YAKUB AL-HADRAMI Abû Muhammad Yakub Ibn Ishâk Ibn Zaid Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Abi Ishâk al-Hadrami (a hadramite) by clientship and a native of Basra, was a celebrated teacher of the Koran-readings (vol. I. p. 152) and the eighth of the ten Readers (1). The system of readings taught by him (2) is well known and has been regularly handed down by oral transmission. He came of a family which produced men learned in the Readings (3), in grammar and in the (pure) language of the Arabs, men distinguished for having transmitted down a great quantity of various readings and for their knowledge of the law. Yakûb was one of the most eminent Readers, and those of the two holy cities (Mekka and Medina), of the two Iraks, of Syria and of other countries, learned his system by heart, either with or without the isnâds (vol. 1. introd. p. XXII). He obtained a full acquaintance with the readings (or editions) by reciting them aloud to able masters, such as Sallâm Ibn Sulamân atTawîl (4), Mahdi Ibn Maimûn (5) and Abû 'l-Ashhab al-Otâridi (6). He taught some lections (huraf) (7) which he had learned from Hamza (vol. 1. p. 478); he heard lections taught by Abû 'l-Hasan al-Kisâi (vol. 11. p. 237) and he heard also (traditions taught by) his grandfather Zaid Ibn Abd Allah and by Shoba (vol. I. p. 493). The isnâd of the reading adopted by him reaches up to the Prophet in the following manner he read under Sallâm's tuition, Sallâm under that of Aâsim Ibn Abi 'n-Nujûd (vol. II. p. 1), Aâsim under that of Abû Abd ar-Rahmân as-Sulami (vol. II. p. 1), Abû Abd ar-Rahmân under that of Ali Ibn Abi Tâlib, and Ali under that of the Prophet. A number of Readers handed down that reading after learning it from Yakub and reciting it under his direction; such were Rauh Ibn Abd al-Mumin (8), Muhammad Ibn al-Mutawakkil (9), Abû Hâtim as-Sijistâni (vol. 1. p. 603) and others. Az-Zafarâni (10) heard it from his (Yakub's) lips and, after the death of Abù Amr Ibn al-Alâ (vol. II. p. 399) the most eminent of the Basra literati approved the choice which he had made, and all or most of them adopted his system. Tâhir Ibn Abd al-Mûmin Ibn Ghalbûn, the imâm of the great mosque of Basra, never recited (to the congregation) any other reading of the Koran than that of Yakub. According to Abû 'l-Husain Ibn al-Munâdi (p. 77 of this vol.), Yakub read the Koran under the tuition of Abû Amr, but there he is mistaken. Abd ar-Rahmân Ibn Abi'l-Hâtim stated that Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (vol. I. p. 44), being asked his opinion of Yakub al-Hadrami, answered : "Veracious "(11), and Abû Hâtim as-Sijistâni said: "Of all the persons whom we have seen or met with, Yakub al-Hadrami is the best acquainted with the lections, the differences (observable in the text) of the noble Koran, the manners of conciliating "these differences and the systems followed by the grammarians in analyzing the "text of the Koran. " He (Yakub) composed a work which he entitled the Jamt (collector) in which he noted all the differences which exist between the various manners of reading the Koran, and indicated the persons to whom each of those readings could be traced up. In a word, we may say that, in his time, he was for the people of Basra, the chief doctor in the Readings. He would sometimes question his disciples respecting the number of verses contained in the Koran and, if any of them made a mistake in the enumeration, he would order him to stand up (and leave the class). He died in the month of the first Jumâda, 205 (oct.