his father (and never his father alone).
A b u D awud, the author of the Sunan, said: M y son, Abdallah,
is a liar. W e (as-Sahawi) interpreted this in the B a il al-majhud
{fi hatm as-Sunan li-A hi Ddwud).
Sim ilarly, ad-D ahabi said w ith regard to his son, A bu Hurayrah,^
th a t he knew the Q uran b y heart b ut diverted his interest to other
things and even tually forgot it.
A ccording to the introduction of the Sahih of Muslim, Z ayd b.
A b i U naysah said: Do not take any m aterial from m y brother,
YahyS., who is known for lyin g.
There are other such remarks. T h ey are incom patible w ith the
tradition (which, therefore, should not be relied upon) of Ishaq
b. Ism ail al-Jiizajani which ad-D araqutni reported in the GardHh
M dlik , on the auth ority of Sa'id b. Isa b. M an (Ma'in ?) al-A sjai,
on the auth ority of Malik, on the authority of N M i , on the authority
of Ibn Um ar, leading back to Muhamm ad: The p urity of love for
your Muslim brother shows itself in the fact th at you are better
to him in his absence than in his presence. Moreover, ad-D ara
qutni said the tradition was worthless, and after Malik, the transm it
ters were w eak ones.
According to ad-D ahabi, there were among the caliphs, their
1 Ali b. Abdallah b. Ja'far, d. at the end of 234/849, or 235 [T B , X I, 458 ff.). For the
remark on his father, cf. the biography of the latter in Ibn Hajar, Tahdtb, V, 176. The last
sentence is not found in Ibn Hajar. For a list of Ibn al-Madinis works, cf. al-Hakim an-

* Cf. below.

Nisaburi, M a^rifat ^ulum al-hadtt, 71 M. H u s a y n (Beirut, n. y. [1965 ?]).

* W aki' died in 197/812-13 (T B , X I II , 496 ff.). On his father, al-Jarrah b. Malik (d.

D. 2 18 /8 33 (al-Bu^iari, Ta^rih, IV , 2, 2 8 8 ; as-Sam 'an i, Ansdb, fol. 56a). Cf. T B , V II ,

'A b d -ar-R ah m an b. 'A m r, d. 157/774 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 308 f,).
D. 153/770 [T B , V II , 345 fl.).

175/791-92, or 176), cf. T B , V II, 252 f.; Ibn Hajar, Tahdtb, II, 66 ff.
* 'AbdallElh b. Sulayman, d. 316/929 [T B , IX , 464 ff.; G A L Supplem ent I, 329). The
strange remark of the father who appears to have been very fond of his prodigy son was

On the mazdlim, th at is, cases th at do not fall under the jurisdiction of Sart^ah courts, cf.
E. T y a n , Histoire de I'organization judiciaire en pays d 'Isla m , II, 1 4 1 ff. (Paris 1 9 3 8 -4 3 ).
* F or him is fou n d in the te x t of Ms. Leiden. T h e te x t of the edition of th e iH dn
would suggest th at the gifts were provided for the religious scholars in general.
A shorter version of the sto ry which is even less creditable to al-A 'm as is in T B , V II ,
34 6 f.
Cf. T B , I X , 8 ; Ibn H ajar, Tahdtb, IV , 22 3 f.
* Th ere seems to be an omission in the te xt here.

discussed b y Ibn Hajar, Lisd n , III, 294.

* D. 799/1396 [Durar, II, 341).
Zayd died in 1 2 4 / 7 4 1 - 4 2 (al-Buhari, Ta^rih, II, i, 3 5 5 ; ad-Dahabi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz,
4 t h tab., no. 30 Wx )S TE NF E LD , has 12 5 ). Al-Buhari, Ta^rih, IV , 2, 26 2, has no date for
Y ah ya. Cf. Muslim, Sahih, I, 1 5 7 (Bulaq 13 0 4 , margin of al-Qastallani, IrSdd).
* This paragraph is derived from Ibn Hajar, Lisdn , I, 352 f. For al-JuzajSni and al-

391.

A ja% cf. Ibn Hajar, L isd n , I, 352 f., and III, 40.

364

365

A S - S A H A w t s I* l A n

TRANSLATION

forbears, and families some whose condition the exponents of

personahty criticism refrained from revealing. T h ey were afraid
th at they would suffer bodily harm. Said ad-D ahabi: This has
alw ays been true w ith regard to every dyn asty in power (67).
Historians used to describe their good sides and close their eyes to
the bad ones.

Sim ilarly, divergences of opinion exist among Sufis and (ortho

dox) jurists {ashdh al-furu^). There have been disputes among
them which caused remarks on both sides. I say: There are, for
instance, the remarks of Ibn Hiras ^ about A hm ad b. A b dah adD ab b i .2 Nobody, however, paid any attention to them, because

So it was when the historian was a religious and good man.

However, when he w as a sycophantic flatterer, he did not bother
about m orality. H e often mentioned the bad sides and shortcom ings
of a great m an in the guise of praise and as if those things were an
indication of nobility and greatness. I s a y : In fact, in the biography
of such a man, he often passes over something (negative) and says
the contrary, and he does not write the same things about him after
his death which he had w ritten during his life. It is better to
exercise discretion regarding the expressions (one uses) and to
steer clear of outspokenness beyond secret allusions.
Discretion is also indicated (in the case of the historian) who
harbors enm ity and hatred against (the person on whom he writes)
w hich are the result of the existence of jealousy (among them)
concerning their respective ranks. This is a frequent cause of
differences and dissensions among contemporaries. In the Jdmi'^
al-Hlm, Ibn A bd-al-Barr inserted a special chapter on "statem ents
made about each other b y contem porary rival scholars, T h ey
are not acceptable, even if each of the scholars concerned is thor
oughly trustw orth y b y himself.^ Often two contemporaries have
something to do w ith each other, w ithout an y enm ity existing
among them, which some consider a different case (?). In this
case, the same rule applies. (Even) if the tw o agree, non-acceptance
is better.
Such enm ity is based upon the wrong assumption th at ones
opposition is directed against the opponents religious beliefs which
he supposes to be wrong. Here is something which m ay vitiate
the cause of negative personality criticism. It m ay lead to m utual
charges of heresy and innovation and create a bias which is believed
to be religiosity, a means to appear religious and come near to God.
This results in the accusation of heresy and innovation. Taqi-ad-din
b. D aqiq-al-id called attention to this (situation). In ancient and
modern times, m any instances of it are found.
1 Cf. Ibn 'A b d -a l-B a rr, Jdmi^ baydn al-Hlm, II, 150 ff. (Cairo, n.y.). Of. also as-Subki,
M u H d an-ni'-am, 106 M y h r m a n (London 1908).

Ibn Hiras was a R afidi or a Hurrami.

If this is so, (the historian) should not exalt those whom he likes
beyond their station b ut follow the afore-mentioned examples.
A s a rule, however, hum an beings cannot keep aw ay from (partiali
ty). Loving something m akes one blind and deaf.
The eye of love is blind to every fault.
The eye of hatred every vice uncovers.*
(It would suffice,) if exaggeration were harm ful only in the sense
indicated b y our religious leader as-M ii (68) when he said: W hen
ever I exalted someone more than he deserved, I lost as much, or
more, esteem in his eyes. Or sim ilarly: Three scorn you when
you honor them : W omen, peasants, and slaves. This, too, is
a rem ark b y as-Mi"i. (The second remark) lim its the first rem ark
in its application to the hum ble and low ly and excludes from it
the noble (respectable classes). Consider, furthermore, (the tradition ):
L o ve your friend w ith restraint. Perhaps, one day, he will be
your enemy. A nd hate your enem y w ith restraint. Perhaps, one
day, he will be your friend.
H atred should (at least) not cause the historian to adopt unfair
methods, even if he is as a rule untrustw orthy (because of the
existence of hatred). This is w hy one hesitates to accept (traditions)
of people of such habits.
^ 'Abd-ar-R ahnaan b. Y u su f, d. 283/896 (ad-D ahabi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz, lo th tab., no. 5 1;
Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, I II , 444). If there was an y concrete m eaning connected w ith the expression
^iurram i in the m ind of as-Sahaw i, it w as the sam e as th a t of R afid i, Ism a'ili.
D. 245/859-60 (Ibn H ajar, Tahdtb, I, 59).
Cf. Concordance, I, 409a. Cf. also a l-B u M ri, T a M h , I, 2, 107; al-W assa^ MuwaSSd, 61
B r O n n o w (Leiden 1886); a l-'A sk a ri, Sind^atayn, 133 (Cairo 1320); idem, Dtwdn al-ma^dnt,
I, 228 (Cairo 1352); cil-Mawardi, Adab al-waztr, 24 (Cairo 1349/1929, ar-RasdHl an-nddirah,
5); Usam ah b. M unqid, Lubdb al-dddb, 231 (Cairo 1354/1935), w ith n. 2; A h m ad b. alH u sayn a l-B a yh a q i, Kitdb al-Addb, ch. on ^asabtyah, Ms. Cairo H ad it 43; Ibn a l-A tir,
K dm il, anno 182.
* C f . F . R o s e n t h a l , The Technique and Approach o f M uslim Scholarship, 32 (Rom e
1947, Analecta Orientalia, 24).
The te x t m ust be corrected in this sense.
Cf. T a k 6 p r u z a d e h , M ifidh as-sa^ddah. I I I , 169 (H yderabad 1328-56), w ith some
variation s; Jam al-ad-din al-Q azw ini (cf. G A L Supplement I, 914), M u fid al-^uliXm, 138
(Cairo 1310).
Cf. Usam ah b. M unqid, Lubdb al-dddb, 25 (Cairo 1354/1935), and the references given
there in n. 5 ; aI-W aga , MuwaSSd, 26 f. B r O n n o w (Leiden 1886).

366

AS-SAHAW IS I LAN

Taqi-ad-din b. D aqiq-al-id deserves the divine m ercy because

of his firm refusal to sign the affidavit against Taqi-ad-din b. B int
a l-A a z z / in spite of the bitter enm ity between them. H e w ent even
further and scolded the men (who had come to him w ith the affi
davit). He said: It is not permissible for me to sign it, and he
returned the document. This added to his greatness and was an
other indication of his abundant religiosity and faith. It was to
be expected (that Ibn D aqiq-al-id w ould act in this manner),
considering that it was he who had made the following statem ent:
I never said or did anything unless I had prepared a justification
for it (for the day when I would stand) before G od.
Ibn H ajar wrote a biography of al-QayM i after his death, in
which he said, in spite of his previously expressed low opinion of him
and disregard of the fact that he was his teacher: (As a M iite
judge) he practised restraint and m odesty. He adm itted only a
small number of substitutes (in court). He was very strict in legal
questions and in all his a f f a i r s . M a y God guide us in m atters
of anger and love.
The fear th at m ost of the afore-mentioned restrictions will not
be observed caused Ibn A bd-al-Barr to express the opinion that
in the case of (religious) scholars, negative personality criticism
was acceptable only if it was accom panied b y a clear proof and was
clear itself.^
A s- a fii showed very clever discretion when he said: W e were
told b y Ism ail who is called Ibn U la y y a h . ^ He knew th at
(Ism ail) disliked to be called b y th at name. H owever, as-Safii
was allowed to use it, since (Ism ail) was not generally known b y
any other name. (The historian) should not use invented nicknam es
such as Ibn at-Tarraq or Ibn Gafir as-sam a\ He should heed
the statem ent of Muhammad: An unconsidered word causes
the man who uses it to smart in the fire of Hell seventy autumns
(years).

TRANSLATION

367

there exists a need for them should be restricted to the requirements

of the purpose.
Al-M uzani told the following story which has been transm itted
to us: W hen as-afii once heard me say: So-and-so is a liar, he
said to m e : O < A b u > Ibrahim, use only your nicest words. Do not
say: 'L ia r', but rather: 'H is tradition is nothing.
In his exceeding austerity (fairness), al-Buhari, likewise, rarely
used the expressions liar or forger. Instead, he often said: T hey
were silent about him . He is disputed. H e was left ou t,
and similar phrases. He also often said: So-and-so considered
him a liar. So-and-so accused him of lyin g . ^
In the introduction of the SaMh, Muslim reports th at A y y u b asSahtiyani 2 disapproved of someone b y saying: He is super
num erary. This expression was meant to be another name for
lying.
If (the person about whom inform ation is received) is susceptible
of (being considered as) being between the tw o extremes, the
historian should not pronounce himself for one extrem e. H e should
w ait and be careful. In such cases, sound interpretation m ay save
him from pitfalls.
I t happened th at a certain judge was hesitant to accept some
ones testim ony. T h at person came to him in secret and asked
him for the reason of his hesitation. The judge explained th at he
had seen him in the vice-ridden Tabbalah district.^ The man replied:
Y o u r honor, I had to be there on honest business. B u t w hat did
you have to do th ere? The judge accepted him and entered his

If the historian is able to express (his) negative criticism (69)

b y means of an inform ative hint or a minimum of outspokenness,
he is not perm itted (to say) more. Things which are allowed because

testim ony.
The historian m ust be acquainted w ith the process of trans
mission. He m ust pronounce himself only with regard to w hat
he has found to be true. W ithout a reliable authority, he is not
perm itted to transm it a tradition. This is required b y the statem ent
of M uhammad: A man is enough of a liar if he reports all he
hears. The historian should thus protect himself against the
unconscious commission of (baseless) expansions, vilifications,
vituperations, and (acts of) hostility. Otherwise, intelligent people,

1 'A b d -ar-R ah m an b. Abd-al-W ahhab, d. 695/1296 (Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, X I I I , 346).

> Cf. Daw \ V II I , 213.
Cf. Ibn 'A b d -a l-B arr, Jdnii'- baydn al-'-ilm, II, 152 (Cairo, n.y.).
Ism a 'il b. Ibrahim , iio-93/728(729)-8o9 {TB, V I, 229 ff.; Fihrist, 317, Cairo 1348).
H is dislike for being called Ibn 'U la y y a h is m entioned in T B , V I, 230 f . ; Daw^, V I I I , 2, n. 5.
Cf., sinularly, aI-Bu{jari, SaMh, IV , 225 f. K r e h l .

iHdn, 52 f., above, p. 342.

* A y y u b b. A b i Tam im ah, d. 131/748-49 (al-Buhari, Ta^rth, I, i , 409 f.).
Muslim, SaMh, I, 136 (Bulaq 1304, m argin of al-Q astallani, IrSdd).
* Cf. al-M aqrizi, Hitat, II, 125 f. and 165 f. (Bulaq 1270).
Cf. M uslim, SaM h, I, 97 ff. (B ulaq 1304, m argin of al-Q astallani, IrSdd)', al-M izzi,
Tahdtb al-Kam dl, introduction (Ms. Cairo M ust, al-hadit 25).

368

AS-SAH AW ts I LAN

scholars, persons of noble birth, and sages will avoid his history,
and only people of a similar or worse (character) will like (to see)
it. (Baseless) expansions m ay also often cause him to be rejected and
to lose esteem. 1
The historian should not be satisfied w ith the dissemination
(of material), especially if the m aterial entails a detestable a tta ck
against the m erits of a pious scholar. In fact, if an incident contains
something detrim ental to the merits of a respectable person, the
historian should m ake no effort to publicize it. A hint should suffice
him. Otherwise, an indiscretion com m itted b y the person involved
m ight be definitely traced (70) to th at person, and he would be
disgraced for all time. This is indicated in the statem ent of (Mu
hammad), the law giver; Forgive the m istakes of respectable
persons." ^
The historian should avoid devoting his attention to discredit
able incidents which took place in the youth of a person who,
w ith G ods help, later on becam e a model for others. W ho is w ith
out fau lt (in this respect)! The Lord m arveled at a youth who was
not lusty. Y o u th is a kind of folly,^ and one (should rather) con
sider his present condition. S a id b. al-M usayyab put it very w ell:
There is no noble, learned, or distinguished person" w ith the
exception of the prophets, th at is who is entirely free from faults.
There are, however, people whose faults must not be mentioned.
In the case of the m an whose virtues are greater than his short
comings, the latter should be thrown in w ith the form er.
This leads to another qualification required of the historian.
He should know the different merits, conditions, and stations of
people. He should not exalt men of low ly rank (more than th ey
deserve), and he should not give men of high rank less honor (than
th ey deserve). H e should follow the statem ent of M uhamm ad:
Assign people to their proper stations," th at is, the respective
good or bad (stations they deserve in view of their qualifications).
* Leg. al-Jtsn, instead of al-hS.
* Cf. Concordance, IV , is o jif .
Cf. al-M uhasibi, Ri^dyah, ig S m i t h (London 1 9 4 0 , E . J . W . Gibb M em. Series, N .S ., 15);
Ibn F u rak, Baydn muSkil al-ahddit, para. 6 1 R o b e r t (Rom e 1 9 4 1 , Analecta Orientalia, 2 2 ) ;
a l-C azzali, Ihyd^, IV , 44 (Cairo 1334).
* Cf. Lisdn al-^Arab, I, 481 (B ulaq 1300-8); A b u H ay ya n at-Taw hidi, Imtd^, I I, 96
(Cairo 1939-4 4 ) Cf. a l-y a tib al-B agd ad i, K ifdya h, 79 (H yderabad 1357).
* F or this im,portant precept, which also appears in the furstenspiegel literature, of., for
instance, Muslim,, Sahth, in the beginning; as-Saljaw i, al-Jawahir wa-d-durar, Paris ms. ar.
2105, fol. 2a.

TRANSLATION

369

The historian should report only w hat he is forced to tell in the

case of beatings, prison terms, humiliations, and the like which
persons of dignity and auth ority m ay h ave suffered a t the hands of
the ruler (of their tim e). If possible, he should indicate wherever
disapproval is required. (His report) would then not serve as an
encouragement or excuse for those who m ight like to do similar
things. Thus, it happened to the accursed H a jjij in connection
w ith the story of the Uranis. According to the (chapter on) Tibb
of a l-B u M ris Sa h ih } Sallam b. Miskin ^ said; I have heard
th a t al-H ajjaj th at is, Ibn Y u su f at-T aqafi said to Anas b.
M^lik; Tell me, w hat was the most severe punishment ever m eted
out b y the Prophet ?' and A nas told him. W hen al-Hasan th at
is, al-Basri heard that, he said: T wish he had not told him . "
In general, the qualifications which a historian must possess
are (as we have said); Fairness; exactness, (the power to) distin
guish, whenever necessary, between (reports which are) acceptable
and (reports which must) be rejected, and between personalities of
high and low rank; and a lack which was described b y someone
as avoidance of (preconceived) purposes and tendencies of w orldly
enm ity or of predilection which would lead to bias (in favor of
someone). In addition, the historian should have an adequate
understanding of the different kinds of learning, in particular the
special cases and basic principles. He should understand the (tech
nical) phrases and how th ey are used. (Otherwise), there is danger
th a t he m ay use phrases not befitting the particular person with
whom he is dealing, and he m ay become the target of accusations
of detraction and vicious censoriousness. In spite of their qualities,
this happened (71) to the great M ugultay ^ and the very w orthy
Ibn D uqm aq who held the right religious convictions and made
no evil use of tongue and pen. It also happened to Ibn A b i H ajalah,
even if he, in particular, was (not) free from blam e ( ?). A ll of them
felt the bias of the enem y and (were threatened) b y the snares of
en vy he set up for them.
1 Th e reference is to al-Buhari, Sahth, IV , 58 f. K

rehl,

bu t the H ajja j story is, of course,

n ot derived from al-Buhari.

D . 164/780-81, or 167/783-84 (al-Buhari, Ta^rth, II, 2, 135; Ibn S a 'd , Tabaqdt, V II, 2, 40
S a c h a u and others).

* D. around 91-93/109-11 { E l, s . v . ) .
* M u gu ltay b. Q ilij, d. 762/1361 (cf. G A L , II, 48).
Ibrahim b. M uham m ad, d. 809/1407 (cf. G A L , II, 50).
Th e correct reading m ay be ma'-zuran, if the person referred to is the well-known
A h m ad b. Y a h y a (d. 776/1375, cf. G A L , II, 12 f.), who got into trouble because of his im ita
tion of Ib n al-Fari(J.
R o s e n th a l,

History of Muslim Historiography

24

370

A S - S A H A W f s I LA N

The hadit expert and ascetic, Nur-ad-din al-H aytam i/ could

not enough disparage W ali-ad-din b. Haldun, the M ahkite judge,
because he had heard that Ibn H aldun had mentioned al-H usayn
b. A ll in his History and had used the following words: He was
killed b y the sword of his grandfather (Muhammad). Ibn H ajar
said: W hen our teacher' th at is, al-H aytam i m entioned this
remark, he w ept and cursed and abused Ibn H aldun. Ibn H ajar
added: This rem ark is not to be found in the History as it exists
today. Ibn H aldun would seem to have mentioned it in the m an
uscript which he later revised. ^ However, in connection with
(the history of the) cahphs below, I shall quote a statem ent from
Ibn Haldun which almost appears to confirm the fact th at he made
such a remark. W e ask God to keep us safe (= th is is an unpleasant
subject).
Another qualification required of the historian is (moral) austerity
(fairness, wara^) and the fear of God. He will thus refrain from
resorting to guesswork and disputed combinations. (Otherwise),
there is danger th at he m ay fall under the statem ent of Muham
m ad: Beware of conjectures, for conjectures are the greatest
lie. 3 If the historian is known as learned but is not austere, it
is a greater misfortune than vice versa. A usterity and the fear of
God will restrain him and require him to investigate, (72) to do
independent research, and to desist from (baseless) expansions.
I have made this plain in several passages of m y works.
Taj-ad-din as-Subki referred to some of these qualifications
(of the historian). I n ih e Kitdh MuHd an-ni''am,'^\iQmd.^Qt)\e follow
ing statem ent which in itself (in certain respects) is open to crit
icism: T h ey that is, the historians are upon the brink of a
weak undermined sand dune. T h ey have power over the honor of
the people. Often (73) they transm it either false or true reports
just as they heard them. The historian m ust be a scholar. He m ust be
^ ' A H b. A b i B akr, d. 807/1405 (cf. G A L , II, 76; Supplement I I , 81, no. 6a, and 82, no. 10).
2
T h is passage, as well as IHdn, 94, below , p. 407, is derived from Ibn H ajar, Raf^ al-isr,
3 4 7 f- H a m i d ' A b d - a l - M a j i d and I b r a h i m a l - I b y A r i (Cairo 1 9 5 7 - 6 1 ) . Cf. also Daw^, I V ,
147.

A s is also indicated in a footnote in the edition of the IHdn, the statem ent occurs in the
published recensions of the Muqaddimah (1 0 6 , B u laq 1 2 7 4 ;
3 92 Paris; trans. F . R o s e n
t h a l , I, 44 6 , n. 353 [New Y o r k 1958]) as a quotation from al-^Awdsim wa-l-qawdsim of A b u
B akr b. al- A ra b i and is branded as erroneous b y Ibn H aldun. The te x t of the Muqaddimah
does not have sw ord but Sar'^\ in accordance w ith the religious la w .
Cf. Concordance, I, 436a.
* 105 f. M y h r m a n (London 1908), trans. O. R e s c h e r , 66 f. (Constantinople 1925).
' Cf. IHdn, 59, above, p. 352 f. Q ur an ix 109 ( n o FI.).

T R A N S LA T IO N

371

fair. He must be acquainted w ith the condition of the persons

whose biographies he writes. There should be no friendship between
him and the subject of his biography, which would m ake him
biased in his favor, and no enm ity, which would cause him to
disparage him. A frequent m otive causing him to disparage the state
ments of others is the difference of religious convictions and the
belief th at th ey are in error. He therefore attacks them or does not
give them enough praise. L ater on, as-Subki said: Some (his
torians), in legal cases, are seized b y a zeal for a certain juridical
school and go through all possible stages of bias. This is one of the
worst traits of (historians). I have seen adherents of a particular
juridical school who were so biased th at th ey refused, for instance,
to p ray behind members of the other schools. There are more such
things too repulsive to be mentioned. W oe unto them! How do
th ey stand w ith God! If as-afii and A b u H anifah were alive, they
would strongly disapprove of such p e o p le .. . , and so on.
In the biography of A hm ad b. Salih al-Misri^ in the Tabaqdt alkubrd, as-Subki said:^ Historians often either give the people
less honor (than they deserve) or exalt them (more than th ey de
serve). The reason is either bias, or ignorance, or blind reliance
upon the m aterial of an untrustw orthy transm itter, or some other
such reason. A s-Subki continued: Ignorance is greater among
historians than among the exponents of personality criticism.
The same applies to bias. I have rarely seen a historical w ork free
from it. The History of our teacher, ad-D ahabi m ay God pardon
and not punish him is a fine w ork full of m aterial. However, it
is overloaded w ith bias. A d-D ahabi often attacks the men of re
ligion th at is, the Sufis {al-fuqard") who are the cream of hu
m anity. He makes slanderous remarks against m any M iite and
H anafite religious leaders.
As-Subki continued: He was too much against the A s'arites
and gave too much praise to the anthropomorphists. Such is the
case w ith ad-Dahabi, the model hadit expert and respected religious
leader. W hat, then, can be expected from common historians?
In our opinion, their praise and censure should only be accepted
if th ey possess the qualifications stipulated b y him th at is, as1 D. 248/863 {TB, IV , 195-202; as-Subki, Tabaqdt aS-SdfiHyah, I, 186 ff., Cairo 1324;
Ibn H ajar, Tahdib, I, 39-42).
*
IHdn, 7 3 io-7 5 ii (to, below, p. 374, line 13), is derived from Tabaqdt ai-SdfiH yah, I,
197-99 (Cairo 1324).
^
IHdn, 75i3-76, (below, p. 374, line 14, to p. 375, line 28), is derived from Tabaqat, 1, 190 f.

372

TRANSLATION

A S-SA H A W f's I l A n

Su bkis father. 1 He said: A historian m ust possess truthfulness.

W hen he transm its a tradition, he m ust stick to the wording, and
not (merely) to the meaning. His m aterial must not contain things
which he picked up in conversation and wrote down afterwards.
He m ust name the person on whose auth ority he reports (a story).
These are four qualifications required (of the historian) regarding
the transmission (of historical material) from others. Statem ents
of his own and possible additions or omissions of his own in the
transm itted biographical m aterial require the following qualifica
tions: (The historian) m ust know the position of the subject of the
biography in scholarship, (74) religiosity, and other things. This
is very difficult. He also must possess a good style, a knowledge
of the exact m eaning of (technical) phrases, and a good imagination,^
so as to be able to grasp in his m ind the whole picture of the indi
vidual whose biography he writes and to present it (to the reader)
w ith no more and no fewer words (than necessary). He m ust not
be overcome b y prejudice {hawd), or he will be misled b y it to giving
too insistent praise to his friends and to treating others w ith too
great brevity. To this end, he m ust possess enough fairness, in order
to overcome his prejudices {hawd) and to be im partial. Otherwise,
it is difficult to avoid prejudice {hawd). These are four more quali
fications (required of the historian). One m ight m ake them five,
inasmuch as the possession of a good im agination and knowledge
does not necessarily im ply the presence of im agination a t the time
of writing. Therefore, a ready im agination should be added (as
another qualification) to good im agination and knowledge. There
are thus altogether nine qualifications required of the historian.
The most difficult one is the insight into an individuals position
in scholarship. It requires that the historian himself be an active
scholar in the same field (as his subject) and be close to his subject,
so th at he is able to ascertain his rank as a scholar. Here ends
as-Subkis quotation from his father.
A s-Subki continued: He put it very well and very ably. He
referred to an im portant point neglected b y m any and respected b y
successful (scholars), nam ely, the (arbitrary) lengthening and short
ening of biographies. M any a cautious (historian) mentions only
the m aterial he finds transm itted, but, coming to a person whom he
1 'A ll b. 'A b d -a l-K M i, d. 756/1355, or 755 (cf. G A L , II, 86-88). Cf. as-Safadi, W dfi, 1,4 6
R it te r .

Tasawwur, cf. above, p. 256, n. 2.

Cf. the te x t of as-Subki, Tabaqdt, I, 198,.

373

hates, he reports all his blam ew orthy traits and omits m any of the
praisew orthy ones. In the case of his friends, he does just the oppo
site. The unfortunate man thinks th at he does not commit a sin,
since he is not required to w rite a long biography and to give a
com plete list of the praisew orthy traits of his subject. Misguided
as he is, he does not realize th at shortening a biography in such an
intention is an expression of contem pt for the subject of the biography
and a fraud perpetrated against God, His messenger, and all Mus
lims, as there exists the obHgation to report all praise and blame
which an individual is said to deserve.
I s a y : Such a (historian) is comparable to a student of philosophy
and similar m atters who tells (others) only the bad things he has
learned. (Muhammad,) the law giver compared him to a person
who came to a shepherd and said to him : L et us have one of your
animals for slaughtering. W hen the shepherd repHed: T ake
whichever you w an t, he headed for the sheep dog and took it.^
Taj-ad-din (as-Subki) continued: (The historian) who does
the afore-m entioned thing is like someone who says, when a certain
individual is mentioned in his presence: L et us not mention him ,
or: He is strange, or: God improve him , and still thinks th at he
does not calum niate th at person through the use of these expres
sions. In fact, however, it is one of the worst kinds of calum ny.
(As-Subki) continued: Also, he was very right to say: (75)
H e m ust not be overcome be prejudice. Prejudice overcomes
everybody, except those whom God protects. However, the histo
rian does not avoid prejudice b y just thinking, in his stupidity or
under the influence of a spirit of innovation, th at it is not prejudice
but the truth. In this case, he will not look for something w ith which
he m ight subdue his prejudice, being convinced th at he is right.
This happens to m any who quarrel because of differences in religious
convictions. The word of nobody who is in such a situation should be
accepted at its face value, unless it be a reliable person who reports
something of proven accuracy which he had either seen w ith his
own eyes or which he had verified. The expression: of proven ac
cu racy, was chosen, in order to guard ourselves against the ad
mission of trifles of unestablished accuracy which in no detail
would stand up to investigation and verification. The expression:
which he had either seen w ith his own eyes or which he had veri
fied, is (to stress the need for) elim inating m aterial transm itted
1 Cf. Concordance, I, 343b.

375

A S -S A H A W t s I l A n

T R AN S LAT IO N

on the authority of those who either exaggerate or m ake under

statem ents, in order to promote their own religious convictions.
He also was right in considering as one of the required qualifi
cations learning and knowledge of the exact meaning of the (tech
nical phrases). Ignorance caused m any to express unnecessary
negative criticism. In fact, the books of the ancient authors con
tain such criticism of A hm ad b. Salih al-Misri, A bu H atim ar-Razi,^
and others for (their occupation with) philosophy, because it was
thought that theology [Him al-kaldm) was philosophy. The critics
were refuted b y a reference to their lack of knowledge of both
disciplines. Som ething similar applies to ad-D ahabis statem ent
th at al-Mizzi knew the intricacies of the speculative sciences.
None of them knew anything about it .

hand, their outstanding good sides and did not report all of them.
W henever he encountered something wrong in them, he mentioned
it. He did the same w ith our contemporaries. If he was not able to
say (something derogatory) against (76) someone openly, he said in
his b io grap h y: A nd m ay God im prove him ,i or something similar
expressions prom pted b y differences in religious convictions.
Taj-ad-din as-Subki rem arked to th a t: The situation w ith
ad-D ahabi is much more pronounced than he th at is, a l-A la i
describes it. A d-D ahabi was our teacher and guide. However,
truth deserves most to be followed.^ His bias was excessive to a
ridiculous degree. I fear for him for the D a y of Resurrection. Most

374

As-Subki then said th at it is not permissible to rely upon his

teacher, ad-Dahabi, whenever he blames an A s'arite or praises a
H anbalite .2 A s-Subki reported th at a l-A la i^ described ad-D ahabi
as a man whose religiosity, austerity (fairness), and discretion in his
remarks about the people (the religious scholars) nobody would
doubt. A fter that, al-A la i said th at (ad-Dahabi) firm ly held to the
doctrine of the existence of positive qualities in God and rejected
(allegoric) interpretation and the doctrine of the remoteness of God.
He was filled w ith a strong aversion for the representatives of the
doctrine of the remoteness of God and a strong inclination tow ard
the representatives of the doctrine of the existence of positive
attributes in God. W henever he wrote the biography of one of the
latter, he persistently described all his good sides and exerted all
his efforts to describe him in terms of high praise. He overlooked
his m istakes and whenever possible interpreted the facts in his
favor. On the other hand, whenever he mentioned someone of the
other group, such as the Im am al-H aram ayn,* al-CrazzMi, and
others, he did not try to describe them in praising terms. He m en
tioned attacks against them at great length. He repeated that, made
(the attacks) appear prominent, and, in complete ignorance, con
sidered this (procedure) religiosity. He disregarded, on the other
1 M uham m ad b. Idris, d. 277/890 [TB , II, 7 y 7 7 ', Ibn H ajar, Tahdih, I X , 31-34).
^ Cf. I -ldn, 56, above, p. 348.
* H alil b. K a y k a ld i, d. 761/1359 (cf. G A L , II, 6 4 !.). A s an illustration of as-Su b kis
relationship to a l-'A la i, it m ay b e noted th at a m anuscript belonging to the la tte r (alA m id is Abkdr al-afkdr, Ms. A y a Sofya 2165-66, cf. top left of the title-page of 2166) passed
a fter his death into the possession of as-Subki (bottom right of the title-pages of b oth
volum es, with the date 763/1361-62).
* <^Abd-al-Malik b. 'A b d allah , d. 478/1085 (cf. G A L , I, 388 f.).

Muslim scholars w ill be against him .

L ater on, Taj-ad-din (as-Subki) said; The scholarly authorities
h ave made us aware of the fact th at it is forbidden to look at his
remarks and to use his statem ents. He did not dare to show his
historical works to anyone, except those of whom he could be rea
sonably certain th at th ey would not transm it any objectionable
passages.
(As-Subki) then contested a l-'A la is description of ad-D ahabi
as a man of austerity and discretion. He himself used to believe
that. He often considered (his statements) an expression of religios
ity. He then had doubts about him when he saw him telling some
thing which proved convincingly th at he knew th at it was a lie.
He did not invent it but just loved to tell it (in spite of the fact
th at he knew th at it w as a lie and should not have been told).
In addition, ad-D ahabi had little knowledge of the exact m eaning
of (technical) phrases and lacked practice in the religio-juridical
disciplines, and so on.
A s-Subkis remarks are very extreme. He himself relied upon
ad-D ahabi in most of his biographies, and, as I have stated before
w ith the (appropriate) expression of disapproval, was extrem ely
biased against the H anbalites. H e was as biased and as suspect of
calum ny as he claim ed ad-D ahabi was. I do not absolve ad-Dahabi
of some of the accusations which (as-Subki) m ade against him.
He accused Ibn al-Jaw zi of having mentioned, in his book on Weak
Transmitters, those who attacked a transm itter, while om itting
those who declared him trustw orthy. Ibn H ajar said this in the
* A s-Subki has the correct text.
IHdn, 58, above, p. 350 n. 4.
* IHdn, 56, above, p. 347 f-

AS-SAH AW IS I LAN

TRANSLATION

biography of A ban b. Y a zid a 1- A tta r ^ in the Tahdib.^ I assume in

his favor th at he did not come across assertions of trustworthiness.
O nly God is perfect. For us, it is sufficient proof of ad-D ahabi's
greatness th at Ibn H ajar expressed the wish, while drinking the
w ater of the Zam zam (fountain in Mecca), th at he m ight reach
ad-D ahabis station. This has been m entioned above.^ H ave people
used an y other books on the subject (of history) than those of
ad-D ahabi from his time on and until the present day ? H ap p y is
the one whose m istakes can be counted.^

him b y people who were no more austere, learned, or ascetic than

he. T h ey closed their eyes to the sins and transgressions of their
colleagues and friends. B u t God did not give them power over him
because of their fear of God and their own importance, but because
of his sins. Gods support of him and his followers was greater (than
His support of his enemies). T h ey suffered only part of w hat they

376

A t any rate, the dissatisfied often did not have the recognition
from ad-D ahabi which they thought was due to them. The reason
was th at in their biographies, he either gave them a lower rank than
th ey thought th ey deserved, or something similar. A n exam ple is
(the story of) ams-ad-din Muhammad b. A hm ad b. Bashan, the
Q uran reader, whom ad-Dahabi mentioned in the Tahaqdt al-qurrd\
W hen Ibn Bashan saw w hat ad-D ahabi had said, he wrote in
th ick letters some vitu p erative rem arks directed against adD ahabi upon the page in question which was in the handw riting
of ad-Dahabi. This made his handw riting for the most part illegible.
W hen ad-D ahabi saw (77) that, he incorporated a biography of
Ibn Bashan in the Mu'^jam of his teachers. H e described w hat had
happened, and concluded: A nd he himself wiped out his name
from the list of Q uran readers."
I h ave seen an excellent creed b y (ad-Dahabi) and an epistle
w ritten b y him to Ibn T aym iyah w hich is a useful argum ent against
the accusation of excessive bias (which has been leveled against
him). On one occasion, ad-Dahabi swore th at his eyes had never
seen anyone more learned and quickw itted than (Ibn Tajrm iyah.).
He also was austere in m atters of eating, dress, and women, and
he alw ays tried to be fair. (Ad-Dahabi) then said that he spent
long years in weighing and investigating him. He found th at the
only things th at caused the setback to his (reputation) among
the E gyptian s and Syrians who hated and vilified him and called
him a liar were haughtiness, vanity, pretentiousness, an excessive
desire for occupying the first place among scholars, an inclination to
v ilify the great, and a love of prominence. This led to attacks against

377

deserved. ^
(Ad-Dahabi) said w ith regard to the H anbalites: T h ey possess
useful knowledge, and, in general, th ey have religion. T h ey have
little luck in this world. Some scholars speak (badly) of their creed
and accuse them of anthropomorphism which (they say) belongs
to them. T h ey are, however, free from it. M ay God forgive them .
In the (chapter on) basic principles of religion, ad-D ahabi said
th at religion revolves around the knowledge of the Q uran and the
sunnah. These tw o are the indispensable basic principles of the
religion of Islam. B u t custom differs in w hat is called (the science
of the basic principles of religion) according to the different religious
groups. In the opinion of the early generations, these basic principles
were the belief in God, His books, messengers, and angels, in His
attributes, in predestination, and in the Q uran as the uncreated
word of God, as well as the acceptance of (the exem plary character
of) all the men around Muhammad, and other basic principles
of the sunnah. In the opinion of the later generations, religion is
their own bookish constructions built upon intellect and logic just
the things which in the eyes of the early generations degraded the
persons devoted to them and stam ped them as innovators. Am ong
the later generations, there are great differences w ith regard to
questions which ought to be disregarded b y good Muslims.^ Such
differences generate spiritual disease. W hoever doubts th at can
leam it from experience. W ar reigns among fundam entalists
{usuliyah). T h ey declare each other unbelievers or misguided. The
fundam entalist who sticks to the plain meaning of the words
and traditions is declared b y his adversaries to be an anthropomorphist, a haswi,^ and an innovator. In turn, the fundam entalist
who (78) promotes (allegoric) interpretation will be declared
^ A d -D ah abi, Baydn zagal al-Hlm, 17 f. (Dam ascus 1347). Th e editor of the w ork, M

1 D. 160/776-77, according to L. C a e t a n i ,
Ibn Hajar, Tahdtb, I, lo i f.
IHdn, 57, above, p. 349 f.
* IHdn, 61, above, p. 355, n. 5.
* IHdn, 57, above, p. 349.

Onomasticon Arabicum, 12 (Rome 1915).

Z a h i d a l - K a w t a r i , says th at the Nasihah ad-Dahabtyah li-Ibn Taym iyah w hich he pu b

lished together w ith the Baydn zagal al-Hlm is the epistle to which as-Sahaw i refers.
*
A d -D ah abi alludes here to the w ell-know n tradition; An indication th at a man is a
good Muslim is th at he disregards w h at does n ot concern h im .
A discussion of the term w as undertaken b y A . S. H a l k i n , in J A O S , L IV , 1- 2 8 (1934).

378

AS-SAHA w i s I LAN

TRANSLATION

b y others to be a Jahm i and a M u'tazili and to be in error.

(The fundam entalist) who adm its (the existence of) some
(positive) attributes in God and rejects others and also perm its
(allegoric) interpretation in certain cases (and not in others)
is called a person who contradicts himself. It would be better to
go slow. Y o u m ay excel in the basic (religious) principles and the
logic, philosophy, and opinions of the ancients, and the speculative
ideas connected w ith (those principles). Y o u m ay, further, hold
on to the Q uran, the sunnah, and the basic principles of the early
generations. Y o u m ay, moreover, combine the speculative and
traditional sciences. Y et, I do not think th at in these respects,
you will reach the station of Ibn T aym iyah . Indeed, you will not
even come near it. A nd you have seen how he was degraded, aban
doned, and considered to be in error, to be an unbeliever, and to
be a liar, righ tly or wrongly. Before he entered upon this business,
he was brilliant and shining, with the m ark of those early Muslims
on his face. Then, he was wronged and exposed (to disgrace). His
face was blackened (?) in the opinion of some people; he was an
impostor, fraud, and unbeliever in the opinion of his enemies;
an excellent, correct, and outstanding innovator in the opinion
of m any intelligent and excellent m en ; and the bearer of the banner
of Islam , the guardian of the realm of religion, and the reviver of the
sunnah in the opinion of the great m ajority of his followers. ^

of Anas th at the (Muslim) era originated with the arrival of the

(X T H E

IN T R O D U C T IO N

OF

TH E

M U S L IM

ERA) ^

Opinions differ as to who was the first to institute the (Muslim)

era {ta^rih).
In the History of Damascus, Ibn A sakir reported on the authority
1

B aydn zagal al-Hlm, i8 a n d 21-24 (D a m a sc u s 134 7).

T h is v e r y im p o r ta n t s u b je c t a lw a y s in te re s te d M u slim sch o la rs, a n d th e tr a d itio n s

m e n tio n e d b y a s -S a h a w i are fo u n d in m a n y w o rk s. O n ly a fe w referen ces m a y b e g iv e n h e re :
A l- B u h a r i, Ta^rth, I, i , g i .; idem, Sahth, III, 59 K r e h l ; H a lifa h b . H a y y a t , Ta^rih, b e g .
[Ms. R a b a t 1999]; a t - T a b a r i, Ta^rth, I, 1250-56 D e G o e j e an d o th e rs ; a l- J a h s iy a r i, Wuzard^,
fo l. 9b M z i k ; a s-S u li, Adab al-kuttdb, 178-86 (C airo 1 3 4 1 ) ; Ib n D u r u s ta w a y h , Kuttdb, 79 f.
(B e ir u t 19 2 7 ); a l- 'A s k a r i, AwdHl, P a ris m s. ar. 5986, fo l. 76 a -b , an d o th e r awdHl w o rk s,
s u ch as a s-S ib li, M ahdsin al-wasd^il, P h o t. C a iro T a M h 55 57, fo ls. 9 3 a -9 5 a ; a l-M a s 'u d i,
Tanbth, 196 ff. (on p re -Is la m ic eras), 290 D e G o e j e ; H a m z a h a l-Is fa h a m , History, I, 7
G o t t w a l d t ; a l-B iru n i, al-Atdr al-bdqiyah, 29 ff. S a c h a u ; Ibn ^Asakir, Ta^rth Dima.^q, I,
18 f f . ; a d -D a b b i, Bugyat al-multamis, 8-10 C o d e r a an d R i b e r a (M a d rid 1885, Bibliotheca
Arabico-Hispana, 3); S ib t Ibn a l-J a w z i, Mir^dh, M s. T o p k a p u s a r a y , A h m e t III, 2907, fols.
3a-6b (a so u rce o f a s -S a h a w i); a l-M a r z u q i, Azm inah, II, 271 ( H y d e ra b a d 13 3 2 ); a l-M a q rizi,
H itat, I, 284 (B u la q 12 70 ); a s -S a h a w i, Tibr, 3 (B u la q 1 3 1 5 ) ; a s - S u y u ti, Samdrih, ed . S e y b o l d
(L e id e n 1894); a n d d o w n to a t- T a h a n a w i, KaSSdf istildhdt al-funun, 56 ff. ( C a lc u tta 1862,
Bibliotheca Indica) = 83 f. (C airo 1382-/1963-), an d 'A b d - a r - R a h m a n a l- J a b a r t i, ^Ajd^ib
al-dtdr, I , 3 f . (C a iro 1301, in th e m a rg in of I b n a l- A t ir s Kam il).

379

Prophet in Medina.^
A l-A sm ai likewise said: The era started w ith R a b i I, the
month of the hijrah.
In the Iklil, al-H akim reported through Ibn Jurayj,^ on the
authority of A bu Salimah,^ on the authority of Ibn Sihab az-Zuhri
th at upon arrival in Medina, Muhammad ordered the introduction
of the (Muslim) era. It began in R a b i I.
This, however, is problematic. In accordance w ith Ibn Asakir,
it is believed th at the (Muslim) era was introduced in the time of
Umar. This is generally assumed to be correct. Indeed, it is correct
and well-known th at (the event) took place during the caliphate
of Um ar and th at he chose, as the epoch (of the era), the hijrah
of the Prophet and the m onth of al-Muharram of the year of the
hijrah. Al-Buhari,^ on the auth ority of al-Q anabi ,5
the authority
of A b d -al-A ziz b. A bi Hazim, on the auth ority of Salimah b.
D inar, on the auth ority of Sahm ahs father, reported the following
statem ent of Sahl b. S a d as-Saidi: T h ey did not count from the
time when the call first came to the Prophet, or from the time of
his death. T h ey counted from the time of his arrival in M edina.
According to (79) the report of al-Hakim , through M usab azZubayri, A b d -al-A ziz said: The people missed the count. T h ey
did not count from the time when the call first came to the Prophet,
or from the time of his arrival in Medina, but th ey counted from
the time of his death . A l-H akim remarked (to this) that it was
fantastic and then reported the tradition correctly, exa ctly Uke
al-Buhari: . . . and not from the tim e of his death, but they
counted from the time of his arrival in M edina. The expression:
The people missed the count, means: T h ey neglected and om itted
it, then corrected themselves in this respect. It was not m eant to
* I did not succeed in tracing this quotation in the History of Damascus in precisely the
same form in which it appears above. As-Sahawi appears to have derived it from Sibt Ibn
al-Jawzi, fol. 5b of the manuscript cited.
* 'Abd-al-M alik b. '^Abd-al-'Aziz, d. 149/766-67, or 150 (T B , X , 400-7).
3 Abu Salimah b. 'Abd-ar-Rahm an, d. around 100/718-19 (Ibn Hajar, Tahdib, X II,
115-18).

Sahth, III, 49 K

reh l.

5 Abdallah b. Maslamah, d. 221/836 (as-Sam'ani, Ansdb, fol. 459 b)' D. 182/798-99, or 184 (Ibn Hajar, Tahdtb, VI, 333).
D. around 140/757-58 (al-Buhari, T a M h , II, 2, 7 9 ; Ibn Hajar, Tahdtb, IV , 143).
D. 88/706-7 (al-Buhari, T a M h , II, 2, 98 f.).
Mus'ab b. 'Abdallah, d. 235/851, or 233/848 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 212; T B , X III,
112). The following 'A b d-al-'A ziz may, or m ay not, be identical with the one just mentioned
(n. 6).

38 o

AS-SAH AW IS I l A n

im ply th at the correct procedure should be different from w hat

th ey did. It is, however, possible th at this actually was m eant and
th at (the author of the statement) was of the opinion th at it would
have been more appropriate to begin (the Muslim era) with the tim e
when the call first came to the Prophet, or w ith his death. Tnis is a
possibility, b ut the other assumption is preferable.
It is correct th at the (Muslim) era started w ith the first of the
year.
A certain scholar showed the propriety of starting w ith the
hijrah. There are four events in the life of M uhamm ad which
m ight be used as epoch years of the era: His birth, (the year)
when the call first came to him, the hijrah, and his death. The
selection of the hijrah was considered preferable. There are differ
ences of opinion w ith regard to the exact year of his birth as we)l
as the year when the call first came to him. The year of his death
was considered unsuitable because of its sad associations. T he
choice, thus, was restricted to the hijrah. (The beginning of year one)
was dated back from R a b i I to al-Muharram, because the resolution
to em igrate [hijrah) came (to Muhammad) in al-Muharram. The
oath of allegiance took place in D u l-Hijjah,^ and this was the prel
ude of the hijrah. The new moon of al-Muharram was the first
after the oath of allegiance. The resolution to em igrate thus coin
cides w ith the new moon of al-Muharram. It was therefore quite
proper to m ake al-Muharram (the month) in which (year one of)
the era began. Ibn H a jar said th at this was the most convincing de
fense of the propriety of beginning w ith al-Muharram he h ad come
across.
The reason for the introduction of the (Muslim) era is differently
given. In his History, A bu N u 'a y m al-Fadl b. D u k ayn and,
through Ibn D ukayn, al-H akim published this version, through
as-Sa'bi:^ A bu Musa al-A sari wrote to Um ar th at th ey were
receiving letters from him which were not dated [ta^rih). W hen
Umar, thereupon, called the people together, one man suggested
the year when the call first came to Muhammad as the epoch of the
era (to be introduced), while another one suggested the hijrah.
Um ar said: The hijrah has separated truth from falsehood. There
fore, let it become the epoch of the era. This happened in the
^ The event is known as the Second 'Aqabah.

'Amir b. Sarahil, or b. 'Abdallah b. Sarahil, d. between

227 ff.).
* 'Abdaliah b. Qays, d. between 42/662-63 and 52/672.

381

TRANSLATION

103

and

106/721-25 (T B , X I,

year 17/638. A fter th ey had agreed upon that, one of them suggested
to start w ith Ram adan. Um ar, however, said: No, rather with
al-Muharram. It is the m onth in which people return from the
pilgrim age. A nd th ey agreed to (U m ars proposal).
The first to institute the (Muslim) era is said to h ave been Y a la
b. U m ayyah ^ when he was in the Yem en. From there, he wrote to
U m ar (80) a letter th at was dated [mu^arrah). Um ar liked it,
and the (Muslim) era was instituted. This report was published
b y A hm ad b. H anbal. The chain of transm itters is sound. There is,
however, a break in the chain between A m r b. D inar ^ and Y a la.
A ccording to al-H aytam b. Adi, too, the first to institute the
(Muslim) era was Y a la.
It was reported b y A hm ad (b. Hanbal), b y A b u Arubah*
in the AwdHl, b y a l-B u h ariin th e. 4 <ia6,^andby al-H.kim, through
M aym un b. Mihran, th at the latter said: A n I.O .U . payable in
a ban was presented to U m ar.^ U m ar said: W hich S a ban,
last a ban, or this one, or the coming one ? G ive the people
something th at th ey can understand. Here follows something like
the first story.
The same story was also told b y A bu 1-Yaqzan, on the authority
of Umar.
A l-H akim reported th at S a id b. al-M usayyab said: U m ar
called the people together th at is, the em igrants and others and
^ No date is given in al-Buhari, Ta^rth, IV , 2, 414; Ibn Sa'^d, Tabaqdt, V ,

^37

S achau

and others; Ibn Hajar, Tahdtb, X I, 399 f.

D. 126/743-44 (Ibn S a'd, Tabaqdt, V , 353 f. S a c h a u and others).
D. 206/821-22, or 207 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 213; al-Qifti, Inbdh, Phot. Cairo T a rili
2579, II, 303-7; a d - D u r i , B aht f t naPat Him at-taM h, 319-25 [Beirut i960]). As-Saljawis
information is derived from Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, Mir^dh, Ms. Topkapusaray, Ahmet III, 2907,
fol. 6a.
* AI-Husayn b. Muhammad b. Mawdud al-Harrani, d. 318/930-31 (G A L , new ed., II, 663;
F ih rist 322, Cairo 1348 = 230 F l u g e l ; Y . al- Iss, F ih ris mahtutdt Ddr al-kutub az-^dhiriyah, 169, Damascus 1366/1947). His Kitdb al-Awd^il was studied b y as-Sibli, Mah,dsin alwasdHl, Phot. Cairo T a rih 5557, fol. 5a, and quoted b y Taqi-ad-din al-Fasi, ^ifd^ al-gardm,
I, 206 (Mecca-Cairo 1956). Cf. also F u a t S e z g i n , in Isldm Tetkikleri Enstitusu Dergisi,
II, 255 f. (i960).
Apparently, neither in the Saiith nor in the A dab al-M ufrad (Cairo 1375)* Born 40/660-61, died 118/736, or 117 (al-BuM ri, Ta^rih, IV , i, 338 f.).
The fact that the document [sakk) was an I.O .U . is expressly stated b y Ibn Katir,
Biddyah, V I I, 73. Ibn K atirs source is al-Waqidi. Cf. above, p. 251.
For another story about a check or draft involving 'Umar, cf. G. J a c o b , D ie dltesten
Spuren des Wechsels, in M itteilungen des Seminars fiir or. Sprachen, Westas. Studien, X X V II I,
280 f. (1928).
* His name is supposed to have been Suhaym, or 'Amir b. Hafs, d. 190/805-6 (Fihrist,
138, Cairo 1348 = 94 F l u g e l ). His Kitdb an-Nasab is quoted b y Ibn Hallikan, IV , 244
trans. D e S l a n e . As-Saljawi derived his information from Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, fols. 5b-6a
of the manuscript cited.

382

a s - s a h Aw

1 s

i l a n

asked them which d ay should be chosen as the beginning of the

(MusHm) era. A li suggested the day of M uham m ads departure
from Mecca, the territory of polytheism th at is, his departure
for Medina. U m ar followed A lls suggestion. ^
Ibn A bi H aytam ah ^ reported, through Muhammad b. Sirin,
th at the latter said: "Som eone arrived from the Yem en and said
that he had seen there something which was called b y the Y em en
ites ta^rih and used b y them (to date) documents from a certain year
and month. W hereupon Um ar said; T h is is fine. L et us institute
an era {anihu). W hen this was agreed upon, some people suggested
the year of M uhamm ads birth as the epoch of the era. Others
suggested the year when the call first came to him, or the year
when he em igrated (from Mecca to Medina), or the year of his
death. Um ar decided to use the year when M uhammad left Mecca
for Medina as the epoch year of the era.
Then, (Umar) asked: W ith which month shall we b egin ?
Some people suggested R ajab, and someone Ram adan. U m ar said:
L et us use al-Muharram as the beginning of the era. Al-M uharram
is a sacred month. It is the first month of the year, and the m onth
in which people return from the pilgrim age. This happened in
R a b i I of the year 17/638.
W e learn from these combined reports th at al-Muharram (as
the first m onth of the Muslim era) was indicated b y Um ar, Utm an,
and All.
W e also have the following report on the authority of A m r b.
Dinar, on the authority of Ibn A bbas: The era originated in the
year in which the Prophet arrived in Medina. In the same year,
A bdallah b. az-Zubayr was born. Before that, the Y ear of the
Elephant was used b y the A rabs as the epoch of their era. This is
the year in which Muhammad was born.
S a d b. A bi W aqqas ^ suggested to Um ar the year of the death
Cf. Halifah b. H ayyat, p. 6 of the Rabat manuscript 199?.
^ Ahmad b. Zuhayr, d. 279/893 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 272). He is also quoted as the
authority for this story b y Ibn al-Furat, Paris m. ar. 1595, fol. 127a. Ibn al-Furats source
was the Ta^rih a l-M uza ffart b y Ibn Abi d-dam. The manuscript of Ibn A bi ^laytam ahs
Ta'^rih in Fez, Qarawiyin (now numbered 244/40 I), containing the third book, is dated in
610/1213 and was supposedly collated with the original manuscript of the first transmitter
of the work, Qasim b. Asbag (d. 340/951). Part of the work, beginning with Murrah b.
Sarahil and ending with ar-R abi' b. H utaym , also exists in Rabat, 2 671k (Kattani). The
R abat manuscript is written on parchment with a study note dated 322/933-34 of Qasim
b. Asbag. It may, however, be a later copy, as the date of parchment manuscripts is always
particularly difficult to judge.
3 D. 110/728-29 (cf. G A L , I, 66).
D. around 5 2 - 5 5 / 6 7 2 - 7 5 (al-Buhari, T a M h , II, 2, 44; Ibn Katir, B iddyah, V I II , 72-78).

TRANSLATION

383

of the Prophet as the epoch of the era. Ali, however, suggested

the hijrah, because (8i) the hijrah has separated truth from false
hood and given victory to Islam. The Muslims, (consequently),
generally agreed to use the year of the hijrah as the beginning
of the era, since it was the year in which Islam and the Muslims
(first) showed their strength.
Then, there was some disagreement w ith regard to the month.
A bd-ar-Rahm an b. A w f ^ suggested R ajab, because it was the
first of the sacred months. Ali, however, suggested al-Muharram,
because it was the first m onth of the year and one of the sacred
months. U m ar followed A lls suggestion, and this usage spread
to all Muslim territories.
A report on the authority of Ibn A bbas states th at there existed
no era in Medina when the Prophet arrived there. People came
to use an era a m onth or two after his arrival. This continued
until M uham m ads death. Then, the use of an era was discontinued,
and there was none during the caliphate of A b u B ak r and the first
four years of the caliphate of Um ar. Then, the (Muslim) era was
established. ^
Um ar is reported to have said to the assembled dignitaries
among the men around M uhamm ad: The income is considerable.
W hat we have distributed has been w ithout fixed dates. H ow can
we rem edy th at ? One answer came from al-Hurm uzan. He had
been king of al-Ahw az. A fter his capture during the conquest of
Persia, he had been brought to Um ar and had become a Muslim.
He said th at the Persians had a (method of) calculation which they
called mdhroz and which they ascribed to their Sasanian rulers. The
word mdhroz was arabicized as mu'^arrah, and the infinitive ta^rih
was formed from it. It was also used in all the other forms. AlH urm uzan then explained to them how to use it. Umar, (how
ever,) said: G ive the people an era which th ey can use in busi
ness and which perm its them an exact indication of the date in their
m utual deahngs. A Jewish convert to Islam who was present said:
W e (Jews) have a similar calculation which we ascribe to A le x
ander. The others, however, did not like th at era, because it was
too remote. Some were for the adoption of the Persian era. It was.
1 D. 32/652-53, cf., for instance, Ibn Sa d, Tabaqdt, III, i, 87-89 S a c h a u and others.

* Cf. Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, fol. 5b of the manuscript cited.

^ A similar famous story attaches to the introduction of government bureaus, cf., for
instance, al-Baladuri, F u tu h , 449 D e G o e j e ; as-Suli, Adab al-kuttdb, 190 (Cairo 1341).

AS-SAH AW tS I LAN

TRANSLATION

how ever, objected th at the Persian era had no fixed epoch year
and alw ays started entirely anew w ith the ascension (to the throne)
of each new king. A n agreement was reached to institute the era
of the rule of Islam, beginning w ith the hijrah of the Prophet
from Mecca to Medina. There are no such differences of opinion
w ith regard to the date of the hijrah as there are w ith regard to
the time when the call first cam e to M uhammad and w ith regard
to the d ay and year of his birth. And although the date of his death
is fixed, it is no pleasant thought to use (such a sad event) as the
beginning (82) of the era. The hijrah, moreover, coincided in time
w ith the success of the religion {millah) of Islam, the frequent
arrival of embassies, and the Muslim ascent to power. It is a time
of blessings and a very impressive (historical) event. The hijrah took
place on Tuesday, R a b i I, 8th. The first of that year th at is,
al-Muharram fell on a Thursday according to the average (cal
culation?). A fter this had become generally ^ known, it was con
sidered (the correct date). However, according to observation (of
the new moon) and astronomical (?) calculation, the d ay fell
on a Friday. The author of the Nihdyat al-idrdk ^ said th at (the
hijrah) was used, and for all future times the era was counted
from it. Agreem ent on this m atter was reached in the year 17 of
the hijrah, the fourth year of the cahphate of Umar. U ntil then,
each year (after the hijrah) was called after its main event, and
this was used for dating purposes. The first year of the P rophets
residence in Medina was thus called: T he permission to tra v el
th at is, from Mecca to Medina. The second year was called; The
year of the command to fig h t. The third year; The year of the
test, and so on. Afterwards, the custom of naming the years after
the m ain events w as abandoned.

There is one d a y in al-Muharram on which repenting sinners are

3^4

U b ayd b. Um ayr^ said: Al-M uharram is the month of God.

It is the beginning of the year. It is used as the beginning of the era.
In al-Muharram, the K a bah is clothed, and m oney is coined.
Probably referriug to the religious scholars, according to the text of the N ih ayah
(n. 2).
* Mahmud b. M as'ud a-irazi (d. 710/1311, cf. G A L , II, 211 f.), N ihdyat al-idrdk,
third maqalah, tenth hah. I consulted the Bodleian ms. or. Marsh 133. This whole paragraph
was derived b y as-Sahawi from as-Sirazi, not directly, however, but through al-K afiyaji,
see above, p. 251. As-Sirazis source, in turn, m ay have been the M untahd of al-IIaraqi
(cf. G A L , I, 473), or any other of the astronomical works which customarily included a
section on ta^rih.

Al-Biriini, al-Atdr al-hdqiyah, 30^ f. S a c h a u , suggests that the pronoun here refers to
the era of the hijrah (and should probably be feminine also at the first occurrence).
* Cf. Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqdt, V, 341 f. S a c h a u and others.

385

forgiven.
A tradition regarding the first m onth of the year being alM uharram , ascribed to Muhammad, appears in ad-D aylam is
Firdaws. A d-D aylam is son reported the same tradition on the
authority of A ll w ithout the indication of a chain of transmitters.^
This much has been said about the Muslim era. A s to preIslam ic eras, Ibn al-Jaw zi reported through Am ir as-Sabi th at
the latter said: W hen the children of A dam m ultiplied and
spread upon earth, th ey used an era which started w ith the fall
of A dam and covered the period from A dam to the D elu ge; from
there to the Fire of Ibrahim (into which he was thrown and from
which he was saved b y God);^ from there to the period of Y u su f;
from there to the exodus of Musa and the children of Israel
from E g y p t ; from there to the period of D a w u d ; from there to the
period of Sulaym an; and from there to the period of Isa.
This story was reported b y Muhammad b. Ishaq,^ on the authority
of Ibn Abbas.
There are different versions. One of them runs: The era after
A dam covered the period from A dam to the D eluge; from there
to the period of the Fire of Ibrahim ; from there (83) to the building
of the K a bah an epoch introduced b y the children of Ism ail ;
from there to M aadd b. A dnan ; from there to K a b b. L u 'a y y ;
and from there to the Y e ar of the E lep h an t. This story was re
ported b y al-Waqidi.
According to a certain authority, the children of Ibrahim used
an era covering the period from the Fire of Ibrahim to the con
struction of the K a bah b y Ibrahim and Ism a'il. Then, the children
of Ism ail introduced an era which covered the period from the
construction of the K a bah to their dispersal. W henever a group
of people left the Tiham ah (in which Mecca was situated), th ey
introduced a (new) era which began w ith the year of their respective
exodus. Those of the children of Ism ail who remained in the
Tiham ah used an era which covered the period from the exodus
of the B anu Zayd, S a d, Fahd, and Juhaynah from the Tiham ah
F irdaw s, Ms. Cairo H adit 355, s.v. awwal.
* Cf. Qur an xxi 68-69 (68-69 FI.).
Ibn al-Jawzi, Talqih fu h u m ahl al-atar, Paris ms. ar. 734, fol. 49. For this and the
following paragraph, as-Sahawis immediate source was Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, fol. 4b.
* The author of the Sirah, d. 150/767, or 151 (cf. G A L , I , 134 f.; H. R. I d r i s , in Studia
Islam ica, X V II, 23-35 [1962-63]).

Muhammad b. 'U m ar, d. 207/823 (cf. G A L , I, 135 f.).

R o s e n th a l,

History of Muslim Historiography

25

386

as-sah Aw

! s

i *l A n

to the death of K a b b. L u a y y , Then, th ey introduced an era which

covered the period from the death of K a b b. L u a y y to (the Y ear
of) the Elephant. Then, there was an era which covered the period
from (the Y e a r of) the Elephant to U m ars introduction of the era
of the hijrah. This took place in the year i6 , 17, or 18/637-39.
A nother ^ (story about pre-Islam ic eras) states that the H im yarites used (the reigns of) the T u b b a s as the epoch years of their
era; the Cassanids (the break of) the D am (of M arib) and the in
habitants of S a n a (first) the victo ry over the Yem en b y the
Abyssinians, and later on the Persian conquest (of the Yem en).
The A rabs then used the fam ous b a ttle days, such as the w ar of
al-Basus, Dahis, and al-6abra*, the d a y of D u Qar, al-Fijar, and
so on. Betw een the w ar of al-Basus and the year when the call
first cam e to the Prophet, there was an interval of s ix ty years. This
story was told b y M uhammad b. S a d, on the auth ority of Ibn alKalbi.^
A nother (such story) states th at the Persians had (four) eras
(which started w ith the first rulers of the) four classes of their
kings: K ayu m art, or Tayum art, w ith t instead of k, also called
Gil ,h, K in g of C lay, who is believed to be identical w ith Adam ,
Y azd jard , A rdasir b. B^bak, and Anusarw an the Just. This (story)
was told b y Hisam b. al-K albi, on the auth ority of his father.
(Ibn al-Kalbi) said: The B yzantines (Rum) used an era which
covered the period from the death of D ara b. D ara to the victory
of the Persians over them.
The Copts used an era which covered the period from Buhtnassar
to Cleopatra, mistress of E gyp t.
The Jews used an era which began w ith the destruction of the
Temple.
The Christians used an era which began with the ascension of
Isa the Messiah.
A b u M asar said: Most histor(ical dates) are fau lty and corrupt.
The following information, down to p. 387, line 13 ( are lying ), is again derived from
Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, fols. 4a-5b.
* Cf. al-Mas'udi, Tanbth, 202 D e G o e j e , and especially, 'Imad-ad-din al-Isfah^ni,
(Leiden 1888).
^ The author of the Tabaqdt, d. 230/845 (cf. G A L , I, 136 f.).
* HiSam, b. Muhammad, d. 204/819-20, or 206 (cf. G A L , I, 138-40).

P ath, 5 L a n d b e r g

Muhammad b. a s -S a % , d. 146/763 (G A L Supplem ent I, 331 f.; F ihrist, 139 f., Cairo
1348 = 95 F l u g e l ).
* Ja^far b. Muhammad, d. 272/886 (cf. G A L , I, 221 f.). The same quotation is found in
Hamzah al-Isfah 4ni, H istory, I, 9 If. G o t t w a l d t , who presumably was the source of Ibn
al-Barizi, op. cit. (above, p. 88, n. 2), fol. 50b.

TRANSLATION

387

A period of growing length affects the chronology of a nation.

Through the transcription from one book to the other and the
translation from one language into the other, errors creep in.i The
(tim e intervals) are figured either too long or too short. Such error
(84) can be found in the indication of the number of years which
elapsed between A dam , Nuh, and the prophets. T he Jews in this case
differ considerably (in their figures). There is much similar confusion
in the histories of the Persians, in spite of the continuity of their
rule right down to its end. ^
The proof of the correctness of A bu M a'sar's rem ark is found
in the statem ent of M uhamm ad: Do not go beyond Adnan. The
genealogers (who w ent beyond A dnan in the genealogy of Muham
mad) are lyin g .
Ibn al-A tir said:^ E ach A rab (Bedouin) group used their most
fam ous event as the epoch of an era. T h ey had no common era.
This is shown b y the verse of a certain (ancient A rab poet)
I hope to live forever. M y mind
A nd the year of m y birth date back to Hujr.
Also b y the verse of a l-Ja d i:
W hoever asks about me I was
A young m an in the days of the cam el disease.
The same idea was expressed more concisely b y al-Hamawi, at-Ta^rih a l-M a n s 4 r i,
fol. 3a-b G r y a z n e v i c h (Moscow i960).
* According to at-Tabari, I, 353 f. d e G o e j e and others, no nation except the Persians
(and the Israelites) can be known historically (chronologically), because such knowledge
requires a period of consecutive rule as existed only among the Persians and the Israelites.
Cf. Ibn Katir, B id dya h, II, 194; E . B r a u n l i c h , Beitrage zur Gesellschaftsordnung der
arabischen Beduinenstdmme, in Islam ica, V I, 72 (1933).
* K d m il, I, 6 f. (Cairo 1301), whose source is at-Tabari, Ta^rth, I, 1254 D e G o e j e and

others.
The poet is said to be ar-Rabi b. Dabu*^ al-Fazari, a contemporary of Im ju u-l-qays.
Cf. al-Marzuqi, A zm in ah , II, 276 (Hyderabad 1332).
* Hujr b. Amr, the father of Imru u-l-qays.
A n -N 4bigah al-Ja'di, d. 65/684 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 92 f.), one of the macro
biotics. His verse is quoted b y Ibn Sallam al-Jumahi, Tabaqdt aS-Su^ard^, 26 H e l l (Leiden
1916); Ibn Habib, M uhabbar, 8 L i c h t e n s t a e d t e r (Hyderabad 1361/1942); as-Suli, Adab
al-kuttdb, ly g (Cairo 1341); al-Mas'udi, Tanbth, 204 D e G o e j e ; A g d n t, IV , 129 (Bulaq
1285); al-'Askari, Aw dH l, Paris ms. ar. 5986, fol. 76a; al-Marzuqi, loc. cit.; Ibn al-Barizi,
op. cit. (above, p. 88, n. 2), fol. 4oa-b, with a long discussion of the meaning of hundn; asSafadi, W d fi, I, 10 R i t t e r ; al-Marzubani, N u r al-qabas, 127 S e l l h e i m . Cf. also M. N a l l j n o ,
in R S O , X I V , 429-31 (1934). The first half-verse is also used in other connections, cf. G .
L e v i d e l l a V i d a , L e s Livres des chevaux , 75 (Leiden 1928, Publications de la Fondation
D e Goeje , 8).

* The time of al-hundn (glanders) of which many camels died is placed b y Arabic
tradition in the period of al-Mundir b. M^ -as-sam^ .

388

a s - s a h Aw

1s

i l A n

TRANSLATION

389

A nd b y the verse of another:^

(85) of H uwarizm and Syria, the kings of the Tatars, and all those

She was b u t in skirt and blouse quite young when it happened

(others) who were called kings.

6 The history of the wazirs. The first of them was Harun (the
B iblical Aaron), then, A b u B akr, and Um ar, and m any others.
Some of them fall under (the history of) the prophets, caliphs, etc.,

th at
The son of Ham m am went on a raid gainst the H a tam tribe.
E ach of the poets used a fam ous event as the epoch of his partic
ular era. If there had been a common era, they would not have
used different ones."
( x i

T H E W O R K S O N H IS T O R Y )

The works on history are very m any and cannot be com pletely
enumerated. In the Kitdh Isldh Ihn as-Saldh, as I read in the
authors handwriting, the hadit expert A la -ad-din M ugultay alH anafi said: I have seen someone who owned about a thousand
works on h isto ry.
(A.

H istorical

works according
classification)

to

ad-D ahabis

I have seen the following statem ent in the handw riting of the
hadit expert and authoritative historian, A bu Abdall&.h ad-Dahabi:^ (These are) the different kinds of historical works which enter
into m y great comprehensive H istory and I did not especially
exert m yself, but if I had done it, th ey would have come to six
hundred volum es:
1 The biography of our Prophet.
2 The stories of the prophets.
3 The history of the men around Muhammad.
4 The history of the caliphs from among the men around
Muhammad, the U m ayyad s and Abbasids, as well as the history
of the M arwanids in Spain and the U baydids in Northwest A frica
and E gyp t.
5 T h e history of kings and dynasties and of the Persian and
B yzantine rulers as well as the history of the kings of Islam , such
as the Tulunids, Ihsidids, Buyids, Saljuqs, and others, the kings
1 According to at-Tabari, loc. cit., the poet was a contemporary of the other poets, but
he has been identified with the early Islanaic poet H um ayd b. Tawr (cf. also al-Mubarrad,
K a m il, 115 W r i g h t , Leipzig 1864). The second half of the verse is quoted in A gdn t, V II,
119 (Bulaq 1285 = V I II , 175, Cairo 1935); L isd n al-A rab, X I I, 141.
*
According to the end of the quotation (IHdn, 86, below, p. 391), as-Sahawi seems to
have gotten it indirectly through Ibn Hajar. I t is also not from the History o f Islam of
ad-Dahabi.

and kings.
7 The history of amirs, high officials, governors of the realm,
and great secretaries. A number of them were executives, and
others were litterateurs and poets.
8 The history of jurists and members of the (juridical) schools,
the religious leaders of the different periods, and the legal experts
in inheritance m atters. I say: Independent scholars who became
authorities and others fall under this (category).
9 The history of the Q uran readers who were versed in the seven
different readings.
10 The history of the hadit experts {huffdz).
1 1 The history of the leading hadit scholars.
12 The history of historians.
13 The history of grammarians, litterateurs, lexicographers,
poets, stylists, metricians, and computers.
14 The history of G od's servants, ascetics, saints, Sufis, and
devout men.
15 The history of judges and governors, as well as the history
of official witnesses and law officials.
16 The history of teachers, bookdealers (or copyists), story
tellers, itinerant (charlatans),^ and mountebanks.
17 The history of predicants and preachers, chanters, booncompanions, and m usical entertainers.
18 The history of the noble, generous, intelligent, quickw itted,
and wise.
19 The history of physicians, philosophers, heretics, geom etri
cians, and so on.
20 ^The history of theologians [mutakallimun), Jahmis, M utazilah, A s arites, K arram ites, and anthropomorphists.
2 1 The history of the different sects of the Si'ah , the extrem ists
{guldh, rdfidah) and others.
22 The history of the different kinds of H arijites, A n ti-Alids,
and the various groups of innovators and sectarians.
1 Cf. Ibn Katir, Biddyah, V, 252.

390

A S-SAH AW fs I l A n

23 The history of the orthodox religious scholars, Sufis, jurists,

and hadit scholars.
24 The history of misers, spongers, bores, gluttons, fools,
coxcombs, and dunces. I s a y : He did not bother w ith the opposite
typ e of persons, the magnanimous and generous. He apparently
felt th at the above-m entioned (reference to) generous men (18)
was enough. I have a collection of instances of cases (of the m agnan
imous and generous).
25 The history of the blind, invalid, deaf, mute, and hunch
backed.
26 T he history of astrologers, sorcerers, alchemists, treasure
hunters, and prestidigitateurs.
27 The history of genealogists, antiquarians [ahbdri), and B ed
ouins.
28 T he history of courageous men, knights, footmen, and
messengers. 1
29 ^The history of merchants, rem arkable travels on land and
on the sea, m ountebank (foreign ?) sailors ( ?),^ and gym nosophists( ?).
30 The history of rem arkable artisans and workers, skilful
inventors, and producers of various kinds of objects.
3 1 The history of monks, recluses, hermits, (86) and exponents
of perverted m ysticism .
32 The history of those who led the prayers, called to them, and
fixed their hours, dream interpreters (?), and the common people.
33 The history of highw ay robbers, assassins [fiddwiyah), and
chess, checkers, and dice players. I s a y ; He om itted the shooting
of arrows.
34 The history of p retty ones, lovers, passionate inam orati,
dancers, winebibbers, bad women (?),^ debauchers, pimps, liars,
and effeminate men.

35 -The history of clever, resolute, economic, resourceful, cun

ning, and crafty people.
36 The history of beggars (?),^ swindlers, confidence men,

T R A N S LA T IO N

391

fake invalids,^ homosexuals, dissolute and facetious persons, rich

men, persons of inherited wealth,^ and untruthful people.
37 The history of the intelligent insane, bedeviled, lunatics ( ?),
brainsick, and bewitched.
38 The history of alms men, mendicants, supplicants, and
vulgar {hardfisah) * and troublesome elements.
39 The history of those who were killed through the Qur^an,
through love, music, and fear {al-faza^), and those who died in
stantly. A nd
40 T he history of (pre-Islamic) soothsayers and wicked workers
of miracles and revelations which look like acts of the divine
grace, and others.
(Ad-Dahabi) said: These are fo rty kinds of histor(ical works).
A w ork containing all of them would be extrem ely lengthy and
m ake up a camel load (in weight). To a large part, th ey have been
treated in monographs b y excellent scholars. A m an m ay be versed
in tw o (fields of) history, or three, or more. A n y outstanding scholar
in a particular field of history, if approached, w ill be found to know
rem arkable stories and anecdotes connected w ith his field, which
can scarcely be found in a n y h istory. This is the end of the quota
tion of the passage in ad-D ahabis handwriting.
Ibn H ajar, as I have read in his handwriting, rem arked th at
(ad-Dahabis) words: A cam el load, contradict his first statem ent
concerning six hundred volum es. The latter figure constitutes
more than two cam el loads.
1 also read at the beginning of an autograph copy of ad-D ahabis
History o f Islam th at he compiled the w ork w ith great effort
from a number of sources which im part (to the student) a knowl
edge of past history from the beginning of Islam to the tim e of
writing. This includes the dates of death of the great caliphs,
Q uran readers, ascetics, jurists, hadit scholars, (religious) scholars,
rulers, wazirs, gram marians, and poets. I t also includes the knowl
edge of their classes, their times, their teachers, and some historical
Cf. al-Jahiz, B u h a W , 39 and 44 (Cairo 1948), cf. trans. C. P e l l a t , 65 and 73 (BeirutP a ris i9 5 i); al-Bayhaqi, a l-M afidsin wa-l-masdwt, 626 S c h w a l l y (Giessen 1902), where the

1 Taken b y themselves, the last two words could also mean other things.

6 urabd^ al-bahrtyah. According to al-Jawbari, al-M uhtdr f i kaSf al-asrdr, i6, 39 (Cairo
1316), bahriyah are master thieves, and gurabd^ are a kind of diviners.
A bu D ulafs Qastdah as-Sdsdniyah has a du l-gzr which is not clear to me (of. at-Ta'alib!,
Y attm ah, III, 185, Damascus 1304), but m ay have some connection with al-'-rr of the IHdn.
* Leg. al-m ukaddtn ?

Ms. Leiden; wa-l-musdniHn who try to get money through cajolery or bribery.

word is read qrsy.

2 Ms. Leiden: at-tildd, but the translation of the last two words seems very doubtful.
Ms. Leiden: al-mqmryn, but the dictionaries s. rad. qmr moon know of no derivation
from this root in the meaning of lunatic.
*
Cf. W . M. B r i n n e r , The Significance o f the hardftsh and their Sultan, in Journal of
the Econom ic and Social History o f the Orient, V I, 190-215 (1963); E l , 2nd ed., s.v. harfush.
H istory o f Islam , I, 13-17 (Cairo 1367). Cf. also IHdn, 160, below, p. 512.

392

a s -s a h a w

! s

i *l a n

inform ation about them, all of which is presented in the briefest

and most concise manner. It further includes the fam ous conquests,
memorable battles, and notable affairs. No unnecessary lengthiness
(was tolerated) nor completeness (intended). I m ention (only)
famous and near-famous men, and I omit those who are unknown
(87) or as good as unknown. I refer only to the great events. If I
were to deal fu lly w ith all biographies and events, the w ork would
require a hundred volumes, in fact, more than that. It contains
a hundred souls w ith whom (alone) I would be able to fill fifty
volum es.
H e said; I consulted m any books for this work. Its m aterial
is derived from al-B ayhaqis DaldHl an-nuhuwah} Ibn Ish aq s
Biography o f the Prophet, Ibn A"id al-K M ib s Magdzi,^ the
Tahaqdt al-kuhrdoi Ibn Sa'd, al-W aqidis secretary, and al-B uharis
History. Use was also made of the histories of A bu B ak r A hm ad b.
A bi H aytam ah, Y a 'q u b al-Fasawi, M uhammad b. M utanna alA nazi ^ which is a small w ork , A bu H afs al-Fall 4 s, A b u B ak r
b. A b i Saybah, al-W aqidi, al-H aytam b. Adi, H alifah b. Hayyat
whose Tahaqdt were also used , and A bu Z u r'ah ad-Dimasqi.'^
(Use was further made of) the Futuh of S ayf b. Umar, the Nasab
{of the Qurays) b y az-Zubayr b. Bakkar,^ the M usnad of A hm ad
* A h m ad b. al-H usayn, d. 458/1066 (cf. G A L , I, 363).
* M uham m ad b. 'A^id ad-Dim asqi, cf. al-B uhari, Ta^rih, I, i , 207, apparen tly identical
with the author m entioned in Fihrist, 158 (Cairo 1348 = 109 F l u g e l ). H is R aids were
still used b y Ibn Sayyid-an-nas, 'Uyun al-atar, II, 344 (Cairo 1356).
^ Y a 'q u b b. S u fyan , d. 277/891 (cf. above, p. 72; as-Sam 'ani, A n sd b ,io l. 428b; G A L
Supplement I II , 1195, ad I, 174; G A L new edition II, 662; H ajji H alifah, KaSf az-zuniin, II,
139, no. 2269 F l u g e l ). According to the iHdn, both Ibn A b i H ay ta m a h s and a l-F a saw is
H istories were used in part only. According to ad-D ahabi, only the form er w ork w as used
on ly in part.
D. 252/December 866-January 867 {TB, III , 283 ff.). He was known as A b u MusA
az-Zam in.
'A m r b. 'A li, d. 249/864 {TB, X I I , 207 ff.).
* D . 2 0 4 /8 19 -2 0 , cf. Fihrist, 32 4 (Cairo 1 3 4 8 ) ; ad-D ahabi, Tabagdt al-huffdz, 8th tab.,
no. 2 2 , and idem, ^Ibar, has 2 4 0 ; IHdn, below, 4 4 8 , n. 2. T h e last en try in his Ta^rih (see
above, p. 7 1 ) concerns the year 232. Therefore, 2 4 0 /8 54 -5 5 m ust be preferred as the date of
his death. He w as known as Sabbab (not Sabib, as in the Fihrist) al-'U sfuri. Under this name,
his Ta^rih is quoted b y A b u B akr al-M aliki, Riydd an-nufus, I, 1 1 (Cairo 1 9 5 1 ) . In addition
to the m anuscript of the Ta^rih preserved in R ab at, p a rt of his Tahaqdt are preserved in
Dam ascus, cf. Y .
Fihris mahtutdt Ddr al-kutub az-Zdhiriyah, 19 9 (Dam ascus 136 6 /
19 4 7 ). His grandfather, b y the same nam e, who died in 1 6 0 / 7 7 6 - 7 7 (as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fol.
3 9 2 b ) , is m entioned b y al-B uhari, Ta^rth, II, i, 1 7 5 . [Tw ice ed. in 1967J.
'A b d -ar-R ah m an b. 'Am x, d. 282/895 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 208 f.). For a description
of the Istan bul m anuscript F atih 4 2 1 0 of his Ta^rih, cf . S . a l - M u n a j j i d , in Revue de Ilnstitut
des M anuscrits Arabes, I I, 65-67 (1956).
* D. 180/796-97 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 2 1 3 1 .; a d - D u r i , Baht f t naPat Him at-ta^rih,
248-55 [B eirut i960]).
D. 256/870 (cf. G A L , I, 141, and his biograph y in M a h m u d M . S a k i r s edition of
Jamharat nasab Qurays [Cairo 1381/1962]).

T R A N S L A T IO N

393

(b. Hanbal), the History of al-Mufaddal b. Gassan al-Gallabi,^ and

and the works on personality criticism b y Ibn M ain and Abd-arRahm an b. A bi Hatim.^ I also consulted the Tahdib al-Kamdl
of our teacher al-Mizzi. In excerpts, I used the histories of A bu
Abdallah al-Hakim , Ibn Yunus,^ al-H atib, Ibn A sakir on
D am ascus , A b u S a 'd b. as-Sam am also his Ansdh , Judge
ams-ad-din b. H allikan, the great scholar Sihab-ad-din A bu amah, and ayh Qutb-ad-din b. al-Yunini * the latters History
is a continuation of the Mir^'dt az-zamdn b y the preacher ams-addin Y usu f Sibt b. al-Jaw zi; I also used a good deal of the Mir'^dh
itself; both works are arranged according to events and years.
I w idely used the histories of at-Tabari, Ibn al-Atir, Ibn al-Faradi,
the continuation of Ibn al-Faradis history b y Ibn Baskuw al,
the supplement to the latter b y Ibn al-Abbar, the K am il of Ibn
A di, and m any other books and numerous pam phlets.
I s a y : A d-D ahabi has given a sum m ary description (of the various
fields of history and the works written in them). I have tried to
m ake a detailed list of the works on m any (of these subjects).
No all-inclusiveness has been attem pted, because this would have
been impossible. For m any subjects there exists no history. It can,
however, be derived from the works on those (particular) scientific
fields, or from (their) description, or the hke, although it has (so
far) found no specialist treatm ent (?).
(i. The history of Muhammad)
The biography and raids of the Prophet as well as the rest of
his history, th at true guide (88) to his (model) w ays, were compiled
b y numerous scholars, such as
Musa b. U qbah al-Asadi, of the second generation.
M uhammad b. Ishaq al-M uttalibi as a client of (Qays b. Mah' L ived in the third/ninth cen tu ry, cf. T B , X I I I , 124. He is quoted b y A b u N u 'a ym ,
History of Isfahdn, I, 69 D e d e r i n g (Leiden 1931-34).
* D . 327/939 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 278 f.).
The E gyp tia n historian, 'A b d -ar-R ah m an b. Ahm ad, A b u S a'id , d. 347/958 (Ibn
K a tir, Biddyah, X I , 233).
* Musa b. M uham m ad, 640-726/1242-1326 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 589). H is continuation
of the Mir^dh has been published in H yderabad 1374-80/1954-61.
A bd allah b. M uham m ad, d. 403/1013 (cf. G A L , I, 338).
' D. 141/758-59 (cf. G A L Supplement, I, 205; J. S c h a c h t , in Acta Orientalia, X X I ,
288-300 [1953]; A . G u i l l a u m e , in the introduction to his translation of the Strah, pp.
X L I I I - X L V I I [Oxford U n iversity Press 1955]; Ao-DuRi, Baht f t naPat Him at-ta^rth,
159-65 [B eiru t i960]). A s-Sah aw i m ight have also m entioned A bu M a'sar N ajih (d. 170/
787), cf. Ibn S a 'd , III, I, intro, p. X X V , and E l , 2nd ed.

394

TR AN S LAT IO N

A S - S A H l w f s I LA N

ram ah b. al-M uttalib) al-Madani, who also belonged to

second generation, because he had seen Anas.

the

Judge A b u A bdallah Muhammad b. Um ar al-Aslam i as a

client of the Aslam al-Madani al-W aqidi after his grandfather,
W aqid. His secretary A bu A bdallah Muhammad b. S a d al-Bagd M i also has a long biography of M uhamm ad a t the beginning
of the Tahaqdt al-kuhrd.
A b u B ak r A bd-ar-R azzaq b. H am m am al-H im yari as a client
of the H im yar as-Sanani.i
A b u A hm ad Muhammad b. A id al-Qurasi ad-Dim asqi al-K atib.
A b u U tm an S a id b. Y ahy^ al-Um awi
A b u 1-Qasim at-T aym i al-Isbahani.

al-Bagdadi.^ A nd

The first w ork (that of Musa b. Uqbah) is the most correct one,
according to M usas pupil, the Im am MMik,^ and others.
A s to the second w ork (that of Ibn Ishaq), as-Safii said that
every thorough student of the Raids depended on it. On (Ibn
Ish aqs) authority, Salamah b. al-Fadl ar-R azi transm itted the
Beginnings and the Raids, Jarir b. H azim and Y a h y a b. Muham
m ad b. A b bad b. H^ni the Raids (alone). (Ibn Ish aqs) famous
book was transm itted b y several people, among them the two
Kufians, A b u Muhammad, or A b u Zayd, Ziy^d b. A bdallah b.
a t-T u fayl al-Bakka"i a l-Amiri, who is the more reliable of the
two, and Y un us b. B u k ayr as-Saybani.^ The religious leader A bii
M uhammad Abd-al-M alik b. His^m^^ studied Ibn Ish aq s w ork
w ith Z iyad a l-B a k k a i, on the authority of Ibn Ish iq , and took
it and corrected and revised it. Ibn H isam s {Sirah) becam e the
standard reference work. A bu 1-Qasim as-Suhayli w rote the Rawd
al-unufon Ibn H isam s work. A d-D ahabi and others composed abridg^ D. 211/827 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 333).
* D. 249/864 (T B , I X , 90 f.).
Ism a 'il b. M uham m ad, d. 535/1141 (cf. G A L , I, 324; Ibn al-Jaw zi, M untazam, X , 90).
Cf. J. H o r o v i t z , The Earliest Biographies o f the Prophet, in Islam ic Culture, II, 165
(1928).
F or this often quoted rem ark, cf. T B , I, 219, and X I I I , 24611 fi., and the other b iog
raphers of Ibn I s h iq , in F. W C s t e n f e l d s edition of Ibn H isam , Sirah, II, p. I l l ff.
* Cf. N . A b b o t t , Studies in Arabic Literary Pa pyri I, 94 f. (Chicago 1957)- I t is tem pting
to assume here an omission and to read: Salam ah b. a I-F a d l< a n d > ('A li b. M ujahid) arRazi, F or the la tter, cf. below , p. 410, n. 3.
D. 170/786-87 (ad-D ahabi, Tahaqdt al-huffdz, 5th tab., no. 34 W u s t e n f e l d ).
* Cf. al-B uhari, Ta^rih, IV , 2, 304; Ibn H ajar, Tahdtb, X I , 273.
D . 183/799-800 (TB, v i I I , 476 ff.).
D. 199/814-15 (Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, X , 245).
D . 218/833 (cf. G A L , f, 135).

395

ments of the Rawd. B oth the Sirah and the Rawd served as the
basis of M ugultays Zahr al-bdsim. Ibn H ajar published separately
the traditions of the Sirah which have breaks in the chains of
transmitters. A large section of the Sirah was commented upon b y
our teacher Badr-ad-din al-A yn i. On his authority, the {Sirah)
was transm itted b y several men. A ll this was clearly described
b y m ein a pam phlet I wrote upon completion of ih.t Sirah in m y class.
The raids were transm itted b y Ibn L a h iah,i on the authority
of A bu 1-Aswad, on the auth ority of U rw ah b. az-Zubayr;^ further,
b y az-Zuhri, on the auth ority of Urwah b. az-Zubayr, on the
auth ority of the la tters father; and b y H ajjaj b. A b i Mani ,*on the
authority of az-Zuhri.
The (pre-Islamic battle days and other events) witnessed b y the
Prophet were transm itted b y Y un us b. Yazid,^ on the authority
of az-Zuhri, The biography was transm itted b y A bu 1- A bbas
al-W alid b. Muslim al-Qurasi ad-Dim asqi
who, according to
A b u Z u r'ah ar-Razi, knew more about the raids , on the author
ity of al-A w zai, b y M uhammad b. A b d -a l-A la (89), on the
authority of M utam ir b. Sulayman, on the auth ority of the la tte rs
father; b y Abd-al-M alik b. H abib < . . . > al-M usayyab b. W adih;^ and b y A b u A m r M uaw iyah b. Amr,^^ on the authority of
A bu Ishaq al-Fazari.^^
The raids w ere transm itted b y al-Hasan b. Sufyan,i^ on the
auth ority of A b u B ak r b. A b i Saybah.
^ E ith er 'A b d allah , d. 174/790-91 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 256; R . G u e s t s introduction
to his edition of al-K ind i, The Governors and Judges of Egypt, 31 f., London 1912, E . J . W.
Gibb M em. Series, 19), or his brother, Isa (Ibn H aja r, Lisd n , I V , 403 f.). Cf. also below ,
p. 518, n. I.
Cf. al-Buhari, Ta^rih, IV , i , 31 f.; ad-D ahabl, T a M h al-Isldm, IV , 31-34; J. H o r o v i t z ,
in Islam ic Culture, I, 535 ff. (1927); a d - D u r i , B aht f i naPat Him at-ta^rih, 61-76, 137-42
(B eirut i960). Cf. also above, p. 130 f.
H a jja j b. Y u su f, d. after 216/831-32 (Ibn S a 'd , Tahaqdt, V I I , 2, 175 S a c h a u and others;
al-B u h ari, T a M h , I, 2, 376 f.; Ibn H ajar, Tahdib, II, 208).
* D . (1)59/775-76 (al-Buhari, Ta^rih, IV , 2, 406). Cf. a d - D u r !, op. cit., 83.
D. 195/810-11 (al-B uhari, T a M h , IV , 2, 152 f.).
'U b a yd a lla h b. Abd-'al-Karim , d. 264/878 (T B , X , 326-37) T h e translation is based upon Ms. Leiden which om its wa- before as-siyar.
D . 245/859-60 (al-Buhari, T a M h , I, i , 174).
D . 187/Decem ber 802-January 803 (al-Buhari, T a M h , IV , 2, 49).
There appears to be some disorder in the te xt which I did not succeed in clearing up.
I do not know w hether 'A bd-al-M alik b. H abib could be the Spanish historian who we
know w rote on the biograph y of the Prophet. A l-M usayyab died in 246/860-61 (Ibn H ajar,
Lisd n , V I, 40 f.).
D. 214/829 {TB, XIII, 197 f.).
** Ibrahim b. M uham m ad, d. 186/802 (a l-B u h M , T a M h , I, i , 321; Ibn K a tir, Biddyah,
X , 200, anno 188).
D . 303/916 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, M untazam, V I, 132-36).

396

A S -S A H A w is I LAN

Biographies of M uhammad are found in the Histories of

A b u B ak r b. A b i H aytam ah.
A b u 1-Qasim b. Asakir. Further in
Ibn A b i d-dam.
A b u Zakariya* an-Nawawi, Tahdib al-asmd* wa-l-lugdt.
A b u 1-H ajjaj al-Mizzi, Tahdih al-Kamdl.
A b u A bdallah ad-Dahabi, History {of Islam).
Im ad-ad-din b. K a tir,i in the introduction of the Biddyah.
A b u 1-H asan al-H azraji, in the introduction of the History of
the Yemen. A nd
Taqi-ad-din al-Fasi, History o f Mecca, and others.
Some authors, such as Ibn A sakir, have a long biography, others
a brief one.
Monograph biographies of M uhammad were composed b y
A b u S 'S a y h b. Hibban.
A bu 1-H usayn b. Faris al-Lugawi.
A bu U m ar b. Abd-al-Barr, ad-Durar f i ihtisdr al-magdzi was-siyar.
A bu M uhammad b. Hazm.
araf-ad-din A bu A hm ad ad-D im yati.
Abd-al-Crani al-Maqdisi Qutb-ad-din al-H alabi ^ w rote on it
the very useful Mawrid al-hani.
A bu A bdallah ad-Dahabi.
A bu 1-F ath b. Sayyid-an-nas, 'Uyun al-atar a very fine w ork
to which Burhan-ad-din al-Halabi w rote two volumes of notes
entitled N ur an-nihrds Light of the Lam p and N ilr al-'-uyun,
Ibn Sayyid-an-nas own abridgment of the 'Uyun. Ibn al-Q aw ba ^
said that (Ibn Sayyid-an-nas) gave him the '^Uyun to stud y with
the result th at he m arked about more than a hundred passages
in it as doubtful. A nd
A bu r-R a b i a l-K a la i,^ who added to the biography of Muham
m ad the biographies of the (first) three caliphs and called his w ork
al-Iktifd\
*

[1955]).

b. 'U m ar, d. 774/1373 (cf. G A L , I I, 49; H . L a o u s t , in Arahica, II, 42-88

A bd -al-K arim b. Abd-an-N ur, 664-735/1266-1334 (Ibn H ajar, Durar, II, 398 f.).
Cf. also fi. A m a r , in J A , X , 19, 255, n. 5 (1912).
Or Ib n a l-Q u b a', M uham m ad b. M uham m ad, d. 738/1338 (as-Safadi, Wd/i, I, 238-47
R i t t e r ; Ibn H aja r, Durar, IV , 181-84; R . B r u n s c h v i g , LaBerbSrie Orientale, I, p. X X X V I
f., Paris 1940). The reported rem ark is foim d in both the W aft and the Durar, b u t as-Sahaw is
source is the Durar.
* Sulaym an b. Musa, d. 634/1237 (cf. G A L , I, 371; K . A . F a r i q , in Islam ic Culture,
X X X I I I , 160-68 [1959]; ar-R u 'a yn i, Barndmaj, 66 ff. S a b b u h [Dam ascus 1381/1962]).

TRANSLATION

397

Ala*-ad-din A ll b. M uhammad b. Ibrahim al-Bagdadi al-H 4 zin,

the author of the Maqbul al-manqul} has a len gth y biography
of Muhammad.
Others were w ritten b y
Zahir-ad-din A li b. M uhammad b. Mahmud al-K azaruni Plater
on al-Bagdadi who is earlier than (A la -ad-din).
M uhibb-ad-din at-Tabari.
Judge Izz-ad-din b. J a m a ah. A nd
ams-ad-din al-Birmawi.* (Each of the tw o last-m entioned schol
ars) wrote tw o works on the subject. A l-Birm aw i himself w rote
glosses to one of them. These glosses were separately published
in connection w ith the original w ork b y Taqi-ad-din b. Fahd, who
himself is the author of a tw o-volum e Sirah.
Ali*-ad-din A li b. U tm an at-Turkm ani al-Hanafi.
A bu Um am ah b. an-Naqq&,l
Sams-ad-din b. Nasir-ad-din, in a substantial, accurate volume.
Taqi-ad-din al-Maqrizi, Kitdh al-Imtd',^ in which there is much
to be criticized.
U tm an b. Isa b. D arbas al-Marani^ wrote al-FawdHd al-mutirah^^ f i jawdmi'- assirah.
ihab-ad-din A hm ad b. Ism ail (90) al-Ibsiti as-Safii al-W aiz,i2
who died in the year 835/1432, also w rote a comprehensive book
of which he w rote about th irty fascicles. His book includes the
Sirah of Ibn Ishaq and the rem arks on it b y as-Suhayli and others,
the m aterial contained in Ibn K a tir s Biddyah and al-W aqidis
Magdzi, and other sources. H e w as concerned w ith establishing
(the correct meaning of) technical phrases occurring in the (biog
rap h y of Muhammad). He was very fond of that.
* D. 741/beginning 1341 (cf. G A L , I I, 109).
* D . 697/1297, or after 700 (Ibn H aja r, Durar, I I I , 119). Cf. C. C a h e n , in R I , X , 342
(1936), M u s t a f a J a w a d , in his edition of Ibn al-F u w ati, Talhis Majma^ al-dddb, IV , I,
299, n. I (D am ascus 1962), and IHdn, 96, below , p. 410.
A hm ad b. A b d allah , d. 694/1295 (cf. G A L , II, 95 f.).
* M uham m ad b. 'A b d -a d -D a im, d. 831/1428 (cf. G A L , I, 361 f.).
* M uham m ad b. M uham m ad, 787-871/1385-1466 (cf. G A L Supplement I I, 225).
* D. 750/1349 (cf. G A L , II, 64).
M uham m ad b. 'A li, d. 763/1362 (cf. G A L Supplement I I, 95 f.).
M uham m ad b . 'A b d allah , d. 842/1438 (cf. G A L , I I, 76 f.), Cf. also Ibn Tulun, Luma^dt,
43, 48 (Dam ascus 1348); H . L. G o t t s c h a l k , Islam ic Arabic M anuscripts (Mingana Collec
tion, Birm ingham ), IV , I, no. 166 (Birm ingham 1948).
* A n edition prepared b y M a h m u d M . S a k i r began to appear in Cairo 1941.
D. 602/1206 (Ibn y a llik a n I I, 187 f. trans. D e S l a n e ).
S ic Ms. Leiden, and as-Sahaw i, al-Jawdhir wa-d-durar, below , p. 587.
76o-835/i358(i359)-i432, cf. Daw'^, I, 244, where the above-m entioned passage, excep t
for the last sentence, is also found.

398

T R A N S L A T IO N

A S -S A H A W i S I* l A n

T he biography of Muhammad was versified b y

A l-F ath b. Mismar>
ihab-ad-din b. Im M -ad-din al-Aqfahsi.^
A l-B iq a i.^ E ach (of these three) wrote a com m entary on his
own versification.
Izz-ad-din ad-Dirini>
Fath-ad-din b. as-ahid,^ in some ten thousand verses with
additions which show his great scholarly qualifications.
Zayn-ad'din a l-Iraqi, in his A lfiyah, in which he followed a
Short Sirah b y Ala^-ad-din Mugult^y. A l-Iraqi used M ugultays
Short {Sirah), on which ams-ad-din al-Birm^wi and Saraf-ad-din
A bu 1-F ath al-Maragi had written notes. Taqi-ad-din b. Fahd
presented this (material) b y itself in monograph form.
A com m entary on the versification (of al-Ir^qi) was w ritten b y
ihab-ad-din b. Raslan,^ and before him, b y M uhibb-ad-din b.
al-H aim,^ th at singularly ingenious scholar. This is a very lengthy
work. I saw a volum e of it which the author of the versification
(al-Traqi) and others had used, noting upon it the favorable im
pression th ey had formed (of the work) Ibn Haj ar comm ented upon
some of the verses from the beginning. I have completed his work.
I hope to m ake it ready and publish it.
The Sirah of M u g u ltiy was further versified in more than a thou
sand verses b y ams-ad-din a l-B a uni ad-Dim asqi, th e brother
of Professor Burhan-ad-din.^^ I studied part of it w ith him. H e enti
tled it M inhat al-lahih f i sirat al-hahih.
A p p aren tly al-F ath b. Musft, d. 663/1264-65 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 206; F. W O s t e n introduction to his edition of Ibn Hisam,, Sirah, I I, p. X L V I I f.).
^ A hn ;ad b. 'Im.ad, d. 808/1405 (cf. G A L , II, 93 f.).
Ibr&him. b . 'U iu a r, d. 885/1480 (cf. G A L , II, 142 f.). H is signature appears in the Y a le
m anuscript S-53-54 ( N e m o y 389) with a date coinciding w ith the date of the w riting of the
m anuscript.
* 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. A hm ad, d. around 697/1297 (cf. G A L , I, 451 f.).
M uham m ad b. Ibrahim , d. 793/1391 (Ibn H ajar, Durar, I II , 296 f.). F or a m anuscript
of p a rt of the w ork, cf. A . J. A r b e r r y , in Arabic and Islam ic Studies in Honor of H . A . R.
Gihh, 64-72 (Leiden-Cam bridge, Mass., 1965).
'A b d -ar-R ah im b. al-H usayn, d. 806/1404 (cf. G A L , II, 65 f.).
M uham m ad b. A b i B a kr, 775-859/1374-1455 {Daw^, X V I I , 162-65).
* Leg. fawdHd (instead of wa-fawdHd), cf. as-Sahaw i, al-Jawdhir wa-d-du*ar, Paris ms.
ar. 2105, fol. 293a, below , p. 587.
A h m ad b. al-H usayn, d. 844/1441 (cf. G A L , II, 96).
M uham m ad b. A h m ad b. M uham m ad b. Im ad, died at the end of the eighth/four
teenth cen tury (Daw^, II, 157; G A L Supplement II, 70).
T h e phrase used here often occurs in as-Sahaw is time in order to denote the favorable
reception, in sch olarly circles, of a new publication ; y e t, I am not quite svure about its exa ct
significance.
f e l d s

A ccording to the Jawdhir wa-d-durar, as-S aM w i had not seen the w ork a t all.
Ibrahim b. A h m ad , d. 870/1465 {Daw^, I, 26-29).

399

There are m any monographs on the birth of Muhammad, for

instance, b y
A bu 1-Qasim as-Sabti,^ in the two-volum e ad-Durr al-munazzam
f i al-mawlid al-mu'-azzam, in which he made m an y digressions
from the subject.
A l-T raqi.
Ibn al-Jazari. ^ A nd
Ibn Nasir-ad-din.
A monograph on M uham m ads forbears was written b y

Mu

ham m ad b. Ishaq al-Musayyabi.

Monographs on M uham m ads names, in verse and prose, were
written b y
A bu l-HattS-b b. Dihyah.^
A l-Q urtubi and others. These names number about five hundred.
T h ey adm it of further additions. Most of them are epithets,
A monograph on M uhamm ads circumcision and the fact th at he
was born circumcised was w ritten b y Kam al-ad-din b. Talhah.
Against him, another w ork was w ritten b y K am al-ad-din A bu

1-Q&,sim b. A bi JarMah.
(Monographs on predictions of A rabic soothsayers, etc., concern
ing the appearance of M uhammad are)
A b u B a k r al-H araiti,'^ Hawdtif al-jdnn wa-'-ajih md yuhkd 'an
al-kuhhdn mim-man bassara bi-n-nabi bi-wddih al-burhdn.
Ibn A bi d-dunya, al-Hawdtif.
* (A l-'A b b as? ) b., M uham m ad b. A hm ad, seventh/thirteenth cen tury (cf. G A L , I, 366;
P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 280 f.).

