Falja is the name of two places, one lying between Mekka and Basra, and the other in (the valley of) al-Akîk. The combat (which cost Ibn at-Tathriya his life) took place in the year of al-Walid Ibn Yazîd the Omaiyide's death. Now, al-Walid was killed on Thursday, the 27th of the latter Jumâda, 126 (16th April, A. D. 744), at al-Bakhra. Abû 'l-Hasan at-Tûsi says, in speaking of this combat, that the standard was borne by Yazîd Ibn at-Tathriya. When al-Mundalith was killed and his partisans were routed, Ibn at-Tathriya stood his ground with the standard. He was dressed in a silk gown which got entangled in an oshara-tree (asclepias gigantea), The oshara is a thorny plant and produces gum. This accident caused him to fall, and the Banû Hanîfa then kept striking him till he died. This combat is mentioned subsequently to the account of al-Walid's death and in the same year; so, the death of lbn at-Tathriya must he placed between that of alWalid and the end of the year 126. Abû 'l-Faraj al-Ispahâni says, towards the commencement of the volume (diwân) in which he has given the collection of Ibn at-Tathriya's poetical works, that he was killed by the Banû Hanîfa under the khalifat of the Abbasides; but the former indication is nearer to the truth. The following elegy was composed on the poet's death by al-Kuhaif Ibn Omair (10) Ibn Sulaim anNida Ibn Abd Allah al-Okaili : Let the noble sons of Kushair weep for the loss of their chief and their hero. O Abû 'l-Makshub; now that you are gone, who is there to protect (us)? who is there to hurry on the (war-) camels whose feet are already used and worn by travel? Al-Kuhaif composed also a lament on the death of al-Walid Ibn Yazîd. The following verse on the death of Ibn at-Tathriya was composed by his brother Thaur Ibn Salama : I see that the tamarisk, my neighbour in the valley of al-Akik, still holds itself erect (and yields not to grief), though fate has taken Yazid by surprise and overwhelmed him. This verse belongs to a choice piece of poetry which Abû Tammâm has inserted in the Hamasa (page 468). He attributes it to Zainab Bint at-Tathriya, but others say that it was composed by the poet's mother. At-Tûsi states that the combat above-mentioned was fought at al-Akîk. We find in Yâkût al-Hamawi's Mushtarik that there were ten places of this name. According to al-Asmâi (vol. II. p. 123) the Aïkka (which word is the plural of akik) are valleys in which there is running water. In enumerating the places bearing this name, Yakût says: The third is “the Akîk of Aârid, in al-Yamâma. It is a large valley near al-Arama, and into it "flow all the streams of al-Aârid. It abounds in sources and villages." He then says: "Al-Akik, a town in al-Yamâma, belongs to the Banù Okail. It is called "the Akîk of Namira and lies on the road leading from al-Yamâma to Yemen.' The valley of al-Akîk mentioned in the foregoing verse, is perhaps the first of the places thus indicated, or perhaps the second. God knows best! - Ibn al-Tathriya was called Abû 'l-Makshûh because he had on his kashh a scar caused by a burn. The word kashh signifies the side. - Yazîd's mother was called at-Tathriya (11) and he was surnamed after her. She was one of the children of Tathr Ibn Anz Ibn Wâil. The word tathr signifies fertility and abundance of milk. It is said that "she was born in a year of which that was the distinguishing character, but others "contradict this statement and say that she gave birth to her son in a year of that "kind. Others again relate that she toiled in extracting butter from milk and was "named at-Tathriya because the tathr of milk is its butter." This account is, in itself, quite objectionable all say that the poet's mother was of the family of Tathr Ibn Anz, whence we must conclude that she was named after that tribe, and declare that the words she was born in a year of such a character" or " she gave birth "to him in a year of such a kind" or she extracted butter from milk" are here quite inapplicable. We submit these remarks to the reader; but it is evident that there were two opinions on the subject; according to one, she was named after her tribe and, according to the other, for the reasons stated in the second place. A great number of poems are attributed to Zainab Bint at-Tathriya, the sister of Yazîd. Such is the eulogistic piece which we here give 66 : " He is proud when you go to ask of him a favour, and he bestows on you whatever he holds in his hand. Had he nothing to give but his life, he would bestow it; so let those who apply to him take care lest (by taking away