Page images
PDF
EPUB

brated scholastic theologian, a learned doctor and the son of a man of learning, was, like his father, one of the principal heads of the Motazilites: both of them 407 taught doctrines peculiar to that sect, and all the works on scholastic theology are filled with their opinions and systematic views. Abû Hâshim had a son called Abu Ali, who was quite a simpleton and knew nothing; he went one day into the presence of the Sahib Ibn Abbâd (see vol. I. page 212), who, imagining that he should be a person of some learning, received him politely and seated him in the place of honour: he then proposed to him a question, and obtained this reply: "I do not know even the half of all the science."-"True, my "son!" replied the Sahib, "and your father went away with the other "half.” The birth of Abu Hashim took place A. H. 247 (A. D. 861-2); he died at Baghdad on Wednesday, the 17th of Shaaban, A. H. 321 (August, A. D. 933), and was interred in the cemetery called the Bustân, or garden, which lies on the east bank of the river. The celebrated philologer Abû Bakr Muhammad Ibn Duraid died on the same day. We shall give the life of Muhammad, Abû Hashim's father.-Jubbai means native of Jubba, a village in the dependencies of Basra, which has given birth to a number of learned men (2).

(1) Here and in other places this name is written in the autograph.

(2) The author of the Mushtarik notices four places bearing the name of Jubba; one of them, a canton in Khuzestân, was, according to him and to the author of the Marâsid, the native place of Abû Hâshim alJubbai and of his father.

DIK AL-JINN.

The celebrated poet Abu Muhammad Abd as-Salam Ibn Raghbân Ibn Abd as-Salam Ibn Habib Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Raghban Ibn Zaid Ibn Tamim, a member of the tribe of Kalb and surnamed Dîk al-Jinn (1), was born at Emessa, but his family belonged to Salamiya. Tamim was the first of his ancestors who embraced Islamism; he made his profession of faith to Habib Ibn Maslama al

،،

،،

Fihri (2), when taken prisoner of war; and he then contested the pre-eminence of the Arabs, saying: "They have no advantage over us; we have turned ،، Moslims as they did." - Dik al-Jinn was one of the poets who flourished under the Abbaside dynasty; he always remained in Syria, and was never induced to derive profit from his poetical talents by travelling to Irak or other countries for the purpose of celebrating the praises of the great. In his religious opinions he was a moderate Shiite, and some elegies composed by him on the death of al-Husain are still extant. His conduct was disorderly and licentious, being so strongly addicted to pleasure and amusements, that he wasted all his patrimony. His poetry is the acme of perfection (3). The following anecdote is related by Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Malik az-Zubaidi: “We "were sitting with Dik al-Jinn when a youth came in and recited to him some ،، verses of his composition, on which Dik al-Jinn drew from under his prayingcarpet a large roll of papers containing pieces of his own poetry, and gave "it to the young man, saying: 'Make use of this, my boy! and take it as a help when you compose verses.' The youth then withdrew, and we asked "who he was, to which Dik al-Jinn replied: "That boy is a native of Jàsim (4) "and he says that he belongs to the tribe of Tai; he is surnamed Abu Tam"mâm, and his name is Habib Ibn Aùs; he possesses instruction, intelligence, "and great natural abilities.' Az-Zubaidi says also that Dik al-Jinn outlived Abû Tammâm and composed an elegy on his death. The birth of Dîk alJinn took place A. H. 161 (A. D. 777-8), and his death in the reign of al-Mutawakkil, A. H. 235 (A. D. 849-50) or 236; he was then aged upwards of seventy years. When Abû Nuwâs passed through Emessa on his way to Egypt, where he intended reciting to al-Khasib (5) some poems which he had composed in his honour, Dik al-Jinn heard of his arrival and concealed himself through the apprehension of betraying to him his own relative inferiority as a poet. He was at home when Abû Nuwâs knocked at the door and asked admission, but the maid answered that her master was not within. Abû Nuwàs immediately perceived the motive which prevented him from appearing, and said to her: "Tell him to come forth, for he has thrown the people of Irak into ecstasy ،، with this verse of his

، A rosy liquor, received from the hand of a gazelle-like nymph, who seemed to have 'extracted it from her cheeks and then passed it round.'”

When Dik al-Jinn heard the message, he went forth to meet Abû Nuwâs and received him as his guest.-This verse is taken from the following piece:

Fear no reproach (6), but bring here the wine; let water remove its intoxicating qua- 408 lities, and let our morning draughts be protracted till the hour comes for passing round the evening cup. Dispel every care from one who is burdened with affliction; at the very mention of that wine, the eyes shrink from its brightness. Arise! bear it quickly round in a cup of no puny size! nay, pour it out in all its strength and purity. She rose with a glass, brilliant and sparkling so as nearly to burn her hand; she must have taken the refulgence of her own bright forehead or of the sun to form therewith that dazzling goblet. Throughout that day our hands shed the blood of the winecup (7), but the wine revenged itself upon our legs; a rosy liquor, received from the hand of a gazelle-like nymph, who seemed to have extracted it from her cheeks and then passed it round.

