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thority in the science of grammar, on which subject he wrote his Kitab al-Jumal al-Kubra (the greater collection), which is an instructive work, but extended to too great a length by the number of examples. He learned He learned grammar from Muhammad Ibn al-Abbas al-Yazidi, Abû Bakr Ibn Duraid, and Abû Bakr Ibn al-Anbâri; he had been also the private pupil of Abû Ishak Ibrahim Ibn asSari az-Zajjaj (see his life, vol. I. page 28), and from this circumstance he obtained the surname of az-Zajjaji. Great numbers profited by his tuition and finished their studies under him at Damascus, where he had fixed his residence. His death took place in that city, in the month of Rajab, A. H. 337 (January, A.D. 949); some say, but erroneously, in A.H. 339, or in Ramadân, A. H. 340. It has been stated also that he died at Tiberias. (I have since discovered that) he left Damascus in company with Ibn al-Harith, the administrator of the estates belonging to the Ikhshide family (1), and (that) he died at Tiberias. His work, the Jumal, is most instructive, and none ever studied it without deriving great profit from the information it conveys. It is said that he composed it at Mekka, and that on finishing each chapter, he went seven times round the Kaaba, praying the Almighty to pardon his sins and render his book useful to those who read it.

(1) The Ikhshide prince Anûjûr was then reigning in Egypt under the tutorship of the celebrated Kâfûr. He held his authority over that country and Syria by right of an act of confirmation issued by the khalif of Baghdad, ar-Râdi.-(See the life of Kâfûr.)

IBN YUNUS THE HISTORIAN.

Abû Said Abd ar-Rahmân Ibn Abi 'l-Hasan Ahmad Ibn Abi Musa Yûnus Ibn Abd al-Aala Ibn Mûsa Ibn Maisara Ibn Hafs Ibn Haiyân as-Sadafi was a native of Egypt, a traditionist and an historian. The information which he had acquired respecting eminent men, his acquaintance with the works in which their history was set forth, and the correctness of the facts which he adduces from personal knowledge, entitle him to the highest confidence. He composed two

Egyptian histories,-the greater, containing the lives of natives of that country; and the less, giving an account of the most remarkable foreigners by whom it was visited. These works display no inferior talent, and have been continued, on the same plan, by Abû 'l-Kasim Yahya Ibn Ali al-Hadrami (1). Abù Saâd was a grandson of Yûnus Ibn Abd al-Aala, one of as-Shâfi's most distinguished disciples and a transmitter of that imàm's modern sayings (2); we shall give his life in this work. Ibn Yûnus died on Sunday, the 26th of the latter Jumâda, A. H. 347 (September, A. D. 958); the funeral prayers were said over him the next day by Abû 'l-Kàsim Ibn Hajjaj, and the following elegy was com390 posed on his death by the grammarian and prosodist Abu Isa Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Ismail Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Sulaimân al-Khaulâni al-Khashshâb, who was a native of Egypt:

By thy books and thy lessons thou hast spread learning throughout the world (3), and after a happy life thou art become one of the lamented. And we, Abû Saîd! shall not relax our dutiful efforts, till thy works, confirming and correcting (the statements of historians), have obtained a wide renown. In writing history, thy ardour did not cease, till thy name appeared to us, enregistered in its annals. I have inscribed this fatal date on my mind and written it in my pages, that he may know it who records my death, if it happen that I leave a friend to regret me (4). Thou hast displayed a standard to make known the fame of those who dwell in Egypt, and hast set it up on the basis of their merit (5). Thou hast revealed their glory, (to subsist) among mankind as long as the voice of the turtle-dove is heard (6) resounding in the groves. Thou hast pointed out their brilliant genius; thou hast selected the eminent (7); men whose talents attract investigation. Thou hast spread the fame of the illustrious dead, and they still live in the notices wherein thou tracest their descent; mentioned thus, they seem not to have died. Noble qualities oblige to noble deeds; and in thee, O Abd ar-Rahmân! these qualities were firmly implanted. Thou art now hidden from our eyes; and let the world produce the greatest man it may, he too must disappear. Such are death's doings; he never spares him who is cherished by his friends.

Sadafi means belonging to the tribe of as-Sadif, the son of Sahl, a great branch of the tribe of Himyar, which settled in Egypt. This relative adjective is pronounced with an a in the second syllable, although the word from which it is derived has that syllable with an i; it is thus also with Namari, derived from Namira, and such is indeed the general rule (when the primitive has an i in the second syllable). [It must however be remarked that as-Sadif is sometimes pronounced as-Sadaf.]—Abû Isa Abd ar-Rahman, author of the verses just given, died in the month of Sâfar, A. H. 366 (October, A. D. 976).

(1) According to Hajji Khalifa, Fluegel's edition, vol. II. page 148, Abû 'l-Kâsim Yahya Ibn Ali al-Hadrami, surnamed at-Tahhân, died A. H. 416 (A.D. 1025-6). In the same page, line 7, is a double error, as instead of Ibn Yusuf Abd-el-rahman Ben Ahmed Sufi we must read Ibn Yunus Abd-el-rahman Ben Ahmed Sadifi; it being, in fact, the same person whose life is here given by Ibn Khallikân.

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

(3) In the autograph manuscript, two different readings are given of this first hemistich; that of the text runs thus: lë i tale. "Thou hast spread thy learning abroad, east and west;” the other, inserted in the margin, runs as follows: jeg less stale

"Thou hast made thy

** knowledge clear to others by thy written works and rendered it accessible by thy explanations." The reading which I followed is given by al-Yâfî in his Annals.

