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the rain would be found less copious. Behold that learned divine who used to receive us with an open and smiling countenance; with that look of pleasure which, to a visitor, was the best of welcomes. Death may tread him under foot, but his vast 455 learning has spread abroad to distant climes. O thou who wert the pillar of the faith! may the clouds of heaven shed a copious shower, each morning, on thy tomb. Thou hast left us in affliction, and the news of this misfortune has reached all mankind-has the news of their desolation at length reached thee? Thy instructive lessons gave new life to (as-Shafi) Ibn Idris, and at (the beauty of) their composition, intelligence and reflexion stood amazed. He who was so fortunate as to note them down, possesses now a flambeau of unfading brightness. The obscurities of jurisprudence, elucidated by thy words, are like the foreheads of brown horses marked with a white star. Did I know thy equal, I should invoke him and exclaim: "The age is impoverished and "requires succour from thy riches (12).”

(1) The Arabic word is muid; it corresponds in some degree to the French répétiteur. The muids were chosen by the professor among his most advanced scholars, and their duty was to instruct the junior pupils and make them repeat their lesson till they knew it by heart. See M. de Sacy's Abd Allatif, p. 439. (2) He means to say that a legal opinion formed from analogical deductions must yield to the authority of a genuine Tradition. See Introduction to vol. I. page xxvi.

(3) The surname of Aba't-Tahir may be written indifferently with or without the article.

(4) See Matthew's Mishkat, vol. I. p. 63.

(5) Muhammad gave repeated injunctions that no person should curse or speak ill of his companions. See Mishkat, vol. II. p. 747 et seq

(6) A sort of backgammon. See Hyde's Historia Nerdiludii in his treatise de Ludis Orientalibus.

(7) This is not usual in fatwas or in letters.

8) Koran, surat 49, verse 12.

(9) Literally : Of the people of the truth.

(10) Koran, surat 9, verse 105.

(11) Abû Tâlib al-Husain az-Zainabi, the Hanifite doctor, surnamed Nûr al-Huda (light of the direction), died A.H. 512 (A.D. 1118-9)-(Al-Yai.)

شرواه In this verse I follow the printed text and the later MSS., but the autograph has (12)

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If this reading be adopted, the sense is: "Our age requires a man like him."

THE HAFIZ ABU 'L-HASAN AL-MAKDISI.

Abù 'l-Hasan Ali, the son of al-Anjab Abû 'l-Makàrim al-Mufaddal Ibn Abi 'l Hasan Ali Ibn Abi 'l-Ghaith Mufarrij Ibn Hâtim Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Jaafar Ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Hasan al-Lakhmi al-Makdisi (a member of the tribe of Lakhm and

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sprung from a family belonging to Jerusalem), was an eminent doctor of the Malikite sect, and a hafiz of the highest reputation for his learning in the Traditions and the sciences connected with them. Alexandria was the place of his birth and residence. When the hâfiz as-Silafi settled in that city, Abû 'l-Hasan al-Makdisi became his disciple and profited greatly under his tuition; such was also the case with our learned master Zaki ad-din Abd al-Azim al-Mundiri (vol. I. p. 89), who completed his education under the same hâfiz. Al-Mundiri spoke of his condisciple as a person of great talent and holiness of life; he recited to me numerous pieces of verse composed by him, such as those which follow:

I have now passed my sixtieth year, and must declare that the happiest of my days. were mixed with affliction. Visitors ask me how I am?-Judge what is the state of him who has settled in (a spot which is always) a field of battle!

O my soul! hold firm by the doctrines transmitted from the best of prophets, from his companions and his Tabis. When thou hast used thy efforts in propagating his religion, thou mayest perhaps be perfumed with the sweet odour of that pious work. To-morrow, on the day of reckoning, when the fires of hell shall rage intensely, fear lest thou becomest a prisoner there.

There are three b's which torment us, bakk (bugs), burguth (fleas), and barghash (gnats); the three fiercest species of created beings, and I know not which is the worst.

There was a maid with rosy lips, whose kiss gave new life to him whom she saluted; wine mixed with musk seemed to be contained within them. I tasted not her lips, but I state the fact on good authority; I learned it from the toothpick which had been with herself.

This is now a common idea, having been rendered familiar to us by the verses of the ancients and the moderns. It is thus that Bashshår Ibn Burd says in one his pieces:

O thou whose lips are the sweetest in the world! not that I have made the test, but the evidence of the toothpicks suffices.

And al-Abiwardi says in one of his poems:

Her companions told me that they learned from the toothpick of arak-wood that her lips were sweet.

The hafiz al-Makdisi was deputy-hâkim (1) at Alexandria, and professed in that city at the college which bears his name; he then removed to Cairo and continued, till his death, to fill the place of professor in the Sahibiya college, founded by the vizir Safi 'd-din Abû Muhammad Abd Allah Ibn Ali, better known by the surname of Ibn Shukr (2). He was born at Alexandria on the eve of Saturday, the 24th of Zû 'l-Kaada, A.H. 544 (March, A.D. 1450), and he died at Cairo on Friday, the first of Shaabân, A. H. 611 (December, A.D. 1214). — His father al-Kàdi 'l-Anjab (the most noble kâdi) Abû 'l-Makârim al-Mufaddal died in the month of Rajab, A. H. 584 (Aug.-Sept. A. D. 1188); he was born A. H. 503 (A.D. 1409-10).-Makdisi means belonging to Bait al-Makdis (the House of the Holy Place, or Jerusalem).

(1) See page 188 of this volume, note (2).

(2) See vol. I. page 196, note (16).

SAIF AD-DIN AL-AAMIDI.

