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(1) His life is given by Ibn Khallikân. (2) See vol. I. page 28, note (3).

(3) His life will be found farther on.

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ABD AS-SAMAD IBN ALI AL-HASHIMI.

Abû Muhammad Abd as-Samad al-Hashimi (a descendant from Hâshim, Muhammad's great-grandfather), was the son of Ali Ibn Abd Allah Ibn al-Abbâs Ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The hâfiz Abû 'l-Faraj Ibn al-Jauzi mentions, in his work entitled Shuzur al-Okud, some strange particularities relative to this person. "He was born,” says he, "A.H. 104 (A.D. 722-3), and his brother Muhammad “Ibn Ali, the father of (the khalifs) as-Saffàh and al-Mansûr, came into the world "A.H. 60 (A.D. 679-80); there was thus an interval of forty-four years between "the births of each. Abd as-Samad died A. H. 185 (A. D. 801), and Muhammad, A. H. 126 (A. D. 743-4); their deaths were thus separated by a period "of fifty-nine years. In the year 50 (A. D. 670-1), Yazid the son of Moawia “made the pilgrimage, and in the year 150 (A. D. 767-8) Abd as-Samad led the pilgrim caravan to Mekka, yet they were both in the same degree of descent “from Abd Manâf; Yazîd being the son of Moawia, the son of Abû Sofyân Sakhr, the son of Harb, the son of Omaiya, the son of Abd Shams, the son " of Abd Manâf; and Abd as-Samad being the son of Ali, the son of Abd Allah, "the son of al-Abbas, the son of al-Muttalib, the son of Hàshim, the son of Abd "Manâf: whence it appears that in their respective genealogies five links inter"vened between each of them and Abd Manâf. Abd as-Samad witnessed the reigns of as-Saffâh and al-Mansûr, who were both the sons of his brother; "he then lived to see the reign of al-Mahdi, to whose father he was paternal "uncle; then the reign of al-Hâdi, whose grandfather was his nephew; and he "died in the reign of ar-Rashid. He said one day to this last khalif: 'Com"mander of the faithful! in this assembly there are a commander of the faith"ful, a commander of the faithful's paternal uncle, the paternal uncle of a "commander of the faithful's paternal uncle, and the paternal uncle of one

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was a paternal uncle to a paternal uncle of a commander of the faithful.'

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"And this was the fact, for Sulaimân, the son of Abû Jaafar (al-Mansûr) was "uncle to ar-Rashid, and al-Abbâs was uncle to Sulaimân and Abd as-Samad 66 was uncle to al-Abbas. He died without having cast his first teeth, and "those of the lower jaw were united into one mass." It is stated by Ibn Jarir at-Tabari, in his History, that Abd as-Samad was born in the month of Rajab, A. H. 106 (Nov.-Dec. A. D. 724), and that he died in the month of the latter Jumâda, A. H. 175 (October, A. D. 791); another historian says that his death took place at Baghdad, and some persons place his birth in A. H. 109, or 105, at al-Humaima (1), a town situated in the country called the Balkà. His mother was the Katira in whose praise Obaid Allah Ibn Kais ar-Rukaiyât (2) composed his kasida, which begins thus:

The sight of Kathira renews his joy (3).

Abd as-Samad became blind towards the end of his life. We shall give the life of his father Ali and his brother Muhammad.

(1) This is probably the Amaime of Berghaus's map of Syria; it is placed at about twenty-five miles to the north-east of Akaba, and about forty to the south of Petra.

(2) See page 55 of this volume, note (14).

(3) This hemistich is incorrectly given in all the manuscripts except the autograph. The true reading is:

عاد له من كثيرة الطرب

IBN BABAK THE POET.

Abû 'l-Kåsim Abd as-Samad Ibn Mansûr Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Babak was a poet noted for the quantity and the excellence of his productions. I have seen his collected poetical works in three volumes. The cast of his poetry is peculiarly pleasing, and the eulogistic pieces addressed by him to the great men of the numerous countries which he visited were retributed in the most generous The following passages may give an idea of his style :

manner.

A graceful nymph, gifted by nature with the sweetest charms, came to visit me with trembling steps, whilst the Pleiades were rising and still hesitating in their career.

As

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she dispelled the shades of night (with the light of her beauty), I exclaimed: "Is it the eye of the morning which openeth, or a sunbeam darting through the cloud?" She drew near, glancing magic from her eyes, and trembling like a gazelle which crops its food in the lonely desert. During the darkness of that night,, which spread over us the softest folds of its mantle, we partook of the purple liquor till the constellation of the Eagle began to sink towards the horizon. We shared a wine which bore on its surface bubbles like the drops from a lover's wounded heart, or like the tears from a love-struck suitor's eyes. When we mixed it with water (1), it rose in revolving circlets, which trembled like the eyes of a virgin when the veil which conceals her features is torn away. That liquor is accustomed to take away the reason, and it seems to hold mastery over the thoughts deposited (2) in men's hearts. We passed the night in secret joy; our mutual love stood revealed and our long-hidden passion was disclosed. But towards the hour in which the kata (3) that has outstripped its fellows returns from the spring where it took its morning draught,-at the time in which the plaintive doves take refuge in the branches, she withdrew, vanquished by wine, and as her faltering tongue refused its office, she bade me adieu with her hand.

My dearest friends! mix for us a cup of wine, and let its brightness dispel the shades of night from around us. Let the bubbles spark on its surface, so that I tremble lest they burn my companion when he intends to drink. And then let none deny that the sun has set in my friend's mouth, for the radiance of his cheeks will give them the lie.

One of his kasidas contains a remarkably tender verse; it is this:

The zephyr swept by me, and sighed so tenderly, that it seemed to have heard me as I complained of my sufferings.

