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اعداء دين الله : name

khalif, on the execution of his enemies, caused the following inscription to be placed on the coinage after his (the avenger of God's religion on its foes). — (Ad-Dahabi, fol. 102.) (2) As Ibn Khallikan speaks of this work as still existing, I conclude that al-Khiraki wrote it over again.

OMAR IBN ZARR.

Abû Zarr Omar Ibn Zarr, surnamed al-Hamdani, was a native of Kûfa, a jurisconsult, and a narrator of historical anecdotes preserved by tradition (1). His descent from Hamdân is thus set forth by Ibn al-Kalbi in his Jamhâra tanNisab: "Abd Allah, the father of Zarr and the grandfather of Omar, was the "son of Zurâra Ibn Moawia Ibn Munabbah Ibn Ghalib Ibn Waksh Ibn Kasim "Ibn Mauhaba Ibn Doâm Ibn Mâlik Ibn Moawia Ibn Saab Ibn Dûmân Ibn Bakil "Ibn Jusham Ibn Mâlik (this Mâlik is the same person who is surnamed al"Kharif) Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Kathir Ibn Malik Ibn Jusham Ibn Hàshid Ibn "Jushàm Ibn Haiwan Ibn Nauf Ibn Hamdan (2)." The sanctity of Omar Ibn Darr's life and the fervour of his devotional exercises obtained for him the highest respect. He gave Traditions on the authority of Ata (3) and Mujahid (4), and his own authority for Traditions was cited by Wakî (5) and the people of Irâk. The conduct of his son Zarr towards him was marked by the deepest affection (6) and dutiful reverence; when he was on the point of death, his father went into the room and said: "My dear son! in thy death I shall suffer "no loss, for the only one of whom I stand in need is God." When he expired, the father prayed over him, and buried him, and pronounced these words over the grave: "God is my witness, O Zarr! that my weeping on thy "account prevents me from weeping for thy loss; for I know not what thou "hast said (to thy lord) and what has been said to thee. Almighty God! I "forgive him every remissness in his duty towards me; let me then be responsable for every act wherein he may have been remiss in his duty towards "Thee; let the recompence which I may merit be bestowed on him and grant an increase of Thy bounty unto me, thy earnest suppliant." A person once said to him: "How did thy son show his duty to thee?" to which he replied:

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"When we walked together by day, he always kept behind me, and when we "walked together by night, he always went before me, and he never mounted on the roof of a house whilst I was under it." Many other anecdotes of a similar kind are related of him. Omar Ibn Zarr was held to be a partisan of the doctrines professed by the Murjites (7). He died A. H. 156 (A. D. 772-3); some say A.H. 155.-Hamdani, a word which means descended from Hamdân (8), must not be confounded with Hamadani (native of the city of Hamadan).- Zarr, the father of Omar, was also a jurisconsult.

القاضي

(1) For in the printed text, read. All the manuscripts which I have examined, the autograph excepted, give the former reading.

(2) Read in the printed text. The other errors in the genealogy as there given, are corrected in the translation. The incorrectness of most Arabic manuscripts, particularly in proper names, renders faults of this kind unavoidable.

(3) See vol. I. page 203.

(4) See vol. I. page 568, note (8).

(5) See vol. I. page 374, note (3).

(6) Here again the manuscript copies and the printed text are at fault: for

البر له we must read

(7) For the doctrines of the Murjites, or Morgians, see Sale's preliminary discourse to the Koran, and Dr. Cureton's Shahrestani, page 103.

(8) The tribe of Hamdân inhabited Yemen and drew their descent from Kahlân.

ATH-THAMANINI.

Abû 'l-Kâsim Omar Ibn Thâbit ath-Thamânini, surnamed also ad-Darîr (or the blind, because he suffered from that infirmity), was a professor of grammar, and well acquainted with the rules of that science. He composed a full, elegant, and 599 excellent commentary on Ibn Jinni's (vol. II. p. 191) Lumâ (1), and a great number of pupils studied with profit under his tuition. As a grammarian he possessed great talent, and had Abu 'l-Fath Ibu Jinni for master; he gave lessons in that science to the sharif Abû Màmar Yahya Ibn Muhammad Ibn Tabâtabâ al-Husaini. He composed also a commentary on Ibn Jinni's Tasrif (grammatical

inflexions) (2). A great rivalry subsisted between him and Abû 'l-Kàsim Ibn Barhan; they both gave public lessons at al-Karkh, the suburb of Baghdad; the course of the latter was frequented by persons of rank and respectability, whilst that of ath-Thamânini was only attended by persons of the lower class. He died in the month of Zû 'l-Kaada, A. H. 442 (March-April, A. D. 1051).— Thamânini means belonging to Thamânîn, which is a town in the neighbourhood of Jazira tibn Omar and close to Mount Judi (Ararat). It was the first town built after the deluge, and it was called Thamanin (eighty) from the number of persons who came with Noah out of the ark. This town has produced many remarkable men.-This sharif Ibn Tabâtabà died in the month of Ramadan, A. H. 478 (Dec.-Jan. A. D. 1085-6).

(1) See vol. II. page 192.

(2) The Arabic text is corrupted here, and no means exist of rectifying it, as the fly-leaf on which the passage was written in the autograph MS. has disappeared. The text of the printed edition, if literally translated, would signify, "He commented the Kitâb al-Luma on Ibn Jinni's Tasrif." This is not very clear, and the reading of one of my MSS., which for Kitab al-Luma has Kitab al-Mulûk, does not render the sense more intelligible, as the work called Mulûk al-Mufid is, according to Hajji Khalifa, a production of ath-Thamânîni himself.