his life), they offend God. These verses have been attributed to Ziâd al Aajam (vol. I. p. 631). The second is also to be found in the diwân of Abû Tammam's poems, where we meet with it in the kasida which begins by these words: Vernal abode! thou of which the inhabitants have departed! it is, alas! too true that the rains (?) have effected upon thee that (destruction) which they intended. But, in all that, God best knows the truth! (1) Abu 'l-Hasan Ali Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Sinân at-Taimi (of the tribe of Taim Allah) at-Tûsi (a native of Tus), was a man of learing and a narrator of anecdotes concerning the (Arabian) tribes, of poems and of (the adventures of) heroes (fuhul). He met (and was taught by) the great masters (mashdikh) who professed at Basra. The preceptor whose sittings he most frequented and from whom he received the greater part of his information was Ibn al-Aârâbi. (Fihrest.) — Ibn al-Aârâbi died A. H. 231 (A. D. 846). (See vol. III, p. 25.) We here learn from Ibn Khallikân that at-Tûsi collected the poems of Ihn at-Tathriya into a diwân. (2) Abd Allah Ibn ad-Dumaina al-Khathami was one of the early Moslim poets and lived probably in the first century of the Hijra. Having learned that Muzâhim Ibn Kais of the tribe of Salûl was paying court to his wife, he assassinated the lover, somothered the woman some time afterwards, and then killed his young daughter because she wept for her mother. He was detained for a long time in the prison of Tabâla (page 233 of this vol.), but was finally liberated because the charge could not be made out against him. At a later period he was killed by the son of him whom he had murdered. — (Aghâni, Sharh Shawâhid al-Moghni). (3) This piece consists of nine verses and is to be found in the Hamâsa, page 538. (4) Literally: Nay, by Allah! a recollection which, if poured upon the solid rock, it (the rock) would split asunder. (5) Abu Zaid Kais Ibn Darih al-Laithi, belonged to a bedwin family which lived in the desert outside of Medina, and was the foster-brother of al-Husain, the son of Ali. He married Lubna, the daughter of alHubâb, but as their union was not fruitful, he was forced by his father to divorce her after ten years' cohabitation. He then took another wife of the same name, but sore against his will and, soon after, he died of grief for being separated from his first love. He composed on Lubna a number of poems, passages of which are given in the article of the Kitâb al-Aghâni wherein his history is related. An abridged and tolerably fair translation of the prose account offered by the Aghani will be found in the second volume, page 412, of von Hammer-Purgstall's Literaturgeschichte der Araber. The author of the Nujum states that Ibn Darth died on or about the year 65 (A. D. 684-5). (6) Al-Majnûn (the insane, the possessed) is the surname by which was designated a poet whose love for Laila became proverbial. His name, it is said, was Kais Ibn al-Malûh, but his existence has been generally doubted. De Sacy, in his Anthologie grammaticale arabe, page 150, has a note on this subject. Be that as it may, a number of amatory poems pass under the name of al-Majnûn. (7) The orthography of this name is not certain. (8) It appears, from the Kitab al-Aghâni, that the tribe of Hanifa and that of Okail had, for some time, being carrying on against each other a war of surprises and predatory incursions. In one of these encounters Ibn at-Tathriya lost his life. (9) A town cannot have a pulpit on cathedral mosque, unless it be the capital of a province or of a considerable district. The governor, who is also the khalif's representative, has alone the privilege of pronouncing the khotba from the pulpit. (10) The Paris ms. of the Aghani reads Himyar instead of Omair. In this translation the reading of Ibn Khallikan and of the author of the Kâmûs is adopted. The history of al-Kuhaif, who was a contemporary of Ibn atTathriya and belonged to the same ribe as he, offers nothing deserving of being noticed here. (11) According to the author of the Kamus, this name should be pronounced at-Tathariya, with ar. a after the th. YAKUB AL-MAJISHUN Abû Yûsuf Yakûb, the son of Abû Salama Dînâr, or Maimûn, according to some, bore the surname of al-Mâjishûn and stood allied (by clientship) to the Banû Taim, a branch of tribe of Kuraish (al-Kurashi at-Taimi). He was a mawla of the Munkadirs, a family of Medina. Traditions were taught to him by Ibn Omar (vol. I. p. 567), Omar Ibn Abd al-Azîz (afterwards khalif), Muhammad Ibn al-Munkadir (vol. II. p. 119) and Abd ar-Rahmân Ibn Hormuz al-Aaraj (1); traditions were taught on his authority by his sons Yûsuf and Abd al-Azîz, and by his nephew Abd al-Azîz Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abi Salama. Al-Mâjishûn, says Yakub Ibn Shaiba (2), was a mawla of the Hudair family (3)." When Omar Ibn Abd al-Azîz was governor of Medina, Yakûb al-Mâjishûn knew him and used to converse with him familiarly. Omar, on his elevation to the khalifate, said to al-Mâjishûn, who had come to visit him: "I have given up your acquaintance, because I have given up wearing "silk clothes," and then turned away from him (4). 