^ S ic Ms. Leiden and as-Sahaw i, al-Jawdhir wa-d-durar, loc. cit., not Ibn al-Jaw zi. For
Ib n al-Jazari, see above, p. 276, n. 9, and below , p. 421, n. 2.
D . 236/850 {TB, I, 236 f.).
* U m ar b. al-H usayn, d. 633/1235 (cf. G A L , I, 310-12). In his Qawl al-badt^, 54-57 (A llaha
bad 1321), cis-Sahawi has some more inform ation on Ibn D ih y a h s w ork which he had not
seen him self b u t knew , it seems, through M ugultay. L a te r on, he cam e across an abridgm ent
of Ibn D ih ya h s w ork b y Judge N asir-ad-din (M uham mad b. A b d -ad -D a im) b. (bint) alM aylaq {G AL, I I , 119 f.). A t the tim e, he also had no direct knowledge of A b u 'Abdall&h
al-Q u rtu b is (iden tity?) w ork, w hich w as a rajaz poem w ith com m entary. T h e names
enum erated b y as-Sahaw i am ount, he says, to about 430.
A few incom plete pages on the nam es of the Prophet ascribed to A hm ad b. F 4ris are
preserved in Ms. A y a S o fy a 496, fols. 76b-79b.
A p p aren tly, M uham m ad b. T alh ah , d. 652/1254 (Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, X I I I , 186).
* T he historian of Aleppo, 'U m ar b. A h m ad b. a l-'A d im , d. 660/1262 (cf. G A L , I, 332).
T h e w ork appears to be id entical w ith the one quoted b y Ibn H aja r, Lisdn, V , 309,
under the title of al-M ulhah f t r-radd ^ald A b i (leg. Ibn) Talhah, although the quotation
concerns the fam ous m ystic al-H akim at-Tirm idi.
M uham m ad b. J a 'fa r, d. 327/938 (cf. G A L , I, 154; J-C. V a d e t , in Arabica, V II ,
140-66 [i960]).
A b il B a k r 'A b d allS h b. M uham m ad, d. 281/894 (cf. G A L , I, 153 f.).

400

401

AS-SA h A w 1s I LAN

T R A N S L A T IO N

Ibn D u ru staw ayh / on the story of Quss b. Sa^idah. (91) Hisam

b. Amm^r ^ wrote on how the call came to Muhammad.

(about the subject?), were collected b y Ibrahim b. al-H aytam

A bu 1-H attab b. D ihyah and others wrote on M uham m ads

ascension [miWdj).
M any (scholars) w rote on the proofs of prophecy, among them
A bu Z u rah ar-Razi.
Tabit as-Saraqusti.
A b u 1-Qasim at-Tabarani.
A t-T aym i,
A b u A bdallah b. Mandah.*
A bu s-Sayh b. Hibban.
A b u N u 'aym al-Isbahani.
A bu B ak r b. A b i d-dunya.
A b u A hm ad [b.] a l-AssM.
A b u B ak r an-Naqqas, the Qur^an com m entator.
A b u 1- A bbas al-Mustagfiri.
A bu 1-A s w ad Abd-ar-Rahm an b. al-Fayd.
A b u D arr al-Maliki. A nd

al-Baladi.^
On the signs of prophecy, there are works b y
A bu M uhammad b. Qutaybah.^
A b u Dawud, the author of the Sunan.
A bu 1-H usayn b. Faris.
A bu 1-Hasan al-Mawardi, the jurist.^
Chief Judge A b u 1-M utarrif al-Magribi.^ A nd
Ala-ad-din M ugultay.
On the prophetical characteristics, there are works by
A bu Isa at-Tirmidi.^
A bu 1- A bbas al-Mustagfiri. A nd
A bu B ak r b. Tarhan al-Balhi.
I wrote a fragm ent of a com m entary on the first work, and I
h ave seen a draft fragm ent in the handwriting of Jamal-ad-din
b. az-Zahiri,"^ which appeared to have been derived from (at-Tirm idis
w ork).
On the (physical) appearance of the Prophet, there are works b y

A b u B akr al-Bayhaqi. A l-B ayhaq i's w ork is the m ost comprehen

sive one, as I have stated in a pam phlet upon completion of the
stud y of the work.

A bu 1-Bahtari.s And
A bu A li Muhammad b. Harun.
On the character qualities of the Prophet, there is a w ork b y

The proofs of prophecy, together w ith exceptional traditions

Judge Ism ail.^

On the description of his noble shoe, there is a work b y A bu

1-Y um n b. Asakir.^i
* 'A b d allah b. J a 'fa r, d. 347/958 (cf. G A L , I, 112 f.). Th e w ork is quoted b y Ibn K a tir,
B iddyah, II, 231.
* D . 244/858-59, or 245 (Ibn Ka^^v, B iddyah, X , 346; F l O g e l s notes a d F ih rist, 29 and 37).
T a b it b. H azn;, d. 313/925 (Ibn al-F aradi, 88, no. 306 C o d e r a ), who conipleted the
DaldH l of his son Qasim a fter the la tte rs death in 302/914-15 (cf. G A L Supplem ent III,
1196; Ibn al-Faradi, 293 f., no. ro6o). Qasina had a son T a b it, d. 352/963, who transnutted
the Dald?il (Ibn al-F arad i, 89, no. 308). T h is T a b it had a grandson also nam ed T a b it,
and he again had a grandson T^bit, who died in 514/1120-21 (Ibn BaSkuw al, S ila k, 126,
no. 283 C o d e r a ) .

M uham m ad b. Ishaq, d. 395/1005 (cf. G A L , I, 167, Supplement, I, 281), or 396/1005

(Ibn al-Jaw zi, M untazam , V II , 232). 310/922 as the ye ar of his birth {G AL) can h ard ly be
correct, since his son 'A b d -ar-R ah m an w as born in 381 or 383 (ad-Dahabi, Ta^rth a l-Isld m ,
anno 470, Ms. ar. Y a le U n iversity L-612 [ N e m o y 1176], fols. 206b-207b; M untazam , V I I I ,
315, has 388) and died on Saw w al i6 th ,4 70 /M ay 2nd, 1078. A nother son, 'A b d -al-W ah h ab ,
was born in 386 (Ibn IJallikan, IV , 57 trans. D e S l a n e , cf. above, p. 283, n. 3). 316/928-29
(Ibn lia ja r , Lisdn , V I, 71) m ay still be too e arly a date. A b u 'A b d a lla h s children were,
how ever, those of his old age, as he is said to h ave m arried late in life.
A hm ad b. 'A b d allah , d. 430/1038 (cf. G A L , I, 362).
M uham m ad b. A hm ad b. Ibrahim , d. 349/960 (Ibn al-JawzJ, M untazam , V , 398; T B ,
I, 270; ad-D ahabi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz, 12th tab., no. 4 W' u s t e n f e l d ).
M uham m ad b. al-H asan, d. 351/962 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 334).
J a 'fa r b. M uham m ad, d. 432/1040 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 617). T he follow ing Ibn alF ay d seems to be unidentified.
* M us'ab b. M uham m ad b. M as'ud, d. 604/1207 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 206) ?

^ D .

277/890-91,

^ 'A b d a lla h
b .

b .

'A ll

A p p a r e n tly ,

E n sa y o ,

or

278

{ T B ,

M u slim ,

M u h a m m a d ,

d.

V I,

206-9).

276/889,

d.

or

450/1058

'A b d - a r - R a h m a u

270/884

(cf.

b .

(cf.

G A L ,

I,

M u h a m m a d

G A L ,

I,

120-23).

386).

b. F u ta y s , d.

(cf. P o n s B o i g u e s ,

402/1012

101-3).

^ M u h a m m a d

b .

'I s a ,

d.

279/892

(cf. G A L ,

I,

16 1

R obson , in S S O ^ S ,

f . ; J.

X V I ,

258-70

m ig h t

ra th e r

[ i 9 5 4 i).
IH d n ,
b e

142,

M u h a m m a d

S u b k t,
th e
b .

b .

a t-T a b a q c it

M s.

C a iro

M u h a m m a d

T a r h a n

a s-S d fiH y a h ,

M u st,

b .

a t-T u rk i,
IV ,

d.
70,

Ib n

'A li

b.

T a r h a n

5 1 3 / 1 119

(Ib n

C a iro

1324).

' A d i s

K a m il

al-h a d it

54

of

M u h a m m a d ,

d.

696/beg.

fro m

B a lh ,

a l-J a w zi,

H e

ap p ea rs

th a t

w a s

b u t

this

M u n ta za m ,
as

th e

w ritte n

last

for

I X ,

2 15 ;

as-

tra n sm itte r

Ib ra h im

b.

of

Y u s u f

T a sfin .

A h m a d

no. 8
*

b .

W a h b

D .

b. W a h b ,
C f.

also

353/964

Is m a 'il

b .

B a ^ d d d t, 106

of

12 9 7

(a d -D a h a b i,

Tabaqdt

a l-h u ffd z,

2 0 th

ta b .,

W u s te n fe ld ).

F lu g e l).

(Ib n

19 9/8 14 -15, or
H a b ib ,

H a ja r,

Ish a q ,

d.

(D a m a scu s

'^ u la m d ^

osenth al

d.

Ib n

'A b d -a s -S a m a d

T a ^ rih

m e n tio n s

b .

200

L isd n ,

282/896

(cf.

V ,

X I I I ,

in tro .,

10

4 8 1; F ih rist,
H .

A .

F a r iq

14 6

f., C a ir o

(H y d e r a b a d

1348

100

1384/1964).

4 11).

G A L

S u p p lem en t

I,

273).

C f.

Y .

a l-'I ls ,

a l-H a tih

al-

1364/1945).

'A b d -a l-W a h h a b ,

B a g d a d ,

(T B ,

M u n a m m a q ,

96 -9 8,

B a g d a d

6 14 -68 6/12 17-8 7

(Ib n

R a fi',

M u n ta h a b

a l-M u h td r,

1357/1938).

History of Muslim Historiography

26

40 2

A S -S A H A W I S I 'L A N

TRAxNSLATION

On the Prophetical guidance, there are works b y Ibn al-Q ayyim ^

and others.

There are monographs on the huthat al-wadd'^ (the Farew ell

Sermon), accorchng to Ibn (92) B askuw al M uham m ads last sermon.
There are even works on individual statem ents of Muhammad.
On the genealogy of the Prophet, there are works b y

On the medicine of the Prophet, there are works b y

A b u N u'aym .
Al-M ustagfiri. A nd
D iy a -ad-din al-M aqdisi.^
Judge lyad^ wrote as-SifcV hi-ta'^nf huquq al-Mustafd. I com
m ented upon its substance and indicated those who wrote remarks
on it, in a w ork of mine upon completion of the study of the work.
A bu r-R ab i' Sulaym an < . . . > b. S a b as-Sabti ^ w rote the
Sifd'' as-sudur, in several volumes. His work was abridged b y a
certain religious leader. It contains m any objectionable passages.
A b u 1-Faraj b. al-Jawzi, al-Wafd^ bi-t-ta"nf bi-l-Mustafd.
Ibn al-Munayyir,^ al-Iqiifd\
A bu S a 'd an-Xisaburi,* Saraf al-Mustafd, in several volumes.
Ja' far al-F aryab i, wrote on the miracles and Takrir at-ta'-dm
wa-s-sardb. Others also wrote on the miracles.
On the special qualities, there are works b y several scholars,
such as
Al-M awardi.
Ibn S a b . A nd
JalM-ad-din al-Bulqini.
On the sermons of Muhammad, there are works b y
A bu A hm ad a l-AssaI. And
A bu s-Sayh b. Hibban.

403

A t-Tabarani. A n d
A bu A bdallah b. Mandah.
On M uhamm ads correspondence w ith chiefs and kings, there is
a w ork b y Um arah b.
Others wrote on the
A l-B ayh aq i WTote on
On the m erit of the

Zayd.^
death of the Prophet.
the life of the prophets in their graves.^
prayer for the Prophet, there are works

b y men such as
Judge Ism a'il.
A b u B ak r b. A b i Asim,^ as well as those whom I have enumerated
in the final chapter of m y book al-Qawl al-badi^ f t s-saldh ""aid
l-habib as-sajV.^
As w ill be m entioned below, m any people w rote on the men
around Muhammad. There are, moreover, as will be indicated,
authors of monographs on his comrades; on his w ives there is
ad-D im yatis com pilation ; [on his secretaries;] on his clients;
and on his secretaries there is the com pilation of Abdallah b.
A ll b. A hm ad b. H adidah ^ wiiose w ork is entitled al-Misbdh
al-jmtdi^ f i kuttdb an-nabi.
There are m any other such things. If it were proposed to collect
them all in one work, that w ork would fill tw en ty volumes, and
more.

M u h a m m a d

T h e

w o r d

P ro p h et

ha dy

{a t-T ib b

Ija y r a l-'-ib d d
I

b.

fo llo w in g

126

f.,

nos.

12,

Isla m ic
M yfu l

p erson s
a n d
^

h'Lt

b.

20

(an d
b .

M u sa
to

in x o h 'e d

c e rta in

A h m a d

on e

Q a y y in i

the

the

to

w o rk s

111,

r6 -4 i

a l- \ a h s u b i,

lie re:

A b u

S a b '

as-S ab ti.
d.

O a y y im

643/1245

544 /1149
K a s f

r-R a b i'^

M u h a n u n a d ,

Ib ir

sa m e

(cf.

fro m

to b e

105

f.).

o f the

a l-n ia ^ d d f t

p p.

C f.

11,

M cd ic in e

(z A L

d iffe re n t

fro m

11,

S u p p lem en t

a l-J a w ziy a h .

1,

G A L ,

398

f.;

(cf.

(,A f.,

S u la y m a n

C f.

1\ ,

a z-zitn ih i,

b elo w ,

6S3/1284-85

b.

p.

I,

A .

J.

A r b e r k y ,

in

369).

52,

M u sa

no.

759 4

a l- K a la 'i

F L r-G E i,,
(cf.

th ere

a b o \ e ,

p.

are

396,

The stories of the prophets are contained in the Mubtada'' of

M uhammad b. Ishaq b. Y asar al-Muttalibi, the author of the
Bio;^raphy of the Prophet, and of A bu H iidayfah Ishaq b. Bi.sr
al-Buhari.'^ Monographs on the subject were w ritten b y

tw o

n.

4),

588.

(H a jji

(2. The stories of the prophets)

h a d y

tr-z [ M e c c a - C a i r o

s o m e th in g

su b ject.

C )m ,itte d

^ C f.

H a lifa h ,

1,

K a s f a z-zu n u n ,

377,

no.

1054

().

in

J a M a r

m a n u scrij)t
ciriibc
g r a n ts

de

M u h a m m a d ,

of

the

D a tiia s,

for

T a baqdt,

b.

C h e ster
X X

su b sisten ce

\ 'I I

1,

32

d.

1\ ' ,

S a c iia u

Ije a tty

234

w h ich

301/1)13

ff.
the

an d

{'I'U ,

co lle ctio n ,

(1049).
I r o p h e t
others.

II,

!( )( ) f f . ) .

cf.

.A. j .

A l A \ A (|id i
m ad('

to

b y

A rh errv,

w ro te
h is

I, 2 0 0 , S u p p l e m e J i t

w o r k

fa m ily

K itd b
a n d

h im

in

is

R evue

tu '^ u m

de

361).

cf.

in

I'A c a d e m ie

an -n a bi,

fo llo w e rs,

1,

p re ser\ -< 'd

on

Ib n

the

S a 'd ,

M s.

S rrE s,

' A h m a d

b.

A lla h a b a d

'^ A b d -a l-M a U k b . M u h a m m a d , d . .jo 6 / io i5 - i( ) , o r 4 0 7 (cf. G A L ,

G A L ,

h is Z d d

a n -n a b a u 'i,

a ii-n a b a rci

tlie

(cf.

a l - J a \ v z i y a l i s

[k)56|.

d.

H a lifa h ,

of

751/13 50

e x c e rp t

of a t-T ib b

a l-h a d y
to

d.

Jln i O a y y i m

t o bi> a n

r< f e r

d .

in

e d itio n

e x p e c t

seen is
of

a l-J a \v ziy a h ,

u sed

is s t a l e d
to

\vo u ld
it

3 3 ?)

l.la jji

ib n

b.

b .

fre q u e n tly

^ A b d - a l - W ' a h i d ,

Q u a r te r ly ,

A c c o r d in g

is

in tro d u c tio n

m ,e d icin e ,

]\ lu h a m n ia d
T h e

tlie

A lth o u g h

th e

B a k r ,

a u -n a b ir a i), w h ic h

(cf.

377/ t ( ) 5 7 ;)-

A b i

K m id a u ce

^ A rd d f,

L e id e n ,

iti Z D M i r ,

A n n ',

d.

1321,

thos(>

D im x 'a ti

1) .

is

m issin g

206/821

M u '-jiin i,c \ .
\V orterbu ch ,

(V
J.

ro

in

7) ,

287/Qoo

197

p.

w h o

la g lith / fo u rte e n fh

l-'or

X C ,

sh are d

M s.
\ 'I,

(Ib u

ff.

c e n tu r y

H .'n u 'ira h ,

11 3

A
a

(1036),
i.la ja r,

n e w

S('e
w h ere

L isd n ,

e d itii.m

ca m e l

w ith

(cf. G A L ,

h as
h im

11, 72).

b elo w ,
o n e
\ l,

p.

n u ist

349 f . ; Ib n

a p p e a re d
on

T h e

5 0 4 (? ).
r c a < l b a '^ d , i n s t e a d
K a tir,

of

B id d y a h ,

w a -b a '^ d .
X I ,

84).

1963.

iu

exp ed itio u s.
referen ce

to

h is

w o rk

an d

th a t

of

ad-

L e id c 'n .
326-28).

l-'or

the

q u o ta tio n s

fro m

h is

K itd b

u T T -'n tiik

iu

'I'i'u iu t,

l l f ' ; i ' ; K , D i e h i s t o r i s c h e n u n d f! ,e oi : ,r a p h i s c h e u Q i t e l l e n i n J d q u t s ( u ' o g r a p h i s e h e m

(S tra ssb u rg

1898).

404

as-sah aw

! s

i l A n

T R A N S L A T IO N

W atim ah b. Musa b. al-Furat,^ in two volumes.

A b u Ishaq a t-T a Mibi (at-T alabi).^ A nd others, such as
A bu 1-Hasan M uhammad b. A bdallah a l-K isa i.^
The subject is also found treated in the Histories of Ibn Jarir
(at-Tabari), and Ibn Asakir, the Biddy ah of Ibn K atir, and b y
Jam al-ad-din A b u 1-Hasan A ll b. (Abi l-)Mansur al-MMiki, the
author of the BaddH'^ al-badd^ih.
(3. The history of the men around Muhammad)
On the men around Muhammad, there are m any works, for
instance,
A ll b. al-Madini, Kitdb Ma'^rifat man nazala min as-sahdhah
sdHr al-bulddn. According to al-H atib, the w ork consists of five
parts th at is, small ones.
A l-B uhari who, according to Ibn H ajar, was the first (scholar)
known to have written on the subject.
A t-Tirm idi.
Mutayyan.^
A b u B ak r b. A b i Dawud.
Abdan.^
A bu
A b ii
Abu
A b ii
Abu
A bu

( Y a q u t , IrSdd, X I X , 2 4 7 f . C a i r o = V I I , 2 2 5 f . M a r g o l i o u t h ; W . H o e n e r Watfmas Kitdb ar-Ridda, i n Abh. d. Ahad. d. W iss. und d. Literatur, Geistes- und
sozialu'iss. K L , 1 9 5 1 ) .
D . 237/851

P h o t.

C a iro

T a M h

2 579,

I,

112 ,

in d ica te s

th e

a u t h o r s

nisbah

as

b o th

a t-T a '^ la b i a n d a t - T a 'a l i b i .

^

L iv e d

M u h a m m a d

a ro u n d
b .

400/1009-10
'A b d a lla h ,

(cf.

GAL,

I,

d. 298 /910-11

350 ).

[Fihrist,

323

f.,

C a iro

1348

232

F l u g e l ).

(TB , X I , 1 3 5 f . ) .
S a ' i d b . ' U t m a n b . S a ^ i d , d . 3 5 3 / 9 6 4 ( a d - D a h a b i , Tabaqdt al-huffdz, 12th tab., n o . 3 8
W u s t e n fe ld ) , one of the sources of Ib n
A b d - a l - B a r r s Isti'^db.
' U m a r b . A h m a d , d . 3 8 5 / 9 9 6 ( c f . G A L , 1, 1 6 5 ) .
M u h a m m a d b . A h m a d , d . 3 5 4 /9 6 5 (cf. GAL, I, 1 6 4 ) .
M u h a m m a d
b .
'A b d - a r - K a h n ia n ,
d.
3 2 5 / 9 3 6 - 3 7 , cf. F . W u s t e n f e l d ,
Der Imam elSchdfi^t, 1 3 3 ( G o t t i n g e n 1 8 9 0 ) .
M u h a m m a d
b. 'L 'm a r, d. 5 8 1/118 5
( c f . G A L Supplement I , 6 0 4 ) .
^

P r o b a b ly

N e w

^ A b d a n

ed itio n

b y

b.

'A iJ

M u h a m m a d

M .

a l-M a rw a zi,

a l-B a ja w i

d.

293/906

1380/1960).

I,

b .

H a la f,

279).

C f.

E ig h th / fo u rte e n th
C f.

Ib n

d.

H a ja r ,

c e n tu r y

Lisd n ,

H a ja r ,

519 /112 5-2 6 ,

Ib n

V ,

(cf.

or

520

P on s

(cf.

Durar, I I I , 4 4 5 .
G A L Supplement

I,

B o ig u e s,

Ensayo,

178

f.;

GAL

628).

2 0 0 f. ?

^ ' A b d a l l a h b . M u h a m m a d , d . 3 1 7 / 9 2 9 ( c f . T B , X , 1 1 1 - 1 7 ; Y . a l - ' I s s , F ihris mahtutdt

Ddr al-Kutub az-Zdhirtyah, T a h ih , 2 1 9 , 2 7 5 [ D a m a s c u s 1 3 6 9 / 1 9 4 7 ] ; A . J . A r b e r r y , i n The
Islam ic Quarterly, I I I , 2 0 [ 1 9 5 6 ] ; G A L Supplement I , 2 7 8 ) . T h e m a n u s c r i p t o f t h e Mu'-jam
as-sahdbah l i s t e d i n G A L i s n o w i n C h i c a g o , c f . M . K r e k , A Catalogue of Arabic Manuscripts
in the Oriental Institute o f Chicago, 1 9 ( N e w H a v e n 1 9 6 1 ) .
T h e kunyah i s o m i t t e d i n
M s. L e id e n .
^ 'A b d - a l- B a q i b. Q a n i', d. 351/962
( c f . G A L Supplement I , 2 7 9 ) .
*
T h e a u th o r o f th e
N ihdyah i s M a j d - a d - d i n a l - M u b a r a k b . M u h a m m a d , 5 4 4 - 6 0 6 /
11 4 9 -1 2 1 0
(cf. GAL, I, 3 5 7 f . ;
H . R i t t e r
in
Oriens, V I , 7 1 f f . [ 1 9 5 3 ] ) .
I b r a h i m b . ' U t m a n , d . 6 4 5 / 1 2 4 7 ( c f . I b n a l - ' I m a d , Sadardt, V , 2 3 0 f . ) ?
A l - H a s a n b . ' A b d a l l a h , d . 3 8 2 / 9 9 3 ( c f . G A L Supplement I , 1 9 3 ) .
D . 3 2 4 / 9 3 5 - 3 6 , c f . I b n a l - ' I m a d , Sadardt, I I , 3 0 2 ( C a i r o 1 3 5 0 - 5 1 ) ; L . C a e t a n i , Onomasticon Arabicum , 6 0 6 ( R o m e 1 9 1 5 ) . I d o n o t k n o w o n w h a t g r o u n d s E . A m a r , i n J A , X , 1 9 , 2 5 4 ,
n.

(19 12 ),

b. S a 'id
in

(C a iro

M u h a m m a d

Supplem ent

Several (scholars) w rote

BACH,

Inbdh,

A bu 1-Qasim al-Bagawi.^
A bii 1-Qasim a l-Utmani.^
A b u 1-Husayn b. Q ani ,^ in their Mu'-jams.
A b u 1-Qasim at-Tabarani, especially in the Mu'-jam al-kahir.
Izz-ad-din A b ii 1-Hasan b. al-Atir, the brother of the author of
the Nihdyah,^ in the Kitdb Usd al-gdbah which he compiled from a
number of earlier books, such as Ibn Mandah, A b u N u aym , Ibn
A bd-al-Barr, and the Supplement to (Ibn Mandah) b y A bu Miisa.
The Usd becam e the standard reference w ork for later scholars.
A n-N aw aw i and al-K asgari
abridged it. A d-D ahabi restricted
himself to m aking a short version of it. A l-Iraqi added a number

ham m ad arranged according to tribes.

A bu 1-Qasim Abd-as-Sam ad b. S a id al-Himsi ^ w rote on the men
around Muhammad who resided in Hims (Emesa on the Orontes).

A b u U m ar b. A bd-al-Barr,

^ A l-Q ifti,

supplem ents to it, for instance, Abir Ishaq b. al-Am in and A bu

B ak r b. Fathun,^ who were (93) contemporaries. (The w ork of)
the latter is the better one. An abridgm ent of the Istl^dh was
w ritten b y Muhammad b. Y a qub b. Muhammad b. A hm ad alHalili,^ under the title of I Ham al-isdbah bi-aHdm as-sahdbah.
There are other authors who w rote on the subject. It would be
difficult to give a complete list. There are, for instance,
A bu 1-H asan M uhammad b. Salih a t - T a b a r i .

of names to it.
A b u l- A bbas J a far b. Muhammad b. al-M utazz al-Mustagfiri.
A b u A hm ad a l-A skari w rote a w ork on the men around Mu

A ll b. as-Sakan, in the Huruf.^

H afs b. Sahin.
Mansur al-Barudi.
H atim b. Hibban.
1- A bbas ad-Duguli.
N u aym.

A bu A bdallah b. Mandah, to whose w ork A bu Musa al-Madini^

w rote a supplement.

405

b a s e d

h is

id e n tifica tio n

(S a 'd ), w h o d ie d in

Y a q u t ,

Mu'-jam,

cf.

F .

of

J.

Geographischem Worterbuch,

H e e r,
31

th e

a u th o r

w ith

'A b d -a s -S a m a d

b.

'A b d -a l-W a r it

H istory o f Kmesa
D ie historischen und geographischen Quellen in Jdquts

20 7/8 22-23

or 206.

(S tra ssb u rg

F o r th e

1898).

q u o ta tio n s

fro m

h is

4 o6

407

A S - S A H A W l S I L A N

T R A N S L A T IO N

Muhammad b. ar-R ab i al-Jizi ^ w rote on those who resided in

E gyp t.

grandson of U m ayyah), (94) there were fourteen Urnayyad caliphs

until Marwan. Down to our time, there have been some fifty
A bbasid caliphs. There were a number of M arwanid caliphs in

Muhibb-ad-din at-Tabari wrote ar-Riydd an-nadirali f i mandqih

al- '-ascirah.
A bu Muhammad b. al-Jarud ^ wrote on those who transm itted
only one tradition.
A bii Z ak a riya ' b. Mandah wrote on the comrades [arddf) of
Muhammad and on those who h ved one hundred and tw en ty years.
On M uhamm ad's wives, there are works b y
A b u U baydah M a'm ar b. al-Mutanna.^ A nd
Zuhayr b. a l-'A la al-'Absi,"^ and others, such as
M uhibb-ad-din at-Tabari, as-Simt at-tamm Ji mandqib imimahdt
al-mu"minin.
Others w rote on M uhamm ads chents or his secretaries.
A l-H atib wrote on those of the men around M uhammad who
transm itted traditions on the authority of men of the second gen
eration.
A b u I'F ath al-Azdi wrote on those who had only one transm itter.
The hadit expert 'Abd-al-Gani b. 'A bd-al-W ahid al-Maqdisi
w rote a good-sized volum e entitled Rectification of Doubts in Ahu
Nu'^aynis Ma'-fifat as-sahdbah.
W orks which '.vere not restricted to the men around Muhammad
but also included later personalities were w ritten b y
H alifah b. H ayyat.
Muhammad b. Sa'd.
Y a 'q iib b. Sufyan.

Spain.
There were eleven U baydid-F atim id caliphs in E gyp t, not
counting the three in the Magrib. The first of them was A bu A bdallah Muhammad b. al-H usayn al-Mahdi. He came forth from
al-Qayrawan and appeared during the caliphate of the A bbasid
al-M uqtadir bi-llah in B agdad. Allegiance was sworn to him in the
year 298/910-11. He established his d yn asty in the Magrib. His
successors w'ere al-Qa"im bi-llah and the la tters son al-Mansur.
The rest of the d yn asty resided in E gyp t. The first of them there
was al-M uizz li-din-Ahah A bu Tam im al-M aadd b. al-Mansur
Ism a'il b. Muhammad al-Mahdawi. Allegiance to him as successor
of his father al-Mansur was sworn to him in al-Mahdiyah in the
year 341/952-53. H e then w ent to E g y p t in the year 358/969 and
took possession of it. He built Cairo which was called after him
al-Qahirah al-M uizziyah. H e was born in the year 319/931. He lived
forty-five years and nine months, and he died in his bed in the
month of Rabi'' II of the year 365/975. He was buried in QarMat
Misr.i The last of the Eatim ids was al-A did li-din-Allah. He died
in his bed in the year 567/1171 and was buried in the Castle, at
the place known as B a r ad-darb in Cairo. (Since) I have dealt
w ith this (subject) in a (special) paper, we do not have to go into it
here.
N o te ;

A b u B ak r b. A b i H aytam ah, and others.

w ere

Ib n

resp ect,

In the Isdbah, Ibn H ajar collected and verified the dispersed

(information) on the subject, but the w ork was not completed.

H a k lfin

ca lip h s

upiotL

h e

the

(those

in

a n d

co n tra d icte d
Ia tiu u d

s c h o la rs)

Ib n

d e cid e d

h 'g > p t

to

n ess

g(>ueaIo"y.

H a ja r r e m a rk e d

is

k n o w n .

cla im e d

N ot counting Ibn az-Znba\T, there were six caliphs who belonged

to the men around Muhammad.^ N ot counting Utm an (who was a

to

(to

th e m

a n d

a ssen d )lies,

are

m e n

to

of

W c
T h e

o f the

w o r k

P a le stin e

^ 'A b d a lla h
K ita h
^

1) .
C f.

q u o te d
O rien ta l

b .

a l-A sn icP
b et\ ve ('ii,
Ib ii

A b u

X I X ,

a ro u n d
is

2 0 8/8 23 -24

h .

al-M a r|riz ,

S o ciety ,
d.

w a -h kittia

I.Iajar,

T \ h il ia T n r u a d

N a m e ly ,

A li,

b y

JJxchi,

an d

in

cd.

C.

1) .

M a tth e w s,

II,

9 3 ;

in

(cf.

( iA L

X IV ',
(cf.

S u p p lem en t

77 >,

'^ U in a r ,

3 C iy lq y 7 -y 8 ,
H 'tm a u ,

or

'All,

a sk

ca lib er

G o d

to

k ci-p

m a n y

an d

us

if

safe

th a t

to

is
on

(th is

th e
th e

tlie

"^A lid

U b a y d i d s
F a tiu u d s.

of

r< -ligiou s

'A b b a s id
d e sc en t

A lid

as

a l-H a k im ,
a rd e n t

d e scen t

M u slim s
w ere

th a t

th e y

th e

fa in ily

of

in

tim e.

ab u sed .

b elo n g

to

th(

(95)

su b je c t).

ca u sc d

F a tiin id s).

th e

con sid ered

th eir

a n d

of

th is

sch o la rs

I 'a tim id s

relig io u s c o r r u p t

e x tre m is ts

o p e n ly

^ A l i

u n p le a sa n t

w ere

S i'-a h

th e

w h o

In

ca lip h

of

f a n x i l y o f A H . F a t i m i d

tru e

is a n

for

th e

of
of

attack ^

co n sid ered

m o st

o r th o d o x

n a m e

rep o rted

re g a rd

the

su ch

th e

d e sc en t

th e

(ag ain st

M u h a m m a d

it

sta in

the

H a ld u n

a v ('r s e

F atim id s,

a ro u n d

co n stitu te s

said

A lid

u n d e r

re je c te d

d e p o sitio n

w ere,

th e

h eretics

[rd fid a h ),

an d

w h ich

In

th eir

m ,osq u es

X o w ,

if t h e

F a tin vid s

fa m ily

of

^ A l i ,

reason,

to

sh u ii

su ch

thenx.

J o u r n a l

(1939-40).

T]},

213/828 -29

a s-s d ri,

Biographies of the caliphs were written, among others, b y

II,

47).

H is

298.

G A L ,

I,

103

f.).

492.

a l-l.lu s a v u , d.
B a k r ,

ifi6

320/932

q u o te d

II,

D trd'^

tlu-

of

k n o w n

th is ): Ib n

n in rd erin g

this

H e

w a s so

O th e r s

t h. c- m e n

fa v o r

H e

th eir

he

of

d iv in e.

led

rela tio n sh ip

S o m e

b e

oth ers.

m a k e

as e sta b lish e d , b e c a u s e

(4) The history of the caliphs

in

b e c a m e

374/984-85
a l-Ijasaii,

b.

(cf.

G A L

A l i ,

a n d

S u p p le m e n t
M u '^ a w iy a h .

I,

280).

I 'o r

O f

O rig in s

Cf.

th e
th e
o f

c('U ietery
y e a r

L sn u i'^ ilisn i,

I'-ld n ,

of

4 0 2 / 1 0 1 1,

a l-Q a ra fa h ,
cf.

6 0 f.

Ib n

cf.

(C a n d irid g e

71, abo^i'e, p. 370.

al-M a q ri/,i,

H a ld u n ,

H ita t,

M iiq a d d iin a h ,

rg4o).

II,
I,

443-4 3

33 f.

(B n la q

P a ris;

15.

1270).

L ew is,

T h e

4o 8

A S -S A H A W I S I L A N

A b u B isr M uhammad b. A hm ad b. H am m ad ad-Dawlabi.^

A b u B akr b. A b i d-dunya.
A bu B ak r Muhammad b. Zakariya" ar-Razi,^ the author of the
Mansuri. A nd others, supposedly.
A m ong the more modern scholars, there are
Nasir-ad-din b. Duqm aq.
Taqi-ad-din al-Maqrizi, Itti'-dz al-hunafd^ hi-ahbdr al-hulafd\^
These two men were followed b y some am ateur historians.
(Further,)
A b u 1-Hasan A li b. Muhammad b. A b i s-Surur A b d -al-A ziz
as-Saruji, Bulgat az-mrafd? f t ta^nh al-hulafd\^
B ayb ars ad-Dawadar,^ al-LatdHf f t ahhdr al-haW if, in several
volumes.
A bu 1-Fadl A hm ad b. A b i Tahir al-M arwazi al-Katib, Ahhdr
al-hulafd\
As-Suli, al-Awrdq f i ahbdr hulafd" B ani WAhhds wa-as^drihim.
There are monographs on several Abbasids. I referred to them
when I wrote on the qualities of the A bbasids a l-A bbas and alM am un (?). There are two m onographs on A bu l-A bbas al-M utadid.
The (history of the) Abbasids was versified b y
A bu Muhammad J a far b. A hm ad b. al-H usayn as-Sarraj, in
an ufjuzah.

T R A N S L A T IO N

409

ams-ad-din Muhammad b. Ahm ad a l-B a i^mi ad-Dimasqi,

Tuhfat az-ziirafd^ f i tawdnh al-muluk wa-l-hulafd\ H e stopped with
al-Asraf B arsbay. A t the beginning, he saidi^
N ow : H istorys nobility
R anks high among hum anity.
Its usefulness so evident
Led S afii to this statem ent
Of doubtless authenticity;
It adds to m ans sagacity.
This is a true, not devious
Rem ark whose sense is obvious.
A l-B a unis nephew, B a h a -ad-din Muhammad, a son of Judge
Jam al-ad-din Yusuf,^ wrote a supplement to the Tuhfah, in which
he dealt lengthily w ith the deeds of our present Sultan (al-Asraf
Q a itbay). He started w ith the following verses;
Now then; H istory is a science
On which all Muslims m ay place reliance.
Sufficient proof of this found
In the stories which in the Q uran abound.

A d-D ahabi, in a few verses.

^ D. 320/932
also stated th at
310 as the y ear
i n 224/838-39;

(as-Sam 'aui, A n sd b , fol. 233b, whose source is A b u S a 'id b. Y u u u s, w ho

ad-D aw labi came to E g y p t i n 260/873-74; Ibn H ajar, L is d n , V , 41 f., who has
of his death, which w ould agree b etter w ith the statem ent th at he was born
ad-D ahabi, Tabaqdt a l-huffdz, lo th tab., n o . l o i W u s t e n f e l d , has 301;
G A L S u p p lem en t I, 278).
^ T h e fam ous philosopher and physician, d. 313/925 (cf. G A L , I, 233-35). As the author of
a h istory, he is known ordy from as-Sahaw is source, al-Mas'^udi, M u r u j, I, 17 Paris ed. =
I, 6 (Cairo 1346), cf. IH dn, 158, below, p. 509. Al-Mas'-udi can be assumed to have also been
the source of as-Safadi, W d fi, I, 51 R i t t e r , cf. G A L S u p p lem en t I, 421. I t w ould h ard ly
be possible to assume th at al-Mas'-udi confounds the philosopher-physician w ith the Spanish
h istorian, A b ii B a k r b. M uham m ad ar-R azi, as he is speaking of contem poraries.
^ A new edition b y J. a s - S a y y a l w as published in Cairo 1367/1948. A further edition b y
A S - S a y Y A L on the basis of the Istan bul m anuscript is in preparation (cf. R evista del In stitu to
E g ip c io de E stu d ios Isla m ico s V', 221 [Arabic] [1957]).
*
A ccordin g to *^Abbas
Azzk\wi, at-Ta'^rif bi-l-mu^arrihm, I, 67-69 (B agdad 136 7/19 57),
the w ork w as printed in Cairo 1327/1909. The author died after 648/1250-51. His nam e was
'^Ali b. '^Abdallah b. M uham m ad.
5 D . 725/1325 (cf. G A L , I I , 44).

Ahm ad b. A b i T ah ir T a y fu r, d. 280/893 (cf. G A L , I, 138). The A hbd r al-hulafd^ is

identical w ith the H isto r y o f Bagdad, cf. IH dn, 123, below , p. 462, n. 2.
T h e author of the M a s a r i^ al-''nssdq who died in 500/1106, or 501, or 502 (cf. G ^ L , I,
3 51; Ibn al-Jaw zi, M u n tazam , I X , 151 f.).

Ibn A b i 1-B a q a w rote a one-volume urjuzah on the caliphs.

A hm adr b. Y a qiab al-Misri ^ and A b d (96) all ah b. al-H usayn
^ Cf. IH d n, 15, above, p. 286.
^ D . 910/1505 (cf. G A L , II, 54). Cf. al-Lam hah a l-A sra fty a h w a-l-bahjah a s-san tyah
jt-m d li-m aw ldnd a s-S u ltd n a l-n id lik a l-M a lik a l- A s r a f Q d itbdy m in al-a'^mdl a z-za kiya h
wa-l-aqw'dl al-qaunyah, Paris ms. ar. 1615, fol. 31a.

^ T h is m ay be a l-Y a ^qubi, who died in 284/897-98 (cf. G A L , I, 226 f.) or after 292/904-5,
if the q uotation in al-M aqrizi, to which D e G o e j e refers in his edition o f a l-Y a q u bis
B u ld d n , 372 (Leiden 1892, B ib liotheca Geographorum A ra bicoru m , 7), actu ally goes b ack to
a l-Y a 'q u b i, which seems quite uncertain. A s-S ah aw is inform ation is derived from alM as'iidi, M uruj, I, 18 Paris ed. = I, 6 (Cairo 1346), cf. 1 ^ldn, 154, below , p. 502. Since
al-M as^udi refers to the Abbdsid H istory of the author, one could hard ly think of A hm ad b.
A b i Y a 'q u b Y u su f b. ad-D ayah al-;\Iisri, the well-know n litterateu r and w riter on T u lun id
h istory (d. 330/941-42, or 340/951-52?, cf. C iA L , I, 149). It m ay be noted th at al-Ya'^qubi
is the oral source for a num ber of stories in Ibn ad -D a yah s K itd b al-M tikdfa^ah. T h is
fa ct, howe\'er, does not help to cla rify the d ate of a l-Y a 'q u b i, since Ibn ad-D ayah at any
rate appears to have been born before 260/873-74, the approxim ate date of his fa th ers death
who b y then w as about eigh ty years of age (cf. the in troduction of the Cairo 1332/1914
edition of the M ukdfa^ak. The. 1940 and 1941 editions of the w ork, cf. Revue de V A ca d em ic
arabe de D a m a s, X I X , 32-40, 1944, were not available). Thus, even if a l-Y a 'q u b i died at
the earlier date, he could h ave had con tact w ith Ibn ad-D ayah .

410

411

T R A N S L A T IO N

A S -S A H A W i s I 'L A N

b. S a d a l-K atib ^ wrote onthe history [ahbdr) of the Abbasids and

other rulers.

b. H ilal as-Sabi\^ Al-M aqrizi wrote some comments on the Fatim id

d y n a sty . . . .w rote on the Saljuq dynasty, which came to an end

Further, the historian [ahhdn) and genealogist M uhammad b.

Salih b. Mihran b. an-N attah ^ w rote on the history {ahbdr) of the
A bbasid and other dynasties. He is said to have been the first to
wTite on the history {ahbdr) of the dynasty.

in the year 590/1194.^

A bdallah b. al-M utazz ^ compiled the Poems of Caliphs and

Others w rote on the history of the caliphs and the tw o dynasties,

the U m ayyads and the 'Abbasids.

(5. The history of the kings of Islam)

A ll b. M ujahid ^ and H alid b. H isam al-Um awi wrote on the

history {ahbdr) of the U m ayyads and other (rulers).
Several authors wrote monographs on Um ar b. A b d -al-A ziz.
Jam al-ad-din Muhammad b. A li a l-Im rani ^ compiled al-Inbd"'
f i ta'^rih al-hidafd^. < A supplement, up to the end of al-M ustasim
bi-llah was written b y Zahir-ad-din al-Kazaruni. A l-K aza ru n is >
son, Sadid-ad-din Yiasuf b. (Zahir-ad-din Ali), wrote a supplement
to it.^
Others wrote on the Fatim id caliphs.
A bli Talib A li b. Anjab al-Bagdadi al-Hazin compiled the
Mandqih al-hulafd,\ as well as a history of the wives of the caliphs
and a biography of the caliph an-N asir.
On the history of the Saljuqs, there are the works of
Im ad-ad-din al-K M ib, Nusrat al-fitrah wa-Htsrat al-fitrah f i
ahbdr Bani Saljuq wa-dawlatihim. A nd
A bu 1-Hasan 'i\li b. Abi 1-Man.siir al-Azdi al-MMiki, Ahbdr almiduk as-SaljuqiyaJi.
The history of the Lam tunah dyn asty (the Alm oravids) was
compiled b y A bu B akr Y a h y a b. M uhammad b. Y u su f al-Ansari
al-Garnati.
The history of the D aylam ite Biiyids, w^hose dyn asty came to
an end in the year 432/1040-41, was C(mipiled b y A bu Ishaq Ibrahim

Kings.

(Histories of) kings and dynasties were compiled b y Muhammad

b. 'Abd-al-M ahk al-Hamadani.
Jamal-ad-din A bu 1-Hasan A li b. A bi 1-Mansur al-Azdi, ad-Duwal
al-niunqati'^ah, a very useful w ork on the subject. A l-A zd i also wrote
the BaddH'^ al-baddHh and the Asds al-baldgah, as well as the afore
mentioned Ahbdr al-niuluk as-Saljuqiyah and the Ahbdr as-hij'-dn,
to be mentioned later on.^
Ibn Hisam, at-Tijdn f i ahbdr muluk az-zamdn. H e also wrote a
supplem ent to this work.
Muhammad b. al-H arit at-Taglibi,^ Ahldq al-mulUk, composed
for al-Fath b. Haqan, and other works.
ZMir b. Hasan al-A zdi,^ Ahbdr ad-dui&al al-Isldmiyah.
Al-O arnati, al-Ihbdr wa-l-iHdm f i duwal al-Isldm f i Ribdt alMuwaffaq.
The unbeliever Ibrahim b. H ilal as-Sabi , History {ahbdr) of the
B uy id Dynasty, w ritten for Adud-ad-dawlah.
A b u Muhammad b. Zulaq al-Mi.sri, Biography of Ibn Tulun (97)
and of his son, H um araw ayh, in two separate works.
Several authors wrote biographies of the Ihsid Muhammad b.
Tugj and Salah-ad-din Y iisu f b. A yyu b .

D .

F r o m

a l-IM a s'u d f,

M iir u j,

I,

i8

P aris

ed .

I,

1346),

(C a iro

cf.

IH d n ,

1 5 5 ,

b e lo w

504.
-

L).

232/866-67
1 -1 ,1 -g e l;

D .

( j A L S u p p lem en t

(cf.

a l-M a s 'u d i,

182/798-gc)

77 )',

M u r u j, 1,

X I I ,

106

( ('r itu r y

^ 'r h e

S ad id -a d -d iii

4 9 f.

tex t

w a s

(1948 ).

m e a n t

h a s

suf^ K cstcd
l'h ('

b y

'A b b a s

au th o rs

ic'ct-l-iiiuV
^ C ited
]).

2 16 ;
P a ris

IB,
cd .

357

V ,

I,

C a iro

M u r u j, I , 1 2
Su p p lcin etit 1, 5 8 6 ) .

P a ris

W is u f

b .

a l-M u ta h h a r.

b y

156,

1346).

C f.

ed.

I,

C a iro
a b o v e

5,

C a iro

A n o th e r

1348
p.

89.

1346).

w o rk s
IV ,

T lie

u n certa in

co rre ctio n

in

of

the

X X I l l
n o t

b e

b y

M u s t a f a

b\-

Ib n

J a w a t)

a l-b 'u w a ti,

55 7/116 1-6 2

(H a jji

(C a iro ,

n.

y.)

a n d

ihdt cd-cPiunnah al-liulafd^ iiiin al-hard^ir

th e

1 cdhts Majma'^ al-dddb,

H a lifa h ,

K a s f a z-zun un ,

e d i t o r s
IV ',
II,

I,
104

78

r e m a rk s
f.

J a w a d

F lC g k l).

o u

p.

26.

(D a m a s c u s

1962).

13

I, 96, S u p p le m e n t I, 15 3

f . ; V a q i i t , I r s d d , I I , 2 0 ff. C a i r o

I, 3 2 4

IT.

(cf.

S a lju q

h isto ry

w a s

of

the

see m

a s -S a b i w o u ld

S a lju q s.
w ritte n

in tro d u c tio n

( ,A L ,

b elo w ,
o f

the

P in to ,

to

in

be

to

to
be

T h e

b y

th e

C f.

of

also

th e

Ib n

w ritte n

c o rre ctio n

a l-Q ifti w h o

ed itio n

lo st.

h a v e

abo\ e

is

also

Itih d it)

a w o rk
is

ou

th e

th erefore

cre d ited w ith

a n d

a l- h 'u w a ti,

m m iy

T a lM s

I'a tin L id s,
in d ic a te d .

B u y id

(?)

o th e r h isto rica l
M a jin a '' a l-d d d b ,

(C a iro

1299).

b.

h is

8 0 f.).

is

th e

e d itio n

K S O ,

Irsdd,

a l-in n n q cd i^ li.
T h e

I,

432.

X l l I ,

X I I I ,

Z a fir

referen ce
Ib ra h im ,,

o n e
of

in

a l-iM a 's u d i.

F ih r ist,

264

17.

in

h ere

s e e n i,s

F ih r ist,

2 12

(C a iro

1348),

(1931-32).

C a iro

59 7/120 1,

387/997

C f.

148.

a fo re -m e n tio n ed

d ie d

d.

fo u n d

the

133-49

the fa th er of the

\ a q u t ,

A l-H a s a n

p.

nish a h

n o te s

D u a o l

"

I'-ld n ,
a n d

(cf.

108,

T h is w o u ld

al-.-\/,d i

the

Jaw ad.

fo rm

().

of

H u y id s

u n f()rtu n a te ly

f.

I- 'i.i'GE i. s

C f.

te x t

tlie

22

296/908

I'-ld n ,

^ T lie

al-hiilafd^ al-m usavinid

w h ich

^ I).

an d

p.

the

o n

fa m o u s
(cf.

III,

Revue de 1' A ca d em ic arahe de Danicis,

( ,A f ., I , 4 6 6 , a n d S u p pleiiient 1, 8 2 5 , c a n

A i,-^ \ zzA w i,

lu e u tio u ed

J-'ilirist,

f.;

5,

h ere.

C f . t h e ( ' d i t i o n o f ,\';',syP

(rf.

I,

12

f . ; a l-.M a s'^ u d i,

GAL

^ S ix th / lw e lfth

tex t

a l-?^ Iaq rizi

h is to ry

10 7

t<i

^ A c c o r d in g
a n d

p.

38 4 /9 9 4 (cf. G A L ,

M a r g o l i o u rn).

to
(cf.

b e

\',
cf.
a

^ \li b. A b i
228

a s-S u y u ti,

d u p lica tio n

G A l.,

I,

1- M a n s f u '

M a k g o i.io u tu ) ,

149).

IJ iisn
a n d

Z afir b.
the

a l-H iisa y n

a u th o r

cil-iiiu h d d u riih .

m istak e.

ol

the

I,

258

412

T R A N S L A T IO N

A S -S A H A W I S I LA N

A biography of az-Zahir B aybars was w ritten b y 'Izz-ad-din

b. Saddad,^ and his secretary, M uhyi-ad-din b. Abd-az-Zahir.^
A bu Samah, ar-Rawdatayn f i ahhdr ad-dawlatayn.
Ibn D uqm aq, Biography of az-Zahir Barqiaq.
A l-A yn i, B iography of al-M u"ayyad. Others also wrote on him.
Several authors wrote biographies of az-Zahir Tatar, ^ al-Asraf
B arsbay, and az-Zahir Caqmaq.
Some authors wrote on the qualities and characteristics of the
Sultans.
M uhammad b. al-H aytam b. Sababah w rote Kitdb ad-dawlah.^
(6. The history of) wazirs
A b u B ak r as-Sulis work on the wazirs contains special inform a
tion and m any remarkable stories not found in any other author,
because as-Suli had personally witnessed the events described.
M uhammad b. Abd-al-M alik al-Ham adani wrote a supplement
to as-Sulis work.

^ M uham m ad b. 'A li b. Ibrahim , d. 684/1285 (cf. G A L , I, 482). H is biograph y of B ayb ars

is m entioned b y him self in his A'-ldq and b y al-Y un in i, D a y l Mir^dt az-zamdn, I, 497, 535
(H yderabad 1374-80/1954-61); Ibn K atir, Biddyah, X I I I , 305. P art of the w ork is preserved,
cf. C. C a h e n , in R E I , X , 342 (1936), and S. a d - D a h i i a n s introduction to his edition of the
AHdq, 18 f. (Dam ascus 1375/1956).
2
'A b d allah b, ^Abd-az-Zahir, d. 692/1293 (cf. G A L , I, 318 f.). T h e w ork is also quoted
b y al-Y u n in i, op. cit., I, 540, 556. An edition of the preserved portion of the biograph y
of B ayb ars has been published b y S . F. S a d e q u e , Baybars I of Egypt (D acca 1956). The
Paris m anuscript of Ibn '^Abd-az-Zahirs h istory of al-M alik al-M ansur Qala^un has been
published b y M u r a d K a m i l (Cairo 1961, cf. above, p. 119 , n. 5). A s-Safad is Tadkirah
cites his Faltat al-yard^ah (Ms. India Office 3829, fol. 112b) and his Tawqi'^ bi-riydsat alYahild f i l-ayydrn al-M ansuHyah (Ms. B rit. Mus. Suppl. 1017 [Or. 1353], fols. io 4 b -io 6 b ,
q uoted from the History of Ibn al-F u rat in the edition of the h istory of Q ala un, 216 f.
K a m i l ).

F urther details on the historical works dealing with B a yb a rs m ay be found in the in tro
duction of the w ork b y S . F. S a d e q u e .
Al-'^Aynis little w ork on T a tar, entitled ar-Katcd az-zdhir f i strut al-M alik at-Tdhir (ed.
M. Z. a l - K a w t a r i , Cairo 1370/1950, and H. E r n s t , Cairo 1962), is no true b iograph y b u t a
kind of fiirstenspiegel com bined w ith a flatterin g analysis of the ru lers n ation ality, nam es,
and circum stances. T he same applies to Ibn 'A ra b sa h s biograph y of Caqm aq (cf. G A L , II,
29) w hich stresses ethical-philosophical ideas and, for the most part, takes hard ly any
cognizance of the existence of its professed subject.
^ Th e inform ation is derived from al-M as'udi, M uruj. A b u Tam m ara wrote poems for
him, cf. H. R i t t e r , D ie Geheimnisse der Wortkunst, 275, 360 (W iesbaden 1959).
The inforniation is derived from al-M as'udi, M uruj.
Unwdn as-siyar, cf. IHdn 144 f., below, p. 488 f.; Ibn al-'A dim , Biigyat at-talab, in
Recueil des historiens des Croisades, Hist. or. I l l , 706 (Paris 1884); Ibn H allikan, I, 405, I I I ,
220, 257, 273 trans. D e S l a n e ; as-Suyuti, H usn al-muhddarah, II, T49 (Cairo 1299). AsS afad i, W dfi, IV , 38 D e d e r i n g (Dam ascus-W iesbaden 1959), refers to the 'Unwdn and
a History {Ahbdr) o f Wazirs, the latter being a supplem ent to Ibn as-Sabi^s w o rk .

4 13

A bii 1-Hasan A li b. al-Hasan b. al-Masitah ^ also wrote Ahbdr

al-wuzard'' which stopped w ith the end of the days of ar-Radi.
Further authors of histories of wazirs are
A bu 1-Hasan A li b. al-H asan b. al-Fath al-K atib , known as
Ibn al-M utaw w aq .2
A b ii 1-H usayn Hilal b. al-Muhassin b. Ibrahim as-Sabi\^ Further,
for instance,
Ibrahim b. Musa al-W asiti. In his work, al-W asiti em ulated
Muhammad b. D aw ud b. al-Jarrah(s History of Wazirs).
Ibn al-M utawwaq wrote the history of a number of wazirs of alM uqtadir.
A b ii T alib b. A n jab al-Hazin, Ahbdr al-wiizard^ f t duwal alaHmmah al-hulafd''. (A cop y of the w ork is) in the possession of
az-Zayni (?) b. Zuhayrah. A t the beginning of the work, Ibn
A n jab said th at the ^Abbasid cahphs were the first to em ploy
wazirs. The U m ayyads entrusted the financial adm inistration and
the collection and apportioning of taxes to local secretaries through
their provincial governors. The governm ent offices in Syria used
Greek, those in E g y p t Coptic, and those in the Iraq Persian.
A ll officials, w ithout exception, were either Christians or Magians.
During the reign of Abd-al-M alik b. Marwan, the switch to A rabic
was accomplished b y Sulaym an b. S a 'd in the governm ent offices
in Syria. The U m ayyads did not em ploy wazirs, but, for advice
and guidance, th ey used to consult some educated A rab of distinc
tion.
A bu 1-Qasim A li b. Munjib b. as-Sayrafi

wrote a m onograph

on the wazirs of E gyp t.

1 D. after 310/922-23 (Y a q u t, Irsdd, X I I I , 15 f. Cairo = V, 113-5

M ar g o lio u t h ;

F ihrist,

195, Cairo 1348 = 135 F l u g e l ) .

^ A contem porary of al-M as'udi, cf. F ihrist, 187 (Cairo 1348 = 129 F l u g e l ) ; as-Safadi,
W dfi, I, 52 R i t t e r . H is name is given also as Ali b. (Abi) 1-Fath. Cf. A. W iener, in Der
Islam , IV , 404 (1913). H is Mandqib al-wuzard^ is quoted in ar-R asid b. az-Zubayr, adDahd^ir wa-t-tuhaf, 229 H a m i d u l l a h (K u w ait 1959).
^ D. 448/1056 (G A L , I, 323 f . ; D. S o u r d e l , in Arabica, V , 272-92 [1958]).
^ Ibn al-Jarrah, d. 296/908 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 2241.). The inform ation is derived
from al-Mas'^udi, M uruj, cf. Y a q u t, Irsdd, II, 20 (Cairo = I, 324 M a r g o l i o u t h ) . His
Wuzard^ is quoted b y ar-R asid, Dahd^ir, 180 f. H a m i d u l l a h .
^ For the vocalization Zuhayrah, and not Zahirah, cf. F. W i : s t e n f e l d , D ie Chroniken
der Stadt M ekka, II, X V I I ; Daw^, X I , 214. T his Ibn Zuhayrah m ay be identical w ith Zaynad-din ^Abd-al-Basit ('Um ar) b. M uham m ad, born 951/1448 {Daw^, IV , 29 f.) ?
Cf. al-Jahsiyari, Wuzard^, fol. i8 a M z i k (Leipzig 1926, Bibliothek arabischer Historiker
und Geographen, i) ; as-Suli, Adab al-kidtdb, 192 f. (Cairo 1341); al-M awardi, al-Ahkdni asSultdniyah, 3 49 !. E n g e r (Bonn 1853). T h e te x t has S a ^d al-qudah (?).
D. 542/1147 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 489 f.).

414

T R A N S L A T IO N

A S -S A H A W I S I L A N

A certain E gyp tian wrote a biography of the wazir of (theFatim id)

al-Mustansir, A bii (Muhammad) al-Hasan (b.) A li b. 'Abd-arRahrnan al-Yazun.^
(7. The history of secretaries)
Ibn al-Abbar wrote on the secretaries. (q(S)
(8. The history of) amirs
A bu Um ar al-K indi ^ wrote on the amirs of E gypt.
An author whose w ork I used wrote a history [ahhcir) of the god
less Timur.
Tm ad-ad-din b. K a tir w rote a biography of Mengeh Boga.^
(g. The history of) jurists
W orks on the jurists in general were written b y Sayh A b h Ishaq
as-Sirazi, whose w ork is very brief.
Judge A bu M uhammad A bd-al-W ahhab b. Muhammad asSirazi,^ Ta^yih al-fiiqahcV.
Al-Baji.^ There are others.
M uhammad b. 'Abd-al-M alik al-H am adani as-Safii, Tabaqdt alfuqahcV.*^
On Safi^ite jurists, there are works b y a number of authors.^
The first was A bu Haf.s U m ar b. A li al-^Iutawwii a]-Adib,
al-Mudhab f i dikr hiyuh al-madhab.
^ D .

450/1058

n o te w o r th y
1270).

H is

O il

f('

the

h isto ry
cf.

this

in

I' ' .

tlie

au

p a tro n a g e

w azirs

of

d.

(Ib n

(ef.

al-J aw zi,

D cr

of.

liiia in

M assk,

32

al-M a qrizi,

q u o te d

a l-d d d h ,

774/1372

a n d

b y

( ,A L ,
(U )n

I,

IV ,

e l-S ch d JP i

llifa t,

19 19).

II,

318

b y

I H ,

A h m a d

104,

304

b.

f.

I,

is

H e

(B iila q

109.

M iih a n n a

al-

J a w a d ,

149).

H a ja r,

M m ita r .a m ,

C a iro

al-M a q rizi, H ita t,

{Wuzarcp az-ZciicrcP)

JiSajV dad

350/961
d.

is

f.

p a in t('rs,

a u th o r

'I'aU jls

D a m a s c u s ,

Wi 's t e x f e l d ,

d H gypte,
of

a tio n yn io n s

al-lM i\v a ti,

300/1107

A n n a lcs

1\ ' ,

D iira r,

IX ,

152

(G iH tin g 'cu i

f.).

i8 g o ),

b y

T I / f ,

I,

H ii,a l,

in

C f.

ly sd d ,

X I ,

f.

K i t t e r .

R cvistd

Ib n

30) in

of

d d

h is

H isto ry

S a f i - i t ( '

19 32,

ha n u ilat
fa b a q d t.
h e
H is

the

the

w ere

b ib h o g 'ra p h ic a l

reu L ain

q u ite

al-Mizzi.^
Im M -ad-din b. Batis.
Im M -ad-din b. K a tir wrote a big volume to which Afif-ad-din
al-Matari ^ wrote a supplement.
Jamal-ad-din al-Isnawi wrote a monograph (on SM iite tabaqdt).
A t the beginning of the Muhimnidt, he also mentioned a number of
Safi'ites. Sulaym an b. J a far al-Isnawi, his m aternal imcle, had
w ritten before him Tabaqdt as-SdJiHyah which were still in the
draft stage when he died.
Taj-ad-din Ibn as-Subki wrote three works on Safi'ite tabaqdt,
large, small, and medium.
Siraj-ad-din b. al--Mulaqqini** treated the subject in an independ
ent book. He also used the Tabaqdt of Ibn as-Subki for a supple
ment to al-Isnawi.
Taqi-ad-din b. Qadi Suhbah and some Syrian(s) wrote mono

refer-

u sefu l

iu

A ra b ic

littera te u r

w o rk

is

p reeed iii.ijj a u t l i o r s

1j\19).

b elo w ,

m e n tio n e d

(ju o ted

cf.

b y

(h

Ibn

(B o d le ia n

tex t,

H is

K itd b F ira q

AR (. 0 L i0 t: T n ),
b ee n

stu d ied

Isla m ic o s,

are

a n d

a l-fu q a h d ^ is

q u o te d

a n d

1- 3 7 ,

H ,

b.

or.

a l-H a sa n

in

('d ite d

H I,

17-4 6

m e n

as-S afad i,
b y

J.

^A r.

(19 54-55).

b>- a s - S u b l v i a s

M arsh

428).

a i-\ \ 'a s iti

n is.

or.

p.

584.

H u n t.

a t-T a S 'iliI)i,

a h l i a x i u u i i ,

at-'^ Iq d
108),

Y a tim a t

ra ^ rih -i-B a y h a q ,

(lA L

c(jn ta in s

ad-dahr,
158

w o rk s,

1\ ,

(Teheran ,

{a l-iim d liab ?)

f i

sh o rt

of

311

fo r

s u r v e y

(D a m a scu s

13 17).

m u c h

later

Ib n

an d

w h o

th(' n isb a h

w ith

n c 'a r ly id e n t ic a l

A lu ta w w i'^ is

worI<

^ ?i)u h a m m ad
^

D .

'.A ll

S u p p lem en t

L ite ra tu r '^ es cliiclite ,

a l-iiiitd a / ilia b

also

liis s o u r c e s

.M ost o f t h e

(cf.

.Spii-:s, I l e i t r d ^ e z i i r a r ( \ b i s c h e n

al-M u la (](|in ,

b v

m e n tio n e d

(P xifh e ia n m s .

M u h a n iin a d

o f the S d fi^ itcs,

a t-n ia d lia b

h a \ e

J-'.stiidins

T a b a q d t as-sui;fd

A K M ,

25 2

ab lS aji

de

T, 4 1 9 ) .

D e o erin c^ .,

th e

listed

(lA L ,

1\ ' ,

of

l-."ip (io

I\ ',

a n d

(ef.

(C a iro

w o rl\s

In stitiito

th ese
of

249

O th e r

W d fi,

1> a t i s ,

(L e ip zifj;

tabaqdt

13 0 4 )?

\ 'a (iu t,

in tro d u c tio n
to

27-29

Is

d.

n u m b e r

the

d o w n

H ahaf,

as-S afad i,

around him.
A b u Asim a l-Abbadi^ then composed a very brief work of
a few quires on (Safiite) tabaqdt. He was followed b y
A bii Muhammad Abdallah b. Yusuf al-Jurjani, the hadit expert.^
The hadit scholar A bu 1-Hasan b. A bi 1-Qasim al-Bayhaqi, known
as Funduq,^ Wasd^il al-almaH f i JaddHl as-SdfiH.
A b iin -N ajib as-Suhrawardi ^ made a compilation on the subject.
A bii A m r b. as-Salah wrote a book (on the subject), but he died
before its completion. A n-N aw aw i used Ibn as-Salahs book, short
ened it, and added some names. H e also died before the clean
copy of his w ork had been prepared, which was then prepared b y

T h e

4 7 4 /1 0 8 1 -8 2

b.

46

Judge A b u t-T a yy ib then composed a short w ork on the birth

of as-Safii, at whose end he enumerated a number of the men

graphs on the subject.

367).

T h e

e o n tc 'x t.

tio n ed

of

d.

S u h iy n ia u

11,

b y

b.

A ta b e k

^ A l-h 'a m i,
enees

r e p o rte d

of

Tbu

M u l.u iiiu n a d

^ A n

in

liis

M u y a ssa r,

b io g r a p h y

'U b a y d a li,

(Tbii

415

Ism a '^ il

b.

'^ .A b d a lla h

D u ra y,

11,

284

458/1066

d.

56 5/116 9

(cf.

p.

b.

p.

^ A b d allah ,

w ith

f . ; D a u '^ , \ T ,

92

n.

7.

(cf.

(j A L ,

I,

a s-S d fi''iy a li,

C tA L ,
d.

4 14,

aRree
11,

tliat

A cco rd in g

of

to

a l-A lu ta w 'w i'^ i

e x ce p t

100 -5),

Ib n

w ro te

w o rk

al-M u k u iq in ,

al-

a n -X a w a w i.

Tabaqdt

I,

324),

563/1168

th(

(cf.

386),
H I,

2 19

h isto rian

<rA L,

I,

(C a iro
of

1324).

B a \-]ia q .

436).

302.

H ib a ta lla h ,
b.

d.

A lu h an u n ad

655/1257,
b.

cf.

A h n ia d

a s-S u b k i,
b .

H a la f,

o p . c it.,
d.

\ ,

51.

7 6 5 /D e ce m b e r

f.).

'.\ b d - a r - R a h im

1X 7 5 6 / 1 3 5 3
a b o \ e ,

d.

b\'

n a m e s

(cf. ( i A f ,,

a b o v e ,

a b rid g e d

A h n u u l,

C f.

see

as-S n b k i,

Z a y d ,

a b f)\ 'e ,

title',

w h o se

804/1401

cf.

A b d - a l - ( , ) a h i r
C f.

b.

489/1096,
b.

w a s

al-IM u la qciin
d i e cl i n

b .

flb ii
p.

414,

al-Ila san ,
H a ja r,
ri.

7.

d.

D itra r,

772 /1370
H ,

145).

(cf.

G A I.,

11,

9 0 f.).

1363

(Ib n

H a ja r,

A S -S A H A W l S I L A N

T R A N S L A T IO N

Ibn H ajar added notes in the m argin of his copy of Ibn as-Subkis
Tabaqdt al-wustd. I edited these notes in a separate volum e. Qutbad-din al-H aydari ^ used them in connection with the original
work, together w ith additions of his own, and edited them in a sep
arate work.
I have come to know a great number (of M iite scholars). If I
were to treat them in monograph form, it would be enormous.
Perhaps, w ith God's help (I shall do it), (gg)
N ote: Transm itters of the old (system) of as-Safi"-! were four; Az-Za'faranf,^ Abii
Tawr,^ A hm ad (b. H aubal), and aL-Karabtsi.^ T h e transm itters of his new (system)
were six: Al-M uzani, ar-R ab i al-Jizi, a r-R ab i^ al-Muradi, al-B u w ayti, H arm alah ,
and Y u n u s b. ^Abd-al-AHa.
The first to introduce the Safi'ite school to Dam ascus w as A b u Z u r'ah M uham m ad
b. Utrnan b. Ibrahim at-T aq afi ad-Diniasqi. Before th at, the school of al-Awza*^!
had been preponderant in Dam ascus. A b u Zur'^ah gave one hundred dinars to e v e ry
b od y who knew the Muhtasar of al-M uzani b y heart. He was < judge o f > E g y p t for
A hm ad b. T u lu n and, then, judge of Dam ascus. He died in the year 302/914-15.
In Tran soxan ia, the juridical system of as-Safi^i spread in the w ake of the au th o rity
of the religious leader M uham m ad b. A li b. Ism a 'il al-Q affal a l-K ab ir as-Sasi. He
died, seven ty-four years old, in l)ii 1-H ijjah 365/August 976.
A bu M uham m ad ^Abdan b. M uham m ad b. ^Isa al-M arwazi, the hadit expert, was
the person who b rought about the success of the Safi'^ite school u\ M arw and H urasan
after A h m ad b. Sayyar.i Ibn S a y y a r had brought the books of as-Safi'^i to Marw.
T h e people there liked theni. '^Abdan looked at some of thena and w anted to copy
them , bu t Ibn S a y y a r did not pernut it. "^Abdan thereupon sold one of his estates,
went to E g y p t where he contacted ar-Rabi'- and other followers of as-Safi'i, copied
the books of as-Safi'-i, and returned to M arw while Ibn S a y y a r w as still alive. 'A b d an
died in the night of ^Arafah of the year 293/906.
A b u ^Awanah Y a 'q u b b. Ishaq b. Ibrahim b. Z a yd an-NisabCiri al-Isfarayin i, the
author of the Sahih following M u s lim ,w a s the first to introduce the school and works
of a s-S afi'i to Isfarayin. He had received (his information) from ar-Rabi*^ and alM uzani. He died in the y ear 316/928-29.
A b u Ism a 'il M uham m ad b. Ism a 'il b. Yrisuf as-Sulamt at-Tirm idi brought the
b ooks of a s-S afi'i from E g y p t. Ishaq b. Rahawayh^^ copied them and, on the basis of
them , com posed his own Jdmi^ al-kabir. He transm itted (material) on the a u th ority
of a l-B u w ayti. He died in the year 280/893-94.
In m ost regions, the S afi'ite school spread follow ing the auth ority of Ibn Surayj.*
Ar-Rabi'^ b. S ulaym an performed the pilgrim age in the year 240/855. In Mecca,
he m et w ith A b u 'A li al-H asan b. M uham m ad az-Z a'farau i. T h e y greeted each other,
^ M uham m ad b. M uham m ad b. 'A b d allah , 821-894/1418-89 [Daw^, I X , 117-24).
^ A l-H asan b. M uham m ad, d. 260/874 {TB , V I I , 407).
" Ibrahini b. H alid, d. 240/854 [TB , V I, 65 ff.).
A l-H u sayn b. Ali, d. 248/862-63, or 245 (7'iJ, V I I I , 64 ff.).
^ Ar-Rabi*^ b. Sulaym an , d. 256/870.
Ar-Rabi'^ b. Sulaym an , d. 270/884.
H arm alah b. Y a h y a , d. 243/858.
D . 264/878.
Cf. (7.41. Supplem ent I, 307.
D. 268/881-82 (TB , IV , 187 ff.). For the story, cf. as-Subki, Tabaqdt as-SdfiHyah,
II, 50 f. (Cairo 1324).
D . 316/928 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 266, II, 947). His M usnad, as his w ork is en titled,
was published in H yderabad 1362-63.
Ishaq b. Ibrahim , d. 238/852-53, or 237 (77i, V I, 345-55).
Cf. above, p. 279, n. 4.

417

and ar-Rabi"- said; O A b il ^Ali (100), you shall spread this kind of learning th at is,
S afi'ism ^in the E ast, and I sh all spread it in the W e st. ^
Ar-Rabi*- al-M urM i said; I gave all H urasanians the permission to teach (ijdzah)
for the books of as-Safi'-i.
Abd-al-Malik al-B agaw i said: I copied the books of as-Safi'-i for Ibn T iilun for
500 dinars.

H anafite jurists; A b u M uhammad A bd-al-W ahhab b. Muham

m ad b. A bd-al-W ahhab al-Fam i occupied himself w ith the jurists
I suppose, the H anafites, since (his work) was used in the biography
of the H anafite Ibn al-Qudiiri.^
M uhyi-ad-din Abd-al-Qadir b. Muhammad b. Muhammad b.
Nasr-Allah al-Qurasi, al-Jawdhir al-mudiyah f i tabaqdt al-Hanafiyah
on H anafite tabaqdt. The same author also wrote Wafaydt. The
Tabaqdt were abridged b y Majd-ad-din al-Lugawi, the author of
the Qdmus.^ Before al-Qurasi, H anafite tabaqdt had been compiled
b y the hadit scholar Ibn al-Muhandis ^ and, after him, among
others, b y the historian Ibn D uqm aq and Badr-ad-din al-A yn i.
Al-Qurasi also w rote Tahdib al-asmd^ al-wdqi^ah f t l-Hiddyah wal-Huldsah I believe, in im itation of an-Naw awi(s Tahdib).
M alikite jurists; Judge ly a d occupied himself w ith them in the
Maddrik. This is a substantial tabaqdt work. He said that, following
a group of scholars whom he mentioned b y name, he had w ritten
(apart from the Maddrik) a monograph on the transm itters on
MMiks auth ority which contained more than 1300 individuals. ^
(He further said) th at in spite of the need of both independent and
tradition-bound scholars, jurists, and persons interested in the law
for a knowledge of this subject, there has not previously appeared
a comprehensive treatm ent of it, nor has there been devoted to it
a brilliant w ork which would lead the student to the goal and give
the interested person the opportunity to find w hat he wants. The
only exceptions (to this statement) are the compilations of the two
early (scholars), 'A bdallah b. Muhammad b. A bi D ulaym (al Cf. also E. W u s T E N F E i . D , DcY Imam el-SchdfPi, 76.
^ A h m ad b. M uham m ad, d. 428/1037 (cf. G A L , I, i 74 f-)- Eor the quotation from alF a m is Tabaqdt al-fiiqalup, cf. A bd-al-Q adir al-Qurasi, al-Jau'dhir al-mudiyah, I, 93 (H y
derabad 1332).
^ M uham m ad b. Ya'^qub al-F iruzabad i (which, according to an -X aw aw fs Tabaqdt,
Ms. Cairo Ta^rih 2021, fol. 37a, was corrcctly pronounced Ferozabadi), d. 817/1415 (cf.
G A L , II, 181-83).
^ ^Abdallah b. M uham m ad, 691-769/1292-1367 (Ibn I^ajar, Durar, II, 282).
^
Ms. Cairo T a rih 2293, fol. 2b.
Al-mutafaqqih (Maddrik). A ccording to the con text, the mutafannin of the IHdn
m eans som ething sim ilar.
R

o senth al

History of Muslim Historiography

27

4i 8

A S -S A H A W ! S I L A N

Qurtubi) ^ and Muhammad b. H arit al-Qarawi,^ and the selec

tions ^ of S ayh (Abu Ishaq) al-Firuzabadi in those passages of his
Muhtasar in which he mentions (M ^ikite jurists). A ll these
(books) ^ are not com pletely satisfactory and contain only small
selections from a great amount of material. Ibn A b i D ulaym is quite
complete w ith regard to the M agribite successors of the transm itters
of Malik, E gyptians, Spaniards, and a group of Qayrawanians.
(However), he restricted himself to indicating their respective tahaqdt
and names, w ithout any (biographical) inform ation about them
and their conditions, and he made no m ention of the M alikites
of the H ijaz and the East, in spite of their im portance and the
great number of their nam es. (lo i)
A s A bu Ishaq an-Najiram i said, the occupation w ith the sub
ject (of proper names), more than anything else, requires accuracy,
because the forms of proper names cannot be determ ined through
analogy or from the context.
Judge ly a d then mentioned something of the sort. He further
mentioned m any of the books he had read, among them the works
ofi az-Zubayr b. B akkar; Judge A b u B ak r b. H ayyan [; and
Judge] W a k i'/ i on judges; the works of at-Tabari, as-Siili, and
A bu K am il; the works of A bu U m ar al-K indi and (Abd-arRahm an b. Ahmad) b. Yiinus (al-Misri on the E g y p tian s); the

T R A N S L A T IO N

History of A b u U m ar as-Sadafi al-Qurtubi;^ the works of A bu

A bdallah b. H arit, on the Qayrawanians and Spaniards; further
more, some of the works of A b u l- A rab at-Tam im i; ^ A bu Ish iq
ar-R aqiq al-K atib A bu A li al-Basri (on the Q ayraw anians; notes
in the handw riting of Sayh A bu Im ran al-Fasi, on the same
subject; and, further, w hat I came across of the History of) ^
A bu B ak r b. A b i A b d a llih al-Maliki, on the Q ayrawanians;
also some of the Spanish histories, such as the w ork of A bu A bdal-M alikb. A b d - a l- B a r r A b u U m arb . Afif,^ al-Ihtifdl; A b u 1-Q^sim b. Mufrih (Mufarraj), al-Intihdb; the w ork of Judge A bii 1-W alid
b. al-Faradi ;thehistories of A bu Marwan b. H ayyan and ar-Razi;
the w ork of A hm ad b. Abd-ar-Rahm an b. M uzahir,i on the Tole
dans, and a number of others he mentioned.
A ll later authors used the Maddrik as the standard reference
work. A number of scholars w rote abridgm ents of it, among them
ly a d s pupil A b u Abdallah b. H am m M as-Sabti. For easy refer
ence, an alphabetical arrangement (index) was made b y our col
league Ibn Fahd, about two quires. (This index falls) into two parts,
one of which deals w ith the men around Malik, the other with the
rest.
In the Tirdz al-mudhah, Judge Burhan-ad-din A b ii Ishaq Ibrahim
1

^ D. 351/962 (cf. P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 68, w ho follow s Ibu al-F aradi, 192 f., no. 705,
in vocalizin g Daltni).
^ D . ^ 7ilg8 i (cf. G A L , I, 150). Cf. also below , p. 460, n. 4.
Iqtadabahu (Maddrik). T h e Tahaqdt al-fuqahd^ b y A b u Ishaq as-Sirazi are m ean t here.
He is often called al-F iruzabadi and is listed under this nisbah in as-Sani'ani, Ansdb, fol. 435b.
* W a-kull al-kutub [Maddrik).
^ M in al-kattr ilia qalilan {Maddrik).
* Ft-m an dakarahu (Maddrik).
M addrik, fol. 2a. The m eaning of aHdm here is established through the follow ing
rem ark.
Ibrahim b. 'A b d allah , fourth/tenth cen tury (cf. G A L Supplement I, 201 f.). Cf. also
S. a l - M u n a j j i d , in the introduction to his edition of M u arrij, H adf min nasab QurayS
(Cairo, n. y. [i960]). Th e m anuscript of the w ork w as wTitten b y an-N ajiram i.
Cf. al-'A lm aw i and Ibn Jaina'^ah, in F. R o s e n t h a l , The Technique and Approach of
M uslim Scholarship, 15a (Rom e 1947, Analecta Orientalia, 24). The con text of the tw o authors
suggests th at their inform ation w as derived from Judge 4 yad . If this is the case, I m ust have
overlooked it while perusing the Maddrik.
M addrik adds A b u '^Abdallah al-B uhari, ^Abd-ar-Rahman b. A b i H atim , and A b u
1-Hasan ad-D araqutni.
The correct form of his nam e is M uham m ad b. H alaf. He died in 306/918 {TB, V ,
236 f.; G A L Supplement I, 225; Fihrist, 166, Cairo 1348 = 114 F l u g e l ) .
Waki'^s w ork on judges w as published b y ^ A b d - a l - ' ^ A z i z M u s t a f a a l - M a r a g i (Cairo 136679/1947-50). It is quoted in the Maddrik, for instance, fol. 105a. A w ork b}' him which includ
ed a h istory from Constantine to the year 301 of the hijrah was used b y H am zah alIsfahani, cf. above, p. 73, n. i.

419

A hm ad b. S a'id b. H azm , d. 350/961 (Y aq u t, Irsdd, III , 50-52, Cairo = I, 134 f.

M ar-

g o l i o u t h ).

2 Muhamnaad b. A hm ad, d. 333/945 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 228).

3 Ibrahim b. al-Qasim, around 400/1009-10 (cf. G A L , I, 155, Supplement I, 252 and 229).
Ib n a r-R aq iq s Qutb as-surur f t tvasf al-anbidah wa-l-humur, which I consulted in the Paris
ms. ar. 3302, is a h istorical m onograph on the attitu d e of the caliphs tow ard wine and
their w ine-drinking habits. T h e stories are arranged according to the chronological sequence
of the reigns of the various caliphs.
* T he additions are from the te x t of the M addrik.
^Abdallah b. M uham m ad, first h alf of the fifth/eleventh cen tury (cf. G A L Supplement I,
210, and the introduction to the edition of the first volum e of A b u B akr al-M alikis R iydd
an-nufus b y H u s a y n M u ^n i s [Cairo 1951]).
A hm ad b. M uham m ad, d. 338/950 (cf. P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 58 f.).
Ahm ad b. M uham m ad, d. 420/1029 (cf. P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 113 f.). There can be
little doubt th at he is the person m eant here, although his w ork is not known under the title
of al-Ihtifdl. H is History o f the Judges and Jurists in Cordoba w as a source of Ibn B asku w al
in his Silah. A historical w ork en titled al-lhtifdl was w ritten between 417-420/1026-29
b y al-H asan b. ^luham m ad b. M ufarraj ( ?) al-Q ubbasi (d. a fter 430/1038-39), b u t he cannot
easily be identified w ith A b u 1-Qasim b. M ufrih (?), the author of al-Intihdb, because his
kunyah was A b u B akr. Cf. also E . L e v i - P r o v e n ( ; a l and E . G a r c i a G o m e z , Una cronica
anonima de ^Abd-al-Rahman I I I al-Xdsir, 21 f. (M adrid-Granada 1950). Cf. further, alM aqqari, Analectes, 1, 902.
H a y y a n b. H alaf, d. 469/1076 (cf. G A L , I, 338).
Ahm ad b . M uham m ad b . Musa, d. 3 4 4 / 9 5 5 ( E . L e v i - P r o v e n ^ a l in E l, s.v. al-R azi;
G A L , I, 150), rather than his father.
D. 489/1096 (Ibn Baskuw al, Silah, 72 f. C o d e r a ) . Ibn B asku w al also used Ibn M uzahir.
M addrik, fol. 5a. Leg., a t the end: wa-siwd hddihi jiim la h l

420

T R A N S L A T IO N

A S -S A H A W I S I L A N

421

b. A ll b. M uhammad b. Farhun selected a number of the most

im portant M alikites, about six hundred, alphabetically arranged.
I m yself have written a substantial w ork on the M alikites which
is in the rough draft stage, (I did so) after I had prepared an in
structive arrangement of Ibn Farhuns w ork and abstracted from
the Maddrik the persons not mentioned b y Ibn Farhun, each in one
volume. 1

Ad-D ahabi. He w rote a substantial work. Taj-ad-din b. M aktum ^

w rote to it a short supplement of tw enty persons. Ibn al-Jazari ^
took ad-D ahabis book, added much m aterial to its biographies,
and also added new biographies. I wrote to it a substantial supple
ment. A d-D ahabi(s work) was alphabetically arranged b y al-Izzi
b. Fahd, the surviving member of the fam ily and pride of Mecca.

A b u Muhammad Abdallah b. Sahl al-Q udai wrote a pam phlet

which comprises a number of the best known Malikites.

(11. The history of) hadit experts

On H anbalite jurists, there are works b y

Judge A b u 1-H usayn Muhammad, a son of Judge A bu Y a 'la
M uhammad b. al-H usayn b. al-F arra .^
A bu A ll b. al-B ann a . A nd
The hadit expert A b u 1-Faraj b. al-Jawzi.
The hadit expert Zayn-ad-din (102) b. R ajab ^wrote a supplement
to Ibn al-Farra\ B oth the original w ork and the supplement are
arranged according to tahaqdt. A n alphabetical arrangement was
made b y our colleague Ibn Fahd, in two (separate) works.
The leading Hanbalite, Izz-ad-din al-Kinani, occupied himself
with a compilation of Hanbahtes. H e compiled a substantial book,
but he did not prepare its final revision and clean copy.^
(10. The history of) Q uran readers
(Works on Q uran readers were w ritten by)
A b u A m r ad-Dani.
A bu B akr A hm ad b. al-Fadl b. Muhammad b. A hm ad b. Muham
m ad b. J a 'fa r al-Batirqani. A nd

(Works on hadit experts, huffdz, were w ritten by)

Ibn al-Jawzi.
A bu 1-W alid b. ad-D abbag. Also b y
Ibn D aqiq-al-id, who restricted himself to persons who are
described in the chains of transm itters as hadit experts.
Ad-D ahabi wrote a book (on the subject) which was substantial
in comparison with his predecessors. H e arranged it according to
tabaqdt. Ibn H ajar picked out the men not found in the Tahdib
al-Kamdl. A supplement to ad-I)ahabi was w ritten b y the hadit
expert Sams-ad-din al-Husayni,^ and a supplem ent to al-H usayni
was written b y our teacher Taqi-ad-din b. F ahd al-Makki. (Taqiad-dins) son, Najm -ad-din Um ar, arranged it together w ith the
original w ork according to the alphabet, (practically) a new work.
The hadit expert Ibn Nasir-ad-din versified th at (material in a
poem) entitled Badi'-at al-baydn f i wafaydt al-a'-ydn. He himself
comm ented on his poem in a volum e entitled at-Tibydn li-Badi'-at
al-baydn. He added tw enty-six persons to ad-Dahabi. Ibn H ajar
w rote a supplement of tw enty-eight persons in one quire to (adDahabi). I m yself have additions.
(12. The history of) hadit scholars

1 Cf. G A L S u p p l e m e n t 11,226.
^ D . 526/1132 (cf. G A L S u p p l e m e n t I, 557). H is T a b a q d t a l - H a n d b i l a h were published b y
M u h a m m a d H a m i d a l - F i q I in Cairo 1371/1952.
2 '"Abd-ar-Rahm an b. A hm ad, 736-795/1335-93 (cf. G A L , H , 107). His D a y l was published
b y S. a d - D a h h a n and H . L a o u s t (Damascus 1370-/1951-). The introduction of the edition
contains a brief su rvey of H anbahte biographical collections.
Ibn A b i Y a n a s w ork is arranged according to t a b a q d t , w ith an alphabetical arrangem ent
w ithin the in d ivid u al t a b a q d t . Ibn R ajab uses an annalistic arrangem ent, according to the
years of death of the scholars listed.
It should be noted that in his S u p p l e m e n t to Ibn H a ja rs R a f ^ a l - i s r , as-Sahaw i himself
stated th at al-K inan i (born 800/1397-98) w rote a large fourteen-volum e, a m edium threevolum e, and a sm all one-volum e T a M h t a b a q d t a l - I I a n d b t l a h - , cf. as-Sahawi, B u r y a t a l ' ^ u l a n u P l u a - r - r m m h f i d - d a y l ^ a l d k i t d h a s - S a y h f t l - q u d d h , Paris ms. ar. 2150, fol. 7b.
H 'tm an b. S a'id , d. 441/1049-50, or 444/1053 (cf. G A L , I, 407).
D. 460/1067 (^ aqut, I r s d d , I \ ' , 100-2, Cairo = I I , 16 A I a r g o l i o u t h ) .

A bu 1-W alid Y u su f b. Abdallah b. ad-D abbag, Tabaqdt almuhadditin. A nd

Ad-D ahabi, al-Mu'-jam, (the one) which is especially concerned
with hadit scholars.
1 A hm ad b. A bd-al-Q adir, d. 749/1348 (cf. G A L , II, n o ) . Cf. G A L Supplement II, 46.
^ A p p aren tly, M uham m ad b. M uham m ad, d. 833/1429 (cf. G A L , II, 201-3), cf. above,
p . 276, n. 9.
*
He m ay be id entical w ith 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. '^Umar, below , p. 482, n. i. Baqtyah su rv iv
in g also often m eans b e st, cf. A . S p i T A L E R , i n Westdstliche Abhandlungen R .Tschudi,
138-46 (W iesbaden 1954).
M uhanm iad b. '^Ali, d. 765/1264 (cf. G A L Supplement, II, 46; Ibn H ajar, Durar, IV , 61).
H e w rote the Paris m anuscript of ad-D ahab is 'Ibar.

422

(13. The history of) historians

References to m any historians will be found later on.
(14. The history of) gram marians
(Works on gram marians were w ritten by)
A bii A bdallah Muhammad b. al-H usayn b. Um ar al-Yamani.^
Also b y
A bu 1-Hasan A li b. Y usu f b. Ibrahim al-Qifti.^ (A l-Q iftis)
w ork was abridged b y ad-Dahabi.
As-Sirafi,^ I believe, wrote a book on grammarians. (103)
A bu B ak r M uhamm ad b. al-H usayn (al-Hasan?) b. A bdallah
b. Madhij az-Z u b ayd i/ Tahaqdt an-nuhdh.
Judge A bu 1-Mahasin al-Mufaddal b. M uhammad b. M isar b.
M uhammad al-Magribi (al-Ma'^arri) an-Nahwi,^ Ahbdr an-nuhdh
min al-Basfiyin wa-l-Kufiyin.
A bu U baydallah M uhammad b. Im ran b. Musa al-Marzubani,
al-Muqtahas f t ahbdr an-nuhdh.
A bu 1-Mahasin Yiasuf b. Ahm ad b. Mahmud b. A hm ad adDimasqi, N ur al-qabas, which he took from the Qabas which, in
turn, had been taken from the Muqtabas.
Taj-ad-din b. M aktum al-Hanafi, Al-Junta'' al-mutanndh {?, aljam'- a l - m u t a n d h i f t ahbdr al-lugawiyin wa-n-nuhdh, in ten
volumes, of which I have seen a number of fascicles in the authors
handwriting. A special volum e of the w ork is devoted exclusively
to the Muhammads. There is hardly a literary work on poetry or
history or the like which does not have a biography of its author
in (Ibn M aktum s) handwriting.
1 D . 400/1009-10 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 202).
^ D . 646/1248 (cf. G A L , I, 325). His Inbdh w as published in Cairo 1369-74/1950-55.
^ A l-H asan b . ^Abdallah, d. 368/979 (cf. G A L , I, 113). H is History of Grammarians w as
reprinted in Cairo 1374/1955.
*
D. 379/989 (cf. G A L , I, 132 f.; Ms. Leiden: az-Zabidi). A n edition of the Tahaqdt b y
M. A b x j l - F a d l I b r a h i m appeared in Cairo 1373/1954.
D. 442/1050-51, or 443 (Y aq u t, Irsdd, X I X , 164 Cairo = V II , 171 M a r g o l i o u t h ;
as-Suyuti, Bugyat al-wu'^dh, 396, Cairo 1326). He was from al-M a'arra. A m anuscript of the
w ork in the H adram aw t was described b riefly b y R. B. S e r j e a n t , in Revue de I ln stitut des
M anuscrits Arabes, I II , 342 (1957).
D . 378/988-89, or 384/904 (cf. G A L Supplement I, ig o f.).
E d. R . S e l l h e i m , D ie Gelehrtenbiographien des Abu ^Ubaidalldh al-M arzubdni in der
Rezension des H afiz al-Yagmtiri (W iesbaden 1964, Bibliotheca Islamica, 23a).
T h is paragraph is d erived from Ibn H ajar, Durar, 1, 175.
A m anuscript of the w ork is listed in P. S b a t h , A l-F ih ris, Supplement, 43 (Cairo 1940).
T h e autograph m anuscript of an abridgm ent of al-Q iftis History of Grammarians b y Ibn
M aktum exists in Ms. Cairo T aym u r Ta^rih 2069 (not seen). For further rem ains of his
a c tiv ity as a copyist, cf. G. V a j d a , Les Certificats de lecture et de transmission, 4 ff., 30 (Paris

1957).

T R A N S L A T IO N

A S - S A H A W i s I ' L A N

423

The com pilation (of a history of grammarians) has been the occu
pation of a certain person who very often came to me (that is, to m y
classes), in order to acquire inform ation, especially on this subject.
He has picked out m any original notes and rem arkable results
of research from the works of (authors) whose biographies (are
found in the biographical collections), and from the notebooks
of distinguished religious leaders. H e believes th at only a person
who combines traditional knowledge w ith understanding is able
to m ake (such a com pilation as he has planned). His work, however,
has not appeared up to now, although he has published a short
treatise on the subject.
(15. T he history of) litterateurs
(A w ork on litterateurs was written by) Yaqut.^
(16. The history of) lexicographers
In addition to the afore-mentioned works, Majd-ad-din al-Lugawi, the author of the Qdmus, w rote a small pam phlet (on lexicog
raphers), entitled al-Bulgah f t aHnimat al-lugah. I have come across
it.
(17. The history of) poets
(Works on poets were w ritten by)
A bu M uhammad A bdallah b. Muslim b. Q utaybah.
A bii B ak r M uhammad b. H alaf b. al-Marzuban.^
A t-T a Mibi,^ Yatimat ad-dahr, dealing w ith a good m any poets.
Supplements to (the Yatimah) are A b ii 1-Hasan A li b. al-Hasan
b. A li al-Baharzi,^ Dumyat al-qasr, and A b u 1-Hasan A li b. Z ayd
al-Bayhaqi, Wisdh ad-Dtimyah, or al-'-Umdah f t Kitdb al-Haridah.^
Also b y
Al-M ubarak b. A b i B ak r b. Ham dan b. a s-a ar al-Mawsili,
^Uqud al-jumdn f t su'^ard^ az-zamdn.
^ Y a q u t b. A b d allah , d. 626/1229 (cf. G A L , I, 479 f.).
^ D . 309/921-22 (cf. G A L , I, 125).
^ 'A bd-al-M alik b. M uham m ad, d. 429/1038 (cf. G A L , I, 284-86).
D. 467/1075 (cf. G A L , I, 252).
*
A s-S ah aw is lack of fa m iliarity w ith this kind of literature is transparent in this para
graph.
593-654/1196-1256 (cf .G ^ L Supplement III , 1217). Cf. also Ibn H allikan, IV , 426 trans.
D e S l a n e . H is w ork is further quoted b y Ibn al-F uw ati, TalMs Majma'^ al-dddb, IV , I, 192,
196, 204, 214, 218 f. 248, 286, 299, 300, 431, 538, 542, 548, 595, 599, 616, 633, also fre
q u en tly in IV , I I I J a w a d , and b y al-Y u n in i, D a y l Mir^dt az-zanidn, I, 33. A s-S a ar is
doubtful, as the article is m issing in the other references, b u t cf. also Abd-al-Q adir
al-Q urasi, al-Jawdhir al-mudtyah. I, 298, II, 95, 198.

424

A S -S A H A W I S I L A N

A bu 1-M aMi S a d b. al-Haziri a l-K u tu b i/ Zinat ad-dahr f i dikr

su'-ard^ al-^asr.
Im ad-ad-din Muhammad b. M uhammad b. ^ H am id al-Isbahani al-K atib , Haridat al-qasr f t jaridat hi'-md^ aWasr.
A bu A bdallah Muhammad (104) b. Dawud b. al-Jarrah, alWaraqah, a history [ahbdr) of modern poets. Also b y
Abdallah b. al-M utazz, Tabaqdt as-su'^afd'' al-muhdatin^
Al-M arzubani, al-Mu'^jam as-sagir li-s-su'-ard^.
Abd-as-Salam b. Yusuf ad-Dim asqi, Unmudaj al-a'-ydn wa-hi'^ard^ mim-nian adraka bi-s-samd'^ aw hi-l-Hydn.^
A b u A bdallah M uhammad b. Sallam b. 'A bdallah al-Jum ahi
as a chent of the Jum ah al-Basri al-Ahbari, Tabaqdt as-su''ard\
A bu S a d Muhammad b. H usayn b. A ll b. A bd-ar-Rahim
al-W azir,^ Tabaqdt as-hi''ard\
A b u Talib A li b. A njab al-Bagdadi al-Hazin, on the poets of
his time.
K am al-ad-din A bd-ar-R azzaq b. al-Fuwati,^ ad-Diwar an-ndsi'-ah
f i m^ard^ al-mi^ah as-sdW^ah.
Lisan-ad-din b. al-Hatib,^ at-Tdj al-muhalld, on the litterateurs
of the eighth/fourteenth century, and al-IkUl az-zdhir fi-m d fadala
Hnd nazm at-Tdj min-al-jawdhir. B oth works contain biographies
of litterateurs in the Magrib. T h ey are w ritten entirely in rhym ed
prose.
Izz-ad-din A bu 'U m ar b. J a m a ah, Nuzhat al-alibbd^ f i ma'-rifat
al-udabd\ in several volumes. The author restricted himself to the
1 S a 'd b. 'A ll, d. 568/1172 (cf. G A L , I, 248).
^ Ms. Leiden has the correct names. A n edition of the Haridah was begun as a collab
orative enterprise of E gy p tia n , ^Iraqi, Syrian , and M agribi scholars (Cairo 195 1; B a gd a d
1955; Dam ascus 1955; Tunis 1966).
^ E d ited b y 'Ab d - a l - W a i i h a b ' A z z a m and ' A b d - a s - S a t t a r A . F a r r a j in Cairo 1953.
^ N ew ly edited b y Ab d - a s - S a t t A r A . F a r r a j in Cairo 1375/1956.
^ Cf. H a jji H alifah, K a s f az-zumtn,
465 F l u g e l . T he author was a contem porary
of Y a q u t, cf. Y a q u t, M u -jain, I V , 119 W u s t e n f e l d . B u t a quotation, from his w ork in
as-Safadi, W aft, IV , 152 f. D e d e r i n g , refers to the year 547/1152, so th at he was m uch older
than YaqCit.
D. 231/845-46, or 232 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 165). He was, in fact, a client of Qudainah
b. Maz'-un al-Jum ahi (TB , V , 327), one of the nxen around M uhammad. A new edition was
published in Cairo 1953. Cf. also A . J. A r b e r r y , in B S O A S , X I I I , 7-22, 602-15 (1950-51).
D. 439/1048 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, V I I I , 134). H is w ork is quoted b y Ibn al-F'uw ati,
Talhts Majma^ al-ciddb, IV , III , 475 J a w a d .
* Iden tical with tlic AJjhdr al-ndabd^, of which a five-volum e copy is said to exist in private
possession, cf. P. S b a t h , A l-F ih ris, Supplement, 38 (Cairo 1940) ?
* 'A b d -a r-R azzaq b. A h n w i, d. 723I132S (cf. G A L Supplement II, 202).
1 M uham m ad b. 'A b d allah , d. 776/1374 (cf. G A L , II, 260-63).
Th e inform ation in this paragraph is derived from Ibn H ajar, Durar, III, 472. A l-M uhalld
(instead of al-mu^alld) and fi-m an (instead of fi-md) is found in the Durar, the la tter also
in Ms. Leiden.

T R A N S L A T IO N

425

biographies of those poets, the transmission of whose poems had

come to him either through direct stud}^ or a (written) permission
[ijdzah). A one-volume abridgm ent was composed b y Ibn Ja m a ah
himself.
Badr-ad-din al-Bastaki, ^ al-MatdW- al-Badriyah, on poets, a
substantial work, alphabetically arranged. I have come across a
fragm ent of it.
A b ii 1-Faraj, the author of the Agdni, w rote on m aid servants
who were poetesses [Ahbdr al-imd' as-sawdHr).
(18. The history of) servants (of God) and Sufis
(Works on Siifis were w ritten by)
A bu Abd-ar-Rahm an as-Sulami.^
A bii S a id M uhammad b. A ll b. A m r an-Naqqas.^
A bu 1- A bbas A hm ad b. Muhammad an-Nasawi.^
A bd-al-W ahid b. Siyah as-Sirazi.^
A b u S a id b. a l-A rabi.6 A nd
Professor A b ii 1-Qasim al-Qusayri,^ ar-Risdlah. This w ork con
tains a great number of prominent Sufis down to the time of its author.
A bd-al-Gaffar al-Qusi, al-Wahid f i suluk ahl at-tawhid, in two

1
Muhamnxad b. Ibrahim b. M uham m ad, 748-830/1347-1427, cf. Ibn H ajar, D a y l ^ald
ad-Durar al-kdminah, Phot. Cairo Ta^rih 4767, p. 208 f.; Daw^, V I, 2 77-79- The nisbah alB astak i, thus to be vocalized according to Ibn H ajar, is derived from the H anqah B astak ,
or B a stak (after B astak an-N asiri, cf. Ibn H ajar, Durar, I, 477-79), betw een Cairo and
F u sta t, cf. al-M aqrizi, H itat, II, 418 f. (Bulaq 1270). H e was quite a prom inent scholar
in his tim e and is often m entioned, cf., for instance, Ibn M akanis, Diii'dn, Paris ms. ar.
3210, fols. 35a-36a. Cf. also G A L Supplement II, 7 (no. ig), and iHdn, 115, below , p. 445,
n. 4 ^ M uhanunad b. al-H usayn, d. 412/1021 (cf. G A L , I, 200 f.). Cf. the editions of the Tabaqdt
as-Sufiyah b y N u r - a d - d I n S u r a y b a h (Cairo 1372/1953) and J. P e d e r s e n (Leiden i960),
as well as Melanges Massignon, I I I , 185-94 (Dam ascus 1957).
^ D. 414/1023 (cf. G A L Supplement, I, 949, cf. also as-Safadi, W dfi, 1, 54 R i t t e r ).
* G A L Supplement I, 360, has a certain A b ii l-'A b b as as-Susi, d. 396/1005-6, as the author
of Tabaqdt as-Suftyah. He is certainly identical w ith our author who is m entioned as A b u
l-'^Abbas A hm ad b. M uham m ad b. Zakariya^ an-N asaw i in T B, V', 9. F'asawi in the edition
of the IHdn (the ph otostat of Ms. Leiden is not sufficiently clear here) is a m istake. N asaw i
is also found in the quotation from his w ork in Ibn, an-N ajjar, D ayl Ta^rih Bagddd, Paris
ms. ar. 2 13 1, fol. 99b (life of 'Ali an-N asibi), and repeated ly in as-Sularnis Tabaqdt asSuftyah.
^ His w ork is quoted b y Ibn an-N ajjar, D a y l Ta^rih Bagdad, Paris ms. ar. 2131, fol. 33a
(life of 'A ll b. M uham m ad b. az-Zanjani). Th e ms. has Sah.
A hm ,adb. M uham m ad, d. 341/953 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 358; Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam,
V I, 3 71; as-Sulam i, Tabaqdt as-Sufiyah, 164 S u r a y b a h ).
'A b d -a l-K a rh n b. H aw azin, d. 465/1072 (cf. G A L , I, 432 f.; A . J. A r b e r r y , in Studia
Orientalia J . Pedersen, 12-20 [Copenhagen 1953]).
* 'A b d -a l-C a ffa r b. A hm ad, d. 708/1309 (cf. G A L , II, 1 1 7 ; H. R i t t e r , in Oriens, III, 67
[1950]). Th e inform ation in this paragraph is derived from Ibn H ajar, Durar, II, 385.

426

A S - S A H A W i s I LA N

volumes. In this work, its author resembled (al-Qusayri) in th at

he enumerated those Sufis w ith whom he had personal contact.
Ibn A b i 1-Mansur ^ likewise w rote a Risdlah on the subject.
A b u N u 'aym , Hilyat al-awliyd^ wa-tahaqdt al-asfiyd\ a substan
tial work, which has been the basis for all later (authors on the
subject). Ibn al-Jaw zi derived from it the m aterial which, together
w ith his own additions, went into his four-volume Safwat as-safwah.
(Ibn al-Jawzi) also wrote Ahbdr al-ahydr and Ahbdr (105) an-nisd^
(on women), each in one volume.
The s a n f M uhamm ad b. al-Hasan b. A bdallah al-H asani (alH usayni?) ad-Dimasqi,^ Majma" al-ahbdb, a w ell-arranged w ork
in three volumes.
Ibn al-Mulaqqin, Kitdb as-Sufiyah, a small volum e. H e said
that in this w ork he collected a number of tabaqdt of prominent
scholars and great authorities (in m ysticism ) from every region
and period. H e thereby intended to take their memorable deeds
as a guide and their achievem ents as a model, in the hope th at on
the D a y of Resurrection he m ight be adm itted to their com pany
Man (is kept) together with those whom he loves ^ and whom he
keeps alive b y speaking of them and th at his cares and troubles
m ight find an end.
As-Sarji al-Yam ani, Tabaqdt as-Sufiyah.
A bu Mansur M am ar b. A hm ad b. Z iyad al-Arif,^ Tabaqdt
an-nussdk.
Our reliable and austere colleague Burhan-ad-din al-Qadiri
occupied himself w ith a special book about Sufis described as
ascetics. He spent much effort on the w ork but did not prepare a
clean copy of it.
A bu B akr Abdallah b. Muhammad al-Maliki, Riydd an-nufus,
on the servants (of God) of Ifriqiyah (al-Qayrawan).
Nasih-ad-din A b u M uhammad Abd-ar-Rahm an b. N ajm b.
^ A pp aren tly, al-H usayu b. ^Ali, the son of the historian al-A zdi, cf. G A L Supplement I,
554. T h e w ork is also quoted b y Ibn H ajar, Raf^ al-isr, 341 H am id ABD-AL-MAjiD and
Ibrah im a l- I b y a r i (Cairo 1957-61); as-Saha\vi, Tuhfat al-ahbdb, 3 9 3 !., 396 (Cairo 1356/
1937). H is son Ibrahim,, for whom the eighty-four year old author wrote his w ork (cf. the
introduction, in Ms. Cairo Ta^rih 338), has a brief biograph y in Ibn H ajar, D u r a r , I, 24. A
grandson, A hm ad b. A hm ad 651-724/1253-1324; op. cit., I, 99; another grandson, M uham
mad b. A hm ad, d. 724/1324: op. cit., I l l , 313 f.; a great-grandson, Ahm ad b. M uham m ad b.
A ll, d. 739/1338-39: op. cit.. I, 281. Cf. A rabic texts, below, p. 584.
2 D. 776/1374-75 (cf. G A L Supplement II, 30).
IHdn, 27, above, p. 304,11. 3.
* D. 418/1027-28 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 770).
Ibrahim b. ^Ali, d. 880/1475 {paw^. I, 80 f.).