It is mentioned by al-Jihshiàri (8) in his History of the Vizirs that the Habib Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Raghbân of the genealogy given above, was a katib under the khalif al-Mansûr, and the president of the Donation Office (9); he was still living, by that writer's account, in the year 143 (A. D. 760-1). He adds that Dik al-Jinn the poet was one of his descendants, and that the Mosque of Ibn Raghban at Baghdad was named after him. This Habib, says he again, was a mawla to Habib Ibn Maslama al-Fihri. I may here add some remarks: Habib Ibn Maslama al-Fihri (of the tribe of Koraish) was one of Moawia's favourite officers, having rendered him signal service at the battle of Siffin. Moawia, when his authority was firmly established, dispatched Habib on a mission of importance, and when the latter was leaving the palace, he was met by al-Hasan, the son of (the khalif) Ali, who said to him: "It may be, O Habib! that the journey you are about to undertake is an act of rebellion against God.". "no means," retorted Habib; "I am not going to join your father." "rather," replied al-Hasan," that you conform to Moawia's humours because "he enjoys prosperity; but the more he has exalted you in the world, the "more he has weakened your religious principles; and though you act foully, you should at least speak fairly; then we might apply to you these words of "God's: And others acknowledge their crimes, who had mixed a good with an evil "deed (10); but, unfortunately, you are as those of whom God said: Say rather, "that their sinful deeds have choked up their hearts!" (14). This Habib bore the surname of Abû Abd ar-Rahmân; he was appointed governor of Armenia by Moawia, and he died there A. H. 42 (A. D. 662-3), before reaching his fiftieth

66

66

66

By

"Say,

409

year.—Dik al-Jinn had a slave-girl called Dunya, of whom he was passionately fond, but having suspected her of improper conduct with Wasif, his slave-boy, he put her to death; an act of which he afterwards repented. He then composed numerous poems expressive of the love he bore her, and one of these pieces is as follows :

O bunch of dates! destruction has fallen upon thee (12). With thy blood I have watered the earth, yet how often did my lips absorb from thine the draught of love. I gave my sword power over the circuit of her neck (13), and my tears now flow upon her cheeks. By the merits of her sandals I declare that nothing ever trod on the sands, dearer to me than her sandals. I did not slay her (through insensibility), for I could never avoid weeping when the dust fell upon her face (14) ; but I was unwilling that another should love her, and I could not bear that the boy should cast his eyes on her.

In another of those pieces he says:

She visited my couch after her burial, and I bestowed lengthened kisses on that neck which was adorned by its grace alone. And I said: "Joy of my eyes! thou "hast been sent to me at last! but how was that possible, since the way from the tomb "is ever closed ?" She answered: "There my bones are deposited, the sport of worms and the other offspring of the earth, but this is my spirit come to visit thee; "such are the visits paid by those who are entombed."

66

The following verses also were composed by him on her; but some say that she herself made them on the death of her son Raghbân:

O thou for whom I should sacrifice my father's life! I have abandoned thee in the wide desert and shrouded thy face with the dust of the earth! O thou whom, after all my care, I have given over to corruption, and left there, to support my absence either with impatience or indifference! were I able to look on and watch the progress of corruption, I should have left thy face uncovered, not entombed.

His writings abound with fine ideas. We have spoken of Salamiya in the life of al-Mahdi Obaid Allah.

(1) Dik al-Jinn means the cock of the genii; he was so called, according to Abû 'l-Faraj al-Ispahâni, because he was very ugly and had green eyes.-(Mirdat az-Zamân, No. 640, fol. 222.)

(2) Habib Ibn Maslima was appointed to the government of Kinnisrin (near Aleppo) by Abû Obaida the Moslim conqueror of Syria. This was in A. H. 15 (A.D. 636-7).-See Freytag's Hist. Halebi, and Price's Retrospect, vol. I. page 84.

(3) From the extracts given farther on, it would appear that Ibn Khallikân was not hard to be pleased.

(4) See vol. I. page 352.

(5) See vol. I. page 392.

معذول The right reading is (6)

[ocr errors]

(7) Literally: We passed that day with the breath (or life) of the cup panting by our hands.

66

(8) "Abu Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Abdûs al-Jihshîâri; a katib, an historian, and a writer of epistles. He is the author of a history of the vizirs, a work entitled Mizan as-Shier (the balance for poetry).' The author of the Fihrist from which we extract this short notice (see fol. 174) wrote A. H. 377. Al-Jihshiâri was probably still living when these lines were penned. Hadji Khalifa says that he was a native of Kufa (see his bibliographical dictionary under the word Mizan), but he appears not to have known the date of his death.

(9) The Moslim troops when in actual service received pay, but under the title of a donation; it was furnished to them, at regular intervals, by the Donation Office (Diwân al-Atâ).

(10) Koran, surat 9, verse 103.

(11) Koran, surat 83, verse 14.

(12) Literally: O spathe of the date-tree! death has climbed up to thee and gathered for thee with its hands the fruit of destruction.

خناق The autograph has (13)

(14) Her face was so delicate that an atom of dust would have hurt her.

ABU 'L-KASIM AD-DARIKI.

Abu 'l-Kasim Abd al-Aziz Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Aziz ad-Dâraki ranks among the greatest of the Shâfite doctors; and his father was held to be the chief traditionist of Ispahân for the age in which he lived. Abû 'l-Kâsim settled at Naisapûr, A. H. 353 (A. D. 964), and during some years he professed the science of jurisprudence in that city, after which he removed to Baghdad, where he continued to reside till his death. He studied the law under Abû Ishak al-Marwazi (vol. I. page 7), and was Abû Hâmid al-Isfâraini's master in that science after the death of Abû 'l-Hasan Ibn al-Marzubân. Most of the shaikhs at Baghdad, and a number of persons from other countries, attended his lessons. On his first arrival there, he commenced by teaching in the Mosque of Dalaj Ibn Ahmad (1), situated in the street of Abû Khalaf, in the Grant of ar-Rabi (2); he opened a class also in the great mosque for the discussion of points of law and the instruction of pupils who aspired to the rank of mufti. The place of head-professor of the Shafite doctrines at Baghdad then

VOL. II.

18

« PreviousContinue »