-nov. A. D. 820); those who place his death in the month of Zû 'l-Hijja are mistaken. He, his father Ishak, and his grandfather Zaid, lived each of them to the age of eighty-eight years. His father's grandfather, Abd Allah Ibn Abi Ishak al-Hadrami, was one of those great and distinguished doctors (in law and grammar) whom all point at, for their learning. Abû Obaida Mamar Ibn al-Muthanna (vol. III. p. 388) says, that the first person who laid (the foundations of Arabic grammar was Abû 'lAswad ad-Duwali (vol. I. p. 662); after him came Maimûn al-Akran (12), who was succeeded by Anbasa tal-Fîl (13), who was followed by Abd Allah Ibn Abi Ishak alHadrami. In another version of this statement, Anbasa's name is placed before that Maimûn. God knows best which reading is preferable. Abd Allah Ibn Abi Ishak was a contemporary of Isa Ibn Omar ath-Thakafi (vol. II. p. 419) and Abû Amr Ibn al-Alâ, but died before them. Abû Allah Ibn al-Marzubâni (vol. III. p. 67) says in his Muktabis (information picked up), which work contains an account of the celebrated grammarians, that al-Mubarrad (vol. III. p. 31) said: " All All agree in considering Abû 'l-Aswad ad-Duwali as the first who laid down the principles of “Arabic grammar and that he learned them from Ali Ibn Abi Tâlib. Abû 'l-As"wad taught them to Anbasa Ibn Maadân al-Mahri, who transmitted them to Mai"mûn al-Akran by whom they were communicated to Abd Allah (Ibn Abi Ishak) “al-Hadrami, from whom they passed to Isa Ibn Omar (14), then to al-Khalil ་་ Ibn Ahmad (vol. I. p. 493), then to Sîbawaih (vol. II. p. 396) and then to al"Akhfash." Bilâl Ibn Abi Burda (vol. II. p. 2), the son of Abu Musa 'l-Ashari (vol. III. p. 633), was governor of Basra when he brought about a conference between Abd Allah (Ibn Abi Ishâk) and Abû Amr Ibn al-Alâ. The latter said (in his account of what then passed): "Ibn Abi Ishak got the better of me in a discussion concerning the (letter) hamza, but I afterwards studied the question and attained superiority. This Abd Allah frequently objected to al-Farazdak (vol. III. p. 612) the faults which he committed in his poems, and the latter at length said: " "By Allah! "I will compose against him a satirical verse which will obtain currency among literary men and be quoted by them as a proverb. He then made this verse: If Abd Allah was a (simple) mawla, I should satirize him; but Abd Allah is a mawla of a samily which are mawlas. He said so because Abd Allah was a mawla of the Hadramis, which family was confederated by oath (half) with that of Abd Shams Ibn Abd Manâf. The Arabs of the desert say that the word half is the equivalent of mawla, and they cite verses in proof of their assertion. Some of these passages I should give here were I not apprehensive of lengthening this article too much; besides which, this is not a fit place for them. (1) We find frequent mention of seven principal Readers and also of ten. Were we to class the ten by the dates of their deaths, Yakub would hold, not the eighth place, but the ninth, and we should obtain a list arranged in this order: Ibn Aâmir, Ibn Kathîr, Aâsim, Yazîd, Abû Amr, Hamza, Nâfè, al-Kisâi, Yakub and al-Bazzar. The biographers place Yakub as the eighth on the list and create thus a difficulty of which the solution has not yet been found by the translator. The list called that of the seven Readers, should be arran ged thus, if the chronological order were to be followed : Ibn Aâmir, Ibn Kathîr, Aâsim, Abû Amr, Hamza, al-Kisâi and Nâti. To make up the list of ten, the names of Yazid, Yakûb and al-Bazzar were added. (2) The Reading, or rather, the system of readings or lections adopted by each of the seven or ten Readers, may be considered as an edition of the Koranic text. (3) See vol. I, page 152. (4) Abû 'l-Mundir Sallam Ibn Sulaimån, a native of Basra and a mawla of the tribe of Muzaina, was known as a Reader and a grammarian. He spoke with elegance and was considered as veracious (sadúk) in what he taught. His death took place in the year 171 (A. D. 787-8). Persons not well informed have confounded him with Abu Sulaimân Sallâm at-Tawil al-Madâini as-Saadi, surnamed al-Khorâsâni. — (Kitâb Maarifu talKurrd, ms. of the Bib. imp., no 742, fol. 30.) Has Ibn Khallikân fallen into the mistake pointed out by Shams ad-Din Muhammad Ibn Ahmad ad-Dahabi, the author of the Kurrd? (5) Abû Yahya Mahdi Ibn Maimun al-Azdi, a mawla and a native of Basra, is placed by ad-Dahabi among the Traditionists. He died A. H. 171 (A. D. 787-8) or 172. — (Huffâz.) VOL. IV. 37 (6) Abû 'l-Ashhab Jaafar Ibn Haiyân al-Otâridi