T R A N S LA T IO N

427

A bd-al-W ahhab b. al-Hanbali,^ al-Istis'-dd hi-man laqiyahu min

sdlihi al-Hhdd f i l-bildd.
Ibn a l-A tir ,2 al-Muhtdr f i mandqib al-ahydr.
A b u 1-H usayn (Hasan) b. Jahdam,^ Bahjat al-asrdr wa-lawdmi'al-anwdr f i hikdydt as-sdlihin al-'ulamd^ al-ahydr wa-s-Sufiyah
al-hukamd^ al-abrdr.
S a id b. A sad al-Um awi, FaddHl at-tdbiHn wa-ahldq as-sdlihin.
Muwaffaq-ad-din A bd-ar-Rahm an b. Maki b. Utm an as-^rii,^
M ursid az-zuwwdr ild qubur al-abrdr.
A bu A bdallah M uhammad b. H am id b. al-Mutawwij al-Marini
(Ms. Leiden: al-Maridini), M ahajjat an-nur f i ziydrat al-qubur.
(19. The history of) judges
W orks on the judges of E g y p t were w ritten b y
A bu U baydallah M uhammad b. ar-R ab i al-Jizi. ^
Ibn Muyassar.
A b u Um ar al-Kindi. A nd
A b u M uhamm ad b. Zulaq, who wrote a supplem ent to the work(s)
of his predecessor(s).
Compilations of judges were made b y
Ism ail b. A li b. Ism ail b. Musa al-Husayni.^
Sulaym an b. A li b. A bd-as-Sam i .
A bd-al-Cani b. S a id, the hadit expert.
Judge A bii 1- A bbas A hm ad b. B ah tiyar b. A li b. al-M anda'i
al-Wasiti, Kitdb f i ahbdr al-quddh wa-s-suhud (on judges and of
ficial witnesses). I do not know whether this w ork is identical w ith
his Hukkdm or whether it is a different work.
1 D . 634/1236 (Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, X I I I , 146).
^ I.e., M ajd-ad-din.
'A li b. '^Abdallah, d . 414/1023-24 (cf. G A L Supplement I I, 147, n. i ; Ibn al-Jaw zi,
Muntazam, V I I I , 14), whose kunyah was A b u 1-IIasan.
* Cf. G A L , II, 34. Supplem ent II, 30, has 'A b d -ar-R ah m an b. ^IJtman b. M aki, who
w rote betw een 771/1369 and 780/1378.
^ The w ork on judges is quoted b y ^lyad, M addrik, Ms. Cairo T a rih 2293, i, fol. 115b.
M uham m ad b. 'A li, d. 677/1278 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 574).
H is Ahbdr quddt M isr are quoted b y Ibn H ajar, Raf^ al-isr, 103.
* D . 409/1018-19 (cf. G A L , I, 167 f.).
* D. 552/1157 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, X , 177 f.; Y a q u t, Irsdd, II, 231 ff., Cairo = I,
379 f. M a r g o l i o u t h ). Al-Manda^is Ta^rth al-hukkdm (al-quddh) is quoted b y a d-D u b ayti,
D a y l Ta^rih Bagdad, Paris ms. ar. 2133, fol. 20b, and Ibn R a jab , D a y l Tabaqdt al-Handbilah,
I, 230 a d - D a h h a n and L a o u s t ; his Ta^rih (which?) b y Ibn as-Sa'i, Ahbdr al-hulafd^, Ms.
Cairo T ayin u r T a rih 901, p. 100. H is tru ly atrocious han dw ritin g can be seen in the B o d
leian m anuscript of az-Zu b ayr b. B a k k a rs Nasab Qurays which was w ritten b y him, cf.
A . A h m edali in, J R A S , 1936, 55-63, and M a h m u d M . S a k i r s introduction to his edition
of Jamharat nasab Qurays (Cairo 1381/1962).

428

A S -S A H A w ! s I LA N

A b u 1-H asan al-Musawi ar-R ida ^ and Jam al-ad-din A bdallah

al-Bisbisi ^ (io6) wrote on judges exclusively. The latter w ork was
the basis of Ibn H ajars one-volume Raf- al-isr f i quddt M isr.
I wrote a one-volume supplement to the {Raf'')In the preface of the Kitdh al-Maddrik, Judge 'ly a d mentions
the History of fudges b y Judge A b ii B ak r b. H ayyan W a k i .^
am s-ad-din b. D aniyal al-Mawsili al-H akim ^ composed an
urjuzah on the judges of E g y p t entitled *"Uqud an-nazzdni ^ fi-m an
waliya M isr min al-hukkdm. The w ork was brought up to date
and com pleted b y Judge Izz-ad-din al-Kinani al-Hanbali, and
again b y one of our colleagues.
ihab-ad-din b. al-Lubiidi ad-Dim asqi composed an urjUzah,
w ith com m entary, on the judges of Damascus.
(20. The history of) singers
(A w ork on singers was written by) A bu 1-Faraj A ll b. al-H usayn
al-Isbahani al-K atib. A bu 1-Faraj also wrote a two-volum e w ork on
songstresses, further, the Ahbdr al-nmgannin al-mamdlik (on singers
who were slaves), and the Agdni. The Agdni are a substantial
w ork which treats its subject very extensively. T h ey were abridged
b y A bu 1-Fath Taj-ad-din Utm an b. Tsa al-B alati ^ and Jamalad-din A bu 1-Fadl Muhammad b. Mukarram, in the manner in
which Ibn M ukarram abridged also other great histories. A bu
1-Faraj showed th at the attribution of the book on the subject
which is com m only attributed to Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Mawsili ^
was wrong and th at (those Agdni) were collected b y Sindi (Sanadi ?)
al-W arraq for Ishaq.
Ibn al-Jaw zi wrote a one-volume w ork on w itty persons {azzurafd"').

T R A N S L A T IO N

429

(21. The history of) asrdf

Al-H asan b. A tiq b. al-Hasan, al-Isrdf '-aid {mandqib) al-asrdf.^
There are several works on the excellent qualities of the asrdf.
I w rote Irtiqd^ al-guraf bi-hubb aqribd^ ar-Rasul wa-dawi s-saraf.
(22. The history of) noble persons
U tm an b. Isa al-B u layti, Ahbdr al-ajwdd. A nd
Muhammad b. Z a k a riy a al-Gallabi,^ al-Ajwdd.
A certain author w rote a two-volum e H istory [ahbdr) of the
Barmecides.
(23. The history of) quick-w itted persons
Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Adkiyd\ and also Ahbdr al-miigaffalin (on dull
persons).
(24. The history of) intelligent persons
A l-A bbas b. Muhammad b. Abd-ar-Rahm an b. Utm an alAnsari, '-JJqaW al-majdnin^
(25. The history of) physicians
Ibn A b i U sa yb iah wrote a substantial w ork on the physicians,
which was alphabetically arranged b y Najm -ad-din b. Fahd.
(26. The history of) A s arites
A b u 1-Qasim b. A sak ir w rote on the A s arites in the Tabyin
kadib al-muftari '-aid A bi l-Hasan (107) al-As'ari. Kam al-ad-din,
the imam of the Kamiliyah, took the Tabyin and made additions
to it. Before him, Afif-ad-din a l-Y M ii had done the same in the
M ar ham.
^ Cf. IHdn, 108, below , p. 433. Ibn A b i d-dunya wrote a w ork of the same title, cf. M.
' A l i , in Revue de VAcademie arabe de Damas, X I I I , 193-204 (1933-35).
^ D. after 280/893-94 {Fihrist, 1^7, Cairo 1348 = ro8 F l u g e l ; al-M as'udi, M uruj, I, 11 ,
Paris ed. = I, 4, Cairo 1346; Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, V , 168 f.).
^ There were, of course, a num ber of w orks on the Barm ecides. Ibn al-^Adim, Bugyat
at-talab, Paris ms. ar. 2138, fol. 15b, quotes the Ahbdr al-Bardmikah b y A bu Hafs 'U m ar
b. a l'A zraq . Fihrist, 193 (Cairo 1348 = 134 F l u g e l ) ; Y a q u t, Irsdd, X V I I I , 269 (Cairo =
V I I , 50 M a r g o lio u t h ) , refer to a w ork on the su bject b y al-M arzubani; H ajji H alifah,
K a s f az-zimun. I, 185, no. 184 Il i ' g e l , refers to one b y Ibn al-Jaw zi.
^ Old authors of works of this type, such as al-M ada ini, Ibn A b i d-dunya, and Ibn
D u h aym , are m entioned b y Ibn Zulaq in the introduction of his Ahbdr Sibawayh. Cf. also
K urd

* A r-R a d i? , b u t he could h ard ly be identical w ith the fam ous poet {GAL, I, 82).
^ ^Abdallah b. A hm ad, 762-820/1361-Dec. 1417/Jan. 1418 {Daw^, V, 7).
^ Cf. above, p. 418, n. 11.
^ M uh am m ad b. D an iyal, d. 710/1310 (cf. G AJ., II, 8 f.).
An-nizdm does not seem a possible reading; an-nuzzdm, as a plural of ndzim, would
be possible as well.
A hm ad b. H alil, 834-896/1431-90 [Datv'', I, 293 f.; G A L Supplement II, 85).
^ Or a l-B u la y ti (see below), d. 599/1202 (cf. G A L , I, 302).
Ibn Marizur, the author of the Lisun al-'-Arab, d. 711/13 11 (cf. G A L , II, 21 f., Supplement
I, 226). His inclination for abridged editions of adab works and histories is m entioned b y
Ibn H ajar, D u r a r , IV , 263.
D. 233/849-50 (cf. G A L Supplement 1, 223 f.). Cf. Fihrist, 203 (Cairo 1348 = 141 F lu ; Y a q u t, Irsdd, V I, 5 7 ! . (Cairo = II, 224 M a r g o l i o u t h ).

gel)

T B , II, 310 (Ibn Masruq).

A hm ad b. al-Qasim, d. 668/1270 (cf. G A L , I, 325 f.).
M uham m ad b. M uhanunad b. ^\bd-ar-Rahm an, 808-864/1406-60 {Dan'^, IX , 93-95)A ccording to the Daw^, he wrote A s'a rite Tabaqdt. The K an iiliyah w as founded in 622/1225,
cf. al-M aqrizi, H itat, II, 375-78 (B ulaq 1270).

430

T R A N S L A T IO N

A S -S A H A W I S I 'L A N

(27. The history of) innovators

Al-Ahdal, al-Lum'-ah al-muqni'^ah f i ma^rifat firaq al-muhtadi'-ah,
in about two quires.
Fahr-ad-din A b u Muhammad U tm an b. 'A bdallah b. al-H usayn
(al-Hasan?) a l-Ira q i/ al-Firaq al-muftariqah bayn ahl az-zayg
wa-z-zandaqah.
Professor A b u Mansur Abd-al-Q ahir b. T ah ir at-Tam im i alBagdM i,^ al-Farq hayn al-firaq wa-haydn al-firqah an-ndjiyah.
Monographs on the subject were written, among others, b y
Al-Furani.^ A nd

431

Ad-Darimi,^ Refutation of the Jahmiyah and of the Imitator of

the Theological Opinions of B isr al-Marisi.
Someone else wrote a refutation of the Zaydiyah.
Al-Buhari, Halq af-dl al-Hhdd.
W e have referred here to these works at some length, even though
most of them have no bearing on the subject w ith which we are
deahng.
(28. The history of) the Si'ah
W ith the compilation of Si'ites, there have been concerned,

Ibn A b i d-dam who wrote on Mushm sects.^

In the context of larger works, the subject is taken up in works
on rehgious groups and sects [al-milal wa-n-nihal) b y as-ahrastani,
Ibn Hazm, and others.
A l- Y a fii, al-MarJiam.

among others,
Al-H asan b. 'A li b. F udal (b. Amr) b. U nays at-T aym i as a

Ibn al-Akfani, Irsdd al-qdsid li-asnd al-maqdsid. Ibn al-Akfani

was an adherent of Ibn A rabi and his works. Therefore, I inserted
his name in the separate Hst of behevers (in Ibn Arabi) prepared
b y me so th at everything pertaining to (Ibn Arabi) m ight be
conveniently added to it.^

of A b u 'A ll al-Hasan.
'A ll b. al-Hakam.^
Abia l-'A b b as b. 'Uqdah.^
A bii 1-Hasan b. Babawayh.
Y a h y a b. A bi T a y y .^
Y a h y a b. al-H usayn b. al-Bitriq.

A bu 1-Qasim A bdallah b. A hm ad b. Mahmud a l-K a bi al-Balhi,

the head of a certain M u'tazilah group, Tahaqdt al-MuHazilah.
Al-(jazzM i, al-Qawdsim f i r-radd ^ald subah al-Bdtiniyah.^
^ A round 600/1203-4 (not 500/1106-7, as in G A L Supplement I, 757). T h e woi-k has
been edited b y Y . K u t l u a y (Ankara 1961).
2 D. 42911037 (cf. G A L , I, 385).
'A b d -a r-R ah iu an b. M uham m ad, d. 461/1069 (cf. G A L , 1, 387).
^ T h is w ork (cf. G A L Supplement I, 588) w as exten sively used b y as-Safadi in the Waft.
^ M uham m ad b. 'A b d -a l-K arim , d. 548/1153 (cf. G A L , I, 428 f.).
Th e fam ous m ystic, M uham m ad b. 'A li, d. 638/1240 (cf. G A L , I, 441-48; O s m a n Y a h i a ,
Histoire et classification de Voeuvre d 'Ibn ^Arabi [Dam ascus 1964]). A s-Sah aw i m entions
am ong his works the Tajrtd asmd? al-dhidin '^an Ibn 'Arabi, cf. Daw^, V I I I , 17,3 f.
Cf. IHdn, 121, below, p. 456. It is well-known th at for Mushm orth od oxy, the Ibn
^Arabt question was the burning hitellcctu al problem of the time. A s-Sahaw i, as m ight be
expected, was a violent opponent of the real or alleged followers of the m ystic. Cf.,
for instance, the excerpt of as-Sahawi, al-Qawl al-munbi f t ahbdr (tarjamat) Ibn '^Arabi,
which follows his Umdat al-qdri^ lea-s-sdmi'^ in the Ms. Cairo H ad it 329, fols. i3 a -i4 a ,
(Arabic text, below, p. 584-86), and Daw^,l, 114, III, 32 f., 222, 244, IX , 95, 194, 294, 296,
X , 84, 199, 201, 256. Cf. also Ibn Tulun, al-Mu'^izzah ft-m d qtla f t l-M izzah, 4 (Dam ascus
1348, Rasd^il ta^rthiyah, 3). Cf. also the biograph y from the Sadardt ad-dahab (R. A.
N i c h o l s o n , in J K A S , 1906, 806-24).
D. 319/931 (cf. G A L Supplement 1,343, 619; F ihrist, ci. Z D M G , X C , 304-6 [1936]; Ibn
H ajar, Lisdn, III, 255 f.). No such title is found am ong his works in the bibliograpliers, nor
is his description as the head of a Mu'-tazilah group quite exact, b u t his T abaqdt al-MuHazilah
are quoted b y Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, \T, 335. Cf. also II. R i t t e r , in Oriens, III, 328 (1950).
Th e well-known w ork p u b l i s h e d b y I. G o l d z i h e r , cf. G A L Supplement I, 747, no. 23a.

client of the T a ym al-Kufi.^

His son 'All.
A b u J a 'fa r Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. 'A ll at-Tusi,^ the father

1 A d-D arim i, ^Utman b. S a 4 d, d. 280/894, or 281, or 282 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 342; adD ah ab i, Tabaqdt al-huffdz, 9th tab., no. lo i W u s t e n f e l d ; Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, X I , 69).
His Refutation of the Jahm iyah was edited b y G. V i t e s t a m (Lund-Leiden i960), who also
discusses ad-D arim is biography. On the occupation w ith the w ork in as-Sahaw is tim e, cf.
Daw ^,l, 15523.
For Bisr b. G iy a t al-M arisi (d. 218, or 219/beg. 834), cf. T B , V II , 56 f f .; G A L Supplement,
I, 339 f. A d -D arim is Naqd '^ald Bisr al-M arist, w hich is different from his earlier Refutation
of the Jahm iyah, was published b y M. H a m i d a l - F i q i under the title of Radd al-Imdm adDdrim i 'Utmdn b. SaHd "^ald B isr al-M arisi al-^anid in Cairo 1358-59/1939.
The im itator (mu'^drid) of the title is m entioned throughout the Refutation of the
Jahm iyah, and hi the original te x t m ay b etter be translated opponent (here: opponent
b y means of the theological opinions . . .).
^ D. 224/838-39 (Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, II, 225). For his son A li who wrote a Fadd^il alK u fah, cf. at-Tusi, Fihrist, 216 S p r e n g e r (Calcutta 1854).
D. 459/1067, or 460 (cf. G A L , I, 405).
* Cf. at-Tusi, op. cit., 220 f.
^ Alnnad b. M uham m ad, d. 332/944 (TB , V, 14-23; Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, I, 263-66). Ibn
'U q d a h s Great History and Mu'^jam are quoted T B , III, 308. Cf. also N. A b b o t t , Studies
in Arabic Literary P a p y ri I , 100 ff. (Chicago 1957).
* Possibly, 'A li b. 'U b a yd a lla h , d. 580/1184-85 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 710). He certainly
is identical w ith the author of the History o f ar-Rayy who had personal con tact w ith asS am 'an i (Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, V , 83).
Y a h y a b. A b i T a y y H um ayd, d. 630/1232-33 (ci. G A L Supplement I, 549; Ibn H ajar,
Lisdn, V I, 2 6 3 1.; C. C a h e n , in Comptes rendus de I'Acad. des Inscriptions, 1935, 258-69;
M. H . A h m a d , in B. L e w i s and P. M. H o l t , Historians of the M iddle East, 90 f . ; M. J a w a d ,
in his edition of Ibn al-F u w ati, Talhis M ajm a- al-dddb, IV , i , 543, n. i [Dam ascus 1962]).

A S -S A H A W l S I LA N

432

The sarif A b u 1-Qasim A li b. al-H usayn b. Musa a l-A law i

al-Murtada al-M utakallim ar-Rafidi al-M utazili.i
A r-R asid S a d b. Abdallah al-Qummi.^
Ibn an-Najasi.^ A nd
A bu 'A m r al-Kassi.^
I t should be checked whether some of (the afore-mentioned
persons and works) might not belong here (?).
(29. The history of) misers (and spongers)
The hadit expert A bu B akr al-H atib, al-BuhaW , and also, Ahbdr
at-tufayliyin, two nice books (108).
A bu 1-Faraj al-Isbahani, Ahbdr at-tufayliyin.
(30. The history of) courageous men
A b u 1-Hasan
as-suj'-dn.

A li b. A bi 1-Mansur al-Azdi al-MMiki, Ahbdr

T R A N S L A T IO N

433

(34. The history of) lovers

J a far as-Sarraj, Masdri'- al-Hissdq. Someone wrote an abridgment
of the Masdri'-.
Ibn A b i d-dunya wrote on the passionate inam orati {al-mutayyamun'^), and so did Muhammad b. H alaf b. al-Marzuban.
(B. H i s t o r i c a l w o r k s a c c o r d i n g t o a s - S a h a w l s o w n
c l a s s i f i c a t i o n i n t e n d e d m a i n l y to s u p p l e m e n t t h a t of
ad-Dahabi)
(i. M uhammad and the prophets)
In sum, some historians took pride in restricting themselves to
the prophets, in particular, Muhammad. Occasionally, th ey com
bined with (the history of the prophets the history of) the beginning
of creation, or th ey restricted themselves to one of these two subjects.

A l-H alil b. al-Haytam, al-Hiyal wa-l-makdyid f t l-hurub (on

w ar ruses).

(2. The men around Muhammad)

Or they took pride in restricting them selves to the men around

(31. The histor}^ of the) one-eyed, w'eak-sighted,

blind, and hunchbacked

Muhammad, as indicated above.

(3. The asrdf, descendants of A bu Talib, and
descendants of Ali)

Salah-ad-din as-Safadi,^ several works.

(32. The history of) monks
A bu 1-Qasim Tam m am b. M uhammad ar-Razi.
(33. The history of) those killed
by the Q uran
A t-T a labi, the Q uran interpreter.^
^ D. 436/1044 (cf. G A L , I, 404 f.).
^ I). 299/911-12, or 300, or 311 (cf. G A L S u p p lem en t 1, 319).
* A h m ad b. ^\li, d. 450/1058-39, or 455 (cf. G A L Su p p lem en t 1, 556; W . I v a n o w , T h e
A lleged F ou n d er o f Ism a ilis m , 19 f., J^ombay 1946).
^ M uham m ad b. 'U m ar, fourth/tenth century, cf. B . L e w i s , T h e O rigin s o f Ism d H lism ,
13 (Cambridge 1940).
^ O r: . . . be id entical w ith each other?
W rote for al-Ma^miin (F ih rist, 437, Cairo 1348 = 314 F l l g e l ) . Th e inform ation here
i s derived from al-M as'udi, M u r u j, cf. I^ldn, 154, below , p . 503. Cf. the edition, b y ' A b d a r - R a i'jf ' A w n
and ^ L M. Z i y a d a h , of the M uh ta sa r f i siy d sa t al-hurub li-l-H a rt am i
(Cairo, n. y. [1965]).
H alil b. A y b a k , d. 764/1363 (cf. G A L , II, 31-33).
D. 414/1023 (cf. G A L , 1, 166). h'or a w ork on m onks b y Ibn A bi d-dunya, cf. T B , I,
288, and S. a l- M u n a jjid , in Revue de I ln s titu t D o m in ica in d 'L t. Or. du C aire, II, 349-58
(1956).
* For his Qatld al-Qur^dn, cf. as-Sahm i, Ta^rih J u r jd n , 515 (H yderabad 1369/1950).

Or to people of a not (narrowly) specified descent, such as the

a irdj (descendants of 'A bd-al-M uttalib).
Al-H asan b. 'A tiq b. al-Hasan al-Qastallani, al-Isrdf '-aid mandqib
al-asfdf, does not (deal with) any particular group among them.
A b d -al-A ziz b. al-Ahdar,^ Ma'-dlim al-Htrah an-nabawiyah wama'-drif ahl al-bayt al-Fdtimiyah al-'Alawiyah.
Or th ey restricted themselves to people of some specific descent,
such as the descendants of A bu Talib.
A l-J iabi.^
1
Ibn A b i d-dunya was v ery popular in the fourteenth and fifteen th centuries. A w ork
b y him with the above-m entioned title is n ot known to me from other sources. Could it be a
m isreading and m isunderstanding of K i t d h a l - M u t a m a n n l n l
A K i t a b a l - M u t a y y a m l n b y Ibn .Masruq at-Tusi, the author of the above-m entioned
(p. 429, n. 4) ' U q a W a l - m a j d n i n , is quoted T B , V , 313.
^ 'A b d -a l-A ziz b. M ahm ud, d. 611/1214-15 (Ibn K w r , B i d d y a h , X I I I , 68; H a jji H alifah,
K a s f a z - z u n u n , V , 612, no. 12317 I L t x . E i , ) . His work is quoted b y Ibn as-Sabbag, a l - F u s i d
a l - m u h i n i m a h f i m a ' ^ r i f a t a l - a ^ i m m a h , Paris ms. ar. 2022, fols. 67a, 73b (the edition, Teheran
1303, cf. G.4 L S u p p l e m e n t II, 224, was not a\-ailable).
^ M uham niad b. HJmar, d. 355/966 [ T B , III , 26 ff.).
R o sen th al,

H istory of M uslim H istoriography

28

434

AS-SAHAW IS I l A n

TRANSLATION

M uhammad b. A s ad al-Jaw w ani.i

Sihab-ad-din A hm ad b. A ll b. al-H usayn b. A ll al-Hasani,
known as Ibn U tbah (Inabah), ^ 'JJmdat at-tdlib f i nasab dl Abi
Tdlib, and the authors own abridgm ent of the work.
A b u 1-Faraj, the author of the Agdni, Maqdtil at-Tdlihiym, and
also Nasab Bant Saybdn and Nasab al-Mahdlibah^ because he
was attached to the wazir al-Muhallabi.
(4. The Qurasites and other special families)
On the Qurasites,
A z-Z u b ayr b. B ak kar b. A bdallah b. M us'ab az-Zubayri, in
two volumes.^ It has been said with regard to this w ork; This
is a book of conceit, and not of genealogy, because it reports
so m any good actions and qualities.
(There are, further, the works of)
Afif-ad-din Utm an b. Um ar an-Nasiri, on the Nasiris.
Our colleague Najm -ad-din b. Fahd, on the Tabaris, Zuhayris,
Nuwayris, Qastallanis, and Fahds, five (separate) works.
Um m-al-huda A isah, a daughter of the preacher Taqi-ad-din
A bdallah, son of (109) the hadlt expert Muhibb-ad-din A bu J a far
A hm ad b. A bdallah at-Tabari, History of the Banu at-Taban.
The w ork contains instructive notes.
Sihab-ad-din b. Fadlallah a l-Umari,^ Fawddil as-samar {summar}) f i faddHl dl Umar, in four volumes.
Sihab-ad-din A hm ad b. (A li b.) A bdallah b. A hm ad b. A b d
allah b. Sulaym an al-Qalqasandi as-Safii, Nihdyat al-arab f i
ma'-rifat qabdHl al-'-Arab, in one volume. He composed the w ork
for Jam al-ad-din al-UstMar.
^ D. 588/1192 (cf. G AL; I, 366; Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, V , 74-76). A list of his works from, alM aqrizis Muqaffd, apud C. H. B e c k e r , Beitrdge zur Geschichte Agyptens unter dem Islam ,
I, 27 f. (Strassburg 1902). For his m anuscript (K opriihi
of az-Z u b ayr b. B a k k a rs
Jamharat nasab Qurays, cf. M. M. S a k i r s intro, to the edition, 32 ff. (Cairo 1381/1962).
Cf. also S. a l - M u n a ] j i d s edition of his Muhtasar m in al-kaldm f t l-farq bayn man ism abthi
Salldm wa-Saldm (Dam ascus 1382/1962).
^ D. 828/1424, or 836/1432-33 (cf. G A L , I I, ig g ).
Cf. TB , X I , 398. A n edition of tlie
ai-Tct/tftfyw b y A . S a q r appeared in Cairo
1368/1949.
^ Cf. also the list of genealogical works in Ibn 'A b d -al-B arr, Inbdh, 45 f. (Cairo 1350).
^ 804-848/1401-45
V, 134 f.). The title of his w ork was al-Bustdn az-zdhir f i
tabaqdt ^ulanid^ B am Ndsir. The correct form of his name is in Ms. Leiden.
D. after the 760S/1358-67 (Ibn H ajar, Durar, II, 236).
Ahm,ad b. Y a h y a , d. 749/1349 (e.f. G A L , II, 141).
His brother, .Sams-ad-din, becam e head of the S a 'id as-su'-ada'^ in 820/1417-18 (asS u yu ti, H usn al-muhddarah, II, 188, Cairo 1299).

435

(5. Clients)
Or (historians restricted themselves to people whose origin was)
connected w ith the status of client, such as A b u Um ar al-Kindi,
al-MawdliA
(6. Reliable and w eak transmitters)
Or (they restricted themselves to) a special aspect, such as w eak
sightedness, one-eyedness, and blindness, quick-wittedness and
dullness, intelligence, wealth,^ the love of passionate inam orati,
lovers, and those killed through the Q uran, nobility (generosity),
miserliness, spongerdom ^ reliability and weakness.
(As to reliable transm itters [at-tiqdt], there are the works by)
A bu H atim b. Hibban. This is the most substantial work on the
subject. It is arranged according to tabaqdt. A l-H aytam i ^ made
it into an alphabetical work.
A l-Ijli .5
Ibn Sahin.
A bu l-A rab at-Tam im i. A nd
Sams-ad-din M uhammad b. A y b a k as-Sariiji, a modern author.
However, he did not finish his work. Complete, it would have been
a w ork of more than tw en ty volumes, in (the authors) accurate,
exquisite handwriting. The Ahm ads alone fill one volume.
Ibn H ajar wrote a m onograph on the reliable transm itters who
are not in the Tahdib. He, too, did not finish his work.
1
A l-K in d is MawdU is quoted b y as-Sulam i, Tabaqdt as-Suftyah, 15 f. S u r a y b a h (Cairo
1953); ly a d , M addrik, Ms. Cairo T a rih 2293, fols. 88b, 115 b ; Ibn H ajar, Raf^ al-isr, 1 15 ;
furth er, al-M aqrizi and Ibn D uqm aq, c f . R h . G u e s t s in troduction to his edition of alK in d is Governors and Judges of Egypt, 10 (London 1912, E . J . W. Gibb Mem. Series, 19);
G A L , I, 5 17 T h e anonym ous MawdU ahl M isr (Y aq u t, Mu^jam, I, 734 W u s t e n f e l d ) m ay

also be al-K in d is work.

As-Safadi, W dfi, B odleian ms. or. Seld. Arch A. 29, fols. 2b-3a and 7b, quotes al-J i'ab i
from, the chapter on hawdrij of the Kitdb al-Mawdlt. Cf. also T B , III , 362.
F or the Kitdb A'^ydn al-mawdlt b y Ahm ad b. M uham m ad ar-R azi, cf. G A L Supplement
I, 231. For a w ork on Medinese mawdlt, cf. Y . al-'Iss, al-Hatlb al-Bagdddi, i n . The Kitdb
al-M awdll of al-Jahiz is quoted in the m argin of a rnanuscript in F ez, Q araw iyin 369/80^,
pp. 28, 73, 99, 120, 124 (cf. Liste de manuscrits arabes precieux, exposes a la Bibliotheque de
V Universite Quaraouyine d Fes, 52 [R ab at i960]).
Or song ?; gabd^ stu p id ity ?
^ Since all the preceding subjects were dealt with above, th ey are passed over here, and
as-Sahaw i is b ack at his favorite subject, the science of traditions.
Cf. above, p. 370, n. i.
Ahm ad b. Abdallah, d. 261/874-75 {TB, IV , 214 f . ; ad-D ahabi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz, 9th
tab., no. 21).
7I4-744/i3I4(i3I5)-43, cf. Ibn H ajar, Durar, IV , 58 f. T he inform ation of the I'^ldn is
derived either from the Durar, or from, as-Safadi directly.
Leg.-, as-sari'^ fa st [Durar).

436

A S -S A H A W l S I L A N

Some of our distinguished colleagues worked on the subject.

I m yself wrote (copied) several volumes of it.
(As to the w eak transm itters [ad-du^afd^], there are works by)
Y a h y a b. M a'in.
A b u Zu r'ah ar-Razi.
A l-Buhari, who wrote a large and a small work.
A n-N asai.
A b u Hafs al-Fallas. And
A b u A hm ad b. Adi, al-Kdmil. The Kdm il exceeds its predeces
sors in completeness and importance. However, (the scope of the
work) was extended to include all disputed hadit scholars, even
if th ey were reliable. He called his w ork al-Kdmil, although it is
not proper to give the name of al-Kdm il "th e perfect one to
defective persons. A supplement to the K dm il is A bu 1-Fadl b.
Tahir,^ Takmilat al-Kdmil.
A bii J a 'fa r al-'Uqayli.^ His w ork is found as waqf property in
the S a id as-su'ada".^ A n accurate copy was in the possession of
M uhibb-ad-din b, as-ihnah.^
A bu H atim b. Hibban.
Ad-D araqutni.
A bu Z a k a riya as-Saji.^
Al-H akim .
A bu 1-F ath al-Azdi.
A bu A ll b. as-Sakan. And
Ibn al-Jawzi. A d-D ahabi abridged (Ibn al-Jaw zis work) and
also wrote a supplem ent to it. Most of the m aterial was taken
over into the M izdn which became the standard reference w ork
for all later (scholars). He followed, however, Ibn A di in that he
mentioned every disputed hadit scholars, even if he was reliable.
B u t he undertook to omit any m ention of the men around Muham
m ad or of the authoritative religious leaders, (n o ) Zayn-ad-din
al-Iraqi w rote a one-volume supplement to (the M izdn). Ibn
^ M uham m ad b. Tah ir, d. 507/1113 (cf. G A L , I, 355 f.).
2
M uham m ad b. -Amr, d. 322/934 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 278). His great h isto ry is
quoted b y Ibn A b d -a l-B arr, Jdmi^ baydn
II, 147 (Cairo, n.y.).
A Siifi house in Cairo estabhshed in 569/1173-74, cf. as-Suyuti, Husn al-muhddarah, II,
187 f. (Cairo 1299).
^ ^luham m ad b. Muhamn^ad b. M uham m ad b. M uham m ad b. M ahmud, 804-890/1402-85
(Daii'^, I X , 295-305 ; G A L , II, 42 f.), rather than his father, who died in 815/1412 (cf. G A L ,
II, 141 f.).
^ T his m ay be A b u Y a h y a Zakariya^ b. Y a h y a as-Saji, d. 307/919-20 (Fihrist, 300,
Cairo 1348 = 213 I-' l C' g e l ; Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, II, 488 f.). Cf. above, p. 152, n. 3.

T R A N S L A T IO N

437

H ajar, in the Lisdn al-Mizdn, picked out (of the Mizdn) the (per
sons) who were not in the Tahdib al-Kamdl, adding the (information
on) transm itters ^ that had escaped (ad-Dahabi) and some new
biographies together w ith his criticisms and rectifications. I revised
(the Lisdn) under (Ib n H a jars) direction, and I have some additions
to it. Ibn H ajar wrote two more books on the subject, the Taqwim
al-Lisdn and the Tahrir al-Mizdn. Ad-D ahabi, too, w rote (two
more works on the subject), a brief w ork on w eak transm itters
entitled al-Miigni, and another w ork entitled ad-Du'-afd^ wa-lmatrukin. He (himself) wrote a supplement to it. Someone picked
out of (ad-D ahabis) Du'-afd'' the inventors of supposititious
traditions, another the m anipulators [mitdallisun), and a third the
confused {hadit scholars). A d-D ahabi also wrote MaWifat arruwdh al-mntakallam fih im bi-md Id yujib ar-radd.
There are other works which are concerned w ith both reliable
and w eak transm itters, such as the w ork of
Ibn A b i H aytam ah. His w ork contains much instructive material.
Ibn S a d, at-Tabaqdt. A nd
A l-Buhari, in his three Histories, the great one which is alphabeti
cally arranged and begins w ith the M uham m ads; the medium one
which is arranged according to y e a rs ; and the small one. Maslamah
b. Qasim ^ wrote a one-volume supplement to (al-Buharis) Great
[History), entitled as-Silah. I have found it thus stated b y Ibn
Hajar. (However,) I possess the Kitdb as-Silah, and, according to its
preface, it is a supplem ent to a w ork b y its author, entitled azZdhir. A d-D araqutni wrote a special supplem ent just to the Mu
hammads (of al-B uharis History). Ibn M uhibb-ad-din then w rote
another supplement. A l-H atib censured ^ (al-Buhari) in the onevolum e M udih li-awhdm al-jam^ wa-t-tafriq. Before (al-Hatib), Ibn
A b i HMim had w ritten a good-sized fascicle, which I possess, in
which he criticized al-Buhari. (Ibn A b i Hatim ), however, (also)
w rote a several-volum e Jarh wa-t-ta'^dil,^ in which he followed
in the steps of al-Buhari. Some (scholar) picked out from (alBuhari) the persons who are not in the Tahdib al-Kamdl, but did
not finish (his work). A l-H usayn b. Idris al-Ansari al-Harawi,
1 T e x t and translation are not quite certain (leg. min ar-ruwdh), especially since the
introd u ction to the Lisdn itself has no reference to this one item .
2 D. 353/964 (Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, V I, 35 f.). Ibn H ajar quotes the Silah in his Raf^ al-isr,
P aris ms. ar. 2149, fol. 107a.
Th is, rather than follow ed, is the m eaning of ta^aqqaba here, cf. IHdn, 50^7.
* Published in H yd erab ad 1360-73/1941-53.

438

A S -S A H A W l S I 'L A N

known as Ibn H urram / wrote a history of the typ e of the Great

History of al-Buhari.
A ll b. al-Madini wrote a History in ten small hadit-size fascicles.
Ibn Hibban, Awhdm ashdb at-tawdrih, likewise in ten fascicles.
A b u Muhammad A bdallah b. 'A li b. al-Jarud, al-Jarh wa-t-ta^dil.
Muslim, Ruwdt al-iHihdr.
An-Nasa^i, at-Tamyiz.
A bu Y a la al-Halili,^ al-Irsdd.
Im M -ad-din b. K atir, at-Takmil f i ma^rifat at-tiqdt wa-d-du^afd^
wa-l-majdhil. (Ibn Katir) combined the Tahdib of al-Mizzi and the
M izdn of ad-D ahabi, together w ith additions of his own and cor
rections ( i l l ) concerning personality criticism. He said th at per
sonality criticism is most useful for outstanding jurists and also
for hadit scholars.
Salah-ad-din as-Safadi, al-Wdfi hi-l-wafaydt, alphabetically ar
ranged, in about th irty volumes. A t the beginning of his career,
Ibn H ajar made an abstract (of the Wdfi), and at the tim e of his
death, he was occupied with m aking another.
In the biography of Nasir b. A hm ad b. Y usu f al-Biskri,^ one of
the men whom he had met and from whom he had acquired in
formation, Ibn H ajar mentioned th at he had compiled a History
of Transmitters in one hundred volumes, but the w ork was dispersed
(and it was) as if it had never been. He also did not finish it.
I have compiled a substantial, alphabetically arranged w ork for
which I used ad-D ahabis History of Islam as a basis, w ith m y
own addition of a number of (persons) whom ad-D ahabi had neg
lected or who had come up after his time. Up to now, I have not
yet com pleted the w ork in the w ay I w ant to do it.^
I have completed (sifting) for th at w ork (al-Mizzis) Tahdib, (Ibn
H ajars) Tahdib at-Tahdib, (ad-D ahabis) M izdn, and (Ibn H ajars)
Lisdn al-Mizdn, Isdbah, and Durar. Much of the additional m a
terial to the original (of the Durar) I have noted briefly and skilfully
in its proper place.

^ 1^- 351/962-63 (Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, II, 272 f., which is the sourcc of the IHdn).
2 A l-H alil b. 'A b d allah , d. 446/1054-55 (cf. G A L , I, 362).
^ 781-823/1379-1420 {Daw^, X , 195 f.). A ccordin g to the Dmv^, the nisbah should have an
a vow el in the first syllable. W hen Nasir came to Cairo as a political refugee, he w as a protege
of Ibn H aldun. T h e above paragraph, according to the Daw^, is deri\'ed froin, Ibn H a ja rs
M u'-jam .

*
A s-S ah aw is report on the progress he had m ade w ith his w ork at the time of w riting
is continued down to IHdn, 115, below, p. 446.

T R A N S L A T IO N

439

I have also com pleted (the sifting of) the Tiqdt of a l-Ijli, regarding
which I have kept to the arrangement of as-Subki and al-H aytam i,
and the Tiqdt of Ibn H ibban in the arrangement of al-H aytam i,
although it is full of m istakes. B u t I have a m anuscript of the
Tiqdt which was w ritten b y the hadit expert A bii A li al-Bakri.
The Du^afd" of A bii J a 'fa r a l-U qayli, from the beginning of the
letter hd^ to the beginning of the Muhammads, (I have) from the
m anuscript of the S a id as-suad a . It remains necessary to consult
the m anuscript of Ibn as-Sihnah, with regard to the biographies of
Sarik b. A bdallah an-N ahai,i Safwan al-Asamm, ^ (a transmitter)
on the authority of some of the men around Muhammad, and
A bdallah b. Z iyad b. S am an,^ and to insert the correct data in
m y work.
(I have also com pleted the sifting of) the Du^afd^ of Ibn H ibban
and of a small part of the Jarh wa-t-ta^dil of Ibn A b i H atim and of
the Great History of a l-B u h M as well as the whole of ad-D araqutnis
Corrections {and Additions) to {the Great History) for the Muham
mads, in particular, from a m anuscript consisting of one quire,
of which part of the beginning and part of the end are lost and
the Corrections {and Additions) of Ibn M uhibb-ad-din to ad-Daraqutni which concern a few biographies.
(I have also com pleted the sifting of) a small part of the History of
Bagddd of al-H atib and of the second and third volumes of Ibn anN a jja rs Supplement to it, from M uhammad b. H am zah b. A li
b. Talhah b. A li to the end of the Muhammads. (A copy of) the
whole work, in fifteen volumes, was the
property of the Mosque
of al-Hakim . E x ta n t are the first four volumes which end w ith
Ahm ad b. A li b. Miisa; (112) part of the sixth volum e which
begins w ith . . . and from which the part containing the biographies
of J a far b. Y a h y a b. Ibrahim b. Y a h y a to al-H usayn b. A hm ad b.
M aym un is m issing; the seventh and eighth volum es which end w ith
Abdallah b. M uhammad b. A li b. A hm ad; the ninth volum e which
contains (the biography of) Sayh Abd-al-Q adir ^ I believe that
this is the volum e which was in the possession of Taqi-ad-din al-

' D. 177/793-94, or 178 [T B , I X , 279 ff.).

^ T he name of his father is uncertain, cf. al-Buhari, Ta^rih, II, 2, 307; Ibn H ajar, Lisdn,
III , 191 f.
L ived in the time of al-M ahdi {TB, I X , 455 ff.)* A p p aren tly, the fam ous ^Abd-al-Qadir b. 'A b d allah al-Jilani, d. 561/1166 (cf. G A L ,
I, 435 f.; Ibn al-Jaw zi, M untazam, X , 219).

440

A S -S A H A W I S I 'L A N

T R A N S L A T IO N

441

Q alqasandi/ b u t his nephew^ denied it ; part of the eleventh

volum e from, which a few quires ^ containing the beginning up to
(the letter hd"") ^ are missing. . . and which ends
; and the four
last volumes which begin with . . . . Altogether, the fifth, part of
the sixth, the whole tenth, and part of the eleventh volum e are
missing. I had (once) noticed some parts of the w ork among the
property of the Jam aliyah but later on did not see them any
more.

A small part of A bu N u 'aym , History o f Ishahdn.

Ibn A sakir, History of Damascus.
Ibn Yunus, on the E gyptians.
The biographical dictionary of al-Fasi.
The beginning of the Ihdtah (of Lisan-ad-din b. al-Hatib).
The first five of nine (books) of the Takmilah b y Ibn (113) Abdal-M ahk,i and down to the passage in the sixth (book) where he
speaks of Muhammad b. A hm ad b. U tm an al-Qaysi.

I have also com pleted for (my book) the study of the one-volume
autograph draft of the supplement to Ibn an-N ajjar b y Taqi-ad-din
b. Rafis but m any of the biographies and some of the things stated
in the biographies happen to have been deleted in the draft copy.
(Ibn R M i), however, had w ritten the following note on (the draft
m anuscript): There is much missing in this (volume) as compared
to the clean copy, and (on the other hand), there are a few additions
in it. The clean copy consists of three volum es. In the preface,
(Ibn R M i) said: In this book, I shall mention the (religious)
scholars, jurists, hadit scholars, wazirs, and litterateurs who visited
Bagdad. A ll who were not m entioned b y the tw o or b y one of
them that is, al-H atib and Ibn an-N ajjar have been men
tioned b y m e. The draft m anuscript carries the following rem ark
in the handwriting of ad-D ahabi; Kitdb at-Tadyil wa-s-silah ''aid
Ta^rih Bagdad, composed and digested b y one who is in need
of God, the rehgious leader, the hadit expert, teacher of students
and auth ority of transmitters, Taqi-ad-din Muhammad b. R a fi
as-SM ii. In this work, (Ibn R afi') continued the great History of
the leading hadit expert of the Traq, Muhibb-ad-din b. an-N ajjar,
which was w ritten as a supplement, w ith corrections and additions,
to the History of the hadit expert A bii B ak r al-H atib. Our col
league Najm -ad-din b. Fahd told us th at he had come across the
clean copy of the w ork but could not remember where it was.
(I have also com pleted the sifting of)

Al-U dfuw i, at-Tdli^ as-saHd.

As-Silafi, Mu'"jam as-safar, a very instructive volume, in the
handwriting of M uhammad b. al-Mundiri.^ (Ibn al-Mundiri) stated,
on the authority of his father Zaki-ad-din, th at the w ork had come to
(Zaki-ad-din) on separate leaves in the handwriting of as-Silafi.
E ach piece of paper contained one biography. (Zaki-ad-din) pre
pared a clean copy and arranged (the scraps of paper) as they came,
and not as would have been proper. The arrangement of the work,
therefore, is not as it should be. Not one Isfahan! is found in it.^
The M u'jam of ad-Dimyati,^ in forty-four hadit-slze fascicles.
(For) the second half (of the work, I have used) a m anuscript written
b y Taj-ad-din b. Maktiam, in the Surgatmisiyah,^ and (for) the rest,

' A bu B akr b. Muhatnni,ad, 783-867/1382-1463 [DaiiP, X I, 69-71).

^ A pp aren tly, ^Abd-al-Kariiu b. ^Abd-ar-Rahiuaii, 808-855/1405-52 (Jan. ist) {Daw^,
I V , 3 1 7 f-)-

Ms. Leiden: two quires.

* Doubtful.
D oubtful, leg. d hiruhu l
M uhanunad b. Rafi*^ 704-774/1305-72 (Ibn H ajar, Durar, III, 439 f.). Taqi-addin
al-F asis abridgm ent of the work was published b y A b b as a l-'A z z a w i under the title of
Muntahab al-muhtdr, Ta?rih 'tdamd? Bagdad (Bagdad 1357/1938). Ibn Rafi'^s introduction
is not preserved in it.

another manuscript.
The Mu''jam of Badr-ad-din al-Gariqi, from an autograph m an
uscript. The w ork was edited b y Ibrahim b. Qutb-ad-din al1
T he reference is to ad-Dayl wa-t-takmilah li-kitdbay al-M awsul wa-s-Silah b y Muharum,ad
b. M uham m ad al-M arrakusi (below, p. 460), as was noted b y A b d - a l -'^A z i z M. a l - A h w a n i ,
in Revista del Instituto Egipcio de Estudios Isldinicos, III , 5 (1955). Ibn 'A b d -al-M alik s
biograp h y (cf. P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 414; G A L Supplement I, 580) has now been clarified
b y a l - A h w a n i . He w as born in 634/1237, and he died in 703/1303.
^ M uhanim ad b. Abd-al-'^Aztni,. His father, ^Abd-al-'Azim b. Abd-al-Qawi, d. 656/1258
(cf. G A L , I, 367). F or 'A b d -a l- A zim s autograph from Ms. K opriilii 114 1, cf. the edition
of az-Zu b ayr b. B a kk ar, Jamharat nasab Qurays, intro. 47, pi. 4 S a k ir (Cairo 1381/1962).
The fragm ent of the Mu'^jam of Ahm,ad b. M uham inad as-Silafi (d. 576/1180, cf. G A L ,
I, 365), Phot. Cairo T a rih 3932, often contains the rem ark: He said on another lea f ,
or the like (pp. 57, 110, 372, etc.). In one place, we find an addition b y 'A b d -a l-'A zim
al-M undiri (p. 102). It also seems to be correct th at no reference is m ade to Isfahanis (and
Bagdadis) in the w ork, b u t the places m entioned are A lexan d ria, Siraz, H ainadan, Damascus
etc. It should, how ever, be noted th at as-Sahawi, IHdn, 118 f., below , p. 451, credits asSilafi w ith special M u -jams of Isfahan (quoted b y Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, V, 83) and Bagdad
(cf. G A L ). The Mti^jam as-safar is also quoted b y Ibn as-Sabuni, Takmilah, 48, 105, 151,
185, 203, 316 f., 338 f., 348 J a w .Xd (B agdad 1377/1957); Ibn al-F u w ati, TalMs Majma'- aldddb, IV , I , 554, 556, IV , III, 33, 60, 73,-94, 194, 450 J a w a d (Dam ascus 1962-65); as-Sahaw i,
Ibtihdj, 60 (Cairo 1371/1952), etc.
Cf. G. V a j d a , Le Dictiomiaire des autorites de 'Abd al-Mu^min ad-Dimydti (Paris 1962).
Th e four-volum e Mu'-jam is also nientioned b y Ibn H ajar, Durar, II, 417.
^ T h is college w as constructed in 756-57/1355-56, cf. as-Suyuti, H usn al-muhddarah,
II, 192 (Cairo 1299).
Leg. M uham m ad (b. A b d -al-K arim , Taqi-ad-din), 711-773/1311-71(72), or 772, cf.

442

TR AN S LAT IO N

A S - S A H A W i s I LA N

H alabi. There are m any biographies in it. Also, a fragm ent of

the Muhammads from the History of Egypt of his father Qutb-addin, 1 and the beginning of the History of Egypt b y al-Maqrizi.
The Mu'-jam of M ajd-ad-din A bd-ar-Rahm an b. 'U m ar b. A h
mad b. H ibatallah b. al-'Adim,^ in the edition of the hadit expert
Jam al-ad-din A b u 1- Abbas b. az-Zahiri.

whether or not the Cairo m anuscript (of Ibn H aja rs notes) is his
autograph (?).^ E veryth in g in it is ascribed (by me) to its author.
Burhan-ad-din al-Q ayrati wrote (the following verses) upon the
Tabaqdt:^ (114)
From the Tabaqdt of Taj-ad-din,
One is Hfted to celestial heights.
On the seven layers of heaven the charm
Of those Tabaqdt for protection alights.

The Mu'-jam of A bu 1-M aali al-Abarquhi,^ in the edition of

S a d-ad-din M asiid al-Hariti,^ from a m anuscript written b y Ibn
az-Zahiri.
Ad-D ahabi, al-Mu'-jam al-kabir, in his autograph in the Mahm udiyah.
The Mu'-jam of Taj-ad-din as-Subki, in the edition of Muhammad
b. Y a h y a b. M uhammad b. Y a h y a b. S a 'd al-Maqdisi w ritten b y him
self, in the M ahm udiyah, in two slender volumes. The w ork deals
with 172 men w ith whom as-Subki had studied and from whom
he had received ijdzahs.
The biographies which A bu 1-H usayn A hm ad b. A y b a k adD im yati ^ selected from the Mu'^jam of Ibn Masdi, about four
strong quires which contain a lot (of biographies).
Taj-ad-din b. as-Subki, at-Tahaqdt as-SdfiHyah al-wustd, and
notes on it consisting of biographies m entioned b y al-Isnawi.
Also (the notes of) 'Afif-ad-din A bdallah b. M uhammad b. A hm ad
al-Madani al-Matari, being his corrections of Im ad-ad-din b.
K atir, and biographies from other authors, all th at w ritten b y
Salah-ad-din al-Aqfahsi. Further, biographies and addenda to the
Tabaqdt of Ibn as-Subki, written b y Jamal-ad-din b. Musa alMarrakusi.^ T h ey are fewer than those of al-Aqfahsi. Further,
the (notes to the Tabaqdt) written b y Ibn Hajar. I do not know

Ibn R ajab , Tabaqdt al-Handbilah, a supplement to A bii 1-H usayn

b. al-Farra .
M uhyi-ad-din A bd-al-Q M ir al-Qurasi, al-fawdhir al-mudiyah
f i tabaqdt al-Hanafiyah, together w ith the notes to it and (additional)
biographies w ritten b y JamM-ad-din Muhammad b. Ibrahim alMursidi al-Makki.^
The first half of the History of the Yemen of Muwaffaq-ad-din
al-H azraji, from an autograph m anuscript. It ends with a l-A la
and consists of two volumes. It begins w ith a biography of Muham
mad, then deals with the caliphs down to al-M ustasim A bdallah
b. al-Mustansir al-A bbasi and his successors down to az-Zahir
B arquq. H e touches upon events and dates of death. The author
wrote the following verses upon his work;
This is a book which treats its subject thoroughly
A n d which comprises all distinguished Yem enites.
Im agine it to be a pearl and hyacinth:
Y o u ll have a necklace that adorns the neck of time.
I hope for its collection to receive a p ray r,
In secret or in public, th a ts acceptable.

Ibn H ajar, Durar, IV , 23, where we find al-F aru qi instead of a l-6 ariq i (a l-F M q i? ).
^ Cf. abo\e, p. 396, n. 2.

From one who profits from the book or studies it.

L et him whoever he is, for me and for himself

^ A son of the historian of Aleppo, 6i4-677/i2i7(i8)-55(56) (Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, X I I I ,

282). 'A b d -al-Q ad ir al-Qurasi, al-Jawdhir al-mudiyah, I, 303 (H yderabad 1332), where the
date of his death appears w ron gly as 699, refers to the ten-volum e edition of his Mu'^jani
b y Ibn az-Zahiri.
A hn iad b. Ishaq, d. 701/1302 (Ibn R a fi', Muntahab al-muhtdr, Ta^rih ^ulamd^ Bagddd,
20-23, B agdad 1357/1938; Ibn H ajar, Durar, I, 102 f.).
* Mas'^ud b. A hm ad, d 711/1312 (Ibn H ajar, Durar, IV , 347 f ).
^ I). 749/1348 (Ibn H ajar, Durar, I, 108; ( lA L Supplement I, 563).
M uham m ad b. Y iisu f, d. 663/1264-65 ( P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 301 f.; ad-D ahabi,
Tabaqdt al-huffdz, 19th tab., no. 3 W 'f'S tkn-feld ). The vocalization Masdi (Musdi?) does
not seem to be certain. H is Mu'-jam is repeatedly quoted b y Ibn Rafi"-; cf. also as-Safadi,
al-Gayi al-imtsajjam, II, 231 (Cairo 1305).
H alil b. M uham m ad, d. 820/1417-18 (Daw^, H I, 202-4; cf. also Taqi-ad-din al-Fasi,
al-^-lqd at-tamin, in the autobiography of the author).
* M uham m ad b. Musa, 789-823/1387-1420 {Daw^, X , 56-58),

443

Thus pray: O Lord, forgive and pardon and be good

A nd kind and gracious and benign to me and t o . . .
A number of volum es of the History of Aleppo b y Kam al-ad-din
A bu H afs U m ar b. A hm ad b. a l-Adim, entitled Biigyat at-talab.
*

Since Ibn H aja r s scholarly han dw ritin g is unm istakable, the reference m ay be to as-

S u b ki ?
2
Ibrahim b. M uham m ad, d. 781/1379 (cf. G A L , II, 14). T h e verses are contained in
his Diwdn, Ms. Cairo A d ab 103m (no pagination).
770-839/1368-1436 {Daw^, V I, 241 f.).

444

A S -S A H A W I S I LA N

Our colleague Jam al-ad-din b. as-Sabiq al-H am aw i ^ had an auto

graph copy copied b y our colleague Ibn Fahd. (The contents of
the volumes are as follows:)^
Vol.

I: A hm ad b. J a 'fa r b. M uhammad b. U baydallah b. alMunadi ^ to Ahm ad b. i\.bd-al-Warit b. Halifah.

Vols. II and III, which do not follow upon each other: A hm ad b.
M uhammad b. M attaw ayh to the middle of the biog
raphy of U m ayyah b. A bdallah b. A m r ^ b. Utm an.
Vol. IV ; A l-H ajjaj b. Hisam to the end of al-Hasan b. A li b. alH asan b. Sawwas.
Vols.

V and V I : A l-H usayn b. U baydallah al-H M im to the

middle of D i'lij b. Ahm ad b. D i'hj.
Vols. V II and (115) V I I I : Middle of R ajih b. Ism ail al-Asadi to
S a id b. Sallam.
Vol. I X : Musarriq b. A bdallah al-H alabi to the middle of alW alid b. A b d-al-A ziz b. Aban. The volum e does not
contain any person whose name begins w ith the letter
h d \ m accordance w ith the wide-spread custom of placing
ha" after wdw. I have come across the autograph draft
of this particular volum e in the possession of Ibn Fahd.
There, the author himself calls it the fourteenth (part of
his work).
Vol. X : Patronym ics and gentilics.
I have seen another volume of the w ork which deals with geo
graphical data. In the possession of Muhibb-ad-din b. as-Sihnah,
there were some parts of the w ork in the handwriting of the author
which I have not examined.
1
M uham m ad b. M uham m ad, 811-877/1409-73 (Daw^, I X , 305 f.). His ow ner s note in
the Istan bul m an u script Topkapu saray, A h m et III , 2925, Vol. IV , is d ated Cairo 856/1452.
^ The volum e division is alm ost the same as in the cop y in Istanbul (Topkapurasay,
A h m et III , 2925, eigh t vols.) w hich w as b riefly described b y J. S a u v a g e t in R^.1 , V I I , 395
(1933)) cf. also M. R a g i b a t - T a b b a h , in Revue de I A ca d em ic arabe de D a m a s, X X I I I , 251-58
(1948). Vols. I V and I X are missing in the Istan b u l set, and V ol. V II starts w ith R ajih
b. al-H usayn, thus being som ewhat more incom plete at the beginning than as-Sahaw is copy.
The volum e division has nothing to do with the juz^ division. The m anuscript of the
geographical section contains the third juz^, e tc .; according to the Paris ms. ar. 2138,
fol. 74a, the eigh ty-th ird juz^ of the w o rk started w ith Isma'-il b. ^Abd^al-Majid.
^ T h e correct form, of the nam e i s in dicated b y S a u v a g e t .
*
S a u v a g e t ; l^mar. Am ong 'U tm a n s sons, there w as an A m r and an 'Umar, cf.
Ibn K atir, B id d y a h , V II , 218.
S a u v a g e t : 'A b d allah .
S ic Ms. Leiden.
T h is p rob a b ly is the most \ aluable part of the w ork (A ya S o fya 3036, Ph ot. Cairo
T a rih 1566).

T R A N S L A T IO N

445

I h ave also com pleted (sifting) the four-volume supplement to

(Ibn a l-Adim) b y A la -ad-din b. H atib-an-Nasiriyah. ^
I have further com pleted (sifting) for (my work) the works of
Ibn Fahd on the Zuhayris, Nuwayris, Tabaris, Qastallanis, and
Fahds,^ and other works which I do not recall now.
A t the end of the thirtieth tahaqah (of ad-D ahabis History of
Islam) which comprises the years from 291/903-4 to the end of the
century, the end of the tenth volum e (of the work),^ the part
after Mahmud b. Ahm ad b. al-Faraj, is missing. Badr-ad-din alB astaki ^ does not have it in the m anuscript w ritten b y him, in
the B asitiyah. It looks as if this part was missing before he wrote
the m anuscript. Another m anuscript should be consulted for it.
Some copyist prepared the m anuscript of (the w ork in) the Madrasat
as-Sultan in Mecca.
(Also,) another m anuscript of Ibn A b i H atim s Jarh should be
consulted for the Muhammads having grandfathers with names
beginning w ith the letter sin for checking the biography of Mu
ham m ad b. Abdallah b. al-H aytam al-Attar. I heard m y father
say that.
From the Tabaqdt al-Hanafiyah, the biographies between alM uam m al b. Masrur and M aym iin b. A hm ad b. al-Hasan must
be checked.
^ A ll b. M uham m ad, d. 843/1440 (of. G A L , I I, 34). Cf. Revue de IAcademie arabe de Damas,
X V I , 184-87 (1941). A com plete four-volum e m anuscript of the w ork w ritten in 876 is
preserved in the L ib ra ry of Merton College in O xford, codd. or. X I - X I V . T h e G oth a m anu
script has a readers note b y as-Sahaw i, cf. M. W e i s w e i l e r , Der islamische Bucheinband,
128 (W iesbaden 1962).
^ IHdn, 108, above, p. 434.
^ T h is m ay refer to the juz^ division of the author which consisted of tw enty-one juz^
of the auth ors autograph and a tw enty-second jiiz^ which al-B astak i copied from a m anu
script w ritten b y Sam s-ad-din b. N ubatah, cf. Bodleian ms. or. L au d 305, fol. 124a.
^ Cf. above, p. 425, n. i. Th e Bodleian m anuscripts L au d 286, 244, 304, 305, and 279
of the H i s t o r y o f I s l a m were copied froni a m anuscript which al-B astak i had copied from
the autograph of the author (cf. also the preceding n.).
These m anuscripts also are a fine exam ple of how such works were sifted b y other
authors in their research. A t its end, each volum e contains a note to the effect th at in the
year 859, Y u su f al-'A sqalani, the grandson [siht) of Ibn H ajar, w ent through them in
connection w ith the research for his w ork Rawnaq al-alfdz bi-mu^jam al-hufjdz (cf. G A L
Supplement II, 76).
F or another M'ork copied b y a l-B astak i and read b y Ibn H ajar, cf. F. B e n A c h o u r , in
P r o c e e d i n g s o f t h e T w e n t y - S e c o n d I n t e r n . C o n g r e s s o f O r i e n t a l i s t s , II, 187 f. (Leiden 1957).
^ T he alphabetical arrangem ent w as extended b y Ibn A b i H atim to encompass the names
of grandfathers. H ow ever, it is difficult to see how this could apply to the names of the m en
tioned al- A ttar.
A l-H um raki, d. 516/1122-23 (as-Sam'^ani, A n s d b , fol. 207a; 'A bd -al-Q ad ir al-Qurasi,
a l-J a -u 'd h ir a l - m u d i y a h ,
II, 188 f. [H yderabad 1332]). In the J a u ' d h i r , the biography of
Maym,un (4 4 2-5 i3/io5 of5i]-iii9 [2 ol) follows im m ediately upon th at of al-Mu^ammal.
A s-Sahaw i apparently assumes th at some biographies are missing.

446

TRANSLATION

A S-SA H A W lS I LAN

The (preceding) remarks (about the status of m y revision of

ad-D ahabis History o f Islam) are an aide-memoire for me and for
those who m ay come across m y work.
(7. Men connected w ith the science of hadit)
B asic (books) on men (connected w ith the science of traditions)
are a w ork on Names and Patronymics b y the Im am
A hm ad (b. Hanbal) which was transm itted on A h m ads auth ority
b y his son S ah h / and a history concerned w ith persons b y Y a h y a
b. M ain which was transm itted on Ibn M a'ins auth ority b y
'A bbas ad-Diiri.^ There are, further, Questions from Ibrahim b.
al-Junayd ^ on his authority; from U tm an b. S a 'id ad-D arim i;
from A b u J a 'fa r Muhammad b. Utm an b. A b i Saybah ^ to A ll b.
al-Madini; from A bii U bayd al-Ajurri to A bu D aw ud; from the
B ag d M is; from Mas'rid (116) as-Sijazi to al-H akim ; from A bu
1-Qasim H am zah b. Y usu f as-Sahmi ^ to ad-D araq u tn i; and from
al-Barqani to ad-Daraqutni, on persons, (transmitted) b y hadit ex
perts on the auth ority of a number of individuals. These (questions
of al-Barqani?) are different from those which h ave been studied
w ith us.
Or (historians) restricted themselves to specialists in certain
fields, such as Q uran interpreters; Q u ran readers; hadit experts
and others concerned with the science of traditions; jurists of the
common (four) schools, and others; Sufi servants (of God), devout
persons, and ascetics; lexicographers; gram m arians; ancient and
modern poets; physicians; and calligraphers.
Or (they restricted themselves to holders of) a particular office,
such as caliphs, Abbasids and others; judges; (law?) officials;
amirs; and wazirs.

447

Ibn al-H adda ,^ Rijdl al-Muwatta^.

H ibatallah b. A hm ad al-Akfani, R ijdl al-Muwatta\ and Tasmiyat
man rawd al-Muwatta'' '-an M alik.
A bu Nasr al-Kalabadi,^ al-lrsdd, on the men of al-Buhari.
A bu B a k r b. Manjawayh,^ on the men of Mushm.
H ibatallah b. al-Hasan a l-L alakai,^ on the men of both alB uhari and Muslim.
A bu 1-Fadl b. Tahir, id.
A l-H akim , id., according to Ibn Nuqtah,^ at-Taqyid.
A b u A ll al-Jabayini, on the men of A b u Dawud.
A number of Magribites wrote on the men of at-Tirm idi and
an-N asai.
Abd-al-Gani al-Maqdisi, al-Kamdl, on the men of the six (author
ita tiv e hadit collections). Al-M izzi, Tahdib al-Kamdl, is a correction
of the Kamdl. A number of scholars wrote abridgm ents (of the
Kamdl), among them ad-Dahabi, at-Tadhih and al-Kdsif, and Ibn
H ajar, at-Tahdib and at~Taqrib. A supplement to al-Mizzi was
written b y M ugultay. Taqi-ad-din b. Fahd combined the text of
al-Mizzi and Ibn H ajar, w ith additions (of his own), in a work
entitled Nihdyat at-Taqrib wa-takmil at-Tahdib bi-t-Tadhib. Ibn
K a tir combined the Tahdib and the M izdn, as has been mentioned
above.
Ibn Asakir, as-Suyuh an-nubul,^ on the teachers of the six
religious leaders (the authors of the six authoritative hadit col
lections) .
Ad-D ahabi, on the names of the authorities of the authors of the
six books in their other publications, whom he had not mentioned
in the Kdsif.
Zayn-ad-din al-T raq i wrote monographs on the men of Ibn
Hibban and ad-Daraqutni.

Or (the}^ restricted themselves) to the transm itters of particular

books such as
1

D .

(A l-)^ A .b b a s

266/880,

^ Ib r a h im
m itte r

1956).
*

b.

B a g dddt,

297/909
109

D .

in

th e

[T B ,

A g d n t,

III,

b.

A lt

317

I X ,
d.

42

V I,

cf.

ff.;

^ M u h a m m a d

ff-)-

271/884

[T B ,

120. H e

F.

Ib n

X I I ,

144

id e n tica l

ff.).

c o u ld c o n c e iv a b ly b e id e n tica l w ith

o sen th al

H a ja r,

H u m o r

L isd n ,

V ,

in

E a r ly

2 8 0 f,).

Is la m ,

C f,

Y .

54,

^ U t m a n .

b.

G A L

th e tra n s
i

(L e id e n

a l-H a tib

a l-

w ith

F o r

q u estio n s

d ire cted

b y

h im

to

A b ii

D a w iid ,

cf.

G A L ,

M u h a m m a d ,

I,

334),
d.

the

425/1034

M u ^ ja m ,

h isto rian
(cf.

G A L

of

II,

891

usten feld

S u p p lem en t

I,

259).

I,

^ A h m a d

b.

^ A l i ,

D .

a n d

e d itio n

b.
of

i i o f . ,

Y a q u t,

n u b u l.

d.

Irsdd,

T a h d ib

w o r k

d.

P ons

(cf.

is

sa id

398/1007-8

428/10 36-37

4 1 8 / 1 0 2 7 (cf.

th e

416/10 25

to

oigues

h a v e

b ee n

E n sa y o ,

1 0 9 f.).

c o m p le te d

in

H e

m a y

674 /1275-76

be
(cf.

298).

M u h a n u n a d ,

d.

w h o se

b .

a l - \ I i z z i ,

Ju rja n .

S u p p lem en t

Y a h y a ,
a u th o r

^ A h m a d

IH d n ,

(cf.

b .

th e

M u h a im n a d

1364/1945).
b.

'A l i, d . 4 3 8 / 1 0 4 6 -4 7 , cf. Y a q u t ,

427/1036

A h m a d

n.

a l-'I s s ,

16 1.

M a s '^ u d b .

[T B ,

(D a m a scu s

^ M u h a m m a d
I,

265

M u h a m m a d ,

'A b d a lla h , cf. T B ,

m e n tio n e d

D .

G A L ,

o r
b.

(cf.

(cf.

G A L

G A L ,

I,

167).

S u p p lem en t

I,

280,

III,

1199).

I, 18 1).
^ A b d - a l - G a n i ,

Ib n

a b o v e ,
X I I I ,

d.

a s - S a b u n i s
p.
79

a l-K a m d l,

629/1231

(cf.

G A L ,

T a k m ila h ,

see

b elo w ,

I,

355,

p.

525,

358,
n.

S u p p lem en t

III,

12 19 ,

3).

438.
(C a iro

V ,

in tro d u c tio n

142

(M s.

ar g o lio u th
C a iro

M u st,

: M u ^ ja m
al-h ad it

a s-S iiy u h
2 5):

a n -n u b a ld ^ ;

A l-M a s d y ih

an-

448

A S-SA H A W !S I LAN

TRANSLATION

A bd-al-Q M ir al-Hanafi, al-Ilmdm, on the men of the '-JJmdah

(of Abd-al-Gani al-Jam m aili).

the Muwatta' (in the recension) of Muhammad b. al-Hasan (asSaybani), ^ of the last mentioned scholars Atdr, of the Musnad
of A bu H anifah (in the recension) of Ibn al-Muqri\^ and of
the men whom the M im atta\ the Musnad of as-SMi'^i, and the
Sunan of ad-D araqutni have in addition to the six (authoritative

Someone w rote on the names of the persons who are mentioned

or from whom a tradition is reported in the M iskdh (Asmd^ man
lahu dikf aw riwdyah f i l-M iskdh ^).
An-N aw awi, Tahdib al-asmd^ wa-l-lugdt (correction of names
and idioms) which occur in certain (Safi'ite) books. (117) H e said
th at he used "th e works of the outstanding rehgious leaders and
hadit experts known for their leadership in the field and relied upon
b y all scholars, such as al-Buhari, History; Ibn A b i H aytam ah ;
H alifah b. H ay y at, known as Sabbab;^ Muhammad b. Sa'd , the
secretary of al-W aqidi, at-Tahaqdt as-sugrd and al-kubrd, whose
author is reliable, even though his teacher al-W aqidi was w eak;
furthermore, Ibn A b i Hatim , al-Jarh wa-t-ta^dil) Ibn Hibban, atTiqdt] al-Hakim , History of Nisabur; al-H atib, History of Bagddd]
a History of Hamaddn whose author an-Nawawi did not spec
ify ; Ibn Asakir, History of Damascus', and other great histories.
(I also used books) on the names of the men around Muhammad,
such as the Isti'^db of Ibn A b d -al-B arr; the books of Ibn M andah;
A bu N u 'a ym ; A bu Musa; Ibn al-Atir, and others. (I further used)
works on the raids and the biography of the Prophet and books on
the exact forms of names, such as the M uH alif wa-l-muhtalif of
ad-D araq u tn i; Abd-al-Gani b. S a'id ; al-H atib; Ibn Makiila,^ and
others. (I used) the books on the tabaqdt of jurists b y A b ii Asim
al-A bbadi; A bii Ishaq; and A bu A m r b. as-Salah. The last men
tioned w ork consists of fragments which I have begun to correct
and to arrange. It is a valuable work. Nothing like it or approaching
it has ever been written. No other book can take its place, if one
wants to know about jurists. Ignorance of the work is unbecoming
for one who claims to be a S a fi'ite . ^
Badr-ad-din al-A yni, on the men of the Sarh mu'-dm al-dtdr
b y at-Tahawi.^
Zayn-ad-din Qasim al-Hanafi, on the men of at-Tahaw i, of

hadit collections).
A b u Ishaq as-Sarifini,^ on the men of the ten books.
Ibn al-Mulaqqin, id.
M uin-ad-din A bii B ak r b. Nuqtah, at-Taqyid, on the biographies
of the transm itters through whom there is transm itted m aterial
common to the six books and other works and Musnad?,. Taqi-addin al-Fasi al-M akki wrote a supplement to (the Taqyid). B oth
(the Taqyid) and its supplem ent consist of one volum e each.
Ibn H ajar, Ta'^jil al-manfa'^ah bi-zawd^id rijdl al-aHmmah alarba'^ah, in one volume. Sams-ad-din al-H usayni had preceded
him in the Tadkirah f i rijdl al-'-asarah. (Al-Husayni) abridged the
Tahdib, threw out (the men) who are not in the six (authoritative
hadit collections) (ii8 ), and added those who are in the Muwatta\
the Musnad of A hm ad (b. Hanbal), the M usnad of as-Safii, and
the Musnad of A b ii H anifah in the recension of al-Hariti.^
There are other (such works on the men connected w ith the
science of traditions). Their complete enumeration would be a
lengthy and difficult undertaking.
In the fd m i\ al-H atib said: Am ong the things that are of
concern for the student, there is the study of the histories of hadit
scholars and of w hat th ey have to say about the conditions of
transmitters. There are, for instance, the works of Ibn M a'in which
were transm itted b y al-H usayn b. H ibban al-Bagdadi,^ 'A bbas
ad-Duri, and al-Mufaddal al-Gallabi; the History of Ibn A bi H ay
tam ah; Hanbal b. Ishaq; Halifah b. H a y y a t; Muhammad b.
1

D .

189/804-5

^ S ee b elo w ,

at-T ib rizi,

d.

th e

fa m o u s

743/1342

(cf.

M isk d t

G A L ,

I,

a l-M a sd b th

364,

II,

b y

M u h a in ,m ,a d

b.

A b d a l l a h

a l-H a tib

195).

1- H

392,

n.

' u l a m d ^

a s a n

T h e
*

^ C f. a b o v e , p.

is a

'^ A li b .

H ib a ta lla h ,

the

in

H y d e r a b a d
^

C f.

d.

su b jec t, e n titled
1962.

a n -X a w a w i,

A h m a d
Q asin i

b.
b.

a ro u n d

e d itio n

485/1092-93
w as b e g u n
co n ta in s

Liin ^ ra p hical

M u h a m m a d ,
Q u tlu b u R a ,

I,

n.

Ib ra h im
B a g d d d ,

17 1-7 3 ,

Su p p lem en t,

I,

291).

7.
b.

M u h a m m a d ,

14 -16 ,

B a g d a d

d.

641/124 3

13 57/19 3 8 ;

(Ib n

G A I^

R afi*-,

M u n ta h a b

S u p p le m e n t

I,

623,

a l-m u h td r,
w h ere

A b u

a d d itio n a l
L e g .:

fou r

b o o k s

li-l-H a riti,

are

"^ A b d allah

m e n tio n e d

b.

fe w

M u h a m m a d ,

d.

lin es

later.

340/952

(cf.

G A L

S u p p lem en t

I,

286;

6.

a l-Ik m d l,

T lie

453,

m istak e).

'A b d -a l-Q a d ir
o n

(G A L ,

p.

^ A p p a r e n tly ,
T a ^ rih

^ A p p a r e n tly ,

449

d.

d.

(cf. G A L ,

b y
a

^A b d - a

lo n g

D iction a ry ,

321/933

879/1474

(ei.
(cf.

I,
r

-R

3 5 4 f . ) . .A. p u b l i c a t i o n
ahman

b io g ra p h ica l
7 f.

G A L ,

I,

G A L ,

II,

n.

a h ya

a l

in tro d u c tio n

b y

W 'C 's t e n fe ld
1 7 3 f.).
82).

o f h is

-M

(G (')ttin g e u

th e

'^a

w o rk
llam

T h e

ed ito r.

th e

a l - Q u r a s i , a / -/ K ' /rtr

d e sc rip tio n

T a '-jU

b u t

h a v e

b e e n

th e

h a v e

it.

of

fro m

a l - H u s a y n i s
Ib n

sou rce

o f

H a ja r,
h is

a l-in u d iy a li,
w o r k

D u ra r,

is

n o t

I\ ',

61.

in fo rm a tio n ,

b u t

II,

2 8 9 1.,

d e riv ed

d ire ctly

A cco rd in g
Ib n

K a tir

H y d e r a b a d

to

th e

fro m

1332).
th e

D tira r,

(B id d y a h ,

X I V ,

in tro d u c tio n
Ib n

K a tir

3 0 7 f.)

of

m ig h t

d oes

n o t

1842-47).
D .

232/847

(T B ,

V lI I ,

36).

I).

273/886

(T B ,

V I I I ,

2 8 6 f.).

R o s e n th a l,

History of Mushm Historiography

29

a : ' l U n i
iJiCr, the

Kr/vst.:! a z a ' l c i

-j

a \;
I'-'

; ...: -i l

1 K ; l

,v

Abu ZarSih a d e\'e' .'i ;e.)i Ae";

- . . i . /^^rry

] ;-e
l

-e'

;- ' r '

451

TRANSLATION

AS-SAHAWI S I LAN

450

. . -

ih a ri.'

.\,;.)a

A " - .'v > a s

. ., .-i- . (:

'

e-;

A tta r ,'in al-l^ld:::\ ou tbo-'a a;bo traa;aiiitto(l tiaidUions on the

a n ib ra a y 1 i' a b A a ;a.el :A ab ai, ia bao v/or.;a, b y \}iyr<.drdm
(ablUacjbisi).

b.

(8 . .Aa A a a s e:aa

a,byaA{/^s)

v / o u ld

fvvb b ' ' *' .a :n:bLcrs

.
7.:' '

7bed,

r .. 1,
(V A .r:-,

w.' ;,L y.a'aca.lar

si^^::e

..

;"

-'.'e ,.e '

'

ter,_A V -'-

a a pro.. rs of)

-e:--

n o :.:.'. . .
ite.'e-a

./

T'L... , .
':il-

:e -.

;il-

; .

. . :<i . ndt,

................ :

n i:>

'

>

^ r

tc;,v: .
\V

...

r,T ;.:i

, :o::.

' ,

_ ,r

t h A :-

.-^A,.

trev, e a 'r ;

a s Yii^'

V'.e,'

o f tn>-^

: , ; ;

i t y c.i

.1 e

;.

iiK-ii ai';

i;

I A _a.e e i -

on

(i,.'/ :.: v a ...' i ;,a - ' :.

by

a<l- .a - ,

(heir

is

lA " j -
.

A ba

;-( A-..;:.- " . a ,/ a ^ -

Isa

b.

'a-a;-'./:.Z 'Z

b,

1i h >

F li'g li.,
^ C f.
*
Tbu

'b u

h.

a 'tn ia u ,

4-i ;/.':57

Ija j.i-'.

sc-Iio la r

I'ajar,

!.

<1.
; t

V ih ,J ib ,

:rv

(>' t i n -

th ird

:..i
i

l;i";

< t/j;

(//,

1'

'

7,
'

a;re
'

:,:wae

7 ;3TL.'-A.

r...

, .A'-l'f-

sh: y .
(aa .
7

a s - :

,r.v
)V v y

a v -

laiik,

A'

''^ e s e

,7 )

./

ai

is lar'it i

7 7 >7 .-:; b .

! - f a i . ;

q u o l- d

a .:7,a,

.v/urrc

oi

a>o,

I I a:icl

C^airo
tin-

1318

o ld e r

^ ' 7 i,

2 (T. : '
,

d, r; - : a a

'

'm!i, A ' -I'

lu:

!, 25c',.,.

' -a7 -

{!b .

,7

Ml i .

...

/
' ' ' -

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V.

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ra iid ii

w h o

(h e;!

i:i

1 1 , S . ' 7 ^6

(a l-P n i!ja ri,

'

7 '

. ^.

. .

il.F.R,
;tn.a;7

237;

(- .. Mv:
Wi". 7. I

i,

' Iitnla-

: '

h i.sto riaiis.

\\

/ i n s t e a d

n o

476-78 W C s t e n -

T cP rih ,

D ictio n a ry ,

V 'i'l

7..'

7 a l h h b , V I i !, j , 8 iT.j, c.f. u u - \ a w a \ v i , l i l o ^ n i N i t c a l

b '-

.wA^b;.,-s-dai) ab

V II,

'
/

. a bic

'

:^"a

i.;^ /.Ja'i -^.;asim

a:,;/^'A A ('Snid^

a.!r

b s r

( 7 7 j, !, 2j 8 l;.i, H!->

^ A a K a s a i;

batcr

oi

Oi

' l.a 3!

i .7

b-. v:..'
('
b '<:
e ;
a : ,
ti;a': a '
lb.. - - .

'

':. i r:.;:-a =i..lars)

e^a^al b,
leias;

ir:

Md^.ik,

.7

'

. b u ; r -

; a^-^-.. A'

a'-;Uiiiyi

''

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i t ,' O! a':.-.::. e e !' s^>. e .

aslidb

aers,

lliOSe
i t y u. cai' ai'rson
.A y of
; -e; {';a :' w h o
:.L a
sach
e
('a .
: aa ruaii
ae.
'h.- .
e:liora wa e 1 . ; i A i e

. A-

ae

a-'b V
ii' .':.''a!. ,

'

d.

. ,

'.j'loqh

-/i:'2i

7 tllier

FEi . i ).
"

! i u h ,

03,

a b o \ c,

^ A p p a rc 'n tu
lU L 'n tio u i'u
A n
in

A b u

33. s/ q('<> ,
*

b y

\ 'a h y a

;'\bLi

Ish a i)
I n u
^ A l i ,

a !

406.

b H ,i;.a u

a ^ - S a ' n a ' . \ i,

('fb.

p.

b.

u l- jiH aniv

A lu lia in m a d
b 'a r h u n ,
d.

'.',b i

n.

a!-!(a sa;i
ica -J-a ir^ A r.

ai-O a siia

D ib 'ij,

231

f.

4 16 /10 2 ,5 -2 6

(of.

G A L

D. 629/1231-32 (cf. ('7 a / . I, 303).

h.

b.

(I'l-z

A avliau iiu a d

h i-'o w ,

.'.a S ):u i

u.

b.

al-ld b ri

w h o

a p p c 'a rs

is

591.
in

the

Jaivdhir.

H e

d ie d

,.'.

w d

'' - a

i >'

I,

571).

: I , (;r

, : \' M ' - ' ' a

'

\ I

Sa arra

i a a .
.

S ; ' : i . t a L ' \ , . .

:3 i6 ).

S u p p lem en t

F ih .r

i i;,

I !,

r,

i| \ i,r;7

;7

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. 7a)Liii,

. ., i

; . :a
.

7 ,.

'................. '

i o' ^ ' -i.l r.-nre-

; . ; 7 ,, f .uui T' i^ai:I a '

, a-, a;;aiiist

452

T R A N S L A T IO N

A S -S A H A W I S I LA N

The hadit expert Izz-ad-din b. al-H ajib al-Am ini.i

Al-Mundiri.
A r-R asid (Rasid-ad-din) a l-A ttar.
Ibn Masdi.
Ad--Dimyati.
Qutb-ad-din al-Halabi.
Al-Birzali.
A b u H ayyan.
A d-D ahabi w rote three Mu'^jams, the big, the slender, and the
abridged one. H e also edited the Mu'^jam of A la -ad-din A li b.
Ibrahim b. D aw iid b. a]-Attar.^
Ibn Habib,^ al-M u ~jam, of which (a copy) is found w ritten b y
ad-Dahabi in the M uayyadiyah.^
Ibn a l-Adim.
Taqi-ad-din b. R a fi.
M ajd-ad-din Ism a'il al-Hanafi.
Jam al-ad-din b. Zuhayrah,^ in the edition of al-Aqfahsi.
Burhan-ad-din al-Halabi, compiled b y Ibn H ajar, and b y Ibn
Fahd.6
Ibn H ajar compiled his own [Mu'-jam), and those of at-T aniihi,
al-Qibabi, M aryam al-A d raiyah, and otheis.
Jam al-ad-din b. Musa compiled (the Mu'-jam of) Zayn-ad-din
A bu B ak r al-Maragi.^
Ibn Fahd compiled his own
and those of his father,
Ibn al-Maragi,^i and a number of other (scholars).
^ 'Um,ar b. al-H ajib . H is Mu'-jam is q uoted b y Ib n R a fi', Muntahab al-muhtdr, Ta^Hh
^ulama^ Bagdad, 120, 132 (Bagdad 1357/1938).
D. 724/1324 (cf. G A L , II, 85, Supplement II, 100, where the attribu tion of the Watd^iq
to him m ust b e corrected w ith reference to J. S c h a c h t , in Etudes d Orientalisme E . LeviProvetifal, 276 [Paris 1962]). Th e te xt of the I'-ldn which says th at '^Ala^-ad-din edited
the Mu'-jam of ad-D ahabi m ust be correctcd as indicated, cf. Ibn H ajar, Durar, III, 6.
^ A l-H asan b. ^Umar, d. 779/ i377 (cf. G A L , II, 36 f.). As he was the teacher of Ibn
H atib an-N asiriyah, his works are often quoted, and he has a long biography, in the Durr
al-muntahab f t takmilat Ta^rth Halab.
^ The M u^ayyadiyah, still a famous m onum ent of Cairos past, was com pleted in 819/
1416-17, cf. as-Suyuti, H usn al-mithddarah, II, 194 f. (Cairo 1299).
= M uham m ad b. ^Abdallah, 751-817/1351-1414 [Daw^, V III, 92-95).
Cf.
I, 140.
Ibrahim b. Ahm,ad, 709-800/1309(1 o)-98 (Ibn Ila ja r, Durar, I, i i f.).
*
A bd-ar-R ahm an b. 'T n ia r 749-838/1348-1434 {paw^, IV , 113 f.; G A L , II, 69). Cf.
J. S u B i . E T , in A nnuaire de Vh'.cole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, 1964-65, 425 f.
9 M aryam bint Ahm ad, 7i9-8o5/i3i9(2o)-i402(3) {])aie^, X I I , 124).
A bu B akr b. al-H usayn, d. 816/1414 (cf. ( lA L , II, 172).
A pp aren tly, M uham niad b. A bi Bakr (above, p. 398, n. 7), as l)aw ^ ,\\\, 164, m entions
his Mu'-jam b y Ibn Fahd. Dari^, \ 'I 1, 161, how^ever, says that his brother of the same name
was known as Ibn a l - M a r a g i . Ms. Leiden reads: of the two Ibn al-^Iaragi.

453

This w riter (as-Sahawi) compiled his own [Mu'jam) in three

volum es and those of ar-Rasidi,^ Sihab-ad-din al-'Aqabi,^ Taqiad-din as-Sumimni,^ and others.
Ancient authors of such works were
A b u Y u su f Y a qub al-Fasaw i, who arranged

(his teachers)

according to the countries visited b y him.

The hadit expert A b u Y a la al-Mawsili.^
A b u Ishaq Ibrahim b. Muhammad b. H am zah al-Isbahani.
A t-T abarani, in tw o Mu'-jams, medium and small.
A b u A hm ad b. A di al'Jurjani.
A bu B a k r al-Ism aili.
A bii s-ayh.
A b u A hm ad al-Assal.
A b u B ak r b. al-M uqri and others of their class. A fter them.
there were
A bu N u aym al-Isbahani.
A bu 1-H usayn b. J u m a y .
A bii D arr al-Harawi.
A bu A li b. Sadan.i
A bu 1-H usayn b. al-Muhtadi bi-llah.i^A nd
A bu Abdallah al-Q udai.
1 M uham m ad b. ^Abdallah, 767-8 54 /136 6 -14 50 {Daw^, V I I I , l o i f.).
^ A h m ad b. M uham m ad, d. 86111457 {Daw^, I I, 2 12 f.).
A h m a d b . M u h a m m a d , 801-872 /13 99 -14 6 9 (cf. G A L , II, 82).
* A pp aren tly, A hm ad b . 'A li b . al-M utauna, d. 307/919-20 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 258).
^ D . 353/964 (Abu N u 'a y m , History o f Isfahan, I, 199 f. D e d e r i n g , Leiden 1931-34).
A hm ad b. Ibrahim , d. 371/981-82 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 275).
M uham m ad b. Ibrahim , d. 281/894 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 272) ? H e should, how ever,
h av e lived in the tenth century.
* M u h a m m a d b . A h m a d , d. 4 0 2 /10 11-12 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 2 59 ; T B , I I , i4io)- H is
Mu^jam is re fe rre d to b y a s -S a m ^ani, Ansdb, fo l. 3 1 5 b , 5 2 1 b ; O . L o f g r e n , op. cit. (a b o v e ,
p . 56, n . I ), II, 164. G A L , L o f g r e n , an d W i j s t e n f e l d s e d itio n o f Y a q u t , Mu'-jam,
I I I , 434, 440 h a v e J u m ay '-, a n d th e sam e v o c a liz a tio n is in d ic a t e d in a fo u rte e n th -c e n tu ry
m a n u s c r ip t of I b n a l-^Adim, ad-Dardrt f t dikr ad-dardrt ( I s ta n b u l, N u ru O s m a n iy e 3790,
fo l. 2 ib ) . M u h a m m a d 'A la m - a l-h u d a (in a t - T u s i, F ihris, 243 S p r e n g e r , C a lc u t ta 1854)
m e n tio n s a ce rta in *^Amr b . J u m a y ' a l- A z d i (th u s v o c a lize d ). T h e n a m e o f th e w e ll-k n o w n
tw e lft h -c e n tu r y p h y s ic ia n is re a d J u m a y ' b y B r o c k e l m a n n , G A L Supplement I , 892, a n d
J u m a y y ( i) ' b y G . L e v i d e l l a V id a , Elenco dei manoscritti arabi Islaniici della Biblioteca
Vaticana, n o. 308 (C itta d el V a tic a n o 1935, Studi e Tcsti, 67). T h is v o c a h z a tio n (J u m a y ')
a p p e a rs also in th e co lle c tio n o f h is w o rk s in th e o ld I s ta n b u l m a n u s c r ip t, T o p k a p u s a r a y ,
A h m e t I I I , 2136 . H o w e v e r, a v e rse b y Ib n a l-M u n a jjim in I b n A b i U s a y b i'a h , I I , 1 1 4
M i j l l e r , su g g e s ts th e re a d in g J a m i', b u t th is is n o t a b s o lu te ly ce rta in (cf. J u v a y n i-ja v in t,
in J u w a y n is Ta^rih-i-jahdngusdy, tra n s. J . A . B o y l e , 520 [M a n ch e ste r 1958]). A s a n a m e ,
J a m i' w o u ld co rre sp o n d to J a m a 'a h . I t is p o ssib le th a t b o th fo rm s e x is te d sid e b y sid e in
w h ic h case it w o u ld b e d iffic u lt to d(;cide w h ic h fo rm is a p p lic a b le in a g iv e n case.
'A b d b. A hm ad, d. 434/1043 (T B , X I , 1 4 1 , cf. J . F u c k , in Z D M G , X C II, 72 ff.).
A l-H asan b. Ahm ad, d. 426/1034 (Ibn al-Jaw'zi, Muntazam, V I I I , 86 f.).
M uham m ad b. 'A li, an auth ority of al-H atib al-B agdadi (cf. T B , III, 8, 235), who

454

A S -S A H A W I s a "LAN

TRANSLATION

(g. W orks on men of a particular name)

(Works) on men of a particnkir n^ime ;ire, among others,
A t-Tabarani, on those called "A ta .^
A d -D in iy a ti,

on

th o se

c a lle d

A b d - a l - M t i m in .

(An iinnar-ied author) on those called 'Iw ad, in a w ork entitled

'Iwad Ufa" al~niarad fi-m an mmimiya hi-^-Iwad.
Ibn H ajar, on those called Abi:i 1-Fadl Ahmad.
(lo. Macrobiotics and young men)
Or (liistoriaiis resiricted [heiaselves) to the m acrobiotics in preIslam ic and t^arly Islam ic th:ics. Several liistorians [ahbdri) w rote
on them. Or the m acr 1-iotics in Islam ic times. A d-D ahabi and
Ibn Ijajar, fr>r insLafiCd, w nne on them, the former one quire.
Or (cue iv.,u cccd liicmselves) to young men {subbdn), a s d i d
Ibn (120)
in a pamphleL.
(11. W orks on men 01 a particular period or dynasty)
Or (tl!''\^
are), for ia a;..'.-a

i:> a parlieuiar time. (Such works

Sal . - V I - i p S r . f . , v l a
al-^a^r, ia
: ; / :a:
Al)ti V A '
also wr^a:r:
instrac^a ,

or A"^7&dn, an-nasr f i a^ydn

/i
a:-\isr. A bu H ayyan

. '::;Va,!; ' .a ':!-idr, his daughter, an

.
>
?a';':a,2

:P ^

S iat - al -_aa
'aaliall /
a;- a a'ydn al-Uisr.^
T a :-- . .
\ a ^ ;a .
r,h, iu Avo volumes.
Ibn p:,; a, ^ ' -' A'f v' -.-' I /.'-a i,'.'./; rvJ i
a'_-ldminaJi.
T]i:;
' '
' '
appear^ U, -ivc
171, ivr,
...Sa.rv
V. u,i t:
pS -.'-i

rospcc

>'i

'

ii-aiy di-qarn at-tdsi'-.

f'-i. ;,u;^

a' - !

'i-^- jau zi, M u n t a s a m , \ ' I I 1 , 2 8 -

U jr.v .

w o rk s

cl< a l

w ith

th e

cf

n a m e s

of

also

their

A d -

L:-'A b . i - a l - M

Q ariir

h a d

S ciii

an d

tl-it

,0

lii .

A.- :uh/i,a
Cf.

ii,:;

.aiit

; J - f:

n;

o r r i .i. a, a

i j \

/ a - - a a

SuppL :
' vaii,

.c

' . ' Lc

K, u. d

< 1.
.
*
an d ,

arc
p n o t- a,

'At:-:

f.-.r

a p p ar:,;;itl\ -,

>

q r.n te cl

h y

!)V
iii m o s t

of

'ai pr'Mi.-'<->->ors o f tiiis t y p f o f w o r k s ,

; v;
^A-.n

.A.

\\' i ^- , ei Ui : ' Ui f Un,

; . i 111

J - A

b. i o . i ,
!iv i

ca s< -^

i;i

(cf. (j A L .
V 'i eu ua ,

'.j'lc I.;.' r -f -r.iice htT<- is to the Rihlah

3 j,

p.

Ilu jjit-,

H .iiar,
the

^ A b d - a l -

b . t l u

i L

p h ii.-r : a;

b y

a - , , 1 ,^

; . (' f i l e r -,a;i
. M ' - . M ' - ; . a - i . a (i

v-^ q u o t e d

11,

4 11

71,

^39,

h u v i . r ,

!>iti\:r,
w h ich

Ib u

f.,

I f ,,

z V),

; i(>, . 1 7 3 ,

F a d la ila h

5 ji

f.,

II,

Sim ilarly, there are works restricted to particular dynasties,

such as
A bu Samah, ar-Rawdatayn f i ahbdr ad-dawlatayn, and the
authors own supplement to it.^ B oth works also deal w ith events.
Lisan-ad-din b. al-H atib, T u rf at al-'-asr f i dawlat Bani Nasr,
in three volumes, and the urjuzah poem Raqni al-hidal f i nazm
ad-duwal.
A bu B ak r b. A bdallah b. x\ybak ad-DawadM ,^ an-Nukat almulukiyah ild ad-dawlah at-Turkiyah. His one-volume autograph
of the w ork is in the hbrary of the Ibn Fahds.
Badr-ad-din Hasan b. Um ar b. Habib, Diirrat al-asldk f t dawlat
al-Atrdk, written throughout in rhym ed prose. The authors son
Tahir wrote a supplement to it.
Al-M aqrizi, as-Suluk, in four volumes. In the work, al-Maqrizi
restricted himself to the rulers of E gyp t after the final disappearance
of the Fatim id dynasty, th at is, the x-lyyubid K urds and the Turkish
and Circassian Mamluk Sultans. He included a brief treatm ent of
the events in their days. For each year, he m entioned the cases of
death which God had willed to happen (in th at particular year).
He continued the w ork to the year of his own death. I wrote a sup
plement to (the Suluk), af-Tibr al-masbuk. Several untrustw orthy
and unreliable bunglers (or nobodies ) also wrote supplements to
(the Suluk).
(12, Biographies of particular individuals)
Or (historians) restricted themselves to monographs on particular
iadi^uduals. I have devoted the final chapter of the fawdhir i&a-dilurar to this subject. No one else had done something like it before.
^h;iL ch?arL:;r deals with the monographs on the biography of
Vliihammad and the biographies of other prophets, on the men
around Muhammad, on caliphs, authoritative religious leaders,
kings, and others, such as (religious) scholars, hadit experts, Jiadit
scholars, ascetics, an;! poets, (in connection with this subject),
reference ma\- be h id to ihat chapter.^
1

T ill*
a .!/ ,

h . - n r j d t a y ; i

w ritte n
3

a:id

S u p t li'U h 'iA ,

l a

a n tJ io lo tx ifs

i). so.s/i.j.of) i

the

w ere

11-

f\nn",

a lio t.

! \',

L a iro

p u b ia h e d
dif-iltirar

'i'.i'r ih ,

in
w as

237S,

I,

C a iro
bef^ nn

19 56
in

h.

709/130Q .

B efore,

he

h a d

2 .17).

5-3, wi i c n - h is f,uh>>rs !iaim* is al-Husavn). . \ o c o r d i u g t o a

m ar.t'ina! n o t e t o il ic - r a r 77.S. t n e i ] o d ! c i a ii r i s . or . M a r s h 3 1 9 is (a c o p y f rom ,?) T a h i r s

4 .(0 f.

ir, ( [ m j t c d .

455

40, 45,

105

f.,

aiitM:;r,'i:)!i.
*

t!i^ s ' j p o i c n i 'lii

i> ijnoti-;!

in-

ibu

i fatib

an-.\asiriya h .

i ari> !;is. ;\.r. 2 1 0 3 , to:s. 2c.2]i-20f'a ( n o t d a t -d, b u t w r i t t e n din'iu,:^ a s - S a h a w i s li fe t in re

a n d , a p p a r e n t l y , ver',- clo^e to tiie d.iii- of tli e c o m p o s i t i o n of t h e w o r k in 871/1466), a n d

456

A S -S A H A W I S I L A N

Am ong works of this type, I m ay mention m y monographs on

The authors of the six books (the authoritative hadit collections)
(i2 i), (written) upon completion of the (study of the w ork of)
each of them.

T R A N S L A T IO N

A nd m any other things, such as the Patronymics and the N ick

names, each of them in one volum e. I have m entioned this in all
hum ihty and m odesty.
(13. L ocal histories) ^

Ibn Hisam, upon completion of the Sirah.

Ibn Sayyid-an-nas, upon completion of his w ork on the biography
of Muhammad.
A l-B ayhaqi, upon completion of the D aW il.
T yad, upon completion of the Sifd''.
An-N aw awi, a substantial work.
Adud-ad-din.^
Ibn Hisam, the grammarian.^
Ibn H ajar, a very fine work, in two volumes, and in one. A nd
The above-m entioned final chapter (of the Jawdhir wa-d-durar).
I also w rote a monograph on Ibn A rabi in one volume,^ with
a sum m ary of one quire, and other works, all this in addition to
m y works on the subjects here under discussion which I have
m entioned in various places (of this work), such as
A t-Tibr al-masbuk f i d-dayl '-aid s-Stduk. This w ork deals with
the cases of death and the events from the year 845/1441-42 on to
date, in several volumes.
W ajiz al-kaldm f i d-dayl 'aid Duwal a/-7 s/am, [a sum m ary and
continuation of and the authors supplement] in one or tw o volumes
to (ad-Dahabis) Duwal al-Isldm. The w^ork is very brief except
for the later years. It covers the years from 745/1344-45 on down to
the present.
A one-volume supplement to Ibn al-Jazaris Qur^dn readers.
A one-volume supplement to Ibn H aja rs fudges of Egypt.
Ad-Daw^ al-ldmi" li-ahl al-qarn at-tdsi\ in five volumes.
As-Sifd^ min al-alam f i wafaydt hddayn al-qarnayn al-dhirayn
min al-'Arah wa-l-'-Ajam.
A Mu^jam of (my teachers) who authorized me to transm it
m aterial they taught me, in three big volumes.
Istanbul, T o pkapu saray, A h iu et III , 2991, M s . 338b-345b (written, in 895/1490). T h e Paris
m anuscript has preserved the older and, possibly, first text. Its m arginal notes are in cor
porated hi the te xt of the Istan bul m anuscript. The la tter also has numerous additions
doubtlessly going b ack to as-Sahaw i himself. It con stitutes w hat m ay be called a second
edition. A translation of the text here m ight have been useful. H ow ever, as-Sahaw i goes to
a large e xten t over w ell-know n territory. A rabic text, below, pp. 586-610.
* P robably, ^Abd-ar-Raliman b. Ahm ad a l-lji, d. 756/1355 (cf. G A L , II, 208 f.) ?
^ 'A b d allah b. Y u su f, d. 761/1360 (cf. G A L , II, 23-25).
Cf. above, p. 430, n. 7.

457

Or (historians restricted themselves) to the people of a particular

locality. I have arranged here the authors on the subject whom I
know of, according to the alphabetical sequence of the localities
(with which their works are dealing).
Abiward: According to Ibn al-Adim , A bii 1-Muzaffar Muhammad
b. Ahm ad b. M uhammad b. A hm ad b. M uhammad b. Ishaq alAbiw ardi al-Adib ^ (dealt w ith Abiward) in a nice work, entitled
Nuhzat (?) al-huffdz. W ith A biw ard, he combined Nasa, Kiifan,
C aziyan , and other cities of the region. The author, perhaps, is
identical with the one mentioned under Hurasan.
Adarbayjdn: Ibn A bi 1-H ayja ar-Rawwad.^
Arran: A l-B a rd a i.^
1 A s-Sahaw i was not the first to dress a list of local histories. H ow ever, this was hardly
done b y anyone prior to the la tter half of the sixth/tw elfth cen tury, even if it could
happen th at already an eleven th -cen tu ry scholar such as Ibn H azm would m ake a list of
local histories, in order to show how few of them existed, cf. Ibn H azm s letter in al-M aqqari,
Analectes, II, 108-21 D o z y and others (Leiden 1855-61), cf. above, p. 150. A l-B a yh a q i,
Ta^rih-i-Bayhaq, 20 f. (Teheran 1 31 7 ) , m entions some local histories. Ibn al-F u w ati had a
list of local histories in one of his historical w orks (cf. Ibn H aja r, Durar, II, 365). A s-Subki
has one in the introduction of his Sm all Tabaqdt w ork (Bodleian Ms. or. Marsh 428) as well
as Ibn H ajar, in his Mu'-jam al-inufahras (Ms. Cairo M ust, al-hadit 82, pp. 152-56).
Ibn a l-H a tib s list of local histories, in the in troductioji of the Ihdtah, I, 5-7 (Cairo 1319),
was as-Sahaw is m ain source for the local histories of the west of the Muslim world. The
most com prehensive list before as-Sahaw i, and the one upon which he largely bases himself,
is th at of as-Safadi, Wcift, I, 47-49 H i t t e r , cf. the translation b y E . A m a r , Prolcgomenes a
Vetude des historiens arabes par K ha lil Ibn Aibak as-Safadi, in J A , X , 17, 251-308, 465-531
(1911); X , 18, 5-48 (19 11); X , 19, 243-97 (1912). Cf. also H. R i t t e r , in Oriens, III , 70 ff.
(1950).
A more detailed and b etter arranged list than th at of as-Sahaw i was probably never made.
T his includes the later H ajji H alifah, K a sf az-zuntm, II, 1 0 6 ff. F lt' j g e l , who has in certain
respects more, in others inuch less inform ation than as-Sahaw i. Nevertheless, as-Sahaw is
list is far fronx being com plete. It could have been enlarged b y as-Sahaw i himself, if he had
taken the trouble to go carefully through the sources at his disposal. He even om its to
m ention works to which he refers in the Daw^. It m ust, how ever, be noted th at as-Sahaw i
him self considered his list unfinished, cf. above, p. 2 6 4 f.
^ D. 507/1113 (cf. G A L , I, 253). Y a q u t, Irsdd, X V I I , 253 (Cairo), has, as different from
the History, a Kitdb Xuhzat al-hdfiz. I'^ldn reads bahrat, which w as distorted in G A L to
bahjat. Bahrat, or buhrat, are possible forms.
Or rather: thin ? As-Sam'^ani, Ansdb, 559a, describes the w ork as consisting of
one

fascicle.

^ A ccordin g to
M in o r s k y , Hudud al-^dlam, 395 f. (Oxford-London 1937, E. J . W .
(xibb Mem. Series, N .S . 11), he is identical w ith an Abu 1-H a y ja b. R aw w ad who lived in
the second half of the fourth/tenth century, h'or Isma'^il b. al-M utanna at-T ibrizi (d. ca.
580/1184) and his H istory of A d a r b a y ja n , see Ibn al-P'uwati, Talhis Majma'- al-dddb,
I V , III , 1 1 7 f. J A W A D .
^ T h e author who is also m entioned in the Waft has not yet been identified. Th e form

458

T R A N S L A T IO N

A S -S A H A W I S I L A N

Irbil:

1- B a r a k a t

Abu

a l-M iib a r a k

b.

A hm ad

b.

a l-M u b a r a k

the description of the conquest of the city (at the beginning of

Islam ?), and he tarried so m uch that in comparison with the other
things he mentioned, the event (of the year 767) is hardly noticeable.
Sevilla'. A b u B ak r Muhammad b. i\.bdallah b. Ibrahim b. Qassum
al-Isbili,^ M ajdlis al-abrdr f i mu'-dmalat al-hiydr, a history {ahbdr)

b.

M a w l i u b b . a l - M i i s t a w f i / ( a v a i l a b l e in ) t h e a u t h o r s a u t o g r a p h , in
f i v e v o lu m e :'. T h e w o r k is m a i n l y c o n c e r n e d w i t h l i t t e r a t e u r s a n d

A b i 1- H a s a n

k in g s . S u k iy r n a n b . A b d a lla h b.

w rote

a n a b r i d g n K 'n l o f it .

Astardhdd:

Abu

h a m m n .d b .
Abu

S a 'd

I-O a s im

b.

