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ABU SAAD AL-MUTAWALLI.

Abû Saad Abd ar-Rahman the son of Muhammad (whose real name was Màmûn), the son of Ali (or of Ibrahim it is said), and surnamed al-Mutawalli, was a doctor of the sect of as-Shâfi and a native of Naisâpûr. To his great learning he united a profound spirit of piety; the rectitude of his conduct was not more admired than the scrupulous care with which he investigated legal questions; and in dogmatic theology, jurisprudence, and controversy he displayed abilities of the highest order. On the death of the shaikh Abû Ishak as-Shîrâzi, he was appointed professor in the Nizâmiya College at Baghdad; but towards the close of the year 476 (A. D. 1084), he was superseded by Abû Nasr Ibn as-Sabbâgh, the author of the Shamil, who thus filled that post a second time (1) but was again removed from it in the following year, when Abû Saad al-Mutawalli was reinstated and continued to hold it till his death. In the supplement to Abû Ishak as-Shîrâzi's Tabakât, or Classification of the Jurisconsults, which was written by Abu Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Malik al-Hamadâni, this author says: "Ahmad Ibn Salama the muhtasib (2) related to me as follows: When "Abû Saad al-Mutawalli took his seat as professor, on the death of our shaikh '(meaning Abû Ishak as-Shîrâzi), the jurisconsults disapproved of his sitting "in the place which had been occupied by their former doctor, and wished "that he had given a mark of deference to his predecessor by sitting lower. "Their feelings on the subject did not escape the penetration of Abû Saad, and "he said to them: Know that, during the course of my life, two events only gave me pleasure; the first, that I came from beyond the Oxus and entered "Sarakhs in garments much used and not such as are worn by persons of “learning: I then went to the conference held by Abû 'l-Harith Ibn Abi "'l-Fadl as-Sarakhsi and sat down behind his pupils: they then discussed “'a question, and I spoke upon it and made objections; when it came to my "turn to speak again, Abû 'l-Harith bid me come forward and I obeyed; I again spoke in my turn, and he told me to draw nearer, till at last he called "me to him and seated me by his side; he then stood up with me and ad"mitted me into the number of his disciples. On this occasion I was overpowered with joy. The second circumstance which gave me pleasure was,

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"to be judged worthy of succeeding our shaikh Abû Ishak, which is the great"'est delight and favour I could ever hope to enjoy.'" A number of eminent jurisconsults finished their studies under him; he himself had studied the law at Marw under Abû 'l-Kasim Abd ar-Rahmân al-Fûrâni (see page 89), at Marw ar-Rûd under the Kadi Husain, and at Bokhâra under Abû Sahl Ahmad Ibn Ali 'l-Abiwardi (3). He learned also the Traditions, and composed a work on jurisprudence, entitled Tatimmat al-Ibâna, intended to form the completion of his master al-Fûrâni's treatise, the Ibâna, but he did not live to finish it. It only went as far as the chapter on punishments, but was terminated afterwards by the joint labours of some doctors, one of whom, Abû 'l-Futuh Asaad al-Ijli has been already noticed (vol. I. page 191). . They did not, however, follow the plan nor attain the object of the original author, who had collected into that treatise legal questions of the rarest occurrence, and extraordinary cases, scarcely ever to be found in any other book. Al-Mutawalli composed also a short but very instructive treatise on the division of inheritances, and he drew up a system of controversy containing the indication of the different manners in which questions may be discussed. Another of his works is a short treatise on the dogmas of the Moslim faith. All his writings are highly instructive. He was born at Naisapur, A. H. 426 (A.D. 1034-5), some say A.H. 427; he died at Baghdad on the eve of Friday, the 18th of Shawwâl, A. H. 478 (February, A. D. 1086), and was interred in the cemetery at the Abrez Gate.-I do not know for what reason he received the surname of al-Mutawalli, neither does as-Samâni mention it.

(1) See vol. I. page 11, and the life of Ibn as-Sabbagh in this volume.

(2) See vol. I. page 375.

(3) Abû Sahl Ahmad Ibn Ali 'l-Abîwardi was a doctor of the Shafite sect, but little else is known of him than what is here indicated by Ibn Khallikân. The author of the Tabakåt as-Shafiyin places his death, by conjecture, between A.H. 460 and 480.

FAKHR AD-DIN IBN ASAKIR THE JURISCONSULT.

Abû Mansûr Abd ar-Rahmân Ibn Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan Ibn Hibat Allah Ibn Abd Allah Ibn al-Husain ad-Dimishki (native of Damascus), surnamed Fakhr 389 ad-din (glory of the faith, and generally known by the appellation of Ibn Asâkir al-Fakih (the jurisconsult), was a doctor of the sect of as-Shafi, and the most eminent person of that age for his learning and piety. He studied jurisprudence under Kutb ad-din Abû 'l-Maâli Masûd an-Naisapûri (a shaikh whose life will be found in this work), and derived great profit from his tuition during the period in which he lived with him as a pupil. He then married the daughter of his master, and, confiding in his own abilities, he professed for some time at Jerusalem and Damascus. Many of those who attended his lessons and completed their studies under him rose to distinction as imàms of great talent. The legal opinions which he gave as a mufti were held in high esteem for their correctness. He was brother's son to the hâfiz Abû 'l-Kasim Ali Ibn Asâkir, author of the history of Damascus. This family produced a number of men eminent for their learning and for the exalted posts which they filled. Fakhr ad-din was born, to the best of my opinion, A. H. 550 (A. D. 1155-6), and a note in his own handwriting states that his birth took place in that year (1). He died at Damascus on Wednesday, the 10th of Rajab, A. H. 620 (August, A. D. 1123). I have visited his tomb, which is situated in the Cemetery of the Sufis, outside Damascus.

(1) It may be perceived that this last passage was added subsequently. In the autograph, it is written in the margin.

ABU 'L-KASIM AZ-ZAJJAJI.

Abû 'l-Kasim Abd ar-Rahman Ibn Ishak az-Zajjaji was an inhabitant of Baghdad from his early youth, but by his birth he belonged to Nahâwend, which was also the native place of his family. He was a master of the highest au

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 grammar from Muhammad Ibn al-Abbâs al-Yazidi, Abû Bakr Ibn Duraid, and Abu 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 Ramadan, 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 Kâfür. He held his authority over that country and Syria by right of an act of confirmation issued by the khalif of Baghdad, ar-Radi.-(See the life of Kâfür.)

ATENEO

BARCELO

IBN YUNUS THE HISTORIAN.

Abû Said Abd ar-Rahmân Ibn Abi 'l-Hasan Ahmad Ibn Abi Mûsa Yunus 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-Kâsim 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-Kasim Ibn Hajjaj, and the following elegy was com590 posed on his death by the grammarian and prosodist Abu Isa Abd ar-Rahmân Ibn Ismail Ibn Abd Allah Ibn Sulaiman 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.

Sadaf 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-Rahmân, author of the verses just given, died in the month of Sâfar, A. H. 366 (October, A. D. 976).