being told that Yahya Ibn Yamar was with him, he said: Ah! that explains it.' -Yahya composed poetry and was the author of this verse : People concur only in hating my family; but, from the oldest times, people hate those who are good (8). Khâlid al-Haddâ (vol. II. p. 588) stated that Ibn Sîrîn (vol. II. p. 586) possessed a copy of the Korân in which Yahya Ibn Yamar had marked the wowel points. He spoke the purest Arabic, using the most elegant terms without effort and quite naturally. His adventures and remarkable sayings are well known. He died in the year 129 (A. D. 746-7 (9).-Yamar, or Yamur,- but this latter form is neither current nor correct, is the present tense of the verb amira, which signifies to live long. This name, like that of Yahya (he lives), was given to him as a presage of long life. -Adwani means descended from Adwân, whose true name was al-Hârith and who was the son of Amr Ibn Kais Aîlân. He received the surmame of Adwân (hostility) because he attacked his brother with the intention of killing him.-Washki means descended from Washk, who was the son of Aûf, the son of Bakr, the son of Yashkur, the son of that same Adwân. (5) This passage signifies also: you put in the nominative what should be put in the accusative and vice versa. I suspect that Yahya employed this equivocal expression designedly. (6) The life of Ibn Habib is given in this volume. (7) This was a bistorical work. Its title signifies: Golden beads for necklaces. This verse is by no means clear, and its application is not evident unless we suppose it to have been uttered by one of the Alides. (9) Dahabi, cited by the author of the Nujùm, places the death of Yahya Ibn Yamar in the year 89 of the Hijra. AL-FARRA THE GRAMMARIAN 66 Abu Zakariya Yahya Ibn Zîâd Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Manzûr al-Aslami ad-Dailami al-Kûfi (a Dailamite by origin and a native of Kufa by birth), was generally known by the surname of al-Farrâ. He was a member, by enfranchisement, of the tribe of Asad, or, according to another statement, of the tribe of Minkar. Al-Farrâ was the most eminent of all the doctors cf Kûfa and also the most distinguished by his knowledge of grammar, philology and the various branches of literature. Abû 'l-Abbas Thalab (vol. I. p. 83) is stated to have said: "Were it not for al-Farrâ, pure Arabic would no longer exist; it was he who disengaged it (from the ordinary language) and fixed it (by writing). Were it not for al-Farrâ, good Arabic had gone "to the ground; (before his time,) it was a matter of discussion; every one who pleased had the pretention of knowing it and discoursed on it as well as his intelligence and his genius would permit, so that it had nearly disappeared." He and alAhmar (1) learned grammar from Abû 'l-Hasan al-Kisâi (vol. II. p. 237); they were the most eminent of his disciples and also the most attached to him. Al-Farrâ, having resolved on entering into the service of (the khalif) al-Mâmûn, went a great number of times to the door of the palace (with the hope of obtaining admittance), and, one day, whilst he was waiting there, Abû Bishr Thumâma Ibn al-Ashras anNumairi (vol. II. p. 475), a Motazelite doctor who was intimate with (the khalif) al-Mâmûn, went up to him. "I saw,' said Thumâma, " a person in the attire of 66 66 a literary man; so, I sat down beside him and commenced putting to the test his "knowledge of philosophy. Finding that he was (in that branch), an ocean (of learning), I tried him in grammar and discovered that he had not his parallel; I then "examined him in jurisprudence and perceived that he was a good legist and well 66 44 acquainted with the conflicting opinions of those people (the jurisconsults); I ascer"tained also that he was an able astronomer, a learned physician, and well-versed "in the history of the (desert) Arabs, their battle-days and their poetry. On this, I said to him: Who are you? you must be al-Farrâ!' He replied: ' I am he.' 64 I immediately went in to the Commander of the faithful, al-Mâmûn, informed him "of the circumstance and got the order to have al-Farrâ introduced without delay. "It was thus that he became acquainted with al-Mâmûn."--Kutrub (vol. III. p. 29) related as follows: "Al-Farrà entered into the presence of (the khalif) ar-Rashid and "made a discourse in which he committed solecisms. On this, Jaafar Ibn Yahya "the Barmekide (vol. I. p. 301) said: Commander of the faithful! he speaks in"correctly. The khalif said to al-Farrà: You commit solecisms?' and received "this answer: Commander of the faithful! it is in the nature of the (desert) Arabs "to employ correctly the final inflexions, and in the nature of those who inhabit "fixed abodes to employ them incorrectly; when I am on my guard, I do not "commit faults but, when I return to my naturel habit, I commit them.' The khalif was satisfied with this answer.-The Khatîb (vol. 1. p. 75) says, in his history of Baghdad: "When al-Farrâ got acquainted with al-Mâmûn, the latter bid "him draw up a work which should contain the principles of grammar and all the pure Arabic expressions which he had heard. He then ordered him to be confined in a chamber of the palace, and appointed male and female servants to attend "him and furnish him with every thing which he required; hoping, by this means, "to deliver his heart from all preoccupations and to leave him nothing to wish for. "They were even to inform him of the hours of prayer by chaunting the adan (or call) at the proper times. He sent to him also a number of copyists and attached "to his service confidential men and agents charged to pay the expenses. Al-Farrà then dictated, and the copyists wrote down his observations; and this continued during two years, until they had finished the work. It was entitled al-Hudud (the limits or chapters (2). Al-Mamûn ordered this book to be transcribed (and placed) in his libraries. When al-Farrâ had finished his task, he went out in public and began the composition of the Kitab al-Madni (rhetorical figures employed in the Koran (?)). The narrator (of these facts) says: We tried to 'count