"with wonder and he, remarking their astonishment, recited this verse of Ibrâhîm "Ibn Harma's (8), applying it to himself:

A gallant youth can attain to glory, though his robe be torn and his tunic patched.

His generous deeds, his noble qualities and the anecdotes related of him are numerous and well-known.- Khalifa Ibn Khaiyât says: "Ibn Hubaira was put to death "at Wasit, on Monday, the 16th of Zû 'l-Kaada, 132 (26th June, A. D. 750).". In at-Tabari's historical work, the death of al-Hasan, the son of Kahtaba, is placed under the year 181 (A. D. 797-8).

(1) This genealogy is given by Mr Caussin de Perceval in his Essai sur l'histoire des Arabes. According to the tables, Fazara drew his descent from Maad Ibn Adnân, by Ghatafân.

(2) There were two generals bearing the names of ad-Dahhâk Ibn Kais. One of them was a Kuraishite, of the family of Fihr; he governed the district of Damascus in the name of Moawia Ibn Abi Sofyân, joined the party of Ahd Allah Ibn az-Zubair, then had himself acknowledged as khalif by his own troops, the Kaisides. He was slain at Marj Râhit, A. H. 64 (A. D. 683-4) in fighting against the khalif Marwân the first (see vol. I, p. 100). The other belonged to the tribe of Shaibân. He put himself at the head of the Harûrites, a branch of the Khârijite party in Mesopotamia, took the city of Kûfa from Abd Allah, the son of Omar Ibn Abd al-Azîz, and then marched against Marwân the second. He was slain in battle at Kafratûtha in the month of Safar, 128 (November, A. D. 745). — Notwithstanding Reiske's recommendation, one of those chiefs has been sometimes confounded with the other, a fault of which there is an example in this work, vol. II, p. 109; the note (15) should be struck out.

(3) Al-Himdr means the ass. Marwân received this nickname for the tenacity of his character.

(4) The Najjârites formed a branch of that religious and political party, the Khârijites, who may be considered as the Puritans of Islamism.

(5) The Arabic signifies literally: pepedit in barba sua. This noise, made with the lips, was probably meant to express contempt.

(6) Literally and the cushion was doubled for him. See page 199, note (11) of this volume.

(7) This passage is omitted in Freytag's Hamasa. It must have existed in the larger Hamâsa, but not a copy remains of that work.

(8) Abù Ishak Ibrahim Ibn Ali Ibn Harma, a member of the tribe of Kuraish, inhabited Medina and bore a high reputation as a poet. He was born A. H. 90 (A. D. 708-9); in A. H. 140 (A. D. 757) he recited to the khalif al-Mansûr a kasida of his composition. He was notorious for his fondness of wine and his avarice. His death took place in the year 186 A. D. 802). — (Kitâb al-Aghâni; Nujùm.)

YAZID IBN HATIM AL-MUHALLABI

" in

Abû Khâlid Yazîd was the son of Hâtim Ibn Kabîsa Ibn al-Muhallab Ibn Abi Sufra al-Azdi. The rest of the genealogy has been already given in our article on his (great-) grandfather al-Muhallab (vol. III. p. 508). We have spoken of his brother Rûh Ibn Hâtim (vol. 1. p. 529), of his father's uncle, Yazîd Ibn al-Muhallab (p. 164 of this vol.) and of his descendant, the vizir Abû Muhammad al-Hasan Ibn Muhammad al-Muhallabi (vol. 1. p. 410). They belonged to an eminent family which produced a great number of illustrious and distinguished men. Ibn Jarîr at-Tabari vol. 11. p. 597) says, in his Annals, that the khalif Abû Jaafar al-Mansûr took the government of Egypt from Humaid Ibn Kahtaba and gave it to Naufal Ibn al-Furât, whom he replaced, A. H. 143 (A. D. 760-1) by Yazîd Ibn Hâtim. In the year 152 (A. D. 769), al-Mansûr appointed Muhammad Ibn Saîd as the successor of Yazîd. Abû Said Ibn Yunus (vol. II. p. 93) says, in his Annals, that Yazîd Ibn Hatim obtained the government of Egypt in the year 144, and another author adds: in "the middle of the month of Zû 'l-Kaada." 66 Then," says he (at-Tabari), the year 154 (A. D. 771), al-Mansûr went to Syria and visited Bait al-Makdis (the house of the holy place, Jerusalem) and, from that place, he dispatched Yazîd Ibn "Hâtim to Ifrîkiya, with an army of fifty thousand men, for the purpose of carrying "on the war against the Kharijites, who had killed Omar Ibn Hafs, his governor in that country (1). Yazîd held the government of Ifrîkiya from that moment (till his death). He vanquished the Kharijites and then made his entry into Kairawân, "A. H. 155 (A. D. 771-2), the year of his arrival in Ifrîkiya. By his liberality and "his princely disposition he drew numerous visitors to his court; all spoke loudly "in his praise and a number of poets who extolled his merits received from him "magnificent rewards." Abû Osama Rabîa Ibn Thâbit ar-Rakki (vol. I. p. 530), a member of the tribe of Asad, or, by another account, a mawla of the tribu of Sulaim, went to visit Yazîd Ibn Osaid, who was then governor of Armenia and who held that place for a long time under the khalifate of Abû Jaafar al-Mansûr and of that prince's son and successor, al-Mahdi. The genealogy of this Yazîd is as follows: Yazîd Ibn Osaid Ibn Zâfir Ibn Asmâ Ibn Osaid Ibn Kunfud Ibn Jâbir Ibn Kunfud