I d r is

y ia n iz a h

a z -Z a n ja n i a l-M a k k i

(1 2 2 )

A b d -;ir -R a h m a n

A b d : i l ! a h

b.

a l-ld r is i

Y C is iif

{Tahnilah) of i h e lii.s to r y (o f
Alexandria: A b i i i - M u z a t f a r
A b u 1- F a d a ' i l (?).^

b.

M uham m ad

b.

of the pious men (of the city).

Isbahdn: A bu 'AbdallM i H am zah b. al-H usayn al-M u addib.^
A b ii B ak r A hm ad b. Musa b. Mardawayh.^
A b ii Z a k a riya Y a h y a b. A b i A m r Abd-al-W ahhab, a son of
the Juidit expert A b ii A bdaliah Muhammad b. Ishaq b. Muhammad
b. Y a h y a b. Mandah, both A bu Z a k a riya and his grandfather

M u-

a l-A s ta r a b a d i.^

a s -S a lim i

w r o te

Completion

t h e c it y ) .^
M an sur

b.

S a lim ,^ in

fo u r

v o lu m e s .

(Abu V\bda]lah ).4

A b ii s-Sayh b. Hibban.
A bii Nu'a5^m A hm ad b. Abdallah. His alphabetically arranged
w ork of two volum es is the most complete (history of the city).
A b ii B akr Muhammad b. Abi 'A li Ahm ad b. 'A bd-ar-Rahm an

A b u ' A l l a l - H a s a n b . U m a r b . a l - H a s a n (b.) a s -S a b b iig c o m p i l e d

the

p r a is e

{faddHl)

M uham m ad

b.

o f ( t h e c it \ ') .

0 - 1 -im

a l - M a l i k i ^ v .t o /e

b.

w h ic ii

A le :" v '- 'r ia .

tiiH

ct.

',n > o a h

is

O. -r
!'.

j.

Selii.

'. 2

',r ,1.

a l-'it

I'iio;

: .1.0

)i

Hi i

/:!

> r '

f.,

m a jo r

a f f a ir

11 ! .

57C), i V

5;.-

10

'

>,

... .'

^; t s k' ; .

'

t' :

fi.i

:r

! i , i

71

; ;.s-

-7

4 '' '>

I;

i'oi,

V '

'o

r-

ji

i >r

d .u rriycih,

^^

) .,

i . . . ' ' v

i I'i

(Teheran
^

F.

fiir

;.

or.

o p .c U ., \ o \I s f a

1U2/1033);

S p !-ii,d -r:;,

h a n

w.-ts

l u i t b r , .it
th.-

i)
i-

Mt t..-'
^ \ i :^

^ .r :

/ ;,
.,

I,

.i

r ., =. od

' I :V

(oii;-th /tctitii

c n U u r y

S u p p l e m e n t 1, 73 2 f., co n-

I b u al-'-.Vrabi ;il-lsbili.
(cf.

G A L ,

I,

1.15).

1, 1 8 7 G o t t w a l d t

o f I s f n l u b i iu his U U d o r y ,

(St.

iicni,

!,

222, t h e

\'.-ori< is a ls o q u o t e d l) y at-Ta'^aiibi,

Y a tim a t

I ' . . ! , f l i r.ij, o ! \
A b u

or

3 2.gb,

jd ijn ,

F .

j .

1I T ,

b y

ii(>

ii.

Caii'o

G A L

A n sd b ,

f33.a,

'i'a^riii

.d i r T \ \'o cii,

(1909);

a s-:% a -ii'a u i,
H 3 i),

w ;k

yuoced,

,J.>,

il i .

145

cf.

.jS S b ,

2648,

iii

p. 4 7 1.

[ iU c ilu n g c n

S 'ip p le m e n t

for

I. 4 1 1 .

iiistaiic.",

5 f2a,

58 7a,

fols.

C f.

des
ills

38a,

also

S e m in a r .';
H isto ry

126a,

o f

13 2b ,

Mu'-jam,

V iiq u t,

, 37.

c i r : ) i\- s

a p u d

X IF ,

3 7 . ; . I,

c i

a ,-S ,iin 'a ,

Jj a l li k a u ,

f heit.

4 1 6 / 1 .0 2 5 -2 '),

tor

:it..

tr.ias.

for

iiV 'td u ^ e ,

i;i-a a :ic '',

37,

w h o

-^ la .n k .

fo 's ,

b y
6- a ,

d ct^ibts tiie

\b ii

al-(jii'ti,
().)a,

I n h i i i ,

e :xistcn ci o f

'A b d a ila l'.s

A . n i

L h sio ry "

li,

4 / 7a ,

-j-Soa,

is

27

(C a iro

530 a;

1369-

V a q u t,

'A b d a l l a l is w o r k ;
(lu oti-d

b y

a s-S ain -

^ani, A n G b , iui. T7;,h.

'!'!'.( G i l d h Q : i G / i : i (!s-S; :ra f f ! i i i a f d h i r I s f a l u h i % c( .-a hh ari ha u y 'A h ' b. ll a n i / . a h a l - I s t a -

i
:

tlu-

< . - ; t ( j ' i s i v l y

3 0 7 ! I, 3 I 2 - 1 ,

Ib n

5J V . * r . .

a p u d

M u ' i a : " ,

t:

o f

ar-]<afi"i,

279a,
*

S u p p le ,

323-410 /9 ")5 -i(jio (;o ),

74 /19 S .J-3 5 );

(I L i.:i

a c th o r

l.u uou s j u r i s t

a d - d a h r , H I , 12 5 ( D a ii i a s c u s 130.1); . 'diii'.'iddai b. Sa'^d a:-?vlafaiTuhi, K i t d h M a h d s i n L s b a l i d n

..i-i.ij.'.),
(> -'h, . J . .

v .('ll-);!io \ \ii

m en tio i. e'd in G A f .

tilC

i i ,i

T h e

th.'

P e U : r s b u r L i ' i p y . i g 184 4-48 ), a n d , in addiiii.vu to Hit* q u o t a t i o n s f r o m t h e / / i s t n r y o f I s f a h a n

VJa,

worl< w i t h

H a t u z a h hi ii is tif re-ftTS to his U i d o r y

i H , >>r i ist i n c o ,

a,

f o u i u l s t h e a u t li o r of

''Ifiiim i'-

i :i.'a ri .i ,

i;
''i.

Ii

i-;i,

uV

' :ii: t o ; ' ;

CoDF.RA, M a d r i d 18 86 -8 9 , H i h l i o t h e c a /: r a b i c o - H i s p a n a , 6). G A L

or.

. ; T'.ii ,i'

]). 6 3 9 / 1 2 4 2 (cf. P o n s i o iG t'E S , I ' . n s a y o , 2 8 6 ; I b n a ! - A b b a r , 7 5 3 , no. 2 1 4 2 ( ad di tio ns )

'

ip h isch em

..'o-iiOiaTi nis.

i.

' \ v \ i ) ; i ! . u

\ , h i x r v - r . . nr . i! l'
:i.v :t s * li :i:i >

' 7 '.),

\'-'a{i.

M u '-ja m ,

t
i

:! is . l lLk > i'- i. >'

.;

o! r j _- y I. ' ' ' ' ' i t v y '<f

. /'.I

'

wh-i-^c'

' (

I ' 1,

i m

i-i

. )i ,
: , r' i i i \. i i>. '

; .'

al-Mu"addil.^
Lisbon (Ms. Leiden; Estepona)'. Ibn Idris.

t h e o t r-r. " i e b e g>a n w i t h

i<>rv i~\ a l s o qi! >

!,

!,.

! Lc

4i3h.

..')8 ; . t . - . ' . f i ! ' ,

)i. I

, 1

,
H

th e

r;

I'7 .-'.I. S:\'^''lei>;e!>t I, H i s H i

I)'-

Vi ' . ' i r

a u ' l

fr ';( i_/r;c t h i n <

g->

nr.c.

(-.r.

Wo f i ! ,'Or.

of

a n d cv:p;:;>red it s ^vom on a n d m e n .

H e { li:y
O o s :? jd h '

'

a u -N n w a y r i a s -S ik a n d a r i

d e ,-:cr ip iio n

tJie b e .y ^ r 'i n g o f t h e ^;ear (7)^ )7/13 6 5 , w h e n t h e

Fran ks -

o f

I 'l h a m m a d

t h r o e -v 'o h im e

459

; :)!i

liani, cf.

I ' a q i u , G ' . G d . X i l , 204 :'-Jdir'o

r n c n l i o u e d L)'. as-San.'r,'
t h e r e f o r e , (^' a p c d

\ , 201 . M . i U o o i . j o l ' r n ) , is o i i r o f t iie w o r k s n o t

pr'ih.;u,'ly b e c a u s e it h a d l i t t l e t o d o w i t h

t h e a! t e i i t i o i o f e.>-Saha\v? a u d h is s o ir c es .

fiadit s ch o la rs

and,

Hut he should not h av e

o m i t t e d ai-1 iru/.-'ihidf s //. u'o; y o f ! < f a h d n , o f . D-.r.:^, X , iJ i..

** H e coiii(_! ii a r d l. bi- id.eiiliLal A iiii the .author c4 lin' Hi.^tori''s of A s t a r a b . i d a'nd S .u u a r q a n d , b u t fie e. rt.uid'.- i> i d l u i c a l \'dtli th e a u t l e 'r 01 llu- l l i ^ b i r v o f S e - u i ' n , l.)ele >, p. 470.

.tl) i-; s/u

' t

P o x s !5()ic.:';-s, / ii:.a vo.

i!

I .o t

ii. r o r
in .)/-

... illc-U .r y ( on:ir:L',j'oi\!ii(ni I u lu tr c , 5 f. f.Xii^arii

o f tlie I h d U i h i n i-i n i:
autl'.or (d.
cf. P o n s

,93, hno.v:. ; i;e ant co r 1 d v f.-i e a t h e ! n d i a l i . 'i'ie- v r

fauit\- e d i t io n

the J l i . d o r y o f !. . t c p o n a b.; .Xi'U i><a';r Ab.ihaiiLiuad " j .

bl'-i.^, v.iiose

707/13,07), h o v . e w r , do es ;i.ot se e m

P o io uk s,

Ensayo,

314.

to ha\'e h a d

th e I b n

P h i s in his n a m e ,

460

A S -S A H A W I S I L A N

Ifriqiyah: Ibrahim b. al-Qasim b. ar-Raqiq

Katib,^ in several volumes.
Muhammad b. Y u su f al-Warraq.^

461

T R A N S L A T IO N

al-Qayraw ani al-

Ibn ad-D abbag al-Ansari,^ an author of the seventh/thirteenth

century of the same generation as al-Mundiri.
A b u l- A rab M uhammad b. A hm ad b. Tam im at-Tam im i alQ ayrawani, the hadit expert, on the tahaqdt of the people of (the city).
A b u B ak r al-MaHki dealt w ith the (religious) scholars (of the
city) and also w rote a monograph on its servants (of God). ^
Spain: ^ Abia Cxalib al-Garnati.
A bu A bdallah al-Humaydi,'^ Jadwat al-Muqtahis.
A bu 1-W alidb . al-Faradi, al-Ihtifdl f i tardjim ar-rijdl, th at is, per
sons who were (either born) in Spain or who settled there, from the
beginning of the second to the end of the fourth century. Supple
m ents to Ibn al-Faradi are Ibn B askuw al, as-Silah', A b ii J a 'fa r
b. az-Z u b ayr (123); A bu A bdallah Muhammad b. al-Abbar
al-Q udai al-Andalusi, at-T akmilah \ and Chief Judge A bu
Abdallah M uham m ad b. M uhammad b. Abd-al-M alik al-Ansari al-M arrakusi, ad-Dayl wa-t-takmilah li-kitdhay al-MawsuL
wa-s-Silah, a substantia] work, in several volumes.
A bu M arwan H ayyan b. H alaf b. Husajm b. H ayyan al-Andalusi
1 Th e w ork is also q uoted b y Ibn Farhuri, Dibdj, 119 (Cairo 13 51); Ibn H ajar, Raf^ al-isr
Paris ms. ar. 2149, fol. 40b.
^ D . 363/973-74 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 233). Th e biographers (ad-Dabbi, Bugyat almultaniis, 131, M adrid 1885, Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana, 3; al-M aqqari, Analectes, I I, 113
D o z y and others, Leiden T885-61) mention works on various N orthw est A frican cities b y
this author. T h e y m ay be m eant here, b u t cf. also P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 80 f.
* H e appears to be identical w ith the author of the History of al-Qayrawdn, A b u Zayd
'A b d -a r-R ah m an b. M uham m ad, although the la tte r died nearly half a cen tu ry a fter alMundiri.
* For al-MMiki and his works, cf. above, p. 419, n. 5. Th e Ta?rih. al-Afdriqah, or Ifriqiyah,
b y M uham m ad b. al-H arit (cf. above, p. 418, n. 2), G A L Supplement I, 232, was overlooked
b y as-Sahaw i. It is also q uoted b y 4 yad , Maddrik, Ms. Cairo Ta^rih 2293, fols. 163b, 167a.
^ For Ibn S a 'id s list of Spanish histories, cf. al-M aqqari, Analectes, II, 122-24 D o z y
(Leiden t 8 5 5 - 6 i ) . Cf. also C. P e l l a t , in B. L e w i s and P . i\ f. H o l t , Historians o f the M iddle
East, 122 f.
H e m ay be id entical w ith Ibn G a lib whose Farhat al-anfus f i ahbdr ahl al-Andalus is
quoted b y al-M aqqari and whose name is said to be M uham m ad b. A y y u b a l-C a rn a ti
(al-M aqqari, Analectes, II, 104, 276, 4 1 7 ) - Cf. Ibn a l-F u w ati, Talhts Majma'^ al-dddb, IV ,
II I , 536 f. J a w a d ,
M uham m ad b. F u tuh , d. 488/1095 (cf. G A L , I, 338).
IHdn\ the 40o(s).
* Al.nnad b. Ibrahim , 627-708I1230-1308 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 733, no. loa). Cf. the
edition of his Silat as-Silah b y E . L e v i - P r o v e n ^ a l (R ab at 1938).
The correct te x t in Ms. Leiden.
" D . 469/1076 (cf. G A L , I, 338). I^ldn reads h icorrectly Abu Surur, instead of A b u
M arwan. A l-M u b in , according to G A L , appears elsewhere as al-M atin (cf. also as-S afad i,
W dfi, I, 49 R i t t e r ; ad-D ahabi, ^Ibar, III, 270 F u a d S a y y i d [K u w ait 1961]).

wrote two works on the subject, the larger one, al-Mubin, in s ix ty

volumes, and the other, al-Miiqtabis, in ten volumes.
A bu 'U m ar b. At,^ Rayhdnat at-tanaffus f i Htlamd' al-Andalus.
A b u Am ir M uhammad b. A hm ad b. Am ir al-Balaw i at-Tarasusi
(atTurtusi),^ Durar al-qald^id wa-giwar al-fawd^id f i ahbdr alAndahis wa-umard^ihd wa-tahaqdt ^ulamd^ihd wa-hi'^ard'^ihd.
A b u H ayyan , on Spanish heretics (?).
A b ii A bdallah b. H arit made a compilation of Spaniards.
The first U m ayyad-M arw anid ruler of Spain was A bd-ar-Rahm an
b. M u'aw iyah b. H isam b. Abd-al-M alik b. Marwan b. al-H akam
b. A b i l-A s al-Um awi al-Marwani. He ruled thirty-three years.
A fter him, his son H isam becam e the ruler. His descendants re
mained in power until the beginning of the fifth/eleventh century. ^
Bdb al-abwdb: Mamsiis (??) ad-Darbandi. ^
Bajdyah (Bougie); Ibn al-Hajj.^
Al-Cjubrini w rote a monograph on (Bajayah's) excellent men.
Buhdrd: Gunjar Muhammad b. Ahm ad al-Buhari, the hadit expert.'^
His w ork was abridged b y as-Silafi. The original is in m y possession.
Al-Basrah: Ibn D ahjan.
^ A h m ad b. H aruu, d. 609/1212 (cf. F .

ev i

-P

ro ven

^;a

La Peninsule Iberique, 165,

n. 3, Leiden 1938).
^ D. 559/1164 (cf. P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 226; G A L , I, 499).
^ I -ldn has the 400(5). Som e furth er quotations from Spanish histories; 'ly a d , Maddrik,
Ms. Cairo Ta^rih 2293, r, fol. 129b, quotes ar-R azi, on the gen ealogy of the Spaniards.
T h e History of Spa in b y M uham m ad b. Salih al-M a afiri al-Q ahtani, w ho died some time
a fter 370/980-81 (cf. also P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 93), is referred to b y as-Sam ^4ni, Ansdb,
fol. 443b, and quoted b y Sibt b. a l-'A ja m i (d. 884/1480, cf. G A L , II, 70), K u n u z ad-dahab
f i ta^rih Halab, Ms. Cairo (T aym u r ?) T a M h , 837, p. 27.
^ F or q uotations from an anonym ous h istory of B ab al-abw ab com pleted around 500/1106,
cf. V . M i n o r s k y , Studies in Caucasian H istory, 3 ff., 1 6 3 ff. (London 1 9 5 3 ) .
^ M uham m ad b . M uham m ad, d. 7 7 1 / 1 3 7 0 (cf. P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 333; A . G o n z a l e z
P a l e n c i a , Historia de la literatura Ar.-Espanola, 194, Barcelona-Buenos Aires 1928; Ibn
H ajar, Durar, IV , 1 5 5 - 5 7 ) (al-Ballafiqi).
Sic leg. Ahm ad b. A lm iad, d. 714/1315 (cf. G A L , II, 239).
D . 410/1019-20, or 422/1031, or, according to H ajji H alifah, K a sf az-zunun, II, 117
F l u g e l , in 412/1021-22, cf. Y a q iit, Irsdd, X V 'II, 2T3 f. (Cairo = V I, 329 M a r g o l i o u t h ) ,
from as-Sam ^ant, Ansdb, fol. 4 1 1 b ; E l , 2nd ed., s.v. G hundjar.
G u n ja rs History is quoted, for instance, b y TB, X , 27; Ibn Baskuw al, as-Silah, 205
C o d e r a ; as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, for instauce, fols. i8 a, looa , 227b, 374b, 443b, 508a, 555a;
ad-D ahabi, Tabaqat al-huffdz, gth tab., no. 23 W 'i'S t e n f e l d ; Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, I, 355.
I t w as used by a l-H ayd ari (cf.
I X , iig ) . C f . also TB , I, 296, X , 149, 297, X I I , 256.
Th e Additions to C u n ja r s History of Buhdrd b y A hm ad b. M uham m ad al-M am ani
(d. 436/1045) are m entioned b y as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fols. 487a, 504a; cf. Y a q iit, Irsdd,
X V I I , 213 (Cairo = \T , 329 M a r g o l i o u t h ) , and ad-D ahabi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz, 14th tab.,
no. 2 W ' l S T E n f e l d , where the auth or is called (Ahmad) b. Mama al-Isfahani,
M uham m ad b. Ja'-far au-N arsahis History of Buhdrd (cf. above,
160, n. 7; cf. also
as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fol. 74b) was not known to as-Sahawt. Al-P>ayhaqi, Ta^rih-i-Bayhaq,
21, m entions the history of Bu hara and Sam arqand b y a certain SaV l b. Janah.
* D ihqan ?, cf. below , p. 473, n. 8? H ajji H alifah has Whjdn.

462

U m a r
b.

b.

S a b b a h .^

H is

w o rk

is

in

th e

lib r a r y

of

M u h ib b -a d -d in

a s-S ih n a h .

B a g d a d :
Ib n

A h m a d

B a k r

h e n sive

one.

S a 'd

ten

h a s

or

b y

tia l

one.

S u p p le m e n ts

to

le ss;"^

w o rk

W ith

u m es

iu

in

o r

I ja zi ii

of

(K u w a it

lO ,

io , " o ) ;

H i : ;t o y v o j

I: y

II [, {i.j.?, I\ ,

'
\V

fol. 52.1 ( ill- nl' '//il 1

(/!!<>,..l u . - w > l

app-aai' a:

t/,.

190,

i!

th e

th e

S V ii

]\

a l - Q a t i i ;

m o st

su b s ta n

a n -1

Ib n

a d -

( :< r ,ii e

!, 2 cr.;.

i'l'n

Ib n

I).

th e

i la llik a n ,

11,

587,

ii '

'1

( i

'

1 ................1

i i , '''.j.S, 1

.\r,

>'

A iia-

, , a.

al -.\/,ra(i,

1,

. I,

;i 1

i :il i a

'>! ; , a ' - a > i u aa a

I, 1 ,

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6 59

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j \ 7 , iV ',lIT ,

81, ()(), 472 , 48(), 321 f., 381 j A w a v u ; 'I'aqi- ad -di ii a l- F a s i, iil-'^Iqcl a t - l j i i n h t , ef. .M. A m a k i ,
B i b l i u t i ' c a A r a b o - S i c u l a , 659 f.

SA V w oil r c i o ; lo v w io :-o (-rs ,

w a s

W fa sT KX ia oa) ; ad-i_)alaibi, D i i w u l ( i ! - l , II, i )<, I h d . a a i b a d i3 r ,!- o 3) . o i^ ania-; i . ".noted

b y I b a Kajalj, P a y !

ay

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3,,,:.

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of tllV' v a - a > a.; r .

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i.'j.'.', av.o-,. ^'Oo/..a-aa o oai.. o y ^^-lao .
h e d ii,lv .'0 [033
,.0
oa'-i^.oavor', .;i-OLOS l.

sou rces

1 1

tlie

/ v o l

F i n l l i ( . r c r . f . t a t i i ' i . s o f h i s
'< 2:

to
az-

nf

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r

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'i

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l e c l e s , l i , - 1 3 D o z y a ,i d otji 1

for instaiif ,', 1 IS,

is

w o r k

tlie

T u .i~ a d -d l

< ' i.

- Q u o t a t i x a s I'roai (hr

w ere

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w so'-i'-

o f il in

r,:

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ilio

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traw^. D v S l a : \ f . ; i h u

c o m c s

co m p re

M u n a m n i a f *. b .

wr>rk

a d d d itio 'ii^

''A 'fitte u

2 63/876-77,

referen ce

w h o se

m a i iiria ;

p o sse ssio n

o f a l-E a sra h

Ibu

th e

m o st

a s -S a m 'a n i

S \];)d a lla h

of)

th e

H a t i b s w o r k

( I ' b n a n - N a j i a r s)

ov/n

v o lu m e s

v.a s

D .

x\bu

is

sta n d a rd

th e

th ere are tw o

iiis

m issin '^ -

th e

w o rk

M u h a m m a d

co])y

in c lu d e d

is

(a

b.

b v

a n -N a jja r .

H e

s e v c n t('o n
Z a h iri,

b een

te n -v o lu m e
as

( ? ) , a n d

Ib n

D u b a y ti.

H is

u sed

a d -l)u b a y ti,

a n d

librarian of the M iistansiriyah Lilrrary in B agdad. (1 2 4 ) Another

thre(ovol;;Tne so*)|oeoo.-oI. wo-, wriLtei; b y Toqi-adoln!, b.

A bu S a (l (os-Sani'aV'') \v-olo also rho An<;ao ari-l i;u;

whicii C'?ntain ijiogioj'h'ias. Ibn Rafi'^ wrcne

'A b d -a l-K a r im

of a s-S ib t

It

vo lu m .e s,

A li

T a h ir.^

a l-H a tib .

(sch o la rs).

A b ii

A b i

Isfa n d iy a r.

A b u

la te r

b.

463

T R A N S L A T IO N

A S - S A H A W l S I L A N

he h\a-d

ai'oi;ad

^ ?, I.e itleu:

3ro'ni2.
al -a ^ sd r .

464

T R A N SL A T IO N

A S -S A H A W IS I LAN

F adl b. Tahir al-Balhi ^ who hved close to the time of the afore
mentioned A bu Ishaq and who had arranged his w ork according
to tahaqdt.

465

Elvira: S a id b. Sulaym an b. al-H usayn al-Cafiqi.^

Bayhaq: ^Ali b. Zayd.^
Takrit: *Abdallah b. Suw ayd at-Takriti, on the scholars {suyuh)

The Kitdh al-Bahjah which was composed about A b u H anifah

and his tw o famuh, A bii Y usu f and M uhammad (b. al-H asan asSaybani) and some of their circle, because m ost of them were from
Balh. Those of them who would pass the requirements for ac
ceptance in the w ork are about thirty. The last of them is
the ascetic A bu 1-L a yt as-Samarqandi.^ A source (of the Bahjah ?)
was again the w ork of A bu Ishaq.

of (the city).
Tlemcen: between B a ja y a h (Bougie) and F ez

The Kitdh al-Kasf^ of "Abdallah b. Muhammad b. Y a qub alHariti, because it contains a number of Balhis around A bu Hanifah
and his chains of transm itters connected w ith (Balh ?) (also was
a source of the Bahjah?).
Valencia'. Ibn Alqamah.^

(regions).
T u n is '. a city in Ifriqiyah in the w est A t-Tam im i, on the jurists

Jemsale^n: A b u 1-Qasim M aki b. Abd-as-Salam b. ar-R um ayli

al-Maqdisi, the hadit expert,^ compiled the history and praise
[fadd^il] of Jerusalem but did not complete (the work).
A bii B akr Muhammad b. A hm ad b. Muhammad al-W asiti alH atib compiled the praise [faddHl, of the city), in one quire.
Salah-ad-din (125) Abii S a 'id H alil b. K a yk ald i al-A la i.
A bu Mansur < . . . . ? >
Tm ad-ad-din Muhammad b. Muhammad b. Hamid al-Isbahani
al-K M ib, al-Fath al-Qussi f i l-fath al-Qiidsi, in two volumes.
The hadit expert Abri B ak r b. Muhibb-ad-din abstracted those
who settled in Jerusalem.
Burhan-ad-din Ibrahim b. Taj-ad-din Abd-ar-Rahm an b. Ibra
him b. Sab ba' al-Fazari b. al-Firkah,^ BdHt an-nufus '-aid ziydrat
al-Quds al-mahrus, in one quire.

Ibn al-Asfar.
Ibn Hudbah.
Tinnis: A b u 1-Qasim Abd-al-M uhsin b. U tm an b. O anaim alHatib,^ al-'-Arus f i faddHl Tinnis, in praise of (the city).
Tihdmah and al-Hijdz\ Ibn Calib, on the history [ahhdr) of both

of (the city).
fu rjd n : H am zah b. Y u su f as-Sahmi. (His work) is in m y posses
sion. A n abridgm ent was composed b y D iy a -ad-din al-Maqdisi.
A l-fazirah: A bii A rubah al-H u sayn b. M uhammad b. A b i M asar
al-Harrani.^ Also his pupil
f i m asjid l liy d b y Ibn an-Najjar (ad-Dahabi, H istory o f Islam , Bodleian ms. or Laud 304,

foL 194b).
A great history of Jerusalem and a sound fascicle in praise of Hebron appears to
have been written b y am s-ad-din Muhammad al-Kanji as-Sufi (d. 682/1283), cf. Ibn Rafi',
M untahab al-muhtdr, Ta^rih ^ulamd'^ Bagddd, 200 (Bagdad 1357/1938), and M ugultay, alW ddih al-m ubin, 176 S p i e s (Stuttgart ig^6, Bonner Orientalistische Studien 18). For another
seventh/thirteenth century work on the fadd^il of Jerusalem, cf. H ajji ^lalifah, K a s f azzu n u n , I, 454 F l u g e l . Cf., further, Ibn Hajar, D urar, IV , 251.

1
Mutarrif b. 'Isa al-6assani wrote on the poets of Elvira, cf. E l I a s T e r s , in A l-A n d a lu s,
X I , 138 f. (1946). Mutarrifs Ta^rih of Elvira is quoted b y Ibn Farhun, Dthdj, 174 (Cairo
1 351). A H istory o f (the Scholars of) E lv ira b y A bu 1-Qasim Muhammad b. Abd-al-W ahid
al-Gafiqi al-Mallahi (d. 619/1222) is mentioned b y his student ar-Ru'ayni, B arndm aj, 64
S a b b i j h (Damascus 1381/1962), in as-Safadis W dfi, IV , 68 D e d e r i n g , and in the Ihatah
(cf. P o n s B o i g u e s , En sayo, 273). A work on the jurists of Elvira was supposedly written
b y Isa b. Muhammad (d. 403/1012, cf. P o n s B o i g u e s , E n sa yo, 108).
^ Ta^rth-i-Bayhaq (Teheran 1317/1939).
^ Abdallah b. ^Ali b. Suwayd, who was mentioned b y Ibn an-Najjar, cf. IJajji ^alifah,
K a s f az-zunun, II, 122 F l u g e l , died 584/1188. I^ldn has Suwaydah.
* Wrote before 413/1022-23 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 548).

D .

323/934-35

^ A p p a r e n tly ,

N a sr

195 i-).

^ K a s f

P a ris

b.

D .

492/1099

G .

cf.
d.

I m a m

a b o v e ,
^ o g liiG

A ra b ic o -H isp a n a ,

(as-S am '^ an i,

V a jd a ,

D .

O n e

M u h a m n ia d

L es

a b o v e ,

o f the

m ig h t

C ertifica ts

p p .

729/1320

J o u rn a l

i-)-

p.

al-h u d a,

449,

(Ib n

6;

E .

n.

fo u rth /teu th

ce iitu ry

(cf.

G A L ,

I,

4.

a l-A b b a r,

145,

L e v i-P ro v e n ^ a l,

no.

5 14

Isla m

C o d era ,
d O c cid cn t,

M a d rid
192

ff.,

1948).

m e n tio n e d

in

47

M u h a m m a d ,

al-H a laf,

B ih lio th eca

Id e n tica l w ith
4 6 5 ;

b.

a l-d td r. I'o r a l- H a r iti,

^ M u h a m m a d
1886-89,

X I I ,

4 3 7
(cf.

b.
dc

lecturc

an d

439.
II,

130).

O rien ta l

a s-S a h a w i

fo l.

259b).

'^ A b d a lla h , 7 1 2

G A L ,

P a le stin e

e x p e c t

A n sd b ,

35

I'o r

S o ciety ,

to

or 713-78 9 /13 13 -8 7

[P a ris

h is

X I\ ',

m e n tio n

19 57]),

a n d

sources,
284-93

h ere

cf.

w ith

th e

(1934),

w o r k

su ch

(Ib n
the

l.Ia ja r, D u r a r ,
Ib u

e d itio n
X V ,
as

b y

51-8 7

th e

III,

M u h ib b -a d -d ia

C .

D .

M a tth e w s,

(1935).

K a ifd a t

a l-aw liy d ^

E . A m a r , in J A , X , 19, 261, n. 4 (1912), referred in this connection to a H istory b y

A bu G alib Humam b. al-Facjl b. al-Muhaddab al-Magribi, but according to Y aqut, Mu^jam
(cf. also Ibn al-'Adim, B ugyat at-talab, Paris ms. ar. 2138, fol. 13a), that work had nothing
to do with this particular area. I do not know whether C, C a h e n , L a Syrie du N ord, 44, n. 3
^Paris 1940), in ascribing a history of the H ijaz to Humam, had A m ars suggestion in mind,
or whether he had independent information.
His work is also quoted b y as-Sam'ani, Ansdb, passim-, Ibn al-'Adim , Bugyat at-talab,
Paris ms. ar. 2138, fol. 45a; ad-Dabbi, Bugyat al-multamis, 462 (Madrid 1885, Bibliotheca
A ra bica -H ispa n a, 3). The incomplete text of the unique Bodleian manuscript was published
in Hyderabad 1369/1950. A work on the tunnd^ (landholders, doubtful reading) of Jurjan
b y A bu YaHa Muhammad b. al-Husayn is mentioned b y as-Sahmi, 411 f.
The F ih rist (above, p. 381, n. 4) states that he wrote only one work and does not men
tion his histories of the Jazirah and ar-Raqqah, but the Ta^rth al-Jazartyin is quoted b y
as-Sam'am, A nsdb, fols. i6 ia , 306a; Y aqut, Mu^jam, cf. F . J. H e e r , op. cit., 35.
R

o sen th al

H istory of Muslim Historiography

30

466

A S -S A H lw fs I l A n

A b u 1-H asan A li b. al-H asan b. A llan al-Harrani, the hadit

expert, 1 on the history of (the region).
Algeziras: in Spain
Ibn Hamis.2
Ibn a l-Q a tta ,^ on the poets of (the Island!).
A b u 1-H asan A li b. BassS-m/ ad-Dahnah f i mahdsin ahl alJazirah, in w hich he used as his basic w ork of reference the History
of A b u Marwan b. H ayyan, in several volumes.
Harrdn: A b u t-T a n a H am m adb. H ib a ta M h b. H am m ad b. al-Fadl
al-Harrani,^ on the history of (the city). A b u 1-Mahasin b. Salam ah
b. H alifah al-H arrani completed (H am m ads) work. Sayf-ad-din
A b u M uhamm ad A bd-al-Gani b. M uhammad b. T aym iyah alH arrani w rote (a copy of) it in his own handwriting.
Aleppo: A b u 1-Faw aris H am den b. A bd-ar-Rahim b. H am dan
at-Tam im i al-Ataribi, later al-Halabi, al-Qut, a history of (the
city) from the year 490/1996-97 on. T he w ork comprises the history
[ahhdr], times, and Syrian expedition of the Franks, from the
mentioned year on.
KamM -ad-din U m ar b. A hm ad b. a l-Adim , Bugyat at~talab,
a substantial w ork on the history of (the city). I have come across
a large part of the work. Supplements to it were w ritten (126) b y
^ Ibn A lla n s w ork is quoted b y as-Sam 'am , Ansdb, fol. 442a. The author is m entioned
in T B , I I , 1333 i2 On the a u th o rity of H a jji H alifah, P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 187, thought of 'A b d -alJ a b b a r b. A b i B a k r b. H am dis (cf. G A L , I, 269 f., cf. also the edition of his Dtwdn b y
I h s a n ' A b b a s [B eiru t 1379/1960]). Ensayo, 331 f., refers to A b u B a k r b. ^ am sin (?),
from the Ihdtah and H a jji FJalifah. Th e author of the History of Malaga {IHdn, 25, above,
p. 300) is probab ly m eant here.
3 'A li b . J a 'fa r , d. 514/1120, or 515 (cf. G A L , I, 308, Supplement I, 540). T h e Island
is Sicily!
* D . 542/1147-48, or 543 (cf. G A L , I, 339).
H e died in 598/1202 (Ibn a l-'Im M , Sadardt, IV , 335, Cairo 1350-51; Ib n K a tir, Bidd yah ,
X I I I , 33 f.). A m anuscript of Ibn 'A b d -a l-B arrs Istidkdr was w ritten for him in 573/1177-78
(cf. Y . a l-'Iss, F ih tis mahtutdt Ddr al-Kutub az-Zdhirtyah, 274, Dam ascus 1366/1947),
and in the same year, the History of ar-Raqqah w as studied under him in A lexan d ria, accord
ing to the stu d y notes in Phot. Cairo T a ym u r T a rih 2490, p. 28. The w ork is quoted b y
Ib u a l-'A d im , Bugyat at-talab, Paris ms. ar. 2138, fol. 9b (life of Ishaq b. Nasr).
C f . also C. C a h e n , La Syrie du Nord, 36, n. 12 (Paris 1940); H ajji H alifah, K a S f azzunun, II, 125 F l u g e l . T h e W dft has M ahasin b. H alifah.
A n older w ork is A b u 'A m r as-Sulam is (?) History o f the Harrdnians, q uoted b y as-Sam 'ani,
Ansdb, fol. 134 b.
581-639/1185-1241 (Ibn al-'Im ad , Sadardt, V , 204 f.). He is the son of the Ibn T a y m iya h
m entioned in G A L Supplem ent II, 1024, and the father of 'A bd-al-Q ahir w ho died in 6 y il
1272-73 (Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, X I I I , 264).
D. after 554/1159 (Y aq u t, Irsdd, X , 272-74, Cairo = IV , 143 f. M a r g o l i o u t h ) . H is
History is quoted b y Ibn al-'A dim , Bugyat at-talab, Paris ms. ar. 2138, fol. 185a (life of Aqsunqur b. Abdallah), cf. also C. C a h e n , La Syrie du Nord, 41 f. (Paris 1940).

TRANSLATION

467

A l^-ad-din b. H atib-an-N asiriyah, in several volum es, and, be

fore him, b y Ibn A s a ir.^
Emesa {Hims): A hm ad b.
A bd-as-Sam ad b. S a id, on the men around M uhamm ad who
settled there.
A b u B a k r b. Sadaqah.
Hurds an: A l-Abiw ardi.
A l-H akim , on the history

{ahhdr) of Hurasanian

(religious)

scholars.
A b u Z ayd al-Balhi, on the good qualities and actions of the Hurasanians.^
A b u 1-H usayn A li b. A hm ad as-Sallami,^ on the history of the
governors of (Hurasan). I h ave come across the abridgm ent of the
w ork b y the hadit expert Jam al-ad-din A b u 1-Mahasin Y u su f b.
Ahm ad b. Mahmud al-Yagm uri, the autograph (copy of the author),
in several quires.
^ M uham m ad b. 'A li, d. 789/1387 (Ibn H ajar, Durar, IV , 85 f.). H e w as also the author
of a History of Qinnasrin, en titled an-Nastartn f t ta^rih Qinnasrin (H ajji ^lalifah, Ka^f az~
zunun, I I , 94, no. 2059, and I I , 142, no. 2283 F l u g e l : Tajan-nisrtn). T h e w ork is m entioned
b y (M uham mad b. Ibrahim ) Ibn al-H anbali (d. 971/1563, cf. G A L , I I , 368), Durr al-habab,
Paris ms. ar. 5884, fol. 4b, from the d raft of S ib t b. a l-'A ja m i s KunHz ad-dahab. A s Ibn
H aja r did not m ention it, the w ork escaped as-Sahaw is attention.
A l-H asan b . 'U m ar b. H abib w rote Lladrat an-nadtm m in Ta^rih Ibn al-^Adim, as he
him self says in his Durrat al-asldk, Bodleian ms. or. M arsh 223, fol. 43b, anno 660. There
were a num ber of other works on the h istory of Aleppo w hich as-Sahaw i m ight h ave m en
tioned. Some notes on the historians of Aleppo are also to be found in 'A b b a s a l-'A zzaw i,
at-Ta'-rif bi-l-mu^arriMn, I, 77 ff.
A h m ad b . M uham m ad b. 'Isa , third/eighth cen tury {TB, V , 63). H is w ork is quoted
b y a s-Sam 'an i, Ansdb, fol. 380a.
^ Th e nam es could refer to Ju d ge W a k i' w ho is un likely to be m eant here. W hether this
author of the history of Em esa is identical w ith Judge A b u B a k r b. Sadaqah
(d. 490/1097) of M ayyafariqin who figures in the h istory of M ayyafariqin b y Ibn al-A zraq ?
*
No such w ork b y A b u Z a yd al-B alh i is m entioned in the rather exten sive bibliographies
of the F ihrist and Y a q u t. Y a q u t, it is true, has a FaddHl Balh am ong A b u Z a y d s works
{IrSdd, I I I , 68, Cairo = I, 143 M a r g o l i o u t h ).
I t should, how ever, be noted th at as-Sam 'an i, Ansdb, fols. 212a, 245b, (and al-B ayhaq i,
TaM h-i-Bayhaq, 21, 138, 154, 255), quote a M afdhir Hurdsdn b y the fam ous M u'tazilah
A b u 1-Qasim al-B alh i (cf. above, p. 430, n. 8), and as-Safadi, W dft, Bodleian ms. or. Seld.
Arch. A . 24, fol. 19b, m en tion s such a book among his works. T he F ihrist {ZDM G, X C , 305
[1936]) does not have this inform ation in the list of the works of A b u 1-Qasim b u t cites his
M ahdsin H urdsdn in connection w ith Ibn ar-R aw an di, according to the fragm ent published
b y M. T . H o u t s m a , in W Z K M , IV , 217 ff. (1890), and republished as an appendix to the
Cairo 1348 edition of the F ihrist. In Ta^rth-i-Bayhaq, 21 an d 255, the title is Ta^rih Nisdbur
and M afdhir Nisdbur, respectively.
It is w ell possible th at there existed such a w ork b y the M u'tazilah A b u 1-Qasim and
th at his w ork w as e r r o n e o u s l y ascribed b y Y a q u t and as-Sahaw i to the fam ous A b u Z ayd
whose geographical interests were well-known.
Cf. above, p. 321, n. 7. A n other h istory of H urasan, w ritten not m uch later than asS allam i, w as the Farid at-ta^rih f t ahhdr Hurdsdn b y a certain A b u 1-H asan M uham m ad b.
S ulaym an b. M uham m ad. It is quoted b y Y a q u t, IrSdd, I V , 192 (Cairo = II, 60 M a r g o
l i o u t h ).

468

AS-SAH AW t s

Hebron'. M aki b. Abd-as-Salam ar-Rum ayli, on the pilgrim age

{ziydrah) to (the city).^
Huwdrizm: The rehgious leader and hadit expert A b u Muhammad
M ahmud b. Muhammad b. A bbas b. Arslan al-Huwarizmi,^ the
author of the Kitdb al-Kdfi f i l-fiqh, a contem porary of A b u 1-Qasim
b. Asakir. His w ork (on Huwarizm) consists of about eight v o l
umes. The hadit expert ad-D ahabi derived m aterial from it.^
Muzhir-ad-din al-K asi>
Ddrayyd: A b u A ll A bd-al-Jabbar b. A bdallah al-Hawlani.
Damascus'. Ibn Asakir, in eigh ty volumes. The m anuscript in the
M ahm udiyah has fifty-seven volumes. The author starts w ith
inform ation {aJihdr) about the city. This is followed b y a biography
of the Prophet which ends w ith a chapter on the prayer for him.
This fills three volumes and something. The author then goes into
the names, starting with the Ahm ads. His son al-Qasim w rote
a supplement to (the work). Abridgm ents of the History of Ibn
A sakir were w ritten b y al-Fadili; A bu Sam ah who also wrote
a supplem ent to it , in two recensions, a large one and a small
one; U m ar b. al-H ajib, in five volumes, of which the last, a big
volum e, e x ists; and ad-Dahabi, in ten fascicles in his handw riting.
^ Daw^, II, 276, m entions a sim ilar w ork b y Ishaq b. Ibrahim at-Tadm uri, d. 833/1430.
*
D. 568/1172-73 (cf. G. B e r g s t r a s s e r , in Zeitschrift fu r Sem itistik, I I, 205, 1926). H is
w ork is quoted b y Y a q u t, Mu^jam, I I I , 343 W u s t e n f e l d ; IrSdd, I X , 191 (Cairo = III ,
212 M a r g o l i o u t h ) ; ad-D ahabi, History o f Islam , Bodleian ms. or. Laud 304, fol. 251a,
am ong the biographies of the year 562; as-Safadi, W afi, IV , 179 D e d e r i n g ; as-Subki,
Tabaqdt as-SdfiHyah, V , 10, 305 f. (Cairo 1324); 'A b d -al-Q ad ir al-Q urasi, al-Jawdhir almudtyah, II, 372 (H yderabad 1332); al-Fasi, al-^Iqd at-tamin (life of M uham m ad b. A h m ad
b. A b i S a 'id ); Ibn a l-F u w ati, TalMs Majma^ al-dddb, IV , I I I , 468 J a w a d .
T h e inform ation on Ibn A rslan s w ork we h ave here is found in al-F asi, loc. cit., who
quotes ad-D ahabi.
^ T h is seems to be the reading of the nisbah in Ms. Leiden, b u t only id entification of the
author can decide w hether it is correct. A l-H asan b. al-M uzaffar an-N isaburi, who died in
442/1051, w rote Ziydddt ahbdr Huwdrizm (Y aq u t, Irsdd, I X , 193, Cairo = III, 213 M a r g o
l i o u t h ). A l-B iru n i, too, is said to h ave w ritten stories on H u w arizm (Y aq u t, Irsdd, X V I I ,
185, Cairo = V I, 311 M a r g o l i o u t h ; M u ^jam, II, 483 W i j s t e n f e l d ), b u t no such w ork is
m entioned b y al-B irun i in his Risdlah f l fih rist kutub Muhammad h. Zakariyd^ ar-Rdzi.
A l-B a y h a q i, Ta^rth-i-Bayhaq, 2 1, mentioixs tw o m ore histories of H uw arizm .
D . betw een 365/975-76, and 370/980-81 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 210), above, p. 168.
A d -D ah abi states th at he had studied the History of Ddrayyd, cf. his Tabaqdt al-qurrd^,
Phot. Cairo Ta^rih 1537, p. 234.
A l-Q asim b. 'A li, d. 600/1203 (cf. G A L , I , 331). A volum e of his D a y l is preserved in the
Z ahiriyah , cf. the catalogue b y Y . a l - ' I s , 129 f., and the introduction of the new edition
of the Ta^rih Dimasq b y S. a l -M u n a j j i d which began to appear in Dam ascus 1371/1951.
F or a m anuscript in his handwriting, cf. Islam ic Culture, X V I , 352 f. (1942).
A s-Safad i m entions a supplem ent b y Sadr-ad-din al-H asan b. M uham m ad al-B akri,
d. 656/1258, which apparently is not identical w ith a n y of the works m entioned here (cf.
E . A m a r , in / . 4 , X , 19, 253, n. i, 1912). Th e autograph m anuscripts of Ibn M anzurs abridg
m ent are in Istan b u l, K op riilii 1148-51, cf. M. W e i s w e i l e r , Der islamische Bucheinband,
160 (W iesbaden 1962).

469

TRANSLATION

1 l A n

A b u Ism ail M uhamm ad b. A bdallah al-Azdi al-Misri and alW aqidi w rote on the Conquest (of the c ity b y the Muslims).
A b u 1-H asan A ll b. M uhamm ad b. S u ja a r-R a b a i ^ and Ibrahim
b. Abd-ar-Rahm,n al-Fazari ^ w rote on the praise {faddHl) of
(the city).
A b u H udayfah Ishaq b. B isr al-Qurasi,^ The Conquest o f Syria,
A sia M inor {Rum), Egypt, the '-Irdq, and the Magrih.
A hm ad b. al-M ualla ad-D im asqi, a fascicle on the

main

mosque of Dam ascus and its construction.

Dunaysir: A b u H afs U m ar b. al-H idr at-T urki al-M utatabbib
ad-D unaysiri, H ilyat as-sariyin min hawdss ad-Dunaysiriyin.
Ar-Raqqah: A b u A li Muhamm ad b. S a id b. Abd-ar-Rahm an
al-Qusayri (127) al-Harrani.
A b ii A rubah al-H usayn b. M uhammad b. M awdud al-Harrani.
Ar-Rayy: A b u 1-H asan b. Babawayh.^
A b u Mansur al-Abi.^
Zabid: Um arah b. (Abi) al-Hasan al-H akam i al-Yam ani
M ii al-Faradi, the p oet,ii al-M ufid f i ahbdr Zahid.

as-

Sdmarrd: Ibn A b i l-Barakat.^^

1 In the edition of ar-R ab a ^is FaddHl as-Sa^m wa-DimaSq b y S. a l -M u n a j j i d (D am ascus
1950), the d ate of his death is in d icated as 444/1052-53, as again st G A L , I, 330 f., where

435/1043-44 is given.
H is w ork, en titled al-IHdm bi-fadd^il aS-Sa^m, is a faith fu l abridgm ent of a r-R a b a 'is
w ork, cf. the edition o f the la tter. In his w ork on Jerusalem (above, p. 464, n. 7), he used,
according to G A L Supplement II, 161, the Fadd^il al-Quds wa-S-Sa^m of A b u 1-M a'ali alM usarraf b. al-M urajja al-M aqdisi (cf. G A L Supplement I, 567).
T h e FaddHl a^-Sa^m, Ms. Cairo (TaM h) Majami*^ 519, fols. i3b-24b, is ascribed to asSam^ani (cf. G A L Supplement I, 565), b u t this ascription seems to be rather doubtful.
^ A b u H u dayfah w as a client of the B anu Hasim , and his nisbah u su ally is Buh&ri,
or B a lh i, or Hur&sani.
Third/ninth cen tury, if he is identical w ith the scholar of th is nam e m entioned b y
Y a q u t, Mu^jam, cf. W i j s t e n f e l d s index. H e died in 286/899, cf. S. ad-D ahhan s edition
of Ib n Saddad, al-AHdq al-hatirah, 33 (intro.), 269, n. 2 (D am ascus 1375/1956); S. al-M imajjid , in Revue de IInstitut des M anuscrits Arabes, II, 68 (1956).
* Al-M aqrizi, Hitat, I, 177, 184 (B ulaq 1270), refers to a History o f Damiette, which,
how ever, m a y be a conquest novel.
W rote around 610/1213-14 (cf. G A L , I, 333. T h e w ork is quoted b y al-Q ifti, 290 M u l l e r L ip p e r t .

* D . 334/945-46 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 210; as-Sam 'an i, Ansdb, fol. 257b, also i8 ob,
440a). A ph otostat of the Dam ascus m anuscript of the w ork is in Cairo T a y m u r Ta^rilj 2490.
I t has been published in H am ah 1378/1959.
* F req u en tly quoted b y Ibn H ajar, Lisd n , for instance, IV , 81, V , 70, 83, 87, 89, 103,
105, 388, 394. Ibn B a b a w a y h s D a y l (Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, V , 317) m ay be a supplem ent to the
History of ar-Rayy.
H is H istory" is m entioned b y at-T a'M ibi, Yatim ah, I, 100 (D am ascus 1304); Y& qut,
Mu'-jam, IV , 431 W u s t e n f e l d .
U m arah b. ^Ali, d. 569/1174 (cf. G A L , I, 333 f . ; S . M. S t e r n , in Oriens, I V , 212, n. i
[1951]). F or the w ork w ith an identical title b y JayyaS b. N ajah , cf. above, p. 159.
A History of Sdmarrd is quoted b y as-Safadi, W dft, Bodleian ms. or. Seld. Arch.
A . 29, fol. 138a (life of Y u n us b. A y y u b al-'A skari), through Ibn as-Sa'^i.

470

a s - sa h Aw

! s

T R A N S LA TIO N

i l A n

Ceuta: lyad.^
Samarqand: A b u 1- A bbas al-Mustagfiri.
A b u S a d Abd-ar-Rahm an b. Muhammad b. 'A b d aM h b. Idn s
al-Idrisi al-Astarabadi, the hadit expert.
U m ar b. M uhammad b. A hm ad b. Ism ail an-Nasafi,^ al-Qand
f t dikr 'ulamd^ Samarqand. The w ork was abridged b y D iy a -ad-din
al-Maqdisi.
Segura: a district in Spain in (near?) Cordoba
Ibn Idris.
Sirdz: A b u A bdallah Muhammad b. A b d -al-A ziz b. A hm ad b.
A bd-ar-R ahm an as-Sirazi al-Qass^r. Also
A b u 1-Qasim as-irazi,^ who combined (Siraz) w ith (the whole
of) Fars.
upper Egypt: A li b. A b d -al-A ziz al-K,tib.
K am al-ad-din J a far al-Udfuwi, at-Tdli^ as-saHd al-jdmi^ li-lfu d a W wa-r-ruwdh hi-aHd as-SaHd, in one alphabetically arranged
volume.
Safad: M uhammad b.
(Safad ).5

A bd-ar-R ahm an

a l-Utm ani,

Judge

of

Sicily: A b u Z a y d al-Camri.
San'-d^: Ishaq b. Jarir az-Zuhri,'^ a slender, instructive work.
1 T h e w ork, en titled al-Funun as-sittah, w as left unpublished according to the Ihdtah.
For a w ork on the scholars and pious men of the c ity b y M uham m ad b. A b i B a k r al-H adram i, cf. G A L Supplem ent I I, 338.
D . 537/1142 (cf. G A L , I, 427 f.. Supplement I, 762, X I I ). T h e Qand is v e ry often quoted,
for instance, in al-B undari, History o f Bagdad, Paris m s. ar. 6152, fol. 8b (life of A h m ad b.
Ism a 'il b. N asr); as-Sam ^ani, Ansdb, fol. 194b. C f. also W . B a r t h o l d , Turkestan down to
the Mongol Invasion, 15 f. (London 1928, E . J . W . Gibb M em. Series, N .S ., 5).
Ib n a l-F u w ati, TalM s Majma^ al-dddb, IV , I II , 555 J a w a d , quotes his Tabaqdtahl Sirdz.
H is History o f Pars is q uoted b y as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fols. 28b, 141b, 193b, 428b.
* H ib atallah b. *^Abd-al-Warit, d. 485/1092-93 (Ibn al-Jaw zt, Muntazam, I X , 74 f.; Ibn
K sith , B iddy ah, X I I , 144; cf. as-Safadi, Wdfi). Cf. F. J . H e e r , op. cit., 38. H e e r s ascription
of a H istory o f Strdz to A b u H assan az-Ziyadi, on the strength of Y a q u t, Mu'-jam, III ,
350 WtrsTENFELD, is erroneous.
' W rote around 780/1378-79 (c f. G A L , II, 91). Cf. also G A L Supplem ent, I, 568.
* C i.M . A u A m , Storia dei M usulm ani d i S icilia , I, 37 f. (2nd edition b y G . L e v i d e l l a
V i d a and C. A . N a l l i n o , Catan ia 1933-39). For quotations from Ibn al-Qgitta^'s History o f
S icily (Y aq u t, IrSdd, X I I , 282, Cairo = V , 107 M a r g o l i o u t h ), cf. F. J . H e e r , op. cit., 43;
Ibn al-F u w ati, Talhis Majma'- al-dddb, IV , i , 114, 301, IV , III , 557 J a w a d . See also
above, p. 466, n. 3. F or Ib n H aw q als S icily w hich was no h istorical w ork, cf. F.
G a b r i e l i , in R S O , X X X V I , 249 (1961).
Ms. Leiden: San'a^: M entioned below under the Y e m e n .
Cf. IHdn, 134, below , p. 484, and G A L Supplement I I I , 1268. The A lexan d ria m anuscript
7225 (T aM h 3682g), to w hich G A L refers, is incom plete a t the beginning, although perhaps
no m ore than one folio is missing. It is dated S afar 992/1584. On the fly-leaf, it has a modern
lib ra ry note to the effect th a t the author of the w ork is Ishaq b. Jarir as-San'ani. In the
m anuscript, there is no reference to the author, as far as I could ascertain in the short
tim e I had at m y disposal for stu dying the m an u script. The w ork ends more or less w ith
the tim e of the m en around M uham m ad. T h ere is no later h istory; in fact, there is h ard ly

471

Sinhdjah:
Tyre: 6 a y t al-Arm anazi.^
Tdbah: I.e., Medina.
Tripolis: In the Mu^jam as-safar, as-Silafi said: A b u 1-H asan
A li b. A bdallah b. M ahbub at-Tarabulusi * w rote a little history
of (Tripolis). I h ave come across it and selected from it the things
I considered remarkable. T h e author has taken down much m ate
rial (on various subjects) on m y authority. He (orally) communi
cated to me (the History of Tripolis).
Toledo: Ibn Muzahir.
Al-'-Irdq: Ibn al-Q&.tuli.^
A hm ad b. (Abi?) Tahir.
As-Siili.
'Asqaldn: A b u M uhamm ad A hm ad b. M uhamm ad b.

U b ayd

b. Adam, on the praise {faddHl) of (the city).

a n y h istorical inform ation a t all in the m anuscript. I t m ay, how ever, be observed th at alJan ad i, in the introduction o f the Suliik, describes Ishaq s w ork as a slender [lattf) w ork
w hich has a num ber of useful notes. A l-Jan ad i does n ot give the im pression (which appears
to be intended b y as-Sa^iawi, below , p. 484) th at Ish aq s w ork contained chronologically
arranged h istorical inform ation. H ow ever, unless a com parison of the A lexan d ria m anu
script w ith al-Janadi should prove me w rong, I am inclined to believe th at the ascription
of the m anuscript to Ishaq is n ot correct. Its relationship to a r-R azis History o f San^d^
rem ains to be investigated .
^ T h e b lank space here, as w ell as under L am tfln ah and al-M asam idah, m a y h ave its
origin in the fa c t th a t as-Safadi m entions an anonym ous History o f Three Berber Tribes.
^ G a y t b. 'A ll, d. 509/1115 (Y aq u t, Mu'^jam, I, 218 W u s t e n f e l d ; as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb,
fol. 26b). He is a different person from the G a y t b. 'A lt as-Suri who w as a teacher and
colleague of the IJatib al-B agdad! (cf. Y a q u t, Ir^dd, IV , 15, 21, Cairo = I, 246, 249 M a r
; Ib n al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, V I I I , 266).
Ph ot. Cairo Ta^rih 3932, p . 299. In the Mu^jam, the la st sentence of the above quo

g o l io u t h

tation properly precedes the one before it.

* D . 522/1128 (Y a q u t, Mu^jam, I I I , 523 W u s t e n f e l d ).
S ic W dfi. Ms. Leiden: A l-'A tu b i (?).
Ibn H ajar, Mu^jam al-mufahras, Ms. Cairo M ust, al-hadit 82, p. 157, m entions a
pam phlet (juz^) containing the praise (fadl) of 'A sq a lan w hich w as studied w ith {quri^a ^ald)
A b u M uham m ad A h m ad b. M uham m ad b. 'U b a y d b. A d am a l-'A sq a la n i. Ibn H aja rs
choice of words leaves it open w hether Ibn A d am w as the author of the w ork or one of its
transm itters. Th e form er a ltern a tiv e is b y fa r the m ore lik e ly one. A d am al-'A sqalan i
died 220/835 (al-Buhari, Ta^rih, I, 2, 39 f.; T B , V I I I , 27-30). H is grandson M uham m ad is
m entioned b y as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fol. 390a; Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, V , 276.
A w ork on the fadaHl of 'A sq a lan is m entioned b y as-Silafi, Mu^jam, Phot. Cairo T a rih
3832, p. 30: W e heard him , i.e. (al-H usayn b. 'A li b. Ahm ad) al-Jizi (?), sa y: Ibn atT arju m an (i), the h ead of the S ufis in D am ascus-Syria, used to transm it a book on the
faddHl of 'A sq a lan w hich contained m an y traditions. W hen 'A b d -a l-'A z iz (b. Muhammad)
an-N ah sabi cam e there, he studied the book w ith Ibn at-Tarjum an(i) and sta ted th at it
contained on ly tw o sound tradition s. M uham m ad b. al-H usayn b. 'A b d -ar-R ah m an b.
at-T arju m an i died after 440/1048-49 (as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fol. 105a). According to the slightly
garbled notice in Ibn al-'Im ad , Sadardt, I II , 278 (Cairo 1350-51), he died in 448/1056. I t
is possible b u t not lik e ly th at this w ork is identical w ith th at of A h m ad b. M uham m ad
b. 'U b a y d . A rab ic te x t, below, p. 610.

472

a s -s a h a w

! s

i l

'Askar Mukram: A bu Ahm ad al-H asan b. A b d a M h b. S a id

a l-Askari.
Gdziydn: Under Abiward.
Granada: Lisan-ad-din b. al-H atib, al-Ihdtah, a valuable work.
(128) A n autograph (copy of the work) is waqf p roperty of the
Sa^id as-suad a \ Badr-ad-din al-B astaki m ade an abridgm ent
of it, Markaz al-Ihdtah f t udahd^ Garndtah.'^
A bu AbdalM h Muhammad b. M uhammad b. A hm ad b. Mu
ham m ad b. Ju za y y al-C>arn^ti al-Adib,^ who died in 756/1355, on
the history of (the city). The larger portion of the w ork is available.
He is earlier than Ibn al-Hatib.
Fdrs: Mentioned above under Siraz.
Fez: Ibn *Abd-al-Karim.
Ibn A b i Z a r .
A z-Zulayhi (?).
C airo:
Cordoba: Az-Zahr&,wi.^
Ibn Mufrih (?). should be checked w hether he (it) is different
from the former.
Ibn H ayyan , on the jurists of (the city).
A b u A bdallah b. H arit, on the Q ayrawanians (?).
Qazwin: Im am -ad-din A b u 1-Qasim a r-R a fii, at-Tadwin. The m an
uscript which is at the basis (of the known copies) was in the
library of A la -ad-din b. H atib-an-N asiriyah. Ibn H ajar copied
several quires of excerpts from the m anuscript when he w as in
Aleppo in the year (836/1432-33). I t then cam e into the possession
of Muhibb-ad-din b. as-ihnah, and several copies were m ade from it.
1
A l-B a stak i as the author of the Markaz is m entioned b y P o n s B
461 f., b u t n ot in G A L , II, 262, Supplement I I, 372.

473

T R A N S LA T IO N

An

o ig u e s,

Ensayo,

^ Cf. Ibn H aja r, Durar, IV , 165 f., where the editor states in a note th at Ibn al-H atib
and al-M aqqari (cf. Azhdr ar-riydd, III , 189 [Cairo 1358-61/1939-42]) place the auth ors death
in th e y e a r 758. Cf. P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 328 f.; G A L Supplem ent I I, 366.
*^Ali b. 'A b d allah , d. a fter 726/1326 (cf. G A L , I I, 240 f.).
^ A p p aren tly , reference w as to be m ade to E g y p t. A s-Sah aw i was n ot able to id en tify
A b u 1-H asan al-K ^ tib who is m entioned as the author of a History of Cairo in as-Safadi,
W d fi, I, 49 R i t t e r , and, therefore, om itted his name.
^ 'U m a r b. 'A b d allah ('U b ayd allah ?), d. 454/1062 (cf. P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 123).
* Cf. above, p. 419, n. 7.
C f. Ibn B a lk u w a l, S ilah, 154, no. 342 C o d e r a .
* Ms. Leiden: al-Qarawtyun. Or should w e read; Al-QurtuM yun?
F or the H istory o f Cdrdoba b y A hm ad b. M uham m ad ar-R azi, cf. above, p. 153.
* Ibn H ajar states in the introduction of the Inhd'^ (Bodleian ms. or. H un t. 123) th at
in th at y ear he studied w ith Ibn y a tib -a n -N a siriy a h the la tte rs History o f Aleppo, which
h ad ju st been finished. Cf. T>aisP, II, 36, V , 333; Ibn al-H anbali, Durr al-habab, Paris ms.
ar. 5884, fol. 3a.

Before (ar-RM ii), A b ii Y a la al-H alil b .Abdalia.h al-Halili ^

(wrote a History o f Qazwin).
QaVat Yahsub: Ibn S a id should be checked w ith at-Tdli'^ as-saHd
f i ta'^rih \Qal'-at'\ Bant Sa^^id.^
Al-Qayrawdn: A b u l- A rab as-Sinhaji.^
Ibrdhim b. al-Qasim al-Qayrawani.^
A b u Z a y d Abd-ar-Rahm.n b. Muhammad a l-A n sm , Ma'-dlim
al4 mdn wa-rawddt ar-ridwdn min 'ulamd^ al-Qayrawdn. In the pref
ace, (the author) said th at among the Q ayrawanians, A b u B akr
Abdall^h b. M uhammad al-Maliki w rote the Riydd an-nufus,
and A b u B ak r A tiq b. H alaf at-T ujibi w rote al-Iftihdr. A b u 1Q^sim A bd-ar-R ahm an b. Muhammad b. R asiq and others, such
as A b u A bdallah M uhammad b. S a dun, (also w rote works on
the Qayrawanians).^
Kass: A b u l-A bbas J a 'fa r (b. Muhammad) b. al-Mu'^tazz al-Mustagfiri, the hadit expert.
K ufan: Under Abiw ard.
A l-K u jah: Ibn MujMid.
Um ar b. Sabbah.
A b u 1-Hasan M uhammad b. Ja 'fa r b. Muhammad b. Harun
b. Farw ah at-Tam im i al-K ufi an-Nahwi b. an-Najjar.
1 A b u Y a 4 a is an often quoted source of ar-Rafi^i, Tadwin, who also m entions (Phot.
Cairo Ta^rih 2648, p. 297 f.) th a t A b u Y a 'la w as a source of the H atib al-B agd ad i and w as
m entioned b y Ibn MMiula, Ikm dl (II I , 174), and Siraw ayh, History o f Hamaddn.
2 Ihdtah: T h e H isto ry of Q a l'a t Y ah su b called at~Tdli^ as-sa-dt (!) b y A b u 1-Hasan b.
Sa'-id. The w ell-know n historian (above, p. 308, n. i) w as born in Qal*-at Y ah su b (Alcala la
Real) and w rote the fam ily h istory, cf. P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 308.
T h e reference is clearly to al-Jam^ wa-l-baydn f i ahbdr al-Qayrawdn b y 'Izz-ad -d in
A b u l-*^Arab ^Abd-al-'^Azfz b. Saddad al-Q ayraw ani, w ho studied in D am ascus w ith Ibn
'A sa k ir in 5 6 7 / 1 1 7 1 - 7 2 and who died after 60 0/12 03 (Ibn a l-F u w ati, Talhis Majma^
al-dddb, IV , i , 2 1 3 , IV , I I I , 2 5 2 J A W A D . Cf. G A L Supplement I, 5 7 5 , where A b u
G a rib p ro b a b ly ought to be A b u 'A ra b . The History of al-Qayrawdn b y A b u l-'A ra b asSiq illi, cited b y Ibn H aja r, Lisdn, I II , 2 3 3 , m ay be the same w ork. Cf. Y a q u t, Mu'-jam, IV ,
8 4, 6 3 3 W u sT E N F E L D . According to the date of death (3 3 3 /9 4 4 -4 5 ) he indicates, E . A m a r ,
in J A , X , 19 (1912), identified A b u l-'A ra b as-Sinhaji w ith the aforem entioned (above,
p. 4 1 7 , n. 2) A b u l-'A ra b at-Tam im i w ho w rote on the sam e su bject (Ifriqiyah). There m ay,
indeed, be a conflation of the tw o nam es in this passage of the IHdn.
F or the historians of the city , cf. also D e S l a n e s note to his translation of Ibn H allikan,
H I, 3831.
* Cf. above, p. 419, n. 3, and p. 460, n. i ; C. H . B

ecker

, Beitrdge zur Geschichte Agyptens

unter dem Islam , I, 10 (Strassburg 1902).

Q asim b. 'IsA does n ot seem to h ave taken over this passage in to his enlarged recension
of the Ma^alim (Tunis 1320-25).
A sad b. H am daw ayh al-Waratmi (d. 310/922) w rote on the Competition of the Inhabit
ants of KaSs and N asaf, cf. as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fol. 580b. For a History of KdSgar b y 'A b d -alG a fir (Gafiar) b. H u sayn al-A lm a 'i, cf. W . B arthold, Turkestan, 18.
IHdn: al-H usayn.
* D . 402/1011 (T B , I I, 158 f . ; Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, V II , 260). Y a q u t, Irid d , X V I I I ,
104, Cairo = V I, 468 M a r g o h o u t h ), m entions his History o f al-K ufah which I h ave

474
Lamtunah:

Mdzandardn: Ibn A b i Muslim. ^

Malaga'. (129) A b u l-A bbas A sbag b. A li ^ b. H isam b. A bdall&,h b. A b i l-Abb^s, (on the city and) its prominent men and
litterateurs.
A b u A bdallah M uhammad b. *Ali b. H idr b. A skar al-C^ass^ni ^
w rote a history of M alaga which he did not complete. I t was
com pleted b y his sisters son, A bu B ak r M uhammad b. M uhamm ad
b. A ll b. Hamis, who entitled the w ork Matla'- al-anwdr wa-nuzhat
al-basdHr wa-l-absdr fi-m d htawat 'alayh Mdlaqah min al-aHdm
wa-r-m^asd^ wa-l-ahydr wa-taqyid md lahum min al-mandqih wa-ldtdr. A s sources for his work, he used the History of Ibn al-Faradi,
the Silah of Ibn BaskuwM, the History of al-H um aydi, ar-R azi, and
Ibn H ayyan as well as the Personalities o f Malaga which had been
composed for al-H akam al-Mustansir.^ The w ork of Ibn Hamis,
a slender, alphabetically arranged volume, ends w ith the year
639/1241-42.
A b u Z a y d A bd-ar-Rahm an b. M uhamm ad al-Ansari, on the
fam ous (religious) scholars of Malaga. H e arranged his w ork ac
cording to tabaqdt. He said th a t the works of Qayrawanians which
are also concerned w ith (the men of) other (cities) are the Riydd
an-nufus of A b u B akr Abdallah b. Muhammad al-M^liki, the
Iftihdr of A bu B ak r A tiq b. H alaf at-Tujibi, the History of A bu
1-Qasim Abd-ar-Rahm an b. M uhammad b. Rasiq, and the History
of A b u A bdallah Muhammad b. S a dun.

seen, where the first person m a y refer to Y a q u t s source, the w azir al-H u sayn b. 'A li
al-M agribis (d. 418/1027) additions to Ibn an-N adim s
H ow ever, Y a q u t also quotes
the w ork in his Mu'-jam, IV , 633 W u s t e n f e l d .
F ih rist 159 (Cairo 1348 = n o F l u g e l ) m entions the FaddHl al-Kufah b y A b u 1-IIasan
M uham m ad b. 'A li b. al-F adl ad-Dihqan.
^ Cf. IHdn, 96, above, p. 410, and p. 471, n. i.
^ Th e form of the nam e is uncertain. Cf. also th e introduction of B . D o r n , Sehir-eddins
Geschichte von Tabaristan, R ujan und Masanderan, 6 (St. Petersburg 1850), who had no
additional inform ation.
Ihdiah: al-'-Abbas?
* D. 636/1239 (cf. G A L , I, 413).
Al-M ustansir II died in 366/976. The author m a y b e Ishaq b. Salam ah al-Q ayni. H is H is
tory (ahbdr) of Reiyo, the province of M alaga, w as w ritten for al-M ustansir. It is described
b y al-H um aydi, Jadwat al-Muqtabis, Bodleian ms. or. H unt. 464, fol. 72b, cf. also Ibn alFaxadi, I, 69, no. 236 C o d e r a (Madrid 1890-1902, Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana, 8), and
Y a q u t, Mu^jam, II, 892 W u s t e n f e l d ; P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 100.
There is also a H istory of the Jurists of Reiyo b y Ibn S a'd a n which is quoted b y Ibn alF arad i and w hich P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 66 f., ascribes to Q asim b. S a 'd a n w ho died in

347/958-

Cf. above, p. 473.

TRANSLATION

A S-SAH Aw ts 1 l A n

475

Medina: According to his biography, U m ar b. Sabbah wrote

a History of Medina. (A copy of) it is in the possession of our col
league Ibn Fahd. H e copied it from a m anuscript in the hand
w riting of Ibn H ajar, which was in the possession of Ibn as-Sayyid
Afif-ad-din.i
A z-Zu bayr b. Bakkar.^
M uhammad b. Y a h y a al-Alawi, a slender volume, which, I
suppose, is the w ork to which as-Silafi refers at the end of his
Fihrist. Furthermore,
A s-arif an-Nassabah.^
A b u B a k r J a far b. M uhammad b. al-H asan b. al-M ustafad alF aryabi. H is w ork was m entioned b y A b u 1-Qasim b. Mandah
in his Wasiyah.
M uhammad b. al-Hasan b. Zabalah, a big volume.
(Medina's) praise {faddHl) was compiled b y al-Mufaddal b.
M uhammad al-Janadl and the sarif Y a h y a b. al-Hasan al-Hasani
al-Alawi.
On (Medinas) praise (faddHl), relics, and monuments, there is
Muhibb-ad-din b. an-N ajjar, ad-Durrah at-taminah f i ahbdr alMadinah. A supplem ent to (the Durrah) of one quire was written
b y A b u l- Abb^s al-Garraqi.
A b u 1-Y um n b. A sakir, Ithd f az-zdHr.
A b u Muhammad al-Qasim b. Asakir, al-Anbd^ al-mubinah f i
fa d l al-Madinah.
^ A m on g the m em bers of the fam ily, the one p rob a b ly m eant here is M uham m ad b.
M uham m ad b . M uham m ad b. 'A b d allah , 814-880/1412-75 {Daw^, I X , 232 f.).
^ Q uoted also b y as-Su yu ti, al-Wasd^il ild musdmarat al-awd^il, 1 4 , 16 (B agd M 13 6 9 / 19 5 0 ).
F or his Kitdb al-'-Aqtq, c f . F. J . H e e r , o p .cit., 29 f .
H e m ight possibly be a son of Y a h y S b. al-H asan w ho is referred to b y Ib n Inabah as a
genealogist, see below , n. 8.
* P robab ly, M uham m ad b. A s 'a d al-Jaw w 4ni (?).
'A b d -ar-R ah m an b. M uham m ad, d. 470/1077-78 (cf. above, p. 400, n. 4).
W rote 199/814 (cf. G A L , I, 137).
D. after 310/922-23, cf. as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fol. 137b, who m entions onXy Fadd^il M akkah
b u t, on fol. 477a, refers to Fadd^il M akkah wa-l-Madinah. Cf. Y a q u t, Mu^jam, II, 809 W u s
te n fe l d

* H e w ould seem to be identical w ith A b u 1-H usayn Y a h y a b. al-H asan b. J a 'fa r b.

'A b d a lla h al-H asim i whose w ork on the h istory (ahbdr) of M edina is quoted in as-Subki,
Fatdwt, I, 290 f. (Cairo 1355-56). Since the q uotation shows th a t he lived in the ninth
cen tury, he m ay possib ly be id entical w ith the 'A lid genealogist whose great-grandfather
w as 'U b a y d a lla h [sic, not 'A b d allah ) b. al-H usayn b. 'A li b. al-H usayn b. 'A li b. A b i
T a lib , cf. at-Tusi, F ihrist, 360 f. S p r e n g e r (Calcutta 1854 = 208 [an-N ajaf 1380/1961]);
Ib n 'In a b ah , 'Umdat at-talib, 331 (an-N ajaf 1381/1961) (?).
* 7 '/an: al-G arrafi. Th e Durrah has been published as an appendix to the edition of
Taqi-ad-din al-F asis 5 ifd ' (Mecca-Cairo 1956), where reference is also made to an earlier
edition (Cairo 1366/1947).

476

A S -S A h A w ! s I L A N

Jam al-ad-din Muhammad b. (130) A hm ad b. H alaf al-M atari/

an instructive work,
M uhammad b. Abd-al-M alik al-Marjani.^
M uhammad b. Sahh.
Razin.^

T R A N S L A T IO N

477

A bdallah b. A li b. al-H asan as-Sahtiyani,^ on the auth ority of

A b u Ism ah Muhammad b. A hm ad b. A b b ad al-Marwazi, on the
auth ority of (the author) A b u R a ja M uhammad b. H am daw ayh
as-Sanji al-Huraq.ni.2
A b u 1-F adl a l-A bbas b. M usab b. B isr also w rote a history of

Zayn-ad-din A b u B ak r b. al-H usayn al-Maragi, Tahqiq an-nusmh

hi-talMs ma'-dlim Ddr al-Hijmh.^

(the city).
A b u S ^ ih al-M uaddin,^ (of whose work) A bu S a d as-Sam am

Majd-ad-din al-Firuzabadi al-Lugaw i, al-Magdnim^ al-mutdhah

f i faddHl Tdbah.

said th at the draft w as in his possession.

A hm ad b. Saj^ar.^
A b u S a d as-Sam ^ni, in more than tw en ty volumes.
A b u 1- A bbas b. S a id al-M ad.ni, alphabetically arranged.

Badr-ad-din A bdallah b. M uhamm ad b. A b i 1-Qasim b. Farhun,

Nasihat al-musdwir wa-ta'-ziyat al-mujdwir. The one-volume w ork
contains the biographies of a number of Medinese. Ibn Farhun
was preceded b y ;
A b u A bdallah M uhammad b. A hm ad b. Am in al-Aqsahri, arRawdah, containing the names of those buried in al-B aq i .(This
work) was taken over b y Qutb-ad-din al-Halabi.
Afif-ad-din A bdallah b. Jam al-ad-din M uhammad b. Ahmad
b. H alaf al-Matari, al-IHdm fi{bi?)-m an dahala al-Madinah min
al-aHdm.
The sayyid Nur-ad-din as-Samhudi^ w rote a w ork on the history
of (the city), which needs checking and criticism.
I, too, have compiled a w ork on the people of Medina. It is in the
draft stage. P art of it has been clean-copied. [Few people I know
w rote m onographs on the ( M e d in e s e ) .W h a te v e r I have m arked
(here) has the approval^^ of our colleague Ibn Fahd.
Mardgah: Ibn al-Mutanna.
Marw: According to al-Hatib,^^ the Kitdh Ta^rih al-Mardwizah
(of al-Huraqani) was transm itted b y A bu 1-F adl M uhamm ad b.
1 D . 741/1340 (cf. G A L , II, 171).
^ H a jji y a lifa h , Ka^f az-zunun, II, 144 F l u g e l : A b u M uham m ad 'A b d allah b. A b i
'A b d a lla h al-M arjaui. 'A b d allah b. Abd-al-M alik al-M arJanis History of M edina is quoted
b y Taqi-ad-din al-Fasi, Sifd^, I, 53, 91, 284 f. (M ecca-Cairo 1956).
^ = Ibn an -N att4h ?
* R azin b. M u 'a w iyah , d. 524/1129-30, or 535/1140-41 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 630).
Cf. G A L , I, 360. Q uoted also b y as-Sarji, op. cit. (above, p. 52, n. 2), fols. 152b, 156b,
and edited in M edina 1955 (not seen).
S ic Ms. Leid en ; Daw^, X , 82.
D . 731/1330-31, or 737, or 739, cf. Ibn H ajar, Durar, III , 309, from w hom the in fo r
m ation in this paragraph is derived.
T h e fam ous cem etery in Medina.
b. A h m ad is added b y Ms. Leiden.
'A ll b. 'A b d allah , d. 911/1506 (cf. G A L , I I, 173).
M issing in Ms. Leiden, and apparently m isplaced here.
?, leg. ra^aytu I have seen at ?
T B , V , 460.

Almeria: Ibn H atim ah.^

Ibn al-H ajj.
Al~Masdmidah:
Egypt'. A b u S a id b. Y un us w rote a history of (Egypt) and also
the Gurahd^ (on the foreigners who came to E gyp t). A bu 1-Qasim
b. at-Tahhan w rote one supplement to both works.
Ibn Abd-al-Hakam,^ The Conquest o f {Egypt).
A b u Ishaq Ibrahim b. Ism ail b. S a id al-Hasim i al-Ahbari,
al-Bugyah wa-l-igtibdt fi-m an waliya M isr al-Fustdt.
^ H e came to B a gd a d in 368/978-79, cf. T B , loc. cit.
^ D . 306/918-19 (as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fol. 593a, follow ing al-M a'dani). His w ork is quoted
Ansdh, fol. 74a.
A h m ad b. 'A b d -al-M alik, d. 470/1078 (Y a q u t, Irsdd, I II , 224-26, Cairo = I, 219 f.
M a r g o l i o u t h ), where the passage of as-Sam 'an i, to w hich the IHdn refers, is quoted.
Cf. T B , IV , 18822.
A s-S u b ki w as unable to fin d th is w ork in E g y p t and S yria. Therefore, he w rote to
B agd ad w hether it m ight be availab le there, cf. Bodleian ms. or. M arsh 428, introduction.
A h m ad b. S a'id , d. 375/986 (as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fol. 536a). H is w ork is quoted Ansdb,
4 17 b , 498a, cf. also above, n. 2.
Accordin g to as-Sam 'an i, Ansdb, fol. 421b, a certain M uham m ad b. 'A li b. H am zah
al-Furahinani w rote on the hadit scholars of Marw.
^ A h m ad b. ^Ali, d. 770/1369 (cf. P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 331; S . M . S t e r n , in A l-A ndalus,
X V , 85, n. 2, 1950).
* Cf. G . S . C o l i n , E I , s .v . M asm uda. Here the history of the Alm ohads is m eant. AlM arrakusi who w rote on them sta ted th at he knew of an earlier w ork about the M asm udah
on ly from h earsay [Mu'^jib, 3 D o z y , Leiden 1847, 1881 ; trans. A . H u ic i M i r a n d a , Colleccion
de cronicas drabes de la reconquista, IV , 2 (Tetuan 1955). Cf. also above, p. 471, n. i.
* F or the w ork of Ibn Y u n u s w hich was used v e r y w idely, cf., for instance, Ibn H ajar,
R a f^al-isr, Paris ms. ar. 2149, fol. 128b, and Taskopriizadeh, below , p. 533. His Ourabd^ is,
for instance, quoted in T B , V I, 22, 362, and b y as-Sam 'ant, Ansdb, fols. 21a, 519a, as w ell as
b y Ibn H allikan. It would seem th at m an y, if n ot all, of the v e r y numerous quotations in
as-Sam 'ani from Ibn Y u n u s and his History of Egypt {the Egyptians) are also derived
from the Ourabd^, b u t the History of Egypt, as different from the dfurabd, is, for instance,
quoted b y al-M aqrizi, Daw^ as-sdri, ed. H. D. M a t t h e w s , in Journal of the Palestine
Oriental Society, X I X , 160 (1939-40). Ibn at-T ah han s History is also quoted b y al-Q ifti,
him self the author of a History of Egypt, in his Inbdh, II, 159 (Cairo i369-74/i95o-55)A b d -ar-R ah m an b. ^Abdallah, d. 257/871 (cf. G A L , I, 148).

478

AS-SA H A w t's I l A n

Ibn ZMaq, on (E g yp ts) history [ahbdr) (131) and praise {faddHl).

A b u U m ar M uhammad b. Y u su f b. Y a qub al-Kindi, id.^
A b u M uhamm ad al-Fargam,^ id.
[Abu M uhamm ad al-Hasan b. Ibrahim b. Zulaq, id.]
Ibn H ajar,
al-isr 'an quddt M isr. I w rote a supplem ent
to it. Before these (authors), the history of E g y p t was w ritten b y
S a id b. A b i Maryam.^
S a 'id b. U fayr,* and others.
M uhammad b. U baydallah b. A hm ad al-Musabbihi combined
all (their works) in a great history. M uhammad b. A li b. Y u su f
b. M uyassar w rote a two-volum e supplem ent to (al-Musabbihi).
The first volum e is in the possession of Muhibb-ad-din b. al-Am anah, and the second in th at of Badr-ad-din as-Sadili.'^
Qutb-ad-din al-H alabi compiled a substantial, alphabetically
arranged history of E gyptian s which w as not completed. More
than ten volum es of the autograph draft of the w ork are in m y
possession. There exists a clean copy of th e Muhammads, in four
volumes, which are also in m y possession. (Qutb-ad-dins) son,
Taqi-ad-din Muhammad, has m any additions to (the work).
Taqi-ad-din al-Maqrizi wrote a substantial w ork on the subject
in more than fifteen volumes. In fact, (al-Maqrizi) said something
like: If he h ad intended to, the w ork would have come to eighty
volum es. Al-M aqrizi also is the author of '"Iqd jawdhir aUasfdt
[min ahbdr Madinat al-Fustdt].^ This work, together w ith the tqdz{\)
H is sou 'U m ar is credited w ith a w ork of th is title w hich he w rote for K a fu r (cf. G A L
Supplement I, 230; Istan bu l ms. K ilic A li P asa 756). A s-Silafi appears as the final transm itter
in the m anuscript m entioned, w hich presum ably explains the occurrence of a Fada^il M isr
am ong his works in G A L Supplement I, 624.
A FaddHl M isr b y a certain Ibn Jd r ( ?) is quoted in ar-R asid b. az-Zubayr, ad-DahdHr
wa-t-tuhaf, 226 H a m i d u l l a h (K u w ait 1959).
^ Cf. above, p. 82.
S a 'id b. al-H akam , cf. F ihrist, 139 (Cairo 1348 = 95 F l C g e l ), where n othing is said
about a h istory of E g y p t.
^ S a 'id b. K a tir b. 'U fa y r, d. 226/840-41 (as-Suyuti, Ilu sn al-muhddarah, I, 168, Cairo
1299; M a h m u d M a k k i , in Revista del Instituto Egipcio de Estudios Isldmicos, V , 185 ff.
[1957]; ar-R asid, op. cit., 90). H e also w rote a History of Spain.
^ D . 420/1029 (cf. G A L , I, 334).

M uham m ad b. M uham m ad b . A h m ad b. ^Abd-al-'Aziz. T h e te x t of the Daw^ is in

disorder in the place where his biography should h ave been.
H u sayn b. 'A li, 805-89i/i402(3)-86 [Daw'', III , 149 f.).
A ccording to Ibn H ajar, Raf'- al-isr, beg., the w ork consisted of tw e n ty volum es,
and there were four volum es available in a clean-copy. The often quoted w ork was
e xten sively used b y Ibn IJatib-an-N asiriyah.
L e g .: . . . f t dikr muluk M isr wa-l-Fustdt, according to a m arginal note in Ms. Leiden
and Daw , II, 22^1. A t the beginning of the Itti'^dz, al-M aqrizi has . .. f i ahbdr M adinat
al-Fustdt.

T R A N S LA T IO N

479

al-hunafd^ bi~ahbdr al-Fdtim iyin al-hulafd^, ^ contains the whole

story of the amirs and caliphs who ruled E gy p t, the events and
happenings th at took place in their days, from the time of the
(Muslim) conquest of (Egypt) until the disappearance of the Fatim id dynasty. Al-M aqrizi continued (the history of E gypt) w ith the
Suluk, as has been m entioned above. ^ He also com piled the topog
rap h y [Hitat) of (Egypt-Cairo) as well as some inform ation about
the men around M uhammad who came to E g y p t and those who
died there, also the names, burial places, and relics of pious men,
the wonders of (the country), and the (things) referred to as E g y p
tian b y al-Q udai ^ and A b u Um ar al-Kindi.
M uhammad b. A s ad al-JawwS.ni as-Sarif, an-Nuqat "-aid l-hitat.
Al-M aqrizi also compiled the topography [Hitat) of (EgyptCairo), a very instructive work. Ibn H ajar told us that (al-Maqrizi)
had found the draft (of a hitat work) b y his neighbor, ihab-ad-din
A hm ad b. A bdallah b. al-Hasan al-Aw hadi ^ in fact, part of
(al-Awhadi's work) was already clean-copied , taken it, made
additions to it, and given it out as his own work.
[Ibrahim b. Ism ail, b. S a id, al-Bugyah wa-l-igtibdt f i ahbdr
M isr wa-l-Fus 0 t.]
Al-Magrib: The History of Abd-al-M ahk b. Habib.
Ibn S a id, Tabaqdt (132) al-fuqahd^ wa-faddHluhum; The Western
Dynasty, a completion of the Umayyad Dynasty in the West',
al-Mugrib f i huld al-Magrib;^ and also al-Mugrih f i mahdsin alMagrib. Some of these works are in the M uayyadiyah. Ibn S a id
w rote also al-Musriq f i ahbdr al-Masriq.
Mecca'. The praise (faddHl) of Mecca, in the manner of al-Azraqi
and al-Eakihi,^ was compiled b y
1 Cf. above, p . 408, n. 3.
2 IHdn, 120, a b o v e , p . 4 55.
A l-Q u d a 'is H itat M isr are also quoted b y Ibn Farhun, D ibdj, 133 (Cairo 1 3 5 1).
* 7 6 1-8 11/13 5 9 -14 0 8 [Daw^, I, 358 f.). C f. G A L , I I , 39, n. i . A l- A w h a d i on ce o w n e d th e
p r e s e rv e d m a n u s c r ip t o f a l- K in d i s Governors and Judges of Egypt, cf. th e in tr o d u c tio n
o f R . G u e s t s e d itio n , p . 47 a n d p la te fo l. 13 4 a (L e id e n -L o n d o n 1 9 1 2 , E .J .W .G i b b
M em . Series, 19). H is r e a d e r s n o te in th e T o p k a p u s a r a y m a n u s c r ip t A h m e t I I I , 26 3 1,
fo l. 1 3 7 a (co n ta in in g th e Hafawdt o f G irs -a n -n i'm a h M u h a m m a d b . H ilM as-Sabi^) is d a te d
in 784/1382. F o r an a p p e n d ix b y h im to a r - R a s id b . a z - Z u b a y r s DahdHr wa-t-tuhaf (w h ich
in its p re s e rv e d fo rm seem s to b e an a b rid g m e n t p re p a re d b y a l-A w h a d i), cf. M, H a m i d u l
l a h , in Arabica, V I I , 281-300 (i9 6 0 ), a n d th e e d itio n p re p a re d b y the sam e (K u w ait 1959)F or th e o w n e rsh ip o f a l- A w h a d i (an d la te r , th a t o f a l-B a s ta k i) o f a m a n u s c r ip t in th e V a t ic a n ,
cf. G . L e v i d e l l a V i d a , in Collectanea Vaticana, I I , 142 f. (C itta d e l V a tic a n o 196 2, Studi e

Testi 219-20 ).
E d ited b y S aw qi D a y f (Cairo i 953) M uham m ad b. 'A b d allah , d. after 244/858-59 (cf. G A L , I, 137).
M u h a m m a d b . Is h a q , w ro te in 272/885-86 (cf. G A L , I, 137).

480
Abu
A bu
A bu
The

AS-SAHAW IS I ' l A n

S a 'id al-Mufaddal b. Muhammad al-Janadi.^

S a id a s-abi should be checked w ith the former.
1-F araj(?) Abd-ar-Rahm an b. A b i Hatim . L ater on,
hadit expert, D iy a -ad-din al-Maqdisi.

A bu A bdallah [b.] Muhammad b. al-Qayyim,^ Tafdil Makkah.

Tw o poets com peted in praising the respective glories of the
two h oly cities. An T jli poet acted as m ediator between the two
b y virtue of a poem in which the following verse occurs:
O man from Medina, your land is above every other land.
A n d Mecca can claim higher praise for its virtue and excellence.
The history of (Mecca was written) b y
A b u 1-W alid M uhammad b. A bdallah b. A hm ad b. Muhammad
b. al-W alid b. U qbah b. al-Azraq al-Azraqi.
Muhammad b. Ishaq b. a l-A bbas al-Fakihi. B oth men lived
in the third/eighth century. A l-F akih i is presum ably som ewhat
later than al-Azraqi. His w ork comes in tw o volumes.
A b u Z a y d U m ar b. Sabbah an-N um ayri. A l-Fasi did not come
across (the work).^ Our colleague Ibn Fahd, (however), copied
it in one volum e. He said: It is in the manner of the works of alA zraqi and al-Fakih i.
A z-Z u b ayr b. B akkar.
Razin b. Mu^awiyah as-Saraqusti.^ His w ork is an abridgm ent
of the History of al-Azraqi.
Sa'dallah b. Um ar al-Isfarayini, Zuhdat al-a^mdl wa-huldsat
al-af'dl, on the praise (faddHl) of Mecca and Medina, an abridgm ent
of the History of al-Azraqi, as the author himself m entioned in the
preface of the work. Abd-al-Qadir b. A b d -al-A ziz b. F ah d has
a copy of the w ork which he himself had copied.
M uhibb-ad-din Muhammad b. Mahmud b. an-N ajjar al-Bagdadi,
Nuzhat al-ward f i dikr Umm al-Qurd.
Jam al-ad-din Muhammad b. M uhibb-ad-din at-Tabari al-M akki
a s-afii, at-Taswiq ild ziydrat al-bayt al-'^atiq.
Jam al-ad-din A bu Abdallah M uhammad b. A li az-Zabidi an^ Cf. above, p. 475, n. 7. His FaddHl M akkah are quoted b y Taqi-ad-din, al-Fasi, Sifd^, I,
201, 292 (Mecca-Cairo 1956).
^ Ibn Qayyiin al-Jawziyah?

3
In the introduction of the ^Iqd at-tamvn, al-Fasi states that he believes he once saw
a note of one of his colleagues to the effect that ^Umar b. Sabbah had written a work on the
history [ahbdr) of Mecca.
^ Thus correctly Ms. Leiden.
^ G A L , II, 172, calls the author 'A li b. Nasr Sa'd-ad-din. He wrote in 762/1360-61.

T R A N S L A T IO N

Nasih, known

481

as Ibn al-M uaddin, M utir al-gardm ild l-balad

al-hardm.
Al-H^di (b.) Ibrahim b. A li b. al-M urtada al-H asani az-Zaydi,^
a teacher of Taqi-ad-din b. Fahd, Zahrat al-huzdm f i faddHl al-bayt
al-hardm.
Z a y d b. H asim b. A li b. al-M urtada al-Hasani,^ (133) wazir
of Medina, on the history of (the city).
Ibn-al-Jaw zi, M utir al-'-azm as-sdkin li-asraf al-amdkin.
A bd-ar-R ahm an b. A b i H atim , Kitdb Makkah.^ Also
A b u S a id b. a l-A rabi. A nd
A b u 1-Qasim A bd-ar-Rahm an b. A b i A bdallah b. Mandah.
These three (works) were indicated b y the just mentioned A b u 1Qasim in his Wasiyah.
M ajd-ad-din al-Firuzab&,di, M u h ij al-gardm ild l-balad al-hardm,
and Itdrat al-hajun ild ziydrat al-Hajun.^
Taqi-ad-din al-Fasi, Sifd"" al-gardm bi-ahbdr al-balad al-hardm,^
the most comprehensive w ork (of all), and Tuhfat al-kirdm, each
of the two works in one volume. (Al-Fasi) w rote an abridgment
of the
also entitled Tuhfat al-kirdm. Other abridgments, all
b y al-Fasi himself, are Tahsil al-mardm; Hddi dawi al-afhdm]
az-Zuhur al-muqtatafah min ta^rih Makkah al-musarrafah; Tarwih
as-sudur bi-htisdr az-Zuhur] and one more work. A l-Fasi also
w rote the four-volum e '-Iqd at-tamin f i ta^rih al-balad al-amin, on
(Meccan) personalities, a subject rarely treated before in monograph
form. He abriaged the {"-Iqd) in the Ujdlat al-qird li-r-rdgib f i ta'^rih
Umm al-Qurd and in two more works. A l-Fasi also wrote on the
governors of Mecca in pre-Islam ic and Islam ic times.
Jamal-ad-din as-aybi, as-Saraf al-aHd f i dikr maqbarat Bdb
al-Mu'-alld.
Our colleague Najm -ad-din b. Fahd, ad-Durr al-kamin bi-day I
al-'-Iqd at-tamin and Ith d f al-ward bi-ahbdr Umm al-Qurd. A sup^

was
was

D. 822/1419 (Daw^, X , 206). IH dn : az-Zabidi; Ms. Leiden and Daw^ have az-Zaydi.
According to H ajji ya lifa h who evidently derived his information from al-Fasi, he
alive around 676/1277-78. A l-Fasi says in the introduction of the ^Iqd at-tamin that this
the pedigree given to Zayd b y his contemporary al-Mayuraqi (above, p. 304, n. i),

cf. above, p. 165.

Above, p. 480.
^ His a l-W a sl{l) wa-l-mund f i fa d l M in d is quoted b y Taqi-ad-din al-Fasi, al-^Iqd at-

tamin, ch. 21; idem, Sifd^, I, 199, 323.

Published in Mecca-Cairo 1956.
*
The first Tuhfat al-kirdm, the Tarwih, and the work without a title are later than
al-Fasis autobiography in the ^Iqd at-tamin, as they are not mentioned there.
Muhammad b. 'A li b. Muhammad, d. 837/1433 (cf. G A L , II, 173).
R o s e n th a l,

History of Muslim Histriography

31

482

AS-S A H A W ts I l A n

TRANSLATION

483

plem ent to each of the two works w as w ritten b y his son Izz-ad-din
b. F ahd .i
M osul: Ibn Batis.

Nisdbiir: Al-Hakim.^ A supplem ent (to al-H 4 kim was written)

b y A bd-al-G afir .2 (Copies of) both works are in m y possession,
the first one in six volum es, the second in one big volume.

Ibrahim b. M uhammad b. Y a z id al-Mawsili.^

A b u Z a k a riy a Y a z id b. M uhamm ad b. ly a s al-Azdi,^ on the
hadit scholars and hadit experts of (the city).

Hardt (Herat): Siraw ayh.

A b u Nasr al-Fami. ( i 34 ) H is w ork was abridged b y D iy^ -ad-din

Izz-ad-din b. al-Atir, the author of the Kam il, began a history

of (Mosul) b u t died before he cou]d com plete it.*
M ayydfdriqin: Judge A hm ad b. Y u su f b. A li b. al-Azraq.
N a sd : Under Abiward.
Nasaf: A b u l-A b b is J a far b. M uhamm ad b. al-M utazz al-Mustagfiri al-Hanafi, the hadit expert.
N isibis: Someone whom I do not remember wrote a m onograph
on (the history of the city).
Nafzah: Ibn al-M uaddib.
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. Um ar, 850-921/1447-1515(16) (cf. G A L , I I, 175). A collection of asS ah a w is treatises w ritten b y him. exists in Ms. L-234 of Y a le U niversity.
A ccordin g to al-F asi, Sifd^, 61 W u s t e n f e l d {Die Chroniken der Siadt M ekka, II) (cf.
above, p. 165), al-M ayuraqi m entioned to the y e ar 676/1278 th at he had begun to w rite a
h istory of M ecca and had finished about fiv e quires of it. A l-F asi states th at he had n ot seen
the w ork.
A b u Z a y d al-B alh i w rote F a d P il M akkah ^ald saHr al-biqd^, cf. Fihrist, 199 (Cairo 1348 =
138 F l u g e l ). F o r the M andzil M akkah b y Ib n a l-K M i (d. 348/959-60), cf. H u s a y n ^AlI
M a h f u z , in B u lletin o f the College o f Arts (B agh d ad U n iversity), V I I I , 243 ff. (1965). F or
other relev an t w orks b y m em bers of the Ibn F ah d fa m ily, cf. E l , 2nd ed., s.v. Ibn Fahd.
2
H e lived in the second h alf of the third/ninth cen tury. H is w ork is quoted b y 'A b d -alQ adir al-Q urasi, al-Jawdhir al-mudtyah, II, 200 (H yderabad 1332).
Cf. above p. 153 f. H e died 334/945-46, (ad-D ahabi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz, 12th tab., no. 14
W u s t e n f e l d ; cf. G A L Supplement I, 210). T w o fragm ents of the w ork are said to h ave been
published in Lugat al-^Arab, V ol. V I, cf. M. C a n a r d , Histoire de la dynastic des H amdanides,
I, 17 (Algiers 1951). Th e w ork seems to be m entioned b y al-M as udi, M u r u j,1 , 6 Paris ed. = I,
18 (Cairo 1346), if A b u Dkw (r)h al-M awsili who w as the author of a Kitdb at-Ta^rih wa-ahbdr
al-M aw sil is to be identified w ith A b u Zakariya^. It is quoted b y T B , V , 417, V I, 132
(Tabaqdt al-'-ulamd^ min ahl al-M awsil) ; as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fol. 405b-406a; Y fiq u t, Mu^jam,
III , 114, IV , 223, 685 {Kitdb Tabaqdt muhadditi ahl al-M awsil), cf. F. J. H e e r , op. cit.,
35 f . ; 'A b d -a l-Q a d ir al-Q urasi, al-Jawdhir al-mudiyah. I, 343; Ib n H ajar, Lisdn, I I I , 257,
261 f. {Tabaqdt al-^ulamd^ bi-l-Mawsil). Cf. Ibn H ajar, Tahdib, I, g [sahib Ta^rth al-M aw sil).
* Cf. above, p. 154.
A s-S ah aw i overlooked the History of M osul b y the brothers S a 'id and M uham m ad b.
H asim a l-y a lid iy a n (cf. G A L , I, 14 6 f.), w hich was also quoted b y Ibn al-'A dim , Bugyat
at-talab. Phot. Cairo Ta^rih 1 5 6 6 , p. 6 9 f . ; Ibn Saddad, al-AHdq al-hattrah, Ms. Topkapusara y , R evan K o sk 1 5 6 4 , fol. lo b ; Y a q u t, Mu^jam, III , 3 6 3 W u s t e n f e l d .
D . after 577/1181 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 569 f., and the introduction to the edition of
the p a rt of the w ork dealing w ith the h istory of the M arwanid d yn a sty of D iya rb a kr b y
B a d a w i ^Ab d - a l - L a t i f ' I w a d [ A w a d ] [Cairo 1379/1959]).
F or a H istory o f Majorca b y al-M ahzum i, cf. al-M aqqari, Analectes, II, 765. Cf. above,
p. 155, n. 2.
The w ork is qu oted b y as-S am 'an i, Ansdb, for instance, fols. 19b, 21b, 29b, 30b, 162b,
305a, 322a, 328b, 339a, 340b, 363b, 382b, 473a, 474a, 480a, 485a, 491a, 493a, 517a, 523b
598a, 6 o ib ; Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, V I, 100. Cf. also R. N. F r y e , in Melanges F u ad Kdpriilii, 166
(Istanbul 1953)-

al-Maqdisi.
A b u Ishaq A hm ad b. M uhamm ad b. Y asin (?) al-H araw i alH addad * w rote tw o works (on the history of the city), one alpha
betical, and the other < . . . >^ A b u A bdallah al-Hasan b. Mu
ham m ad al-K utu bi, I suppose.
Hamaddn: Ibn Mansur (?) Sahrdar b. Siraw ayh.
Siraw ayh b. Sahrdar b. Siraw ayh ad-Daylami.
A b u 1-Fadl Sahh b. A hm ad b. M uhamm ad b. A hm ad b. Salih
al-Ham adani, the hadit expert.^
^ Th e w ork is con stan tly quoted b y as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, and m an y other authors. It
is, for instance, also quoted b y as-Safadi, W dfi, B odleian ms. or. Seld. Arch. A . 2 1, fol.
65b. Cf. also S ib t b. al-A ja m i, K u n u z ad-dahab, Ms. Cairo (T aym u r?) T aM ^ , 837, p. 16,
A reproduction of the o n ly preserved m an uscript of the Persian abridgm ent b y a certain
y a lifa h an-N isaburi has been published b y R. N. F r y e , The Histories of N ishapur (Cam
bridge, Mass. 1965, Harvard Oriental Series, 45). F r y e refers to an earlier edition published
in T eheran 1961.
^ 'A b d -a l-G afir b. Ism a 'il, d. 529/1134-35 (cf. G A L , I, 364 f., Supplem ent I, 623). H is
Siydq to al-H akim is also quoted, am ong others, b y a l-'Im a d al-Isfah&ni, Haridat al-Qasr
(E gyp tia n poets), I I, 2 17 (Cairo 1370/1951), through a s-S am 'an is Supplement to the History
o f Bagddd; Ibn H allikan , I I, 89 ff., IV , 56 trans. D e S l a n e ; Ibn K u tii, Biddy ah, X I I , 40).
Cf. also al-B a yh a q i, Ta^rth-i-Bayhaq, 21. T h e A n k ara m anuscript of the second part of
the Siydq is reproduced in F r y e , op. cit. F r y e also reproduces the K op riilii m anuscript
of the M untahab of the Siydq b y as-Sarifini (above, p. 449, n. 3).
'A b d -ar-R ah m an b. 'A b d -a l-Jab b a r b. 'U tm an , d. 549/1155 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I,
571). A n -N am i appears to be a m isprint in the Tabaqdt as-SdfiHyah. T h e Bodleian ms. or.
Marsh 428 of as-Subki also has al-Fam i. T h e History of Hardt is quoted b y an-N aw aw i,
Tabaqdt, Ms. Cairo Ta^rih 2021, fol. 50b (life of Isma'^il b. al-F u d ayl), and Ibn R a jab , D a y l
tabaqdt al-Iiandbilah, I, 79 f. a d - D a h h a n and L a o u s t (Dam ascus 1370/1951). A ccordin g to
as-Subki, it w as used b y Ibn A sakir.
* D . 234/848-49 (Ibn H aja r, Lisdn, I, 291). T h e w ork is quoted b y Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, V I,
316. A s-Safad i, W dfi, I, 48 R i t t e r , h as A b u Ishaq a l-B a zza z, cf. n. 5.
A lth ou gh Ms. Leiden has wa-dhar w ithout the article, the assum ption of a lacuna
seems indicated, b u t as-Sahaw i e vid en tly used the Ihdtah which does n ot have anythin g
about tw o works b y Ibn Y asin . A l-B a yh a q i, Ta^rlh-i-Bayhaq, 21, explains the confusion.
T h ere were tw o histories of H erat, one b y A b u Ish. A . b. M. b. Y u n u s al-B azzaz {TB,
V, 126), and the oth er b y A b u Ish. M. b. S a 'id a l-H a d d M .
' Y a q u t, Irdd, IV , 260 f. (Cairo = I I , 86 f. M a r g o l i o u t h ), m entions a Kitdb Wuldt
Hardt b y A h m ad b. M uham m ad al-Basani (d. 501/1011). A s-Su bki, Bodleian ms. or.
M arsh 428, refers to a History of Hardt b y A b u R aw h al-H araw i (d. 544/1149-50).
Cf. an-N aw aw i, Tabaqdt, Ms. Cairo Ta^rih 2021, fol. 56b.
H is History of Hamaddn{ian Scholars) is also quoted b y al-Q ifti, Inbdh, I, 129, 325, II,
165 f., 2 i6 (Cairo 1369-74/1950-55); a r-R M i'i, Tadwin, Ph ot. Cairo T a V ih 2648, p. 229 f.;
Ib n H ajar, Lisdn, I I I , 430, V , 200; Ibn Q adi Suhbah, cf. Revue de ITnstitut des Manuscrits
Arabes V , 352 (1959).