the member of persons who assembled for the purpose of hearing him dic"tate (and publish) the text of the Kitâb al-Maâni, but, not being able to do so (they were so many,) we counted the kâdis only and found that there were eighty.' He continued to dictate the work till he finished it. The copyists "then withheld it from the public, so that they might make money of it, and "declared that they would not communicate it to any person unless he consented to "have it copied by them at the rate of one dirhem for five leaves (3). Al-Farrâ, to "whom complaints were made on this subject, sent for the copyists and remonstrated "with them. Their answer was: We attended your lessons in order to profit by 66 66 66 6 666 46 66 6 66 46 your learning; of all your works this is the most essential; so, allow us to gain a livelihood by means of it.' He replied: Be more compliant with "them; it will be for your advantage as well as theirs.' Finding that they would "not follow his advice, he said to them I shall let you see (what you do not expect),' and then announced to the public that he would dictate the Madni and join to it a complete commentary, with fuller remarks than those already given. He therefore held sittings and dictated one hundred leaves on the word al-hamd (4) "alone. The copyists then went to him and said: We shall concede to the public what they demand and copy for them at the rate of one dirhem for ten "leaves."" What induced him to (compose and) dictacte the Madni was, that one of his disciples, who was then in the service of al-Hasan Ibn Sahl (vol. I. p. 408) and whose name was Omar Ibn Bukair, wrote to him in these terms: "The emir " al-Hasan is always asking me questions relative to the Korân, and I cannot readily call to mind the proper answers. Would you be pleased to lay down for me cer“tain fundamental principles and compile, on that subject, a work to which I may "refer." On reading this note, he invited his disciples to assemble and hear him dictate a work on the Korân. On the appointed day, when all were present, he came in to them and told a man who acted as a muwazzin in the mosque and who knew well the Korân, to commence reciting (the text of that book). The man began by the Fâtiha (5) and al-Farrâ explained it, and this continued till they went over the whole book; the muwazzin reciting and the professor explaining. This commentary fills about one thousand leaves; nothing like it had ever been composed before, and no person can possibly add to it.-Al-Mâmûn placed his two sons under al-Farra's tuition, so that they might be instructed in grammar. One day, al-Farrâ rose from his place, on some necessary occasion, and the two young princes hastened to bring him his slippers. They struggled between themselves for the honour of offering them to him, and they finally agreed that each of them should present him with one slipper. As al-Mâmûn had secret agents who informed him of every thing that passed, he learned what had taken place and caused al-Farrâ to be brought before him. When he entered, the khalif said to him" Who is the inost honoured of men?" Al-Farrâ answered "any one more honoured than the Commander of the faithful." "I know not 66 Nay;" replied al-Mâmûn, "it is he who arose to go out and the two designated successors of the "Commander of the faithful contented for the honour of presenting him his slippers, VOL. IV. 9 “and at length agreed that each of them should offer him one." To this al-Farrà answered: Commander of the faithful! I should have prevented them from doing "so had I not been apprehensive of turning them away from some honourable exam ple which they had already received or discouraging their minds in the pursuit of "that high estimation to which they ardently aspire. We know by tradition that Ibn Abbas held the stirrups of al-Hasan and al-Husain, when they were getting "on horseback after paying him a visit. One of those who were present said to "him: How is it that you hold the stirrups of these striplings, you who are their "elder?' To which he replied: Ignorant man! no one can appreciate the "merit of people of merit except a man of merit.' Al-Mâmûn then said to him: Had you prevented them, I should have inflicted on you the penalty of censure "and reproach, and should have declared you in fault. That which they have done "is no debasement of their dignity; on the contrary, it exalts their merit, "renders manifest their excellent nature and inspires me with a favorable opinion of their character. No man, thought great in rank, can be dispensed, by his 66 64 high position, from three obligations he must respect his sovereign, venerate "his father, and honour his preceptor. As a reward for their conduct, I bestow "on them twenty thousand dinars (£. 10,000), and on you, for the good education "which you give them, ten thousand dirhems (£. 500)."-The following anecdote is related also by the Khatîb: "One day, al-Farrâ was sitting in the house of the legist "Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan, who was the son of his aunt, and happened to say that "few men ever mastered one branch of science without finding the others quite "easy. On this, Muhammad said: You, Abû Zakariya! have studied pure Arabic; so, I shall question you on a point of (canon) law.'- Let us heard your question,' said al-Farrâ,' (and I shall answer) with the blessing of God.' Muham"mad then said to him: 'What do you say of a man who, in making the two satisfactory prostrations that some neglect in the accomplishement of the prescribed prayer rendered necessary, neglects, again, in these prostrations, something important?' Al-Farrâ reflected for some time and then replied that the man "'incurred no obligation. Why so?' said his cousin. Because,' said he, according to us grammarians, a diminutive noun cannot be diminished again; ... and besides, the two prostrations are the completion of the prayer, and that which "is complete requires no further completion.' On hearing this, Muhammad exclaimed: Now, I am sure that a descendant of Adam never engendered a son 66 6 46 4 66 6 64 6 66 6 66 |