(4) For the autograph has

; if the latter reading be adopted, the translation of the verse

should run thus: "That he may know it who records my death, if indeed I be deemed worthy of notice." (5) In this verse Ibn Khallikân writes ; the verse then signifies: "Thou hast displayed a standard to ** honour the merit of those who dwell in Egypt, (a standard) firmly set up."

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Abû 'l-Barakât Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Abi 'l-Wafà Muhammad Ibn Obaid Allah Ibn Abi Said al-Anbâri the grammarian, surnamed Kamâl ad-din (perfection of religion), was one of the most distinguished masters in the science he professed. From his early youth till the time of his death he resided at Baghdad, where he studied, at the Nizamiya college, the system of jurisprudence peculiar to the Shafite sect, and gave lessons in grammar. lessons in grammar. He learned philology from Abû Mansûr (Mauhûb) Ibn al-Jawâliki and had lived as a private pupil with the sharif Abû 'l-Saâdât Hibat Allah Ibn as-Shajari (1), under whose tuition he made great progress and attained a profound knowledge of philology. His own lessons were attended by great numbers who afterwards became conspicuous for their learning, and with some of whom I was acquainted. He is the author of a grammatical work, easy to be understood and highly instructive, entitled Asrâr al-Arabiya (secrets of the Arabic language); he composed also another treatise on the same subject, bearing the title of al-Mizân (the balance). In a third work,

which, though short, is comprehensive, he gives a chronological list (Tabakât) of the literary men, both ancient and modern. All his productions are replete with information, and his personal instructions were, by divine favour, so highly successful that none ever received them without rising to distinction. Towards the close of his life, he renounced the world and worldly society, and shut himself up in his chamber that he might pass his time in study and prayer; thus holding to the last a most praiseworthy conduct. His birth took place in the month of the latter Rabi, A. H. 513 (July-August, A. D. 1119), and his 391 death on the eve of Friday, the 9th of Shâbân, A.H. 577 (December, A.D.1181), at Baghdad. He was interred at the Abrez Gate, in the mausoleum erected over the grave of Abû Ishâk as-Shirâzi.— Anbâri means belonging to al-Anbâr, which is a town of great antiquity situated on the Euphrates, at the distance of ten parasangs from Baghdad. It was so called because the Kisra (or Persian king) had established granaries (andbir) there. Anabir is the plural of anbar, which is itself the plural of Nibr.

(1) The life of Ibn al-Jawâlîki and Ibn as-Shajari are given in this work.

ABU 'L-FARAJ IBN AL-JAUZI.

The hafiz Abu 'l-Faraj Ibn al-Jauzi, surnamed Jamâl ad-din (the beauty of religion), a celebrated preacher, a doctor of the sect of Ibn Hanbal and a native of Baghdad, was a member of the tribe of Taim, a branch of that of Koraish, and a descendant of the khalif Abu Bakr; he therefore bore the appellations of alKorashi, at-Taimi, and al-Bakri. His genealogy is traced up as follows: Abû 'lFaraj Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Abi 'l-Hasan Ali Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ali Ibn Obaid Allah Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Hummâda Ibn Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Jaafar al-Jauzi Ibn Abd Allah Ibn al-Kàsim Ibn an-Nadr Ibn al-Kâsim Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abd ar-Rahmân Ibn al-Kâsim Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr as-Siddik: the rest of the ancestry is well known (1). Ibn al-Jauzi was the most learned man of his time, the ablest traditionist and the first preacher of that

epoch. He composed works on a variety of subjects, and one of them, the Zâd al-Masîr fi Ilm it-Tafsir (provisions for the journey, being a treatise on the science of koranic interpretation), forms four volumes and contains many novel facts and observations. He wrote also numerous treatises on the Traditions, and a great historical work, entitled al-Muntazim (the regularly arranged). Another of his productions, the Maudûât (forgeries), in four volumes, contains all the false traditions relative to Muhammad. He composed also the Talkîh Fuhûm (Ahl) ilAthar (fructification of the intellect, for the use of those who are engaged in historical researches) (2), which is drawn up on the plan of Ibn Kutaiba's Kitâb alMaarif. We shall close this list by merely stating that his works are too numerous to be counted. The quantity of sheets which he wrote with his own hand was very great, but people exaggerate when they say that on summing up the number of kurrâsas (3) written by him and taking into account the length of his life, if the former be divided by the latter, it will give nine kurrâsas a-day; but this is a result so extraordinary, that it can hardly be admitted by any reasonable man. It is related also that the parings of the reed-pens with which he wrote the Traditions were gathered up and formed a large heap; these, in pursuance to his last orders, were employed to heat the water for washing his corpse, and there was even more than enough for the purpose. He composed some pretty verses, and the following, in which he addresses the people of Baghdad, were repeated to me by a person of talent:

There are people in Irak for whom I feel no friendship, but my excuse is this: their hearts are formed of churlishness. They listen with admiration to the words of a stranger, but those of their own townsmen attract no attention. If a neighbour profited by the water which flowed from the roofs of their houses, they would turn the spout in another direction. And when reproached, their excuse is: That the voice of the songstress has no charms for the tribe to which she belongs (4).

The quantity of verses which he composed is very great. At the assemblies which met to hear him preach, he had occasionally to answer questions addressed to him, and this he did with great readiness of wit. It is related that on a dispute between the Sunnites and Shiites of Baghdad about the relative merits of Abû Bakr and Ali, both parties agreed to abide by the opinion of the shaikh Abu 'l-Faraj: they in consequence deputed a person who questioned him on the subject when he was seated in the preacher's chair. The reply which

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