He came to B a g d M in 370/980-81 {TB, I X , 331) and died in 374/end of 984 (ad-Dahabi,

Tabaqdt al-huffdz, 12th tab., no. 66 W i j s t e n f e l d ; Y a q u t, Mu^jam, IV , 329 W u s t e n f e l d ,
has 384/994). H is Tabaqdt al-Hamaddniytn is quoted b y T B , I I, 286, V , 4 4 6 !., X , 340;

484

A S -SA H A w 1 S I LAN

Im ran b. Muhammad b.
Hamaddn.

'Im ran al-Ham adani,

TRANSLATION

Tabaqdt ahl

Wdsit: A bu A bdallah Muhammad b. S a id b. Y a h y a ad-D ubayti,

the hadit expert and historian.^ Before him,
A bu 1-H asan Aslam b. Sahl, B ahsal al-Wasiti.^ A supplem ent
to (Bahsal) was written b y A bu 1-H asan A li b. M uhamm ad b.
M uhammad b. a t-T ay yib al-Jullabi.
T h eY em en : Al-Himyari.^
B aha'-ad-din A bu A bdallah M uhammad b. Y a 'q u b b. Y u su f alJanadi, as-Suluk, a w ork arranged according to tabaqdt. In the
preface, (the author) said th at w ith regard to the biographies of
the (personalities) of the past, he relied upon:
The jurist A b u H afs U m ar b. A li b. Samurah,^ {Tabaqdt)
fuqahd^ al-Yaman. In the (work, Ibn Samurah) m entioned most
(Yem enite jurists) from the appearance of Islam (in the Yem en) to
the 5 8 0 S /1 1 8 4 - 9 3 .
A b u 1- A bbas A hm ad b. A bdallah b. Muhammad ar-R^zi asS an ani, History of the Yemen, or of San'^d^, which ends around
460/1067-68. A nd
Ishaq b. Jarir az-Zuhri as-Sanani, History of San'-d^, and other
sources.'^
(Al-Janadis work) ended after 730/1329-30.
as-Sam ani, Ansdb, fol. 369b (cf. 490b, s.v. al-K u m u l4badi).
^ A ccording to one of the stu d y notes reproduced in the Ms. Cairo T a ym u r Ta^rih 1483
of B a h sa ls History o f W asit, ad-D u b ayti stu died th a t w ork in 573/1178 (573, and n o t 593,
seems clearly indicated). H ow ever, he w as then ju st fifteen years old, and, even though the
age of another stu den t of the w ork is in dicated as four years and two m onths, a d -D u b ayti
ought to have been older at the time, since he w as called Sayh and imam.
^ D. sh ortly before or after 288/901 (Y aq u t, IrM d, V I, 127, Cairo = II, 256 M a r g o l i o u t h ,
from as-Silafl), or 292/904-5 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 210; ad-D ahabi, History o f Islam ,
quoted in a footnote to Y a q u t, loc. cit.). Th e form of the nam e is B ahsal, w ith b, and n ot
with n. The stu d y notes of the Ms. Cairo T a y m u r T a rih 1488 alw ays have b. See also above,
p. 166 f.
^ D . 534/1139-40 (T a j al-^Arus, I, 186, Cairo 1306).
*
?. For h istorical works on the Y em en, cf. M. K u r d ^Ali, in Revue de VAcademic arabe
de Damas, X V I I , 535 f. (1942), on the m anuscripts in the A lt E m iri L ib rary in Istan b u l;
R. B . S e r j e a n t , in B S O S , X I I I , 281-307, 581-601 (1950).
Born in 547/1152-53, he died in or after 586/1190, cf. G A L , I, 391, further the edition of
his w ork b y F . S a y y i d (Cairo 1957), and G. C. A n a w a t i , in Melanges de I'ln stitu t Dom inicain
d Et. Or. du Caire, IV , 236-40 (1957)Cf. G A L , I, 333. A l-Jan ad i adds th at a r-R azis w ork is frequently found. E ach m anu
script contains the third p a rt of the w ork, b u t the te x t of the variou s m anuscripts differs in
certain passages. Cf. also H. C. K a y , Yaman, X I V (London 1 8 9 2 ) ; H ajjf H alifah, Ka^f
az-zunun, II, 1 5 9 F l u g e l . A ll the m anuscripts enum erated in G A L , to w hich there m ay
be added the B odleian ms. or. 736, appear to contain the th ird part, and the other parts,
if th ey ever existed , m ust have been lost at a v ery early date.
Cf. above, p. 470, n. 7.
In the Suluk, from w hich the above passage is d erived (cf. Phot. Cairo T a rih 996,

485

H e was not interested in the arrangement of the work, so th at

it is difficult to find something in it. It is the standard reference
w ork for later (scholars). H e (?) then was interested in it ^ (in
sert ?) after the w ork of U m ar b. A li b. Samurah, Fuqahd"" al~Yaman.
Muwaffaq-ad-din A b u 1-Hasan A ll b. al-Hasan b. A bi B ak r
al-H azraji, al-'-Iqd al-fdhir al-hasan f i tabaqdt akdbir al-Yaman, in
two volumes, a good work, although (al-Hazraji) om itted m any
(who had been mentioned) b y al-Janadi.
Badr-ad-din H usayn al-Ahdal, Tuhfat az-zaman f i ta^rih sdddt
al-Yaman, either two volum es or one big volume.
A bd-al-B aqi b. Abd-al-M ajid al-Qurasi,^ Bahjat az-zaman f i
ta^rih al-Yaman.
A l-A fd al A bbas b. al-Mujahid A li b. D aw ud b. Y u su f b. Um ar
b. A ll b. Rasul, a ruler of the Y em en and descendant (135) of
Yem enite rulers,^ (wrote on Yem enite history). H e abridged the
History of Ibn H allikan and wrote Nuzhat al-'-uyun f i ta^rih tawdHf
al-qurun] Bugyat dawi al-himam f i ansdb al-'-Arab wa-WAjam)
dJidKitdb al-'-Atdyd as-saniyah which contains the story of the out
standing individuals of the Yem en. It has been said th at all these
(works were written) w ith the active help of Radi-ad-din (ar-Rida ?)
A b u B ak r b. M uhammad b. Y usuf, judge of T a izz.
Furtherm ore, the following (authors), for instance, occupied
them selves w ith the (religious) scholars of the Yem en:
Qutb-ad-din al-Qastallani.^
Afif-ad-din a l-Y a fii.
Jam al-ad-din M uhammad b. A b i B akr b. al-Hayyat.^
A b u Abdallah M uhammad b. Ism ail b. A bi s-Sayf, al-Maymun
al-mudamman li-ba'^d a l-[l)fu d a W ahl al-Yaman.
p. 6), al-Jan ad i states th at he w as w riting in the year 722/1322.
^ I t w ould be logical to refer the pronoun it to arrangem ent, and n ot to the Y e m e n .
Or one m ight translate the last sentence as: L ater on, the w ork . . ., occupied itself w ith
it . . . H ow ever, none of the possibilities which I considered seems plausible. Ms. Leiden,
am ong its m an y omissions, leaves ou t the q uotation from al-Jan ad i concerning his sources.
^ D . 743/1343, or 744 (cf. G A L , I I, i7 r ; as-Safadi, A'-ydn al-^asr, Paris ms. ar. 5859,
fol. 58a, who judges his History of the Yem en and History of Grammarians a dversely; Ibn
H aja r, ZJwrar, I I, 315-18). In spite of as-Safadi, the Bahjat az-zaman is qu ite an interesting
w ork. A s-Sah aw i read 'A b d -al-H am id instead of the correct Abd-al-M ajid. T h e Paris ms.
5977 of the Bahjat az-zaman w as evid en tly n ot know n to M u s t a f a H i j a z i when he
published an abridgm en t on the basis of a n -N u w ayris N ihdyah (n. p. [Cairo ?], 1965),
w ith a biographical notice on pp. 146-69.
D. 778/1376-77 (cf. G A L , II, 184).
* A p p aren tly, M uham m ad b. A h m ad b. 'A li, d. 686/1287 (cf. G A L , I, 451). Cf. above,
p. 150, n. 4 786-839/i384(85)-i436 (D aw , V I I , 1941.).
* H e died in 609/1212-13, cf. F . S a y y i d s note in his edition of Ibn Sam urah, 247- His

486

a s - s a h Aw

! 's

TRANSLATION

i l A n

Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Abd-al-Hamid b. Abdallah b. Halaf

al-Qurasi al-Misri compiled forty traditions in praise of the Yemen.
[Ahmad b. A bdallih b. Muhammad ar-Razi, Ta^rih San'-d^.]
Umarah, al-Mufid f i ahbdr Zahid, mentioned above.^
(An unnamed author), Dawlat al-Muzaffar, ruler of the Yemen.^
Al-Hazraji also wrote al-'-Uqud al-lu*lu^iyah f i ahbdr ad-dawlah
ar-Rasuliyah.
Taqi-ad-dm al-Fasi, Taqrib al-'-amal wa-s-sul min ahbdr saldtin
Bam Rasul. Al-Fasi later on wrote an abridgment of the work.
Other (authors) restricted themselves to the pious men of the
Yemen, and the like.
(14. Geographical works)
Then, there are geographical works which give information about
countries, their outstanding features, and their conquest (by
the Muslims) but as a rule do not have any biographies of the
people of those countries. There are very many such works. The
most substantial works of the type are
Yaqut, Mu'^jam al-bulddn.
Al-Bakri,^ al-Masdlik wa-l-mamdlik.
"^Ubaydallah b. Abdallah b. Hurradadbih,^ id. This work is
different from the History (of the same author).
Sihab-ad-din b. Fadlallah, Masdlik al-ahsdr f i l-aqtdr wa-l-amsdr,
in more than twenty volumes. The work is in the Muayyadiyah
and in the College of our Sultan (Qaitbay) in Mecca.
Ahmad b. Y ahya al-Baladuri, on the history [ahbdr) of the
countries and their conquest by surrender or by force since the
hijrah, (that is,) the story of the conquests in (Muhammads) days
nam e is said to have been M uham m ad b. 'A li b. Ism a 'il. H is w ork is quoted b y al-Janadi in
the in troduction of the Su lu k.
^ IHdn, 127, above, p. 469.
^ A p p aren tly, the first ruler nam ed al-M uzaffar w ho died in 694/1295. T h e la ter M uzaffar
liv ed in the ninth/fifteenth cen tury {Daw^, X , 326).
* 'A b d a lla h b. M uham m ad, d. 487/1094 (cf. G A L , I, 476).
* F irst h alf of the third/ninth cen tury (cf. G A L , I, 225 f.). Cf. below, p. 505. Ms. Leiden
adds the b. 'A b d a lla h . Th e form H urdadbih is preferred b y R . N . F r y e , in Speculum,
X X I X , 315 (1954).
F urther quotations from his History m ay be the passages II, 15 1, V I, 51, 89, of al-M utahh ars Beginning and History (ed. C. H u a r t , Paris 1899-1919, Publications de r co le des
langues or. vivantes, I V e Serie, vols. X V I - X V I I I , X X I - X X I I I ) . In the first passage, H u a r t
corrected the te x t to Ibn ^iurradadbih. In the other tw o passages, he read H u rrazad and
equated him w ith ^ u rra za d b. Darsad, a m ath em atician who is b riefly m entioned in the
Fihrist, 385 (Cairo t348 = 276 F l O g e l ), b u t is not known as the author of a h istory. Cf.
also Ibn Saddad, al-A^ldq al-hatirah, 25 f. a d - D a h h 1 n (Dam ascus i375/r956).
' D. around 279/892-93 (cf. G A L , I, 141 f.).

487

and afterwards under the caliphs. (Al-Baladuri) described the

countries in the east, west, north, and south. Al-Mas*udi said:
We know of no better geographical work. ^ This was, we must
say, before Yaqut.
Someone else wrote ar-Rawd al-miHdr f i ahbdr al-aqtdr^ in two
volumes.
A l-Udri, Tarsi'- al-ahbdr f i l-bulddn.
Someone else wrote Nazm al-marjdn f i l-bulddn.
Al-Muayyad, the ruler of Hamah ^ (136), Taqwim al-bulddn,
in the form of tables, in one volume, a very valuable work.
Al-Bakri, also wrote Mu'-jam md sta'-jam.
Y aqut al-Hamawi and someone else wrote on countries which
look alike in writing but have different locations {al-Mustarik
wad'-an wa-l-muftariq saq'an) and the like, about countries with
identical names.
. . . . (136-144)
I say; The entire (preceding) section (pp. 136-144, on the vicissi
tudes of religious scholarship in the various cities and regions) is
derived from a monograph by ad-Dahabi which he prefaced with the
M ain Cities in which traditions were cultivated [al-Amsdr dawdt aldtdr). Little supplementation was needed, except for the changes

I made b y w ay of selection (and omission) or correction (and

addition). In Asia Minor (Rum), with the capital of Istanbul,
and the cities of Adanah (Adana), Brussa (Bursa), and other neigh
boring places, there are (religious) scholars and excellent thinkers
(scholars in the non-traditional disciplines). Most, indeed all, of
^ M uru j, I, 14 Paris ed. = I, 5 (Cairo 1346). A l-M as'u d i has futufi al-bulddn.
^ Cf. E . Li;vi-PR0VEN9AL, L a Peninsule Iberique (Leiden 1938), w hich is a p artial edition
of a w ork of this title b y M uham m ad b. M uham m ad b. 'Abd-al-M un^m al-H im yari;
S . a l- M u n a jjid , in Revue de I ln stitu t des M anuscrits Arabes, V , 57 f. (1959); T . L e w ic k i,
in F o lia Orientalia, I, 322-26 (i960), etc.
* A h m ad b. U m ar b. A n as, d. 478/1085 (cf. Y a q u t, Mu^jam, IV , 582 f. W O s t e n f e ld ;
. L ^ v I 'P r o v e n ^ a l, o p .c it., X X I V , n. 2; I. Y . K r a c h k o v s k y , Izbrann'ie Sochineniya,
IV , 273 f. [M oscow-Leningrad 1957]). T h e Tuhfat al-'-ajdHb of Isma*^il b. Ahm ad b. al-A tir
(?, cf. G A L Supplement I, 581) m entions am ong its sources the Kitdb al-M asdlik wa-lmamdlik ai-Sarqtyah and the K itdb al-M asdlik wa-l-mamdlik al-garbtyah of a l-'U d ri, cf.
Bodleian ms. or. O useley 97, introduction. Under the title Tarsi^ al-ahbdr wa-tanwt^ al-dtdr
wa-l-bustdn f i gardHb al-bulddn wa-l-masdlik ild jamt^ al-mamdlik, the w ork is quoted b y
Ibn ad-D aw adari, K a nz ad-durar, Phot. Cairo T a rih 2578, I, 233. Cf. also Ibn H aldun,
Muqaddimah, trans. F. R o s e n t h a l, I, 116 (New Y o rk 1958), and A b d - a l- 'A z iz a l A h w A n is edition o f the preserved fragm ents of al- U d ris w ork w hich appeared under
the title of N usus ^an al-Andalus in M adrid 1965.
Stra n g ely enough, Y a q u t lists the title of al-^Udris w ork as N izam al-marjdn w hich seems
to b e id entical w ith the title listed b y as-Saljaw i as th at of the w ork of someone else.
* Ism a 'il b. 'A lt, know n as A b u 1-Fida^ d. 732/1331 (cf. G A L , II, 44-46).
A l-F iru zab ad i w rote a w ork w ith a v ery sim ilar title , cf. Daw^, X , 821,.

488

TRANSLATION

A S -S A H A W I S I l A n

them are H anafites. W e hear

only

very

h ttle

about

them.

(15. Straigh t historical works)

O r (historians restricted themselves) to straight history w ithout
a n y further qualification. There are various types (of straight
historical works).
(a. Histories of events)
Some restricted themselves to events, as was done, for instance,
by
Qutb-ad-din Muhammad b. A hm ad b. A li al-Qastallani ^ when
he w rote a slender volum e, entitled Jum al al4 jd z f i l-i'-jdz bi-ndr
al-Hijdz.
Others w rote on earthquakes or on insurrections.
A nother representative (of this typ e of straight history) is the
great History of the religious leader A b ii J a 'fa r at-Tabari which
has remained the standard w ork of reference in the field for all
later (scholars). A t-T abari, a religious leader of independent judg
m ent, who had a greater knowledge (of the religious disciplines)
than an y of his fam ed contemporaries, collected the various chains
of transm itters for the traditions and for the inform ation about the
world (contained in it) but restricted his w ork to its purpose, nam e
ly, history, wars, and conquests. He rarely bothered w ith personality
criticism and the like, so th at he has no complete inform ation
about any one rehgious leader. H e was only concerned w ith the
exp licit and detailed, and not the sum m ary story of wars and con
quests and the history {ahbdr) of the ancient prophets and kings of
old, of past national entities and bygone generations, for w hich he
also indicated the various w ays (of transmission) and numerous
different chains of transmitters. He had an inexhaustible knowledge
of this and other subjects. (As to biographies of individuals), he was
satisfied w ith his history of men (of the science of tradition).^ (AtTabari himself) w rote a supplement to the History and also a
supplem ent to the supplement. M uhamm ad b. A bd-al-M alik alH am adani w rote a supplement (to at-Tabari) from the days of
al-M uqtadir to A dud-ad-daw lah A b u u ja at the beginning of the
year 360/970.^ A l-H am adani also w rote the 'Unwdn (145) as-siyar
1 S ic Ms. Leiden. H a jjl H alifah, K a f az-zunun, IV , 197 F l u g e l , m entions a w ork o n

the su b ject b y al-Q astallani under the title 'Urwat at-tawtiq f t n-ndr wa-l-hartq.
*
T h e reference apparen tly is to a t-T a b aris D a y l al-mudayyal. I do n ot th in k th at
it is m erely m eant th at the History did n ot deal w ith biographies of in dividuals as such.
Cf. above, p. 82, n. 4, and, for the ^Unwdn, p. 412, n. 6.

489

and a supplement to the history of the w azir A b u Suj& Muhammad

b. al-H usayn b. Abd-al-M alik b. Ibrahim al-Bagdadi which he
had entitled Ahbdr as-siyar at-tdliyah 'aid T a j drib al-umam alhdliyah, being a supplem ent to M iskaw ayhs Kitdb Tajdrib al-umam.
There is another supplement to at-T abari which was abridged
b y as-Salih Najm -ad-din b. al-K am il al-Ayyubi.^
A b u 1-Hasan 'A ll b. al-H usayn b. *Ali al-M asudi wrote a great
w ork entitled Ahbdr az-zamdn which ended w ith the caliphate of
al-M uttaqi li-llah, in the year 332/943-44. H e also w rote DahdHr
al-'-ulum wa-md kdna f i sd lif ad-dahr] al-Istidkdr li-md marra f i
l-a'-sdr', and at-Ta^rih f i ahbdr al-umam, all this in addition to his
fam ous M uru j ad-dahab wa-ma'-ddin al-jawhar f i tuhaf al-asrdf
min al-muluk wa-ahl ad-dirdydt.^ A ll these are original works.
The last m entioned one is the one in common use. In its introduction
(al-Masudi) m entioned a great number of histories. Then, he
said: O nly those works on history, biography, and memorable
antiquities have been m entioned whose authors are prominent and
well-known. W e did not endeavor to mention works on the history
of hadit scholars and on the knowledge of the names, times, and
tabhqdt of persons (connected w ith the science of traditions). This
w ould be too wide a subject for me to m ention in this book.
(Al-M asudi) excused himself for possible shortcomings (in his
work) and justified oversights th at m ight have occurred w ith the
length of his travels, on which he commented, and his associations
w ith kings, which he explained.* (He further said) that books
are of tw o kinds, good and defective, and prolix and too short.
H istorical inform ation [ahbdr) increases from day to d ay and comes
up anew w ith the progress of time. The most outstanding part of
it often remains unknown to sensitive and intelligent (historians).
E ach one has his part to which he devotes his special interest. Each
region has its own rem arkable features whose knowledge is restricted
to its inhabitants. There is a difference between a person who
has alw ays remained at home and is satisfied ^ w ith a knowledge of
1 A y y u b b. M uham m ad, d. 647/t249. G A L Supplem ent I, 217, is based upon the I^ldn.
T h e second part of the title origin ally did not belong to it, cf. al-M as'udi, M uruj, I,
21 f. Paris ed. = I, 8 (Cairo 1346), b u t appears already in the F ihrist, 219 f. (Cairo 1348
= 154 F l u g e l ).

M uruj, I, 20 f. Paris ed. = 1 , 7 (Cairo 1346).

M uruj, I, 5 f. Paris ed. = I, 3 (Cairo 1346).
A ccordin g to the te xt of the MurHj, the adjectives do not refer to w orks b u t to
auth ors. T he first couple of them m eans productive and in cap ab le.
Cf. M uruj.

490

A S -S A H A w t s I LAN

his own region, and the person who used his hfe to traverse the
world, who spent his days tossed around on his travels, who w ent
to the place of origin of every detail, and who stirred every precious
thing from its resting place, ^ although, al-M asudi added, the
memorable antiquities of the world h ave disappeared, and its
beacon has been extinguished; m ediocrity is plentiful in (the
world), and understanding is rarely found; and all th at can be
observed is ignorant sophists or well-intentioned but incapable
persons who are satisfied w ith guesswork and are blind to real
knowledge. ^ (146).
Judge A b u A bdallah M uhammad b. S alim ah b. J a 'fa r alQ udai w rote a short history, in five quires, from the beginning
of the world to his own days.
(b. Histories of events and dates of death)
Others combined events and dates of death, w ith the latter either
m erely added (in the context) or (added after the events) as biog
raphies in special paragraphs.
A bu 1-Faraj b. al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam, in ten big volum es. (Ibn
al-Jaw zi himself) wrote an abridgm ent in one small volum e, Sudur
al-'-uqud f i ta 'n h al-'-uhud. I have come across an autograph copy
of the work. A supplement (to the Muntazam) is M uhamm ad
b. A hm ad b. M uhammad al-Farisi, al-Fdhir f i dikr hawddit ayydm
al-imdm an-Ndsir, in several volumes. A nother supplement to the
Muntazam w as w ritten b y Izz-ad-din A b u B ak r Mahfuz b. MaHuq
b, al-Buzuri.
A bu 1-Muzaffar Y usu f b. Qizoglu, Sibt b. al-Jaw zi (a grandson
of Ibn al-Jawzi), Mir'^dt az-zamdn f i tawdrih a l-a y d n * The name
somehow fits the contents, as the author himself said; I t should
be a name th at agrees with the thing named, and an expression
th at fits the meaning it expresses. The w ork was abridged to about
one-half its original size and then provided w ith a supplem ent
b y Qutb-ad-din Musa, a son of the jurist A b u A bdallah M uhammad
^ M u fA j, I, 9 f. P aris ed. = I, 4 (Cairo 1346).
^ MuriXj, I, 6 Paris ed. = I, 3 (Cairo 1346).
D. 594/end of 1294 (ad-Dahabi, Mu^jam, Ms. Cairo M ust, al-hadit 65, fol. i i8 b ; Ibn
R a fi', Muntahab al-muhtdr, Ta?rih 'ulamd^Bagdad, 165-67, B agdad 1357/1938; S . M. S t e r n ,
in B S O A S , X I X , 420-22 [1957]). The Supplement to the M untazam is quoted b y ad-D ahabi,
History o f Islam , dow n to the y ear 6 31; T aqi-ad -d in al-Fasi, Sifd?, I, 186, II, 232, 237
(M ecca-Cairo 1956).
* A n edition of the w ork w as begun in H yd erab ad in the 1950s.

T R A N S L A T IO N

491

b. A hm ad b. A bdallah b. Isa al-Yunini, a brother of the hadit

expert A bu 1-H usayn Ali.^ (A copy of the w ork of Qutb-ad-din),
who died in the year 726/1326, is in the M ahm udiyah, in four vol
umes.
Ibn al-Jaw zi w rote another history, the four-volum e Durrat
al-ikUl.
The hadit expert and great scholar Professor Izz-ad-din A bu
1-Hasan A li b. A b i 1-K aram M uhammad b. Muhammad b. A bdal-K arim as-SaybS.ni al-Jazari b. al-Atir, the author of the {Usd
al-gdbah fi) ma^rifat as-sahdbah and the Ansdh and other works,
a brother of the great scholar Majd-ad-din, the author of the
Jdmi^ al-usul, and also of the w azir Diya^-ad-din Nasrallah,^
the author of the Matal as-sdHr, wrote a history entitled al-Kdm il
(The Perfect one). It is w hat its name says. Ibn H ajar said that
(the Kam il) is the best of all histories in recording the happenings
clearly and distinctly. The student as a rule has the feeling to be
present when th ey took place. In addition, (the work) is well or
ganized and (from the stylistic point of view) skilfully executed.
Ibn H ajar continued; I t therefore occurred to me to w rite a
supplem ent to it, from the year in which (Ibn al-Atir) stopped,
nam ely the year 628/1230-31, th at is, two years before his death.
H owever, Ibn H ajar was not able to execute his plan. A supplement
to (the Kdm il) was w ritten b y A b u Talib A li b. A n jab al-Bagdadi
(147) al-Hazin, who also w rote the big fdmi"- al-muhtasar f i "-unwdn
at-tawdrih wa-'-uyun as-siyar and who died in the year 674/1276,
Jam al-ad-din Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. Y a h y a al-K utubi, known
as al-W atwat,^ w rote instructive notes to the Kdm il.
T he great independent, all-round scholar A bii am ah Abd-arRahm an b. Ism ail b. Ibrahim al-Maqdisi, later ad-Dimasqi, as a fii w rote Kitdh ar-Rawdatayn f i ahbdr ad-dawlatayn, on the reigns
of Nur-ad-din and Salah-ad-din. (Abu Sam ah himself) w rote a
supplement to it.^ H e began his w ork w ith the year 590/1194, and
he died in the year 665/1267 the year in which the hadit expert
Alam -ad-din al-Qasim b. Muhammad al-Birzali was born. (Al^ 'A ll b. M uham m ad, d. 701/1302 (cf. J. F u c k , in Z D M G , X C II, 79 ff., 1938). Cf. above,
P-

393. n. 4 * N asrallah b. M uham m ad b. 'A b d -a l-K arim , 558-637/1163-1239 (cf. G A L , I, 297). On

t h e fam ily, cf. H . R i t t e r , in Oriens, V I, 71 ff. (1953), see above, p . 298, n. 2.

D. 718/January 1319 (cf. G A L , II, 54 f.). A s-Sah aw is inform ation is derived from Ibn
H aja r, Durar, I I I , 299.
* Cf. above, p, 455, n. i.

492

TRANSLATION

A S - S A H lw fs I LAN

B irzalis) work, al-Muqtafd^yNhioh. began w ith th at very same year,

was a supplem ent to A bu Samah. It ended in the year 736/1336.
(Al-Birzali) has some (information), b u t not much, after th a t date,
A supplem ent to (al-Birzali) was w ritten b y Taqi-ad-din A bu
B ak r b. Qadi Suhbah, the jurist of Syria, who died in the year
851/1448. E ach of these works comes in several volum es. AlBirzali also w rote a substantial Mu'-jam.
KamM -ad-din A b u 1-F ad ail A bd-ar-R azzaq b. al-Fuw ati w rote
a great history. He did not (live to) prepare the clean copy. He also
wrote another smaller one entitled Majma^ (!) al-dddh wa-mu'-jam alasmd^ 'aid l-alqdh [and Durar al-asddf f i gurar al-awsdf,] ^ a very
large w ork in fifty volumes. (The author) mentioned th at he com
piled (the work) from a thousand histories, collections of poems,
w orks on genealogy, and collectanea. (Ibn al-Fuw ati) also w rote a
history of events.
The jurist Judge ihab-ad-din A b u Ishaq Ibrahim b. A bdallah b.
Abd-al-M unim b. A b i d-dam, a contem porary of Ibn as-Salah,
wrote an instructive w ork (on history) H e also wrote an alphabeti
cally arranged (history), at-Ta^nh al-Muqtafd (?).* It begins w ith
a biography of the Prophet, followed, successively, b y the caliphs,
philosophers-theologians, hadit scholars, ascetics, grammarians,
lexicographers, Q uran commentators, wazirs, (army) leaders, and
poets. The Muhammads come first, then the others under each
name in the described sequence, from the men around Muhammad,
the caliphs, etc., down to the women. I h ave come across one volum e
of the work. Three volumes were in the possession of Jam al-ad-din
b, Sabiq, who also owned the other history (of Ibn A bi d-dam).
A l-M u ayyad, the ruler of Ham ah, also w rote a history, from
which ad-D ahabi made selections.
The hadit expert A bu A bdallah ad-Dahabi, History of Islam,
(148) in more than tw enty volumes in the authors autograph;
Siyar an-nuhaW,^ in several volum es; Duwal al-Isldm, in a small

493

volum e; and al-Isdrah, a smaller work. (Ad-D ahabi himself) also

w rote supplements to each of these works. Taqi-ad-din al-Fasi wrote
a supplement to the N uhaW and the Isdrah. I wrote W ajiz alkaldnt (as a supplement) to the Duwal. A d-D ahabi also wrote
al-IHdm hi-wafaydt al-aHdm, also called D u n at at-ta^'rih, and one
folio on the men around Taqi-ad-din b. T aym iyah , entitled
al-Qabbdn.
The law court functionary Sams-ad-din M uhammad b. Ibrahim
b. A b i B ak r b. Ibrahim ad-Dim asqi b. al-Jazari, who died in the
middle of the year 7 3 9 / 1 3 3 8 , wrote a great, famous history which
contains rem arkable and strange information.^ A n autograph copy
(of the work) is in the Mahmudiyah.
Muhammad b. Mahfuz b. Muhammad b. Galib al-Juhani asSu bayki al-M akki wrote a modest history, from the end of the
H asim ite dyn asty until after the 6 9 0 S /1 2 9 1 - 9 9 which, how
ever, includes years for which nothing is mentioned , as he
was conscious of the fact th at previous (historians) had shown no
interest in th at (period). H e also w rote a history from the year
7 2 5 / 1 3 2 4 - 2 5 to the end of the 7 6 0 S / 1 3 5 8 - 6 7 , which was utihzed b y
Taqi-ad-din al-Fasi in spite of the awful solecisms, colloquial
expressions, and other (defects of the work).
The hadit expert Im ad-ad-din b. K atir, al-Biddyah wa-n-nihdyah,
in several volumes. A t the beginning (of the work, Ibn Katir) said
th at w ith G ods help, he would m ention the beginning of Crea
tion, nam ely, the creation of the (divine) throne and chair, the
heavens and the earth and the angels, jinns, and devils in them
and between them, and the manner of A dam s creation as well as the
stories of the prophets and similar things down to the days of the
children of Israel and pre-Islam ic (Arabia) until prophetism reached
the tim e of our Prophet. W e shall then deal in the proper manner
w ith the most satisfactory and wholesome subject, (Muhammads)
1 C f. G A L Supplem ent II, 45; Ibn Hajar, D urar, III, 301; ' A b b a s a l - ' A z z a w i , in Revue
de V Academ ic ar. de D am as, X I X , 524-30 (1944). The Istanbul manuscript Kopriilii 1147

' The title is not mentioned in Ibn Hajar, D urar, III, 238. For the passage, cf. also the
beginning of al-Birzalis work (above, p. 306 f.)
^ The reference to the D urar here seems to be due to a mistake.
Cf. Ibn Hajar, D urar, II, 364; Ibn Katir, B iddyah, X IV , 106.
*
A l-M u q a ffd , as we find in the IHdn, or al-M uqtafd [IHdn 152, below, p. 499) is a mistake
and should be read al-M uzaffari.

Or is the reference to Ibn al-'Adim s Bugyah owned b y Ibn SS.biq (above, p. 444) ?
Excerpts were published b y S a ' I d a l - A f g a n i (Damascus 1360-64/1941-45, cf. Revue de
VAcadem ic arabe de Danias, X V I, 387-407). Publication of the entire large work was begun
in Cairo 1955-56.

is an abridgment of Ibn al-Jazaris work (covering the years 593-698) written b y ad-Dahabi.
The R abat manuscript 194^ covers the years 608-58.
The statement in the relative clause goes back to ad-Dahabi and was meant to be an
adverse criticism, cf. Ibn Hajar, D urar, III, 301. B ut in our opinion, the value of the work is,
in fact, greatly enhanced b y authentic reports from travelling merchants about a disturbance
in Alexandria in 727, from the authors brother concerning the Volga with an excursus
about dogs, and from another merchant about customs and conditions in Ethiopia {Hawddit
az-zamdn, Phot. Cairo Ta^rih 995, pp. 54, 147-50, and 183 f. The manuscript breaks off
with the year 734/1334). Cf. also Ibn Hajar, D urar, I, 339, II, 388 (and the note to the
edition).

494

A S -S A H A W I S I ' l A n

biography. W e shall then deal w ith subsequent events until our

own time. W e shall mention the insurrections, bloodshed, and
(other) signs of the approach of the Hour, the Resurrection, and
the terror of the Judgment. W e shall describe all this as well as the
happenings of th at D a y and the im portant, frightful things th at
w ill occur on it. W e shall describe (Hell w ith its) Fire and Paradise
w ith the good and beautiful (things) in it, and related m atters.
(We shall mention) the relevant testimonies from the Q u ran, the
sunnah, and the transm itted traditional (149) inform ation which
was accepted b y (religious) scholars, the heirs of the prophets, who
kindled (their light at) the lamp of the prophecy of Muhammad, the
blessed and chosen bearer of the prophecy.
W e shall only mention those Israelite stories whose transmission
was perm itted b y the Legislator (Muhammad), which do not
contradict the Q uran and the sunnah of Muhammad th at part
of those stories which cannot be proved or disproved and which
serves to expand inform ation which we possess (only) in a very
brief form or to give a name to nameless (information) which is
referred to in our religious law (but) on which it would have been
useless (for the lawgiver) to give us specific data. W e shall mention
those stories as a kind of ornament, and not as something necessary
and basic and reliable, the reliable basis being the Q uran and the
sunnah of M uhammad w hatever is transm itted in a sound and
good w ay. W hatever is w eak we shall explain.
It is said in the Q uran: Thus we are telling you the events
which took place before, and we gave you from our own something
to r e m e m b e r .G o d told His Prophet the past history of the creation
of the world and the story of the nations of the past and w hat
H e had done to His saints and w hat H e had visited upon His
adversaries. Muhammad explained this to his nation in a satisfac
tory manner. In each case, we shall quote the known Prophetical
traditions, following upon the relevant verses of the Q u ran. He
told us w hat we need of that (information) and (what) should be
om itted as useless. There is m uch m aterial which a good m any
Jewish and Christian scholars pursue and discuss (but) which is
of no use for m ost people. Certain Muslim scholars, too, transm it
th at entire (material). W e shall not im itate their exam ple and not
follow in their direction. W e shall but briefly mention a little (of
Qur^an x x 99 (99 FI.).

T R AN S LAT IO N

495

th at information), and we shall explain which part of it is truthful

and agrees w ith our (other information), and w hat contradicts it
and therefore requires disapproval.
In the Sahih, al-Buhari mentions the following tradition on
the authority of A m r b. a l-As:^ M uhammad said: G ive infor
m ation on m y authority, even if it were a single verse, and transm it
stories on the auth ority of the children of Israel. There is nothing
wrong w ith th a t. ^ Transm it traditions on m y authority b u t do
not ascribe things to me which I did not say. W hoever does that
intentionally will take his seat in the F ire. This tradition refers to
the Israelite stories not criticized (by the authorities).* W e have
nothing to prove them or to disprove them. Their transmission,
therefore, is permissible for purposes of instruction. This is w hat we
shall do in this book. The inform ation (from the Israelite stories)
which has been proved b y our religious law to be true (150) is
superfluous for us here, since we can be satisfied w ith w hat we have.
On the other hand, the inform ation which has been proved b y our
religious law to be untrue m ust be rejected. It is not permissible to
report it, except accom panied b y an expression of disapproval and
a declaration th at it is not true.
Through Muhammad, God, fortunately, made all other religious
laws superfluous for us, and through His book, all other (religious)
books. Therefore, we do not care for the m aterial which th ey (the
Jew s and Christians) have, w ith its doubts, errors, lies, supposititious
additions, clerical m istakes, and changes which have made it
altogether disfigured and altered. Our Prophet explained to us w hat
we need (of such information). He commented upon it and made
it clear. One either knows it or does not know it, and so on.
(Ibn K a tir s) remarks about the transmission of the Israelite
stories are excellent. It is the full truth. How to verify and to
transm it (this truth) has been the basis of the lengthy exposition

1 D. about 43/663 (cf. E l , s.v.).

^ Cf. Concordance, I, 4 4 5 b g ; Ibn ^Abd-al-Barr, Jami^ baydn al-Hlm, I I , 40 (Cairo, n .y .);
I. G o l d z i h e r , in Revue des Etudes Juives, X L I V , 64 (1 9 0 2 ).
A l-B u hari, Sahih, II, 372 f. K r e h l ; cf. also Concordance, I, 229ai8. T he last a u th ority
in al-Buhari is ^Abdallah b. 'A in r, and al-B uh ari does n ot h av e the sentence T ran sm it
traditions . . . For the v e ry com mon last sentence, cf. I. G o l d z i h e r , M uh. Studien, II,
132 (Halle 1888-90).
Ibn K a tir: for which we have no criticism .
Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, I, 6 f.
* On the Israelite stories and hadtt scholarship, cf. I. G o l d z i h e r , M uh. Studien, I I,
166 (Halle 1888-90).

496

T R A N SLA TIO N

A S -S A H A W IS 1LAN

in our w ork al-Asl al-asil f i tahrim an-naql min at-Tawrdh wa-l-InjU.^

The son of the hadit expert Im ad-ad-din (Ibn Katir) wrote a
one-volume supplem ent to (the B iddy ah). Ibn H ajars tw o-volum e
Inhd^ al-gumr f i anhd^ al-'^umr could pass as a supplement to (the
Biddyah, which ended with the year 767/1365-66, while Ibn K a tir
died in 774/1373), since the Inbd"" begins with the year in which Ibn
H ajar was born, the year 773/1372.2 Another supplement to Ibn
K a tir was w ritten b y ihab-ad-din b. Hijji.^ He died when the
w ork was in the draft stage. Taqi-ad-din b. Qadi Suhbah took it,
prepared a clean copy, and made additions to it.
Other (authors of historical works of this type) are
The historian Salah-ad-din Muhammad b. Sakir al-K utu b i adDimasqi,* 'Uyun at-tawdnh. Sadr-ad-din A bu 1-Hasan A ll b. A la ad-din A li b. M uhammad b. Muhammad b. A b i l-Izz (?) al-Hanafi,
the judge of Damascus and Egypt,^ said w ith regard to the w ork;
The noble 'Uyun at-tawdnh devotes
Itself to the choicest ideas and notes.
I ve never seen anything black on white
T h at excels the 'Uyun in charm and dehght.
A l-K u tu b i also wrote Fawdt al-Wafaydt, a several-volum e sup
plement to the History of Ibn H allikan. He died in the m onth
of R am adan of the year (7)64/1363.
B ayb ars al-Mansuri ad-Dawadar, Zuhdat al-fikmh f i ta^rih alhijrah.^ (A copy of the work) in tw enty-five volumes is in the
M uayyadiyah , and part of it is in the library of the Ibn Fahds.
A s-Safadi stands alone with his statem ent th at a certain Ibn K abar,
a Christian secretary of Baybars, helped him write (that history).
^ Cf. IHan, 64, above, p. 359.
^ Cf. IHdn 160, below p. 513. In the introduction of the Inbd^, Ibn H ajar him self states
th at the w ork could pass as a supplem ent to Ibn K a tir as far as the events are concerned,
and as a supplem ent to Ibn R a fi' as far as the dates of death are concerned. A tw o-volum e
copy of the Inbd^ w ritten b y as-Sahawi is preserved in Istanbul, T opkapu saray, A h m et III,
2942.
A h m ad b. H ijji, d. 816/1413 (cf. G A L , II, 50 f.). T h e supplem ent to Ibn K a tir is
m entioned Daw^, I, 270.
D. 764/1363 (cf. G A L , II, 48).
D. 792/1389-90 (Ibn H ajar, Durar, III, 87).
*
F or the relationship of this w ork to B a y b a rs h istory of his own times, at-Tuhfah almuluktyah, cf. E . A s h t o r , in Scripta Hierosolymitana, I X , 12 f. (1961).
For A b u 1-B ara k at Ibn K ab ar (also often vocalized Kubr), cf. G . G r a f , Geschichte
der christlichen arabischen Literatur, II, 438-45, and Recueil Cardinal Eugene Tisserant, I,
96 f. (Louvain, n. y . [1955]).

497

On the contrary, several biographers of B aybars have credited

him w ith excellence, (151) decency, praying at night, and frequent
reading (of the Q uran). This makes it impossible th at (Baybars)
could h ave used (Ibn Kabar).
Zahir-ad-din A li b. M uhammad b. Mahmud al-Kazaruni, Rawdat
al-arib, in tw enty-seven books.
ihab-ad-din A hm ad b. A bd-al-W ahhab b. Muhammad anN uw ayri,! Nihdyat al-arab, a substantial w ork in th irty volumes.
Nevertheless, (an-Nuwayri) sold an autograph (copy) of it for
(only) tw o thousand dirhams.^ (An-Nuwayri) himself, or someone
else, w rote an abridgm ent (of the work).
Afif-ad-din a l-Y M ii, Mir^dt al-jandn the title has been men
tioned above ^ , a useful, two-volum e work.
Nasir-ad-din Muhammad b. Abd-ar-Rahim b. A li b. al-Furat ^
w rote an extensive history. The last three centuries (alone) were
clean-copied (by the author) in about tw en ty volumes. The author's
w riting ended w ith the end of the year 803/1400-1. I suppose th at
if he had completed the work, it would have come to sixty (volumes).
The subject is dealt w ith in a very instructive manner, b ut (the
author) did not know A rabic gram m ar well. He therefore used awful
solecisms and very colloquial expressions. The w ork was sold in a
draft copy and was dispersed.
Judge W ali-ad-din b. Haldun, al-^Ihar f i ta^rih al-muluk wa-lumam wa-l-Barbar. (A copy of the work) is in the B asitiyah. It
contains a valuable Introduction {Muqaddimah) and consists of
seven big volumes. One of Ibn H alduns students, Ibn Am m ar,
praised it excessively. He said: Its introduction comprises all
branches of learning, and similar styhstic perfection has not been
achieved b y anybody and cannot be attem pted to be achieved ( ?).
Indeed, it is one of the works whose titles are not descriptive of
their contents, such as the Agdni, which was the name given to
the w ork b y its author (Abii 1-Faraj al-Isfahani), while, in fact,
it contains inform ation about everythin g; or the History of al-

^ D. 732/1332 (cf. G A L , II, 139 f.).

* Th e inform ation is derived from Ibn H ajar, Durar, I, 197.
IHdn, 30, above, p. 308.
D. 807/1405 (cf. G A L , II, 50). T h e opinion about Ibn a l-F u ra ts History goes b ack to
Ibn H a ja rs
cf. Daw^, V I I I , 5 1 . O n his w ork, cf. E. A s h t o r , in
/fieroso^ymitana, I X , 13-24 (1961).
T h is seems to be the m ost lik e ly translation of the sentence. It could h ard ly m ean here:
It does not lea ve an yth in g to be desired .
R o s e n th a l,

History of Muslim Historiography

32

498

A S - S A H l w f s I l A n

H atib, which he called History of Bagdad, while, in fact, it is a

history of the w orld; or the H ilyat al-awliya' of A b u Nu^aym, which
was the nam e given to the w ork b y its author, while, in fact, it
contains a great m any things. The religious leader, A b u U tm an
as-Sabuni,i even used to say: Satan does not enter a house in
which there is the K ilyah.' ^
(Ibn A m m ars
colleague Taqi-ad-din al-Maqrizi also praised
the history of Ibn Haldun. He said about the Introduction: N othing
like it has ever been done (before), and it would be difficult for
anyone who m ight try to achieve something like it (in the future). ^
He continued w ith this exaggerated praise. Ibn H ajar agreed w ith
him only partially. He affirmed th at Ibn Haldun had not acquired
through his studies a precise knowledge of historical events {ahhdr),
in particular those concerned w ith the east. This is clear to all who
look a t Ibn H alduns exposition.
Before (Ibn Haldun), (a history) was compiled (152) b y Sarafad-din Isa b. M as'ud al-Magribi az-Zawawi,^ the com m entator of
Muslim. He began w ith the beginning (of Creation) and wrote
ten books of (the work).
Sarim-ad-din Ibrahim b. Muhammad b. Duqm aq, the historian.
(His historical work) is in the M u'ayyadiyah . He wrote the History
of Islam and the History of Prominent M en, the one arranged
chronologically, and the other alphabetically. He further w rote a
two-volum e History {ahhdr) of the Turkish Dynasty, 2i Biography of
az-Zdhir Barquq] and Hanafite Tabaqdt. The (last m entioned work)
got him into trouble. His works are useful, but their style is collo-

^ Ism a 'il b. 'A b d -ar-R ah m an , d. 449/1057 (cf. G A L , I, 362 f.).

^ Cf. Daw^, IV , 149. On Ibn 'A m m ar and Ibn H aldun, cf. above, p. 44.
T h e suffix can h ard ly refer to Ibn H aldun.
^ A s-Sahaw i derived the M aqrizi quotation from Ibn H ajar, Raf- al-isr, loc. cit. (above,
p. 370, n. 2). Cf. also Daw^, IV , 147. Th e M aqrizi q uotation continues in the
as follow s:
It is the cream of knowledge and of the sciences and the pleasure of sound in tellects and
minds. It calls atten tion to things as th ey are. It informs about the rea lity of happenings and
events. It explains the things th at are, and refers to the representatives of e veryth in g in
existence in a sty le which is more brilliant than a w ell-arranged pearl and finer than w ater
fanned b y the z e p h y r.
These com m onplaces which show no real appreciation of the contents of the M uqaddimah elicit this com m ent from Ibn H ajar: T h is praise is right as far as the Jahizian style
and p la y w ith words of Ibn H aldun is concerned. B eyon d th at, it is only p a rtia lly (in some
cases, and not in others) right. The brillian t style, how ever, em bellishes the superficial
appearance of the w ork, so th at we consider good w h at is not good.
D. 743/1342, cf. Ibn H ajar, Durar, III, 211 f., whence the above inform ation is derived.
' On the Nuzhat al-dndm f t ta^rih al-Isldm, cf. E. A s h t o r , in Scripta Hierosolymitana,
IX , 27-30 (1961).

TRANSLATION

499

quial. H e w rote about tw o hundred books on history, of his own

composition and not (of his own composition).^
Taqi-ad-din al-Maqrizi, as-Suluk, in four volumes, as men
tioned ab ove .2 I w rote a supplem ent to it, at-Tibr al-mashiXk, in
several volumes. Supplements (to the Suluk) were also w ritten
b y a number of scholars, among them Y u su f b. Tagribirdi, in
tw o or three volumes.
Other (authors of historical works of this type) are
Al-Yusufi.^
Al-Fayyumi. His one-volume w ork was in the possession of
Badr-ad-(^n as-adili al-K utubi.
H ilal b. al-Muhassin b. Ibrahim b. HilM as-Sabi , who, in contrast
to his father and grandfather, was a Muslim, w rote a history in
fo rty volumes.
(c. Biographical works)
Or (historians) restricted themselves to biographies. (Authors of
this typ e of historical works) are very numerous, for instance,
Ibn A b i d-dam, al-Muqtafd (?),^ his afore-discussed history.
Judge Sams-ad-din A hm ad b. Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. A b i
B ak r b. H allikan, Wafaydt al-a^ydn, a five-volum e w ork which is
very generally consulted and utilized. Ibn HaUikan said th at in his
work, he m entioned none of the men around M uhammad and only
very few men of the second generation. He also mentioned no caliphs,
as there existed sufficient works on them, but he mentioned a
number of excellent men whom he himself had met and on whose
auth ority he had transm itted m aterial or who were living in his
tim e but whom he had not seen. He did not restrict his (work) to
a special class, such as (religious) scholars, kings, amirs, wazirs.
1 Th e sources of this paragraph were, in the first place, al-M aqrizi and also the Mu'-jam
of Ibn H aja r, cf. Daw^, I, 14 5 f.
2 IHdn, 1 2 0 , above, p. 4 5 5 .
3 D . 8 7 4 / 14 7 0 (cf. G A L , I I, 4 1 f . ; W . P o p p e r , History of Egypt, trans. Ibn TaghrtBirdt, I,
pp. X V - X X I I I , B erkeley-L os Angeles 1 9 5 4 ).
Musa b. M uham m ad, 696-7 5 9 (?)/i2 9 6 (9 7 ) - i 357 (58) [ c t .G A L ,\ l, 135; Ibn H ajar, Dwmr,
IV , 381). H is History, entitled N uzhat an-ndzir f t strut al-M alik an-Ndsir, is quoted b y
Ibn H ajar, Durar, I, 270, 367, II, 52, 161, 404Could he be the '^Ali b. M uham m ad (after 77 0 / 13 6 8 -6 9 ) who is m entioned in G A L , II,
2 5 ? For one-volum e, Ms. Leiden has tw o-volum e.
D . 4 4 8 /10 5 6 (cf. G A L , I, 3 23 f.). For the inform ation about his conversion to Islam ,
cf., for instance, T B , X I V , 7 6 .
From the con text, it is clear th at here another subdivision of 1 5 starts, although the
phrasing of the A rab ic te xt w ould suggest a new subdivision of b.
See above, p. 492, n. 4.

500

A S -S A H A W t s I L A N

or poets, but included all well-known individuals.^ He arranged

his (work) alphabetically. In connection w ith each particular name,
he started w ith the jurists, followed, successively, b y the caliphs,^
boon-companions, poets, litterateurs, and secretaries. Poets and
the like are preponderant. A certain historian w rote a supplem ent
to (the Wafaydt). Another (supplement) was w ritten b y the Chris
tian Fadlallah. An autograph copy (of this work) is in the library
of Ibn Fahd.
A certain Christian even wrote a history of events. H e began w ith
the beginning (of Creation) (153) to the Prophet, upon him be peace.
There, he used some apologetical rem ark directed to (his fellow
Christians), so that th ey would not m ind it (?).* He then continued
(the work) to his own time.
I have heard th at the m anuscript ^ has a study note in the hand
w riting of Ibn H ajar recommending the work.
Taj-ad-din A bd-al-Baqi b. A bd-al-M ajid al-Yam ani m ade an
abridgm ent of the original [Wafaydt], entitled Luqtat al-'^ajldn almulahhas min Wafaydt al-a^ydn.
Ibrahim b. A b d -al-A ziz b. Y a h y a al-Luri al-K atib , who died
in Dam ascus in the year 687/1288-89. The third, autograph volum e
of his three-volum e w ork is in the library of the Ibn Fahds.
A b u 1-H ayr S a id b. A bdallah ad-Dihli al-Bagdadi w rote m any
biographies of prominent Damascenes and Bagdadis.
A ll (of these authors) are agreed in calling (their works of this
type) history [ta^yih). Some (authors), however, called their
w orks Tabaqdt, such as
Muslim, at-Tahaqdt. (In this work, the author) restricted himself
to the men around Muhammad and the second generation. In each
section of these two (groups), he started w ith the Medinese, followed,
^ Ibn, H allikan, Wafaydt, introduction,.
^ T he apparent contradiction w ith Ibn H allik an s own statem ent w hich w as ju st m en
tioned m ay be explained b y the fact th at Ibn H allik an included those caliphs w ho had
m ade a nam e for them selves in literature, such as Ibn al-M u 'tazz. Of. a lread y a l-Y a fi'i,
Mir^dt al-jandn, IV , 194 (H yderabad 1337-39).
F adlallah b. AbJ 1-Fahr, d. 726/1325-26 (cf. G A L , I, 328; Ibn H ajar, Durar, I I I , 233).
Or should we understand th at the author used the phrase upon him be p ea ce, and
not the cu stom ary phrase God bless him and m ake him prosper, which is properly used
for M uham m ad?
T h is m ay be the Wafaydt or the Christian w ork. The rem ark on the Christian w ork and
this paragraph are om itted in Ms. Leiden. Unless this is due to mere chance, it w ould favor
the assum ption th at the reference here is to the Christian work.
D. 749/1349 (Ibn H ajar, Durar, II, 134 f.). Ibn H ajar, or his source ad-D ahabi, is the
source of the above statem ent. M. ' A w w a d , in Revue de VAcademic arahe de Damas, X I X ,
324 (1944). m entions ad-D ihlis Biographies of Bagdadis am ong (partially) e x ta n t works.

501

T R A N S L A T IO N

successively, b y the Meccans, K ufis, Basris, Syrians, E gyptians,

and so on. He did not give biographies of the (persons he men
tioned) b ut restricted himself to just m entioning them briefly.
H alifah b. H ay y at. (The tabaqdt work) is different from the
w ork b y him m entioned before.
A bu H ayyawayh.^
A b u B ak r [b.] al-Barqi.^
A bu 1-H asan b. Sumay'.
A bu 1-W alid b. ad-D abbag, Tabaqdt al-muhadditin.
Al-W aqidi, History.
A bu B ak r b. A b i Saybah.
S a 'id b. K a tir b. U fayr al-Misri.
A b u Musa Muhammad b. al-Mutanna al-Basri az-Zamin.
A m r b. A li al-Fallas[i].
Y a 'q u b b. Sufyan al-Fasawi.
A b u Z u r'ah 'A bd-ar-R ahm an b.

A m r ad-Dim asqi an-Nasri.

A bu s-ayh.
A b ii A bdallah b. Mandah.
There are others who w rote on history and the like. I wish to
enumerate them (here) in alphabetical order, w ith the inclusion
of some (authors) whose works I have m entioned before. This ought
to be one of the two w ays to have a complete list of historians, for
those who w ant to have one.
(X II A N

A L P H A B E T IC A L

L IS T

OF

H IS T O R IA N S) ^

Ibrahim b. A b d -al-A ziz b. Y a h y a al-K atib .

Ibrahim b. A bdallah b. A bd-al-M unim b. A b i d-dam.
Ibrahim b. U m ar a l-B iq a i.
^ T h is m ay be Ibn H a y y a w a y h , M uham m ad b. a l-'A b b a s, d. 382/992 {TB, I I I , 121 f.),
who copied the Tabaqdt of Ibn Sa'^d. H is biograph y from as-Safadi w as published b y G. L e v i
D E L LA V i d a , Les Livres des chevaux , X X X , n. 3 (Leiden 1928, Publications de laFondation
De Goeje , 8 ).
2
A p p aren tly, A h m ad b. 'A b d a lla h who com pleted the History of his brother M uhanuaad
and died in 270/884 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, V , 71).
A d-D ah abi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz, 9th tab., no. 96 W C s t e n f e l d , has an A b u l-Qdsim
M ahm ud b. Ibraiiim b. S u m a yS d. 259/873, called the author of the Tibdq b u t in '^Ibar.
II , 19 F. S a y y i d , he appears as A b u 1-Hasan M ahm ud b. S u m a y S author of the Tabaqdt.
*
T h e follow ing list is based m aiu ly upon th at of al-M as'udl in the introduction of his
M uru j, I, 10-20 Paris ed. = I, 4-7 (Cairo 1346). A n asterisc indicates where al-Mas'^udi
w as used. A s-Sah aw is additions cannot m ake the least claim to com pleteness.
T h e list shows quite well how how as-Sahaw i w orked. O n ly a few of the nam es m entioned
b y al-M as'udl are om itted. W herever possible, as-Sahaw i added the fu ll name. Men like alja h iz whom as-Sahaw i, in contrast to the m uch earher M as'udi, w ould n ot have considered
historians are m entioned because th ey appear in al-M as'udi. As-Sah^w i m ade an effort

502

as-sah

Ib rih im b. M ahawayh al-Farisi who em ulated the K am il of

al-M ubarrad,i * cf. under Ja'far.
Ibrahim b. Muhammad b. Duqm aq.
Ibrahim b. M uhammad b. A rafah al-W asiti an-Nahw i N iftaw ayh 2 of whose History a]-Mas*udi said: (154) It is well stocked
w ith elegant statem ents from the books of the elite and filled w ith
instructive rem arks of the leaders. Its author w as the m ost tasteful
critic and the most elegant w riter among his contem poraries. *
Ibrahim b. Musa al-W asiti al-K^tib. *
A hm ad b. S a id b. H azm al-M untajili.*
A hm ad b. Salih b. M i al-Jili.
A hm ad b. A b i Tahir, * A bu 1-Fadl al-K atib al-Marwazi, a genuine
poet and outstanding stylist. He is the author of the following
verses;
A yo u th m ust strive to gain esteem himself.
Ancestral pride is not enough for him.
The founder of a house is not like him
W ho, as its last descendant, m arks its end.
A hm ad
A hm ad
A hm ad
A hm ad
qani. *

b.
b.
b.
b.

TRANSLATION

A w I s 1 l A n

Abd-al-W ahhab b. Muhammad an-Nuwayri.

A li b. Abd-al-Q adir al-Maqrizi.
M uhammad b. Ibrahim b. A b i B ak r b. H allikan.
Muhammad al-H u zai al-A ntaki, known as al-H an-

A hm ad b. Y a h y a b. Jabir al-B aladuri* the author of the History,

the Bulddn, and the Ansdh al-asrdf.
Ahm ad b. A b i Y a 'q u b , or b. Y a 'q u b , al-Misri. *
Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Mawsili. *

not to repeat M as'udi quotations he had m entioned before. His m ain contribution is the
alphabetical arrangem ent and the reference list of patron ym ics and gentilics at the end.
The arrangem ent according to the A rab ic alphabet has been retained here as it w as in
the list of local histories.
1 M uham m ad b. Y a zid , d. 285/898, or 296 (cf. G A L , I, 108 f.).
^ D . 323/935 (cf. G A L Supplement, I, 184). H is Ta^rih is quoted in Ibn Farhiin, Dtbdj,
242 (Cairo 1351).
A Si'^ah allusion?
*
Cf. Y a q u t, IrM d, H I, 50 (Cairo = I, 134 M a r g o l i o u t k ). T h e nisbah is distorted in
the edition of the I'^ldn b u t almost correct in M s. Leiden.
520-565/1126-70 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, M untazam, X , 230 f.; a d -D u b ayti, D a y l Ta^rth Bagdad,
Paris ms. ar. 2133, fols. i5 b -i6 b ). His History w as used b y Ibn an-N ajjar, D a y l Ta^rth
Bagdad, for instance, Paris ms. ar. 2131, fol. 66b (life of A li b. H ib atallah b. M uham m ad),
and Ibn R ajab , D a y l tabaqdt al-Handbilah, ed. a d - D a h h a n and L a o u s t , index (Dam ascus
1370/1951).

503

A b ii B a k r ^ b. al-H usayn al-Maragi.

B ayb ars al-Mansuri ad-Dawadar.
T a b it b. Sinan as-Sabi .^
J a 'fa r b. M uhammad b. H am dan al-Mawsili, the jurist and
author of the Bdhir, a historical work, in which he em ulated alM ubarrads Rawdah. * The afore-m entioned Ibrahim b. M&hawayh
em ulated another w ork of al-Mubarrad, al-Kdmil.
Al-H asan b. Ibrahim b. Zulaq, A b u M uhammad al-Misri.
A l-H usayn b. 'A li, A bu A bdallah al-Kutubi.^
H am m ad b. A b i Layl&., A b u 1-Qasim ar-R,wiyah,^ * a very
learned historian (antiquarian, ahbdri) who was well versed in
the b attle days, genealogies, events, dialects, and poetry of the
Arabs.
H am m ad 'Ajrad, one of the greatest historians (antiquarians,
ahbdri).
H alid b. Hisam, A b u

'A bd-ar-R ahm an al-Um aw i, w ho was

referred to b y al-M as'udi. *

H alifah b. H ayyat.
A l-H alil b. al-H aytam al-Hartam i, the author of the Kitdb
al-Hiyal wa-l-makdyid f i l-hurub (on w ar ruses), and other w orks.*
D iw u d b. al-Jarrah, the grandfather of the w azir 'A li b. 'Is^ ^
and the father of Muhammad who will be m entioned below. (Ibn
al-Jarrahs) History was referred to b y al-M as'udi as a com pilation
of a great am ount of historical inform ation about the Persians
and other nations. *
A z-Z u b ayr b. B ak k a r * al-Qurasi al-M akki, an expert in tradi1 o th e r A b ii B a k rs are m entioned a t the end am ong the patronym ics. Scholars such
as Ibn H aja r vacillated betw een p u ttin g such nam es at the end or entering them according
to the alph abetical order of the second element.
^ D. 365/976 (Y aq u t, IrSdd V II , 142-45, Cairo = II, 3 97!. M a r g o l i o u t h ; G A L Supple
m en t!, 556). H is History is quoted b y E lijah of N isibis, History, anno 320 and the follow ing
years. Cf. also above, pp. 82, 122, and a t-T a 'a lib i, Lata^if, 68 f. D e J o n g (Leiden 1867);
ar-R asid b. az-Zu bayr, ad-DaM H r wa-t-tuhaf, 239 f. H a m i d u l l a h (K u w ait 1959); Ibn alM atran, Bustdn al-atibbd^, Ms. A rm y M edical L ib rary; ad-D ahabi, History of Islam , cf.
J . D E S o M O G v i.i n J R A S , 1932, 833 f., 8 sr.
D . 323/934-35 {Fihrist, 213, Cairo 1348 = 149 F l u g e l , has no d ate; Y a q iit, IrSdd,
V I I , 190 ff., Cairo = I I, 419 ff. M a r g o l i o u t h ). A l-M as'u d isre m a rk w as quoted anonym ous
ly b y Y a q u t.
*
He is h ard ly id entical w ith the person m entioned above, p. 478, n. 7, whose kunyak
is not know n and who is not known as a historian.
H am m ad b. Sabur, d. 155/771-72, or 156, or 158 {Fihrist, 134, Cairo 1348 = g i F l u g e l ;
G A L , I, 63 f.).
H am m ad b. 'U m ar, d ., presum ably, 161/777-78 (Y a q u t, Irsdd, X , 254, Cairo = IV ,
135 M a r g o l i o u t h ).
^ D- 335/946 (Ibn al-Jaw zf, M untazam, V I, 351 ff.).

504

T R A N S L A T IO N

A S -S A H A W i s I l A n

tions and in genealogy and the history [ahbdr) (155) of the ancients,
the author of the Nasah Qurays.
S a'id b. Aws, A b u Z ayd al-Ansari.^
S a id b. A bdallah, A bu 1-H ayr ad-Dihli.
S a 'id b. Y ah y^ al-Umawi.
Sinan b. T ab it b. Qurrah al-Harrani.^ *
Sahl b. Harun.^ *
Sarqi b. Qutam i. ^ *
Sadaqah b. al-H usayn al-Faradi.
A l-A bbas b. al-Faraj ar-R iyasi an-Nahwi al-Lugawi.
A l-A bbas b. Muhammad al-Andalusi, who compiled a history
beginning w ith a biography of the Prophet for al-M utasim b.
Sumadih.^
Abd-al-B&.qi b. 'Abd-al-M ajid al-Yam ani.
*Abd-ar-Rahman b. Ahm ad b. Y un us b.
S a id al-Misri.

A b d -al-A la, A bu

A bd-ar-R ahm an b. Ism ail b. Ibrahim al-Maqdisi, later adDimasqi, A b u Samah.

A bd-ar-R ahm an b. A bdallah b. *Abd-al-Hakam, A b u 1-Qasim
al-Misri. *
Abd-ar-R ahm an b. M uhammad b. M uhamm ad b. M uhamm ad b.
al-Hasan, W ali-ad-din b. Haldun.
A bd-ar-R azzaq b. al-Fuwati.
A bdallah b. A hm ad (Muhammad) b. Y usuf, A b u 1-W alid b. alFaradi.
"Abdallah b. al-H usayn b. S a 'd al-K atib . *
A bdallah b. Lahi'^ah al-Misri.^*
A bdallah (b. Muhammad) b. M ahfuz al-Ansari al-Balaw i, the
colleague of A b u Z a y d Um arah b. Z a y d al-Madani.^*
^ D . 215/830-31 {T B , I X , 77 ff-) D. 331/943 (cf. G A L , I, 218).
D . 251/830-31 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 213).
* B o th nam es occxir occasionally w ith the article. H is real nam e w as supposed to be alW alid b. al-Iiu sayn . H e is said to have liv e d in the tim e of al-Mansur. No dates are given
in connection w ith this rather enigm atic personality. Cf. al-Buhari, Ta?rih, II, 2, 255 f . ;
F ihrist, 132 f. (Cairo 1348 = 90 F l u g e l ) ; T B , I X , 2 7 8 !.; Ib n H ajar, L isd n , I I I , 142 f.
A p p aren tly, al-H addad, d. 573/1177, cf. above, p. 83, n. i.
D . 257/870 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 168; T B , X I I , 138 ff.; Y a q u t, IrSdd, X I I , 44-46,
Cairo = IV , 284 f. M a r g o l i o u t h ). H is fa th ers nam e occurs b oth w ith and w ithout the
article.
R uler of Alm eria, 443-484/1051-91 (M uham mad b. M a'n al-MuHasim).
* b. 'A b d a lla h in Ms. Leiden.
* A l-M as'u d i m entioned his brother 'Isa.
Cf. N. A b b o t t , Studies in Arabic Literary P a p y r i I , 50-56 (Chicago 1957); W . Mad e l u n g , D er Im a m al-Qdsim , 6 g i. (Berlin 1965).

505

A b dallah b. Muhammad b. A hm ad b. H alaf, Afif-ad-din alMatari.

A bdallah b. M uhamm ad b. U bayd, A b u B ak r b. A b i d-dunya,
the educator of al-M uktafi bi-llah and a hadit exp ert.*
A bdallah b. Muslim b. Q utaybah, A bu Muhammad ad-Dinawari, * the author of the Ma^drif
other works, a very prolific
author.
A bdallah b. al-M uqaffa .^ * This is the correct vocalization.
One also finds the form al-M uqaffi , because he m ade and sold
qifd\ th at is, baskets of palm leaves. H e said: A n author sticks
his neck out. If his book is successful, he will be praised to the
skies. If it is a failure, he will be dragged through the m ud. ^
Ibn al-M uqaffa is the author of the Durrah al-yatimah. No w ork
like it has ever been w ritten in its field. (Ibn al-M uqaffa) is even said
to h ave been the author of the Kitdh KaUlah wa-Dimnah. In reality,
he was not the author of the w ork but its translator into Arabic
from the Persian.
Abd-al-M alik b. Q urayb al-A sm ai.
U baydallah b. A isah. *
U baydallah b. A bdallah b. H urradadbih, A b ii 1-Qasim. In
the Lisdn, he is hsted under U baydallah b. Ahmad.^ A l-M asudi
said about him : H e was a leading author who excelled in the sweet
style. (156) L ater authors followed him, borrowed from him, and
im itated him most closely. His book on history is the most reward
ing,^ most originally arranged, best informed work, and the most
com plete source of inform ation about the Persians and other
nations, their kings, and w ays of hfe. (Al-M asudi) continued:
One of his valuable works is the one on al-Masdlik wa-l-mamdlik. *
A ll b. A njab, A b u Talib al-Bagdadi al-Hazin, a hadit expert.
A li b. al-Hasan, A bu 1-Hasan b. al-Masitah. *
A li b. al-H asan b. al-Fath, A bu 1-Hasan al-KM ib, known as
Ibn al-M utawwaq. *
A li b. al-H usayn b. A li al-M asudi.
A li b. Mujahid. *
^ D. 142/759-60 (cf. G A L , I, 151 f.).
T h is quotation is found in the M u ru j, I, 20 Paris ed. = I, 7 (Cairo 1346), follow ing
the criticism of Sinan b. T a b its w ork. Cf. also al-W asa , MuwaSSd, 4 B r u n n o w (Leiden
1886).
* 'U b a yd a lla h (sic Ms. Leiden) b. M uham m ad, d. 228/843 {T B , X , 314-18).
* Ibn H ajar, L isdn , IV , 96 f.
?. M urHj, I, 13 Paris ed. = I, 5 (Cairo 1346), has m ost carefu l.

5 o6

A S -SA H A w 1 s I LAN

A ll b. M uhammad b. Sulaym an an-Nawfali.^ *

A li b. M uhammad b. Muhammad b. A bd-al-K arim b. al-Atir.
A li b. Muhammad b. Mahmud al-K azaruni.
A li b. M uhammad al-M adaini.^ *
Um arah b. W atim ah al-Misri.^ *
A m r b. Bahr, A b u Utm an al-Jahiz.^ *
U m ar b. Sabbah, A bu Z a y d * an-N um ayri al-Basri, a hadit
expert, historian (antiquarian, ahhdri), and author. H e w rote
histories of al-Basrah, al-K ufah, Mecca, and Medina, and other
works.
U m ar b. M uhammad b. M uhammad b. Fahd.
Isa b. M asud az-Zawawi al-Magribi.
Al-Q^sim b. Sallam , A bu U b ayd * al-Bagdadi, a religious
leader.
Qudamah b. J a far, A bu 1-Faraj al-K M ib. A l-M asudi said about
him th a t he was a fine and outstanding author who expressed
himself precisely and to the point. A look at his Zahr ar-rabi'and al-Hardj will confirm this judgm ent. *
L u t b. Y ah y a , A bu Mihnaf a l-Amiri. *
Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. A b i B ak r b. Ibrahim ad-Dim asqi
al-Jazari.
Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. Y a h y a al-K utubi, known as al-W atw at,
M uhammad b. A hm ad b. H am m M , A b u Bisr ad-D aw labi. *
Muhammad b. A hm ad b. Muhammad b. A bi B ak r al-Muqaddami,'^ the author of the Names and Patronymics of Hadit Scholars.
M uhammad b. A hm ad b. Muhammad b. Sulaym an al-Buhari,
Gun jar, the hadit expert.
M uhammad b. A hm ad b. Muhammad al-Farisi.
1
His work is repeatedly quoted in the M u r u j, and he appears as a transmitter in atTabari and the K itd b a l-A gd n i. Since an-Nawfalis kunyah is A bu 1-Hasan [M u ru j, V ,
4 Paris ed. = II, 51, Cairo 1346), is he identical with Abu 1-Hasan an-Nawfali, an authority
on western history, quoted b y E. L e v i - P r o v e n 5 a l , Islam d Occident, 15 f. (Paris 1948)?
D. ca. 215/830-31 (cf. G A L , I, 1 4 0 !) .
^ D. 289/902 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 217). The nisbah al-Basri in the IHdn is almost
certainly incorrect. An unpublished doctoral dissertation on the Qisas al-anbiyd^ ascribed
to 'Umarah was presented b y I. B e n - D o r to the University of Rome in 1927. Cf. G. L e v i
D ELLA V i d a , in Collectanea Vaticana, II, 167 f. (Citta del Vaticano 1962, S tudi e Testi,
219-20).
^ D. 255/869 (cf. G A L , I, 152 f.).

5 D. around 224/838 (cf. G A L , I, 106 f.; R. S e l l h e i m , D ie klassisch-arabischen Sprichwdrtersammlungen, 57 ff. [The Hague 1954]).
*

D. 157/773-74, or before 170/786-87 [Fihrist, 136 f., Cairo 1348 = 93 F l u g e l ; Y aqut,

V I, 220-22 M a r g o l i o u t h ; Ibn Hajar, L isdn , IV, 4 9 2 f.;
a d - D u r i , B aht f t n a Pa t Urn at-taM h, 35 f., 215-31 [Beirut i960]).
D. 301/914 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 278).

IrSdd, X V I I, 41-43, Cairo =

TRANSLATION

507

Muhammad b. A hm ad b. Mahdi as-Sahid.^

Muhammad b. A b i 1-A zhar ^ who wrote tw o works on history,
one of them entitled al-Harj wa-l-ahddt* The afore-mentioned
Sinan b. T ab it said about him (?) He undertook a task which
did not belong to (157) his special field of learning and for which
he was not qualified. He w rote a book in the form of an epistle
to a secretary, a friend of his. He started out w ith a synopsis of the
scholarly discussion about ethics and the soul and its three parts,
the logical, irascible, and concupiscent soul. He m ade some remarks
about politics, following P la to s ten-book w ork on the subject,
and about the duties of kings and wazirs. He then proceeded to
give historical inform ation which he supposed to be correct, al
though he had not witnessed the events (he described). Into this
he fitted the history [ahbdr) of al-M utadid bi-llah. He mentioned
his connection w ith the caliph and the old days when he was to
gether w ith him. H e then treated each cahph going backward,
contrary to the historical-chronological order and the custom of
the historians. E ven if he had written a good w ork on history
in the proper manner, he would deserve blam e for venturing out
of his own field and for undertaking something outside his own
profession.^ He should have concerned himself w ith his specialty,
nam ely, Euclid, conic sections, the M ijisti [Almagest of Ptolem y),
and circular bodies (cylinders), and he should have investigated
the opinions of Hippocrates, Plato, and A ristotle, and he should
have talked about astronom ical problems and celestial phenomena,
about the natural humors, proportions, compositions, conclusions,
propositions, operations, compound (medicines?), and about phys
ics as contrasted w ith m etaphysics, the substances, formations,
m easurements of forms, and other philosophical topics. He m ight
1 His History is quoted b y T B , I, 99 (identity?); Ibn an-Najjar, D a y l T a M h Bagddd,
Paris ms. ar. 2131, fol. 76a (life of 'A li b. Y aqtin b. Musa). He is not identical with either of
the two men mentioned b y Ibn Hajar, L isdn , V, 37, because his kunyah is A bu 'Abdallah.
2 Muhammad b. Ahmad b. M azyad al-Busanji who was thirty [leg. eighty?) years old in
313/925-26 [Fihrist, 211, Cairo 1348 = 147 f. F l u g e l ) . His work dealt with the history of
al-Musta'in and al-Mu'tazz. Cf. also M u ru j, V II, 160 Paris ed. = 11, 360 (Cairo 1346), and
F . R o s e n t h a l , H um or in E a rly Islam , 85, n. 7 (Leiden 1956). D e S l a n e assumed that this
Ibn A bi 1-Azhar was identical with the Ibn al-Azhar whose history is quoted in the biography
of Y a'qu b b. al-L ayt as-Saffar in Ibn HaUikan, IV , 301 ff., but cf. above, p. 72 and p. 73, n. i.
3 According to the text of the IHdn, the following criticism would refer to the work of
Ibn Abi 1-Azhar. According to the text of the M u r u j which, however, is not as clear as
one might wish, it would refer to the work of Sinan. This alone is possible.
* IHdn\ ma^dmhi; M u r u j: mahanatiht.

' Or Socrates?
IH dn: wa-s-sabab; M u r u j: wa-nisab.

5 o8

T R A N S L A T IO N

A S -S A H A W I S I l A n

th us have avoided failure and done something for w hich he was

professionally better qualified. However, the person who realizes
his own lim itations and knows where m istakes come in does not
exist and cannot be found. *
M uhamm ad b. Ishaq b. al-AbbS.s, A b u A bdallah al-Fakihi.
M uhamm ad b. Ishaq b. M uhamm ad b. H ilal b. al-Muhassin
as-Sabi* al-K atib.
M uhamm ad b. Ishaq * b. Yasar, the author of the Raids.
M uhammad b. Jarir, A bu J a 'fa r at-Tabari. A l-M asudi said
about (at-Tabari's) History th at it excels all other works in bril
liance and substance, as it includes all different kinds of historical
inform ation, comprises a great va riety of memorable data, and
contains all sorts of knowledge. It is an extrem ely useful w ork.
(Al-M asudi) continued: This is to be expected, since its author
w as the m ost outstanding jurist and divine of his time, and he was
in the possession of all the knowledge of the jurists of the m ain
cities and of the experts in traditions. *
M uhamm ad b. al-H arit at-Taglibi, the author of the Ahldq
al-muluk and other w orks.*
M uhammad b. al-H usayn b. Suwar (158), known as Ibn U ht
Isa b. Farruhansah.^ A l-M asudi referred to him as having collected
a great am ount of inform ation about events and happenings in
pre-Islam ic and Islam ic times. His w ork ends w ith the year 320/
932.*
M uhamm ad b. al-H usayn b. AbdallS-h b. Ibrahim , A b u u j^
al-Bagdadi.
Muhammad b. H alaf b. H ayy^n b. Sadaqah, Judge A b u B ak r
ad-D abbi, known a s W a k i, * the author of the Ahbdr al-qudah;
ar-Ramy wa-n-niddl) and al-M akdyil wa4 -mawdzin. This is a
specimen of his p oetry:
W hen students come and w ant some day to learn
Som ething to be im m ortalized in books,
r U meet them eagerly and full of zeal,
M y ear m y inkwell, and the pad m y heart.^
1
b. Farru^angah reached the height of his official career under al-M u 'tazz in 252/866.
*
T h e b oo k titles and th e verses are derived from, T B , V , 237. Th e first verse is transm itted
in different form s in d icatin g disapproval of w ritten knowledge to be translated ; W hen
students come who h av e no knowledge excep t w h at is im m ortalized in b ook s. T h e Kitdb
al-Agdnt, X I I , 138 f. (B u laq 1285), quotes the verses as belonging to M uham m ad b. BaSir
ar-R iya5i. H ow ever, th ey are attribu ted to A b u 'A li al-B asir in A b u H il41 a l-'A sk a ri, al-

509

M uhamm ad b. H alaf b. al-Marzuban, A b ii B akr, the a.uthor of

F adl al-kildh aid katir man lahisa at-tiydb; the Hdwi Ji ulum al~
Qur^dn, and other works m entioned above,^ such as the Passionate
Inamorati and the Poets.
M uhammad b. H alaf al-Hasimi.^ *
Muhammad b. D aw ud b. al-Jarrah, A b u A bdallah al-K atib ,
the paternal uncle of the w azir A li b. Isa. A ccording to al-H atib,
he was acquainted w ith general history [ayydm an-nds) and the
history {ahbdr) of caliphs and wazirs. He is the author of well-known
works on these subjects.
M uhammad b. Z a k a riya , A b u B akr ar-R^zi. *
Muhammad b. Z a k a riya al-Gallabi al-Basri. *
Muhammad b. A b i Sari, A bu Ja'far.^ *
M uhammad b. Salam ah b. J a far al-Q udai.
Muhammad b. Sallam al-Jum ahi. *
Muhammad b. Sulaym an al-Minqari al-Jawhari. *
Muhammad b. Sakir, Salah-ad-din ad-Dim asqi al-K utubi.
M uhammad
M uhammad
M uhammad
M uhammad

b.
b.
b.
b.

Salih b. an-N attah. *

A id al-Qurasi ad-Dim asqi al-K atib.
A bd-ar-R ahim b. A li b. al-Furat.
A bdallah (Ubaydallah) b. A m r b. U tb ah al-

Utbi.6
M uhammad b. Abdallah, A b u 1-W alid al-Azraqi.
Muhammad b. A bd-al-M alik al-Hamadani.
M uhammad b. A li b. al-Hasan ^ a l-A law i ad-Dinawari. * His
w ork ended w ith the caliphate of al-M utadid. It (goes) from the
birth of the Prophet to his death and from there to the caliphate
of al-M utadid bi-Uah. I t includes the events and happenings of
those days.
Ila tt ^ald talab al-Hlm, Ms. H am id iye 1464, fol. 6oa (in Istanbul), and al-M arzubani, Mu^jam
aS-Su^ard^, 314 (Cairo 1354) = 185 ' A b d - a s - S a t t a r A . F a r r a j (Cairo 1379/1960). Cf. also
a l-B a yh a q i, al-M ahdsin wa-l-masdwt, 16 S c h w a l l y (Giessen 1902).
1 IHdn, 108 and 103, above, pp. 433 and 423.
* M uruj: H alid. A transm itter on the a u th o rity of M alik, nam ed M uham m ad b.
H^lid al-H asim i, is m entioned b y Ibn H aja r, Lisdn, V , 153 f.?
' s T B , V , 255.
* M uham m ad b. Sahl b. Bassam , an a u th ority of Ibn al-M arzuban {TB, V , 314)? B u t
there w as also a M uham m ad b. al-M u taw akkil b. A b i s-Sari al-'AsqalanJ who died in 282/89596 (as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fol. 390a)?
H e w as the a u th ority of a m an who died in 329/940-41, cf. T B , I X , 3873, and an oral
source of al-M as'udi.
* D . 228/842-43 {TB, I I, 324 ff., where the nam e of his father is indicated to be U baydallah). IHdn has 'U m ar, instead of Arm:.
M u r u j: al-H usayn.

510

TRANSLATION

A S -S A H lw ts I l A n

Muhamm ad b. All, A bu S u ja ad-Dahhin.^

M uhamm ad b. U m ar al-W aqidi. *
Muhammad b. Mahmud, Muhibb-ad-din b. an-N ajjar.
Muhammad b. al-H aytam b. (159) Sababah al-Huras4ni. *
M uhammad b, Y a h y a b. A bdallah b. a l-A bbas as-Suli. A lM asudi said about him : He possessed substantial knowledge and
considerable learning. He produced m any and good w orks. *
M uhammad b, Y a z id al-Azdi al-Mubarrad. *
M uhamm ad b. Y usuf, A bu U m ar al-Kindi.
M amar b. al-Mutanna, A b u U baydah. *
Musa b. Muhammad b. A hm ad b. A bdallah al-Yunini.
A n-N adr b. Sumayl.^ *
H ilal b. al-Muhassin b. Ibrahim b. HilM, A bu 1-H usayn as-S&,bi .
A l-H aytam b. A d i a t-T a i. *
W atim ah b. Musa b. al-Furat b. al-Wassa*. *
W ahb b. M unabbih.*
Y a h y a b. al-Mub.rak b. al-M ugirah al-Yazidi. *
Y a qub b. Sufyan al-Fasawi.

511

A b u A ll b. al-Basri.
A b u U m ar as-Sadafi al-Qurtubi.
A b u U m ar al-K in di: M uhammad b. Y usuf.
A b u Isa b. al-Munajjim.^ A l-M asudi said th at (Ibn al-Munajjim s) History used the inform ation provided b y the Torah and
other inform ation about the history of prophets and kings. *
A b u Kam il.
Ibn A b i 1-A zhar: Under Muhammad.
Ibn A b i d-du n ya:* Under A bdallah b. M uhammad b. U bayd.
Ibn A id :* Under Muhammad.
Ibn A bbas: Under.^
Ibn Q ani .
I b n a l-K a lb i:* Under.^
Ibn
Ibn
Ibn
Ibn
Ibn

M iskawayh.
al-M uqaffa :* Under Abdallah.
W adih: Under.
al-W assa :* I believe th at this is W atim ah.
Y un us: Under Abd-ar-Rahm an b. A hm ad b. Yunus.

Y u su f b. Ibrahim,^ the author of the History {ahbdr) of Ibrahim

b. al-Mahdi and other w orks.*
Y ijsu f b. Tagribirdi.
Y u su f b. Qizoglu, Sibt b. al-Jawzi.
A b u Ishaq b. Sulaym an al-Hasimi.

A l-A sm ai: A bd-al-M alik b. Qurayb.

A l-U m aw i: S a id b. YahyS,.
A r-R iya si:* Under al-A bbas b. Faraj.
A s-Su li:* Under M uhammad b. Y ah ya.
A l-U tb i:* Under Muhammad b. A bdallah b. A m r b. Utbah.

A b u Bisr ad -D aw lab i; * Under M uhamm ad b. A hm ad b. Hammad.

A b u B ak r b. A b i A bdallah al-Maliki.
A b u B ak r b. H a y y a n : M uhammad b. H alaf. *

A l-F ayyu m i:
Al-Misri, the author of the Zuhrat al-'-uyun wa-jaW al-qulub*
A l-Y a z id i:* Under (i6o) Y ah y^ b. al-M ubarak b. al-Mugirah.

A b u B ak r b. A hm ad b. Muhammad, Taqi-ad-din b. Qadi Suhbah.

A b u Hassan az-Ziyadi.
A bu s-S^ib al-Mahzumi.

A l-Y u s u fi:

A b u A bdallah b. H arit (Abu Ishaq) ar-Raqiq al-Katib.^

Some restricted themselves to the dates of death {wafaydt).

1 D. 590/1193-94 (H ajji H alifah, K a sf az-zunun, I I, 102 F l u g e l ).

^ D. 204/820, or 203 (cf. G A L , I, 102; Y a q u t, Irsdd, X I X , 243, Cairo = V II , 218 ff.
M a r g o l i o u t h ).

3 D. 202/817-18 (cf. G A L , I, 109).

*
A p p aren tly, Ibn ad-D ayah , the father of the w ell-know n author (Ahm ad b. Yusuf)
Ibu ad-D ayah , for whose dates, cf. above, p. 409, n. 3. Y u su fs close ties to Ibrahim b. alM ahdi are known from the b iograph y of his son. H is History {ahbdr) of Physicians (identical
w ith the one cited am ong the works of his son in G A L Supplement I, 229 ?) is quoted b y
Ibn H aw q al, I, 12 4 K r a m e r s (Leiden 1938-39); F. G a b r i e l i , in R SO , X X X V I , 246 (1961),
and it was presum ably the source of al-Q ifti and Ibn A b i U sayb i'ah w herever th ey q uote
Y u su f b. Ibrahim . Cf. E l , 2nd ed., s.v. Ibn al-D aya.
^ These are two authors who were made b y as-Sahaw i into one. In the list of patro-

(d. W orks on dates of death)

nym ics, as-Sahaw i m ade use of 'l y a d s enum eration o f his predecessors in the M addrik,
cf. IHdn, l o i , above, p. 4 1 8 f. There, the tw o are clearly distinguished.
1 A hm ad b. 'A li b. Y a h y a {Fihrist, 207, Cairo 1348 = 144 F l i j g e l ; Y a q u t, IrSdd,
I I I , 243 f., Cairo = I, 229 M a r g o l i o u t h ). H is brother H a r m died in 288/900-1. N o exa ct
dates about A b u 'Isa seem to be available. His w ork was exten sively used b y A b u 1-F id a
in his pre-Islam ic h istory. T h e title of the w ork w as Kitdb al-Baydn ^an ta^rih sin t zamdn
al-'-dlam '^ald sabil al-hujjah wa-l-burhdn, and it is described as a sm all {latif) volum e on
ancient chronology (at-tawdrih al-qadimah), cf. A b u 1-F id a , Historia Anteislamica, 2
F l e i s c h e r (Leipzig 1831). T h e rh ym ed title which in this form is not known to the F ihrist
m ay be a later addition.
^ B oth men, the form er apparently the fam ous transm itter, and the other the younger
a l-K alb i, are n ot included in the preceding list.
A pp aren tly, A h m ad b. A b i Ya'^qub a l-Y a 'q u b i. A s Ibn W adih, he is m entioned IHdn,
1 6 2 , below , p. 515.

512

AS-SAHAW t's I l A n

In the introduction of his H istory} ad-D ahabi said: The ancients

did not bother w ith the proper fixation of the (dates of death).
T h ey rehed upon their memory. Therefore, the dates of death of
m any prominent men around Muhammad and subsequent (gener
ations) until close to the tim e of as-Safii are lost. The more recent
scholars then concerned themselves w ith the fixation of the dates
of death of (religious) scholars and other (persons). T h ey went
so far as to establish (the dates of death) of a number of persons
who, as far as our knowledge of them goes, are (practically) unknown
{majhul). This is the reason w h y the dates of death of m any (practi
cally) unknown (individuals) are preserved, whereas those of cer
tain well-known religious leaders are not know n.
Authors of (works of this type) are
A b u 1-H usayn A bd-al-Baqi b. Q,ni' al-Bagdadi, the hadit expert,
who stopped w riting w ith the year 346/957-58.
A bu M uhammad and A b u Sulaym an (Abdallah) b. Ahm ad
b. R a b i'a h b. Zabr al-Bagdadi ad-Dim asqi, the judge of Egypt,^
who began his w ork with the hijrah and stopped w ith the year
338/949-50(The reliability of) the two (authors) is suspect. Successive
supplements to them were w ritten b y
A b u M uhamm ad A b d -al-A ziz b. A hm ad al-Kinani.
A bu M uhammad H ibatallah b. A hm ad al-Akfani who treated
about tw en ty years.
A b u 1-H asan A li b. al-Mufaddal, the hadit expert.^
Zaki-ad-din al-Mundiri, the hadit expert, at-Takmilah li-wafaydt
an-naqalah, a large, accurate, and very instructive work.
The sarif Tzz-ad-din A bu 1-Qasim A hm ad b. M uhammad b.
A bd-ar-R ahm an al-Husayni.^

^ Cf. History o f Islam , I, 17 (Cairo 1367).

^ A b u M u h a m m a d A b d a lla h b . A h m a d , d. 329 /D ecem b er 940 {TB, I X , 386 f.) (Ja n . 9 4 1,
a c c o rd in g to th e Raf^ al-isr). H is so n A b u S u la y m a n M u h a m m a d b . A b d a lla h (cf. G A L , I,
167) w a s b o rn , a s h e s ta te s in h is a n n a lis tic History, in 298/910 -11, a n d h e d ie d in 377/987,
cf. I b n H a ja r , Raf^ al-isr, 2 71 H am id 'A b d - a l - M a j i d a n d Ib rA h im a l - I b y a r i (C airo
195 7-6 1).

Ms. Leiden has Abdallah, instead of and A b u S u laym an . T his m ay be the original
te x t. In this case, the statem ent th at the reliab ility of the tw o is suspect w ould refer to
A b d allah , who, according to T B , I X , 387, w as not considered reliable, and Ibn Q an i'
whose on ly disqualification would be the fact th at he w as accused of confusion in the
last years of his life {TB, X I , 89).
3 D. 611/1214 (cf. G A L , I, 366 f.).
*
H is Wafaydt were repeatedly quoted b y Ibn Rafi^, Muntahab al-muhtdr, Ta^rih ^ulamd^
Bagdad (B agd ad 1357/1938).

TRANSLATION

513

The hadit scholar ihab-ad-din A b u 1-H usayn A hm ad b, A y b a k

ad-D im yati whose (work) ended w ith the year 749/1348-49.
Zayn-ad-din a l-Iraqi, from (749/1348-49) to the year (7)62/136061.
(Zayn-ad-dins) son, W ali-ad-din A b u Z u rah,i from (762/
1360-61) the year in which he was bom to the year of his
death. H owever, his autograph cop y which I h ave come across
goes down to the year (7)87/1385-86 and has (only) a few scattered
pages (for the time) after th at year.
The hadit expert Taqi-ad-din b. R a fi w rote a very instructive
w ork on dates of death. I arranged it.^ It is a supplem ent to the
dates of death of the History of the hadit expert Alam -ad-din
al-Birzali. (Ibn Rafiks) w ork stopped w ith the beginning of the
year (7)73/1371-72. Sihab-ad-din b. H ijji w rote a supplement to it.
T he Inhd^ al-gumr of Ibn H ajar which began w ith the very same
year (773/1371-72) the year in which Ibn H ajar was b om m ay
pass, according to (Ibn H ajar himself), as a supplement to Ibn
R a fi as far as the dates of death are concerned.^
I have w ritten a substantial w ork on (dates of death) (161) which
comprises the eighth and ninth centuries, as-Sifd^ min al-alam. I
hope th at its publication w ill be easy and successful.
A b u A bdallah M uhammad b. A b i 1-Jaw ad Q aysar al-Misri alQ attan s tw o-volum e Kitdb Iltiqdt al-jawdhir wa-d-durar min ma'ddin at-tawdrih wa-s-siyar contains m ostly dates of death.
A nother w ork on the dates of death was w ritten b y A b u 1-Qasim
A bd-ar-R ahm an b. Mandah. A d-D ahabi said: A n d I have not
seen a more comprehensive (work) than th at (of Ibn Mandah].
In general, the more recent supplements are more extensive
and more instructive (than the older ones). The w ork of Ibn Zabr
(being the oldest one, as was just mentioned) is the most povertystricken of them all.
A bu B ak r b. Tarhan said: I heard A bu A bdallah M uhammad
b. A b i Nasr F utuh b. A bdallah al-H um aydi th at is, the author
of al-Jam'- bayn as-Sahihayn say: Three (kinds of) works of the
^ A hm ad b. 'A b d -ar-R ah im , 762-826/1361-1423 (cf, G A L , I I, 66 f.). T he w ork is his
D a y l to ad -D ah ab is ^Ibar and also contains events. T h e A lexan d ria m anuscript, of which
there is a m odern (1354/1935) copy in the E gyp tia n L ibrary, Ms. Cairo T a rih 5615, conteiins
the years 762-80.
^ Sic Ms. Leiden. T h e te x t of the edition w ould h ave to be com pleted to: he arranged
it (alphabetically). On Ibn Rafiks Wafaydt, cf. E . A s h t o r , in Scripta Hierosolymitana,
I X , 24-27 (1961).
Cf. IHdn, 150, above, p. 496, n. 2.
R o s e n th a l,

History of Muslim Historiography

33

514

A S -S A h A w ! s I LA N

science of traditions should be carefully pondered; ^ (i) W orks on

unsound (traditions). The best w ork on this subject is (the *-Ilal
of) ad-Daraqutni. (2) W orks on names of the identical or a similar
consonant skeleton. The best w ork on this subject is (the M u'talif
wa-l-muMaiif of) the amir Ibn Makul^. A n d (3) works on the dates
of death of the authorities. There exists no w ork on the subject
th at is, no exhaustive work.^ W hen I w anted to compile a w ork
on (the dates of death), the amir (Ibn Makula) said to m e; A rrange
it first chronologically, and then alphabetically.' T h a t is, in
tw o separate works. B oth m ay contain the complete inform ation,
or only one of them. (In the latter case, the whole work) should
fall into tw o parts, of which one should contain the com plete in
form ation, and the other serve as an index. Under ^ayn, for instance,
we would find: Ikrimah,^ the client of Ibn A bbas: Under suchand-such a class of the men of the second generation. This would
enable the student easily to find inform ation about a transm itter,
whether he knows his class or his name. A d-D ah abis procedure
(in the History of Islam) shows, however, that (he w rongly took
the expression tw o p arts ) to m ean th a t each class should h ave tw o
parts, of which one would contain the alphabetically arranged
names, and the other the events. He therefore added after he
h ad quoted al-H um aydis just m entioned rem arks in al-H um aydis
biography in the History of Islam and after he had reported Ibn
T arhans statem ent th at his teacher al-H um aydi was occupied
w ith the fam^ bayn as-Sahihayn until his death and thus had no
tim e for the planned (work on dates of death)
This w ork of
ours (that is, the History of Islam) is the h appy solution. H owever
(notwithstanding ad-Dahabi), the afore-mentioned explanation
(of the expression two p arts ) evidently is the correct one.

* Ibn as-Salah, Y a q u t, and ad-D ahabl add taqdim (at-tahammum): in the first p la ce .
^ A l-H u m a y d is statem ent is quoted up to this point b y Ibn as-Salah, Muqaddimah,
ch. 60, p. 382 M. R a g i b a t - T a b b a h (Aleppo 1350/1931).
From the beginning of this paragraph to this point, the report of Ibn T arh an , w ho w as a
pu pil of al-H um aydi, w as quoted b y as-Sahaw i from ad-D ahabi, Ta^rih a l-Isldm , anno 488
(Ms. ar. Y a le U n iversity L-612 [Nem oy 1176], fol. 296b). T h e words in parentheses are addi
tions b y as-Sahaw i. The quotation from ad-D ahabi is resum ed near the end of the paragraph
(below, n. 6). Cf. also the quotation of al-H u m ayd is statem ent in Y a q u t, IrSdd, X V I I I , 284
(Cairo = V I I , 59 M a r g o l i o u t h ).
^ D. 107/725-26, or 104/722-23 (al-Buhari, T a \ ih , IV , i , 49).
Cf. also Yaq<it, loc. cit.
T h e last four lines resum e the quotation from the Ta^rih al-Isldm.

TR A N SLA TIO N

515

(e. Miscellaneous historical works. Travels)

A recent (author) gave the following sum m ary (classification
of historical writers); H istory was w ritten in the second century
b y a l-L a yt,i (162) and before him (?), b y Ibn S a d in the Tabaqdt;
in the third century b y A hm ad (b. Hanbal) and the tw o authorities
(al-Buhari and Muslim), and an-N asai; in the fourth century b y
at-T ab ari and Ibn A d i; in the fifth century b y al-H atib and ayh
A b ii Ish&,q as-ir,zi; in the sixth century b y Ibn A sakir and Ibn
al-Jaw zi; in the seventh century b y Ibn H allikan and al-Mimdiri;
in the eighth century b y al-Mizzi and ad -D ah ab i; and in the ninth
century b y Ibn H ajar and a l-A yn i, and countless others. ^
[Authors who w rote special works on w eak and rejected (trans
m itters of traditions) were Ibn Mahdi;^ al-Buhari; an-N asai; Ibn
A d i: Ibn H ib b a n ; and m an y others. The last of them was ad-Dahabi in the M izdn al-iHiddl, and, then, Ibn H ajar in the Lisdn
al-M izdn.^\
Ibn al-Jawzi said: I have noticed that historians follow different
purposes. Some restrict them selves to the story of the beginning
(of Creation). Others restrict them selves to the story of kings and
caliphs. Hadit scholars prefer the story of (religious) scholars.
Ascetics love the stories of pious men. L itterateurs are inclined
tow ard experts in the A rabic language and lore as well as poets.
It is known th at everything is worth studying, and rejected (histor
ical information) still remains desirable.
Ibn A b i d-dam m ade a similar statem ent and m entioned the
following w orks: The Magdzi of Ibn U qbah; the Histories of A b u
J a far at-Tabari, al-H atib, Sayf, and Ibn W adih; the K am il of
A b u 1- A bbas al-M ubarrad; the *^Iqd of Ibn A bdrabbih; the M a*^drif^ of Ibn Q u tayb ah ; and the H ilyah of A b u N u aym . None of
these authors missed the object he had in mind, in spite of the
^ T h is seems to be a l-L a y t b. S a 'd who, how ever, w as earlier than Ibn S a 'd .
^ T h e author of the statem ent, w hoever he was, does n ot seem to have been w ell inform ed
abou t the e arly centuries.
'A b d ar-R ahm an b. M ahdi, d. 198/813-14 {TB, X , 240 ff.).
* T h e paragraph is out of order in the con text.
The quotation corresponds quite closely to the one quoted in the name of S ib t b. alJa w zi in IHdn, 26, above, p. 302. Since the original sources are n ot available, it is difficult
to decide w hether b oth authors expressed them selves in the same vein or w hether one of
as-S ahaw is attributions is not correct.
Ms. Leiden: ma^dnt. Ibn Q u ta y b a h s Kitdb al-Ma^dnt w as published in H yd erab ad
1368-69/1949-50. T h e m istake of reading ma^dni for ma^drif m ay be one of as-Sahaw is
origin al te x t. A new edition of the Kitdb al-Ma^drif w as published b y T a r w a t U k a a h
(Cairo i960).

5i 6

AS-SAH AW ts I LAN

fact th at (these books) stopped w ith the death of their authors

th at is, there were m any more years to come after their death
and a lot of new problems similar to those treated b y them arose
after th ey (had gone). I say: There is also much th at escaped them
which th ey did not mention.
There were also historians who combined in their works the
choicest historical inform ation w ith the best liked poems. Such
works are the Tadkirah al-Hamduniyah; Ibn Sa'id , Rayhdnat
al-adab; Ibn Abdrabbih, al-^Iqd\ at-Tifasi, Fast al-hitdb; and
al-Abi, Natr ad-durar.^
In this connection, instructive works are the Travels {Rihlah)
of A b u 1-H usayn M uhammad b. A hm ad b. Ju b ayr al-Kinani;^
A b u A bdallah Muhammad b. U m ar b. R usayd^ w ith which
the Niddr of A bu H ayyan m ay be compared^ ; (163) and A lam ad-din al-Qasim b. Y u su f at-Tujibi.^ (A t-T u jib is work) consists of
three volumes, in which he followed the exam ple of his predecessor
(Ibn Rusayd) who had traveled about ten years earlier than
he. Going beyond Ibn Rusayd, (at-Tujibi) added the biographies
of his authorities in the East. (Ibn R u sayd s w ork is called Travels.)
It fills six volum es full of much instructive (information). I have
studied and used them.
( x i l l T H E C H IE F R E P R E S E N T A T IV E S O F P E R S O N A L IT Y
c r it ic is m

The critical discussion of persons (connected w ith the science of

traditions) has been cultivated from the period of the men around
Muhammad on b y an uncountable number of (scholars who were)
guiding stars and lam ps in the darkness whose light helped to repel
perdition. In the introduction of the Kam il, Ibn A di enum erated
^ Cf. IHan, 30, above, p. 307 f.
^ D. 614/1217 (cf. G A L , I, 478).
D . 721/1321 (cf. G A L , II, 245 f.; M. a l - F A .s 1, in. Revue de IInstitut des M anuscrits
Arabes, V , 31-42 [1959]).
Cf. above, p. 454, n. 2.
A ccordin g to ad-D ahabi, al-Mu'-jam as-sagtr, which is quoted in a footnote to the
edition of Ibn H ajar, Durar, III , 240, he lived u n til 730/1329-30. For his w ork, cf. also Ibn
H ajar, Durar, III , 200, 263.
*
A s-Sah aw i conflated the inform ation about the Travels of Ibn R u sayd and at-T u jib i
which he found in Ibn H ajar, Durar, IV , i i i , and III , 240. He also took over the last sen
tence in which Ibn H a j ar is speaking. T he te xt of the IHan says th at it w as a t-T u jib is a c
count of his authorities in the E ast which filled six volum es.
Huddn-raddn, cf., for instance, Y a q u t, Irsdd, I, 94 (Cairo = I, 25 M a r g o lio u t h ) ;
Ibn Zulaq, Ahbdr Sibawayh al-M isrt, 31 (Cairo 1352/1933).

T R A N S LA TIO N

517

m any of them down to his own time. The men around Muhammad
whom he cited were Um ar, Ali, Ibn Abbas, A bdallah b. Salam,
U badah b. as-Samit, Anas, and A isah. According to Ibn Adi,
all of them m arked as liars those who do not consider them truthful.
(Ibn A di further) enum erated a number of men of the second
generation, such as a s-abi, Ibn Sirin, S a id b. al-M usayyab, and
S a id b. Ju b ayr.i In comparison w ith later (scholars), there is little
(to be said) about them, because there was little weakness in their
imm ediate authorities. Most of (those authorities) were absolutely
trustw orthy men around Muhammad, and, if th ey did not belong
to the men around Muhammad, th ey were m ostly reliable anyhow.
In the first period {garn) which ended w ith the men around
M uhammad and the oldest (group) of the second generation, there
is h ardly a w eak (transmitter) to be found, except in individual
instances, such as al-H arit a l-A w ar ^ and al-M uhtar al-Kaddab.
W hen the first period {qarn) had passed and the second period
began, there were in the beginning some w eak transm itters among
the members of the middle (group) of the second generation. A s a
rule, th ey were considered w eak w ith regard to the manner and
accuracy of their transmission of traditions. T h ey were observed
to ascribe traditions of the men around M uhammad to the Prophet
himself, to transm it m any traditions (ascribed to the Prophet) on
the authority of the oldest group of the second generation, and
to comm it errors. A n exam ple is A bu Harun al-Abdi. ^
W hen, w ith their last representative, the period of the men of
the second generation came < t o its close > in the one hundred
and fifties, a group of religious leaders entered into personality
criticism. A bu H anifah said; I have not seen a greater liar than
Jabir a l-J u fi. A l- A mas declared a number of transm itters to
be weak, and others to be reliable. S u bah looked into the person
alities. H e was very correct and would not transm it (traditions)
from any but a reliable (transmitter). The same applied to Malik.
1 D . 94/712-13 (Ibn S a ' d , Tabaqdt, V I, 178-87 S a c h a u and others; al-Buhari, Ta^rth
II, I, 422).
A l-H arit b. '^Abdallah, d. about 65/684-85 (al-B uljari, T a M h , I, 2, 271; Ibn H ajar,
Tahdtb, I I, 145-47).
2 A l-M uhtar b. A b i 'U b a y d , d. 67/686-87 (Ibn H ajar, Lisdn, V , 6 f.).
* U m arah b. Ju w ayn , d. 134/751-52 (Ibn H ajar, Tahdtb, V I I , 412 f.).
* Jab ir b. Y a z id , d. 128/745-46 (al-B uhari, T a M h , I, 2, 210). A b u H an ifah s rem ark
w as cited in connection w ith the fatwds published b y F . S a y y i d , in Revue de I'Institut des
Manuscrits Arabes, II, 166 (1375/1956).
* S u 'b ah b. a l-H a jjaj, d. 160/776-77 {TB, I X , 255 ff.).