This poet died at Baghdad, A. H. 440 (A. D. 1019-20).

(1) The autograph has ☺, and the other manuscripts, when poured out.

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(3) The kata is a sort of grouse which frequents the desert. Every night they fly to the nearest source, which is often at a great distance, and fill their crops with water which they bring back early in the morning to their young. In many Arabic proverbs, allusion is made to the habits of this bird; see M. de Sacy's Chrestomathie, t. II. p. 368, and t. III. 416, 507. Dr. Russel gives a description of it in the History of Aleppo; it is the tetrao alchata of Linnæus.

VOL. II.

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his sect.

ABU 'L-MAHASIN AR-RUYANI.

Abû 'l-Mahasin Abd al-Wâhid Ibn Ismail Ibn Ahmad Ibn Muhammad arRûyani, a Shafite jurisconsult, was one of the most eminent men of his age as a dogmatic theologian, a controvertist, and a teacher of the doctrines peculiar to He took lessons from Abû Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Bayân [Ibn Muhammad] al-Kâzrûni (vol. I. page 377), and from Abù 'l-Husain Abd al-Ghâfir Ibn Muhammad al-Farisi at Maiyafàrikin; the traditional knowledge which he had received was transmitted through Zâhir Ibn Tâhir as-Shahhàmi (1) and others to the following generation. The highest respect and veneration were shown to him in the country (where the Seljuks ruled), and the vizir Nizâm alMulk honoured him with special favour on account of his eminent merit. After residing for some time in Bokhara, he proceeded to Ghazna and Naisapûr, where he frequented the society of the learned, and attended the conferences presided by Nasir al-Marwazi (see vol. I. p. 606). He then drew up a taalika (2) composed of the observations made by that doctor, and he learned Traditions also. A college was founded by him at Amul in Tabaristân, and he subsequently proceeded to Rai, where he filled the functions of a professor. From thence he went to Ispahân and made dictations (3) in the principal mosque. Some instructive works were composed by him, such as the Bahr al-Mazhab (ocean of the doctrine, one of the most voluminous treatises which the Shafites possess on their jurisprudence; the Mandsis, or opinions pronounced by the imâm as-Shâfi on points of law; the Kafi (sufficient) (4), and the Hilyat al-Mumin (ornament of the true believer) (5): he wrote also some treatises on dogmatic theology and on controversy. It is related that he used to say: "Were all as-Shâfi's works burned, I 414" could dictate them from memory." The kâdi and hâfiz Abû Muhammad Abd Allah Ibn Yûsuf (6) makes mention of him in his Tabakât, or chronological biography, of the Shafite imâms: "Abû 'l-Mahâsin ar-Rûyâni," says he, “the pearl of the age and the imâm of jurisprudence." Notice is taken of him also by Abû Zakariya Yahya Ibn Manda (7). He taught the Traditions in different countries, and gave them on the authority of an immense number of persons from whom he had received them. His birth took place in the month of Zû 'lHijja, A. H. 445 (February, A. D. 1025). The hâfiz Abû Tâhir as-Silafi (vol. I.

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page 86) says: "We received intelligence that Abù 'l-Mahâsin ar-Rûyâni was "murdered at Amul in the month of Muharram, A. H. 502 (August-Sept. “A.D.1108), as he had just finished one of his dictations; he fell a victim to the "irritated spirit of sectarian fanaticism." It is mentioned too by Mamar Ibn Abd al-Wâhid Ibn Fâkhir (8), in the list of deaths extracted by him from Abû Saad as-Samani's (9) work, that ar-Rûyâni was slain by heretics (malâhid ) at Amul, and in the mosque, on Friday, the 11th of Muharram in the above-mentioned year.- Rûyani means belonging to Raydn, a city in Tabaristan which has produced many learned men.— Amûl is a city in the same region; we have already spoken of it (vol. I. page 647).

(1) Such is the true orthography of this name; not Shahami, as in vol. I. page 192.

(2, See page 28 of this volume.

(3) See vol. I. pages 29 and 212, note (1).

(4) This is a treatise on Shafite jurisprudence.

(5) This is also a work on jurisprudence.

(6) The kâdi Abu Muhammad Abd Allah Ibn Yusuf al-Jurjâni was a hafiz and a jurisconsult. He drew up a work on the merits of as-Shâfî, and another on the merits of the imâm Ahmad Ibn Hanbal. He composed also a Tabakåt of Shafite doctors. Born at Jurjân, A. H. 409 (A. D. 1018-9); died in Zû 'l-Kaada, A.H. 489 (Oct.-Nov. 1096).-(Tab. as-Shaf.)

(7) His life is given by our author.

(8) The hâfiz Abu Ahmad Mamar Ibn Abd al-Wâhid Ibn Fâkhir drew his descent from the tribe of Koraish and was a native of Ispahân. He was learned in the Traditions, and obtained great distinction as a preacher. His virtuous conduct procured him the utmost respect and consideration. He died at the age of seventy, on a journey to Hijâz, A.H. 564 (A.D. 1168-9).—(Nujûm. Al-Yâfi.)—This is certainly the same hafiz who is called Mamar as-Samani Abd al-Wahid, in the Tabakåt al-Huffâz; MS. of the Ducal Library at Gotha, of which we possess an edition lithographed by H. F. Wüstenfeld. The extreme incorrectness of this work for the names, the dates, and the facts, reduces its authority to a very low standard.

للحافظ ابی The true reading is (9)

AL-BABBAGHA.

Abû 'l-Faraj Abd al-Wâhid Ibn Nasr Ibn Muhammad al-Makhzumi (a member of the tribe of Makhzûm) is the poet who is generally known by the surname of

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