Ibn Mâlik Ibn Aûf Ibn Amr il-Kais Ibn Buhtha Ibn Sulaim Ibn Mansûr Ibn Ikrima Ibn Khasafa Ibn Kais Ghailân Ibn Modar Ibn Nizâr Ibn Maadd Ibn Adnân. He held a very high rank in the tribe of Kais, of which he was one the bravest warriors and the ablest politicians. The Rabîa above mentioned praised him in a poem of considerable merit but, not having received from him an adequate retribution, he composed another on Yazîd Ibn Hâtim, the subject of this article, and was treated by him with the utmost munificence. He, in consequence, recited a kasida in which he extolled Yazîd Ibn llâtim and depreciated Yazîd Ibn Osaid. As the latter had an imperfection in his speech, he alluded to this defect in the poem and said :

I declare by an oath which will admit of no subterfuge, by the oath of a man who swears without intending to prevaricate, that wide is the difference in generosity between the two Yazîds, him of the tribe of Sulaim and the illustrious son of Hâtim! Yazid of Sulaim is a saver of money, but that hero, the brother of the Azdites, is not a saver of his. Profusion is the Azdite hero's only aim, but the Kaiside's passion is to hoard up dirhems. Let not the stammerer suppose that I satirize him; I merely assign pre-eminence to men of merit. O thou who strivest to reach the height attained by him whose generosity is (not less copious than) oceans full to overflowing! Thou hast vainly endeavoured to imitate, in munificence, the son of Hâtim; thou wert often remiss, but the Azdite was so never. Be satisfied with (admiring) the edifice of noble deeds raised by the son of Hâtim whilst he toiled in delivering captives and faced the greatest dangers. Son of Osaid! strive not to rivalize with the son of Hâtim; if you do, you will gnash your teeth with regret. He is the ocean; if you attempt to enter it, you will perish in the shock of its waters. I foolishly hoped to find honour in the tribe of Sulaim; what an idle, what a visionary thought! But the family of Muhallab is a brilliant constellation and, in war, it leads yours (like a camel) by the bridle. The family of Muhallab are as the nose on the face; all others are as the soles of the feet, and the nose is far exalted above the soles. I have declared them worthy of all glory and justly pronounced them superior to all other men. They alone possess the noblest of qualities, liberality and bravery in battle. Even in adversity, they set no value on their money; even when borne on the bier, they gave protection to every outlaw.

Dibil Ibn Ali 'l-Khuzai, the poet of whom we have already spoken (vol. I. p. 507), related the following anecdote: "I said to the poet Marwân Ibn Abi Hafsa : Tell “' me, Abû 's-Simt! who is the best of all your modern poets?' He replied: • The "man who, of them all, composed the simplest of verses! Who is that?' said I. "He answered: The man who said:

"How different in generosity are the two Yazîds, he of the tribe of Sulaim and the illus"" trious son of Hâtim.'"

I already gave some of these verses in the life of Rûh Ibn Hâtim (vol. I. p. 530),

Yazîd's brother, but since met with a more complete copy of the poem and then decided on giving a separate notice of Yazîd himself; for, in the case of a person so important, the slight account of him which we inserted in the life of his brother was really insufficent.—Rabîa Ibn Thâbit ar-Rakki had gone to visit Yazîd some time before this, but did not obtain from him the favorable reception which he expected. He therefore composed a piece of verse in which was the following line :

I render God due thanks; but here I am returning with the boots of Hunain (2), as a gift from the son of Hâtim.