5i 8

a s- sa h Aw

! s

i *l A n

TRANSLATION

In th at time, those whose statem ents were acceptable were

M amar.1
H isam ad-D astuw ^i.^
A l-A w za i.
A t-T aw ri.
Ibn al-M ajisun .3
H am m ad b. Salamah.**
A l-L a y t b. S a'd, and others.
The n ext class included men such as
Ibn al-Mubarak.
Husaym.
A b u Ishaq al-Fazari.
A l-M uafa (164) b. Im ran al-Mawsili.
B isr b. al-Mufaddal.^
Ibn U yaynah, and others.
A nother class in their period included men such as
Ibn U layyah.
Ibn W ahb. A nd
W ak i'.
In their period, the two leading hadit authorities, Y a h y a b.
S a id al-Q attan and Ibn Mahdi, also devoted them selves to the
criticism of personahties. Those whom th ey considered unreliable
have h ardly a chance to clear themselves, and those whom th ey
considered reliable are generally acceptable. The few about whom
th ey disagreed are left to individual judgm ent.
The (scholars) after them whose statem ents were Hstened to were
Our religious leader, as-afii.
Y a z id b. Harun.
A b u D aw ud at-Tayalisi.^
M a'm ar b. RaSid, d. 153/770 (al-Buh^ri, T a M h , IV , i , 378 L). Cf. N. A

bbott,

Studies

in A rabic Literary P a p y r i I , 64 ff. (Chicago 1957), and M. J. K i s t e r , in Archiv Orientdlni,

X X X I I , 233-36 (1964). K i s t e r denies M a'm ars reputed authorship of the te x t of the

papjTus published b y N. A b b o t t and thinks in stead of 'A b d a lla h b. L a h i'a h (above,
p. 395, n. i) as its author.
Hiam, b. A b i 'A b d aim h, d. 154/771, or 15 1, or 153 (al-Butiari, T a M h , IV , 2, 198).
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. A b d aliah , d. 164/780-81 [T B , X , 436 fi.).
* D. 167/783-84, o r 169 (Y^qut, IrSdd, X , 258, C a ir o = IV , 135 M a r g o l i o u t h ). Cf.
A . J . A r b e r r y , in Th e Islam ic Quarterly, III , 20 (1957).
5 HuSaynx b. BaSir, d. 183/799 (al-Bubari, T a M h , IV , 2, 242; T B , X I V , 85 ff.).
D. 184/800-1, or 185, or 186 (T B , X I I I , 226 k ) .
^ D. 187/803 (a l-B u h M , T a M h , I, 2, 84).
* A p p aren tly, as-Sulam i, d. 206/821 (al-Buhari, T a M h , IV , 2, 368; T B , X I V , 337 ff.;
G A L Supplem ent I, 332).
* S u laym an b. D aw ud, d. 203/818-19, or 204 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 257; T B , I X , 24 ff.).

519

Abd-ar-Razz&,q.
Al-Faryabi.^
A b u Asim an-Nabil,^ and others.
The n ext class included men such as
A l-H um aydi
A l-Q anabi.
A b u U bayd.
Y a h y a b. Yahy^.* A nd
A b u 1-W alid at-Tayalisi.
H ereafter, the composition of system atical works on personality
criticism and defects (in traditions) started. It was explained who
was reliable and very correct, like a pillar; who was reliable, like
an able-bodied young m an; who was so ft, like someone w ith a
headache, who contains himself and therefore is reckoned among
those on the w ay to recuperation; who was to be described as a
person w ith a fever leaning tow ard reco very ; who was to be described
as a thoroughly ill person; and again, who was to be described as an
ill person whose strength was failing and who was about to die
th a t is, the person whose traditions are invalid.
A fter the afore-m entioned (scholars), personality criticism was
in the hands of Y a h y a b. M ain who was consulted about personali
ties b y several hadit experts. His opinions and the expressions he
used w ith regard to certain personalities therefore varied, exactly
as there were variations in the judgm ent of jurists which led to the
existence of divergent statem ents and views. The judgm ent of those
jurists on legal problems (was given) in the same independent w ay
as th at of Ibn M ain on personalities.
A hm ad b. H anbal belonged to the class of Ibn M a'in. Several
of his pupils consulted him about personalities. H e spoke about
them w ith justice and fairness, culture and austerity.
Other discussions of personality criticism were b y
A bu A bdallah M uhammad b. S a d, the secretary of al-W aqidi,
in his Tahaqdt. (Ibn Sards) remarks are good and acceptable.
A b u H aytam ah Zuhayr b. H arb, whose numerous remarks
M uham m ad b. YUsuf, d. 212/827 (a l-B u ljM , T a M h , I, i , 2641.).
* A d -D ah h ak b. MaW ad, d. 211/826-27, or 213 (Ibn H ajar, Tahdib, IV , 450-53).
* A bd aliah b. az-Z u b ayr, d. 2T9/834 (Ibn S a 'd , Tahaqdt, V , 368 S a c h a u and others).
* T his is A b u Zakariya^ an-N isaburi, d. 226/840 (al-Buhari, T a M h , IV , 2, 310), rather
than Ibn K a tir al-A ndalusi, d. 234/849 or 236 (Ibn lia ja r , Tahdtb, X I , 300 f.).
H isim b. 'A bd -al-M alik, d. 227/841-42, or 226 (al-Buhari, T a M h , IV , 2, 195).
* Source?
D. 234/849, or 232 {T B , V I I I , 482 ff.). Cf. the edition of his K itd b al-'-Ilm b y M. N.

520

a s-sa h

A w ! s

i l A n

were transm itted on his authority b y his son A hm ad and others.

A b u J a far A bdallah b. M uhammad an -N u fayli/ ihehadit expert
of the Jazirah, than whom A b u D awud, as he said, had seen no
greater hadit expert.
A li b. al-Madini who wrote m any works on defective (traditions,
Hlal) and on personahties.
M uhammad b. A bdallah b. N um ayr ^ who was called b y A hm ad
(b. Hanbal) the pearl of the Iraq.
A b u B ak r b. A b i Saybah, the author of the Musnad, whose
knowledge of traditions was miraculous and who resembled A hm ad
in his learning.
U baydallah b. Um ar (165) al-Qawariri, who, according to
SMih Jazarah,^ was the person best acquainted of all he had seen
w ith the traditions of the Basrians.
Ishaq b. R ahaw ayh, the religious leader of Hurasan.
A b u J a far Muhammad b. A bdallah b. Am m ar al-Mawsi]i, the
hadit expert, who has good remarks on personality criticism.
Ahm ad b. Salih at-Tabari, the hadit expert of E gyp t, like
whom there were few. A nd
Harun b. A bdallah al-Hammal. A ll these scholars were leading
representatives of personality criticism.
The next, im m ediately following class included men such as
Ish^q al-Kawsaj.'^
Ad-Darimi.
A d-D u h li .9
Al-Buhari. A nd
A l-Ijli, the hadit expert, who settled in the Magrib.
A fte r them, there were
A b u Z u r'ah ar-Razi.
A b u H atim ar-Razi.
- A l b a n i , Rasd^il arba^, 103-49 (Dam ascus, n. y . [1385/1966]).
^ S ic leg., d. 234/848, cf. Ibn al-'Im ad , Sadardt, II, 81 (Cairo 1350-51).
H e is m entioned, w ithout a date, in al-B uhari, T a M h , I, i , 144; T B , V , 429; Ibn A b i
H atim ar-R azi, Taqdimat al-ma^rifak, 320 (H yderabad 1371/1952), and idem, al-Jarh
wa-t-ta^dtl. I I I , 2, 307 (H yderabad 1360-73/1941-53). Ibn A b i H atim quotes the statem ent
attrib u ted to Ibn H an b al in both places. A ccordin g to ad-D ahabi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz, 8th tab.,
no. 26 W t J S T E N F E L D , Ibu N um ayr died in 234/849.
3 D. 235/850 (Ibn A b i H atim , al-Jarh wa-t-ta^dtl, II, 2, 327 f.; T B , X , 320 ff.).
* Salih b. M uham m ad, d. 293/906, or 294 {TB, I X , 322-28).
D. 242/856-57 {TB , V , 416 ff.).
D. 243/857-58, or 249/863 {TB , X I V , 22 f.).
Ishaq b. Mansur, d. 251/865 {TB, V I, 362 ff.).
'A b d allah b. 'A b d -ar-R ah m an , d. 255/869 {GAL, I, 163).
* M uham m ad b. Y a h y a , d. 258/872, or 252, 256, 257 {TB, I I I , 415-20).

T R AN S LAT IO N

521

Muslim.
A b u D awud as-Sijistani.
B aqi b. MaMad.^
A bu Z u r'ah ad-Dim asqi, and others.
A fter them, there were
Abd-ar-Rahm an b. Y u su f b. Hiras al-Bagdac^ who w rote a
brisk w ork on personality criticism like A b u Hatim .
Ibrahim b. Ishaq al-Harbi.^
Muhammad b. W addah al-Andalusi, the hadit expert of Cordoba.^
A bu B akr b. A b i Asim.
Abdallah b. Ahmad.*
Salih Jazarah.
A b u B a k r al-Bazzar.
A bu J a far Muhammad b. U tm an b. A b i Saybah, a w eak (trans
m itter himself), yet, a leading representative of (personality criti
cism). A nd
Muhammad b. Nasr al-Marwazi.
A fter them, there were
A bu B ak r al-Faryabi.
A l-B ardiji.^
An-Nasa"i.
A bu Y a la.
Al-H asan b. Sufyan.
Ibn Huzaymah.
Ibn Jarir at-Tabari.
A d-D aw labi.
A bu A rubah al-Harrani.
A bu 1-H asan A hm ad b. U m ayr b. Jaw sa .i A nd
A bu J a far a l-U qayli.
The next class included men such as
Ibn A bi Hatim .

a l

1 D. 276/889 (cf. G A L , I, 164).

* D. 285/January 899 {TB, V I, 27 ff.).
D. 287/900, or 286 (cf. P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo, 49; G A L Supplement II, 978, no. 64,
referring to Ms. Princeton 2070 = 969 H).
* A p p aren tly, the son of Ibn H anbal, d. 290/903 (Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, X I , 96 f.).
A hm ad b. 'A m r, d. 291/903-4, or 292 (cf. G A L Supplement, I, 258).
* D. 294/906-7 (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 258, 305).
A h m ad b. H arun, d. 301/914, or tw o years later (cf. G A L Supplement I, 949).
* D . 303/916 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, V I, 132-36).
M uham m ad b. Ishaq, d. 311/924, or 310 (cf. G A L , I, 193; Ibn al-Jaw zi, M untazam,
V I , 184-86 ;a l- Y a fi'i, Mir^dt al-jandn, anno 310).
D. 320/932 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, V I, 242).

522

a s-sa h a w

! s

i l A n

A b u Talib A hm ad b. Nasr a l-B a g d a d i/ 2ihadit expert and the

teacher of ad-D^raqutni.
Ibn Uqdah.
Abd-al-B&.qi b. Qani*.
A fter them, there were
A b u S a id b. Yunus.
A bu H atim b. H ibban al-Busti.
At-Tabar^ni. A nd
Ibn A di al-Jurjani whose w ork on Personalities is the final
(authority) on negative personaHty criticism.
A fter them, there were
A bu A ll al-H usayn b. M uhammad al-M asarji an-N isabuii ^ who
wrote a M usnad mu'-allal in 1300 fascicles.
A b u s-Sayh b. Hibban.
A b u B ak r al-Ism aili.
A b u A hm ad al-Hakim.^ And
A d-D araqutni who wrote the definitive w ork on the knowledge
of defects (in traditions, Hlal).
A fter them, there were
A b u A bdallah b. Mandah.
A b u A bdallah al-Hakim .
A bu Nasr al-K alabadi.
A b u 1-M utarrif Abd-ar-Rahm an b. F u tay s (166), the judge
of Cordoba, who w rote the five-volum e D a W il as-sunnah in praise
{faddHl) of the men around Muhammad.
A bd-al-Gani b. S a id.
A b u B ak r b. M ardawayh al-Isbah^ni. A nd
Tam m am ar-Razi.
A fter them, there were
A bu 1-F ath Muhammad b. A b i 1-Faw aris al-BagdM i.^
A b u B ak r al-Barqani.
A bu H atim (?) a l-Abdawi on whose authority ten persons wrote
10,000 fascicles.
H alaf b. M uhammad al-Wasiti.
A bu M as'ud ad-Dimasqi.^
1 D. 323/935 {TB, V , 182 f.).
D . 365/976 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, V I I , 8 i; as-Sam 'au i, Ansdb, fol. 502a).
3 M uham m ad b. M uham m ad, d. 378/988 (Ibn al-'Im a d , Sadardt, III , 93).
* M uham m ad b. A h m ad b. M uham m ad, d. 412/1022 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, Muntazam, V I I I , 5 f.).
A p p aren tly, A b u H azim 'U m ar b. A hm ad, d. 417/1026 {TB, X I , 272 f.).
D . 401/1010-11 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 281).
Ibrahim b. M uham m ad, d. 400/1010 (ad-D ahabi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz, 13th tab., no. 47

TRANSLATION

523

A b u 1-Fadl al-Falaki ^ who w rote the Kitdh at-Tabaqdt in a

thousand fascicles.
A bu 1-Qasim H am zah as-Sahmi.
A b u Y a 'q u b al-Qarrab al-Harawi.^ A nd
A b u D arr al-Harawi.
A fter them, there were
A bu M uhammad al-H asan b. Muhammad al-H allal al-Bagdadi.*
A b u A bdallah as-Suri. ^
A b u S a d as-Samman. And
A bu Y a 14 al-Halili.
A fter them, there were
Ibn A bd-al-Barr al-Andalusi.
Ibn H azm al-Andalusi.
A l-B ayhaqi. A nd
Al-H atib.
A fter them, there were
A bu 1-Qasim S a d b. Muhammad az-Zanjani.
ayh-al-Islam al-Ansari.
A bu Salih al-M uaddin.
Ibn Makula.
A b u 1-W alid al-Baji, a very learned man and great authority,
who w rote on personality criticism.
A b u A bdallah al-H um aydi. A nd
Ibn M ufawwaz al-M aafiri as-Satibi.'^
Then, there were
A bu 1-Fadl b. Tahir al-Maqdisi.
u ja b. Faris ad-Duhli.^
A l-M utam an b. A hm ad b. A li as-Saji.
Siraw ayh ad-D aylam i. A nd
W u s t e n f e l d ).

^ 'A ll b. al-H usayn, d. 429/1038, cf. as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fol. 43 ia-b . A lts grandfather
died in 384/995, H is Kitdb al-Alqdb is quoted b y as-Sam 'ani, Ansdb, fols. 420a, 483a, 484b.
2
Ish4 q b. Y a 'q u b (cf. G A L Supplement I, 619). For a reference to his H istory, cf.
Ibn R a jab , D a y l tabaqdt al-Handbilah, I, 65 a d - D a h h A n and L a o u s t (Dam ascus 1370/

1951)* 352-439/963-1047 [TB , V II , 425).

* M uham m ad b. 'AH, d. 441/1049 (cf. G A L Supplement I, 281).

* Ism a 'il b. 'A li, d. 445/1053-54 (Ibn a l-'Im a d , Sadardt, I I I , 273).
S a 'd b. 'A ll b. M uham m ad, d. 471/1098-99 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, M untazam, V I I I , 320; asS am 'an i, Ansdb, fol. 279a).
T a h ir b. M ufaw w az, d. 484/1091 (ad-D ahabi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz, 15th tab., no. 10
W O s te n fe ld ) .

* D. 507/11 13 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, M untazam, I X , 176). He had begun to w rite a supplem ent
to the History of Bagddd, cf. also as-Sam 'an i, Ansdb, fols. 73a-b, 335a.
D . 507/1113 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, M untazam, I X , 1 7 9 ^-; Ibn H aja r, Lisdn, V I, 109 f.). He

a s -s a h

524

A w i s

i l A n

A b u A li al-Cassani.i
A fter them, there were
A bu 1-Fadl b. Nasir as-Salami.^
Judge lya d .
As-Silafi.
A b u Musa al-Madini.
A bu 1-Qasim b. Asakir. And
Ibn Baskuw al.
A fter them, there were
A bd-al-H aqq al-Isbili.^
Ibn al-Jawzi.
A bu A bdallah b. al-Fahhar al-M alaqi> A nd
A bu 1-Qasim as-Suhayli.
A fter them, there were
A b u B ak r al-Hazimi.
A bd-al-Cani al-Maqdisi.
Ar-Ruhawi. A nd
Ibn M ufaddal al-Maqdisi.
A fter them, there were
A bu 1-Hasan b. al-Q attan.
Ibn al-Anmati.
Ibn N uqtah.
Ibn ad-D ubayti.
Ibn H alil ad-Dimasqi.
A bu B a k r b. H alfun al-Azdi.^ A nd
Ibn an-N ajjar.
Then, there were
w as the copyist of the Chicago m anuscript of a l-B a g a w is Mu'-jam as-sahdbah (above, p. 405,
n. 3).

^ A l-H u sayn b. M uham rnad, d. 498/1105 (cf. G A L , I, 368).

^ M uham m ad b. N asir, d. 5 5 0 / 1 1 5 5 (ad-D ahabi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz, i6 th tab., no. i
W u s t e n f e l d ) . He is often quoted b y Ibn al-Jaw zi as one of his authorities (cf. M untazam,
index to V ol. I X , p. 18); Y a q u t, Mu^jam (cf. W u s t e n f e l d s index), s.v. K a m a d b. N asir.
Cf. S. A . B o n e b a k k e r , in Bibliotheca Orientalis, X X I I , 246, n. 3 (1965).
A b d -al-H aq q b . Abd-ar-R ahm an , d. 581/1185 (cf. G A L , I, 371).
M uham m ad b. Ibrahim , d. 590/1194 (ad-D ahabi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz, 17th tab., no. 6
W

u sten feld

).

M uham m ad b. Musa, d. 584/1188 (cf. G A L , I, 356).

'A b d -al-Q ad ir b. <^Abdallah, d. 612/1215-16 (Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, X I I I , 69).
'A li b. M uham m ad, d. 628/1231 (ad-Dahabi, Tabaqdt al-huffdz, i8 th tab., no. 10).
Ism a 'il b. 'A b d allah , d. 619/1222 (as-Suyuti, H usn al-muhddarah, I, 200, Cairo 1299).

Y u su f b. H alil, d. 648/1250 (ad-Dahabi, op. cit., i8 th tab., no. 12; A . J. A r b e r r y , in

The Islam ic Quarterly, III , 22 [1956]).
M uham m ad b . Ism a'il, d. 6 3 6 / 12 3 9 (c f. G A L Supplem ent I , 2 9 8 ; P o n s B o i g u e s , Ensayo,
284).

525

T R A N S L A T IO N

Zaki-ad-din al-Mundiri.
A b u A bdallah al-Birzali.^
As-Sarifini.
A r-R asid (Rasid-ad-din) al-A ttar.
Ibn as-Salah.
Ibn al-Abbar.
Ibn al-Adim.
A bu Samah.
A bu 1-B a q a HMid b. Y u su f an-Nabulusi.^ A nd
Ibn as-Sabuni.^
A fter them, there were
A d-D im yati.
Ibn az-Zahiri.
araf-ad-din al-Maydumi.^
Ibn D aqiq-al-id.
Ibn Farah. ^
U b a yd al-Isirdi. (167)
S a d-ad-din al-Hariti.
Ibn Taym iyah.
Al-Mizzi.
Qutb-ad-din al-Halabi.
Ibn Sayyid-an-nas.
Taj-ad-din b. M aktum.
Ibn al-Birzali.
ams-ad-din al-Jazari ad-Dimasqi.
A bu A bdallah b. A y b a k as-Saruji.
Kam al-ad-din J a far al-Udfuwi.
Ad-D ahabi.
A bu 1-H usayn b. A y b a k ad-D im yati.
ihab-ad-din b. Fadlallah.
Najm -ad-din A bu 1-H ayr ad-Dihli al-Bagdadi.
A l-A la i.
1

M uham m ad b. Y u su f, d. 636/1239 (Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, X I I I ,

153

> E.I, 2nd ed.,

s.

v.

al-Birzali).
2 D. 663/1265 (Ibn R a fiS Muntahab al-muhtdr, T a M h ^ulamd^ Bagddd, 50 f.).
A b u H anud M uham m ad b. 'A li, d. 680/1282 (ad-Dahabi, op. cit., 19th tab., no. 12;
Ibn H ajar, Durar, II, 106, 411). H is Takmilat Ikm dl al-Ikm dl was edited b y M u s t a f a
J a w a d (Bagdad 1 3 7 7 / 1 9 5 7 ) . Th e Takmilah is a supplem ent to Ibn N u q ta h s (above, p. 4 4 7 ,
n. 5) Ikm dl al-Ikm dl, a supplem ent to Ibn M akulas Ikmdl.
M uham m ad b. Ibrahim , d. 683/1284 (as-Suyuti, Bugyah, 5, Cairo 1326).
A hm ad b. Farah , d. 699/1300 [G A L , I, 372).
'U b a y d b. M uham m ad, d. 692/1293 (ad-D ahabi, op. cit., 20th tab., no. 6). His son
A h m ad died in 732/1332 (Ibn H ajar, Durar, I, 1 9 7 f-)-

526

A S-SAH AW iS I l A n

TRANSLATION

527

M ugultay.
As-Safadi.
The sarif al-H usayni ad-Dimasqi.
Taqi-ad-din b. R a fi .
Lisan-ad-din b. al-Hatib.
A b u 1-Asbag b. Sahl.
Zayn-ad-din a l-Iraqi.
ihab-ad-din b. Hijji.
Salah-ad-din al-Aqfahsi.
W ali-ad-din al-Iraqi.
The sarif Taqi-ad-din al-Fasi,
Burhan-ad-din al-Halabi.
A la -ad-din b. H atib-an-N asiriyah,
Ibn Hajar.
A l-A yni.
Izz-ad-din al-Kinani.
Najm -ad-din b. Fahd.
Ibn A bi Udaybah.^ A nd
A l-B iq a i. The latter two are of the same (rank and time). Those
below (later than) them are very inferior.
A t all times, there were also other representatives of personality
criticism who declared (transmitters) to be either feeble or sound.
Those of an earlier age are more nearly correct and less subject
to censure than the more recent ones. (Still,) the greater part
(of the relevant information) remains unknown. This w riter (asSahawi) is the author of m any works on the subject. H e has not,
however, fully devoted himself to it, and he has not revealed all
his inform ation about the shortcomings of hadit scholars and
transmitters.
A d-D ahabi distinguished several categories of those who criti
cally discussed personalities. There were those, such as Ibn M a'in
and A bu H atim , who discussed all transm itters. There were others,
such as M alik and Su'bah, who discussed a large number of trans
m itters. A nd there were, again, others, such as Ibn 'U yayn ah and
as-afii, who discussed individual persons."
(Ad-D ahabi continued ?:) E ach category, in turn, has three
subdivisions, (i) Some (representatives of personality criticism)

were severe and very correct in their requirements for reliability.

T h ey impugned (the reliability of) a transm itter on account of
tw o or three errors. If one of them considered an individual reliable,
stick to w hat he said and consider (that individual) reliable. On
the other hand, if he considered a person weak, look whether some
one else agreed w ith his opinion. If so, no sensible man would
consider th at person reliable. H e is definitely weak. If, however,
someone considers him reliable, he is one of those to whom the
following statem ent applies: N egative criticism in his case is
acceptable only if it is accom panied b y an explanation. T h at is,
Ibn M ain s statem ent, for instance, th at he is w eak is not sufficient
(under the circumstances), unless the reason of his weakness is
explained. A l-Buhari, or someone else, m ight come and consider
(the same person) reliable. In these cases, opinions differ as to
w hether traditions of such a person should be considered w eak or
sound. It was therefore said b y ad-Dahabi, th at (i68) perfectly
thorough critic of personahties: It never happened that tw o that
is, two of the same class com petent representatives of personahty
criticism agreed on considering a w eak transm itter reliable or on
considering a reliable transm itter w eak. An-Nasa^i therefore
followed the rule th at no (ones) tradition was to be rejected, unless
all were agreed upon its (his) rejection. T h at is, each class of critics
of personalities had one who was very strict, and one who was
medium strict. In the first class, there were Su 'b ah and at-Taw ri,
w ith Su'bah being the stricter one of the tw o; in the second class,
there were Y a h y a al-Q attan and Ibn Mahdi, w ith Y a h y a being the
stricter one; in the third class, there were Ibn M a'in and Ahm ad
(b. Hanbal), w ith Ibn M ain being the stricter one; and in the fourth
class, there were A b u H atim and al-Buhari, w ith A bu H atim being
the stricter one. Now, an-N asai said: No one is to be rejected, as
far as I am concerned, unless all are agreed upon his rejection. If,
for instance, Ibn Mahdi considered (a transmitter) reliable and alQ attan considered him weak, he must not be rejected, since it is
known how very strict Y a h y a (al-Qattan) and his like were in their
criticism. The afore-mentioned exposition was approved b y Ibn
H ajar.

*
A hm ad b. M uham m ad b. 'U m ar, 8 i9-856/i4i6(i7)-52 {Daw^, II, 162 f.). Cf. H. R i t t e r ,
in Oriens, I, 386 (1948), who m entions m anuscripts of the auth ors historical w orks; ' A b b a s
a l - ' A z z a w i , at-Ta^rif bi-l-mu^arrihtn, I, 236-38.

I would include here Ibn Hazm who said th at at-Tirm idi, the
author of the Jd m i\ A bu 1-Qasim al-Bagaw i, Ism a'il b. Muhammad

(2) Others, such as at-Tirm idi and al-Hakim , were lenient.

528

TRANSLATION

AS-SAHAW ! s I LAN

as-Saffar/ A b u 1- A bbas al-Asamm,^ and other famous scholars

were (practically) unknown {majhul).^
(3)
Others, finally, such as A hm ad (?), ad-D araqutni, and Ibn
A di followed a middle course.
T h ey all h ave m erited well in behalf of Islam and the Muslims,
and I hope th at they will find the divine reward.
A n add ition al n o te : A student of the dates of death (of prom inent men) w as told the
follow ing verse:
H e a lw ays loved to note the d ate of som eones death.
One m orn, then, he himself am ong the dead w as noted.^
A d -D ah abi said (169):
A stu den t of traditions who leaves free
A place to add the death of a m an like me

529

and, in addition, it recalls (my) nam e yalil.^

A l-B irzali heard the rehgious leader and S a fi'ite ju rist Badr-ad-din 'A b d -a l-L a tif b.
M uham m ad b. M uham m ad al-H am aw i recite the follow ing excellent verses:
A student of traditions, w ishing to transm it
T rad ition s when at last this w orld I ve quit.
W ould please m e, if h ed p ray for me. So, I
W an t him to be alive when I m ust die.
If k in d ly he says prayers for m y sake.
Inaudible rep ly the h e a v n ly angels m ake.

I am asking God to protect us from our own badness and the

maliciousness of our tongues, to p acify our adversaries in their
attitud e tow ard us, to cleanse our corrupt hearts and intentions,
to im prove our actions to the very end of our careers, and, especially,
(to favor us) w ith a blessed end and the preservation of our senses
in good health. Amen.

T h a t stu den t is not fair to me, for I

W an t him to live, and he w ants me to die.^
Z ayn -ad-d in a l-'Ira q i took over (the idea and the first hemistich) in the follow ing
v erse s:
A stu den t of traditions hopes to see
Me d ead and to live in com fort after me.
T h is is n ot fair, because I wish him here
T o sta y , w hile he w ants me to disappear.
W hen Salah-ad-din IJalil as-Safadi saw the verses of his teacher ad-D ahabi, he
addressed (ad-Dahabi) in the follow ing verses in w hich he pretended to h ave before
him (ad -D ah abis verses) in the han dw ritin g of ad-D ahabi w ritten upon som ething
belonging to him :
Y o u r friend does n ot wish {murdd) th at such an even t should happen.
S ta y on like the sun that rises up high in heaven.
I t s m y good lu ck th at you should live for ever.
Y o u n ever are dull or boring when you d ictate.
A s-S afad i said: (Ad-D ahabi) liked m y use of the expression Y o u r friend Qmltluka).'
It is an allusion to the verse:
H av e som eone disembarrass you of you r friend from the Miurad . . .
1
D. 341/952, cf. Ib a H ajar, Lisdn, I, 432, where Ibn H azm s opinion concerning him
is m entioned.
* M uham m ad b. Y a 'q u b , d. 346/957 (Ibn al-Jaw zi, M untazam, V I, 386 f.).
T he sense, it seems, requires that this sentence should go w ith the previous category.
* T h e verse, w ith slight variations, is often quoted w ith reference to various scholars,
cf., for instance, as-Suli, Adab al-kuUdb, 1 8 4 (Cairo 1 3 4 1 ) ; al-Q ifti, Inbdh, II, 1 5 9 (Cairo
1 3 6 9 - 7 4 / 1 9 5 0 - 5 5 ) (Ibn Y u n u s); Y a q u t, IrSdd, V II , 2 2 6 (Cairo = III, 7 M a r g o l i o u t h ) (Ibn
Zulaq); Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, X I I I , 2 5 1 (Abu Sam ah, or al-B irzali ?), X I I I , 28 (Ibn alJaw zi). It is also fou n d as a fly-leaf notation in h istorical m anuscripts, cf. the Phot. Cairo
T a rih 4 7 6 7 of Ib n H ajar, D a y l 'aid ad-Durar al-kdminah. Cf. above, p. 5 5 .
5
Cf. as-S3.faidi, Nakt al-himydn, 243 (Cairo 1329/1911); also below, and, for the last half
verse, Ibn al-A tir, K dm il, V , 35 (Cairo 1301).
T h is is a fam ous hem istich from a poem of the seven th -cen tu ry poet A m r b. M a'dikarib
(cf. Agdni, X I V , 34, B u laq 1285) said to have been addressed to U b a y y (or Q ays b. Maksuh)
al-Mxuradi. In com bination w ith the last hem istich of the verses quoted here in the nam e of
ad-D ahabi, this verse was allegedly recited b y A li b. A b i T alib when he noted his im pending
doom (cf. Agdnt, loc. c it.; Ibn S a 'd , Tabaqdt, III , i , 22 and notes, p. 10; al-M ubarrad, K dm il,

The author (of the work) said; (Here, the work) ends. A lthough
I did not com pletely achieve m y purpose, (it was clean-copied and)
the clean copy finished in Mecca in R a b i I or II of the year 897/
January-F ebruary 1492. The author and w riter of this is Mu
ham m ad b. A bd-ar-Rahm an as-Sahawi as-afii.
550 W r ig h t , Leipzig 1864; Lisdn al-'-Arab, V I, 222, B u laq 1300-8; Ibn a t-T iq taq a, Fahrt,
121 A h l w a r d t , G otha i860). It w as further p u t into the m outh of 'U b a y d a lla h b. Z iy M ,
(ad-Dinaw ari, al-Ahbdr at-tiwdl, 216, Cairo, n .y. = 251 G u ir g a s s , Leiden 1888; Ibn al-A tir,
K d m il, IV , 14, anno 60; Ibn K a tir, Biddyah, V I I I , 154); of as-Saffah (al-Y a 'q u b i, History,
I II , 97, N aja f 1358 = II, 432 H o u t s m a ; al-A zdi, ad-Duwal al-munqati^ah, see above,
p. 297, n. 3, beginning of as-Saffahs reign); and of ar-R asid (at-Tabari, Ta^rth, III , 690
anno 187; Ibn a l-A tir, K dm il, V I, 72; al-B ayhaq i, al-M alidsin wa-l-masdwt, 547 S c h w a l l y ,
Giessen 1902; Ibn ^Abdrabbih, "^Iqd, I, 133, Cairo 1305; A b u A h m ad al- A skari, M asun, 214
'A b d -a s-S a la m M. H a r u n , K u w ait i960). (Cf. also the references in A . S a q r s edition of
A b u 1-Faraj al-Isbahani, Maqdtil at-Tdlibtyin, 31, 99, 176, Cairo 1368/1949).
1 The verses of ad-D ahabi and as-Safadis reply were quoted b y as-SaJjawi from Ibn
H ajar, Durar, III , 337 f.
2 Is he identical w ith 'A b d -a l-L a tif b. M uham m ad b. al-H usayn al-H am aw i, d. 710/1310I I (Ibn H ajar, Durar, II, 409)?

R o s e n th a l,

History of Muslim Historiography

34

T R A N S L A T IO N

531

2 T R A N S L A T IO N
(204) H istory is the knowledge of the conditions of (national
or religious) groups, their countries, laws and customs, the crafts
practiced b y their individual members, their genealogies and dates

CH APTER TW ELVE

A s k Op r u z Ad e h

on

h is t o r io g r a p h y

and others. 1
The purpose of it is to becam e acquainted w ith the conditions

I IN T R O D U C T IO N
The sixteenth-century historian, TaskopriizM eh (d. 968/1561),
is th e author of a large and badly organized encyclopedia, entitled
M iftdh as-sa*-ddah. Its sections on history m ay be considered a late
reflex of the research on historiography which had found literary
expression in the monographs of a l-K afiy a ji and as-Sahawi. For
this reason, Taskopruzadehs remarks m ay find a place here. In
themselves th ey are unim portant. T h ey are an indication of the
decay of the living acquaintance w ith the great literary tradition
of Islam. It should, however, be noted th at during Taskopruzadehs
lifetime, a reawakening of the interest in and the occupation w ith
history was beginning to m ake itself felt among the Ottom an Turks.
Taskopriizadeh deals w ith history on two occasions in his work.
This appears to be the result of the am biguous position which histo
riography has alw ays occupied in Mushm learning. In the one case,
the author considers historical works in connection w ith adab
works.^ The more interesting discussion is th at of history as one
of the functions of language.^
A century later, H ajji H alifah (d. 1067/1657) devoted a long
section of his great bibliographical dictionary to historiography.
He quotes the introductory paragraph of Taskopruzadehs treat
ment of history but rejects his dichotom y of historiography and sub
division of historical works. His remarks are prefaced b y a definition
of the word ta^rih. Reference is made to the author's Fadlakah,
apparently his lost ^ Fadlakat aqwdl al-ahydr f i Him at-ta^rih wa-lahbdr, which m ight have contained valuable remarks on histo
riography.
' Miftdl}, as-sa^ddah, I, 232-35 (H yderabad 1329-56).
O p. cit., I, 204-19.
K a S f az-zunun, II, 95-170 F l C g e l ; I, 211-333 Y
* Cf. G A L Supplem ent, II, 636.

altkaya

of death, etc.
The object of history is the conditions of the individuals of the
past, such as prophets, saints, scholars, sages, poets, kings, sultans,

- B e l g e (Istanbul 1941-43).

of the past.
The usefulness of history is (the opportunity th at it affords)
to leam from those conditions, to seek advice in them, and to
form the habit of experience through acquaintance w ith the v i
cissitudes of time. This will serve as a protection against damages
similar to those reported (from the past) and as a means to produce
similar benefits. H istory has been said to constitute an additional
life for (its) students and (to give) in its domain enjoym ent of profits
which (otherwise) come (only) to travelers.
Am ong the book on history, there are
The History of Ibn K a tir .. (205). ..^
The History of a t-T a b a r i.. (206)..
The history of Ibn al-A tir al-Jazari, entitled al-Kdm il, a fine
b o o k .. (207)..
The history of Ibn al-Jawzi, several volum es . . . (entitled) alMuntazam ft tawdrih al-umam, a large w ork . . (208) ..
The Mir^dt az-zamdn of Sibt b. al-Jaw zi . . . Ibn H allikan said:
I have seen the Mir^dt az-zamdn in his handw riting in forty vol1 Taskopriizadeh is quoted in part b y SaCaqlizadeh (cf. G A L , II, 370) who w rote his
1128/1716 (cf. the Istan bul m,anuscript, T opkapu saray, A h m et III ,
2682, fol. 46a; the m anuscript is dated, on fol. 63b, in 1144/1732). Sacaqlizadeh
does not m ention history in the brief enum eration of the sciences at the beginning
of his work, b u t later on he refers to Him at-ta^rth (fols. 31a ff.). H e quotes al-Jurjani
from his com m entary on a s-S akk akis M iftd h to the effect th at h istory form s part of
conversational knowledge {muhddardi). 'A li al-Q aris Gloss to the Commentary on the
Nuhabah {oi Ibn H ajar, cf. G A L , I, 359) is quoted as defining ta^rih as m aking known
the tim e of even ts. Sacaqlizadeh adds th at works containing stories are called historical
works, because th ey contain an indication of the time when the stories took place. Histories
of transm itters are needed b y hadtt scholars. Stories about prophets and pious men are
in stru ctive. O ther stories, such as those about raids, inspire courage. Others, again, are
pleasant to listen to, such as, for instance, the Sdhndmah.
^ Here as well as in the other passages om itted in the translation, Taskopriizadeh has
biographical details.
Tarttb al-^ulum in

532

T A S K O P R U Z A D E H ON H IS T O R IO G R A P H Y

um es. 1 I say: I have seen it in eight volumes, but th ey were big

ones in a small handwriting.
The History of . . (209) .. Ibn H allikan . . . I have seen it in five
volumes in the authors own handwriting.
The History of Ibn H ajar, in two volumes, and another history
b y him, Inhd'' al-gumr f i anhd^ al-'^umr, in two volumes. He also
wrote ad-Durar al-kdminah f i a'-ydn al-mi^ah at-tdminah . . (210). .
The History of Salah-ad-din as-Safadi, in his own handwriting,
more than fifty volum es. . . .
The History of Jalal-ad-din as-Suyuti, in three volumes. H e also
w rote the Classes of the Grammarians, in two volumes, etc.
The History of al-H atib al-Bagdadi, in ten volum es. . . .
The Supplement to the History of Bagddd b y . . . Ibn an-N ajjar
.. (211) . . It comes in th irty v o l u me s . . . .
The history of Abia S a d as-Sam a n i . .. (that is), the Supplement
to the History of Bagddd b y A b u B ak r [b.] al-H atib, in fifteen
volum es; the History of Marw, in more than tw en ty volum es;
further, the Ansdh, about eight volumes, which was abridged and
corrected b y Izz-ad-din (b. al-Atir) in three volum es. . .
The Supplement to the History {of Bagddd) b y ad-D u bayti ..
(212) . . He also wrote a History of W dsit. . . .
One of the greatest histories is the historical w ork of ad-D ahabi
which consists of three books: The Great History, the m edium
one, entitled al-'-Ihar',^ and the small one, entitled Duwal al-Isldm . . .
The Kitdb al-Bdri^ {fi ahhdr as-su'-ard^ al-muwalladin) of H arun
b. A li b a l-M u n a jjim .. (213). ., the Yatimat ad-dahr of a t-T a Mibi . . . , the Dumyat al-Qasr of al-Baharzi .. (214)
the Zinat
ad-dahr of al-H aziri . . ., the Ta^rih haridat al-qasr wa-jaridat al'asr of the T m M al-Isbahani . . (215)
a supplem ent to the
Zinat ad-dahr of al-Haziri, in ten vol umes . . . . He also w rote
Kitdh al-Barq as-Sa'^mi, in seven volumes, a historical w ork; al-Fath
al-Qussi f i l-fath al-Qudsi, in two volum es; and as-Sayl ^ald addayl, a supplem ent to the Haridat al-qasr. . . .^
The History of Chief Judge a l-A yn i, said to consist of six ty
volumes . . (216) ..
The History of the hadit expert Ibn Asakir, in fifty-seven vol
umes. . . . He composed useful works. He composed the Great
1 Ibn IJallikan, IV , 122 f. trans. D e S l a n e .
* E d. S. a l - M u n a j j i d (K u w ait i960-).
T he Sayl is quoted b y Ibn al-^Adim, Bugyat at-talab, Paris ms. ar. 2138, fol. 147b
(life of al-A sraf b. al-A 'azz).

T R A N S L A T IO N

533

History of Damascus, in eighty volumes in his own handwriting,

an astonishing work. It has been said th at he perhaps collected
(the m aterial for) it when he first began to think. Otherwise a life
tim e would not be sufficient to w ork it up. (217). . . .^
The History of Egypt b y A bu S a id A bd-ar-Rahm an b. Ahm ad
. . . . He compiled tw o histories of E gyp t, a large one concerned
w ith the E gyptian s themselves and a small one concerned w ith the
foreigners (who came to E g y p t). Supplements to both of them were
w ritten b y A bu 1-Qasim Y a h y a b. A li al-H adram i (b. at-Tahhan) . . . .
A very accurate, good, stylistically very attractive, and, because
it stresses the im portant things, very useful history is the History
of a l-Y a fii, in tw o large volumes . . . . (218)
H istorical w orks are innumerable. H owever, if one has those
which I h ave mentioned, it is all th at is necessary. If one desires to
go deeper into historical studies, there are
(A list of th irty-six titles, comprising world histories, histories
of scholars, sages, and, in particular, histories of cities and countries.)
The historical works in the (219) Persian language are innum er
able. Because the (material) m entioned is sufficient, it is super
fluous for us to m ention them.
(232) The stories of pious men are one of the branches of history
and conversational knowledge. A group (of scholars) occupied
them selves w ith the conditions of pious and good men and wrote
monographs on them. The object, goal, and purpose of this branch
of history are obvious. Its usefulness is clearly of the greatest. Ibn
al-Jaw zi w rote on this subject the Kitdh Safwat as-safwah, and alY M i'i the Kitdh Rawd ar-raydhin f i hikdydt al-ahrdr wa-s-sdlihin,
and (there are) other books.
The historical inform ation about the prophets is one of the
branches of history. Scholars occupied themselves w ith this w orth
while subject and w rote system atic monographs on it (233), for
instance, the Qisas al-anhiyd'^ b y Ibn al-Jawzi, etc.
The raids and the works on the biography of Muhammad also are
a branch of history. Scholars w rote m any books on the subject.
1 Cf. Ibn Hallikan, II, 253 trans.

D e S la n e .

534

TRANSLATION

T A SK O P R U Z A D E H ON HIST O RIO GRA PH Y

for instance, the Sirah of Ibn Hisam, the Sirah of Ibn Ishaq, the
Sirah of M ugultay, etc. The object of these two branches of learning,
their usefulness, goal, and purpose are clear to everybody.
The h istory of the caliphs is also a branch of history. Some (scholar)s wrote monograph(s) on the history of the four caliphs, A bu
B akr, Umar, Utm an, and All. T h ey deserve all attention. Others
com bined the history of the U m ayyads and the Abbasids w ith the
four caliphs, because it is so very instructive. In this field, there
exist great works which are well known to thorough scholars, for
instance, the Tuhfat az-zurafd^ f i tawdrih al-hulafd\^
(The classes of Q uran readers are not described as a branch of
history, though certainly considered to be one.)

535

T he classes of grammarians. M any (scholars) wrote on them,

such as Y a q u t al-Ham awi, M ajd-ad-din as-irazi,i Salah-ad-din
as-Safadi, Jalal-ad-din as-Suyuti, and (there are) other books. (235)
T he classes of the sages. M any occupied them selves w ith this
subject, among them [as-]Sa'id, a well-known sage, who w rote
< . . . >^ the Kitdh Sinwdn al-hikmah on the subject. I saw it in
m y early manhood, b u t I h ave forgotten the name of the author.
I t is an interesting {latif) book.
The classes of physicians. Scholars w rote on this subject. I have
seen a book on the subject, entitled "-Uyun al-anhd^ f i tabaqdt
al-atibhd^ (by Ibn A b i Usaybi^ah).
A ll these m entioned class works are branches of history. Their
respective object, goal, purpose, and usefulness are obvious to the
student of these disciplines.

The classes of Q uran interpreters are a branch of history in which

there exist great works.
The classes of hadit scholars, a branch of history in which there
exist great works. (234)

1 Al-Firuz& badi, whose Bulgah is m eant here, cf. IHdn, 103, above, p. 423.
*
In M iftd h as-sa^ddah, I, 218, S a 'id b. A h m ad al-A ndalusis Ta^Hh al-hukamd^ (that is,
the Tabaqdt al-umam) and an anonym ous Ta^rih sinwdn al-hikm ah (that is, the fam ous w ork
of A b u S u laym an M uham m ad b. T a h ir as-SijistSni and its Tatim m ah b y al-B ayhaq i) are
listed as separate w orks. Here, th e y appear to h ave been con flated b y the author. H&jji
y a lif a h s inform ation (cf. G A L Supplem ent I, 586) w as certa in ly derived from JaSkopriizadeh.

(The biographies of the men around Muhammad and the second

generation are not described as a branch of history.)
The classes of a fiites. Ibn as-Subki wrote the Tabaqdt al-kuhrd
and as-sugrd, a painstaking, very comprehensive com pilation of
all Safi'ites. (as-Subkis w ork? ^) contains so m any useful aspects
as can h ardly be found in a book.
The classes of Hanafites. Scholars wrote works on them, such as
al-Jawdhir al-mudiyah f i tabaqdt al-Hanafiyah (by Abd-al-Q adir
al-Qurasi), and the Muhtasar of Qasim b. Qutlubuga, entitled Taj
at-tardjim.^ This is enough on this chapter. (Those books ? ^) contain
im portant m aterial.
The classes of Malikites. The object and layout of works on them
are known from the preceding class works.
The classes of H anbalites are also defined through the preceding
remarks. No author of Tabaqdt of M alikites and H anbalites is known
to us. (However,) the good scholars of this juridical school m ay not
have neglected to w rite such works.
1 I .e ., a l-B a 'u n is versified history!
* Or rather: the su b je c t.
* N ew edition B a gd a d 1962.

PART TH REE

539

ARABIC

TEXTS

1
a. Ib n Farigun, Jawdmi^ al-Hdum
(above, p . 52)

3* lj 5 (J|

.... ^ 1

*bj)/ ^

dJJu ^

^ b j *U iilj;y

Jl ^\3:^

b. Ib n F arigun , Jawdmi"- al-"ulum

(above, p. 35)

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I jiw*

^>"1

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'J

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j ^ j CU

V \a

y J j'

(1) Ms. M a'arif 'am mah 527 ; ^ j> ^ j ?

(2) Ms. M a'arif 'am m ah 528 :

'^i
.

(4) [ ] deest Ms. M a'arif amniah 528.

(3) Ms. Ma'arif am m ah 528 : J -

(5 5) Ms. INIa'arif 'am m ah 528 :

(6 6) Ms. M a'arif am m ab 527 : .1 j

Ms. Ma'arif am m ah 528 ; .1 j ' j .

(7) ?; Ms. M a'arif aramah 528 : L ib ? (8) Ms.

IMa'arif 'amm ah 528 :

540
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J (J1

541

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(a b o v e , p . 4 8 )

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Juilj

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: <.j"U>1 .

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(5 ) I\Is. M a ^ irif 'a n in ia h 527 : j U '

(7 ) M s. M a 'a r if 'a m n ia h 5 2 8 ;

.?

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c> ^ l (jl J l

or

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tii

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(3 3)

h a q a iq

37f.)

(2 ) Fra ze r

182 decst.

IjC o l

548

542
IdjU L^j

^ < Si UU \fCaa JL-Iajm j i^ jjll w^yi

JU?1

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5
al-M aqrizi, al-Habar *an al-ha^ar

OJ

ias^ -jbS^ V
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jj

UJA

j^

Iyi

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(above, p. 85, h. 4)

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titr i ' 3 i O j^ b

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iU llj j A j

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Q u d ^ a h b. Ja*far, Kitdb al-Hardj, chapter 8, table of contents

(above, p. 61)

t Ja jJj jjll

(3 c ^ j j 5

(j^ <^-^t^

(3) > ) i j j U i c^. j > ) i 5 b

^*11 ^

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51 (i)j^

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(above, p. 117)

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, corr. to

(77) Poc. 125: V

(2) Poc. 125: j ; i' Ci>J.

(5) Poc. 125: LA.

(8) Poc. 125: Ji^ '.

iS^'^ v ! - J ' j

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(Jl jj^Ui [4I]

^y^

(^j]i .-x*J! (3
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(1) Poc. 117

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(3) Poc. 125: yJl cn;->.

(6) Poc. 125 : aJ j ,

c/*l^fWj ^

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644

545

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A b u Z a k a riy a al-Azdi, H istory of Mosul

Ibn al-*^i\.dim, Bugyat dt-talab

(above, p. 154, nu. 1 and 2)

(above, p. 125)

3 _y cy*
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(1) Leg. t^ x J l, or
R o s e n th a l,

j u J I , or t y i J \ ?

H istory of Muslim H istoriography

(2) M s.: V j .

(3) ?
35

546

547

10

al-Kafiyaji, al-MuMasar ft

Al-Cum ri, Dahtrah

(above, p . 185 )

lV=' J L j

(above, p. 249 ff.)

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B ro ck e lm an n ,

b io g r a p h y of I b n B ash a n .

GAL S u p p le m e n t II, 4 6 ,

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as

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(above, p. 426, n. 1)

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H istory o f Muslim H istoriography

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P in marg.
R

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(10 10) F deest.

(11 11) V in marg.

H istory of M uslim H istoriography

u^

(9 9)

( see th e fo llo w in g p a g e )
39

610

(II,-

17

As-SiJafi, Mu'-jam

INDEX OF PROPER NAMES

(a b o v e , p . 4 7 1 , n. 6)

O',

^
.

J>- JrJC

^ J^j

<1/

J o b * ^

6
*^J

l^j5

The following index contains all proper names mentioned in the preceding pages. Italicized
numbers preceded b y IHdn refer to the edition of the IHdn (Damascus 1349). T h ey concern
proper names from the passage om itted in the English translation (cf. above, p. 265).
In the alphabetization, no distinction has been made between different Arabic sounds.
Thus, s, s, and s are all treated like one and the same letter. The words a. (for abu), b. (for ibn),
bint, and the definite article al- are disregarded in the alphabetic order. The abbreviations of
proper names are more or less the same as those employed in G A L , that is; A. = Ahmad,
^AI. = 'Abdallah, 'Ar. = 'Abd-ar-Rahm an, H. = Hasan, Hu. = Husayn, Ibr. = Ibrahim,
Ism. = Isma'il, M. = Muhammad, Q. = Qasim, Su. = S ulaym an,^U. = ^Umar, Ya. = Yahya,
and Yu. = Yusuf.

Where the names of contemporary Near Eastern scholars are identical with medieval proper
names and are not cited in a Latin transliteration of their own, they are always listed at the end
of the entries for a given name. For instance, 'A b d -al--Aziz Ahm ad is listed after all the other
Ahmads.
'A l. b. 'Abd-az-Zahir 119, 128, 155 f., 412,

596
Aaron (Harun) 288, 389, 580
b. bint al-A 'azz; 'Ar. b. 'Abd-al-W ahhab,
Taqt-ad-dm
b. bint al-A 'azz; ^Abd-al-Wahhab b. Halaf
Abaga b. Hulagu 178
Aban b. ^Abd-al-Harnid al-Lahiqi 180
Aban b. Yazid al-'^Attar 376
al-Abarquhi: A. b. Ishaq, a. 1-M a^Mi
b. *^Abbad; Ism. b. 'A bbad, as-Sahib
al-'A bbadi: M. b. A., a. 'Asim
al-'^Abbadi, A. M. 356
b. al-Abbar; M, b. 'Al.
b. 'A bbas: 'A l.
al-'A bbas b. 'Abd-al-M uttalib 282, 360,
408 (?), 589
al-'A bbas b. 'A li b. Rasul: al-Afdal
al-'A bbas b. (al-)Faraj ar-Riyasi 504, 511
al-'A bbas b. M. al-Andalusi 504
al-'A bbas b. M. al-Ansari 429
(al-)'Abbas b. M. ad-Duri 446, 449
al-'A bbas (?) b. M., a. 1-Q. as-Sabti 399, 588
al-'A bbas b. Mus'ab b. Bisr 477
'Abbas, Ihsan 36, 113, 466
V
Abbott, N. X IV , 82, 87, 130 f., 394, 431,

* H e r e fo llo w th e c o n c lu d in g w o rd s o f th e w h o le w o r k , a n d th e s u b s c r ip tio n w h ic h
in P , a n d s im ila r ly in A , ru n s a s fo llo w s:

^yJ 4j
A_fU

(3

JL(J

^ 5 <iJijA Jls

- jr^

ifry
j

j-^1

o'

, . . .

^i/l\

'A l. b. 'Adi, a. A. al-Jurjani 361, 393, 401,

453,
515-517, 522, 528, IHdn 1 4 1
'A l. b. A. al-Bisbisi 428
'A l. b. A. b. Hanbal 521, 601
'A l. b. A., a. M. al-Fargam 82, 478
'A l. b. A ., a. M. b. Zabr 512 f., 603
'A l. b. A ., a. 1-Q. al-K a 'b i al-Balhi 430, 467
'A l. b. A ., Muwaffaq-ad-din b. Qudamah
359,
601, 605
'A l. b. A. b. Sulaym al-A sw toi 106
'A l. b. A ., a. 'U . ad-Dimashqi 590 f.,
'A l. b. A. az-Zarandi 349
'A l. b. 'A ll b. Hadidah 403
'A l. b. 'A ll, a. M. b. al-Jarud 407, 438
'A l. b. 'A ll b. Suwayd at-Takriti 465
'A l. b. 'Am ir 581
'A l. b. 'A m r 495
'A l. b. As'ad, 'Afif-ad-din al-Y afi'i 148, 308,
429 f., 485, 497, 500, 521, 533, 589
'A l. b. 'A w n /'/aw i j g
'A l. b. a. 1-I3 arakat al-Akrarn, a. Bakr 607
'A l. b. Buraydah 295
'A l. b. al-Fadl al-Lahmi 272
'A l. b. Fadlallah al-Wassaf 121
a. 'A l. b. Hanimad as-Sabti: b. Hamniad
504, 518
'A l. b. al-Hu. b. Sa'd al-K atib 409 f., 504
'A b d b. A., a. Darr al-Harawi 453, 523, 591
'A l. b. Ja'far b. Durustawayh 378, 400
'A l. ( = 'A l. b. 'Abbas ?) 334, 341
'A l. b. Ja'far al-Madiiii 363
'A l. b. 'Abbas 284, 287, 324, 382 f., 385, 511,
514,
517, 565, 568, 570, 574, 579, 589 f. 'A l. b. Katir 581, /'/aw i j 6
'A l. b. Lahi'ah 395, 504, 518, IHdn 138
'A l. b. 'A b d-al-'A ziz al-Yuniiii 602
'Al. b. Mahfuz: 'A l. b. M. b. Mahfuz
'A l. b. 'A bd-al-H akam 590
a. 'A l. al-Maliki 608 f.
'A l. b. 'Abd-al-M alik al-Marjani 476
'A l. b. Maslainah al-Qa'nabi 379, 519
'A l. b. 'Ar. ad-Darimi 520, /'/aw 142
'A l. b. Mas'ud 278, 578, IHdn 139
'A l. b. 'Ar. az-Zuhri 599

6i2

IN D EX OF PROPER NAMES

^Al. b. M aym un al-Q addah 275

'A l. b. W aq id , a. R a ja IHdn 142
'A l. b. al-M ubarak 333, 335, 341, 518, 5o i,
'A l. b. Y u , b. H isam 245, 314, 456
iH dn 142 (?)
'A l. b. Y u ., a. M. al-Jurjaiu 415, 584, 593 f.
'A l. b. M. b. 'A l. b. M. b. Farhun 604
'A l. b. Y u ., a. 1-Q. b. R id w an 118
A l. b. M., ^Afif-ad-din al-M atari 43 (?), 415,
'A l. b. Y u . b. Y u n us al-Urm,awi 602
442 , 476, 505
'A l. b. a. Z a yd 'A r. al-M aliki 591, 601
'A l. b. M. b. A ll b. A. 439
'A l. b. Z iy M b. S am 'an 439
AI. b. M. b. a. l-'A w w a m as-Sa*^di 590
'A l. b. az-Z u b ayr 283, 382, 406
^Al. b. M ., a. B a k r b. a. d -dun ya 399 f., 408,
'A l. b. az-Z u b ayr a l-H u m ayd i 519, IHdn 136
429, 432 f., 505, 5 1 1, 601
'A b d -a l-A 'la b. Mushir, a. Mushir IHdn 138
^Al. b. M., a. B akr al-M 41iki 392, 419, 426,
'A b d -a l-'A zim b. 'A b d -al-Q aw i, Zaki-ad-din
460,
473 f., 510
al-M undiri 45, 441, 452, 460, 512, 515, 525
'^Al. b. M., a. B a k r b. a. S ay b a h 361, 392,
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. 'A l. (b.) al-M ajisun 518
395, 501, 520
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. 'A l al-U w aysi 281
Al. b. M. a l-B a kri 486 f.
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. 'A b d -as-Salam , 'Izz-ad -d in
A l. b. M. ad-D inaw ari IHdn 1 4 1
as-Sulam i 334, 341, 346 f., 602
Al. b. M. b. a. D u la y m al-Q urtubi 417 f.
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. A ., 'Izz-ad -d in ad-D irm i
A l. b. M. b. F arhu n 309, 3 11, 476, 604
398, 603
A l. b. M. al-H araw i al-A nsari 361, 523, 594,
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. A. a l-K in a n i 512
601
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. A . b. 'U tm an , 'Izz-ad-din.
'A l. b. M. al-H ^riti 449, 464, 590
al-H akk ari 602
'A l. b. M. b. H ar^n a t-T a i 601
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. a. H azim (Salam ah) 379
'A l. b. M ., a. Ja'^far a ii-N u fayli 520
'A b d -a l-A ziz b. M ahm ud b. al-A hd ar 433
'A l. (b. M.) b. M ahfuz a l-B a la w i 504
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. M., a. H asim al-H asim i
'A l. b. M. b. M andaw ayh as-Suruti 594
a l-'A b b a si 602
'A l. b. M. b. al-M uhandis 417
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. M., 'Izz-ad -d in a. 'U . b.
'A l. b. M. al-M usnadi (!) IHan 142
J a m a 'a h 331, 397, 424 f.
'A l. b. M., a. 1-Q. al-B agaw i 405, 524, 527
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. M. an-N ahsabi 471, 610
'A l. b. M. b. as-Sarqi IHdn 14 1
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. M usa b. N u sayr 119
'A l. b. M ., a. s-S ayh b. H ibban 168, 361, 396,
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. Saddad, a. l-'A ra b (a,
400,
402, 453, 459, 501, 522
G arib ?) 473
'A l. b. M. b. 'U m arah b. al-Q addah 96
'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. 'U ., 'Izz-ad -d in b. F ah d
'A l. b. M., a. 1-W alid al-F arad i i68, 171, 393,
421 (?), 482
400, 418 f., 460, 474, 504, 599, 609
'A b d -a l-B a d i', L u tfi 5
'A l. b. M. b. Y a z d M , a. Salih 73
'A b d -a l-B a q i b. 'A b d -al-M ajid a l-Y a m a n i
'A l. b. (al-)Muharrir 341
485,
500, 504
'A l. b. al-M u qaffa' 187, 505, 511
'A b d -a l-B aq i b. Q an i', a. 1-Hu. 405, 511 f., 522
'A l. b. Musa as-Salam i 322
b. 'A b d -a l-B arr: A. b. M., a. 'A b d -al-M alik
^Al. b. Muslim b. Q u ta y b ah 50, 323, 355,
b. 'A b d -a l-B arr; Y u . b. 'A L , a. 'U .
401, 423, 505, 515, 5 8 8 ,IHdn 14 1
'A b d -a l-B asit ('U .) b. M., Zayn-ad-din
^Al. b. al-Mu'^tazz 182-185, 272, 411, 424, 500
(az-Zayni) b. Zuhayrah 413
'A l. b. a. N ajih I'^ldn 136
'A b d -a l-B a sit b. Musa a l-'A lm a w i 337, 352,
^Al. b. an-N asir 599
418
^Al. b. Q ays, a. M usa a l-A s ari 251, 380,
'A b d -a l-6 a ffa r b. A . al-Q usi 425
551,
567, IHdn 139
'A b d -a l-6 a fir (Gaffar) b. Hu. a l-A lm a 'i 473
^Al. b. Q ays, au-N abigah a l-J a 'd i 387
'A b d -al-G M ir b. Ism. 483
^Al. al-Q u tru bulli 73
'A b d -al-(5 a r i b. 'Abd-al-VVahid al-J am m a'ili
A l. b. S a 'd b. a. Jam rah 601
al-M aqdisi 275 f., 278, 341, 396, 406, 447 f.,
'A l. b. S ah l al-Quda^i 420
524, 587, 590, 603
'A l. b. Salam 335, 517
'A b d -a l-G an i b. M. b. T a y m iya h 466
^Al. b. Su., a. B a k r b. a. D aw ud 363, 404
'A b d -a l-G an i b. S a 'id 427, 448, 450, 522, 609
^Al. b. Suw ayd(ah) a t-T a k riti: 'A l. b. '^Ali
b. 'A b d -a l-H ad i: M. b. A.
b. S u w ay d
b. 'A b d -al-H ak am : 'A l.
(Al. ?) b. Ta^us b. K a y san IHdn 140
b. 'A b d -a l-H ak am : 'A r. b. 'A l.
'A l. b. 'U b a y d a lla h b. a. M ulaykah IHdn 136
b. 'A b d -a l-H am id : M. b. 'A b d -a l-H am id
'^Al. b. U b a y y IHdn 143
b. 'A l.
H\l. b. 'U . fb. H afs ?) IHdn 136
'A b d -al-H am id b. 'A l. b. Usam ah a l-K u fi 98
^\1. b. 'U . b. a l-H a ttab 287, 351, 359. 363
'A b d -al-H am id a l-K atib 52
'A l. b. U nays 191 f.
'A b d -al-H aq q b. 'A r. al-Isbili 524
^Al. b. W ah b 518, 592, 601, IHdn 138
'A b d -a l-H aq q b. Ibr. b. S a b 'in 304, 329

IN D E X

613

OF P R O P E R N A M E S

'A b d -a l-H a y y b. A . b. a l-'I n iM 55, 272,

405, 430, 463, 466, 471, 520, 522 f., 602
'A b d -a l-H a y y b. ad-D ahh ak al-G ardizi 321
'A b d -a l-Jab b a r b. 'A l. a l-H aw lan i 168, 468
'A b d -a l-Jab b a r b. a. B a k r b. H am dis 466
A b d -al-Jab b ar b. M. al-H araqi 384
'A b d -a l-J ab b a r al-M u tan abbi 115 , 184 f.
'A b d -el-Jalil, J.-M. 84
b. 'A b d -a l-K a rim 472
'A b d -a l-K a rim b. 'A b d -an -N u r, Q utb-ad-din
al-H alab i 396, 442, 452 , 476, 478, 525, 587
'A b d -a l-K a rim b. 'A r. al-Q alqasan di 440
'A b d -a l-K a rim b. H aw azin al-Q usayri 425 f.
'A b d -a l-K a rim b. M., a. 1-Q. a r-R a fi'i 44,
127, 169, 243, 279 (?), 298, 459, 472 f.,
483, 603
'A b d -a l-K a rim b. M., a. S a 'd (b.) as-Sam 'an i
42 f., 73, 275, 277, 286, 3 11, 339 t , 362,
379, 392 f., 408, 418, 431, 445, 451, 453 f-,
457-459, 461-467, 469-471, 4 7 3 , 4 7 5 , 4 7 7 ,
482-484, 509, 522 f., 532, 593
'A b d -a l-L a tif b. M. al-H am aw i 529
'A b d -al-M ajid b. 'A b d u n 181
'A b d -al-M ajid, 'A b d -a l-'A z iz 312
'A b d -al-M ajid, H am id 185, 371, 426, 512
b. 'A b d -al-M alik ; M. b. M. b. 'A b d -al-M alik
al-M arrakusi
'A b d -al-M alik b. 'A l. b. B adru n 32, 181
'A b d -al-M alik b. 'A L , Im am al-H aram ayn
374
'A b d -al-M alik b. 'A b d -a l-'A iz b. Ju ra yj 379,
IHdn 136
'A b d -al-M alik al-B agaw i 417
'A b d -al-M alik b. H abib 46, 275, 395 (?),
4 7 9 , 591, IHdn 140
'A b d -al-M alik b. H isam 29, 50, 187, 282, 316,
3 3 5 , 361, 394 , 398, 4 11, 456, 5 34, 586 f.
'A b d -al-M alik b. M arwan 50, 68 f., 116 , 123,
413,
IHdn 138
'A b d -al-M alik b. M ., a. S a 'd an-N isaburi 402,
588
'A b d -al-M alik b. M. a t-T a 'a lib i 92, 114, 142,
174, 177, 179, 272, 321-323, 3 5 5, 390, 414,
422, 459, 469, 503, 532
'A b d -al-M alik b. Qura>b a l-A sm a 'i 50, 58,
187, 271, 379, 505, 5 11, 603
'A b d -al-M alik b. SMih 122
'A bd-al-M uhsin b. 'U tm an b. C a n a im alH atib 465, 593
'A b d -a l-M u 'izz
M., a. R aw h al-H araw i
IHdn 142
'A b d -a l- M u W n b. Plalaf, araf-ad-din adD im ya ti 328, 396, 403, 4 4 i , 452 , 4 5 4 , 525,
581 f., 587, 599
b. 'A b d -al-M u n 'im a l-H im yari n o , 487
'A b d -al-M u ttalib 433
'A b d -al-Q ad ir b. 'A l. b. a l-'A yd a ru s 57, 85 f.,
126
'A b d -al-Q ad ir b. 'A L al-J il4ni 439, 598, 603
A b d -al-Q ad ir b. 'A L ar-R uh aw i 524, 601

'A b d -al-Q ad ir b. 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. F ah d 480

'A b d -al-Q ad ir b. M., M uhyi-ad-din al-Qurasi
a l-H an afi 310, 417 , 423, 442 f., 445, 448 f.,
454,
468, 482, 534, 590
'A b d -al-Q ah ir b.
wardi 415, 584
'A b d -al-Q ah ir b.
466
'A b d -al-Q ah ir b.
'A b d -al-Q ah ir b.
'A bd -al-Q u d du s
IHdn 139

'A L , a. n -N ajib as-Suhra'A b d -a l-G a n i b. T a ym iya h

'A r. al-Jurjan i 348
T a h ir a l-B agd ad i 430
b. a l-H a jja j, a. 1-Mugirah

b. 'A b d rab b ih ; A . b. M.
'A b d -ar-R ah im b. A b d -al-K arim , a. 1M uzaffar (b.) as-Sam '&ni 431
'A b d -ar-R ah im b. 'A li, al-Q a^i al-F adil
al-B aysan i 127, 175
'A b d -ar-R ah im b. al-H . al-Isnaw i (al-Isna i)
415, 442, 602
'A b d -ar-R ah im b. al-H u., Zayn-ad-din al'Ira q i 398 f., 405, 436, 447, 513, 526, 528,
587
f., 602, 607
'A b d -ar-R ah im b. Ibr. b. al-B^rizi 88, 277,
386 f.
A r. I l l (an-Nasir of Spain) 80, 184
a. 'A r . ; 'A r, b. Y a z id
'A r. b. 'A L b. 'A b d -a l-H ak am 162 f., 477,
504
'A r. b. 'A L as-Su h ayli 360, 394, 397, 524, 587
'A r. b. 'A b d -a l-Jab b a r, a. N asr al-F am i 483
'A r. b. 'A b d -a r-R azzaq b. M akanis 425
'A r. b. 'A b d -al-W ah h ab , Taqi-ad-din b. b in t
a l-A 'a z z 366
'A r, b. A ., 'A d u d-ad -din a l-lji 202, 220 f.,
244, 456 (?)

'A r . b. A . b. B a q i b. M ahlad 599

'A r. b. A ., a. S a 'id b. Y u n us 55, 168, 171,
393, 408, 418, 441, 450, 4 7 7 , 504, 5 11,
522,
528, 533
'A r. b. A ., Zayn-ad-din b. R ajab 82, 283,
420, 427, 443. 462, 483, 502, 523
'A r. b. 'A ll b. a d -D a y b a ' 157, 159, 286, 330
'A r. b. 'A li, a. 1-Faraj b. al-Jaw zi 34, 41,
46, 67, 72, 82-85, 93, 109, 119, 125, 127,
143 f., 146, 201, 204, 243, 256, 272, 279 f.,
283, 295 f., 317, 321, 324, 332, 345, 354 f.,
375, 385, 394 f-, 399-402, 408, 414, 420 f.,
424-429, 436, 439, 453 f., 458, 470 t , 4 7 3 ,
481, 490 f., 501-503, 515, 521-524, 528,
531, 533 , 588-590, 593 f., 596 f., 599 f-,
604, 607
'A r. b. 'A m r a l-A w za 'i 157, 362, 395, 518,
591, 602
'A r. b. 'A m r, a. Z u r'a h ad-Dim aqi 72, 282,
392,
450, 501, 520
'A r. b. 'A w f 383, 589
A r. b. a l-A w z a 'i, a. S a 'id 591
'A r. b. a. B akr, JaU l-ad-din as-S u yu ti 27, 44,
49, 71, 86, 13 1, 156, 163, 184 f., 277, 298,

6i 4

IN D E X OF PROPER NAMES

IN D EX OF PROPER NAMES

378, 411 f., 422, 434, 436, 441, 452, 475 f.,
'A b d -as-Salam b. Y u . ad-D im asqi 424
524
i., 532, 5 3 5 , 609
^Abd-as-Samad b. 'A b d -al-W ah hab , a. 1*^Ar. b. Bisr I'^ldn 141
Y u iim b. 'A sa k ir 401, 475
'A r. b. a l-F a y d , a. 1-A sw ad 400
'A bd -as-Sam ad b. 'A b d -a l-W a rit b. S a 'id
^Ar. b. F u tay s: ^Ar. b. M. b. F u tay s
(Sa^d) 405
'A r. b. al-H akara 327
^Abd-as-Samad b. S a 4 d, a. 1-Q. al-H im si
'A r. b. H. al-J ab arti 378
405, 46 7
Ar. b. Hasirn I^-ldn 14 1
b. 'Abd-as-Sami'^: Su. b. 'A li
'A r. b. a. H atiin (M.) b. Idris at-Taruim i
'A b d -a s-S am i' b. 'A bd -as-Sam ad al-H asim i
ar-R azi 95, 393, 4:8, 437, 43 9. 4 4 5, 448,
( = b. '^Abd-as-Sami'^ a l-H atib an-N assa450, 480 f., 520 f., 593 f.
b ah ?) 98
'A r. b. Ibr., D u h aym IHdn 138
'A b d -a s-S ay yid b. M., a. N asr b. as-Sabbag
'A r. b. 'Isa , a. M. al-B u zu ri 607
280
'A r. b. Ism ., a. Sam ah
83, 15 1, 178, 304,
'A b d -al-W ah hab b. 'A l., A b u N asr b. al3 5 3, 3 9 3, 412, 4 5 5 , 458, 468, 491 f., 504,
J a y y a r 591
525,
528, 582
'A b d -al-W ah h ab b. A ., a. 1-Mugirah 150
'A r. b. Mahdi 515, 518, 527
<^Abd-al-Wahhab b. <^Ali, T aj-ad -d in as-Subki
'A r. b. M aki b. ^Utman as-Sari'i: 'A r. b,
4 3 , 62, 65, 347 f., 353, 364, 370-375,
'U tm an
401,
414-416, 439 , 442 f., 45 7 , 468, 4 7 5 , 477 ,
'A r . b. M arzuq, a. 1-M utarrif al-Q anazi^ 602
483, 534 , 603
Ar. b. M u 'aw iyah (of Spain) 461
'A b d -al-W ah h ab b. H alaf b. bin t a l-A 'a z z 603
'A r. b. M. al-B istam i 40, 249
'A b d -al-W ah h ab b. M. a l-F to ii 414, 417, 584
'A r. b. M. al-F u ran i 430
'A b d -al-W ah h ab b. M. b. M andah 283, 400
'A r. b. M. b. F u tay s, a. 1-M utarrif al-M agribi
'A b d -al-W ah id b. 'A ll al-M arrakusi 82, n o ,
401,
522, 588
477
'A r. b. M. al-Idrisi al-A starab ad i 168, 458, 470
'A b d -a l-W a h id b. M., a. 'U b a y d al-J u zajan i
'A r. b. M., a. 1-Q. al-L ab id i (Lubaydi) (Ibn
600
Farhun, Dibdj, 152 [Cairo 1351]) 608
Abd-al-Wahid b. S iya h as-Sirazi 425
'A r. b. M., a. 1-Q. b. M andah 165, 400, 475,
'A b d -Y a s u ' b. Bahrez 79
481, 513, 590, 599
b. 'A b d -az-Z ah ir; 'A l. b. 'A b d -az-Z ahir
^Ar. b. M., a. 1-Q. b. R asiq 473 f.
'A b d an (b. M. al-M arwazi) 404, 416
'A r. b. M. b. Q udam ah 602
'A b d an b. 'U tm an IHdn 142
A r. b. M ., W ali-ad-din b. H aldun X I V , 15,
a l-'A b d a ri; M. b. M. b. al-H ajj
32 f., 4 1, 44, 49, 52, 54, 60, 81, 98, 112 f.,
al-'A b d a w i, a. H atim (?) 522 {see also 'U .
116 -119 , 121, 127, 190, 201-203, 220,
b. A ., a. Hazim)
241 f., 245, 253, 257, 3 11, 316, 320, 370,
A b d -el-K ader, A. H. 325
407, 438, 487, 497 f., 504
a l-'A b d i; M. b. 'A li
'A r. b. M., a. Z ayd al-A nsari al-Q ayraw ani
a l-'A b d i; 'U m arah b. Ju w ayn , a. H arun
b. ad -D abb ag 306, 460 (?), 473 f.
a l-'A b d i: Y a . b. a r-R ab i'
'Ar. b. N ajm , N asih-ad-din b. al-H an bali
al-A bi: M ansur b. al-H u., a. S a 'd
426 f.
b. 'A b d iin : Abd-al-M ajid
'A r. b. (al-)Q. 592, 602, IHdn 138, 140
A b el (Habil) 183, 569
'A r. b. ^U., Jalal-ad-din al-BuIqini 283 (?),
'A b id ('U b ayd ) b. H usayn ar-Ra*^i 323
328, 402, 602, 604
^Abid C^Ubayd) b. Saryah 50, 64, 187
'A r. b. "^U. al-Jaw bari 390
'A b id in , a. 1-Yusr 216
'A r. b. 'U ., M ajd-ad-din b. al-'A diru 442
al-A biw ard i; M. b. A ,, a. I-M uzaffar
'A r. b. U. al-Q ibabi 452
al-A bn asi: Ibr. b. H ajja j, Burhan-ad-din
*^Ar. b. 'U tn ia n b. M aki a s - S M 'i 427
Abraham (Ibr.) 26, 149, 257, 285, 288-290,
'A r. b. Y a z id , a. 'A r. IHdn 136
3__i9, 385, 559 , 563, 579 , 589
'A r. b. Y u . b. H iras 365, 521
al-A buri: M. b. al-Hu.
'A b d -a r-R a z z a q : 'A b d -a r-R a zza q b . H am mam
A d am 39, 58, 149, 256, 261, 284, 296, 385-387,
'A b d -a r-R azzaq b. A . b. a l-F u w ati 58, 83,
561-563, 565-569, 572
86, 98, 176, 348, 397, 410 f., 414, 423 f.,
b. A d am ; A. b. M. b. 'U b a y d b. A d am al431, 441, 451, 457 f., 460, 462, 468, 470,
'A sq alan i
473, 4 9 2 , 5 0 4
A d am al-'A sqalan i 471
'A b d -a r-R azzaq b. H ainm am as-San ani
b. al-A dam i: 'A li b. M., Sadr-ad-din
394, 519 , 588, 602, I^ldn 140
b. 'A d i: 'A l. b. 'A d i, a. a .
'A b d -a r-R azzaq b. R izq -A llah ar-R as'an i 58
b. 'A d i: al-H aytam
b. ^Abd-as-Salam: A b d -a l-'A ziz b. Abd-asa l-'A d id li-din-Allah 175, 407
Salam , 'Izz-ad -d in
b. al-'A d im : 'A r. b. 'U ., M ajd-ad-din

b. a l-'A d im : A . b. H ibatallah
b. a l-'A d im : 'U . b. A ., a. 1-Q. K am al-ad-din
b. a. Jaradah
'A d n an 387
'A d u d-ad -daw lah 124, 177, 4 11, 488, 596
'A d u d-ad -din 456 {see also 'A r. b. A.)
al-A fdal (al-'A b b as b. 'A li b. Rasul) 56, 485
al-A fgani, S a 'id 259, 492
b. 'A fif: A . b. M ., a. 'U .
b. 'A fif-ad -d in : M. b. M. b. as-S ayyid 'A fif-ad din
'A fif-ad -d in al-M atari: 'A l. b. M.
Agdnt: 'A li b. al-H u., a. 1-Faraj al-Isbahani
A gapiu s (M ahbub b. Q ustan tin al-M anbiji)
77 f., 108, 137 f.
Ahasuerus 50
a l-A hd al: al-H u. b. 'A r.
b. al-A hd ar: 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. M ahm ud
A h lw ard t, VV. 49, 51, 56, 58, 188, 246, 529
A . b. 'A l., a. l-'Ala^ al-M a'arri 73, 210, 235,
256, 597
A . b. 'A l. b. 'A m irah 155
A . b. 'A l. al-B arq i 501
A . b. 'A l. al-F argani 82
A. b. 'A l. al-F irabri 595
A . b. 'A l., a. 1-H. a l-B akri 191
A . b. 'A l. a l-'I jli 435, 439, 520
A . b. 'A l., M uhibb-ad-din at-T a b ari 397, 406,

434 , 587
A . b. 'A l., a. N u 'a y m al-Isbahani 160, i 58 f.,
2 4 3 , 259, 361, 393, 400, 402, 404 f-, 426,
441,
448, 4 53 , 459 , 498, 515, 588, 597 , 600
A . b. 'A l. al-Q u tru bulli 73
A . b. 'A l. ar-R azi 335, 471, 484, 486
A . b. 'A l. b. Sal(l)am 139
A . b. 'A L , ihab-ad-din al-A w h adi 479
A . b. 'A b d -al-H alim , Taqi-ad-din b. T a ym iyah 355, 376, 378, 493, 525, 598, IHdn

138

A . b. 'A bd -al-M alik, a. Salih al-M u addin

477 , 523
A . b. 'A b d -al-M u min as-Sarisi 272
A . b. 'A b d -al-Q ad ir, Taj-ad -d in b. Maktum,
421 f., 4 4 1 , 52 5
A. b. 'A b d -ar-R ah im , W ali-ad-din a. Z u r'ah
(b.) a l-'Ira q i 513, 526, 602
A . b. 'A r. al-Q asri 591
A . b. 'A r. b. M uzahir 419, 471
A . b. 'A b d -al-W ah hab an-N uw ayri 32, 39,
52, 177, 33^ 485, 49 7 , 502
A. b. 'A b d -a l-W a rit b. H alifah 444
A. b. 'A b d ah ad-D abbi 365
A . b. A . b. 'A b d -a l-L a tif as-Sarji al-Y a m a n i
{G AL Supplement II, 254) 52, 426, 476
A . b. A . al-G ubrini 86, 461
A . b. A . b. al-H u. b. a. 1-Mansur al-A zd i 426
A. b. 'A li, a. l-'A b b a s al-M ayuraqi 165, 304,
325, 481 f.
A . b. 'A li b. B abah 52
A . b. 'A ll, a. B a k r

al-H atib

al-B agd ad i

615

{includes Ta^rih Bagdad) 14, 43, 45, 48,

55, 60, 62, 69, 72 f., 87, 96, 99, 102, 113 ,
122, 124, 127 f., 166, 169, 183, 201, 250,
258, 272, 275-279, 281, 285, 295, 304 f.,
310 f., 324, 326 f., 331, 333 f., 340-343,
345 f., 350, 354 f., 358, 361-363, 366, 368,
3 74 , 379 f., 393, 395, 399 , 40i f., 404-406,
410, 416, 429, 431-435, 4 37 , 439 f-, 446,
448-450, 4 5 3 , 461-464, 471, 4 7 3 , 476 f.,
482 f., 498, 501, 504 f., 507-509, 512, 515,
517-523, 532, 592
A. b. 'A li, a. B akr b. M anjaw ayh 447
A . b. 'A li b. H ajar 41, 44 f., 53 f., 86, 106,
127, 155, 163, 185, 201, 258, 264, 267, 269,
275-278, 280-282, 291 f., 306, 309, 3 11,
325, 327 f., 338 f., 341, 343 f , 346, 348-350,
352-357, 359, 361-363, 365
370 f., 374376, 379-381, 388, 391, 394-401, 403-408,
414-417, 420-422, 424-431, 434-438, 440-443.
4 4 5 -4 4 7 , 449 f-, 452, 4 5 4 , 456-458, 460-465,
467, 471-473, 475-479, 482 f., 485, 491-493,
496-500, 503-507, 509, 512 f., 515-517,
519, 523, 525 f-, 528 f., 531 f., 582 f., 587,
589,
592, 595, 597, 599, 603-605, 610
A . b. 'A li b. H atim ah 477
A . b. 'A li b. 'In a b a h 98, 434, 475
A . b. 'A ll, a. 'Isa b. al-M unajjim 72, 79, 91,

511
A . b. 'A li b. Musa 439
A . b. 'A li b. al-M utanna, a. Y a 'la al-M awsili
4 5 3 , 521
A . b. 'A li b. an-N ajai 432
A. b. 'A li an-Nasa^i 361, 436, 438, 447, 515,
521, 527, 595
A . b. 'A li a r-R ifa 'i 598
A . b. 'A ll, Sihab-ad-din al-Q alqasandi 52,
191, 261, 296, 3 11, 434
A . b. 'A ll, Taqi-ad-din al-M aqrizi 10, 15, 41,
44, 55, 63, 70, 81, 85, 109, 124, 126-128,
147, 149, 155 f., 171, 175, 181, 246, 249,
280,
315-317, 321, 328 f., 356, 367, 378,
397, 406-409, 411, 414, 425, 429, 434 f-,
442, 454 f-, 462, 469, 477-479, 498 f., 502
A . b. 'A m r, a. B a k r b. a. 'A sim 403, 521
A . b. 'A m r, a. B a k r al-B azzar 521
a. A. (b.) a l-'A ssal: M. b. A.
A . b. A yb a k , a. I-Hu. ad -D im yati 442, 513,
525
A . b. B a h tiy a r b. al-M anda i al-W asiti 427
A . b. B u d a yl 276
A . b. D aw u d ad-D inaw ari 87, 92, 133, 529
A . b. al-F a d l a l-B atirq an i 420
A . b. al-F a d l a n -N u 'a ym i 160
A . b. F arah 525
A . b. Faris, a. 1-H u. 316, 333, 396, 399, 401,
587
f., 607
A . b. a l-F u rat, a. M as'u d ar-R azi 598
A. b. Hafs P ld n 142
A . b. H alid 602
A . b. I la lil, Sihab-ad-din b. al-L ubudi 283, 428

6 i6

IN D E X OF PROPER NAMES

IN D EX OF PROPER NAMES

A . b. H an bal: A . b. M. b. H an bal
A . b. H arun a l-B a rd iji 521
A . b. H arun, a. 'U . b, A t 461
A . b. a. 1-tIa y r a l-Y a m a n i a s-S a yyad 597
A . b. a. H ayta m a h : A . b. Zuh ayr
A . b. H ib atallah b, al-'A d im 544
A . b. H ijji, ihab-ad-din 496, 513, 526, 583
A . b. H u m ayd b. a. l-'Aja^iz 156
A . b. al-H u., a l-B a d i' al-H am adani 296
A . b. al-H u., a. B a k r a l-B a y h a q i 365, 392,
400, 403, 456, 523, 588, 592, 594, 597
A . b. al-H u., a. 1-Hu. al-A hw azi 173
A . b. al-H u., ihab-ad-din b. R aslan 398, 587
A . b. Ibr., a. B a k r a l-Ism a'ili 453, 522, IHdn
14 1

A . b. M. al-B asam 163, 483

A . b. M. b. al-F aqih 52
A. b. M, b. IJallikan 53, 82-84, 175, 177, 283,
292, 315. 343, 381, 393, 397 , 400, 412, 423,
4 5 9 , 462, 4 7 3 , 477 , 483, 4 8 5 , 496, 499 f - ,
502, 507, 515, 531-553,_ 594
A . b. M., a. H am id b. as-Sarqi IHdn 14 1
A . b. M. b. H an bal 85, 261, 274, 276, 290,
333, 341, 352, 358, 360 f., 381, 392 f-, 416,
446,
4 4 9 , 5 1 5 , 5 1 9 f-, 5 2 7 , 528 (?), 5 7 3 ,
593 f., 602
A . b. M. al-H anqani 502
A . b. M. b. H . b. a l'G a m m a r 598
A . b. M. b. 'is a 168, 467
A . b. M. b. Ishaq, a. B a k r b. as-Sani adA . b. Ibr., 'Izz-ad -d m a l-K in a n i al-H anbali
D inaw ari IHdn 14 1
44,
163, 307, 320, 325, 334, 341, 343. A . b. M., 'Izz-ad -d ln al-H usayn i 512
345-348, 350 f., 420, 428, 526
A . b. M., Jam al-ad-din b. az-Zahiri 401, 442,
A . b. Ibr., a. J a 'fa r b. az-Zu b ayr 460
462, 525
A . b. Ibr. a l-Jazzar 54, 171
A . b. M. al-M am ani 461
A . b. Ibr. b. S ib i', araf-ad-din al-Fazart 582
A. b. M. al-M aqqari 150, 155, 160, 181, 261,
A . b. Ibr., S ib t b. a l-'A ja rn i 170, 461, 462 (?),
419,
457, 460, 462, 472, 482
467, 483
A . b. M. al-M arzuqi 86, 378, 387
A . b. 'Im a d , Sihab-ad-din b. 'I m 4 d-ad-din
A. b. M. b. M atb u t ar-Ra^s 598
al-A qfah si 398, 587
A . b. M. b. M attaw ayh 444
A . b. 'I s a ; A . b. M. b. 'I s a
A . b. M. al-M aydani 215
A . b. 'Isa, Kam al-ad-din b. al-Q alyubi
A. b. M. b. Mufrih (?) al-Isbili a l-'A ssab 599
al-'A sqalan i 605
A . b. M. b. al-M uhanna, Jam al-ad-din a.
A . b. Ishaq, a. 1-M a'Mi al-A barq u h i 442
1-F adl 97 f.
A . b. Ism. b. 'A ll 154, 545
A . b. M. b. M uhriz 341
A . b. Ism. al-Ib siti a l-W a 'iz 397
A . b. M. b. al-M unayyir 402, 588
A . b. J a 'fa r Jahzah 174, 609
A . b. M., N ajm -ad-din b. Sasra 582
A . b. J a 'fa r b. al-M unadi 277 f., 444
A . b. M., a. N asr a l-K ala b ad i 447, 522
A . b. M arwan, a. B a k r ad-D inaw ari 591
A . b. M. al-Q adisi 83
A . b. M aslam ah b. W add^h, a. J a 'fa r 313
A. b. M. b. al-Q uduri 417
A . b. al-M u 'ad dal (M u'addal) 591
A . b. M. b. a. r-R a b i' 38, 46
A . b. al-M u 'alla ad-D im asql 469
A . b. M. b. a r-R af'a h 315
A . b. M., a. l-'A b b a s an-N asaw i 425
A . b. M. b. Rusd(irah) (?), a. J a 'fa r 591
A. b. M., a. l-'A b b a s b. 'U q d ah 431, 450, 522,
A. b. M., a. S a 'id b. a l-A 'rab i 165, 425, 481
IHdn i3 g
A . b. M. b. S ayh 183
A . b. M. b. 'A b d -a l-K arim b. 'Ata^llah,
A. b. M., ihab-ad-din a l-'A q a b i 453
Taj-ad-din 598, 608
A . b. M. as-Silafi 272, 441, 451, 461, 471,
A . b. M., a. 'A b d -al-M alik b. 'A b d -al-B arr 419
4 7 5 , 478, 484, 524, 590, 593 , 597 f-, 600,
A . b. M. b. 'A b d rab b ih 49, 67, 184, 308,
605,
610, IHdn 138
515 f-, 529
A . b. M. at-T ah aw i 448, 590
A . b. M. b. 'A r., a. l-'A b b a s al-B asir al-B aA . b. M, a t-T a 'la b i 288-290, 404, 432, 566,
lansi 598
568
A . b. M. b. 'A ll b. a. 1-Mansur al-A zd i 426
A. b. M., Taqi-ad-din as-um unni 453
A . b. M., a. 'A ll (b.) M iskaw ayh 46 f., 54, 92,
A. b. M. b. 'U b a y d b. A dam a l-'A sq a la n i 471
108, I I I f., 141 f., 173, 180, 182, 243, 292,
A . b. M. b. a. 'U d ay b a h 526
308, 321, 327, 489, 511
A . b. M. b. 'U . b. A b an al-L u bn ani 594
A . b. M., a. 'A ll ar-R ud abari 609
A . b. M., a. 'U . b. 'A fif 419
A . b. M. al-A nbari 183
A . b. M., a. 'U . at-T alam an k i 591
A . b. M. b. 'A rabgah 412
A. b. M. b. 'U . a l-Y a m a n i 354
A . b. M. al-Arraj^ni 330
A. b. M. b. Y a sin (S a'id ?), a. Ishaq al-H add ad
A . b. M. aI-A'ari 324
al-H araw i 167, 483 (d. 334/945-46 !)
A . b. M., a. B a k r al-Barqslni 446, 522
A . b. M. b. Y u n us, a. Ishaq a l-B a zza z 483
A . b. M., a. B a k r ar-R azi 97, 153, 160, 408,
A . b. M uhanna a l-'U b a y d a li 414
419, 4 3 5 , 461, 472, 474
A . b. Musd, a. B a k r b. M ardaw ayh 160, 459,
A . b. M., a. B a k r al-Y aqtinJ 591
522

A. b. M ustafa, T ask op riizM eh V I I I , 27, 46,

310,
365, 477 , 530-535
A . b. M utarrif, a. 1-F ath a l-K in a n i 321
A . b. N ajd ah al-H araw i IHdn 142
A . b. N asr ad-D aw udi 278
A . b. N asr a r-R u y a n i 352
A . b. N asr, a. TM ib a l-B a g d M i 522
A. b. N asr b. Z iy M al-H am adani 278
A. b. al-Q. Kannun, a. l- 'A y s 50
A . b. al-Q . b. a. U say b i'ah 32, 47, 54, 79-81,
94, 122, 147, 184, 272, 429, 453, 463, 510,
535
A. b. S ah l, a. Z a yd al-B alh i 32, 34, 105, 467,

b. 'A id ; M.
b. 'A isah; 'U b a yd a lla h b. M.
'A isah bin t 'A l. at-Tabari, Um m -al-huda 434
'A isah bint a. B akr 274, 277, 290, 359 f.,
517, 572
b. a. l- 'A ja iz ; A . b. H um ayd
a l-'A jja j 549
b. 'A jla n (M. ?) IHdn 136
al-A jurri; M. b. 'A li, a. 'U b a y d
al-A jurri; M. b. al-H u., a. B a k r
al-A kfan i; H ib atallah b. A .
(b.) al-A kfan i; M. b. Ibr,
A l Y asin , M. H. 58, 174, 332

482
A . b. S a 'id , a. l-'A b b a s al-M a'd ani 168, 477
A . b. S a 'id b. H azm , a. 'U . as-Sadafi 419, 502,

511

A . b. S^lih al-Misri (b.) at-T ab ari 371, 374,

520
A. b. Salih b. S a fi' al-Jili 502
A. b. S a y y a r 168, 416, 477
A . b. Su., M uhyi-ad-din a l-Y am an i al-H usayni 598
A . b. a. T ah ir T a y fu r 81, 122, 135, 143,
152 f., 408, 462, 471 (?), 502
A . b. a t-T a y y ib as-Sarahsi 153, 174, 542
A . b. T u gan a l-B a y ta r 545
A . b. T u lu n 44, 4 1 1, 416 f., 596
A , b. 'U b a y d al-Is'ird i 525
A . b. 'U ., a. l-'A b b a s a l-'U d ri 487, 590 (?)
A. b. 'U . al-M uzajjad 57
A . b. 'U . b. S u rayj 279, 416
A . b. 'U m a y r b. Jaw sa 521
A . b. W a^ih 591
A . b, Y a . al-B aladu ri 54, 67, 90, 96, 99 f.,
107, 119, 149, 180, 383, 486, 502
A . b. Y a . ad -D abb i 378, 460, 465
A . b. Y a . b. F ad lallah a l-'U m a ri 434, 454,
486, 525
A . b. Y a . b. a. H ajalah 369, 604
A . b. Y a . b. al-M unajjim 122
A . b. Y a 'q u b al-M isri; A . b. a. Y a 'q u b alY a 'q u b i (?)
A. b. a. Y a 'q u b a l-Y a 'q u b i 16, 64, 67, 78,
87,
90, 92, 106, 108 f.. I l l , 119, 124,
13 2 -13 4 , 136, 409, 502, 5 11, 515, 529
A . b. Y u . b. al-A zraq 152, 154, 462, 467, 482
A . b. Y u . b. ad -D ayah 409, 510
A . b. Y u . an-N isaburi IHdn 14 1
A . b. Y u . at-T ^ M i 308, 516
A . b. Zu h ayr, a. B akr b. a. H ayta m a h 12, 62,
72, 382, 392, 396, 406, 437, 448 f., 520,
587, 597
A hm ad, 'A b d -a l-'A ziz 355
A h m ad , M. H. 431
A hm edali, A. 427
al-A hn af b. Q ays 590
al-Ahw dni, 'A b d -a l-'A z iz M. 441, 487
al-A hw ani, A . F . 46
al-A h w a zi; A . b. al-H u., a. 1-Hu.

617

a l-'A la M ?) 443
b. a l-'A la ^ a. 'A m r
a. l- 'A la a l-'A tta r al-H am adant; al-H . b. A .
a. I-'A la a l-M a'arri; A . b. 'A l.
'A la -ad-din, grandson of 'A l. al-U rm aw i 602
a l-'A la i; H alil b. K a yk a ld i
'A lam -al-h u da; M. b. M.
al-A lbani, M. N, 519 f.
A lexan d er {also D u 1-qarnayn) 26, 47, 51,
114, 117, 126, 138, 140, 155, 261, 545, 552,
563, 576 f.
'A li; 'A li b. a. Talib
'A li (grandson of 'U . b. al-Farid) 604
'A ll b. 'A l. a l-6 u z u li 322
'A li b. 'A l., a. 1-H. (Hu.) b. Jahdam 427
'A li b. 'A L , a. 1-H. as-Sadili 608
'A ll b. 'A l. b. al-M adini 363, 404, 438, 446,
520
'A li b. 'A l. b. M ahbub at-Tarabulusi 471
'A li b. 'A L , N ur-ad-din as-Sam hudi 476
'A li b. 'A L b. a. s-Surur as-Saruji; 'A li b. M.
b. a. s-Surur
'A li b. 'A l. b. a. t-T a y y ib 45
'A ll b. 'A l. b. a. Z a r' 50, ii 6 , 127, 312, 472
'A li b. 'A b d -a l-'A z iz al-Jurjan i 272
'A li b. 'A b d -a l-'A z iz a l-K a tib 470
'A li b. 'A b d -a l-K a fi, Taqi-ad-din as-Subki
62, 372, 603
'A li b. 'A r. a l-Y a zu ri; al-H . b. 'A li b. 'A r.
'A li b. A . b. 'A b d -a l-W a h id b. a l-B u h M 349
'A li b. A . b. 'A li al-M u'addid (al-Mufassis,
al-M ufaddid ?) 6oo
'A li b. A . b. H azm 29, 36 f., 112 f., 150, 311,
316, 333 f., 347, 355, 396, 430, 4 5 7 , 462,
523,
527 f., 587, 603
'A ll b. A ., a. 1-Hu. as-Sallam i; al-H u. b. A .,
a.
'A li as-Sallam i
'A li b. a. 'A li al-A m id i 221, 246, 254, 374,
476
'A li b. 'A li, Sadr-ad-din al-H anafi 496
'A li b. A n jab a1-H&zin, T aj-ad -d in b. as-S4'i
55 f., 58, 83, 97, 305, 410, 413, 424, 427,
462 f., 469, 491, 505
'A li b. 'A q il, a. l-Wafa^* al-Faqih 41, 463
'A li b. B adr at-Tinnisi 593
'A ll b. a. B akr, Nur-ad-din a l-H a ytam i

370, 435 , 439

6 i8

a. 'A ll al-B asir 508

All b. B assam 184, 300, 317, 326, 462, 466
'A li b. D a w M b. as-S ayrafi al-Jaw hari 84,
156, 247 f., 357
^Ali b. al-F a d l b. T ah ir al-B alh i 463 f^Ali b. (a.) 1-F ath ; 'A ll b. al-H . b. a l-F ath
b. al-M utaw w aq
a. AH a l-C assan i: al-H u. b. M.
^Ali b. al-H akam 431
^Ali b. H am zah al-Isbaham 459
A ll b. H am zah al-Kisa^i 314
A ll b. al-H . b. A li b. FudM a l-K u fi 431
A ll b. al-H . b. A llan al-H arrani 466
A ll b. al-H . al-B ah arzi 49, 423, 532
A ll b. al-H . b. a l-F a th b. al-M utaw w aq 413,
505
A ll b. al-H , b. Fihr 450, 591
A ll b. al-H . b. al-M asitah 413, 505
A ll b. al-H ., M uw affaq-ad-din al-H azraji
312, 396, 4 4 3, 485
A ll b. al-H ., a. 1-Q. b. A sakir [includes
Ta?Hh Dimasq) 43, 123, 163, 169, 272,
276, 3 4 5, 352, 378 i., 393, 39^, 404, 429,
441, 447 f., 451, 4 5 4 , 468, 47 3 , 483, 515,
524,
532, 587, 593 , 603
A li b. al-H ., a. 1-Q. al-W azir 279
A ll b. al-H . b. Saqiq al-M arwazi IHdn 142
A ll b. H ., Sayf-ad-dm b. Izz-ad-dm alIsfahsalar 53
A li b. H ib atallah b. M akiila 448, 473, 514,
523, 525

A li b. al-H u., a. 1-F ad l a l-F a lak i 523

A li b. al-H u., a. 1-F araj al-Isbahani {includes
Agdni) 50, 84, 291, 293, 300, 327, 350,
387 f., 425, 428, 432, 434, 446, 497, 508,
528, 609
A li b. al-H u. al-M as udi 10, 42, 50, 54, 59,
65, 67, 81, 88 f,, 96, 108 f., I l l , 114, 123,
127, 135-137, 176, 183, 187, 266 f., 272,
290 f., 324, 378, 386 f., 408-413, 429, 432,
458,
482, 487, 489 f-, 501-511
A li b. al-Hu. b. Mvisa al-M urtada 432
A li b. al-H u, az-Zarrad ad-D aylam i 596
A ll b, Ibr,, A la -ad-din b, al- A tta r 452,
607
A ll b, Ibr, a l-Y a m a iii al-H an afi 269
A li b. Isa al-W azir 122, 503, 509
A ll b. Ism ., a, 1-H. a l-A s ari 429, 548, 603
A li b. Ism. b. Sidah 85, 543
A li b. J a far b. a l-Q a tta 466, 470
A ll b. al-Jahm 183, 185, 256
A li b. (a. l-)M ansur al-M aliki: AH b. Zafir
al-A zd i
A li b. M ansur b. al-Q arih 73
A li b. Mas ud b. N afis al-M awsili 581 (?)
A ll b. al-M ufaddal, a. 1-H. al-M aqdisi 512,
524
A li b. M. b. Al. b, H nw n (Hanun) at-Tabari

78

IN D E X OF PROPER NAMES

IN D EX OF PROPER NAMES
A ll b. M., Ala^-ad-din al-B agd ad i a l-H azin
397
A li b. M. b. Farhuii 604
A li b. M. a l-F a yy u m i 499
A li b. M., a. 1-H. b. al-Q attan 524
A li b. M. b. H atib au-N asiriyah 126, 170,
4 4 5 , 4 5 2 , 455 , 4 6 7 , 4 7 2 , 4 7 8 , 526, 583
A ll b. M., a. H ayya n at-T aw h idi 36, 51 f.,
105, 322, 348, 350, 368
A ll b. M., Izz-ad-din b. a l-A tir 45, 53, 55,
58, 64, 100, 108, 112, 127, 146 f., 154, 243,
275, 298 f., 307, 321, 336 f., 339, 365,
387, 393 , 405, 448, 482, 491, 506, 528 f.,
531 f A li b. M. al-Jurjan i 531
A li b. M. b. K as, a. 1-Q. 590
A ll b. M. al-Mada^ini 69 f., 89, 104, 127,
429, 506
A ll b. M. al-M aw ardi 258 f., 365, 401 f., 413,
588
A li b. M. au-N aw fali 506
A ll b. M. al-Q abisi 46, 608
A li b. M. a r-R u ayn i 396, 465
A li b. M. b. as-Sabbag 433
A ll b. M., Sadr-ad-diii b. al-A dam i 344
A li b. M. b. S u ja a r-R ab a i 469
A li b. M. b. a. s-Surur as-Saruji 408
A li b. M. at-TanM isi / Mn 14 1
A li b. M. at-Taiiuhi 272
A ll b. M., b. a t-T a yyib al-Jullab i 484
A li b. M. b. lib a y d b. a l-K u fi 482
A li b. M. a l-Y iin in i 491
A li b. M., Zahir-ad-din al-K azaru n i 397,
410, 497, 506
A li b. M ujahid ar-R azi 394, 410, 505
A ll b. M unjib b. as-Sayrafi 413
A li b. Musa b. S a id 86, 97, 308, 460, 473,
4 7 9 , 516
A ll b. N asr, S a d-ad-din al-Isfarayin i 480
A li al-Q ari (Qari^): A li b. Su ltan al-Q ari
A li b. a. 1-Q. b. Q ufl ad-D im yati 604
A li b. Rabban at-T abari 47
A li b. Rid wan 171
A li b. as-Sari a l-K arh i 124
A li b. Su ltan al-Q ari 531
A ll b. a, T alib 38, 63, 99, 133 f,, 136, 190-193,
235, 254, 278 f,, 285, 324, 332, 348, 352,
35 5 , 359 f-, 382 f., 406 f., 433 , 5 i 7 , 528,
5 3 4, 5 5 5 , 573 i-, 576, 589
A li b. U b aydallah b. B abaw ayh 431
A li b. U baydallah, a. 1-H. b. az-Zaguni
82 f.
A ll b. U. ad-D araqutm 334, 363, 418,
436 f., 439, 446-450, 514, 522, 528, 592 f.,
A ll b. U., a. 1-H. b. as-Sabbag 458
A li b. U tm an at-T u rkm an i 397
A ll b. Y a . al-M unajiim 110
A li b, Y u . al-Q ifti 32, 5 4 , 59 , 73, 7 8 , 80 f.,
83, 158-160, 285 f., 348, 381, 404, 4 11,
422, 459 , 469, 477 , 483, 510, 528

A ll b. ZMir al-A zd i 174, 297, 404, 410 f.,

426,
432, 462, 529
A li b. Z a yd a l-B a y h a q i 49, 84, 161, 174,
254, 285, 295, 321, 343 , 414 f,, 423, 4 5 7 ,
461,
463, 465, 467 f,, 483, 535, 584
al- A li, Salih A . V U I
a. l- A liya h (R u fa y ) I ld n J39
al- A llam ah al-H illi: H . b. Y u .
b. A llan ; A li b. al-H .
a l-A lm a i: A bd -al-G afir (Gaffar) b, Hu.
al- A lm aw i: A b d -al-B asit b. M usa
A lp A rslan 120, 178
b. A lq ain ah ; M. b. al-H alaf
A lqam ah (b. Q ays an-N ah a i ?) IHdn 139
b. A lq am ah: T am m am b. Am ir
A lq am ah b. D i Jadan 158
A ltam ira, R, X I V
al- A lu ji, Abd-al-H am id 295
b. al-A m anah ; M. b. M., M uhibb-ad-din
A m ar, E. 246, 396, 405, 457, 465, 473
Am ari, M. 462, 470
a l-A m as; Su, b. Mihran
Am edroz, H . F. i i i f., 462
al-A m id i; A li b. a. A li
al-Amidi: al-H . b. Bisr
al- A m ili: M. b. H u., B a h a -ad-din
al-A m in 49
b, al-A m in, a, Ishaq 405
al-A m in i: U, b. al-H ajib , Izz-ad-din
b. A m ir; A l.
Am ir b. H afs; Su haym
A m ir b. Sarahil as-Sa b i 63, 187, 324, 380,

^385, 517, 591

619

al-A ubiiri; A . b. M.
Andronicus 78 f.
Anianus 79
b. A u ja b ; .Aili
b. a l-A nm ati; Ism. b. A l.
al-A nsari: al- A b b as b. M.
al-A nsari; A l. b. M. al-H araw i
al-A nsari; Ar. b. M., a. Z ayd
al-A nsari; S a id b. A w s, a. Z ayd
a l-A n ta k i: Y a . b. S a ld
A n tar 47, 188
al- A n tari (a. 1-Mu^ayyad al-Jazari) 47
A n tuna, M. M. 70, 87
AnCisarwan 36, 52, 117, 319, 386, 539 f.,
552, 579
aI-A q a b i: A . b. M., Sihab-ad-din
al-A qfah si: A, b. Im ad
a l-A qfah si: H alil b. M., Salah-ad-din
b . A qiI: A l i
b. A q il; M.
A q il b. Sarija, Q utb-ad-din 606
al-A qsahri: M. b. A . b. Am in
a. l- A ra b : A b d -a l- A ziz b, Saddad
a, l- A rab : M. b. A,
a. l- Arab as-Sinhaji 473
a. l- A ra b as-Siqilli (?) 473
b. A rab i: M. b. A li
b. al- A rab i: M. b. A l., a, B akr
al- A rab i: M. b. U ., Jam al-ad-din
al- A rab i; U. b. M. b. Mas ud
b. a l-A rabi; A. b. M., a. S a id
b. A rab sah ; A . b. M,
A rb erry, A , J. 263, 398, 402, 405, 424 f.,

Amir b. Umayr 565

Amir, A bd-al-M un ini 133

518, 524
Ardasir (b. B a b a k, B abakan) 36, 52, 180,

b. A m irah; A . b, Al.
al-Ainiri: M. b. Y u ., a. I-H.
b. Ain m ar; H isam b. Am m ar
b. Am m ar: M. b, Al.
b. A m m ar; M, b. A m m ar
Am m ar b. Y asir 590, IHdn 13Q
a. A m r b. al- Ala^ 210, 295 f., 581 f.
A m r b. Ali, a. H afs a l-F allas 392, 436, 501
Am r b, al- As 495, 579, IHdn 137 f.
A m r b. Bahr al-Jahiz 36, 49, 64 f., 100, 162,

386, 539 f.
Arev'alo, F. 15
A rib b. S a d al-Q urtubi 82
a l- Arini, a s-S a yyid a l-B a z X I V
A ristotle 52, 1x7, 133, 138, 155, 246, 257, 507
al-A rm anazi: 6 a y t b. A li
al-ArraJani; A . b. M,
b. Arsljln; M ahm ud b. M.
a. A ru b ah: aFH u, b, M, b, M awdud
a l-A sa 261, 324, 572
A s ab at-tdmi'- 599
A sad b. H am daw ayh al-W aratini 473
A s ad b. al-H u tayr, a. 1-M akarim 596
A s ad b. al-M uhaddab b. M am m ati 116
A s ad T u b b a 158
al-.\sadi; al-H u. b. A. b. al-H u., a. A l.
b. A sa ir; M. b. A li
a l-A s a jj; U tm an b. al-H attab , a. d-dunya
b. A sakir;
.A.bd-as-Samad b. Abd-alW'ahhab, a. 1-Yum n
b, A sak ir; A li b. al-H ., a. 1-Q.
b. A sakir; ahQ , b, A li
al-Asam rn; M, b. Y a qub, a. l- A b b as
al-A sam m ; Safw an
al-A s ari; Al. b. Q ays, a. Musa

259, 305, 324, 3 55, 391, 435 , 498, 501, 506

A m r b. Dinar 381 f.
a. A m r b. H afs 346
A m r b. J u m a y al-A zdi 453
A m r b. al-H arit (al-Misri) IH dn 138
A^ ir b. M a dikarib 528
a. A m r b. al-M urabit: M. b. Utm an
A m r b. R a fi I'-ldn 14 1
Am r b. Su ayb 450
Am r b. Utm an, S ib aw ayh 314
al-A rnuli: M, b, M ahmud
A nas b. M alik 369, 379, 394, 517, IH dn J39
A n aw ati, G. C. 484
al- A n azi: al-H . b. U layl
al- A n azi: M. b. (al-) ^lutanna

620

IN D EX OF PROPER NAMES

a l-A s'ari: A . b. M.
a l-A s ari: 'A li b. Ism ., a. 1-H.
A sbag b. 'A li (al-'Abb^s ?) b. Hisdin b. a.
l-'^Abbas 474
a. 1-A sbag b. Sahl 526
b. A sb a t (Sibat); H am zah b. A.
b. al-A sfar 465
Ashab (Miskin b. A b d -a l- Aziz) 592
A shtor, E. X I V , 496-498, 513
'A sim (Q uran reader) 5S2
b. a. ^Asim; A . b. 'A m r, a. B akr
b. Asim: a. Y a . b. a. B akr
a. ^Asim a l-'A b b M i; M. b. A.
a. 'Asim an-N abtl: ad-D ahhak b. M ahlad
Asin Palacios, M. 36, 334
a l-A sja 'i: S a 'id b. ^Isa
b. 'A sk a r: M. b. 'A ll b. H idr
'A sk a r (b. M.) b. a l-H u .: a. T u ra b an-N ahsabi
a l-'A sk a ri; al-H . b. 'A L , a. A.
a l-'A sk a ri: al-H . b. 'A l., a. H ilal
A slam b . S ah l, B a h sa l al-W ^siti 94, 166 f., 484
a l-A sm a 'i: 'A b d -al-M alik b. Q urayb
al-'A sq a la n i: Adam
al-'A sq a la n i: A . b. 'A ll b. H ajar
a l-'A sq a la n i: A. b. M. b 'U b a y d b. Adam
a l-'A sq a la iii: 'Isa b. A.
a l-'A sqalan i: M. b. H. b. Q utaybah
a l-'A sq alan i: M. b. 'U b a y d b. Adam
al-'A sq a la n i: Y u b. Sahin
al-A sraf: B arsb ay
a l-A sraf: InM
a l-A sraf; Ism. b. a l-'A b b a s
al-A sraf; Q a itb a y
a l-'A ssa b ; A . b. M. b. M ufrih
(b.) a l-'A ssal: M. b. A ., a. A.
a l-'A ssal; M. b. S a 'd , a. 1-B ara k at
al-A star, Salih 312
al-A starab ad i: 'A r. b. M. al-Idrisi
a. 1-Asw ad: 'A r. b. a l-F a y d
a. 1-Asw ad 395
a. 1-Asw ad ad-D u ali (Zalim b. 'Am r) 332
al-A sw ad (b. Y a z id an-N aha'i) IHdn i j g
al-A sw ani: 'A l. b. A . b. Su laym
b. 'A t: A . b. H arun, a. 'U .
b. 'A t a ; b. 'A t a llah
'A t a b. M. al-Juw ayn i 37, 54, 124, 176, 453
'A t a (b. a. R abah Aslam ) IHdn 136
a. l-'A tilh iy a h 609
b. 'A t a lla h ; A . b. M. b. 'A b d -a l-K arim
b. 'A t a llah : M. b. 'A t a (m h ), am s-ad-din
a l-A ta rib i: H am dan b. 'A b d -ar-R ah im
A tes, A. r48
'A tiq b. H alaf a t-T u jib i 473 f.
b. al-A tir: 'A ll b. M., 'Izz-ad-din
b. al-A tir: Ism. b. A.
b. al-A tir: al-M ubarak b. M., M ajd-ad-din
b. a l-A tir: N asrallah b. M., D iy a -ad-din
'A tiy a h , 'A z iz S u ry al 116
'A tta b b. Asid 281 f.
a l-'A tta r; A b an b. Y a z id

IN D E X OF PROPER NAMES

b. a l-'A tta r: 'A li b. Ibr., 'A la -ad-din

a l-'A tta r; al-H . b. A ., a. l- 'A la
a l-'A tta r: M. b. 'A l. b. a l-H a ytam
a l-'A tta r; Y a . b. 'A li, Rasid(-ad-din)
b. a l-'A tu b ! (?) 471
'A w a d , B . ' A . : 'Iw a d
a. 'A w a n a h ; Y a 'q u b b. Ishaq
'A w a n a h b. al-H akam 73, 89 f., 104
a l'A w h a d i; A. b. 'A l., Sihab-ad-din
b, 'A w n : 'A l.
'A w n , 'A b d -a r-R a iif 432
'A w w a d , K . 5, 128, 166
'A w w ad , M. 153, 173, 500
b. a l-A w za 'i: 'A r.
a l-A w z a 'i: 'A r. b. 'A m r
A y a d , K a m il X I V
A yalon , D. 53
b. A y b a k : A.
b. A y b a k : M. b. 'A li
b. a l-'A y d a ru s: 'A b d -al-Q ad ir b. 'A l.
a. l - 'A y n i 609
a l-'A y n i: M ahm ud b. A.
a. l- 'A y s : A. b. al-Q. Kannun
b. 'A y y a s al-Q attan ; Y a.
A y y u b b. M., as-Salih b. a l-K am il 489
A y y u b as-Sahtiyan i 367, I^ldn 139
A y y u b b. Z ayd (!) b. (al-)Q irriyah 187,
I^ldn 137
a l-'A y za ri: M. b. M. b. a l-^ id r
al-A zd i: A . b. A. b. al-H u. b. a. 1-Mansur
a l-A zd i: A . b. M. b. 'A li b. al-H u.
al-A zd i; 'A li b. ZMir
al-A zd i; al-H u. b. 'A li b. a. 1-Mansur
a l-A zd i: Ibr. b. al-H u. b. 'A li
a l-A zd i: M. b. 'A l.
al-A zd i: M. b. A. b. al-H u.
al-A zd i; M. b. al-H u ., a. 1-F ath
al-A zd i: Y a z id b. M., a. Z a k a riy a
a l-A zd i; Zafir b. H. (al-Hu.)
b. a l-A zh ar; J a 'fa r b. M.
b. a. 1-A zhar; M. b. A. b. M azyad
a l-'A zim i; M. b. 'A li
a l-'A z iz (of E gyp t) 59
b. a l-A zraq : A . b. Y u .
b. a l-A zraq : 'U .
al-A zraq i; M. b. 'A l.
'A zzam , 'Abd-al-VVahhab 424
a l-'A zzaw i, 'A b b a s 5, 156, 408, 410, 440, 467,
4 9 3, 526
B
b. B a b a h ; A. b. 'A li
b. B a b a w ayh , a. 1-H. 431, 469
B a b a y 180
B abinger, F. X I V , 4, 7, 51, 140
a l-B a b lu tti: Y a . b. 'A l. b. ad-D ahh ak
Bacher, W . 139, 180
B acon, Francis 179
B adaw i, 'A r. 52, 257, 327, 350, 352
a l-B a d i' al-H am adani: A. b. al-Hu.