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And he composed on the Tasrif a وصنف كتاب الملوك فى التصريف The true reading is perhaps

work entitled Kitab al-Mulûk.”

IBN AL-BAZRI.

Abû 'l-Kasim Omar Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Ikrima, surnamed alJazari and generally known by the appellation of Ibn al-Bazri, was a jurisconsult of the Shafite sect, and the most eminent doctor and mufti of the town of Jazîra tibn Omar (1) (from which place he drew his surname). His first studies in the law were made in Jazira tibn Omar under the shaikh Abû 'l-Ghanâim Muhammad Ibn al-Faraj Ibn Mansûr Ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Hasan as-Sulami alFâriki (a member of the tribe of Sulaim and a native of Maiyâfârikîn), who had settled in that town. He then proceeded to Baghdad, and continued his studies under al-Kiya al-Harrâsi (vol. II. p. 229) and Hujja tal-Islâm Abû Hamid al

Ghazzali (2); he attended also the lectures of the latter and of his brother Ahmad al-Ghazzâli (vol. I. p.79), and became the pupil of as-Shâshi, the author of the Kitâb al-Mustazhiri (3). He acquired also much information in the society of many other learned men whom he frequented. Having returned to Jazira, he opened a public course of instruction which attracted students from distant countries, all anxious to receive his lessons and acquire a knowledge of the system in which he had digested the doctrines of the sect. He composed a commentary on Abû Ishak as-Shîrâzi's Muhaddab (4), in which he explained the obscurities and the uncommon words occurring in that treatise, and fixed besides the pronunciation of the proper names of those persons who are mentioned in it. To this work, which is a simple compendium, he gave the title of al-Asâmi wa 'lElal min Kitâb al-Muhaddab (the names and obscurities occurring in the Kitâb al-Muhaddab). In learning and piety he held a high rank, and was said to have been better acquainted than any other hâfiz then living with the doctrines of as-Shafi. His attention was chiefly directed to the study of those points wherein the Shafite sect differs from others, and the number of persons who enjoyed the benefit of his tuition was very great. (As a doctor) he bore the surnames of Zain ad-din Jamal al-Islam (ornament of religion, beauty of Islamism). He was born A. H. 474 (A. D. 1078-9), and he died on the 2nd of the first Rabi-some say of the latter -A. H. 560 (January, A. D. 1165) at al-Jazîra (5). Although his disciples were numerous, he did not leave his like in the world. - His master, Abû 'l-Ghanâim al-Fariki died A. H. 483 (A. D. 1090-1). It was under Ibn al-Bazri that the doctor Isa Ibn Muhammad al-Hakkâri (6) made his studies.-Bazri means a maker and seller of Bazr; bazr is the name given in that country to the oil extracted from linseed, and which is used by them in their lamps.

(1) See vol. II. page 289.

(2) The life of Abû Hâmid al-Ghazzâli will be found farther on.

(3) The life of Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Ahmad as-Shashi, the author of the Mi stazhiri, is given by Ibn Khallikân.

(4) See vol. I. page 9.

(5) By al-Jazira is here meant Jazira tibn Omar.

(6) The life of Ibn al-Hakkâri will be found in this volume.

SHIHAB AD-DIN AS-SUHRAWARDI.

Abu Hafs Omar, the son of Muhammad, the son of Abd Allah, the son of Muhammad, the son of Ammûyah (whose true name was Abd Allah), al Bakri asSuhrawardi, surnamed Shihab ad-din (flambeau of the faith), was a doctor of the Shafite sect. As we have given the remainder of his genealogy up to Abû Bakr, 550 in the life of his uncle, Abû 'n-Najib Abd al-Kàhir (see vol. II. p. 150), we are dispensed from repeating it here. Shihab ad-din was a pious and holy shaikh, most assiduous in his spiritual exercises and the practice of devotion. He successfully guided a great number of Sûfis in their efforts to obtain perfection, and directed them during the periods of their retirement into solitude; indeed, towards the close of his life, he remained without an equal. He studied under his uncle, Abù 'n-Najib, from whom he learned Sufism and preaching; another of his masters was the shaikh Abû Muhammad Abd al-Kâdir Ibn Abî Sâlih al-Jili (vol. II. p. 172), and he went down to Basra for the purpose of seeing the shaikh Abu Muhammad Ibn Abd. He met also with some other shaikhs, and acquired a considerable share of information in the sciences of jurisprudence and controversy. He then gave lessons in literature, and held, during some years, regular assemblies, at which he preached. When he became shaikh of the shaikhs (grand-master of the Sufis) at Baghdad, he continued the same practice, and his exhortations had a most impressive effect. He was certainly blessed with the divine grace. A person who attended his assemblies related to me that Shihâb ad-din, one day, recited to him these words from the chair:

Pour not out the draught (of divine love) for me alone; Thou (O Lord) hast not accustomed me to withhold it from my companions. Thou art (truly) the generous, and it suits not generosity that the cup, circulating (round the board), should pass by the other guests.

On hearing these words, the whole assembly was seized with an ecstasy of divine love, and a great number of the persons present cut off their hair, and turned (from the world to God). He composed some fine works, the most celebrated of which is his Awarif al-Maârif (the (divine) gifts, consisting in the different degrees of (spiritual) knowledge) (1). He is also the author of some poetry, one of his pieces is the following (2):

and

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