66 ་་ Muhammad Ibn Saad (vol. III p. 64) says, in his Tabakát, that Yakûb Ibn Shaiba related as follows: Musab 66 6 (vol. 1. p. 186) said : Al-Mâjishûn used to side with Rabîa tar-Râi (vol. I. p. 517) against Abû 'z-Zinâd (vol. I. p. 580), because the latter was hostile to Rabîa, and that Abû 'z-Zinâd was heard to say: is similar to that which is related · What passes between me and Ibn al-Mâjishûn of the wolf. That animal used to enter into a village and devour children. The inhabitants, at last, assembled and went "after him, but he fled away and they gave up the pursuit. One of them, a ́ ́ dealer in earthen ware, continued, however, to follow him, on which the wolf stopped and said to him: I can excuse the others (for pursuing me), but what "have I done to you? I never broke a single pot of yours!' Now, as for that al-Mâjishûn, I never broke any of his kabars (tambourines) or of his barbats (guitars)!' ' Al-Mâjishûn's son related as follows: The soul of al-Mâjishûn was taken up aloft (i. e. his animation was suspended) and we placed the body on a bench, so that it might be washed (according to the prescription of the law). We then informed the people that we were going to carry forth the corpse to the grave), when the washer (of the dead) came in and perceived, whilst he was 64 66 6866 "operating, that an artery was still beating in the lower part of the foot. He came "out to us and said: I find an artery still beating; so, I advise you not to hasten "the interment.' On this, we induced the people to retire by informing them of "what we had seen and, the next morning, when they returned, the washer went "in and found the artery beating as before. We again made excuses to the people, and, during three days, my father remained in the same state. He then sat up and said: Bring me some porridge.' We brought it and, when had supped it up, we asked him if he could tell us what he had seen? He replied. ́ I can ; ... when my soul was taken away, the angel mounted with me to the heaven of this "earth and ordered the door to be opened. It was opened to him and he pro"ceeded (successively) through the other heavens till he reached the seventh. "There he was asked whom he had brought with him, and he answered: AlMajishûn.' On this, a voice said to him: He has not yet received permission to come here, he has still to live such and such a number of years and of "・・ months and of days and of hours.' Whilst I was a carrying down, I saw the Prophet, with Abu Bakr on his right hand, Omar on his left, and Omar Ibn Abd ́ ́ al-Azîz (sitting) at his feet. I said to the angel who was with me: Tell me who is that?' and he answered: Omar Ibn Abd al-Azîz.' On this, I said: He is allowed to sit very near the Apostle of God"" and I received this answer: He acted uprightly in an age of perversity, as the two others did in an age of righteousness.' This relation is given by Yakûb Ibn Shaiba in his article on al-Majishûn. Abù 'l-Hasan Muhammad Ibn Ahmad al-Kauwâs al-Warrak states that Yakub al-Mâjishûn died in the year 164 (A. D. 780-1). I have taken all this information from the work designed, by the hafiz Abù 'l-Kasim Ibn Asâkir (vol. II. p. 252), to serve as a (biographical) history of Damascus. — Ibn Kutaiba says, in the article on Muhammad Ibn al-Munkadir which he has given in the Kitab al-Maarif (5), that one of Ibn al-Munkadir's mawlas was Yakub Ibn Majishûn. He states also that he (Yakub) was a legist, and then adds: “Al-Mâjishun had a brother named Abd Allah Ibn Abi Salama, whose son, Abd al-Azîz “Ibn Abd Allah, was surnamed Abu Abd Allah. He (al-Mâjishûn) died at Bagh"dad; (the khalif) al-Mahdi said over him the funeral service and had him buried. in the Kuraish cemetery. This was in the year 164."- We have already given in this work an article on his (nephew's) son and mentioned there what has been said by the learned respecting the signification of al-Majishân; it is therefore needless to 6646 66 66 66 |