B adr-ad-din: L u lu
b. B ad ru n ; 'A b d -al-M alik b. 'A l.
al-B agaw i; 'A l. b. M ., a. 1-Q.
al-B agaw i: 'A b d -al-M alik
a l-B agd ad i, a. 'A li 609
a l-B agd ad i, a. 1-B ara k at: H ib atallah
a l-B agd ad i, a. I-Q. 594
al-B ah arzi; 'A li b. al-H .
b. B ah rez: 'A b d -Y a s u '
b. B ah rez: H abib
B a h sa l; A slam b. Sahl
a. I-B ahtari; W ahb b. W ahb
a l-B a jaw i, 'A lt M. 404
a l-B a ji; Su. b. ^ a la f, a. 1-W alid
a l-B a k k a i; Z iy 4d b. 'A L
a. B a k r 47, 383, 389, 406, 534, 573, 589
a. B a k r b. a. 'A l.: 'A l. b. M ., a. B a k r alM aliki
a. B a k r b. 'A l. (b.) a d -D a w M a ri 109, 272,
287, 4 5 5 , 487
a. B a k r b. A ., Taqi-ad-din b. Q adi Suhbah
317, 415, 458, 483, 492, 496, 510
B a k r b. 'A li b. liijja h 52
B a k r b. 'A z ra h (?) 599
B a k r b. a. D aw u d; 'A l. b. Su.
B a k r b. F ath u n ; M. b. Ila la f
B a k r b. H am sin 466
B a k r b. H a y y a n : M. b. H alaf b. H ayya n ,
a. B a k r W a k i'
a. B a k r b. al-H u ., Zayn-ad-din al-M aragi

a.
a.
a.
a.
a.
a.

452, 476, 503

a. B a k r al-Iiu w arizm i: M. b. a l-'A b b a s
a. B a k r b. M., T aqi-ad -d in al-H isni 588
a. B a k r b. M., Taqi-ad-din al-Q alqasandi
439 fa. B a k r b. M. b. Y u ., Radi-ad-din (ar-R ida ?)
485
B a k r b. M un ayyir (Munir, M unabbih) 342
a. B a k r b. Q iw am a l-B a lisi 608
a. B a k r b. Sad aqah 467
a. B a k r b. as-Sani: A . b. M. b. Ishaq
a. B a k r b. a. Saybah: 'A l. b. M.
a. B a k r as-Sibli 289
a. B a k r b. a. 'U . b. A . b. y a l i l as-Sakuni
604 f.
a. B a kra h at-T a q afi; N u fa y ' b. a l-H a rit
a l-B a k ri; 'A l. b. M.
a l-B a k ri; A . b. 'A l., a. 1-H.
a l-B a k ri; al-H . b. M., Sadr-ad-din
a l-B a kri, a. 'A li 439
b.'iB alaban , Sayf-ad-din as-S u 'iid i ( = 'A b d a l-L a tif b. B alab an, of. Daw^, I, 492;
II, 406) 584
a l-B a la d i: Ibr. b. al-H a ytam
al-B aladu ri: A . b. Y a.
a l-B a la ti (a l-B u la y ti); 'U tm a n b. 'Isa
a l-B a la w i: 'A l. (b. M.) b. M ahfiiz
a l-B a la w i: M. b. A ., a. 'Amir
a l-B a lh i: 'A l. b. A ., a. 1-Q. a l-K a 'b i
a l-B alh i: A . b. Sahl, a. Z a yd

621

al-B alh i; 'A li b a l-F a d l b. T ah ir

al-B alh i; M. b. 'A q il al-x\zhari
al-B alh i; b. Tarh an
al-B alisi; a. B a k r b. Q iw am
a l-B alisi; M. b. 'U . b. a. B akr b. Qiw am
al-B allafiq i; M. b. M ., a. 1-B arak at
b. al-B an n a ; al-H . b. A ., a. 'A li
al-B an n a , H asan 47
b. a. 1-B aq a 409
B a q i b. M aU ad 521, 590, 599, IHdn 140
a l-B aq illani: M. b. a t-T a y y ib
B aqiyah (b. al-W alid) I^ldn 139
Bar H ebraeus 138
a l-B a ra d i'i: H alaf b. (a.) 1-Q.
b. a. I-B arakat 469
a. 1-B ara k at b . K a b a r; b. K ab ar
a l-B a rd a 'i (B arda'i) 457
a l-B ard iji; A . b. H arun
b. al-B arizi: 'A b d -ar-R ah im b. Ibr.
a l-B a rk an i (B arn akan i); M. b. A . b. Sahl
Barm ecides 140, 172, 314, 429
Barnes, H . A . X I V
al-B arqan i; A. b. M., a. B akr
al-B arqi, a. B akr 501 (see also A . b. 'A l. and
M. b. 'A l.)
B arq uq az-Zahir 412, 443, 498, 596
B a rsb ay al-A sraf 41, 282, 328, 331, 409, 412,
597
B arth , J. 11
B arthold, W . X V , r24, 145, 321 f., 470, 473
al-Bariidi, a. M ansur 404
al-B asan i; A . b. M.
b. B ashan ; M. b. A .
al-Basir, a. l-'A b b a s: A . b. M. b. 'A r.
al-B asir, a. 'A li 508
b. B asku w al; H alaf b. 'A bd -al-M alik
a l-B asri: al-H . al-Basri
(b.) al-Basri, a. 'A li 419, 511
b. Bassam ; 'A li b. Bassain
Bassar b. B u rd 327
Basset, R. 97, 181
BaStak an-N asiri 425
al-B astak i: M. b. Ibr., Badr-ad-din
al-B atirq an i; A . b. al-F ad l
b. B atis; Ism. b. H ib atallah , 'Im ad-ad-din
al-B attM 47
a l-B a tta n i: M. b. Jab ir
B auer, A . 176
B aum stark, A . 26, 76, 78 f., 151
al-B a'rin i: Ibr. b. A ., Burhan-ad-din
a l-B a 'u n i; M. b. A ., Sams-ad-din
a l-B a 'iin i; M. b. Y u ., B a h a -ad-din
Baur, F. C. 10
a l'B a w a rd i; M. b. al-M utanna
B ayb ars al-M ansuri ad-D aw adar 56, 85,
147,
408, 496 f., 503
B ayb ars az-Zahir 51, i88 f., 412, 596
a l-B a yd a w i: M. b. M.
a l-B a yh a q i: A , b. al-H u., a. B a k r
a l-B a yh a q i: 'A li b. Z ayd

622

IN D E X OF PROPER NAMES

IN D EX OF PROPER NAMES

a l-B a y h a q i: Ibr. b. M.
a l-B a y h a q i: M. b. al-H u., a. 1-Fadl
al-B a ysa u i: ^Abd-ar-Rahim b. '^Ali, al-Q adi
al-F adil
al-B azzar; A. b. ^Amr, a. B a k r
al-B azzar; 'U . b. ^Ali, Siraj-ad-din
a l-B a zza z; A. b. M. b. Yunus, a. Ishaq
Beaurecueil, S. de 361
Becker, C, H. X V , l o i , 175, 181, 335, 434, 473
B ejkem 53
B el, A. 190
Beige, K . R. 530
B ellam y, J. A. 83
B eil A cl io u r, F. 445
Ben-D or, I. 506
Ben Shem esh, A. 117
B erge, M. 36
Berges, W . 48
Bergstriisser, G. 83, 322, 468
Bernheim , E, X I V
a l-B iq a 'i; Ibr. b. U
B irge, J . K . 248
a l-B irm aw i; M. b. 'Abd-ad-D aH m
al-B irunt: M. b. A.
(b.) a l-B irzali; M. b. Y u ., a. 'A l.
(b.) a i-liirzali: al-Q . b. M., 'A lam -ad-dm
al-B isbisi: 'A l, b. A.
al-B iskri: N asir b. A .
Bisr b. G iy a t al-M arisi 431
Bisr b. al-H arit al-H afi 599
B isr b. al-M ufaddal 518
al-B istam i: 'A r. b. M.
b. al-B itriq : Y a . b. al-H u.
B lau, J. 314
B lochet, E. 142, 146
B odiu, Jean X I V , 50, 113
Boer, T. J. de 194
B olingbroke, H. St. J. g
B onebakker, S. A. 272, 524
B oyle, J. A. 124, 453
B rauulich, E. 387
Brinner, W . M. 157, 391, 451
B rockelm ann, C. V , 4 f., 23, 147, I54, 181,
261, 355, 453 (and G A L passim)
Brooks, E. W . 76 f., 79
Browne, E. G. 116, 162, 177
Briinnow , R, 127, 365, 505
Brunschvig, R. 238, 396
B u chth al, H. 176
b. al-B uhari: 'A li b. A. b. 'A bd -al-W ah id
al-B u h ari; Ishaq b. Bisr, a. H udayfah
al-Buhjiri: M. b. A ., Gunjar
al-B uhari: M. b. Ism.
al-B uhari: ]\r. b. i\L, ^Ala -ad-din
b. Buhtisfi*:: 'U b a y d a lla h b. Jibril
B uhtnassar (Xebuchadnezzar) 386
b. B u htu r: Salih b. ^^li
b. B uhtur: Salih b. Y a.
a l-B uh turi, a. 'U b ad ah 607
b. B u k a y r: Y un us

a l-B u la y ti; 'U tm an b. 'I s a a l-B a la ti

al-B u lq iiii; 'A r. b. 'A r. b. ^U., Jalal-ad-din
al-B u lq iu i: Salih b. 'U ., Alarn-ad-din
al-B u lqin i: 'U . b. Raslan
al-B u n d ari: al-F ath b. M.
B u rayd ah b. H usayb al-A slam i 295, IHdn
142
Burhan-ad-din al-H alab i: Ibr. b. M., Sib t b.
a l-'A ja m i
a l-B u san ji (Busanji ?): M. b. A . b. M azyad
b. a. 1-Azhar
a l-B u sa u ji; M. b. Ibr., a. Al.
b. B u tlan ; al-M uhtar b. al-H .
B u tler, A. J. 76
B utrus ar-R ahib 138
a l-B u w ay ti: Y u. b. Y a.
al-B u ziiri: 'A r. b. 'Isa, a. M.
b. a l-B u z u ri: M ahfiiz b. M a'tu q

Caesar 50
Caetani, L. 108, 127, 141, 281, 376, 405
Cahen, C. X V f., 64, 82 f., 138, 175, 177, 196,
397, 412, 431, 463, 465 f.
Cain (Qabil) 183, 570
Canard, M. 49, 120, 170, 482
Cantineau, J. 19
Caqm aq az-ZM iir 412, 597
Casanova, P. 44
Casiri, M. 35
Caskel, W . X V , 19 f., 96
Cerulli, E . 119, 196
Chabot, J.-B . 76, 79
Cheikho, L. 47, 77, 121, 138
Chejne, A . G. 5, 120
Christensen, A. 75
Cicero 358
Cleopatra 386
Codera, F. 4, 155, 168, 312, 378, 400, 419,
4 5 9, 4 f)i, 464, 472, 474
Colin, G. S. 477
Combe, E. 124
Constantine I 73, 418
Constantine V II 80
Conti Rossini, C. 12 f.
Croce, B. 3, 9
Cyrillus of A lexan dria 79
D
a d -D a b a y ti: ad-D u b ayti
b. ad-D abb ag: Y u . b. A l., a. l-\Valid
b. ad-I)abbag al-A iisari 460 [sie also 'A r.
b. M., a. Zayd)
acl-Dabbi: A. b. 'A b d ah
ad-D abbi: A . b. Y a.
b. D a b u q a : J a 'fa r b. al-Q ., Radi-ad-din
ad-D ahabi: M. b. A.
Dahan, S . : ad-Dahhan, S.

ad-D ahhak b. M ahlad, a. 'Asim an-N abil 519

a d -D a h h aii: M. b. 'A li, a. S u ja '
ad-D ahhan (D ahan), S. 82, 156 f., 283, 412,
420,
427. 462, 469, 483, 486, 502, 523
b. D ah h aq: Ibr. b. Y u .
b. D ah jan (?) 461
b. a. d-dam : Ibr, b. 'A l. b. 'A b d -al-M u n 'im
ad-D am agani: M. b. 'A li
ad-D am agani: M. b. 'Isa
ad-D am raw i: M. b. SMih b. Musa
ad-Dam sisi: Y a . b. M.
ad-D ani; 'U tm an b. S a'id , a. 'A m r
D aniel (Daniyal) i i 2 , 358 f.
b. D an iyal; M. b. D an iyal
ad-D aniyali 112
b. D aq iq-al-'id : M. b. 'A li, Taqi-ad-din
D aq iqi 180
D ara b. D ara (Darius) 386
ad-D araqu tn i: 'A ll b. 'U .
ad-D arbandi, Mamsus 461
b. D arbas; Utman b. 'Isa
a. d-Darda^ ('U w aym ir b. Zayd) 324
ad-D arim i: 'A l. b. 'A r.
ad-D arim i; 'U tm an b. S a'id
D arm esteter, J. 115
a. D arr: 'A b d b. A.
a. D arr; M us'ab b. M.
a. D arr a l-C ifa ri 562, 589
ad-D arrab; al-H . b. Ism.
ad-D arrab; Ism. b. Ibr. al-Q arrab
ad-Dastuwa^i; H isam b. a. 'A l.
D avid (Dawud) 359, 385, 563
(b.) ad-D aw ad ari: a. B a k r b. 'A l.
ad-D aw lab i; M. b. A ., a. Bisr
ad-Dawraq? 590
D aw u d; D avid
b. a. D aw u d; 'A l. b. Su., a. B akr
a. D aw ud; Su. b. a l-A s'a t
a. D aw ud; Su. b. D aw ud
D aw ud b. 'A li al-Isbahani 593
D aw ud a l-'A za b 600
D aw ud b. al-Jarrah 503
ad-D aw iidi: A. b. Nasr
b. ad-D ayah ; A. b. Y u .
b. ad-D ayah ; Y u . b. Ibr.
b. a d -D a y b a '; 'A r. b. 'A li
D a yf, Saw qi 479
ad -D aylam i; .Sahrdar b. Siraw ayh
a d -U aylam i: Siraw ayh b. .Sahrdar
b. ad -D ayri; S a 'd b. M.
D edering, S. 169, 259, 292, 361, 412, 414,
42
453, 463, 465, 468
D enipf, A. 10
Derenbourg, H. 315
Dhorm e, P. 11
b. a. p i'b : M. b. 'A r.
D i'b il b. 'A li al-H u za'i 600
Dieterici, 1'. 34, 257
D ietrich,
50, 280
ad-D ihli: S a 'id b. 'A l.

623

ad-D ihqan; M. b. 'A li b. al-F adl

b. D ihqan (?) 461
b, D ih yah; 'U . b. al-H u., a. 1-H attab
D i'lij b. A. b. D i'lij 444
D ilthey, W . 100
ad-I)in\asqi; 'A r. b. 'A m r, a. Z u r'ah
ad-D im asqi; 'Abd-as-Salam b. Y u .
ad-D im asqi; A . b. al-M u'alla
ad-D im asqi; M. b. al-H ., as-Sarif al-H usayni
ad-D im asqi; M. b. 'U tm an , a, Zur'ah
ad-D im asqi; Y u . b. A ., a. 1-Mahasin
ad-D im yati; 'Abd-al-Mu^min b. H alaf, Sarafad-dui
ad-D im yati; A. b. A y b a k , a. 1-Hu.
ad-D im yati; 'A li b. a. 1-Q. b. Qufl
D inar (father of Saliniah) 379
ad-Dinaw'ari; 'A l. b. M.
ad-D inaw ari: A . b. Dawrid
ad-D inaw ari; A . b. M arwan, a. Bakr
ad-D inaw ari; A. b. M. b. Ishaq, a. B akr
ad-D inaw ari; M. b. 'A li
Dindorf, G. (W.) 76
D io d es 151
D iocletian 125 f., 544
Dioscurides 80 f.
ad-D irini; 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. A ., 'Izz-ad-din
Diya^-ad-din al-M aqdisi; M. b. 'A b d -al W ahid
a. p k w (r)h al-M awsili 482
Dodge, B. V n i
Dorn, B. 16, 162, 474
D ozy, R. 82, 150, 155, 1 8 1 , 261, 457, 460,
462, 477
D roysen, J. G. 197
D u 1-Him m ah 47
D u n-Nun al-Misri 600
D u 1-qarnayn; Alexander
ad-Du^ali; a. 1-Aswad
(b.) ad -D u b ayti (D abayti); M. b. S a 'id
D ubler, C. E . 77, 196
ad-D uguli; M. b. 'A r., a. l-'A bb^s
ad-D uhli; M. b. A ., a. t-Tahir
ad-D uhli; M. b. Y a .
ad-D uhli; S u ja ' b. Faris
D u h aym ; 'A r. b. Ibr.
b. D u h ayn i: al-H .
ad-D ujayl), 'A b d -a l-K arim 332
b. a. D u laym ; 'A l. b. M.
ad-D unaysiri: 'U . b. al-H idr
Dunlop, D. M. 35
b. a. d-dunya; 'A l. b. M., a. Bakr
a. d-dunya; 'U tm a n b. al-H attab
b. D uqniaq; Ibr. b. M.
b. D u rayd ; M. b, al-H .
D u ravd b. as-Sinunah 300
ad-Dhri; (al-)'Abbas b. M.
ad-D uri; M. b. M ahlad, a. '.M.
ad-Dviri, '.\b d -a l-'A ziz X V , 69 f., 89 f., 131,
334 f., 381, 392 f., 395 , 506
b. D u ru staw ayh ; 'A l. b. J a 'fa r

624

IN D EX OF PROPER NAMES
E

E gh b al, 'A b b a s 162, 290

E lija h of N isibis 48, 73, 79, 462, 503
Enger, R. 259, 413
E rm an, A . 126
E rn st, H . 412
E ttinghausen, R . 176
E u clid 507
Eusebius 78
E u tych iu s (S a'id b. B itriq) 80, 137 f.
E ve 183
F
a. 1-FadaH l (?) 458
a l-F ad ili 468 ( = Ibr. b. Daw ud, d. 692/
1293 ?)
a l-F ad ili; Ibr. b. D a w M
a l-F a d lb . A l. al-H araw i IHdn 142
al-B'adl b. 'A b d -al-M u ttalib , Taj-ad -d in a.
1-M a'ali al-H M im i 544
al-F adl b. D u kayn , a. N u 'a y m 278, 380,
JHdn 14 1
al-F adl b. M arwan b. M isarjis 51, 174
al-F adl b. Musa I'^ldn 142
a. 1-F ad l b. N asir: M. b. Nasir
a. I-Fadl b. T ah ir: M. b. Jah ir
F a d la lla h : Rasid-ad-din
F ad lallah b. a. 1-F ah r 500
b. F ad lallah al- U m ari: A . b. Y a .
b. F ah d ; <^Abd-al-'Aziz b. 'U ., 'Izz-ad-diu
b. F ah d ; ^Abd-al-Qadir b. 'A b d -a l-'A z iz
b. F ah d : M. b. M., Taqi-ad-din
b. F ah d ; 'U . b. M,, N ajm -ad-din
b . al-F ah h ar; M. b. Ibr., a. Al.
Fahr-ad-din M ubarak S ah 98
Fajjr-ad-din ar-R azi: M. b. ^U.
al-F akih i: M. b. Ishaq
al-F alak i: 'AH b. a l-H u a. 1-Fadl
al-F allas: 'A m r b. 'A ll, a. H afs
al-F ain i: 'A r. b. 'A b d -al-Jab b ar, a. Nasr
al-F am i: 'A b d -al-W ah h ab b. M.
b. al-F aqih: A. b. M.
al-F arab i: M. b. M.
(b.) al-F arad i: 'A l. b. M., a. 1-W alid
al-F arad i: Sad aqah b. al-H u.
b. F arah ; A.
a. 1-Faraj al-Isbah am ; 'A U b. al-Hu.
a. 1-F araj b. al-Jaw zi; 'A r. b. 'A ll
al-Faransis 178
a l-F argan i; 'A l. b. A ., a. M.
al-F argani: A . b. 'A l.
b. Farhun: 'A l. b. M. b. 'A l. b. M.
b. F arhun; 'A l. b. M.
b. F arhiin ; 'A li b. M.
b. F arhun; Ibr. b. 'A li, Burhan-ad-din
b. al-F arid; 'U .
b. Farigun 32, 34 f., 38, 52, 145
Fariq, K . {^.) A. 396, 401
b. F aris; A.
Faris, N. A . 125

al-Farisi: Ibr. b. M ahaw ayh

al-F arisi: M. b. A.
b. a l-F a rra ; Ism. b. 'A r., 'Izz-ad-din
b. a l-F a rra ': M. b. M., b. a. Y a 'la
F arraj, 'A b d -as-S attar A . 217, 326, 424, 509
al-F a ru q i (?), Badr-ad-diu 441 f.
a l-F a ry a b i; J a 'fa r b. M., a. B akr
a l-F a ryab i: M. b. Y u .
al-F asaw i: A. b. M., a. l-'A b b a s an-N asaw i
al-F asaw i: Y a 'q u b b. Su fyan
al-F asi: M. b. A ., Taqi-ad-din
al-F asi; M, a t-T a yy ib
al-Fasi, a. 'Im ran 419
al-Fasi, M. 516
al-F a th b. H aqan 411
a l-F a th b. M. a l-B u n d ari 50, 120, 178, 470
a l-F ath b. Musa b. Mismar 398, 587
b. F ath u n ; M. b. H alaf, a. B a k r
b. F ath u n ; S a 'id
F atim ah (daughter of the Prophet) 192, 360,
589
F atim ah bint Q ays 346
b. a. 1-Faw aris: M, b. A ,
a l-F a yyu m i 499, 5 11 {see also 'A li b. M.)
al-F azari; A . b. Ibr. b. S ib a ', Saraf-ad-din
al-F azari: Ibr. b. 'A r.
a l-F a za ri; Ibr. b. M., a. Ishaq
Ferguson, C. A. 161
a. 1-F id a ; Ism. b. 'A li
b. F ih r 450 (see also 'A li b. al-H .)
Fihrist: M. b. Ishaq b. an-N adim
Finhas b. B a ta (?) a l-'Ib ra m 139
Finkelstein, J. J. 11
al-Fiqi, M. H am id 420, 431
al-F irab ri; A. b. 'A l.
al-F irab ri; M. b. Y u .
a. Firas 182
Firdaw si (includes Sdhndmah) 178-180, 190,

531
b. al-F irkah ; Ibr. b. 'A r.
a l-F iru za b a d i: Ibr. b. 'A li, a. Ishaq as-Slrazi
al-F'iruzabadi; M. b. Y a 'q iib
Fischel, W . 141
Fischer, A . 314
Fleischer, H. L. 28, 72, 79, 511
F lin t, R. X I V , 10
F liigel, G. 50 f., 70, 72 f., 79, 89, 97, 104, 1 1 1 ,
121 f., 125, 127, 137, 139, 15 1, 162, 164,
168, r8o, 186, 201, 244, 272, 288, 308, 356,
381, 386, 392, 400-402, 404, 410 f., 413,
418, 424, 428 f., 432 f., 436, 450 f., 457,
461 f., 465-467, 474, 476, 478, 482, 484,
486,
488 f., 503 f., 506 f., 510 f., 530
Forrer, L. 4
F ranke, H. i n
Freund, A. 151
F re y tag , G. W . 28
Friedlander, I. X V
F rye, R. N. 116, 160, 163, 168, 458, 482 f., 486
F uchs, F. 75

IN D E X OF PROPER NAMES
a l-F u d ayl b. 'ly a t j 604, IHdn 136
F u ck, J. V I I I , 332, 453 , 491
F u nd u q ; 'A li b. Z a yd a l-B a yh a q i
al-F urahinani; M. b. 'A li b. H am zah
b. F u rak : M. b. al-H .
a l-F ik a n i; 'A r. b. M.
b. a l-F u ra t: A.
b. a l-F u ra t; M. b. 'A b d -ar-R ah im
b. a l-F u ra t: W atim ah b. Musa
F urlani, G. 79
b. F u ta y s; 'A r. b. M.
b. a i-F u w a ti: 'A b d -a r-R azzaq b. A .
G

625

G ottsch alk, L . 15
G ottw ald t, I. M. E . 73 f., 79, 90, 93, n o f.,
124, 137, 160, 378, 386, 459
G raf, G. 78 f., 108, 137, 139, 15 1, 496
Gregorius, a. 1- F a r a j: B ar Hebraeus
Grohm ann, A. 13, 122
Grundm ann, H. 10, 31
Grunebaum , G. E. von X V , 35, 47, 123 f.,
180, 235
G ryazn evich , P. A . 89, 119, 145, 282, 327, 387
al-G ub rini; A . b. A.
Guest, R . 82, 175, 395 , 435 , 479
Guidi, I. X V , 76, 151
Guillaum e, A. 393
Guirgass, W . F. 529
al-G um ri 49, 163, 185, 286, 546
G u n jar; 'I s a b. Musa
G u n ja r; M. b. A .
a l-G u zu li; 'A li b. 'A l.

Gabrieli, F . X V , 470, 510

b. 6 a d ir ; M. b. A .
al-G afiq i: M. b. 'A b d -al-W ah id, a. 1-Q.
a l-G ^ iq i: S a'id b. Su.
Galen 90
b. G a lib 389
H
a. (ja lib : Hum am b. al-F adl
a l-H ab bal; Ibr. b. S a 'id
a. (b.) Cialih a l-G aru a ti 460
b. al-H ab baz; Ism . b. Ibr., N ajm -ad-din
a l-G alla b i; al-M ufaddal b. G assau
a.
1-F id a'
a l-G alla b i; M. b. Zakariya^
b . H abib: 'A b d -al-M alik
al-G am ri, a. Z a yd 470
b. H ab ib : al-H . b. 'U .
Garbers, K . 73
b. H ab ib ; M.
Garcia G om ez, E. 181, 419
H abib b. A w s; a. T am m am
al-G ardizi; 'A b d -a l-H a y y b. ad-D ahh ak
H abib b. B ahrez 79
a l-6 a riq i (al-Fariqi, al-F aru qi ?), Badr-adH abil; A bel
din 441 f.
b. a l-H a^ # ^ ; M. b. Y a ., a. 'A l.
a l-G arn ati; a. (b.) 6 a lib
al-H addad; A . b. M. b. Y asin (Sa'id)
a l-6 a rn a ti; M. b. A y y u b b. G a lib
al-H addad; M. b. S a 'id , a. Ishaq
al-(ja rn ati: M. b. M. b. J u z a y y
al-H addad: Sadaqah b. al-H u.
a l-G arn ati: Y a . b. M. b. Y u . al-A nsari
H addad, G. M. 5, 54
al-G arraq i (Garrafi), a. l-'A b b as 475
H addam b. al-JahhM (JahhM) 191 f.
a l-6 assan i; al-H u. b. M., a. 'A li
al-H adi (b.) Ibr. b. al-M urtada al-H asani 481
a l-C assan i; M. b. 'A ll b. H idr
b. H adidah: 'A l. b. 'A li
a l-6 assan i: M utarrif b. 'Is&
al-H adram i: M. b. 'A l.
G a y t b. 'A ll al-A rm anazi 471
al-H adram i; M. b. a. B akr
G a y t b. 'A li as-Suri 471
H afs b. 'A L IHdn 14 1
a l-G azal: Y a . b. H akaui
a. H afs al-F allas: 'A m r b. 'A li
a l-G azza li: M. b. M.
H afs b. G iyat 277
G eoffrey of V iterb o 196
b. al-Ha^im: M. b. A ., M uhibb-ad-din
G erlach, E. 75
H aitsm a, Aggaeus 290
G eyer, R. 324
b. a. H ajalah 369, 604 [see also A. b. Y a.)
Gibb, H. A. R. X V , 64, 117 , 120, 143, 147
b. H ajar: A . b. 'A li
al-G ifari; a. D arr
b. al-H ajib : 'U .
Ginzel, F. K . 90
b. al-H ajib ; 'U tm a n b. 'U .
(jirs-a n -n i'm a h : M. b. H ilal
al-H ajiri, M. T ah a 355
al-G itrifi; M. b. A.
b. a l-H a jj; M. b. A ., a. 1-VValid
Goeje, M. J. de 42, 52, 67, 96, 107 f., n o ,
b. a l-H a jj: M. b. M., a. 1-B arak at al-B allafiq i
120,
122, 137, 176, 287, 378, 383, 386 f., 409
b. a l-H a jj: M. b. M. b. al-H ajj al-'A bd ari
G oitein, S. D. F. X V , 99
b. (al-)H ajjaj (poet) 609
G oldziher, I. X V , 3, 36, 75, 180 f., 305, 337,
a l-H ajjaj b. H isam 444
340,
360, 430, 495
H ajja j b. Y ii. (b. a. M ani') 395
Goliath (Jalut) 327
al-H ajjaj b. Y u . a t-T a q afi 277, 369, 590
Golius, J. 28
H a jji Hah'fah: M ustafa b. 'A l.
G onzalez Palencia, A . 461
al-H akam : M. b. 'A li, Sam s-ad-din aG otth eil, R. 155
Sadili
G ottsch alk, H. L . 64, 397
R o se n th al,

History of Muslim Historiography

40

626

IN D EX OF PROPER NAMES

al-H akam al-M ustansir (of Spain) 474

a l-H akam b. N a fi', a. 1-Y am an al-H im si

(b.) al-H am adani; M. b. 'A b d -al-M alik

al-H am adan i: Salih b. A.
IHdn i 3g
al-H am aw i: M. b. A li b. B a rak at
al-H akam b. U tbah I'^ldn i j g
al-H am aw i: M. b. Salih b. W^sil
al-H akam i: ' U m ar ah b. 'A ll
al-Hamaysa^ 158
al-H akim (of E gy p t) 63, 407, 462
H am dallM i al-M ustaw fi 180
al-H akim ; M. b. M., a. A.
H am dan b. 'A b d -ar-R ah im a l-A ta rib i 62, 466
al-H akim an-N isaburi: M. b. ^AI.
al-H am dani: al-H . b. A.
al-H akim at-Tirm idi: M. b. 'A li
b. al-H am dani: M. b. 'A b d -al-M alik (b.)
al-H akk ari; Abd-al-'-Aziz b. A . b. 'U tm an ,
al-H am adani
Izz-ad-din
b. H am dis: 'A b d -al-Jab b ar b. a. B a k r
a l-H alabi 281
b. H am diin: M. b. al-H.
al-H alabi, B u rh an -ad -d in ; Ibr. b. M., Sibt
H am eed ud-Din X V
b. a l-'A ja m i
H am id b. M., Iftihar-ad-din al-H uw arizm i
al-H alab i, Q utb-ad-din: 'A b d -al-K arim b.
599
'A bd-an -N ur
H am idullah, M. 82, 119, 128, 413, 462,
^ialaf b. 'A bd -al-M alik b. B asku w al 354,
478
f., 503
393, 400, 403, 419, 460 f., 472, 4 7 4 , 5 2 4 ,
b. H am is: M. b. M.
590, 595, 5 9 7, 599-602, 604, 608 f.
b. H am m ad, a. 'A l. as-Sabti 419
H alaf b. A y y u b I ^ldn 142
H am m M 'A jra d 503
H alaf b. M. al-W asiti 522
H am m ad b. H ibatallah, a. t-Tana^ al-H arrani
H alaf b. al-Q. (a. 1-Q. a l-B a ra d i4 ?) 601
466
b. y a ld u n ; 'A r. b. M ., W ali-ad-din
H am m ad ar-R aw iyah 503
b. y:aldun ; Y a . b. M.
H am m ad b. S alam ah 518, IHdn is g
b. H alfu n : M. b. Ism ., a. B akr
H am m ad b. Z a yd 277, IHdn 140
H alid b. H isam al-U m aw i 410, 503
al-H am m al; H arun b. 'A l.
H alid b. M a'd an 277
H am m am : al-M uqaddam b. A m r
H alid b. S a 'd al-Q urtubi 168
H am m am b. M unabbih IHdn 140
jHalid b. S a 'id 191
al-H am m ani; Jabir b. N uh
H alid b. al-W alid 589
H am m er-Purgstall, J. 127
H alid b. Y u ., a. 1-B aq a an-N abulusi 525
b. H am sin (?), a. B akr 466
a l-y;alid iy4n (Sa*^id b. H asim and M. b.
H am zah b. A . b, Sib at (Sbat, A sb 4 t) 157
Hasim) 154, 482
H am zah b. A sad b. al-Q alanisi 147, 156
P a lifa h b. H a y y a t, Sabbab al-'U sfu ri 71,
H am zah b. al-H u. (H) al-Isbah ani (b.)
287, 378, 382, 392, 406, 448 f., 501, 503
al-M u addib 71, 73 f., 79, 90-93, 10 9-111,
al-H alifah an-N isaburi 483
116, 124, 136 f., 139, 160, 378, 386, 418,
b. H alil: Y u . b. H alil ad-D im asqi
4 5 9, 482 (?)
al-H alil b. 'A L , a. Y a 4 a al-PIalili 438, 4 7 3, 522
H am zah b. Y u ., a. 1-Q. as-Sahm i 160, 258,
H alil b. A y b a k , Salah-ad-din as-Safadi V I,
361, 432, 446, 458, 465, 523
51, 54-56, 82 f., l o i , 122, 163, 175, 185,
al-H anafi, Sam s-ad-din 581
246, 265, 277, 292, 317, 327, 330, 332, 349,
b. H anbal: A. b. M.
372, 387, 396, 408, 4 1 2 - 4 1 4 , 4 2 4 f - , 430,
H an b al b. Ishaq 449
432,
4 3 5 , 438, 442, 4 5 4, 457 f-, 460, 462 f.. b. al-H an bali; Ar. b. N ajm , N asih-ad-din
465, 467 f., 470-472, 483, 485, 496, 501,
a l-H an bali; A. b. Ibr., 'Izz-ad-din al-K in an i
526, 528 f., 532, 535, 582, 600
b. al-H anbali: M. b. Ibr.
al-H alil b. a l-H a ytam al-H artam i 432, 503
a. H anifah (an-N u'm an b. T abit) 85, 261,
H alil b. Ishaq al-M aliki 602
3 11, 371, 449, 464, 517, 5 73 , 590, 592
H alil b. K a y k a ld i a l-'A la i 374 f., 464, 525,
al-H an qan i: A . b. M.
589, 603, 608
b. Hanun at-T ab ari: 'A li b. M. b. 'A l.
H alil b. M., Salah-ad-din al-A qfahsi 442,
H anzalah b. a. Su fyan IHdn 136
452, 526
al-H ara iti: M. b. J a 'fa r, a. B akr
al-H alili; al-H alil b. A l., a. Y a 4 a
al-H araqi: 'A b d -al-Jab b ar b. M.
al-H alili; M. b. Y a 'q u b
al-H araw i: 'A b d b. A ., a. p a r r
H alkin, A. S. 377
al-H araw i: -Al. b. M. al-H araw i
a l-H a lla j: al-H u. b. M ansur
al-Haravvi: Abd-al-Mu'izz b. M., a. Raw h
al-H allal; al-H . b. M.
al-H araw i: A. b. M. b. Y asin
b. H a llik a n : A. b. M.
al-H araw i: Ishaq b. Y a 'q u b al-Q arrab
H alphen, L. 61
al-H araw i: M. b. 'A t a llah, am s-ad-din
al-H am adani: A . b. al-H u., a l-B a d i'
al-H araw i: a. Raw h al-H araw i
al-H am adani; 'Im ra n b. M.
al-H araw i: S a yf b. M.

IN D E X OF PROPER NAMES
al-H arb i: Ibr. b. Ishaq
H ardy, P. X V , 180
b. H arit: M. b. H arit al-Q araw i
al-H arit b. A sa d al-M uhasibi 368, 599
a l-H a rit a l-A 'w a r 5 17
al-H arit b. al-H . b. Miskin, M uHaman-ad-din
603
al-H arit b. a l-Jaru d 121
al-H a rit (b. M.) b. a. Usam ah 128
al-H ariti: 'A l. b. M.
al-H ariti: M as'ud b. A ., Sa'd-ad-din
H ariz b. 'U tm an I^ldn i j g
al-H arizi; Ibr. b. Y a 'q u b al-Jiizajan i
b. H arm ah: Ibr. b. H arm ah
H arm alah b. al-M undir 29
H arm alah b. Y a . 416
a l - H a r r a J i i ; 'A b d b. A ., a . D a r r
al-H arrani: 'A li b. al-H . b . 'A llan
al-H arrani; H am m ad b. H ib atallah , a.
t-Tana^
al-H arran i; al-H u. b. M. b. M aw dud
al-H arrani: a. 1-Mahasin b. Salam ah b.
y a lifa h
al-H arrani: M. b. S a 'id al-Q usayri
al-H artam i; a l-H a lil b. a l-H a ytam
H arun: Aaron
H arun: ar-R asid
b. H arun : M. b. H ariin, a. 'A li
Harun b. 'A l. al-H am m al 520
a. H arun a l-'A b d i: 'U m arah b. J u w a y r
H arun b. 'A li b. al-M unajjim 5 1 1, 532
H arun b. 'A zzu r 78
Harun b. al-M uqtadir 48
H arun, 'A b d -as-Salam M. 70, 323, 529
al-H. b. 'A l. b. a l-'A b b a s 53, 78
al-H . b. 'A L , a. A . al-'A sk a ri 323, 355, 405,
472, 529
al-H. b. 'A l., a. H ilal a l-'A ska ri 52, 323, 365,
378, 387, 508 f.
al-H . b. 'A l. b. Madhij al-Isbili 591
al-H . b. 'A l. as-SirM i 422
al-H . b. A ., a. l-'Ala^ a l-'A tta r al-H am adani
IHdn 14 1
al-H . b. A ., a. 'A li b. al-B an n a 83, 174,
285 f., 420, 593 f.
a!-H . b. A ., a. 'A li b. Sadan 453
al-H . b, A . b. al-H am dani 125, 158 f., 187
al-H . b. 'A li b. 'A r. a l-Y a zu ri 414, 596
al-H . b. 'A li b. l^'udal a l-K u fi 431
al-II. b. 'A li b. Saw w as 444
al-H . b. 'A li b. a. Talib 322, 406, 589
al-H . b. 'A li al-W asiti 599
al-H . b. 'A tiq al-Q astallan i 429, 433
al-H . al-Basri 343, 3 4 7 , 3^9, 590, 599 , IHdn

139

al-H .
al-H .
al-H .
al-H .
a l'H .

b. Bisr al-A m idi 609

b. D u h aym 429
b. al-H ajib ; al-H . b. Sahib
b. H ibatallah, a. 1-M awahib b. Sasra 451
b. Ism. ad-Darrab 591

627

a. 1-H. a l-K a tib 472

al-H . b. Ibr. b. Zvilaq 55, 124, 154 f., 4 11,
4 2 7 , 4 2 9 , 478, 5 0 3 , 516, 528, 596, 606
al-H . b. M aym iin b. an-N asri 89
al-H . b. M., a. 'A l. a l-K u tu b i 483
al-H . b. M. b. A . b. ar-R ab ib al-Q ayraw ani

150
al-H . b. M. al-H allai 523
al-H . b. M. b. M ufarraj (?) al-Q ubbasi, a.
B akr 419, 472
al-H . b. M. al-M uhallabi 291, 434
H. b. M. al-Qum m i 160
al-H . b. M., R adi-ad-din a. 1-Fada^il as-Sagani
599
al-H . b. M., Sadr-ad-din al-B akri 468
H. b. M. b. SMih, Badr-ad-din an-N abulusi
607
al-H . b. M. at-T u si 431
al-H . b. M. al-W aziri 105
al-H . b. M. az-Z a'faran i 416
al-H . b. al-M uzaffar an-N isaburi 468
al-H . b. a r-R ab i', a. 'A li 333
al-H. b. R asiq 593
al-H. b. Sahib as-Sasi 600, IHdn 142
al-H . b. Su fyan 395, 521
al-H . b. 'U la y l a l-'A n a zi 599
al-H . b. 'U . b. H abib al-H alabi 178 f., 357,
452,
4 55, 467
al-H . b. 'U . (b.) as-Sabbag 458
al-H . b. 'U m arah 362
al-H . b. 'U tm ^n, a. Hassan az-Ziyadi 73,
450, 470, 510
H. b. Y u ., a l-'A llam ah al-H illi 221
al-H asim i: a. Ishaq b. Su.
al-H assab, a. T a lib 592
Hassan b. T a b it 261
H assan b. Z a yd 276
b. Hassfil: M. b. 'A li
H atch, W . H. P. 151
b. a l-H atib : M. b. 'A l., Lisan-ad-din
al-H atib al-B agd ad i: A . b. 'A li, a. B akr
H atib b. a. B a lta 'a h 361
b. H atib an-N asiriyah: 'A li b. M.
al-H atib at-T ibrizi; M. b. 'A l.
b. a. H atim : M. b. a. H atim
a. H atini b. H ibbau: M. b. A.
b. a. H atim ar-R azi: 'A r. b. a. H atim
a. H atim ar-R azi; M. b. Idris
b. Hatim,ah: A. b. 'A li
H a tt: Y a . b. Musa
a. 1-H attab as-Sakuni: M. b. A. b. H alil
al-H aw iani: 'A b d -a l-Jab b a r b. 'A l.
b. H aw q al 470, 510
al-H aw w ari: M aymun
al-H ayb ari: Y u . b. al-F adl al-Y ahu d i
al-H aydari: M. b. M., Qutb-ad-din
(b.) a. 1-H a y ja ar-R aw w ad 457
al-H aytam b. 'A d i 70, 73, 84, 89, 127, 162
164, 381, 392, 510
a l-H aytam b. K u la yb as-Sasi IHdn 143

628

IN D E X OF P R O P E R N A M E S

IN D E X OF P R O P E R N A M E S

b. a. H a y ta m a h ; A . b. Zuhayr, a. B akr
a. y a y ta in a h : Zu h ayr b. Harb
a l-H a ytam i: A li b. a. B akr, N ur-ad-din
H ayw ah b. Su rayh al-M isri IHdn 138
b. H a y y a n : H ayyan b. Ilalaf, a. Marwati
a. H ay y a n ; 'Ali b. M., a. H ayya n at-Taw hidi
a. H a y y a n ; M. b. Y u .
b. H ay y a n , a. B a k r; M. b. IJalaf b. H ayyan ,
a. B a k r W a k i'
H ay y a n b. H alaf, a. M arwan b. H ayyan 87,
419, 460, 466, 472, 474
b. a l-H a y y a t; M. b. a. B akr, Jam al-ad-din
a. H a y y a w a y h 501 {see also M. b. al-*^Abbas
b. H ayyaw ayh )
b. H azim ; Jarir b. H azim
Hazinx b. M. b. H azim al-Andalusi al-Qartajan ni 181, 314
al-H aziini; M. b. Musa, a. B akr
(b.) al-H aziri; S a 'd b. 'AK
b. H azm ; A . b. S a 'id
b. H azm : 'A li b. A.
al-H azraji; ^Ali b. al-H ., M uwaffaq-ad-din
H eer, F. J. 107, 152, 403, 405, 458 f., 462 f.,
465,
470, 475, 482
H ekataeus 109
H ell, J. 387
H ellen 79
H erder, J. G . 197
H ergenrother, J. 76
H erodotus 109
H ibatallah b. 'A b d -a l-W a rit,
Sirazi 470

a.

1-Q.

as-

H ib atallah b. A . a l-A kfa n i 447, 512

H ibatallah b. 'A li b. M akula 46
H ib atallah b. 'A li, a. N asr b. al-M ahalli 608
H ibatallah al-B agd ad i, a. 1-B arak at 45, 257
H ibatallah b. al-H . al-Lalaka^i 447
H ib atallah b. J u m a y ' 453
b. H ibban: 'A l. b. M., a. s-Sayh
b. H ibban; al-H u. b. H ibban al-B agdadi
b. H ibban; M. b. A ., a. H atim
al-H idr 26, 261, 572, 577 f., 589
H ijazi, M ustafa 485
b. H ijjah ; a. B akr b. 'A ll
b. H ijji; A.
Plilal b. al-M uhassin (b.) as-Sabi (54), 82,
153, 173, 412 f., 4 9 9, 510
H ilal, J . (G.) 'A r. 414
al-H illi; H. b. Y u ., al-'A llam ah
al-H im si; 'A b d -as-S am ad b. S a'id , a. 1-Q.
al-H im yari 484
al-H iinyari; b. 'A b d -al-M u n 'im
H ippocrates 133, 507
b. H iras; 'A r. b. Y u .
H irschberg, J. \V. 23
H irschfeld, H. 355
b. H isam ; 'A l. b. Y u .
b. H isam ; 'A bd -al-M alik
Hisam b. a. 'A l. ad-Dastuwa^i 518

H isam b. 'Abd-al-M alik, a. 1-W alid a t-T a yalisi 519

Hisarn b. 'A r. (of Spain) 461
H isam b. 'A m m ar 400
H isam b. M. b. a l-K alb i 95 f., 386, 511
H isam b. 'U rw a h IHdn 138 /.
a l-H isni: a. B a k r b. M., Taqi-ad-diii
H itti, P. K . 277, 298
H oenerbach, W . 404
H olt, P. M. X V , 54, 75, 81 f., 84, n o , 156 f.,
197, 4 3 1 , 460
H om er 190
H orovitz, J. X V , 28, 69 f., 73, 94, 131, 157,
335, 394 f.
H ourani, A. H. 157
H outsm a, M. T . 124, 134, 467, 529
H uart, C. i i r , 179, 183, 486
b. H u b ayrah ; Y a . b. M.
H ubert, A. 261
b. al-H ububi; M. b. M.
H u d 288
al-H udali, a. B akr 52
b. H u db ah 465
a. H u d a yfa h ; Ishaq b. Bisr
H iibner, R. 197
H ugo of F leu ry 15
H uici M iranda, A. 82, n o , 477
H uizinga, J. 10, 31, 61
H u jr b. 'A m r 387
H ulagii 179
a l-H u ld i; J a 'fa r b. M.
H um am b. al-F adl, a. 6 M ib al-M agribi 465
b. H um am -ad-din; M. b. 'A b d -al-W ah id,
Kam al-ad-din
b. H u m ayd; M. b. 'A li
b. H u m ayd; M. b. H um ayd
H um ayd b. T aw r 388
H u m araw ayh b. A. b. T u lu n 411, 596
a l-H u m ayd i; 'A l. b. az-Zu bayr
a l-H u m ayd i; M. b. Futuh, a. 'A l.
H um e, D. 197
H un ayn b. Ishaq 80, 176
al-H u raqan i; M. b. H am daw ayh
a. H urayrah 334, 355, 589 f.
a. H urayrah ('A r. b. M. ad-Dahabi) 363
H urgroiije, C. S. X V , 53
al-H u n n uzan 383, 551
b. H urradadbih; 'U b a yd a lla h b. 'A l.
b. Hurran^; al-H u. b. Idris
H urrazad b. Darsad 486
H usaini, I. M. 47
H usaini, Q. S. K . 161
H usaym b. Basir 518, /Hdn 139
a. 1-Hu. b. a. 'A l. b. H am zah al-M aqdisi
as-Sufi 608
al-H u. b. 'A l. b. Sina 32, 61, 109, 242, 257,
542,
600
al-H u. b. 'A l. at-T ibi 215, 225
al-H u. b. 'A r. al-A hdal 317, 430 (?), 483, 589
al-H u. b. A ., a. 'A li as-Sallam i 150, 163,

321 f., 467

al-H u. b. A. b. al-H u., a. 'A l. al-A sadi 594
al-H u. b. A . b. M aym un 439
al-H u. b. A. b. S a'd a n 51
al-H u. b. 'A ll, a. 'A l. a l-K u tu b i 503
al-H u. b. 'A li al-Jizi 471, 610
Hu. b. 'A li, Badr-ad-din as-Sadili 478, 499
al-H u. b. 'A ll al-K arab isi 416
al-H u. b. 'A ll al-M agribi 474
al-H u. b. 'A ll b. a. 1-Mansur al-A zd i 426,

584, 598
al-H u. b. 'A ll as-Saym ari 590
al-H u. b. 'A li b. a. T a lib 103, 322, 370, 589
al-H u. b. H ibban al-B agd ad i 449
al-H u. b. Idris b. Hurram al-H araw i 437 f.
al-H u. b. K u ja k al-'A b si al-H alab i 541
al-H u. b. Mansiir al-H allaj 585, 600
al-H u. b. M., a. 'A Ii al-<5 assani 524, IHdn 140
al-H u. b. M., a. 'A li al-M asarji 522
al-H u. b. M. b. H usraw al-B alh i 590
al-H u. b. M. b. M awdiid, a. 'A ru b a h al-H arran i 168, 381, 465, 469, 521
al-H u. b. M., ar-R agib al-Isfahani 49, 327
al-H u. b. 'U b a y d a lla h ('A l.) al-H adim 444
al-H u. b. W aq id IHdn 142
H usayn, M. 363
al-H usayn i; A. b. M., 'Izz-ad -d in
a l-H u sayn i; Husaini
a l-H u sayui; Ism. b. 'A li
al-H u sayn i; M. b. 'A lf, Sam s-ad-dfn
al-H u sayn i; M. b. al-H ., as-Sarif
H usqadam az-Zahir 329
H usraw b. A ., 'Izz-ad -d in al-Irb ili 609
al-H usri; Ibr. b. 'A ll
a l-H u w arizm i; M ahmiid b. M. b. Arslan
al-H uw arizm i; M. b. A.
al-H uw arizm i; M. b. Musa
al-H uw arizm i, a. B a kr; M. b. a l-'A bb as
b. Ilu za y m a h ; M. b. Ishaq

Ib ra h im ; A braham
Ibr. b. 'A l., a. Ishaq an-N ajiram i 418
Ibr. b. 'A l. b. al-J u n ayd 446
Ibr. b. 'A l. b. 'A b d -al-M u n 'im b. a. d-dam
148, 272, 301, 382, 396, 430, 492, 499, 501,

515

Ibr. b. 'A l. b. Q udam ah 597

Ibr. b. 'A b d -a l-'A z iz al-L uri 500
Ibr. b. 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. Y a . a l-K tib 501
Ibr. b. 'A b d -ar-R ah im , Burhan-ad-din

b.

Ja m a 'a h 349, 597

Ibr. b. 'A r. b. al-F irkah al-F azari 464, 469
Ibr. b. A d h am 5 9 7
Ibr. b. A ., Burhan-ad-din a l-B a 'u n i 398
Ibr. b. A ., a. Ishaq al-J ab ib ati (?) (Ibn
F arhun, Dtbdj, 4, 86 f. [Cairo 1 3 5 1 ]; Jyny^ny,
J b t y n y, etc.) 608
Ibr. b. A ., a. Ishaq al-M ustam li 168, 463 f.
Ibr. b. A . at-Tan u hi 452

629

Ibr. b. 'A li, Burhan-ad-din b. Farhun 95, 311,

419
f., 450, 460, 465, 479, 502, 591, 604
Ibr. b. 'A ll, Burhan-ad-din al-Q adiri 426, 603
Ibr. b. 'A li al-H usri 124, 181, 324, 355
Ibr. b. 'A ll, a. Ishaq as-Sirazi (al-Firuz4badi)
95,
354, 4^4, 418, 448, 515, 584
Ibr. b. D aw ud al-F adili 468 (?), 581
Ibr. b. F alah, Burhan-ad-din al-Iskandari
(Iskandarani) 581 f.
Ibr. b. H ajja j, Burhan-ad-din al-A bnasi 598
Ibr. b. H alid, a. T a w r 416
Ibr. b. Harm ah 323
Ibr. b. a l-H aytam al-B aladi 401
Ibr. b. H ilal as-Sabi 5 1, 54, 59, i 77, 410 f.,
499
Ibr. b. al-H u. b. 'A li al-A zd i 426, 584
Ibr. b. Ishaq al-H arbi 521, 5 9 7
Ibr. b. Ism. b. S a'id al-H asim i al-A hbari
479
Ibr. b.
Ibr. b.
Ibr. b.
Ibr. b.
Ibr. b.
Ibr. b.
Ibr. b.

477,

J a m a 'ah b. 'A li 153

M ahaw ayh al-F arisi 502 f.
al-M ahdi 510
M. b. 'A ra fa h , N iftaw a yh 502
M. a l-B a yh a q i 360, 391, 509, 529
M., Burhan-ad-din a l-Q ayrati 443
M. b. D uqm aq 148, 356, 369, 408, 412,

417,
435, 498, 502, 583, 596
Ibr. b. M. b. H am zah al-Isbahani 453
Ibr. b. M., a. Ishaq al-F azari 395, 518
Ibr. b. M., a. Ishaq as-Sarifini 449, 525
Ibr. b. M., a. M as'ud ad-Dim asqi 522
Ibr. b. M. b. al-M udabbir 30
Ibr. b. M., S ib t b. a l-'A ja m i, Burhan-ad-din
al-H alabi 191, 353, 396, 452, 526, 587, 603,
606
Ibr. b. M. b. Y a z id al-M awsili 482
Ibr. b. Musa (of a r-R ayy) IHdn 14 1
Ibr. b. Musa al-W asiti 4 1 3 , 502
Ibr. b. al-Q. (b.) ar-R aq iq al-Q ayraw ani 168,
419, 460, 4 7 3 , 510
Ibr. b. S a 'd az-Zuhri 276, IHdn 136
Ibr. b. S a 'id al-H ab bal 171
Ibr. b. Tahm an IHdn 141
Ibr. b. a. T alib IHdn 141
Ibr. b. 'U . a l-B iq a 'i 107, 398, 501, 526, 587,
606
Ibr. b. 'U . al-J a'b ari 592
Ibr. b. 'U tm a n a l-K asga ri 405
Ibr. b. Y a 'q u b al-Juzajan i al-H arizi (al-Jariri)
278
Ibr. b. YU. b. D ahhaq b. al-M ar ah 585 f.
Ibr. b. Y u . b. T asfin 401
Ibrahim , 'Iw a d 56
Ibrahim , M. a. 1-F ad l 422
al-Ibsihi; M. b. A .
al-Ibsiti; A . b. Ism.
al-Ib yari, Ibr. 55, 86, 185, 312, 370, 426, 512
b. Idris 459, 470
Idris b. H. al-Idrisi as-Sarif 151

Idris, H. R. 385

630

IN DEX OF PROPER NAMES

al-Idrisi: 'A r. b. M.
al-Idrisi: Idris b. H.
Ihw&n as-safa 34, 45 f., i i i f.
al-Ih w an i: al-A hw aiii
a l-lji; A r. b. A ., 'A dud-ad-din
a l-lji; M. b. Ibr.
a l-'Ijli; A . b. AI.
a l-'I jli (?) 480
4 krim ah 514, 590
al-Ilb iri: Y a . b. M ujahid
b. a l-'Im a d : 'A b d -a l-H a y y b. A.
a l-'Im a d (al-Isb ah an i): M. b. M.
'Im a d -ad 'd in b. K a tir: Ism. b.
b. ^Imad-ad-din Ism. b. K a tir 496
al-^Imadi; M. b. ^Ali, a. 1-Q.
Im am a l-H a ra m a y n : '^x\bd-al-Malik b. ^Al.
a. Imran; al-Fasi
'Im ran b. H u sayn iH dn i j g
'Im ra n b. al-H am adam 484
a l-'Im ran i: M. b. 'A li, JamM -ad-din
a l-'Im ran i; T a h ir b. Y a . b. a. 1-^ a y r
Imru^u-i-Qays (inscription) ig
Imru^u-l-Qays (b. H ujr) 296, 387
b. 'In a b a h ; A . b. 'A li
Inal a l-A sraf 281
Inalcik, H . 54, n o
loannes M alalas 76 f., 151
loan nes Philoponus 77 f.
a l-'Ira q i: 'Abd-ar-RahJm b. al-H u., Zayn-addin
a l-'Ira q i: A, b, 'A b d -ar-R ah im , W ali-ad-din
a.
Z u r'ah
a l-'Ira q i: 'U tm a n b. 'A l.
al-Irb ili: H usraw b. A ., 'Izz-ad-din
'! s a : Jesus
'Tsa b. 'A b d -a l-'A z iz, a. 1-Q. al-L ahm i 450
'I s a b. A . a l-'A sq a la n i iH dn 142
't s a b. Farruhansah 508
'I s a b. L a h i'ah 395, 504
'I s a b. M as'ud az-Zaw aw i 498, 506, 591
'I s a b. M. (of E lv ira ?) 465
a. 'Isa b. al-M unajjim : A . b. 'A li
'Isa b. Musa, G u n jar IHan 142
a. 'Isa at-Tirm idf; M. b. 'Isa
'I s a m i 180

al-Isbahani: A . b. 'A l., a. N u 'a y m

al-Isbahani: 'A li b. H am zah
al-Isbahani: 'A li b. al-H u., a. 1-Faraj
al-Isbahani: D a w M b. 'A li
al-Isbahani: H am zah b. al-H u.
al-Isbahani: al-H u. b. M., ar-R agib
al-Isbahani: Ibr. b. M. b. H am zah
al-Isbahani: M. b. M., a l-'I m M
al-Isbili; 'A b d -a l-H aq q b. 'A r.
al-Isbili: M. b. 'A l., a. B a k r b. al-'A rab i
al-Isbili; M. b. 'A l. b. Qassiim
al-Isfahani: al-Lsbahani
Isfand iyar 29
b. Isfa n d iy ir: M. b. H.
b. Isfand iyar al-W a 'iz 462

al-Isfarayin i: 'A li b. N asr, Sa'd-ad-din

al-Isfa ra yin i: T a h ir b. M., a. 1-M uzaffar
al-Isfarayin i 480 [see S a'd a llah b. 'U .)
b. Ish aq : M. b. Ishaq al-M uttalibi
a. Ishaq 168, 464 {see also Ibr. b. A ., a.
Ish^q al-M ustam li)
a. Ishaq ('A m r b. 'A l. or Su. b, F a y ru z ?)
IHdn 139
a. Ishaq al-F azari: Ibr. b. M.
a. Ishaq al-Jab ib ati (?): Ibr. b. A ., a. Ishaq
Ishaq b. Bisr, a. H u dayfah al-B u h ari 188,
403,
469
Ishaq b. H unayn 80
Ishaq b. Ibr. al-M awsili 99, 428, 502
Ishaq b. Ibr. b. R ah aw ayh 416, 520, IHdn 14 1
Ishaq b. Ibr. as-Sijazi IHdn 14 1
Ishaq b. Ibr. at-Tadm uri 468
Ishaq b. Ibr. a t-T alaq i IHdn 14 1
Ishaq b. Ism,. al-Juzajan i 363
Ishaq b. J a rir az-Zuhri as-San 'an i 470 f., 484
Ishaq b. M ansur al-K aw saj 520
Ishaq b. M. at-Tustar! 600
Ishaq b. Salam ah al-Q ayni 168, 474
a. Ishaq as-Sirazi: Ibr. b. 'A li
a. Ishaq b. Su. al-H asim i 510
Ishaq b. Y a 'q u b al-Q arrab al-H araw i 523
Ishm ael (Ism a'il) 149, 385
Isidore of Seville 15
a l-Is'ird i: A. b. 'U b a y d
a l-Is'ird i: 'U b a y d b. M.
al-Iskan d ari (Iskan daran i): Ibr. b. F alah ,
Burhaii-ad-din
a. 'Ism ah al-M arw azi: M. b. A . b. 'A b b a d
Ism a 'il: Ishm ael
Ism. (Judge): Ism. b. Ishaq
Ism. b. 'A b b ad , as-Sahib 174, 592, 609
Ism. b. al-'A b b as, al-A sraf (of the Yem en) 56
Ism. b. 'A l. b. al-A nm ati 524
Ism. b. 'A b d -al-M ajid 444
Ism. b. 'A r., 'Izz-ad-din b. al-Farra^ 581
Ism. b. 'A r., a. 'U tm an as-Sabuni 498
Ism,, b. A. b. al-A tir 487
Ism. b. 'A li, a. 1-F id a al-M u a y y a d 7, 55, 72,
78
f., 91, 146, 487, 492, 511
Ism. b. 'A li al-H u sayn i 427
Ism. b. 'A ll, a. S a 'd as-Sam m an 523
Ism . b. 'A y y a s 277, IHdn 139
Ism . b. a, B a k r b. al-M uqri 176
Isni. b. al-H ab bab (?) a l-H im yari 594
Ism. b. H am m ad al-Jaw h ari 271 f., 564
Ism. b. H ib atallah, 'Im ad-ad-din b. Bati
414 f., 482
Ism. b. Ibr. b. 'A bd -as-Sam ad a l-J ab arti 599
Ism. b. Ibr. al-Q arrab (ad-Darrab ?) 592
Ism. b. Ibr., N ajm -ad-din a. 1-F id a b. alH ab b az 597, 602
Ism. b. Ibr. b. 'U la y y a h 366, 518
Ism . b. Ibr., a. 1-Y u sr 181
Ism. al-Isfah an i: Ism. b. M., a. 1-Q. a t-T a ym i
Ism. b. Ishaq (Judge) 401, 403, 588, 599

IN D E X OF PROPER NAMES
Ism . b. J a 'fa r (of Medina) IHdn 136
Ism . b. J a 'fa r as-Sadiq 275
Ism ., M ajd-ad-din al-H an afi 452
Ism. b. M., a. 1-Q. at-T a ym i al-Isfahani 243,
394,
400, 588, 599
Ism. b. M. as-Saffar 527 f.
Ism. b. al-M utanna at-T ibrizi 457
Ism . b. T a w b ah (of Qazwin) IHdn 14 1
Ism. b. 'U ., 'Im ad-ad-din b. K a tir 50, 82 f.,
86, 109, 13 1, 148 f., 175, 185, 201, 278, 282,
332, 3 3 4 , 347 , 353 , 355 f-, 360 f., 366, 381 f.,
387, 389, 393-397, 399 f-, 403 f-, 412, 414 f.,
427, 431, 433 , 438, 442, 4 4 4 , 447 , 449 , 4 51 ,
466, 492 f., 495 f., 521, 524 f., 528, 531,
583, 587, 593, 597
a. Ism. at-Tirm idi: M. b. Ism.
Ism. b. Y a . : Ism . b. T a w b ah (!)
Ism. b. Y a . al-M uzam 303, 367, 4r6
al-Ism a'ili: A . b. Ibr., a. B a k r
al-Isn aw i: 'A b d -ar-R ah im b. al-H .
al-Isn aw i: Su. b. J a 'fa r
a l-'Iss, Y u . 5, 43, 171, 341, 381, 392, 401,
405, 435, 446, 466, 468
Ivan ow , W . X V , 64, 432
'Iw a d b. N asr 454
'Iw a d ('A w ad), B adaw i 'A b d -a l-L a tif 152, 482
'ly a d (b. M usa al-Yahsubi) 97, 267, 293, 402,
417-419, 427 f., 435, 451, 456, 460 f., 470,
5 n , 524, 588, 604
b. ly a s : M. b. A .
'Izz-ad -D aw lah 51
'Izz-ad -d in b. 'A b d -as-S alam : 'A b d -a l-'A z iz
b. 'A bd-as-Salam
'Izz-ad -d in b. al-A tir: 'A li b. M.
'Izz-ad-din b. Ja m a 'ah : 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. M.
'Izz-ad-din, b. Ja m a 'ah : M. b. a. B akr
'Izz-ad -d in a l-K in an i al-H an bali: A . b. Ibr.

a l-J a 'b a ri: Ibr. b. 'U .

al-J ab arti: 'A r. b. H.
a l-J ab arti; Ism. b. Ibr. b. 'A bd -as-Sam ad
a l-Jab ayini, a. 'A li 447
al-J ab ib ati (?): Ibr. b. A ., a. Ishaq
Jabir b. N uh al-H am m ani 275 f.
Jab ir b. Y a z id a l-J u 'fi 5 17
Jacob (Y a'q u b ) 290
Jacob of E dessa 76 f.
Jacob , G. 381
Jacob of V itry 196
J acob y, F. 100
a l-J a 'd i: 'A l. b. Q ays, an-N abigah
J a 'fa r b. A. as-Sarraj 408, 433
J a 'fa r b. Ibr. as-Sk w y 243
J a 'fa r b. M ., a. l-'A b b as al-M ustagfiri 400-402,
405, 470, 473, 482, 588 f.
J a 'fa r b. M. b. al-A zh ar 72, 507
J a 'fa r b. M., a. B a k r a l-F a ryab i 402, 475,
521, 591,
143
J a 'fa r b. M. al-H uldi 597

631

J a 'fa r b. M., a. M a'sar 78, i n , 386!,

J a 'fa r b. M. al-M aw sili 503
a. J a 'fa r b. a l-M u 'tad id 48, 541
J a 'fa r b. al-Q ., Radi-ad-din b . D ab uq a 581
J a 'fa r as-Sadiq 275, IHdn 136
a. J a 'fa r at-T ab ari: M. b. Jari rat-T ab ari
J a 'fa r b. T a 'la b (?), Kam al-ad-din al-U dfuw i
307, 441, 470, 525
J a 'fa r b. Y a . b. Ibr. 439
b. Jahd am : 'A li b. 'A L , a. 1-H. (Hu.)
a l-Jaliiz: 'A m r b. B alir
b. al-Jahm : 'A li
b. al-Jah m : M.
a. Jahm b. H u d ayfah 346
Jahn , K . 148
al-Jah siyari: M. b. 'A b d u s
Jah zah : A . b. J a 'fa r
J a lu t: Goliath
b. Ja m a 'ah : 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. M., 'Izz-ad -d in
a. 'U .
b. J a m a 'a h : Ibr. b. 'A b d -ar-R ah im , Burhanad-din
b. J a m a 'a h : M. b. a. B a kr, 'Izz-ad-din
b. J a m a 'a h ; M. b. Ib r., Badr-ad-din
Jam M -ad-din al-U stadar 434
b. J a m i': b. J u m a y '
Jam il b. K a tir 192
a l-J a m m a 'ili; 'A b d -a l-G an i b. 'A b d -al-W ah id
b. a. Jam rah : 'A l. b. S a 'd
al-Jan ad i; al-M ufaddal b. M., a. S a 'id
al-Janadi: M. b. Y a 'q u b
Jaq m aq: Caqmaq
b. a. Ja ra d a h : 'U . b. A ., a. 1-Q.
Jarim , 'A li 56
b. Jarir: M. b. Jarir at-T ab ari
Jarir b. 'A b d -al-H am id IHdn 141
Jarir b. H azim 394
b. al-Jarrah; D aw ud
b. al-Jarrali; M. b. D aw ud
al-Jarrah b. M alik 363
b. al-Jaru d : 'A l. b. 'A li, a. M.
b. al-Jaru d : a l- H M t
Jaspers, K . 25
Jaussen, A . 12 f.
Jaw ad, M ustafa 58, 82, 98, 176, 305, 348,
397, 410 f., 414, 423 f., 431, 441, 451,
457
f., 460, 462, 468, 470, 473, 525
al-Jaw aliqi: M awhub b. A ., a. Mansiir
al-Jaw bari: 'A r. b. 'U .
Jaw d ar (Judar), U stad 120
Jaw har (Fatim id General) 596
b. Jaw.sa^: A . b. 'U m a y r
al-Jaw hari: 'A li b. D aw u d b. as-Sayrafi
al-Jaw hari: Ism. b. H am m ad
al-Jaw w ani: M. b. A s'a d
b. al-Jaw zi: 'A r. b. 'A li, a. 1-Faraj
Ja y y a s b. N ajah 56, 159, 469
Jazarah: Salih b. M.
(b.) al-J azari: M. b. Ibr., Sam S'ad-din
b. al-Jazari: M. b. M.

632

IN D E X OF P R O P E R N AM E S

(b.) al-Jaziri, a. M. "^Al. 599

al-J azzar; A . b. Ibr.
al-Jazzar: Y a . b. ^Abd-al-'Azim
b. Jd^r 478
Jerom e (St.) 78
Jesus ('Isa, Messiah) 85, 144, 15 1, 223, 385 f.
543,
561, IHdn 137
al-Ji'^abi: M. b. 'U .
al-Jilani: 'A bd -al-Q ad ir b. "Al.
al-Jili: A . b. Salih b. S a fi'
al-Jili: S ati b. 'U .
Jin gizh an 40, 105
Jirjis al-M akin; al-M akin
al-Jizi: al-H u. b. 'A ll
al-Jizi: M. b. ar-R ab i'
al-Jizi: a r-R a b i' b. Su.
Jong, P. de 503
Joseph (Y usuf) 290, 385, 563, 579 f., 589
b. J u b ay r: M. b. A.
al-Ju b iyari: M. b. J a 'fa r
Ju d ar: Jaw dar
b. Ju lju l: Su. b. Hassan

al-Jullabi: 'Ali b. M. b. at-Tayyib

al-Jum ahi: M. b. S allam
al-Jum ahi: Q udam ah b. M az'un
b. J u m a y ': 'A m r
b. J u m a y ': H ib atallah
b. J u m a y ': M. b. A ., a. 1-Hu.
b . al-J u n ayd ; Ibr. b. 'A l.
al-Jun ayd (b. M.), a. 1-Q. 325
b. J u ra y j: 'A b d -al-M alik b. 'A b d -a l-'A ziz
a l-Jurjan i: 'AI. b. 'A d i, a. A.
al-Ju rjan i: 'A l. b. Y u ., a. M.
a l-Jurjan t; 'A b d -al-Q ah ir b. 'A r.
a l-Jurjan i: 'A lt b. 'A b d -a l-'A ziz

al-Jurjani: 'All b. M.
Justinian 126

al-Juwayni: 'A ta b. M.
al-Juzajan i: 'A b d -al-W ah id b. M., a. 'U b a y d
al-Juzajan i: Ibr. b. Y a 'q u b
al-Ju zajan i: Ishaq b. Ism.
b. J u z a y y : M. b. M.
a l'J u zu li 601
K

K a'b al-ahbar 335, 564 , 567 f-, 579

Ka'b b. Luayy 385 f.
K a 'b b. Sur 282
b. K a b ar (Kubr), a. l-B arak ^ t 496 f.
a l-K a 'b i; 'A l. b. A ., a. 1-Q.
a l-K a fiy a ji: M. b. Su ., M uhyi-ad-din
K a fu r 478
a l-K ala b ad i: A . b. M., a. N asr
a l-K a la 'i: Su. b. Musa, a. r-R a b i'
b. a l-K a lb i: H isam b. M.
(b.) a l-K alb i: M. b. as-SaHb
K am al-ad-din b. H um ^m -ad-din: M. b.
'A b d -al-W ah id
K am al-ad-din, Im am al-K am iliy ah : M. b. M.
Kam M -ad-din b. T a lh a h : M. b. T alh ah

K am alashri (Bakshi) 148

a. K a m il 418, 511
b. a l-K am il: A y y u b b. M.
K am il, M urad 119, 412
K am p ffm eyer, G. 4
K a n 'a n , A lb ert Y u . 292
a l-K a n ji as-Sufi: M. b. M.
K a n ka lah i i i
K arab acek, J. von 13
a l-K ara b isi: al-H u. b. 'A li
b. K arram : M.
K arst, J. 78
a l-K asgari: Ibr. b. 'U tm an
al-K asi, M uzhir-ad-din 468
a l-K assi: M. b. 'U ., a. 'A m r
b. K a tir: 'A l.
b. K a tir: Ism. b. 'U ., 'Im ad-ad-din
b. K a tir: Y a . b. Y a . (b. K a tir al-Andalusi)
K a tir b. H isam I^ldn 14 1
a l-K aw sa j: Ishaq b. Mansur
a l-K aw tari, M. Zahid 377, 412, 462
K a y , H. C. 159, 484
K a y u m a rt 386
a l-K azaru n i: 'A li b. M,, Zahir-ad-din
a l-K azaru n i: Y u . b. 'A li, Sadid-ad-din (?)
K ebir Q adizadeh 175
K eilani, Ibr. 348
K eller, H. 122, 135, 143
K en n edy, E. S. 73, n o
K eu ck, K . 9
Key, K. K. 5
K h ad d u ri, M ajid X V
K han , M. S. 177
a l-K ilan i: 'A bd-al-Q adir b. 'A l. al-Jil4ni
a l-K iiian i: 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. A .
al-K in an i: A . b. Ibr., 'Izz-ad-din
al-K in an i: A . b. M utarrif, a. 1-Fath
a l-K in a n i: M. b. A . b. Ju b ayr
a l-K in d i: M. b. Y u ., a. 'U .
a l-K in d i: 'U . b. M. b. Y ii.
a l-K in d i: Y a 'q u b b. Ishaq
Kireher, Athanasius 126
(b.) al-K irm an i: Y a . b. M., Taqi-ad-din
al-Kisa^i: 'A li b. H am zah
a l-K isa 'i: M. b. 'A l.
a l-K israw i: M usa b. 'Isa
al-K israw i: Y a z d ja r d b . M ah b u n d id
K ister, M. J. 87, 518
K och, J. 60
K obert, R. 368
K ohler, O. 9
K oym en, M ustafa 248
K orah (Qarun) 288
K ow alski, T . 318
K raeh kovsk y, I. Y . 106, 487
K raelitz, F. 152
Kraem er, J. 176
Kram ers, J. H. X V , n o , 510
K raus, P. 355

633

IN D E X O F P R O P E R N A M E S

K rehl, L . 13, 250, 282, 284, 290, 304, 316, 334,

360 f., 366, 369, 378 f., 495
K rek, M. 405
Krem er, A . von 3
K ren kow , F. 122
K ritzek , J. 56
b. K u b r: b. K abar
K iihnel, E . 176
K iinstliuger, D. 28
b. a l-K u fi: 'A li b. M. b. 'U b a y d
al-K u lin i: M. b. Y a 'q u b
K u rd 'A ll, M. 30, 73, 429, 484
K u ta y y ir 327
K u tlu a y, Y . 430
a l-K u tu b i: al-H . b. M., a. 'A l.
al-K u tu b i: al-H u. b. 'A li, a. 'A l.
a l-K u tu b i: M. b. Ihv.
a l-K u tu b i: M. b. Sakir

b. al-L ab b ad : M. b. M.
L abid 261, 562
a l-L abid i: 'A r. b. M., a. 1-Q.
b. L a h i'a h : 'A l.
b. L a h i'a h : 'Isa
al-L ah iq i: Aban b. 'A b d -al-H am id
al-Lal)m i: 'A l. b. al-F adl
al-L ah m i; 'Isa b. 'A b d -a l-'A z iz, a. 1-Q.
al-L ah m i: M. b. al-H . (Hu.)
al-Lalaka^i: H ibatallah b. al-H.
Lam m ers, W . 10, 60
Landberg, C. 296, 386
Lane, E . 315, 350
Lang, C. 104, 182
L aou st, H . 82, 283, 396, 420, 427, 462, 483,
502, 523
Lassner, J. 169
a l-L a y t b. S a 'd 275, 360, 515 (?), 518, 604,
IHdn 138
a. 1- L a y t as-Sam arqandi 464
Leclerc, L . 194
Leo, F. l o i
Leon, H. M. 187
L ev i D ella V ida, G. 61, 80 f., 89, 15 1, 158,
187, 191, 359, 387, 4 5 3 . 470, 4 7 9 , 501, 506
L evi-P roven cal, E. X V , 29, 87, 97, n o , 119,
121, 164, 18 1, 293, 313, 419, 460 f., 464,
487,
506
Lew icki, T . 487
Lew is, B. X V , 54, 62, 75, 81 f., 84, n o , 156 f.,
178, 407, 431 f., 460
Lichten stad ter, I. X V , 387
L idzbarski, M. 126, 335
L ietzm ann, H. 176
Lippert, J. 32, 54 , 5 9 , 7 8 , 83, i i i , 469
Lisd n al-^Arab: M. b. M ukarram b. M anzur
L isan -ad'din b. a l-H atib : M. b. 'A l.
Lofgren, O. 56, 158 f., 187, 323, 453
L o th , O. 89
al-L u bn ani: A . b. M. b. 'U . b. A b an

b. al-L u bu d i: A . b. H alil, ihab-ad-din

Lucian 61, 358
L u lu , Badr-ad-dtn 58
al-L uri: Ibr. b. 'A b d -a l-'A ziz
L u t b. Y a ., a. Mihnaf 70, 90, 506
M
M a'add b. 'A d n an 385
al-M a'afiri: M. b. Salih
al-M a'afiri: T ah ir b. M ufaw w az
al-M a'arri: A . b. 'A l., a. l- 'A la
al-M a'arri: Y a . b. 'A li
M acnaghten, W . H. 51, i n
al-Mada^ini: 'A li b. M.
al-M a'dani: A. b. S a'id , a. l-'A b b as
al-Madara^i 596
M adclung, W . 177, 504
al-M adini: 'A l. b. J a 'fa r
b. al-M adini: 'A li b. 'A l.
al-M adini; M. b. 'U ., a. Miisa
al-M M arruhi: M ufaddal b. S a 'd
al-M agam i: Y u . b. Y a .
b. al-M ahalli: H ib atallah b. 'A li, a. N asr
al-M ahalii: M. b. 'A li b. H um ayd
al-M ahalli: M. b. al-H u., a. t-Tahir
M ahasin b. H alifah 466
a. 1-Mahasin b. Salam ah b. IJalifah alH arrani 466
b. M ahaw ayh: Ibr.
M ahbub b. Q ustantin al-M aiibiji: Agapius
al-M ahdi ('A b b asid caliph) 154, 439
al-M ahdi (Fatirnid of N orthwestern Africa)
407
al-M ahdi (Alm ohad) 97
al-M ahdi (Sahib az-zam an) 596
b. M ahdi: 'A r.
Mahdi, Muhsin 32
b. M ahfuz: 'A l. b. M.
M ahfuz b. M a'tu q b. al-B u zu ri 490
M ahfuz, Hu. 'A li 482
Mahmud of G azn ah, Y am in -ad -d aw lah 38,
172, 177, 541, 596
Mahmtid (Saljuq) 50
M ahm ud b. A . a l-'A y n i 50, 58, 104,
325 f., 328 f., 331, 343, 345 f-, 356,
412, 417, 448, 515, 526, 532, 583, 596
M ahm ud b. A. b. al-F araj 445
Mahmud B asa 248
M ahm ud b. Ibr., a, 1-Q. b. S u m a y ' 501
M ahmud b. M as'ud as-Sirazi 244, 248,

109,
395,
f.

251,

384
Mahmrid b. M. b. Arslan al-H uw arizm i 468
M ahm ud b. S u m a y', a. 1-H. 501
M ahm ud b. 'U ., a. 1-Q. az-Zam ahsari 594
al-M ahzum i 482
al-M ahzum i, a. s-Sa ib 510
Maimonides 140
b. M a'in : Y a .
b. M ajah: M. b. Y a zid
M ajd-ad-din (teacher of ad -p ah ab i) 582

634

IN D E X OF P R O P E R N AM E S

M ajd-ad-din al-L u gaw i: M. b. Y a 'q u b alMansur b. al-M u'tam ir I^ldn i j g

Firuzabadi
M ansur b. Salim , a. 1-M uzaffar 458 (cf. V a jd a ,
(b.) al-M ajisun: 'A b d -a l- A ziz b. 'A l.
in J A , 1965, 341 ff.)
M ajnun L a y la 217
al-M aiisuri: B ayb ars
al-M ajriti: M aslam ah b. A.
al-M antiqi as-Sijistani: M. b. T ah ir, a. Su.
b. M akatiis: 'A r. b. 'A b d -a r-R azzaq
M anuel, Ju an 48
Makdisi, G. 83
al-M anufi, 'A l. (cf. G A L Supplement II, 99)
M aki b. ^Abd-as-Salam (b.) ar-R um ayli al602
Maqdisi 464, 468
b. M anzur: M. b. M ukarram
M aki b. Ibr. IH&n 142
al-M aqdisi: 'A b d -a l-6 a n i b. 'A b d -al-W d h id
M aki b. 'U . al-Misri 603
a l-J am m a'ili
al-M akin 7, 139
al-M aqdisi: 'A li b. al-M ufaddal, a. 1-H.
M akki, M ahm ud ('Alt) X V , 275, 478
al-M aqdisi: M aki b. 'Abd-as-Sal& m (b.)
b. M aktum : A . b. 'A bd -al-Q ad ir, Taj-ad-dm
ar-R u iu ayli
b. M akula: 'AH b. H ibatallah
al-M aqdisi; M. b. 'A b d -al-W ah id, Diya^b. M akula; H ib atallah b. 'A li
ad-din
M alalas; loannes
al-M aqdisi: M. b. T ah ir, a. 1-Fadl
a l-M alik . . .: under the second elem ent
al-M aqdisi: al-M utahhar b. T a h ir
b. M alik: M. b. A l., Jam al-ad-din
al-M aqdisi: Nasr b. Ibr.
M alik b. A nas 85, 261, 275, 281, 310, 359,
al-M aqdisi, Sihab-ad-din a. M. 595
363,
394, 418 f., 4 4 7 , 449 i-, 5 ^7, 526, 573, al-M aqdisi: Su. b. H am zah
590-592, IHdn 136, 140
al-M aqqari: A. b. M.
M alik b. H im yar 158
al-M aqrizi: A. b. 'A li, Taqi-ad-din
al-M aliki, a. B a kr: 'A l. b. M., a. B akr
al-M aragi: a. B akr b. al-H u., Zayn-ad-din
al-M aliki, a. D arr: M us'ab b. M., a. Darr
al-M aragi: M. b. a. B akr, Saraf-ad-din
M aliksah 251
al-M aragi, 'A b d -a l-'A z iz M ustafa 418
al-M allahi: M. b. 'A b d -al-W ah id , a. 1-Q.
b. al-Mar^ah; Ibr. b. Y u . b. D ah haq
al-M am ani (b. M am a): A . b. M.
al-M arani: 'U tm an b. 'Isa b. D arbas
M a'm ar b. A. b. Z iya d al-'Arif 426
al-M ar'asi, Zahir-ad-din 16, 162
M a'm ar b. al-M utanna, a. 'U b a y d a h 71, 89,
M argais, W . 20
96,
406, 510
M ardam (Bey), H alil 183, 256
M a'm ar b. R asid 518, I ^ldn 140
b. Mardawa^^h; A . b. Musa, a. B akr
M a'm ar b. Sabib b. S ay b a h 280
M argoliouth, D. S. X V , 23, 29, 43, 45, 49 f.,
b. M am m ati: A s'a d b. al-M uhaddab
54 f., 71-73, 82, 84, 89, 105, I I I f., 126,
Mamsus (?) ad-D arbandi 461
151,
174, 177, 182 f., 256, 272, 284, 286,
al-Ma^mun 51, 79, 87, 143, 280, 408, 432, 595
321 f., 404, 4 11, 413 f., 419 f., 422, 427-429,
al-ManbiJi; Agapius
447, 461, 467-468, 470 f., 473, 477, 483 f.,
al-M anbiji al-A dib (?) 607
502-504, 506, 510 f., 514, 516, 518, 528
b. M andah: 'A r. b. M., a. 1-Q.
al-M arini (al-M aridini): M. b. H am id b.
b. M an d ah : 'A b d -al-W ah h ab b. M.
al-M utaw w ij
b . M andah: M. b. Ishaq, a. 'A l.
al-M arisi: Bisr b. 6 iy a t
b. M andah; Y a . b. 'A b d -al-W ah hab , a.
al-M aristani: 'U b a yd a lla h b. 'A li b. alZ a ka riyS
M aristaniyah
b. al-M anda i: A. b. B a h tiy a r
al-M arjani; 'A l. b. 'A bd -al-M alik
b. M an d aw ayh : 'A l. b. M.
al-M arrakusi: 'A b d -al-W ah id b. 'A li
b. a. M ani': H ajjaj b. Y u .
al-M arrakusi: M. b. M. b. 'A b d -al-M alik
b. M an jaw ayh: A. b. 'Ah', a. B akr
al-M arrakusi: M. b. Musa, Jam al-ad-din
Mann, J. 140
M artinus O ppaviensis (Polonus) 147
al-M ansur ('A b b asid caliph) 52, 121, 354
M a'ru f al-K arh i 607
al-M ansur (F atim id of N orthw estern Africa)
M arwan II 407
126,
407
M arwan b. M. a t-T atari IHdn 138
al-M ansur (of Ham ah) 55
al-M arw azi; M. b. A. b. 'A b b ad , a. 'Ism ah
al-M ansur: Qala^un
M arx, A. 139
M ansur, secretary of U stad Jaw dar 120
b. a. M aryam : S a 'id b. al-H akam
a. Mansur 464 ( ?)
M aryam bin t A. a l-A d ra 'iya h 452
b. a. 1-Mansur; al-H u. b. 'A ll
b. al-M arzuban: M. b. H alaf
M ansur b. al-H u., a. S a 'd al-Abi 308, 469,
al-M arzuban, a. 'A l. 609 {see M. b. 'Im r^n
516
al-M arzubani)
M ansur b. M., a. 1-M uzaffar (b.) as-Sam 'ani
al-M arzubani; M. b. 'Im ran
451
b. M arzuq; M. b. A ., a. 'A l.

IN D E X O F P R O P E R N A M E S

al-M arzuqi; A . b. M.
M asa llah 134
a. M a'sar; J a 'fa r b. M.
a. M a'sar: N ajih
al-M asarji: al-H u. b. M., a. 'A li
b. M asarjis: al-FadI b. Marwan
b. M asdi: M. b. Y u .
b. al-M asitah; 'A ll b. al-H .
M aslam ah b. A. al-M ajriti 241
M aslam ah b. Q. 437
M asruq (b. a l-A jd a ' 'A r.) 591, IHan 139
b. M asruq at-T u si 429, 433
Masse, H. 62, i n , 296, 414
b. M as'ud: 'A l.
M as'u d b. A ., Sa'd-ad-din a l-H a riti 443, 525
M as'u d b. 'A li as-Sijazi 446
a. M as'u d ad-D im asqi: Ibr. b. M.
M as'udi 179
al-M as'ud i; 'A li b. al-H u.
al-M atari: 'A l. b. M., 'A fif-ad -d in
al-M atari; M. b. A . b. H alaf
M atthew s, C. D. 122, 406, 464, 477
al-M aw ardi: 'A li b. M.
M awhub b. A ,, a. Mansur al-Jaw aliq i 271
al-M aw sili: A . b. 'A li b. al-M utanna, a. Y a '14
al-M aw sili: a. Dkw (r)h
al-M aw sili: Ibr. b. M. b. Y a z id
al-M aw sili: Ishaq b. Ibr.
al-M awsili; J a 'fa r b. M.
al-M aw sili; al-M u'afa b. 'Im ran
al'M aw sili: al-M ubarak b. a. B a k r b. H am dan
al'M aw sili: M. b. 'A l. b. 'A m m ar
al-M awsili: M. b. a r-R ab i'
al'M ayd an i: A. b. M.
al-M aydum i: M. b. Ibr., Saraf-ad-din
b.(bint) al-M aylaq; M. b. 'Abd-ad-Da^im
b. M aym un 97 f.
M aym un b. A . b. al-H . 445
Mayrniin al-Hawwar? 312
M aym un b. Mihran 381
M aym un b. Q ays: a l-A 'sa
al-M ayuraqi; A . b. 'A li, a. l-'A b b a s
Mehmet the Conqueror 51
Meinecke, F. 3, 197
Menage, V . L. 59, n o
M engeli B oga 414, 597
Mensing, J. P. 201
M eyer, E. 6
M eyerhof, M. 77, 81, 171
Mez, A. 89, 114
M ichael Syrus 139
Migne, J.-P. 79
a. M ihnaf; L u t b. Y a .
b. M ihran; M.
M ikh aylova, A . I. 4
Miles, G. C. 128
M illward, W . 16
al-M im asi: M. b. Ja 'fa r
M ingana, A. 26, 4 7
M inhal b. M. b. Mansur b. M inhal, a.

635

1-G ayt 606

M inorsky, V. 35, 457, 461
M inovi, M. 84, 290, 360
al-M inqari: M. b. Su.
al-M inqari: N asr b. M uzahim
(b.) M iskaw ayh: A . b. M., a. 'A li
b. Mismar; al-F ath
al-Misri 324 f., 511
M ittw och, E . 74, 139, 160, 459
al-M izzi: Y u . b. 'A r.
M oberg, A. 23
M ohl, J. 109
M onneret de V illard, U. 196
M ontaigne, M. de 51
M ordtm ann, J. H. 152
Moses (Musa) 79, 85, 124, 253, 258, 288, 290,
385, 543, 554 , 559 , 580, 589
M u'ad b. Ja b al 281 f., 287, IHdn 139
b. al-M u'addal (M u 'a d d al): A.
(b.) al-M u addib 482 (see also H am zah b.
al-Hu.)
al-Mu^addib: Y u n u s b. M.
al-M u'addid (?); 'A li b. A . b. 'A lt
al-M u 'ad dil: M. b. A ., a. B akr
al-M u^addin; A . b. 'A bd -al-M alik, a. Salih
b. al-M ii a d d in ; M. b. 'A li
al-M u 'afa b. 'Im ran al-M awsili 153, 518
al-M u 'afa b. Zakariya^ an-N ahraw ani 280
al-M u'alla b. 'U rfan 278
a l-M u 'allam i, 'A r. b. Y a . 488
al-Mu^ammal b. M asrur a l-^ u m ra k i 445
M u arrij b. 'A m r as-Sadusi 95 f., 418
M u'aw iyah b. 'A m r, a. 'A m r 395
M u'aw iyah b. a. S u fy in 50, 63, 89, 279,
346
(?), 406, 589, IHdn 138
al-M u^ayyad (of E gyp t) 104 f., 328, 412, 597
al-M u^ayyad: Ism. b. 'A li, a. 1-F ida
al-M u^ayyad (b.) M. at-T u si IHdn 14 1
b. al-M ubarak: 'A L
al-M ubarak b. 'A b d -al-Jab b ar b. at-T u yu ri
593
al-M ubarak b. A ., a. 1-B arak at b. al-M ustaw fi
458
al-M ubarak b. a. B akr b . H am dan b. a s-S a "a r
al-M awsili 423
al-M ubarak b. M., M ajd-ad-diu b. al-A tir
71, 405, 4 2 7 , 491
M ubarak a h ; Fahr-ad-din
al-M ubarrad: M. b. Y a z id
al-M ubassir (b. F atik) 176, 352
b. al-M udabbir: Ibr. b. M.
M iiller, A . 32, 47, 54, 59, 78-81, 83, 122, 147,
184, 272, 453, 463, 469
b. (al-)M ufaddal: 'A li
al-M ufaddal b. a. 1-F ad a il 139
al-M ufaddal b. G assan al-G allab i 393, 449
al-M ufaddal b. M. b. M is'ar, a. 1-Mahasin
al-M agribi 422
al-M ufaddal b. M., a. S a 'id al-Janadi 475, 480
al-M ufaddal b. S alam ah ad-D abbi 258

636

IN D E X OF P R O P E R N AM E S
IN D E X O F P R O P E R N A M E S

M ufaddal b. S a 'd al-M afarruhi 150, 161, 459

b. Mufarra/ij (?); al-H . b. M.
b. M ufarra/ij: b. Mufrih
b. M ufarrij : M.
al-M ufassis (al-M ufaddid) (?); 'A li b. A. b.
'A ll
b. M ufaw w az; Tahir
b. M uflih; M.
b. Mufrih (Mufarra/ij ?), a. 1-Q. 419, 472
a. l-M ugirah: 'A bd -al-Q u d du s b. al-H ajjaj
M ugultay b. Q ilij, 'A la -ad-dm 177, 369, 388,
395, 398 f., 401, 4 4 7, 465, 526, 534, 587 f-,
607
al-M uhallabi: al-H . b. M.
M uham m ad the Proph et 24-30 a n i passim
M. b. A b an IHan 142
M. b. a l-'A b b a s, a. B a k r al-H uw arizm i 300
M. b. al-'-Abbas b. H a y y a w a y h 501
M. b. a l-'A b b a s a l-Y a z id i 123
M. b. 'A l. b. a l-A bb ar 55, 86, 155, 312, 393,
414,
460, 464, 525
M. b. ^Al. b. 'A m m ar al-M aw sili 520
M. b. 'A l. al-A zd i al-Misri 469
M. b. 'A l. al-A zraq i 43, 126, 164 f., 479 f.,
509, IHdn 136
M. b. 'A l., a. B a k r b. a l-'A ra b i al-Isbili 46,
311,
360, 370, 459
M. b. ^Al., a. B a k r b. M uhibb-ad-din 437, 439,
464
M. b. *^A1. al-B arq i 501
M. b. 'A I. b. a. I-Fadl, Saraf-ad-din as-Sulami
585
M. b. 'A l. al-Hadram .i 276
M. b. 'A l., al-H akim an-N isaburi 43, 168,
282, 355, 363, 379-381, 393, 436, 446-448,
467,
483, 522, 527, 593
M. b. 'A l., al-H atib at-T ibrizi 448
M. b. 'A l. b. al-H aytam al-'^Attar 445
M. b. 'A l., a. 1-Hu. a r-R azi 156, 593
M. b. 'A I., Jam al-ad-din b. M alik 314 f,
M. b. 'A l., Jam al-ad-din ar-R aym i 354
M. b. 'A l., Jam al-ad-din b. Zuhayrah 452
M. b. 'A l. a l-K isa i 404
M. b. 'A l,, Lisan-ad-din b. al-H atib {includes
Ihdtah) 44, 70, 86, 184 f., 355, 424, 441,
455,
4 5 7 , 465 f-, 470, 472-474, 483, 526, 599
M. b. 'A l., M utayyan 276, 404
M. b. 'A l. b. Numajn: 520
M. b. ^Al. b. Qassum al-Isb ili 459
M. b. ^Al. ar-R asidi 453
M. b. 'A l. as-Sahtiyan i 476 f.
M. b. 'A l., am s-ad-din b. Nasir-ad-din 397,
399, 421, 588, 595, 598
M. b. 'A l., Saraf-ad-din as-Safraw i 605 f.
M. b. 'A l. as-Sibli 33, 71, 149, 276, 279, 282 f.,
378, 381
M. b. 'A l., a. Su. b. Zabr 512 f.
M. b. 'A l. a l-'U ta q i 59, 64
M. b. 'A l. ('U b ayd allah ) b. 'U tb a h a i-'U tb i
509, 511

M. b. 'A l. b. Zakariya^ b. H a y y a w a y h
an-N isaburi 592
M. b. 'A b d -a l-A 'la 395
M. b. 'A b d -a l-'A zim b. al-M undiri 441
M. b. ^Abd-al-'Aziz ad-D inaw ari I^ldn 14 1
M. b. 'A b d -a l-^Aziz b. S a 'M a h as-Satibi 606
M. b. 'Abd-al-'^Aziz as-Sirazi al-Q assar 470
M. b. 'A b d -a d -D a im al-B irm aw i 397 f., 587
M. b. ^Abd-ad-Da^im b. (bint) al-M aylaq,
Nasir-ad-din 399
M. b. ^Abd-al-Gani b. N u q tah 447, 449,
524 f., 601
M. b. 'A b d -al-H am id b. 'A l. b. H alaf al-M isri
486,
607, 6og
M. b. 'A b d -al-Jab b ar, a. N asr a l-'U tb i 177,
596
M. b. 'A b d -a l-K arim , a. 1-Fadl ar-R M i'i 44
M. b. *-Abd-al-Karim as-Sahrastani 243, 430
M. b. *^Abd-al-Karim, T aqi-ad -d in b. Q utbad-din al-H alabi 441 f., 478
M. b. *^Abd-al-Malik (b.) al-H am adan i 82 f.,
292, 411 f., 414, 488, 509
M. b. 'A bd -al-M alik al-M arjani: ^Al. b.
'A bd-al-M alik
M. b. -Abd-ar-R ahim b. a l-F u ra t 382, 412,
4 9 7, 50 9, 583

M. b. 'A r., a. l-*^Abbas ad-D uguli 404

M. b. 'A r. b. a. D i b IH dn 136
M. b. 'A r., a. 1-Hu. ar-R ud abari 541 f.
M. b. 'A r. as-Sahaw i V II I , 12-16, 29, 32, 36,
40-42, 4 4 , 50, 53, 55 f-, 61 f., 72, 84, 86,
88,
96, 102, 106, 127, 165-168, 185, 201 f.,
204, 210, 245-248, 263-529, 530, 586-610
M. b. *^Ar. as-Sa^mi I'^ldn 142
M. b. 'A r. a l-'U tm a n i 470
M. b.
'A b d -al-W ah id, D iy a -ad-din alM aqdisi 402, 451, 465, 470, 480, 483,
600
f., 603, 605, 608
M. b. 'A b d -al-W ah id, K am al-ad-din b.
Hum am -ad-din 282, 606
M. b. ^Abd-al-Wahid, a. 1-Q. al-G afiq i
al-M allahi 465
M. b. *^Abdus a l-J a h siy M 45, 115 , 127 f.,
378, 413
M. b. A . b. A b b ad , a. 'Ism ah al-M arw azi 477
M. b. A ., a. Al. b. M arzuq 599
M. b. A. b. 'A b d -al-H ad i, a. 'A l. 598
M. b. A ., a. A . (b.) a l-'A ssal 400, 402, 453
M. b. A. b. 'A ll, Q utb-ad-din al-Q astallani
150, 485, 488, 584-586, 589 (?)
M. b. A. b. Am in al-A qsahri 127, 476
M. b. A ., a. 'A m ir al-R alaw t 32, 461
M. b. A ., a. l-'A ra b at-Tam im i al-Q ayraw ani
419,
435, 460, 465, 473, 591, 600
M. b. A ., a. 'Asim a l-'A b b a d i 415, 448, 584
M. b. A ., a. B a k r al-M u 'ad dil 459
M. b. A . b. Bashan ad-D im asqi 349, 376,
580-582
M. b. A . al-B irun i 68, 73, 76, 78 f., 90 f., 113,

124, 134, 137, 139, 145, 173, 177, 181, 221,

242-244, 322, 378, 384, 468
M. b. A ., a. Bisr ad-D aw labi 408, 506, 510,
52 1, 591

M. b. A ., a. B isr ad-D aw lab i 408, 506, 510,

521 , 591
M. b. A . ad-D ahabi 32 f., 43, 45, 54, 58, 63,
82 f., 85, 93 f., 102, 13 1, 145 f., 149, 191,
259, 265, 276, 278, 281, 292, 322, 328,

637

M. b. A ., a. 1-W alid b. al-H ajj at-T u jib i

601
(?), 605
M. b. A ., a. 1-W alid b. R usd 312 f.
M. b. A. al-W asiti 464
M. b. 'A^id ad-D im asqi 392, 394, 509, 5 1 1,

588

M. b. 'A ll, a. 'A l. as-Suri 523

M. b. 'A li a l-'A b d i al-IIurasam 59
M. b. 'A li b. 'A ra b i 235, 253, 324, 348, 43,
456, 584, 586, 606
339, 346-351, 361, 363-365, 371, 374-377,
M. b. 'A li b. 'A s a ir 467, 603
388, 391-396, 400 f., 404 f., 408, 421 f.,
M. b. 'A ll b. A y b a k as-Sariiji 435, 525
431, 433, 435-437, 440, 442, 445-447,
M. b. 'A li al-'A zim i 156, 1 7 7
451 f., 454, 456, 460-462, 468, 482-484,
487,
490, 492 f., 500 f., 503, 512-516, 520, M. b. 'A li b. B a ra k a t al-H am aw i 53, 119, 145
M. b. 'A ll ad-D am agani 280
522-529, 532, 580-82, 587, 590 f., 595 ,
M. b. 'A li ad-D inaw ari 509
598, 601, 604, 607
M. b. 'A li b. al-F adl ad-D ihqan 474
M. b. A . al-Farisi 490, 506
M. b. 'A ll, al-H akim at-Tirm idi 399
M. b. A . b. a. 1-Faw aris al-B agd ad i 522
M. b. 'A li b. H am zah al-F urahinan i 4 7 7
M. b. A . b. G adir 581
M. b. 'A li b. H assul 59, 177
M. b. A . a l-G itrifi IHdn 141
M. b. 'A ll b. H idr b. 'A sk a r a l-C assan i 474
M. b. A ., G u u jar al-B u h ari 461, 506
M. b. 'A li b. H u m ayd al-M ahalli 605
M. b. A . b. H alaf, Jam al-ad-din al-M atari 476
M. b. 'A li, a. 1-Hu. b. al-M uhtadi bi-llah 453
M. b. A . b. H alil, a. 1-H attab as-Sakuni 604
M. b. 'A li b. Ibr. b. Saddad, 'Izz-ad -d in 107,
M. b. A . b. H am dan 593
I I I , 151, 156, 171, 277, 412, 469, 482, 486,
M. b. A . b. al-H . a l-K a tib 174
M. b. A ., a. H atim b. H ibbaii 404, 435 f.,
4 3 9 , 447 f-, 515, 522, 592 fM. b. A ., a. 1-Hu. b. J u m a y ' 453
M. b. A . b. al-H u. b. a. 1-Mansur al-A zd i 426
M. b. A . al-H uw arizm i 33 f.
M. b. A . al-Ibsihi 356
M. b. A . b. ly a s 84, 247
M. b. A ., Jam al-ad-din b. M uhibb-ad-din
a t-T a b ari 480
M. b. A ., JamM -ad-din al-Q azw ini 37, 365
M. b. A . b. J u b ay r a l-K in an i 516
M. b. A. al-M agribi 609
M. b. A. b. M ahdi as-5 ahid 507
M. b. A. b. M azyad b. a. 1-A zhar al-B u san ji
73,
507, 511
M. b. A ., M uhibb-ad-din b. a l-H a im 398, 587
M. b. A. al-M uqaddam i 506
M. b. A ., a. 1-M uzaffar al-A biw ard i 457, 467,
605
M. b. A . an-N ahraw ali 317
M. b. A . b. al-Q M isi 83
M. b. A. (b.) a l-Q a ti'i 462
M. b. A . b. al-Q attan 593
M. b. A . b. Sahl al-B arkan i (al-Barnakani) 591
M. b. A ., Sam s-ad-din al-B a 'u n i 185, 285 f.,
398,
409, 534
M. b. A . b. S u 'a y b a s-S u 'a y b i 590
M. b. A ., a. t-Tahir ad-D uhli 609, IHdn 138
M. b. A ., Taqi-ad-dni al-F asi 43, 57, 126 f.,
150, 165, 304, 320, 381, 396, 440-442, 4 4 9 ,
462, 468, 475 f., 480-482, 486, 490, 493,
526,
583, 606
M. b. A ., a. 'U . b. Q udam ah 605
M. b. A. b. 'U . al-Qusa\Ti 591
M. b. A. b. 'U tm an al-Q aysi 441

596
M. b. 'A li b. Ism. b. a. s-Sayf: M. b. Ism. b.
a. s-Sayf
M. b. 'A li, Jam al-ad-din a l-'Im ran i 410
M. b. 'A ll, Jam al-ad-din b. as-Sabuni 58, 441,
447, 451, 525
M. b. 'A ll, Jam al-ad-din as-Saybi 127, 481
M. b. 'A ll, Kam M -ad-din b. az-Zam lakani 582
M. b. 'A li b. al-Mu^addin az-Zabidi an-N asili
480 f.
M. b. ' A l l b. M uyassar 62, i i i ,

1 55, 4 i 4 .