Abu 'l-Hasan Ali Ibn Abi Ali Ibn Muhammad Ibn Salim ath-Thâlabi (member of the tribe of Thâlaba and surnamed Saif ad-din (sword of the faith) al-Aamidi, was a dogmatic theologian. On commencing his studies, he went down to Baghdad, and as he belonged to the sect of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, he put himself under the tuition of the Hanbalite doctor Ibn al-Manni Abû 'l-Fath Nasr Ibn Fityân; but, after some time, he passed over to the sect of as Shâfi and attended the lessons of the shaikh Abû 'l-Kasim Ibn Fadlan (1), under whose direction he studied controversy and rose to distinction by his acquirements in that science. Having committed to memory the Tarika, or system of controversy, composed by the Sharif (2) and the Zawdid, or appendix to the controversial treatise of Asaad al-Mihani (3) (see vol. I. p. 189), he passed into Syria and studied the intellectual sciences with such success, that he was pronounced to be the most learned person of the age in these branches of knowledge. He then removed to Egypt and occupied the post of under-tutor in the college situated in the lesser

Karafa cemetery, near the tomb of the imâm as-Shâfi. He then became professor in the mosque at Cairo, called al-Jâmî as-Zâfiri, and his increased reputation attracted numerous pupils. The successful results of his tuition excited at length the jealousy of some native jurisconsults, who formed a party against him, and accused him of heterodoxy, laxity of moral principle, atheism, and attachment to the doctrines of the (ancient Greek) philosophers and sages. They then drew up a complaint in which they denounced him guilty of these crimes, and affixed to it their signatures with the declaration that he deserved the punishment of death. I have been informed by one of those doctors, who was a man of intelligence and instruction, that, on remarking the excessive animosity by which the cabal was actuated, he inscribed the following verse with his signature on the document, when it was brought to him that he might insert in it a declaration similar to that of the others:

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"They envied the man because they could not equal him in merit; such are his foes and accusers."

When Saif ad-din perceived his enemies combined against him and discovered 457 their projects, he withdrew secretly from the country and proceeded to Syria. He then settled in the city of Hamât and composed a number of instructive works on dogmatic theology, the fundamentals of jurisprudence, logic, philosophy, and controversy. Of these we shall indicate the Abkâr al-Afkâr (original ideas) on scholastic theology; an abridgment of the same, entitled Mandih alKardih (borrowings from natural genius); the Rumûz al-Kunûz (indications of hidden treasures); the Dakâik al-Hakâik (subtilia veritatum); the Lubâb al-Albâb (core of the hearts); the Muntiha as-Sal (results of inquiry, being a treatise on the fundamentals (of faith and jurisprudence). He composed also a system of controversy (4), an abridgment of the same, and a commentary on the Sharif's Jadl, or treatise on dialectics. The number of his works amounted to about twenty. Having removed to Damascus, he obtained the professorship in the Aziziya college, but after a lapse of some time he was deprived of his place, on account of some suspicions which had been cast upon him. From that period till his death, he remained unoccupied and confined himself to his house. He died on the 3rd of Safar, A. H. 631 (November, A. D. 1233), and was buried at the foot of Mount Kasiyûn. His birth took place A. H. 551 (A. D. 1156).

Aamidi means belonging to Aamid, a large city in Diàr Bakr, near the country of Rûm (Asia Minor).--Abù 'l-Fath Nasr Ibn Fityàn Ibn al-Manni was a doctor of the law and a traditionist. He instructed numerous disciples. Born A. H.

501 (A. D. 1107-8); died, 5th Ramadan, 583 (November, A. D. 1187).

(1) Abu 'l-Kasim Yahya Ibn Ali Ibn al-Fadl Ibn Hibat Allah, surnamed Ibn Fadlan and Jamal ad-din (beauty of religion), was a learned doctor of the sect of as-Shâfi. He studied jurisprudence at Baghdad, his native place, under Abû Mansûr ar-Razzâz, and at Naisâpûr under Ali Ibn Muhammad Ibn Yahya, a disciple of al-Ghazzali. He professed at Baghdad, and was considered as one of the first masters in the science of jurisprudence, dogmatic theology, controversy, and dialectics. Born A. H. 513 (A. D. 1121-2); died in the month of Shaaban, A. H. 393 (June, A. D. 1199.)-(Tab. as-Shaf.)

(2) This Tarika is designated farther on as the Jadl; it seems to have been a treatise on points of law controverted between the orthodox sects. The author, who is here denominated the Sharif, is unknown to me, and has not been noticed by Hajji Khalifa. The whole passage of Ibn Khallikân has been repeated, without any observation, in the Tabakât as-Shafiyin and by al-Yâfi in his Annals.

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(4) By system of controversy is meant a general view of all the points on which the orthodox sects disagree; with the arguments in favour of the opinions held by the sect to which the author belongs.

AL-KISAI.

Abu 'l-Hasan Ali Ibn Hamza Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Bahman Ibn Fairuz, surnamed al-Kisài, a mawla to the tribe of Asad and a native of Kùfa, was one of the seven readers of the Koran. In grammar, philology, and the koranic readings he displayed abilities of the highest order, but in poetry his skill was so inferior that it was currently said: "Amongst all the learned in grammar, "there is not one who knows less of poetry than al-Kisai." He was tutor to al-Amin the son of Harûn ar-Rashid and instructed him in the belles-lettres. Having neither wife nor slave-girl, he addressed some verses to ar-Rashid, complaining of his celibacy (1), and that khalif ordered him a present of ten thousand pieces of silver, a beautiful slave-girl with all her attire, a eunuch, and a horse completely harnessed. Being one day in company with Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan, the Hanifite jurisconsult, at an assembly held by ar-Rashid, he re

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