When Abû Jaafar al-Mansûr gave the government of Ifrîkiya to Yazîd (Ibn Hâ– tim) Ibn al-Muhallab and that of Egypt to Yazîd (Ibn Osaid) of the tribe of Sulaim, they both set out together, and the former defrayed the expenses of the troops (which escorted them). To this, Rabîa ar-Rakki alluded in these verses:

Yazid the bountiful! your namesake, the Yazîd of our tribe, is not so lavish of his gifts as you. He leads a troop of horse; you, another; yet both of them are payed by you.

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This proves that Sulaim was the tribe to which Rabîa belonged, for he says that Yazîd (Ibn Osaid) was of his tribe. Ashab (3), he who was so notorious for his cupidity, visited Yazîd (Ibn Hâtim), who was then in Egypt, and sat down with the company assembled in the saloon. Seeing him whisper to a servant-boy, he went over to him and kissed his hand. Why do you so?" said Yazîd. Ashab replied: "Because I saw you whisper to your boy and thought that you were telling him to give me something." Yazîd laughed and said: "I told him no such thing, but I shall do it." He therefore made him a present and treated him with kindness. At-Tortûshi (vol. II. p. 665) says, in his Siraj al-Mulûk: "Sahnûn Ibn Saîd "(vol. II. p. 131) declared that Yazîd Ibn Hâtim was truly a sage because he used "to say By Allah! I fear nothing so much as a man whom I may have wronged and who, to my knowledge, has no one to protect him except God. What I

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dread is, that he may say: May God call you to an account! may he judge be"tween me and you!"-Abû Saad as-Samani (vol. II. p. 156) says, in his Kitâb al-Ansâb: The poet al-Mushahhar at-Tamimi went to visit Yazîd, who was then in Ifrîkiya, and recited to him these lines:

"That I might reach you sooner, I shortened my prayers by half, during a month's jour

216

"ney and another month added to that. I fear not that the hopes which I placed on you "shall be frustrated; but the sweetest gift is that which comes soonest.

"On this, Yazîd gave orders to bring money for the troops which he had in his He then said: Those "pay pay and which formed an army of fifty thousand men. "who wish to please me will lay aside two dirhems out of his pay for this man who has come to visit me.' He thus made up for him the sum of one hundred thou"sand dirhems, to which he himself added as much more."-I must here observe that I found these two verses attributed to Marwân Ibn Abi Hafsa.-Abû 'l-Kâsim Ibn Asâkir (vol. II. p. 250) says, in his History of Damascus, aftergiving an account of Yazîd's life and mentioning the government which he held: "Yazîd Ibn "Hâtim said to the persons who were sitting in his company: Let me hear from Safwan Ibn Safwân, a member of the Banù Harith "you three choice verses.' family, which is a branch of the tribe of Khazraj, said to him:

Must they be on 'you?' -Let them be on whom you please'; replied Yazîd. One would have "thought that the poet had them ready in his sleeve, for he recited immediately

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"these lines :

"I never knew what beneficence was except by hearsay, till I met with Yazid, the asylum "of mankind (an-Nasi). I then met the most beneficent of those who walk upon feet; he was "arrayed in an ample robe of liberality and bravery (wa 'l-Bási). If glory could be procured "by beneficence (4), you would be its (sole) possessor and be more worthy of it than...

Finish the verse', said (Yazid) by the words the

There I stop, (said the poet) · "Abbasides (aali Abbasi)'. The poet answered: That would not be proper'. "He (Yazid) then said: Let no one ever hear you recite this piece."" - Yamût Ibn Muzarra (5) related as follows: "I went, one day, to salute al-Asmâi (6) and hear "him recite pieces composed by the good eulogistic poets of Moslim times, and I "said to him: Tell me, Abû Othmân! Ibn al-Mawla, was he a good eulogistic 'poet?' To this he replied: He was; and I have been kept awake all last night by that fine passage in which he praises Yahya Ibn Hâtim and says:

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"If honour could be bought or sold, others might sell it but Yazîd would be the purcha' ser. When the lightning prepares to flash from the cloud of his (beneficence), the hands "of those who invoke such showers are held forth before the flash appears. When you (Yahya) do a noble act, you accomplish it with hands whose generous gifts are always unalloyed. When people count those who are the bravest among the horsemen, every "finger points yon out as one of the number.'

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