died in Basra, towards the year 165 (A. D. 781-2), at a very advanced age. - (Kitab al-Madrif, Huffâz.) (7) The word harf is employed as a technical term in the science of the Readings and has then two different significations. It designates the systems of Korân-reading, that is, the editions of the Koranic text taught by the great masters, and also the various readings or lections which are found in the different texts of the Korån. The plural is huruf. (8) Abu 'l-Hasan Rauh Ibn Abd al-Mumin, a native of Basra and one of Yakub's disciples in Koran-reading, died towards the year 234 (A. D. 848–9). — (Kurrd, fol. 58, verso.) (9) Muhammad, the son of the khalif al-Mutawakkil, was distinguished as a poet and died A. H. 282 (A. D. 895-6). He may perhaps be the person indicated here. (10) Abu Muhammad Abd Allah Ibn Hâshim az-Zafarâni (a native of the village of Zafarån near Baghdad), was a teacher of the readings. The date of his death is not given by the author of the Kurrð. (11) Muftis, or casuists, when consulted on a doubtful point, always draw up their answer in the most concise manner possible. (12) Little or nothing is known of Maimun al-Akran. (13) Little is known of Abi 'l-Aswad Anbasa Ibn Madân al-Fil. He possessed some grammatical knowledge and transmitted down orally a great number of poems, amongst which were many composed by Jarir and al-Farazdak. He must therefore have lived in the second century of the Hijra. His father was called Madân al-Fil, because he had received one of those animals as a present from the governor of Iråk, Ziâd Ibn Abih, of whose children he was the preceptor. The title of al-Fil passed to his son. tische Schulen der Araber.) (Fluegel's Gramma (14) The grammarian Isa Ibn Omar of the tribe of Thakif died at Basra A. H. 111 (A. D. 729-30). For details see Fluegel's Gramm. Schule der Ar., p. 29. ABU AWANA THE HAFIZ Abû Awâna Yakûb Ibn Ishak Ibn Ibrahîm Ibn Yazîd, an inhabitant of Naisâpùr (Naisapuri) and afterwards of Isfarâin (Isfarâini), is the author of the book entitled alMusnad as-Sahih (collection of authentic Traditions), the materials of which he extracted from the work of Muslim Ibn al-Hajjâj (vol. III. p. 348). He was one of those hafizes who travelled about and gathered up a great quantity of Traditions. He rambled over Syria and Egypt and visited Basra, Kûfa, Wâsit, Hijâz, Mesopotamia, Yemen, Ispahân, Rai and Fars. The hâfiz Abû 'l-Kâsim, generally known by the surname of Ibn Asâkir (vol. II. p. 252) says of him, in the History of Damascus : 66 66 “Abù Awâna heard, at Damascus, the lessons of Yazîd Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abd 66 "If we meet before (our) death, we shall cure our souls of the pains caused by our mutual "reproaches; and if the hand of death anticipates us, (we can only say :) how many of our "absent friends are now under ground. Abû Abd Allah al-Hakam (vol. II. p. 681) declared Abû Awâna to be a learned and most exact Traditionist, one of those who travelled over the regions of the earth in search of Traditions. He died in the year 316 (A. D. 928-9). Hamza Ibn Yûsuf as-Sahmi (vol. I. p. 25) mentioned that, in the year 292 (A. D. 904-5), Abû Awâna was seen in Jurjân. The háfiz Abû 'l-Kâsim Ibn Asâkir states that the following narration was made to him by the holy and fundamentally learned shaikh (asShaikh as Sálih al-Asîl) Abû Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Omar asSaffär, a native of Isfarâin: "The tomb of Abû Awâna, at Isfarâin, is visited by all "pious people, and considered as bringing a blessing on those who go to it. At the "side of it is the tomb of the scholar by whom his Traditions were handed down, "1 mean Abû Noaim Abd al-Mâlik Ibn al-Hasan al-Azhari of Isfarâin. These "tombs are in the same mausoleum; it lies within the city, on the left "hand of the person who enters by the gate of Naisâpûr. Near that mausoleum " is another containing the tomb of the ustád (or master) Abû Ishak al-Isfarâini (vol. I. p. 8); it is on the right hand of the person who enters the city by the gate |