427, 478
M. b. 'A li al-Q affal as-Sasi 181, 416, IHdn 143
M. b. 'A ll, a. 1-Q. a l-'Im a d i 145
M. b. 'A li a l-Q a y ati 325, 343 f., 366
M. b. 'A ll, a. S a 'id an-N aqqas 425
M. b. 'A li, Sam s-ad-din as-Sadili al-H akam
598
M. b. 'A li, Sam s-ad-din al-H usayni 421, 449
M. b. 'A li as-Sim sati 154
M. b. 'A li, a. S u ja ' ad-D ahhan 510
M. b. 'A li, Taqi-ad-din b. D aq iq-al-'id 327,
339, 352 f., 364, 366, 421, 525, 606
M. b. 'A lib . T a rh a n a l-B a lh i 401 (?), 5 1 3 f- (?),
IHdn 142
M. b. 'A li b. a t-T iq ta q a 49, 51, 56, 58, 115 f.,
529
M. b. 'A ll, a. 'U b a y d al-A jurri 446
M. b. 'A ll, a. U m am ah b. an-N aqqas 397,

589

(?)

M. al-A m in b. F ad lallah al-M uhibbi 86

M. b. 'Aram ar, Sam s-ad-din al-M aliki 44,
280 f., 312-315, 497 fM. b. 'A m r, a. J a 'fa r a l-'U q a y li 436, 439, 521
M. b. 'A q il 463

638

IN D E X OF P R O P E R N A M E S

M. b. A q il al-A zh ari al-B alh i 463

M. b. A s'a d al-Jaw w aui 155, 434, 475, 479,
607
M. b. A slam at-T u si IHdn 142
M. b. 'A t a llah, Sam s-ad-din al-H araw i 601
M. b. A y b a k as-Saruji; M. b. 'A li b. A y b a k
M. b. A y y u b b. G a lib al-G arn ati 460
M. b. A y y u b ar-R aq q i 604
M. b. a. 1-Azhar 73, 507, 511 [see also M. b.
A. b. M azyad)
M. b. a. B akr al-H adram i 470
M. b. a. B akr, 'Izz-ad-dJn b. Ja m a 'ah 331,
587, 605
M. b. a. B akr, Jam al-ad-din b. a l-H a y y a t 485
M. b. a. B akr, Jam al-ad-din al-M isri 354
M. b. a. B akr b. Q ayyim al-Jaw ziyah 113,
217, 256, 402, 480 (?), 589
M. b. a. B akr, Saraf-ad-din (b.) al-M aragi
398, 452, 587
M. b. a. B akr b. Zu rayq 353
M. b. B asir ar-R iyasi 508
M. b. D a n iyal al-M aw sili 163, 184 f., 428
M. b. D aw ud b. al-Jarrah 413, 424, 454, 503,
509
M. b. F u tuh , a. 'A l. a l-H u m ayd i 67, 97, 153,
326,
460, 474, 513 f., 523
M. b. a. Gassan, a. Ilaqah 592
M. b. H abib 70, 97, 387, 401
M. b. H afif, a. 'A l. 605
M. b. a l-^ a la f b. 'A lq a m a h 464
M. b. H alaf, a. B a k r b. F ath u n 405
M. b. H alaf (H alid ?) al-H asim i 509
M. b. H alaf b. H ay y a ii, a. B akr Waki*^ 73,
79, 418, 428, 467, 508, 510, 518
M. b. H alaf b. al-M arzuban 423, 433, 509
M. b. al-H alaf as-Sadafi 155
M. b. H alid (H alaf ?) al-H asim i 509
M. b. H am d aw ayh , a. Raja^ as-Saiiji alH uraqani 168, 476 f.
M. b. H am id b. al-M utaw w ij (M utawwaj)
al-M arini (Maridini) 427
M. b. H ainzah b. ^Ali 439
M. b. (al-)H arit al-Q araw i, a. 'A l. 418 f.,
460 f., 472, 510, 602
M. b. al-H arit at-T aglib i 4 11, 508
M. b. H arun a l-'A bb ast 78
M. b. H arun, a. ^Ali 401, 588
M. b. al-H ., a. B akr aii-N aqqas 400, 588
M. b. al-H . b. D u rayd 55, 290
M. b. al-H . b. F u rak 368
M. b. al-H . b. H am dun 49, 53, 91, 307, 516
M. b. H. b. Isfandiyar 115 f., 162, 177, 290,
355
M. b. al-H . (Hu.) al-L ah m i 608
M. b. H. b. Q u tayb ah al-'^Asqalani 597
M. b. al-H . as-Sayban i 449, 464, 591
M. b. al-H ., as-Sarif al-H u sayui (Hasani)
ad-Dim asqi 426, 526
M. b. al-H . at-Tusi 431, 453, 475
M. b. al-H . al-W asiti 414

M. b. al-H . b. Zabalah 475

M. b. al-H . az-Zu bayd i 422
M. b. H asim al-HM idi 154, 482
M. b. a. H atim al-Buhari 342, 595
M. b. al-H aysam 606
M. b. a l-H aytam b. Sababah 412, 510
M. b. H ilal, G irs-an-ni'm ah as-Sabi^ 82, 479
M. b. H u m ayd IHdn 14 1
M. b. al-H u. al-A bu ri 593
M. b. Hu., B a h a -ad-diu al-'-Amili 281
M. b. al-H u ., a. B a k r a l-A ju rri 590, 593
M. b. al-H u., a. 1-F adl a l-B ayh aq i 84
M. b. al-H u ., a. 1-F ath al-A zd i 350, 406, 436
M. b. H u., a. S a 'd al-W azir 424
M. b. al-H u., as-Sarif ar-R ad i 317, 428 (?)
M. b. al-H u., a. S u ja ' 292, 321, 489, 508
M. b. al-H u. as-Sulam i 425, 435,
M. b. al-H u., a. t-Tahir al-M ahalli 605
M. b. al-H u. b. at-Tarjum an(i) 471, 610
M. b. al-H u. b. U ht ^Isa b. Farruhansah 508
M. b. al-H u., a. Y a 4 a b. a l-F a rra 420
M. b. al-H u., a. Y a 'la al-Jurjan i 465
M. b. al-H u. a l-Y a m a n i 422
M. b. al-H u. (H ?) az-Z u b ayd i 422
M. b. Ibr., a. 'A l. al-B u san ji 593, IHdn 14 1
M. b. Ibr., a. *^A1. b. al-F ahh ar al-M alaqi 524
M. b. Ibr. (b.) al-A kfan i 32, 307 f., 320, 430
M. b. Ibr., Badr-ad-din a l-B a stak i 425, 445,
472, 479
M. b. Ibr., Badr-ad-din b. Jama^ah 43, 163,
350, 418
M. b. Ibr., a. B akr b. al-Muqri^ 449 (?), 453
M. b. Ibr., Fath-ad-din b. as-Sahid 398, 587
M. b. Ibr. b. al-H an bali 467, 472
M. b. Ibr. a l-lji V , 15, 40, 85, 113, 202-244,
245, 250, 259, 261
M. b. Ibr., Jam M -ad-din al-M ursidi 443
M. b. Ibr. a l-K u tu b i a l-W a tw a t 491, 506
M. b. Ibr., Sadr-ad-din al-M uiiawi 604
M. b. Ibr., 5 ams-ad-diu (b.) al-Jazari 60,
134, 4 9 3 , 506, 525
M. b. Ibr., Saraf-ad-din al-M aydum i 525
M. b. Idris, a. B akr (?) 459
M. b. Idris, a. H atim ar-R azi 374, 520, 526 f.
M. b. Idris as-Safi^i 41, 75, 98, 234, 261,
279-281, 286, 365-367, 371, 394, 409,
415-417, 4 4 9 , 512, 518, 526, 546, 573,
592-594, IHdn 138, 140
M. b. 'Im ra n al-M arzubani 73, 387, 422,
424, 429, 509, 600 (?), 609 (?)
M. b. 'Isa ad-D am agani IHdn 14 1
M. b. -Isa, a. 'Isa at-Tirm idi 29, 46, 401,
404, 447 , 527, 588, 595
M. b. Ishaq, a. l-'A b b as as-Sarraj 62, 449 f.,
IHdn 14 1
M. b. Ishaq, a. 'A l. b. Mandah 43, 283, 400,
403-405, 448, 459, 501, 522
M. b. Ishaq al-F akih i 162, 164 f., 479 f., 508
M. b. Ishaq b. H uzaym ah 521, IHdn 14 1
M. b. Ishaq al-M usayyabi 399

IN D E X O F P R O P E R N A M E S

M. b. Ishaq al-M uttalibi 48, 87, 89, 132,

385, 392-394, 397, 403, 508, 534, 586
M. b. Ishaq b. an-N adim (includes Fihrist)
V I I I , 32 f., 50 f., 70, 72 f., 79 f., 89, 97,
104, I I I , 122, 125, 127, 137, 139, 162,
164, 180, 186, 272, 366, 381, 386, 392,
400 f., 404, 410 f., 413, 418, 428-430, 432,
436, 450, 462, 465, 467, 4 7 4 , 478, 482,
486,
489, 503 f., 506 f., 511
M. b. Ishaq as-Sabi^ 508
M. b. Ishaq al-Wassa^ (M. b. A . b. Ishaq)
127, 187 (?), 365, 505
M. b. Ism ., a. B a k r b. H alfu n al-A zd i 524
M. b. Ism. al-B uhari 13 f., 86, 167, 201, 250,
276-278, 282, 284, 290, 292, 295, 304, 316,
324, 328, 330 f., 334, 341-343, 355, 359-363,
365-367, 369, 378 f., 381 f., 392, 394 f-,
404,
418, 431, 436-439, 447 f., 450 f., 4 9 5 ,
504, 515, 517-520, 527, 595, I'^lan 142
M. b. Ism ., a. Ism. at-Tirm idi 281, 416
M. b. Ism . b. a. s-Sayf 485 f.
M. b. Jab ir a l-B a ttan i i i i
a. M. b. a. J a 'fa r 312 f.
M. b. J a 'fa r, a. B akr al-H ara iti 399
M. b. J a 'fa r al-Jub iyari al-W arraq 463
M. b. J a 'fa r al-M imasi 591
M. b. J a 'fa r an-N arsahi 116, 160, 162, 461

639

M. b. M., a. l-B arak^ t b. al-H ajj a l-B allafiq i

461 (?), 477
M. al-B aydaw i 280
M. al-F arab i 32, 257
M. al-6 azzM i 52, 60, 64, 218, 232, 237,
2 3 9 , 281, 285, 303, 3 11, 316, 337, 343,
346, 348, 360, 368, 374, 430, 606
M. b. M. b. al-H ajj a l-'A b d a ri 3 11, 461 (?)
M. b. M. b. H am is, a. B a k r 300, 466, 474
M. b. M, b. al-H idr a l-'A y za ri 606
M. b. M. b. al-H ububi 306
M. b. M., a l-'Im a d al-Isbah ani 43, 50, 62,
64, 120, 151, 155, 174, 177 f-, 296, 386,
410, 424, 462, 464, 483, 532, 596
M. b. M., Jam al-ad-din b. as-Sabiq al-H am aw i

55,
M. b.
M. b.
M. b.

444 , 492
M. b. M. b. al-Jazari 276, 399, 421, 456,
588 f., 608 (?)
M. b. M. b. J u z a y y al-G arn ati 472
M. b. M., Kam al-ad-din 429, 602, 606, 608
M. b. M. al-K an ji as-Sufi 465
M. b. M. b. al-L abbad (d. 333/944) 592
M. b. M., M uhibb-ad-din b. al-A m anah 478
M. b. M., M uhibb-ad-din b. as-Sihnah
(the younger) n r , 1 2 7 , i 7 i, 4 3 6 , 439, 4 4 4 ,
462, 472
M. b. M. b. al-Q aw b a' (Quba') 396
M. b. M., Q utb-ad-din al-H aydari 416, 461
M. b. J a 'fa r at-Tam im i a l-K u fi b. ari-N ajjar
M. b. M., Sams-ad-din b. N ubatah 445
168, 4 7 3
M. b. M. b. Sasra 57, 157
M. b. al-Jahm as-Sam i 275
M. b. M. b. as-S ayyid 'A fif-ad -d in 475
M. b. al-Jahm as-Susi al-B arm aki 275
M. b. M. b. Sayyid-an -n as 327 f., 392, 396,
M. b. Jarir a t-T a b ari V I, 7, 42, 45, 47, 50,
456,
525, 587
53-55, 69-73, 75, 78, 81 f., 92, 108, n o ,
M. b. M., Taqi-ad-din b. F ahd 397 f., 421,
120-122, 127, 131, 134-136, 142, 144,
447,
452, 45 5 , 496, 500, 587, 595
147, 176, 188, 243, 278, 286 f., 292, 326,
M. b. M. b. a. Y a 'la al-Farra^ 420, 443
378, 387 f., 393, 404, 418, 488 f., 506, 508,
M. b. M ukarram b. M anzur [includes Lisdn
515, 521, 529, 531
al-'^Arab) 85 f., 93, 271, 296, 300, 316,
M. b. K arram 606
323 f-, 353, 368, 388, 428, 463, 468, 529
M. b. M ahfuz as-Su bayki 493
M. b. al-M undir I'-ldn 142
M. b. M ahlad, a. 'A l. ad-D iiri 592
M. b. Musa b. 'A b d -a l-'A z iz, S ib aw ayh 429,
M. b. M ahmud al-A m uli 39 f.
606
M. b. M ahm ud b. an-N ajjar 48, 57, 83, 164,
M. b. Musa, a. B a k r al-H azim i 524
2 75 ,
354, 425, 439 f-, 451, 462 f., 465, M. b. Musa al-H uw arizm i 73, 76, 134
M. b. ]\Iusa, Jam al-ad-din al-M arrakusi
4 7 5 , 480, 502, 507, 510, 524, 532, 594
M. b. M ahmud as-.Sahrazuri 39
442, 452
M. b. Musa b. an-N u'rnan an-N u'm an i 604,
M. b. M a'n : al-M u'tasim b. Sum adih
M. b. M aym un, a. H am zah as-Su kkari IHdn
607, 609
M. b. M u si ar-R azi 164, 419
142
M. b. Mihran al-Jam m al a r-R azi IHdn 1 4 1
M. b. Musa b. Sind, Sam s-ad-din 353
M. b. Muslim b. Sihab az-Zuhri 63, 96, 130 f.,
M. b. M ufarrij 604, 607
M. b. Muflih 346
334, 379, 395, 45 o
M. b. :Muslim b. W arah IHdn 141
M. b. M. b. 'A b d -al-M alik al-M arrakusi 441,
M. b. (al-)M utanna a l-'A n a zi, a. Musa
460
az-Zam in 392, 501
M. b. M. (?) b. 'A b d -al-M u n 'im al-H im yari
M. b. al-M utanna al-Bavvardi 599
n o , 487
M, b. al-M utaw akkil b. a. s-Sari al-'A sqalan i
M. b. M., 'A lam -al-h u da 453
M. b. M., a. A. al-H akim 522
M. b. M., 'A la -ad-din al-Buhari 606
M. b. M., Badr-ad-din b. al-Q attan 281

509
M. b. N ahid 328, 597
M. b. N asir, a. 1-F adl as-Salam i 524

640

IN D E X O F P R O P E R N A M E S

IN D E X OF P R O P E R N AM E S

M. b. N asr al-M arwazi 521, IHdn 142

M. b. Qala^un, an-N asir 499, 596
M. b. al-Q ., a. 1-H. at-Tam m ii 98
M. b. al-Q ., a. Ishaq b. 5 a ban 450, 592
M. b. Q. an-N uw ayri 155, 458
M. b. a. 1-Q. b. T a y m iy a h 466
M. b. Q aysar al-Q attan 513
M. b. ar-RaW^ al-Jizi 406, 427
M. b. a r-R ab i' al-M awsili 348
M. b. Rafi*^ (aii-Nisaburi) IHdn 14 1
M. b. RMi'-, Taqi-ad-diii 57, 301, 401, 440,
442,
4 4 9, 452, 458, 463, 465, 490, 496,
512 f., 525 f., 583
M. b. Sa'^d, a. 1-B ara k at al- Assal 272
M. b. Sa'^d, K a tib al-W aqid i 86, 94, 96, 282,
284, 287, 369, 381, 383 f., 386, 392, 394 f.,
402, 406, 437, 448, 501, 515, 517, 519, 528,
587
M. b. S a 'd b. S ab iq IHdn 141
M. b. S a'd u n , a. 'A l. 473 f.
M. b. Sahl b. Bassatn 509
M. b. Sahnun 592
M. b. as-Sa'ib (b.) a l-K a lb i 386
M. b. S a id (b.) al-D u b a y ti (D abayti) 427,
462
f., 484, 502, 524, 532
M. b. Sa'^id, a. Ishaq al-H addad 483
M. b. Sa^ d al-Q usayri al-H arrani 167, 469
M. b. S akir a l-K u tu b i 55, 149, 317, 327, 496,
509
M. b. Salam ah al-Quda^i 67, 87, 126, 149,
292, 4 5 3, 4 7 9, 490, 509, 593
M. b. Salih, a. 1-H. at-T ab ari 405
M. b. SMih al-M a'afiri al-Q ahtani 168, 461
M. b. Salih b. Mihran b. an-X attah 89, 410,
476 (?), 509
M. b. Salih b. Musa ad-D am raw i 605
M. b. Salih b. W asil al-H am aw i 65, 116
M. b. Sallain a l-B a yka n d i IHdn 142
M. b. Sallam al-Juniahi 387, 424, 509
M. b. a. Sari, a. J a 'fa r 509
M. b. Siriu 382, 517, 590, IHdn i j g
M. b. Su. al-M inqari al-Jaw hari 509
M. b. Su. (b. M.) b. A bd-al-M alik as-Satibi
a r-R a si 598, 609
M. b. Su. b. M., a. 1-H. 467
M. b. Su. b. M. b. Su. as-Satibi 606
M. b. Su., M uhyi-ad-din a l-K a fiy a ji V II I ,
10, 15, 40-42, 44, 202, 204, 208, 245-262,
264-267, 284, 293, 318-320, 326, 355, 384,
530, 547-580
M. b. Tahir, a. 1-F adl al-M aqdisi 436, 447, 523
M. b. Tahir, a. Su. al-M aiitiqi as-Sijistani
79 , 535
M. b. T alh ah , Kam al-ad-din an-N asibi 399,
589, 596
M. b. Tarh an at-Turki 401 (?), 513 f. (?)
M. b. T arif a l-B a ja li 276
M. b. a t-T a y y ib al-B aqillani 30
M. a t-T a y y ib al-Fasi 87
M. b. T u gj al-Ihsid 4 11, 596

M.
M
M.
M.
M.
M.
M.

b. T u lu n V I, 63, 126, 397, 430

b. 'U b a y d b. A d am al-^Asqalani 471
b. 'U b a y d a lla h : M. b. <^A1. b. U tbah
b. '^Ubaydallah al-M usabbihi 155, 478
b. 'U ., a. 'A m r al-K assi 432
b. ^U. b. a. B a k r b. Q iw am al-B alisi 608
b. '^U., Fahr-ad-diu ar-R azi 37 f., 237,

242, 244, 254, 257, 539 f., 555 , 594 , 609

M. b. ^U., Jam al-ad-din a l-'A rab i 604
M. b. 'U . a l-J i'a b i 433
M. b. 'U ., a. Musa al-M adiiii 404 f., 448, 524,
593 , 597 , 599 , 601
M. b. 'U . an-N abtiti 604, 608
M. b. U. b. R u sayd 454, 516, 606
M. b. 'U . al-W aqidi 42, 60, 70, 73, 187, 243,
281,
381, 385, 392, 394, 397, 402, 448,
469, 501, 510, 519, 588
M. b. 'U trnan, a. ^Amr b. al-M urabit 338,
348-351, 605 f.
M. b. ^Utinan b. a. Saybah 446, 521
M. b. 'U tm an , a. Z u r'ah ad-D im asqi 416
M. b. W addah al-A ndalusi 521, 590, 592,
607, IH d n 140
M. b. al-W alid at-Turtusi 262
M. b. Y a ., a. 'A l. b. al-H ad d a 72, 447
M. b. Y a . al-^Alawi 475
M. b. Y a . ad-D uh li 520, I^ldn 14 1
M. b. Y a . al-M aqdisi 442
M. b. Y a . as-Suli 48 f., 53 f., 73, 127, 172-174,
271 f., 378, 383, 387, 408, 412 f., 418, 471,
510 f., 528
M. b. Y a ., Z ayn -al-'A bidin al-M unaw i 281
M. b. Ya'-qub, a. l-'A b b as al-A sam ni 528
M. b. Ya'-qub, Badr-ad-din b. a n-N ah w iyah V I
M. b. Ya'-qub al-F iruzabadi, M ajd-ad-din
al-L u gaw i as-Sirazi 417, 423, 459, 476, 481,
487,
535 , 603
M. b. Y a 'q u b al-H alili 405
M. b. Y a 'q u b al-Janadi 288, 306, 471, 484 f,,
I^ldn 140
M. b. Y a 'q u b al-K ulini 324
M. b. Y a z d a d ; 'A l. b. M. b. Y a zd a d
M. b. Y a z id b. M ajah /'/an 14 1
M. b. Y a zid , al-M ubarrad 356, 388, 502 f.,
510,
515, 528
M. b. Y u ., a. 'A l. al-BirzM i 525
M. b. Y u ., B a h a -ad-diu a l-B a 'u n i 409
M. b. Y u . a l-F a ryab i 519
M. b. Y u . al-Firabri 595
M. b. Y u ., a. 1-H, al-'A n iiri 360
M. b. Y u ., a. H ayy a n 350, 452, 454, 461, 516,
585 f., 607
M. b. Y ii b. M asdi 442, 452
M. b. Y u . au-N aw fali 596
M. b. Y u ., a. 1-Q. al-M adaui (Madini) alH aiiafi 293, 463
M. b. Y u . b. as-Saffi 608
M. b. Y ii., a. 'U . al-K in d i 162, 395, 414,
418, 427, 4 3 5 , 478 f., 510 f.
M. b. Y u . al-W arraq 168, 460

M.

b. Y u . b. Y a 'q u b : M. b. Y a 'q u b
al-Janadi
M. b. Zakariya^ a. B akr ar-R azi 194, 408, 509
M. b. Zakariya^ a l-(ja lla b i 429, 509
b. al-M uhandis: 'A l. b. M.
b. al-M uhanna: A . b. M.
al-M uhasibi: al-H arit b. A sad
al-M uhassin b. 'A li at-T an u lji 71
al-M uhassin b. Ibr. as-Sabi 499
b. M uhibb-ad-din: M. b. 'A l,, a. B akr
M uhibb-ad-din b. as-5 ihnah; M. b. M.
M uhibb-ad-din a t-T ab ari: A. b. 'A l.
b. M uhibb-ad-din a t-T ab ari: M. b. A .,
Jam al-ad-din
al-M uhibbi: M. al-A m in b. F adlallah
b. M uhriz: A . b. M.
a. M uhriz al-M aliki 609
al-M uhtadi 275
b. al-M uhtadi b i-llah : M. b. 'A ll, a. 1-Hu.
al-M uhtar b. al-H . b. B u tlan 171
al-M uhtar b. a. 'U b a y d a l-K ad d a b 517
al-M u 'izz li-din-Allah 407
M ujahid (b. Jab r, b. Ju b ayr) IHdn 136
b. M ujalid 473
M ujam m i' b. Y a 'q u b b. M ujam m i' al-A nsari
276
b. M ukarram : M.
al-M u ktafi 108, 505
b. al-M ulaqqin: 'U . b. 'A li
b. a. M ulaykah : 'A l. b. 'U b a y d a lla h
b. M unabbih: H am m am
b. M unabbih: W ahb
b. al-M unadi: A. b. J a 'fa r
b. al-M unadi, a. J a 'fa r 589
al-M unajjid, Salah-ad-din 5, 96, 156, 334,
392,
418, 432, 434, 468 f., 487, 532
b. al-M unajjim : A. b. 'A li, a. 'Isa
b. al-M unajjim : A . b. Y a .
al-M unajjim : 'A li b. Y a .
b. al-M unajjim ; H arun b. 'AH
b. al-M unajjim al-Misri 453
al-M unaw i: M. b. Ibr., Sadr-ad-din
al-M unaw i: M. b. Y a ., Z ayn -al-'A b id in
al-M unaw i: Y a , b, M., Saraf-ad-din
b. al-M unayyir: A . b. M.
al-M undir b. Ma^-as-sama 387
Mundir b. S a'id 607
al-M undiri: 'A b d -a l-'A z im b. 'A b d -al-Q aw i
b. al-M undiri: M. b. 'A b d -al-A zim
M u nis, Hu. 419
b. al-M unla 156
b. al-M untab 592
al-M untasir 123
al-M uqaddam b. 'A m r, H am m am 388
al-M uqaddam i: M. b. A.
b. al-M u qaffa': 'A l.
M uqatil 565
b. al-Muqri^: Ism. b. a. Bakr
b. al-Muqri^ 449, 453 (see also M. b. Ibr.,
a. Bakr)
R o sen th al,

641

al-M uqtadir 48, 407, 413, 462, 486, 541

b. al-M urabit; M. b. 'U tm an , a. 'A n ir
al-M uradi: Q ays b. M aksuh
al-M uradi: a r-R ab i' b. Su.
al-M uradi: U b a y y
Murrah b. Sarahil 382
al-Mursi, a. l-'A b b a s 608
al-M ursidi: M. b. Ibr., Jam al-ad-din
al-M urtada; 'A li b. al-H u. b. Miisa
b. al-M urtada: al-H adi (b.) Ibr.
b. al-M urtada: Z a yd b. H 4sim
M urtada az-Zabidi [T a j al-'-arus) 484
M usa: Moses
b. M usa: M. b. Mus4 , Jam al-ad-din alM arrakusi
a. Musa a l-A s'ari: 'A l. b. Q ays
Musa b. 'Isa a l-K isra w i 93
a. Musa al-M adini: M. b. 'U .
Musa b. M., Q utb-ad-din al-Y u n in i 44, 51,
128,
393, 412, 423, 458, 490 f., 510
Musa b. M. a l-Y u su fi 499, 511
Musa b. 'U q b ah al-A sad i 69, 131 f., 393 f.,
515, 588
Musa b. Y u . b. Z a yya n ('A b d-al-W adid of
Tlem cen) 118
M us'ab b. 'A l. az-Z u b ayri 41, 379
M us'ab b. M., a. D arr al-M aliki 400, 588
al-M usabbihi: M. b. 'U b a yd a lla h
M us'ad, M. M. 106
al-M usarraf b. al-M urajja, a. 1-M a'ali alMaqdisi 469
M usarriq b. 'A l. al-H aiab i 444
al-M usawi ar-R ida, a. 1-H. 428
b. al-M u sayyab : S a 'id
al-M usayyab b. W adih 395
al-M u sayy a b i: M. b. Ishaq
a. Mushir: 'A b d -a l-A 'la
b. a. Muslim (?) 474
a. Muslim (al-H urasani) 137
Muslim b. a l-H ajjaj 276, 288, 303 f., 347,
355, 360, 363, 367 f., 416, 438, 447, 451,
500, 515, 521, 595, IHdn 141
Muslim b. I la lid az-Zanji I^ldn 136
al-Mustadi^ 596
M ustafa b. 'A l., H a jji H alifah 121, 146,
151 f., 168, 244, 288, 308, 356, 392, 402,
410, 424, 429, 433, 451, 4 5 7 , 461, 463,
465-467, 476, 481, 484, 488, 510, 530, 535,
599
al-M u stagfiri: J a 'fa r b. M., a. l-'A b b as
al-M usta'iu 507
al-M ustam li: Ibr. b. A ., a. Ishaq
al-M ustanjid 122
al-M ustansir 56, 58
al-M ustansir (of E gyp t) 414, 596
al-M ustansir (of Spain): al-H akam
al-M usta'sim 38, 58, 410, 453
al-M ustaw fi: H am dallah
b. al-M ustaw fi: al-M ubarak b. A ., a. 1-Barak^t
al-M ustazhir 82

H istory of Muslim Histriography

41

642

IN D EX OF PROPER NAMES

al-Mu'^tadid 48, 88, 104, 120, 174, 182, 408,

507, 509, 541 f., 595
al-M utahhar b. T ah ir al-M aqdisi 10, 92, 109 f.,
114, 136, 148, 179, 183, 202, 486
al-Mu^tainaii b. A . as-Saji 523
al-M u 'tam id 174
M u'tam ir b. Su. 395
al-M utanabbi 355, 609
b. al-M utanna 476
a. 1-M u tarrif: 'A r. b. M. b. F u tay s
M utarrif b. 'Isa al-G assani 465
al-M u tarrizi: N asir b. 'A b d -as-S ayyid
al-M uHasim 38, 51
al-M u 'tasim b. Sum adih (M. b. M a'a) 504
al-M utaw akkil 54, n o
b. a l-M u taw w aq : A li b. al-H . b. Fath
a l-M u taw w i'i: U. b. ^Ali, a. H afs
b. al-M u taw w i]; M. b. H am id
M u ta y y a n : M. b. Al.
al-M u 'tazz 507 f.
b. al-M u 'tazz: 'A l.
al-M uttaqi 489
al-M uw affaq 45
al-M uw affaq b. A ., a. 1-Mu^ayyad al-M akki
590
b. M uyassar: M. b. 'A li
al-Muzaffar (of the Yem en) 486
a. 1-M uzaffar (b.) a s-S a m 'in i; Mansur b. M.
a. 1-M uzaffar Tekes 38, 541
b. M u zih ir; A . b. 'A r.
al-M uzajjad: A . b. 'U .
al-M uzani: Ism. b. Y a .
M uzhir-ad-din a l-K asi 468
M yh rm ar, D. W . 364, 370
M zik, H . von 127, 413
N
an-N abigah: 'A l. b. Q ays
an-N ab titi: M. b. 'U .
a n -N ab titi; 'U . b. 'A li
an-N abulusi: H alid b. Y u ., a. 1-B aq a
b. an-N adim : M. b. Ishaq
an-N adr b. al-H arit 28 f.
an-N adr b. S u m a y l 510
N adw i, R. 'A . 334
N a fi' (m awla b. 'U .) 359, 363
N a fi' (Qur an reader) 581, IHdn 136
b. N afis (the elder) ( = 'A li b. M as'ud ?) 581
N afisah, as-S ayyidah 607
an -N ah a'i: 'A lq am ah b. Q ays
an -N ah a'i: al-A sw ad b. Y a zid
an -N ah a'i: Sarik b. 'A l.
b. N ah id: M.
an-N ahraw ali: M. b. A.
an-N ahsabi: 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. M.
an-N ahsabi: a. Turab
b. an-N ah w iyah : M. b. Y a 'q u b , Badr-ad-din
b. an-N ajast; A . b. 'A li
b. an-N aji: al-Q. b. 'Is^
N ajih, a. Ma'Sar 393

an-N ajiram i: Ibr. b. 'A l., a. Ishaq

b. an -N ajjar: M. b. J a 'fa r at-Tam im i
b. an -N ajjar: M. b. M ah m M
N ajm -ad-din b. F ah d : 'U . b. M.
N ajm i-Z an jam , M. 221
N allino, C. A. 470
N allino, M. 387
an-N am i: 'A r. b. 'A b d -a l-Jab b a r, a. N asr
al-F am i
N am rud: N im rod
an-N aqqa: M. b. 'A li, a. S a 'id
b. an-N aqqas: M. b. 'A li, a. Um^mah
an-N aqqas; M. b. al-H ., a. B a k r
an-N arsahi: M. b. J a 'fa r
an-N asafi: 'U . b. M.
an-N asa i: A . b. 'A li
an-N asaw i: A . b. M., a. l-'A b b a s
N asih-ad-din: 'A r. b. N ajm
an-N asir 410, 596
b. N asir: M. b. Nasir, a. 1-Fadl
an-N asir: M. b. Q ala un
N asir b. 'A b d -a s-S ay yid al-M utarrizi 272
N asir b. A, al-B iskri 438
b. N asir-ad-din: M. b. 'A l., am s-ad-din
an-N asiri: 'U tm an b. 'U ., 'A fif-ad -d in
N asr b. F ityan , a. 1-F ath 607
N asr b. Ibr. al-M aqdisi 592, 594
N asr b. M., a. 1-L a y t as-Sam arqandi 464
Nasr b. M uzahim al-M inqari 64
N asrallah b. M., D iy a -ad-din b. a l-A tir 180,
183, 288, 491
b. an-N asri: al-H . b. M aym un
N asw an b. S a'id 181
b. an -N attah : M. b. Salih b. Mihran
an-N aw aw i: Y a . b. Saraf
an-N aw fali: 'A li b. M.
an -N aw fali: M. b. Y u .
an-N aw fali, a. 1-H. ( = one of the preceding ?)
506
N azim , M. 321
N em oy, L. 398, 400
N eubauer, A . 139
Nicephoros Phocas 181
Nicholson, R. A. 430
N idar (Nudar) bint a. H ayy a n M. b. Y u . 454,
516
N iftaw a yh : Ibr. b. M. b. 'A ra fa h
N im rod (Namrud) 288
an-N isaburi: 'A b d -al-M alik b. M., a. S a 'd
an-N isaburi: a l-y a lifa h
an-N isaburi: al-H . b. al-M uzaffar
an-N isaburi: M. b. 'A l., al-H akim
N oah (Nuh) 261, 288, 387, 5 43, 563, 569-571,
580
N oldeke, T . 3, 11, 28
a. N u 'a y m : A. b. 'A l.
a. N u 'a y m ; al-F adl b. D u k ayn
a n -N u 'a ym i: A . b. al-Fadl
b. N ub atah : M. b. M., Sam s-ad -d in
N u fa y ' b. al-H arit, a. Bakrah a t-T a q afi 277

IN D E X OF PROPER NAMES
an -N u fayli: 'A l. b. M., a. J a 'fa r
N uh: N oah
N u 'm 323
b. an-N u'm an an-N u'm an i: M. b. Musa
an-N u'm an b. T a b it: a. H anifah
b. N u m a yr: M. b. 'A l.
b. N u q tah : M. b. 'A b d -a l-6 a n i
Nur-ad-din 125, 491, 544, 596, IHdn 138
a. Nuw^s 609
an -N uw ayri: A . b. 'A b d -al-W ah h ab
an-N uw ayri: M. b. Q.
N y k l, A . R. 181
O
Oberm ann, J. X V
Og 571
Oman, (W .) C. 10
Orosius 80 f.
O tto of Freising 15, 60
P
P aret, R. X V , 188-190
Pedersen, J. 425
P ellat, C. 36, 150, 291, 324, 391, 460
Peihs, H . 186
Perlm ann, M. 47
Perry, B . E . 186
Petersen, E. L. X V , 63, 131
P h ilb y, H . St. J. B . 125
PhiUps, C. H. X V
Photius 76
Pingree, D. i n
P in to, O. 411
P ir 'A ll al-H afiz 202
Pirenne, H. 77
P lato 114, 138, 507
Plessner, M. 31, 38, 116, 241
Pons Boigues, F. X V , 4, 155, 399, 401, 405,
418 f., 441 f-, 447, 459-461, 465 f-, 472 -474 ,
477, 521, 524
Pope, A . U. 176
Pope, M. H. I I
Popper, W . 256, 263, 326, 328, 499
P o rp h yry 78
Ptolem y 109, 507
Q
al-Q abbari: a. 1-Q. b. M ansur b. Y a .
Q abil: Cain
al-Q abisi: 'A li b. M.
al-Q addah: 'A l. b. M aym un
b. al-Q addah: 'A l. b. M. b. 'U m arah
al-Q addahi 275
al-Q adi a l-F M il al-B aysan i: 'A b d -ar-R ah im
b. 'A ll
b. Q adi Suhbah: a. B akr b. A ., Taqi-ad-diii
al-Q adiri: Ibr. b. 'A li, Burhan-ad-din
a l-Q M isi: A . b, M.
b. al-Q M isi: M. b. A.
a l-Q affal: M. b. 'A li
al-Q ahir 59

643

al-Q ahir; B a yb a rs az-Z&hir

al-Q a im 279
al-Q a im (Fatim id of N orthw estern Africa)
407
Q a itb a y a F A sra f 248, 409
b. al-Q alanisi: H am zah b. A sad
Qala^un al-M ansur 412
al-Q alqasandi: 'A b d -a l-K a rim b. 'A r.
al-Q alqasandi: A . b. 'A li, ih 4b-ad-din
al-Q alqasan di: a. B a k r b. M ., Taqi-ad-din
b. al-Q alyu bi: A . b. 'I s 4 , K a m 41-ad-din
a l-Q a'n ab i: 'A l. b. M aslam ah
al-Q an azi'i: 'A r. b. M arzuq, a. 1-M utarrif
b. Q a n i': 'A b d -a l-B a q i
Q araqus 44
b. al-Q arih: 'A ll b. Mansur
al-Q arr4b : I s M q b. Y a 'q u b
al-Q arrab: Ism. b. Ibr.
al-Q artajann i: H azim b. M. b. H azim
Q arun: K orah
b. (al-)Q.: 'A r.
b. al-Q. (b. A b i B a k r b. Z a yt^ r) 592 (read
b.
al-Q. : 'A r . ?)
al-Q . b. 'A li b. 'A sa k ir 468, 475, 603
Q. b. A sb a g 81, 382, 604
Q. al-H anafi: Q. b. Q utliibuga
al-Q. b. 'Isa b. an-N aji 306, 473
a. 1-Q. b. M ansur b. Y a . a l-Q a b b M 609
al-Q. b. M., 'A lam -ad-din (b.) a l-B irza li 86,
306, 452, 491 f., 513, 525, 528 f., 600, 604
Q. b. Q utlubuga al-H an afi 448, 534
Q. b. Sa'd^ n 474
al-Q . b, S allam , a. 'U b a y d 116, 122 f., 506,
519, 604
Q. b. T a b it b. H azm as-Saraqusti 400
al-Q. b. Y u ., 'A lam -ad-din at-T u jib i 516
al-Q assar; M. b. 'A b d -a l-'A z iz ag-SirSzi
b. Q assum : M. b. 'A l.
al-Q astallani: al-H . b. 'A tiq
al-Q astallan i: M. b. A . b. 'A li, Q utb-ad-din
Q atadah b. D i'am ah 284, 287, I^ldn 139
(b.) a l-Q a ti'i: M. b. A .
b. al-Q att& ': 'A li b. J a 'fa r
b. a l-Q attan : 'A li b. M., a. 1-H.
al-Q attan : M. b. A.
b. a l-Q a ttin : M. b. M ., Badr-ad-dIn
al-Q a tta n : M. b. Q aysar
al-Q attan : Y a . b. 'A y y a s
a l-Q attan : Y a . b. S a 'id
al-Q attan , a. 1-H. I^ldn 14 1
b. al-Q atu li 471
al-Q aw ariri: 'U b a y d a lla h b. 'U .
b. al-Q a w b a ': M. b. M.
al-Q ayati: M. b. 'A li
al-Q ayni: Ishaq b. Salam ah
a l-Q a yrati: Ibr. b. M., Burhan-ad-din
al-Q ayraw ani: 'A r. b. M., a. Zayd
al-Q ayraw ani: al-H . b. M. b. A.
al-Q ayraw ani: Ibr. b. al-Q. (b.) ar-R aqiq
al-Q ayraw ani: M. b. A ., a. l-'A ra b

644

IN D E X O F P R O P E R N A M E S
IN D E X OF P R O P E R N AM ES

Q ays b. al-H atim 318

Q ays b. Maksuh al-M uradi 528
b. al-Q ayyirn, a. 'A l. (b.) M. 480 ( = b.
Q ayyim al-Jaw ziyah ?)
b. Q ay y im a l-J aw ziyah : M. b. a. B akr
al-Q azw ini: M. b. A ., Jam al-ad-din
al-Q azw ini, a. 1-H, al-B agd ad i 608
al-Q ibabi; 'A r. b. ^U.
al-Q ifti: 'A li b. Y u .
b. (al-) Q irriyah: A y y u b b. Z ayd
Quatremfere, E . M. 148
b. al-Quba'^; M. b. M.
al-Q ubbasi: al-H . b. M. b. M ufarraj (?)
al-Q u d a'i: 'A l. b. Sahl
al-Q uda4 ; M. b. Salam ah
b. Q udam ah: 'A l. b. A ., M uw affaq-ad-dia
b, Q udam ah: 'A r. b. M.
b. Q udam ah: Ibr. b. 'A l.
b . Q udam ah: M. b. A . b. 'Abd-al-H ^di
b. Q udam ah; M. b. A ., a. 'U .
b. Q udam ah: Su. b. H am zah
Q udam ah b. J a 'fa r, a. 1-F araj 116 f., 272, 506,
543 fQudam ah b. M az'un al-Jum aW 424
b. al-Q uduri; A . b. M.
b. Q u fl: 'A li b. a. 1-Q.
al-Q um m i; H. b. M.
al-Q um m i: S a 'd b. 'A l.
al-Q urasi; 'A b d -a l-B a q i b. 'A bd -al-M ajid
al-Y am an i
al-Q urasi: 'A b d -al-Q ad ir b. M., M uhyi-ad-din
a l-Q u rtu b i: H alid b. S a 'id
al-Q urtubi, a. 'A l. 399
al-Q usayri: 'A b d -a l-K arim b. Hawazin
al-Q usayri: M. b. A . b. 'U .
al-Q usayri: M. b. S a 'id
al-Q usi: 'A b d -a l-6 a ffa r b. A.
Quss b. S a'id a h 400
Q usta b. L u q a 80
b. Q u ta yb ah : 'A l. b. Muslim
b. Q u tayb ah ; M. b. H.
Q u taybah b. S a'id 276, IHdn 142
Q utb-ad-din al-H alab i: 'A b d -a l-K arim b.
'A bd -an -N u r
b. Q utb-ad-din al-H alab i: M. b. 'A b d -alK arim , Taqi-ad-diu
Q utb-ad-din al-Q astallan i: M. b. A. b, 'A li
Qutb-ad-din al-Y u n in i: Musa b. M.
b. Q utlubuga: Q.
al-Q utrubulli: 'A l.
al-Q utrubulli: A . b. 'A l.
R
a r-R ab a'i: 'A li b. M. b. S u ja '
b. a. r-R a b i': A . b. M.
a r-R a b i' b. D a b u ' a l-F azari 387
a r-R ab i' b. H u taym 382
a. r-R a b i' a l-K a la 'i; Su. b, Musa
a r-R a b i' b. Su. al-Jizi 416 f.

a r-R a b i' b. Su. al-M uradi 416 f.

R a b i'a h a l-'A d a w iy ah 600
b. ar-R ab ib : al-H . b. M. b. A .
ar-R adi 48
a r-R ad i; M. b. al-H u., as-Sarif
b. a r-R a f'a h ; A . b. M.
b. R a fi': 'A m r
b. R a fi': M.
a r-R a fi'i: 'A b d -a l-K arim b. M., a. 1-Q.
a r-R a fi'i: M. b. 'A b d -a l-K arim , a. 1-Fadl
ar-R agib al-Isfah an i; al-H u. b. M.
b. R ah aw ayh : Ishaq b. Ibr,
a r-R a 'i: 'A b id b. al-H usayn
b. R a jab : 'A r. b. A ., Zayn-ad-din
R ajih b. al-H u. 444
R ajih b. Ism. al-A sadi 444
(b.) ar-R aq iq : Ibr. b. al-Q.
b. R aqiqah, Sa'd-ad-din 184
ar-R aq q i: M. b. A y y u b
a r-R as'a n i: 'A b d -a r-R azzaq b. R izqallah
ar-R asid (Harun) 49 f., 58, 139, 314, 529
ar-R asid b. az-Zubayr 82, 119, 128, 413, 462,
478 f., 503
Rasid-ad-din al-A dib 581 ( = 'A b d -az-Z ahir
b. N asw an, d. 649/1251-52 ?)
Rasid-ad-din F ad lallah 81, 105, 141, 147 f.,
176
ar-R asidi 598
ar-R asid i; M. b. 'A l.
b. R asiq: 'A r. b. M., a. 1-Q.
b. R asiq; al-H.
b. R aslan: A. b. al-H u., Sihab-ad-din
b. R aslan: 'U . b. Raslan al-B u lqin i
b . R asu l: al-A fdal
a. Raw h al-H araw i 483 (see also 'A b d -a lM u'izz b. M.)
(b.) a r-R aw w M , (b.) a. 1-Hayja^ 457
a r-R aym i; M. b. 'A l., Jam al-ad-din
ar-R azi: 'A r. b. a. H atim
ar-R azi: A. b. 'A l.
a r-R azi: A . b. M., a. Bakr
a r-R azi: 'A li b. M ujahid
a r-R azi: M. b. 'A l., a. 1-Hu.
ar-R azi: M. b. Idris, a. H atim
ar-R azi: M. b. Musa
ar-R azi: M. b. 'U ., Fahr-ad-din
a r-R azi: M. b. Z a k a riy a , a. B akr
a r-R azi: T am m am b. M., a. 1-Q.
ar-R azi; 'U b a y d a lla h b. 'A b d -a l-K arim , a.
Zu r'ah
R azin b. M u'aw iyah as-Saraqusti 476, 480
Renaud, H. J. P. 35
Rescher, O. 323, 370
Reynolds, B. 51, 114
R hodokanakis, N. 12 f., 23
R ibera, J. 4, 378
R ichter, G. X V , 114
R ichter, H. 15, 118, 336
b. R id w an ; 'A l. b. Y u ., a. 1-Q.
b. R id w an : 'A li

Ridw an b. M., Zayn-ad-din 282

a r-R ifa 'i; A . b. 'A li
Ritter, H. 35, 101, 128, 150, 241, 248, 277,
298, 306, 317, 330, 332, 348, 372, 387,
396, 405, 408, 412-414, 425, 430, 457 f-,
460,
472, 483, 491, 526
R itter, M. 118
ar-R iyasi: a l-'A b b a s b. (al-)Faraj
a r-R iyasi: M. b. Basir
Rizzitan o, U. 279
Robson, J. 218, 401
Ronianos 80
Rosenthal, E. I. J. 56
Rosenthal, F. 11, 15 f., 46, 48, 52, 58, 68,
71, 80, 87, 91-93, 102, 113 f., 116, 122,
126, 170, 174, 186, 220, 241 f., 253, 279,
303, 323 f-, 330, 350, 365, 370, 418, 446,
487, 507
Ross, E . D. 98, 121, 253
Rothstein, G. 139
a r-R u 'a y n i; 'A li b. M.
a r-R iidabari: M. b. 'A r., a. 1-Hu.
ar-R iidabari: A. b. M., a. 'A li
ar-R uh aw i: 'A b d -a l-Q M ir b. 'A l.
(b.) ar-R u m ayli; M aki b. 'A bd-as-Salain
R u pp , H . 9
b. R u sayd ; M. b. 'U .
b. R usd: M. b. A ., a. 1-W alid
R ustum 29
a r-R u ya n i: A . b. N asr

S a 'a d y a h Gaon 139

b. a s -S a "a r: al-M ubarak b. a. B a k r b.
H aradaii
b. S a b ' as-Sabti 402, 588
b. Sababah: M. b. al-H aytam
b. S a'b an , a. 1-Q. 450 [sec also M. b. al-Q .,
a. Ishaq)
Sab(a)tun: Z iya d b. 'A r.
Sabbab (al-'U sfu ri); H alifah b. H a v y a t
b. as-Sabbag: 'A b d -a s-S ayyid b, M., a. Nasr
b. as-Sabbag: 'A ll b. M.
b. as-Sabbag; 'A li b. 'XL, a. 1-H.
(b.) as-Sabbag: al-H . b. 'U .
Sabbiih, Ibr. 396, 465
as-Sabi^- H ilal b. al-Muhassin
a s-Sabi ; Ibr. b. H ilal
as-Sabi : M. b. HilM , G irs-an-ni'm ah
as-Sabi : M. b. Ishaq
as-Sabi^ al-M uhassin b. Ibr.
as-Sabi : T a b it b. Sinan
as-.^a'bi; 'A n iii b. Sarahil
as-Sa'b i, a. S a 'id 480
b. S a b 'in ; 'A b d -al-H aq q b. Ibr.
b. as-Sabiq; M. b. M., Jam al-ad-din
b. Sabiq: M. b. S a'd
as-Sabti: a l-'A b b a s (b.) M,, a. 1-Q.
as-Sabti; b. H am m ad, a. 'A l.
as-S ab ti; b. S a b '

645

as-Sabuni; Ism. b. 'A r., a. 'UtmAn

b. as-Sabuni: M. b. 'A li, Jam al-ad-din
Sacaqlizadeh (M. al-M ar'asi) 531
Sachau, E. X V f., 76, 7 8 f., 8 6 , 113, 124, 139,
173, 177, 221, 242, 271, 278, 282, 284, 287,
322, 369, 378, 381, 383 f., 395, 402, 517,
519
b. S a 'd : 'A l. b. al-H u.
a. S a 'd ; 'A b d -a l-K arim b. M.
a. S a 'd : 'A b d -al-M alik b. M.
b. S a 'd ; M.
S a 'd b. 'A l, al-Q um m i 432
S a 'd b, 'A li (b.) al-H aziri 424, 532,
S a 'd b. 'A ll b. M., a. 1-Q. az-Zanjani 523
S a 'd b. Janah 461
S a 'd b, M u'ad 279
S a 'd b. M. b. ad-D ayr! 325, 343 f.
S a 'd b. M. az-Zanjani: S a 'd b. 'A li b. M.
S a 'd b, a. W aqqas 382, 589
as-Sadafi: A. b. S a 'id b. H azm , a. 'U ,
as-Sadafi: M. b. al-H alaf
S a'd allah b. 'U . al-Isfarayin i 480
b. Sadan: al-H . b. A ., a. 'A li
b. S a'd an : al-H u. b. A.
b. S a 'd a n ; Q.
b. Sadaqah, a. B akr 467
Sadaqah b. al-Hu. al-H addad al-Faradi 83, 504
Sadaqah b. Mansur 272
b .S ad d ad ; M. b, 'A li b. Ibr.
b. Saddad: Y u . b. R a fi'
Saddad b. A w s I^ldn i 3 j
Sadeque, S. F. 412
as-Sadili; 'A li b. 'A l., a. 1-H.
as-Sadili: Hu. b. 'A li, Badr-ad-din
as-fiadili: M. b. 'A li, am s-ad-din
Sadruddin M. 175
b. S a'd u n ; M.
as-Sadusi 243
as-Sadusi; M u arrij b. 'A m r
as-Safadi; H alil b. A y b a k , Salah-ad-din
as-Saffah 529
as-Saffar: Ism. b. M.
b! as-Saffi: M. b. Y u .
as-Saffi: Yvi. b. A.
b. S a fi': A. b. Salih
S a fi' b. 'U . al-Jili 595
as-S a fi'i: M. b, Idris
as-Safraw i; M. b. 'A l., Saraf-ad-din
Safw an al-Asam m 439
as-Sagani: al-H . b. M., Radi-ad-din a.
1-F ad a'il
as-Sahaw i: M. b. 'A r.
as-Sahib: Ism. b. 'A b b a d
as-Sahid; M. b. A . b, Mahdi
b. as-fiahid; M. b. Ibr., Fath-ad-din
b. Sahin: 'I", b. A ., a. Hafs
b. Sahin, a, l-'A b b as 609
b. Sahl: a. l-.Asbag
Sahl b. Harun 504
Sahl b. S a 'd as-Sa'idi 379

646

IN D E X OF P R O P E R N AM ES

S ah l b. Zanjalah I^ldn 141

as-Sahm i: H am zah b. Y u ., a. 1-Q.
Sahnun ( A bd-as-Salam b. Sa'id) 600, I^ldn
140
b. Sahnun; M.
a-ahrastani; M. b. 'A b d -a l-K arim
a-Sahrazuri; M. b. Mahmud
Sahrdar b. Sira w ayh a d -D a y la m i 385, 483
b. Sah ryar, a. Ishaq 608
S ahrzad 51
as-S ah tiyan t; A y y u b
a s-S a h tiya n i: M. b. 'A l.
b. as-S a':: Alt b. A n jab
a. s-Saib al-M ahzum i 510
b. S a 'id : A . b. S a'id , a. l-'A b b a s al-M a'dani
b. S a 'id ; 'A li b. Musa
as-Sa'td (Artuqid) 596
S a'id b. 'A l., a. 1-H ayr ad-D ihli 500, 504, 525
S a'id b. A . al-A ndalusi 92, 535
S a 'id b. A sad al-U m aw i 427
S a 'id b. Aw s, a. Z a y d al-A nsari 504
S a'id b. Bir 147
S a'id b. al-B itriq: E u tychiu s
S 4 'id b. Fath u n 35
S a 'id b. al-H akam b. a. M aryam 478
S a 'id b. H M im a l-y a lid i 154, 482
S a'id b. 'Isa a l-A sja 'i 363
S a 'id b. Ju b ay r 517, 590, IHdn 136
S a 'id b. K a tir b. 'U fa y r 478, 501
S a 'id b. Mansur IHdn 136
S a 'id b. a. M aryam ; S a 'id b. al-H akam
S a 'id b. al-M usayyab 292, 334 f., 368, 381,
517,
600
S a'id b. Sallam 444
S a 'id b. Su. al-G afiqi 465
S a 'id b. 'U fa y r; S a 'id b. K a tir
S a 'id b. 'U tm an , a. 'A li b . as-Sakan 404, 436
S a'id b. Y a ., a. 'U tm an al-U m aw i 394, 504,
5 11, 588
a. S a 'id b. Y u n u s: 'A r. b. A.
S a 'id (b. Zayd) 589
as-S aji; al-M u tam an b. A.
as-Saji: Z a k a riy a b. Y a.
b. as-Sakan: S a 'id b. 'U tm an , a. 'A li
Sakir, M ahm ud M. 96, 392, 397, 427, 434, 441
as-S akk aki: Y u . b. a. B a k r
as-Sakuni 243
as-Sakuni: M. b. A. b. H alil, a. I-H attab
b. as-Salah: 'U tm an b. 'A r., a. 'A m r
S al4h-ad-din H alil b. A y b a k
Saiah-ad-din: H alil b. M.
S a l4h-ad-din (Y u . b. A y y u b ) 104 f., 107,
172 f., 175, 296, 4 11, 596, IHdn 138
S a la m a h : see also Salim ah
b. S alam ah; a. 1-Mahasin
S alam ah b. al-F ad l (ar-Razi) 394
Sal&mah a s-S a y y M al-M anbiji 348
as-Salam i 322
a s-S a lim i: 'A l. b. Musa
as-Sal^mi: M. b. N asir, a. 1-Fadl

S aliba, Jam il 34
Salibi, K . S. X V I , 57
a. S a lih : A . b. 'A bd-al-M alik
Salih b. A . al-H am adani 165, 168, 483
Salih b. A. b. H aiibal 446
Salih b. 'A li b. B u htu r 47
as-Salih b. al-K am il: A y y u b b. M.
Salih b. K aysan 63
Salih b. M., Jazarah 520, IHdn 142
Salih b. 'U ., 'A lam -ad-din al-B u lqin i 602,
604
Salih b. Y a . b. B u h tu r 47, 57, 121, 157 f.
S a lim a h : see also Salam ah
a. Salim ah (b. 'A r.) 379
Salim ah b. Dinar 379
S allam b. M iskin 369
as-Sallam i; see also as-Salam i
as-Sallam i: al-H u. b. A ., a. 'A li
Salm aw ayh 137
Sam : Shem
a. S a m a h ; 'A r. b. Ism.
(b.) as-Sam 'an i; 'A b d -a l-K arim b. M., a. S a 'd
(b.) as-Sam 'an i: 'A b d -a r-R ah im b. 'A b d -alK arim
(b.) as-Sam 'an i: Mansur b. M., a. 1-M uzaffar
as-Sam arqandi; N asr b. M., a. l-L a y t
as-Samaw^al b. Y a . al-M agribi 46 f., 53, 601
as-Sam hiidi: 'A li b. 'A l., N ur-ad-din
as-Sam i: M. b. al-Jahm
b. as-Sam m ak: 'U tm an b. A ., a. 'A m r
as-Sam m an; Ism. b. 'A li, a. S a 'd
5 ams-ad-din (brother of Jam al-ad-din alU stadar) 434
am s-ad-din b. N asir-ad-din: M. b. 'A l.
b. Sam urah; 'U . b. 'A li
Sanadi; Sindi
Sanchez Alonso, B. X I V
as-Sandubi, H. 305
b. as-Sani; A. b. M. b. Ishaq, a. B akr
S an jar ad-D aw adari 338
as-Sanji: M. b. H am daw ayh
S aqiq b. Salim ah, a. W a il 278
Saqr, A. 434, 529
.W a h b il b. S a'd 95
Sarahil (inscription) 19
as-Sarahsi; A. b. a t-T a yyib
as-Saraqusti; Q. b. T a b it b. Hazm
as-Saraqusti; R azin b. M u'aw iyah
as-Saraqusti: T a b it b. H azm
as-Sarif an-N assabah 475 ( = M. b. A s'a d
al-Jaw w ani ?)
as-fiarif ar-R ad i; M. b. al-H u.
as-Sarifini; Ibr. b. M., a. Ishaq
as-S ari'i: 'A r. b. M aki b. 'U tm an
S arik b. 'A l. a n -N ah a'i 439, IHdn 13Q (?)
as-fiarisi; A. b. 'A b d -al-M u min
as-fiarji a l-Y a m a n i: A. b. A. b. 'A b d -a l-L a tif
b. a-Sarqi; A . {or his brother, 'A l. ?) b. M.,
a.
Ham id
Sarqi b. Q utam i 504

647

IN D E X OF P R O P E R N AM ES

as-Sarraf, A. H. 58
as-Sarraj; J a 'fa r b. A.
a s-S a rra j: M. b. Ishaq, a. l-'A b b a s
as-Saruji; 'A li b. M. b. a. s-Surur
as-Saruji; M. b. 'A li b. A yb a k
b. S aryah : 'A b id
as-gasi; M. b. 'A li al-Q affal
b. Sasra: A. b. M., N ajm -ad-din
b. Sasra; al-H . b. H ib atallah, a. 1-M awahib
b. Sasra: M. b. M.
as-Satibi; M. b. 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. S a'a d ah
as-S atib i; M. b. Su. (b. M.) b. 'A bd -al-M alik
as-Satibi; M. b. Su. b. M. b. Su.
Sau vaget, J. X V I , 124, i 57, 444
S avign ac, R . 12 f.
b. a. a yb a h ; 'A l. b. M., a. B akr
b. a. S ayb a h : M. b. 'U tm an
as-Sayban i: M. b. al-H.
as-S ayb i; M. b. 'A li, Jam al-ad-din
as-Saydalani: Y u . b. A . b. ar-R uh ayl (?)
b. a. s-Sayf: M. b. Ism.
S a yf b. p i Y a z a n 188
S a y f b. M. al-H araw i 162
S a y f b. 'U . 188, 392, 515
Sayf-ad-daw lah 596
a. s-S ayh ; 'A l. b. M.
b. S ayh : A. b. M.
as-Saym ari; al-H u. b. 'A li
b. as-Sayrafi: 'A li b. D aw u d
b. as-Sayrafi: 'A li b. M unjib
a s-S a yyad al-M anbiji: Salam ah
a s -S a y y a l, Jam M -ad-din 5, 65, 116, 133, 147,
408
S a yyid , Fu^ad 5, 54, 78, 81, 248, 307, 334,
343, 460, 484 f., 501, 517
b. as-S ayyid 'A fif-ad -d in : M. b. M. b. (asSayyid ) 'A fif-ad-din
b. Sajo^id-an-nas; M. b. M.
Sbath , P. 48, 78, 137, 359, 422, 424
Scaliger, J. 90
S ch ach t, J. 63 f., 69, 75, 77, 13 1, 1 7 1, 245,
354 , 393, 452
Schaeder, H . H . 176
Schefer, C. 116
Scheidius, E. 290
Scheller, P. 15, 61
Schregle, G. 188 f.
Schreiner, M. 47
Schulz, Marie 15
S ch w a lly, F. 28, 360, 391, 509, 529
Selim 50, 1 7 5
Sellheim , R. 73, 322, 387, 422, 506
Sem seddin, M. X V I
S erjean t, R. B. 422, 484
Seth (Sit) 568-570
Seybold, C. F. 196, 277, 378
Sezgin, F u at 4, 88, 381
Shem (Sam) 58
Shotw ell, J. T . 9, 16
b. S ib at (S b a t): H am zah b, A.

S ib aw ayh : 'A m r b. 'U tm an

Sibaw ayh al-M isri; M. b. Musa b. 'A b d -al'A z iz
as-Sibli; M. b. 'A l.
as-Sibli, a. B akr 289
S ib t b. a l-'A ja m i: A . b. Ibr.
S ib t b. a l-'A ja m i: Ibr. b. M.
Sib t b. al-Jaw zi; Y u . b. Qizoglu
b. Sidah: 'A li b. Ism.
Siddiqi, M. Z. 162
b. Sihab az-Zuhri: M. b. Muslim
ihab-ad-din b. 'Im M -a d -d in : A. b. 'I m M
b. as-Sihnah: M. b. M., M uhibb-ad-din
as-Sijazi; M as'ud b. 'A li
as-Sijistani: M. b. T ah ir, a. Su.
as-Silafi: A . b. M.
as-fiim sati: M. b. 'A li
b. Sin a: al-Hu. b. 'A l.
Sinan b. T a b it b. Qurrah 48, 54, 78, 88, 104,
114, 504 f., 507, 541, 595 fa. s-Sindi; S u h a y l b. D akw an
Sindi al-W arraq 428
as-Sinhaji: a. l-'A ra b
as-Sirafi: al-H . b. 'A l.
Siraw ayh b. Sahrdar a d -D a y la m i 351, 385,

473 ,

483, 523

as-Sirazi; 'A b d -al-W ah h ab b. M. al-Fam !

as-Sirazi; 'A b d -al-W ah id b. S iyah
as-Sirazi;

H ib atallah

b.

'A b d -a l- W arit,

a.

i-Q-

as-Sirazi; Ibr. b. 'A li, a. Ishaq

as-Sirazi; Mahmud b. M as'ud
as-Sirazi; M. b. 'A b d -a l-'A ziz

as-vSirazi; b. Zarkub
as-Sirazi, M ajd-ad-din; M. b. Y a 'q u b
Firuzabadi
as-Sirazi, a. N asr 595
b. Sirin; M.
Siroyah b. H osraw b. H u rm uz 123

al-

S it; Seth

vSlane, McG. de 82-84, 175, 177, 283, 292,

315, 343, 381, 397, 400, 412, 423, 4 5 9 ,
462, 473, 483, 507, 532 f.
Sm ith, M argaret 368
Socrates 241
Solom on (Sulaym an) 123, 261, 290, 318,
385, 547 , 563, 574-576
Som ogyi, J. de X V I , 75, 144, 181, 503
Sourdel, D. 413
Sperber, J. 119, 122
Speyer, H. 27
Spies, O. 33, 109, 143 f., 148 f., 403, 414, 465
Spitaler, A. 421
Sporl, J. ro
Sprenger, A. 28, 188, 431, 453, 475
Spuler, B. X V I , 49, 75
Stam m ler, W . 31
Steinschneider, M. 35, 77, 140
Stern, S. M. 79 f., 126, 196, 469, 477, 490
Stinespring, W . F. 151

648

IN D E X OF P R O P E R N A M E S

S torey, C. A. X V I , 4, 7, 58, 146, 148, 161 f.,

180, 258, 458
S trzygow sk y, J. 178
S u 'a y b b. a. H am zah IHdn i j g
a -S u 'a y b i: M. b. A. b. S u 'a y b
S u 'b a h b. al-H ajjaj 517, 526 f., IHdn 139
as-Subayki: M. b. M ahfuz
as-Subki: 'A b d -al-W ah h ab b. 'A li, Taj-ad-din
as-Subki: A lt b. A b d -a l-K afi, Taqi-ad-dm
Sublet, J. 452
b. Sudah, 'A bd -as-Salam 5
a-gudi (?), a. 'A l. 585
as-Sufi; M. b. M, al-K an ji
S u fyan (b. S a'id ) at-T aw ri 276, 293, 518,
527,
590, 600, IHdn 137
Sufyan b. U ya yn ah 293, 3 11, 518, 526, 591,
600
S u h ayl b. D akw an, a. s-Sindi 277
as-Suhayli: 'A r. b. 'A l.
Suhaym ('Am ir) b. H afs, a. 1-Y aq zan 381
as-Suhraw ardi: 'A b d -al-Q ah ir b. 'A l., a.
n-N ajib
as-Suhraw ard!; 'U . b. M.
as-Suhraw ardi: Y a . b. H abas
b. g u j i '; 'A l i b . M.
a. S u ja '; M. b. 'A ll
a. S u ja ': M. b. al-H u.
u ja ' b, Paris ad-D uhli 523
as-Sukkari (?) 243
as-Sukkari; M. b. M aym un, a. Ham zah
as-Sulam i: 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. 'A bd-as-Salam ,
'Izz-ad-din
as-Sulam i; M. b. 'A l. b. a. 1-Fadl, araf-ad-din
as-Sulam i: M. b. al-Hu.
as-Sulam i (?), a. 'A m r 466
b. S u laym al-A sw ani: 'A l. b. A.
Su laym an : Solomon
Sulaym an the M agnificent 172
Su. b. 'A l., a. 1-H. az-Zanjan i 458
Su. b. 'A r. b. b in t Surahbil (Sarahbil) I^ldn
138
Su. b. A ., a. 1-Q. at-T ab aran i 335, 400, 403,
405,
453 f., 522, 588, 594, 600, IHdn 137
Su. b. 'A li b. 'A b d -as-S am i' 427
Su. b. a l-A s'at, a. D aw ud as-Sijistani 305,
360,
363, 401, 446 f., 520 f., 588, 595
Su. b. BilM P la n 136
Su. b. D aw ud, a. D a w M at-T ayalisi 518,
600
Su. b. Ila la f, a. 1-W alid a l-B a ji 414, 523,
I^ldn 140
Su. b. H am zah, Taqi-ad-din a. 1-Fadl alM aqdisi 600
Su. b. H assan b. J u lju l 54, 78, 81, 92, 94, i i i
Su. b. J a 'fa r al-Isnaw i 415
a. Su. al-M antiqi as-Sijistani: M. b. Tahir
Su. b. Mihran a l-A 'm a s 277, 362, 517, 591,
601, IHdn 139
Su. b. Musa, a. r-R a b i' a l-K a la 'i 396, 402, 587
Su. b. S ab S a. r-R a b i' as-Sabti: b. S ab '

Su. b. S a 'd (al-qudah) 413

Su. b. b in t Surahbil: Su. b. 'x\r.
as-Suli: M. b. Y a .
b. S u m a y ': M ahmud b. Ibr., a. 1-Q.
b. S u m a y ': Mahmud b. S u m a y ', a. 1-H.
as-Sum unni: A . b. M., Taqi-ad-din
Suraybah, Nur-ad-din 425, 435
S u rayh 591, 601
b. S a ra y j 279 {see also A. b. 'U . and 'U . b. A.)
as-Suri: G a y t b. 'A li
as-S u ri: M. b. 'A li, a. 'A l.
as-Suruti: 'A l. b. M. b. M andaw ayh
as-Susi: M. b. al-Jahm
as-Susi, a. l-'A b b 4s 425
Suter, H. 35, 251
b. S u w ayd : 'A l. b. 'A li
as-S u yu ti: 'A r. b. a. B akr, Jalal-ad-din

a t-T a 'a lib i: 'A bd-al-M alik b. M.

a t-T a 'a lib i: A. b. M. a t-T a 'la b i
at-T ab aran i: Su. b. A ., a. 1-Q.
a t-T ab ari: A. b. 'A l., Muhibb-ad-din
(b.) at-T ab ari: A. b. Sahh al-Misri
a t-T ab ari: 'A li b. M. b. 'A l. b. Hnwn
a t-T a b ari: 'A li b. Rabban
a t-T ab ari: M. b. A ., Jam al-ad-din b. M uhibbad-din
at-T ab ari: M. b. Jarir
a t-T ab ari: M. b. Salih, a. 1-H.
a t-T ab ari: T ah ir b. 'A l., a. t-T a y y ib
at-T ab b ah , M. R agib 268, 274, 444, 514
T a b it (b. Aslam) al-Bunani P la n 139
T a b it b. H azm as-Saraqusti 400, 588
T a b it b. Q. b. T a b it as-Saraqusti 400
T a b it b. Qurrah 104, 241, 541 f. (?)
T a b it b. Sinan b. T a b it b. Qurrah (as-Sabi^)
82, 122, 503, 541 f. (? ?)
T acitu s 67, lo i
at-T ad m u ri: Ishaq b. Ibr.
at-T aglib i: M. b. al-H arit
b. T agribirdi: Y u .
at-T ah an aw i 251, 378
a t-T ah aw i: A. b. M.
b. at-T ah h an : Y a . b. 'A li, a. 1-Q.
b. T ah ir: M. b. Tahir, a. 1-Fadl
b. a. T ah ir (Tayfur): A.
T ah ir b. 'A l., a. t-T a y y ib a t-T a b ari 279,
354,
415, 584
T ah ir b. H . b. 'U . b. H abib 455
T ah ir b. M ufaw w az al-M a'afiri as-fiatibi 523
T ah ir b. M., a. 1-M uzaffar al-Isfarayin i 65
T ah ir b. Y a. b. a. 1-H ayr al-'Im ran i 593
Taj-ad-diii b. M uham m ad 98
a t-T a k riti: 'A l. b. 'A li b. S u w ayd
a t-T a 'la b i: A . b. M.
a t-T a la q i: Ishaq b. Ibr.
Talas, A s'a d 38
b. T a lh ah : M.

649

IN D E X OF P R O P E R N A M E S

b. T alh ah , K am al-ad-din 399 {see also M. b.

Talhah)
a. TM ib (b. 'A bd-al-M uttalib) 161, 433
Tam im ad-D ari 122, 589
T a m im b. M. b. Tam im , a. J a 'fa r 600
Tam im b. Y u . b. Tasfin 312
at-Tam im i: 'A r. b. a. H^tim
at-Tam im i: M. b. A ., a. l-'A ra b
at-Tam im i: M. b. J a 'fa r
at-T am im i: M. b. al-Q ., a. 1-H.
a. T am m am (H abib b. Aws) 412
Tam m am b. 'Amir b. 'A lq a m a h 184
Tam m am b. M., a. 1-Q. a r-R azi 432, 522
at-T an afisi: 'A li b. M.
T an sar 290
at-T an u hi: 'A li b. M.
at-T an u hi; Ibr. b. A.
at-T an u hi: al-Muhassin b. 'A li
Taqi-ad-din b. b in t a l-A 'a z z: 'A r. b. 'A b d -alW ahhab
Taqi-ad-din b. D aq iq-al-'id : M. b. 'A li
Taqi-ad-din b. F ah d : M. b. M.
Taqi-ad-din al-F asi: M. b. A .
Taqi-ad-din al-Q alqasandi: a. B a k r b. M.
Taqi-ad-din b. T a y m iya h : A . b. 'A b d -alH alim
Taqizadeh, S. H . 251
a t-Tarabulu si: 'A li b. 'A l. b. M ahbub
T a ra f b. Ludan 47
a^ T arasu si: at-Tarsusi
b. T arh an , a. B akr al-B alh i 401, 513 f.
{see also M. b. 'A li b. Tarh an and M. b.
Tarhan at-Turki)
T a M h DimaSq: 'A li b. al-H ., a. 1-Q. b.
'A sa k ir
b. a t-T a rju m a n (i): M. b. al-H u.
at-T arsiisi: 'U tm an b. 'A l.
b. T asfin : Ibr."b. Y u .
b. T asfin : T am im b. Y u .
T a sk op riiza d eh : A . b. M ustafa
T a ta r az-Zahir 328, 412, 597
Tauer, F. 4, 175
Tamils (b. K aysan ) IHdn 140
T a w b ah (Y a. ?) b. 'A b d a l ('A b d a k ?) IHdn
141
at-T aw hidi: 'A li b. M., a. H ayy a n
b. T a w it at-T an ji, M. 72, 322
a. T a w r: Ibr. b. H alid
at-T aw ri: S u fyan
a t-T a y alisi: Hisam b. 'A bd -al-M alik, a. 1W aiid
a t-T a y alisi: Su. b. D aw ud, a. D aw ud
at-T a ym i: Ism. b. M., a. 1-Q.
b. T a y m iya h : 'A b d -a l-G an i b. M.
b. T a y m iya h : 'A bd -al-Q ah ir b. 'Abd-al-(^ani
b. T a y m iy a h : A . b. 'A b d -al-H alim , Taqi-addin
b. T a y m iya h : M. b. al-Q.
T aym u r, A. 277
T a y iim a rt 386

b. a. T a y y : Y a .
b. a. t - T a y y ib : 'A li b. 'A l.
a. t-T a y y ib : Tahir b. 'A l.
T B : A. b. 'A li, a. B a k r al-H atib al-B agd ad i
Teres, E. 465
Them istius 46
Theodem ir i i g
Theophanes 76
Theophilus of Edessa 76
T hucydides 120
at-T ibi: al-H u. b. 'A l,
at-T ibrizi: Ism. b. al-M utanna
a t-T ibrizi: M. b. 'A L , al-H atib
at-Tifasi: A . b. Y u .
Tim ur (Tamerlane) 414, 597
at-Tinnisi: 'A li b. B adr
b. a t-T iq ta q a : M. b. 'A li
a t-T irm id i: M. b. 'A li, al-H akim
a t-T irm id i: M. b. 'Isa , a. 'I s a
at-Tirm idi: M. b. Ism ., a. Ism.
T ogan , A . Zeki V elidi X V I , 201
Tornberg, C. J. 50, 116, 127, 312
b. T u g ril; 'U . b. A y y u b
T u grilbek 177
a t-T u jib i: 'A tiq b. H alaf
a t-T u jib i: al-Q. b. Y u ., 'A lam -ad-din
T u la ym a t, 'A bd -al-Q ad ir A . 55, 154
b. T u lu n : A .
b. T iilu n : M.
a. T u m ay la h : Y a . b. W adih
a. T u ra b an-N ahsabi 340
at-Turk(u)m ani: 'A li b. 'Utm ^n
at-T u rtu si: M. b. al-W alid
a t-T u si: al-H . b. M.
a t-T u si: b. Masruq
at-Tiisi: M. b. al-H.
a t-T u sta ri: Ishaq b. M.
b. at-T u yu ri: al-M ubarak b. 'A b d -al-Jab b ar
a t-T u zari: 'U . b. M., Fahr-ad-din
T y a n , E. 362
U
'U b M a h b. as-Sam it 517, IHdn 137
'U b a y d : 'A b id '
a. 'U b a y d : al-Q. b. Sallam
'U b a y d b. M. al-Is'ird i 525, 595
'U b a y d b. 'U m a y r 384
'U b a y d , A . 217
a. 'U b a y d a h : M a'm ar b. al-M utanna
'U b a yd a h (b. 'A m r) IHdn 139
a l-'U b a y d a li: A. b. M uhanna
'U b a yd a lla h b. 'A l. b. H urradadbih 84, 486,
505
'U b a yd a lla h b. 'A b d -a l-K arim , a. Z u r'ah
ar-R azi 395, 400, 436, 520, 588, IHdn 14 1
'U b a yd a lla h b. A . b. H urradadbih; 'U b a y d
allah b. 'A l.
'U b a yd a lla h b. A . b. a. Tahir (Tayfur) 81,
153, 462
'U b a yd a lla h b. 'A lt b. al-M aristaniyah 463

650

IN D E X

IN D E X OF P R O P E R N A M E S

U b ayd allah b. al-H u. b. 'A ll b. al-Hu. b. "All

b.
a. T a lib 475
^Ubaydallah b. Jibrtl b. B u h tisu ' 79
U baydallah b. M. b. 'A^isah 505
U b aydallah b. ^U. al-Q aw ariri 520
U b aydallah b. Z iya d 529
U b a y y al-M uradi 528
b. a. 'U d a y b a h ; A. b. M.
al-U dfuw i: J a 'fa r b . T a 'la b (?), K am al-ad-din
a l-'U d ri: A . b. U., a. l-'A b b as
b. U ht 'Isa b. F arruhansah: M. b. al-Hu.
'U k asah , T a rw a t 515
b. 'U la y y a h ; Ism. b. Ibr.
U lu g h a n i253
a. Um^mah b. an-N aqqa: M. b. 'A ll
b. 'U . : 'A l. b. 'U . b. a l-H attab
U. b. ^Al. ('Ubaydallah) az-Zahraw i 472
b Abd-al-'^Aziz 294, 410, 590
'U . b. A ., a. H afs b. Sahin 404, 435
'U . b. A ., a. H azim a l-'A b d a w i 522
U. b. A ., a. 1-Q. K am al-ad-dm b. a. Ja rM ah
b. a l-'A d im 48, 78, 98, 107, 122, 125 f.,
151, 158, 170 f., 174 f-, 277, 399. 412, 429,
4 4 3, 4 4 5 , 452 f., 4 5 7, 465 i-, 482, 492, 525,
532,
541 f-, 544 f-, 583, 589, 597
'U . b. A . b. S u rayj 279
'U . b. 'A ll, a. H afs al-M u taw w i'i al-A dib
414 f., 584
'U . b. 'A ll b. al-M ulaqqin 414 f., 426, 449,
584, 5 9 3, 5 9 5, 603
'U . b. 'A ll an-N abtitt 604, 608
'U . b. 'AH b. Sam urah 484 f.
'U . b. 'A ll, Siraj-ad-din a l-B azzar 598
'U . a l-'A rab i: 'U . b. M. b. M as'ud
'U . b. A y y u b b. T u gril as-SayyM 588, 607
'U . b. al-A zraq, a. H afs 429
'U . b. F ah d ; 'U . b. M N ajm -ad-din
'U . b. al-F arid 369, 604
'U . b. al-H ajib, 'Izz-ad -d in al-A m ini 452, 468
'U . b. H arun IHdn 142
'U . (b. al-H attab ) 13, 47, 251, 253, 272, 282,
321, 360, 379-384, 386, 389, 406, 517,
534, 551, 5 5 4, 5 7 3, 589.
138
'U . b. al-H u., a. 1-H attab b. D ihyah 339 f.,
589
'U . b. a l-y id r 469
a. 'U . al-K in d i: M. b. Y u .
'U . b. M. b. B ahir IHdn 142
'U . b. M. b. M as'u d a l-'A ra b i 604
'U . b. M., N ajm -ad-din b. F ahd 316, 320,
419-421, 429, 434, 440, 444 f., 452, 455,
463,
475 f-, 480 f., 483, 496, 500, 506, 526
'U . b. M. an-N asafi 470
'U . b. M. as-Suhraw ardi 239
'U . b. M. b. Y u . al-K in d t 478
'U . b. Raslan al-B u lqm i 604
'U . b. Sabbah 162, 462, 473, 475, 480, 506
'U . b. Sahl ad-D in aw an IHdn 14 1
'U m arah b. 'A lt al-H akam i 173, 315, 469
'U m arah b. Ju w ayn , a. H^run a l-'A b d i 517

'U m arah b. W atim ah 72, 191, 506

'U m arah b. Z ayd 403, 504 {identity ?)
al-'U m ari: A. b. Y a . b. Fadlallah
al-'U m ari, A k ram D . 72
al-U m aw i: H alid b. Hiam
al-U m aw i: S a 'id b. A sad
al-U m aw i: S a 'id b. Y a ., a. 'U tm an
U m ayya h 407
U m ay y a h b. 'A l. b. 'A m r ('U .) b. 'U tm a n 444
a l-'U q a y li: M. b. 'A m r, a. J a 'fa r
b. 'U q b a h ; Musa
b. 'U q d a h ; A. b. M., a. l-'A b b a s
'U rfu d(t)ah 191
a l-U rm aw i; 'A l. b, Y u . b. Y u n u s
'U rw a h b. az-Zu b ayr 6g, 103 f., 395
b. a. U sam ah: al-H arit (b. M.)
U sam ah b. M unqid 173, 282, 305, 365
U sam ah b. Z ayd 335, 346
b. a. U s a y b i'a h : A . b. al-Q.
a l-'U sfu ri: H alifah b. ^ layyat
a l-'U ta q i: M. b. 'A l.
b. 'U tb a h ; A. b. 'A li b. 'In a b ah
b. 'U tb a h : M. b. 'A l. ('U bayd allah )
a l-'U tb i: M. b. "Al. b. 'U tb a h
a l-'U tb i: M. b. 'A b d -al-Jab b ar, a. N asr
'U tm an b. 'A l. a l-'Ira q i 430
'U t m in b. 'A l. at-Tarsusi 126, 545
'U tm a n b. 'A r., a. 'A m r b. as-Salah 274,
276, 283, 302, 415, 448, 492, 514, 525,
584, 594
'U tm an (b. 'A ffan ) 29, 65, 119, 278, 382,
406,
534 , 573, 589 f'U tm M b. A ., a. 'A m r b. as-Sam m ak 599
'Utm An b. al-H attab , a. d -dun ya al-A sajj 352
'U tm a n b. 'I s a a l-B a la ti (B u layti) 428 f.
'U tm 4n b. 'I s a b. DarbSs al-M arani 397, 587
'U tm a n b. M., Fahr-ad-din at-T u zari 588 f.
'U tm ^n b. S a'id , a. 'A m r ad-D ani 420, IHdn
140
'U tm a n b. S a 'id ad-D arim i 431, 446
'U tm a n b. 'U ., 'A fif-ad -d in an-N asiri 434
'U tm an b. 'U . b. al-H ^jib 315
a l-'U tm a n i: M. b. 'A r.
al-'U tm ^ ni, a. 1-Q. 405
'U w a y m ir b. Z a y d (a. d -D ard a ) 324
al-U w aysi: 'A b d -a l-'A ziz b. 'A l.
b. 'U y a y n a h : Sufyan
V

V ad et, J.-C. 399

V ajd a, G. 257, 328, 422, 441, 464, 634
V eccia Vaglieri, L. 64
V itestam , G . 431
Vollers, K . 97
V oorhoeve, P. 269, 458
Vossius, G. J. 61
W

b. W ad d ah : A. b. Maslamah
b. W ad d ah : M.

OF P R O P E R N A M E S

651

152, 165, 250, 277 f., 281 f., 316 f., 322,
b. W ad ih : A.
334, 361, 363, 394, 398, 400 f., 404, 408,
b. W ad ih ; A . b. a. Y a 'q iib a l-Y a 'q u b i
413 f., 417, 424, 431, 4 3 5 , 442, 446, 448,
al-W adiyasi 604
450, 4 5 3 , 461-463, 468-471, 473-475, 482,
W agner, F. 42
487, 501, 520, 523 f.
a. W ah b 545
a. W ah b az-Zahid 609
b. W ah b : 'A l.
a l-Y M i'i: 'A l. b. A s'a d , 'A fif-ad-din
W ah b b. M unabbih 9 1, 123, 187, 335, 510,
Yagbe^a S eyon 119
563 f., IHdn 140
al-Y agm u ri: Y u . b. A .
W ahb b. W ah b, a. 1-B a^ tari 401, 588
Y a h ia , Osm an 430
a. W a il: Saqiq b. Salim ah
Y a . b. 'A l. b. ad-D ahh ak a l-B a b lu tti 362
W a k i': M. b. H alaf b. H ayya n , a. B a k r
Y a . b. 'A b d -a l-'A z im al-Jazzar 163
W a k i' b. al-Jarrah 363
Y a . b. 'A b d -al-W ah h ab , a. Z a k a riya b.
W ali-ad-din (b.) a l-'Ira q i: A . b. 'A b d -arM andah 283, 406, 459, 594 f.
R ahim
Y a . b. 'A b d a l ('A b d a k ?): T aw b ah
al-W alid b. 'A b d -a l-'A z iz b. A b an 444
Y a . b. A d am 116
al-W alid b. 'A b d -al-M alik I ^ldn 140
Y a . [b. 'A d i !] an-N ahw i 77 (see loan nes
a l-W alid b. al-H u. = S arqi b. Q u tim i (?)
Philoponus)
al-W alid b. M uslim al-Q urasi ad-D im asqi 395
Y a . b. A k ta m 281 f.
a. 1-W alid a t-T a yalisi: H isam b. 'A b d -alY a . b. 'A li al-M a'arri 272
M alik
Y a . b. 'A ll, a. 1-Q. b. a t-Jah h an 450, 477, 533
W angelin, H . 188
Y a . b. 'A li, Rasid(-ad-din) a l-'A tt^ r 450-452,
al-W aqid i: M. b. 'U .
525, 592
b. W arah : M. b. Muslim
Y a . b. 'A y y a s al-Q attan 358
W araqah 192
Y a . b. A y y u b (al-Misri) IHdn 138
al-W aratin i: A sad b. H am d aw ayh
a. Y a . b. a. B a k r b. 'A sim i 5o
al-W arraq: M. b. Y u .
Y a . b. H abas as-Suhraw ardi 355
al-W arraq: Sindi
Y a . b. H akam a l-6 a z a l 181
W arton, T . 197
Y a . b. H alid al-B arm aki 314
b. W asil: M. b. S ^ ih
Y a . b. al-H . al-H asani al-'A law i (al-Hasimi)
al-W asiti: A . b. B a h tiya r b. al-M anda i
475
a l-W asiti: H alaf b. M.
Y a . b. al-H u. b. a l-B itriq 431
al-W asiti: al-H . b. 'A li
Y a . b. M a'in 341-343, 35, 362, 393 , 43 ^,
al-W asiti: Ibr. b. Musa
446, 449, 519, 526 f., 608
al-W asiti: M. b. A .
Y a . b. al-M ubarak a l-Y a zid i 510 f.
al-W asiti: M. b. al-H .
Y a . b. M. b. 'A b b a d b. H an i 394
al-Wassa^: M. b. Ishaq ( = M. b. A. b. Ishaq)
Y a . b. M. ad-D am sisi 248
b. al-Wasa^: W atim ah b. Miisa b. al-F u rat
Y a . b. M. b. H aldun 586
al-W assaf: 'A l. b. F adlallah
Y a . b. M. b. H u b ayrah 608
W atim ah b. Musa b. a l-F u ra t b. al-Wassa^
Y a . b. M ., araf-ad-din al-M unawi 281
404,
510 f.
Y a . b. M., Taqi-ad-din (b.) al-K irm an i 587
a l-W atiq 275
Y a . b. M. b. Y u . al-A nsari al-G arn a ti 410 f.
a l-W a tw a t: M. b. Ibr. a l-K u tu b i
Y a . b. M ujahid al-Ilbiri 608
al-W aziri: al-H . b. M.
Y a . b. Musa, H a tt IHdn 142
W eisw eiler, M. 329, 445, 451, 468
Y a . an-N ahw i: loan nes Philoponus
W eitzm ann, K . 176
Y a . b. a r-R ab i' a l-'A b d i 590
W ensinck, A . J. 127, 201, 274 (and Concor
Y a . b. S a 'id a l-A n ta k i 138
dance passim)
Y a . b. S a 'id al-Q attan 342, 518, 527
W h ittin g, C. E. J. 56
Y a . b. S araf, M uhyi-ad-din a. Z a k a riy a
b. W h jan (?) 461
an-N aw aw i 277 f., 281 f., 302 f., 334, 3 37,
W idengren, G. 19
341, 346 f., 353 f., 359, 396, 405, 415, 417,
W iener, A. 413
448,
450, 456, 483, 584, 5 9 4 , 607
W iet, G. 124
Y a . b. a. T a y y H u m ayd 50, 431
W illiam of M alm esbury 336
Y a . b. a. U naysah 363
W illiam of T yre 196
Y a . b. W ad ih , a. T u m ayla h IHdn 142
W in der, R . B . 56
Y a . b. Y a . (b. K a tir al-Andalusi) 519, IHdn
W itte k , P. 152
140
W olfson, H. A . 256
Y a . b. Y a . (a. Z a k a riy a an-Nisaburi) 519,
W righ t, W . 58, 356, 388, 529
IHdn 141
W iistenfeld, F. X V I , 3, 29, 72, 83, 122, 126,

653

IN D E X O F P R O P E R N A M E S

652

IN D E X OF P R O P E R N A M E S

Y a . b. Y a 'm u r (Y a'm ar) iH dn 142

a. Y a 4 a: A. b. 'A li b. al-M utauna
a. Y a 'la ; al-H alil b. 'A l.
a. Y a 'la : M. b. al-H u.
b. a. Y a ^ a : M. b. M.
Y a 'la b. U m ayyah 381
Y a ltk a y a , Serefettin 530
al-Y am am i: A. b. M. b. 'U .
a. 1-Y am an : al-H akam b. N afi'
al-Y a m a iii: 'A b d -a l-B aq i b. ^Abd-al-Majid
a l-Y a iu an i: M. b. al-H u.
a l-Y a q tin i: A. b. M., a. B akr
Y a 'q u b ; Jacob
Y a 'q u b b. Ibr., a. Y u . 116, 327, 464, 591
Y a 'q u b b. Ishaq, a. 'A w an ah al-Isfarayini
310, 416
Y a 'q u b b. Ishaq a l-K in d i 32, 89
Y a 'q u b b. a l-L a y t as-Saffar 507
Y a 'q u b b. Su fyan al-F asaw i 43, 72, 392, 406,
4 5 3,
501, 510
a l-Y a 'q iib i; A. b. a. Y a 'q u b
Y a q u t (b. 'A l. al-H am aw i) 29, 43, 45, 4 9 !.,
54 f., 65, 68, 71-73, 8 2 !., 89, 105-107, 126,
152, 174, 183, 250, 256, 272, 282, 284, 286,
321 f., 350, 403-405, 4 11, 413 f-, 419 f-,
422-424, 427-429, 4 3 5 , 4 4 6 !., 4 5 3 , 457-4 5 9 ,
461-463, 465-471, 473-475, 477, 482-484,
486 f., 502-504, 506, 510 f., 514, 516,
518, 524, 528, 535
a. 1-Y aq zan : Su haym ('Am ir) b. Hafs
Y a s b a k min M ahdi 'A zim -ad-daw lah, adD aw adar 329
Y a s b a k {min Salm an Sah) al-M u a yy a d i
ad-D aw adar 328
b. Y asin A. b. M.
b. Y a z d a d ; 'A l. b. M.
Y a z d ja rd 386
Y a z d ja rd b. M ahbundad (Mahmandar) alK israw i 153
Y a z id b. H arun 518, 608
Y azid b. M., a. Z a k a riy a al-A zd i 121, 153 f.,
482,
545
al-Y a zid i; M. b. a l-'A bb as
a l-Y a zid i: Y a . b. al-M ubarak
a l-Y a zu ri: al-H . b. 'A li b. 'A r.
Y ehu d ah hal-Lew i 355
Y oh an n an bar P en kaye 26
Y u m n 74
a. 1-Y um n b. 'A sa k ir: 'A bd -as-Sam ad b.
'A b d -al-W ah hab
a l-Y u n in i: 'A l. b. 'A b d -a l-'A z iz
al-Y u n in i: 'A li b. M.
al-Y u n in i: Musa b. M., Q utb-ad-din
b. Y u n us: 'A r. b. A ., a. S a'id
Y u n u s b. 'A b d -a l-A 'la 416
Y u n us b. B u k a y r 394
Y u n u s b. M ugit (Y unus b. M. b. Mugit) 608
Y ijn u s b. M. al-Mu^addib 274 f.
Y im us (b. 'U b a y d ['A b id ?] al-Basri) IHan i j g
Y u n us b. Y a z id 395

a. 1-Y u sr: Ism. b. Ibr.

Y u su f: Joseph
a. Y i i . : Y a 'q u b b. Ibr.
Y u . b. 'A l., a. 'U . b. 'A b d -a l-B arr 29, 32,
253, 293, 311, 324, 326, 348, 350, 359,
364,
366, 396, 404 f., 434, 436, 448, 466,
495, 523, 587, 592, 607, I'-ldn 140
Y u . b. 'A l., a. 1-W alid b. ad -D abb ag 421 f., 501
Y u . b. 'A r. al-M izzi 275 f., 278, 367, 374,
393, 396, 415, 438, 44 7 , 515, 525, 608,
/'/an 138
Y u . b. A ., a. 1-Mahasin al-Y agm u ri adD im asqi 322, 422, 467
Y u . b. A . b. a r-R u h ayl as-Saydalani 590, 592
Y u . b. A . as-Saffi 608
Y ii. b. 'A ll, Sadid-ad-din a l-K azaru n i (?) 410
Y u . b. 'A ll az-Zanjani 354
Y ii. b. A y y u b : Salah-ad-din
Y u . b. a. B a k r as-Sakkaki 250, 531
Y ii. b. al-F adl a l-Y ah u d i al-H ayb ari 78
Y u . b. H alil ( = the follow ing ?) 598, 601
Y u . b. H alil ad-D im asqi 524
Y ii. b. Ibr. (b. ad-D ayah) 80, 409, 510
Y u . b. M. az-Zahir, a. H asim 56
Y ii. b. M utahhar, Sadid-ad-din (?) 410
Y ii. b. Q izoglu, a. 1-M uzaffar Sib t b. al-Jaw zi
45, 109, 146, 272, 284, 288, 301, 345, 378 f.,
381, 383, 385 f-, 393 , 490, 510, 515, 531,
564,
569, 590
Y u . b. R a fi' b. S ad d M 104, 173, 596
Y ii. b. Sahin (grandson of Ibn H ajar) 445
Y u . b. Tagrib irdi 256, 326, 328, 499, 510
Y ii. b. Y a . a l-B u w ay ti 281, 416
Y ii. b. Y a . al-M agam i 592
a l-Y u su fi: Miisa b. M.

b. Z abalah; M. b. al-H.
az-Zabidi: M. b. 'A li b. al-M u addin
a z-Z a b id i: M urtada
b. Zabr; 'A l. b. A ., a. M.
b. Zabr: M. b. 'A l., a. Su.
a z-Z a 'fa ra n i: al-H . b. M.
Zafir b. H. (al-Hu.) al-A zdi 411
b. az-ZagCmi: 'A li b. 'U b a yd a lla h , a. 1-H.
az-Zahir: Barquq
az-Zahir: Caqm aq
az-Zahir: H usqadam
az-Zahir: T a tar
Zahir-ad-din: al-M ar'asi
Zahir-ad-din al-K azariin i: 'A li b. M.
b. az-Zahiri: A. b. M., Jam al-ad-din
az-Zahraw i: 'U . b. 'A l. ('U bayd allah )
Z a k a riy a : Zechariah
a. Z a k a riya a l-A zd i: Y a z id b. M.
Z a k a riy a b. Y a . as-Saji 152, 436, 593
Zaki-ad-din al-M undiri: 'A b d -a l-'A zim b.
'A b d -al-Q aw i
Zalim b. 'A m r: a. 1-Asw ad ad -D u ali
az-Zam aM ari: M ahmiid b. 'U ., a. 1-Q.

Zam baur, E. de 35
az-Zam in : M. b. (al-)M utanna, a. Miisa
b. a z - Z a n i l a k a n i : M. b. 'A li, K am al-ad-diii
a s-Z an jan i: S a 'd b. 'A li b. M.
az-Zanj& ni: Su. b. 'A l. b. a. 1-H.
a z-Z a n ja n i: Y u . b. 'A li
as-Z anji: M uslim b. H alid
b. a. Z a r': 'A li b. 'A L
az-Zarandi: 'A l. b. A.
b. Zarkub-i-Sirazi 162
az-Z arrad: 'A li b. al-H u.
a z - Z a w a w i : 'I s a b. M as'ud
Z a y d 254, 555
b. a. Z a y d : 'A l.
b. Z a yd : A, b. M., Sihab-ad-din al-H au bali
a. Z a yd ; A . b. Sahl
Z a y d b. 'A li 103, 590
Z a y d b. H asim al-M urtada al-H asani 165, 481
Z a y d b. a. U naysah 363
Z ayn -al-'A b id in al-M unaw i; M. b. Y a .
Z ayn -ad-din; 'A r. b. A .
Z a y n - a d - d i n ; a. B akr b . al-H u.
Zayn-ad-din: Ridw an b . M.
Zayn-ad-din a l-'Ira q i; 'A b d -ar-R ah im b. alHu.
b. Z a y y a n : Musa b. Y u .
Zechariah (Zakariya^) 563
Ziadeh, F . J. 329
Zir Zalim 190
Z iy a d b. 'A l. a l-B a k k a i 394

Z iyad b. 'A t ., Sab(a)tun 600

Ziyadah, M. M ustafa X V I , 5, 147, 432
az-Ziyadi; al-H . b. 'U tm an , a. Hassan
Zoroaster 161
Zotenberg, H. 114, 142, 179
az-Z u b ayd i: M. b. al-H u. (al-H.)
az-Z u b ayr (father of 'U rw ah ) 395
b. az-Z u b ayr: 'A l.
b. az-Z u b ayr: A . b. Ibr.
az-Zu b ayr b. B a k k a r; 45, 96, 99, 392, 418,
427,
4 3 4 , 441, 4 7 5 , 480, 503, 591
Z u h a y rb . al-'Ala^ a l-'A b si 406
Zuh ayr b. H arb, a. H a yta m a h 519
b. Zu h ayrah : 'Abd-'^al-Basit ('U .)

b.

M.

az-Zayni
b. Z u h ayrah ; M. b. 'A L , Jam al-ad-din
az-Zuhri 276 (?)
az-Zuhri; 'A L b. 'A r .
az-Zuhri: Ibr. b. S a 'd
az-Zuhri: Ishaq b. Jarir
az-Zuhri: M. b. M uslim b. Sihab
b. Ziilaq: al-H . b. Ibr.
az-Z u layh i (?) 472
a. Z u r'a h ad-D im asqi: 'A r . b. 'A m r
a. Z u r'a h ad-D im asqi; M. b. 'U tm a n
a. Z u r'ah (b.) a l-'Ira q i: A . b. 'A b d -ar-R ah im ,
W ali-ad-din
a. Z u r'ah ar-R azi; 'U b a y d a lla h b. 'A b d -alK arim
b. Z u ra yq ; M. b. a. B akr